Pic-of-the-Week for December 31, 2013

Hola Amigos,
Welcome to the FINAL Pic-of-the-Week for 2013.  And let us wish you un feliz ano nuevo (Happy New Year), wherever you are in this world!  These next two photos are from the Tropic of Cancer monument near us here.  They have done a great job of making this somewhere you'd want to stop and take pictures!  
This is the old monument, which used to be just painted white with a red stripe around the Tropic of Cancer latitude.

And this is the new monument (I'm obviously on the back side here, since the continents are backwards, but the light is better!)  

John and Allyson are leaving today... reluctantly!  They have very much enjoyed their time here, although the social life was a bit busy at times!  Of course, it may be the time of year.  At least John got to watch the Ducks beat Texas convincingly yesterday (GO DUCKS!) He enjoyed re-connecting with his childhood friend, Ellis (who had the TV and satellite connection so we could watch the game).  I imagine we'll be seeing them down here again soon!  John even got his feet toughened up walking barefoot on the beach!

One of Allyson's goals while here was to pet the burros.  They left early one morning to walk the beach to town, and the burros showed up.  We went into town and had breakfast with them, and left them in town, came back home, and the burros were still around!  They must have heard that Allyson wanted to see them, because they hung around for a couple hours until she finally came back!  (Of course, the gum drops may have had something to do with it!)  (Or...maybe they were hanging around because it was garbage day???  Probably not!)  

We took them a lot of places around here, but left enough things "undone" for them to want to come back again, and we hope it is sooner rather than later!

As you can see from Allyson's outfit, the weather has been very pleasant.  A few windy days, and some gorgeous calm days.   We took a tour to Punta Pescadero and saw a whale jump and spout, took in the gorgeous scenery and endured the bumpy ride!  We must admit, a road crew finally repaired the road to Nowhere (to El Cardonal, actually), and it wasn't too bad.  There are rumors that the beach road will be paved someday soon, but we're not holding our breath!!  It is still bumpy enough to rattle your teeth! (The road to our house STILL hasn't been graded.)

We had a lovely Christmas day last week; we were invited to a Christmas Brunch at our neighbor's home (Craig and Mary), then invited to Christmas dinner at friends' home (Dick and Becky) at Lighthouse Point (about 30 minutes south of us).  Santa even came to visit at Breakfast!  We ate well and sang Christmas Carols and had a wonderful time.  (Notice Santa's footwear... Baja appropriate!)

Christmas dinner with ALL the fixings!  Delicious! 

As we say farewell to 2013, we wish all our friends a very blessed New Year.  We hope that you will consider a Baja vacation sometime in 2014 so we can share our blessings with you! 

I think I have finished up the December 2013 album; just a few captions to add.  

Hasta la proxima ano....  
Tus amigos de Baja

Ben, Harriet, Ryan, Sam & Zoey 

  

Pic-of-the-Week for December 24, 2013

Hola Amigos,

First of all, we want to wish all our friends a Merry Christmas, and encourage you to remember the "reason for the season". 
"For unto us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."  Isaiah 9:6  

We will be participating in our church's Candlelight service tonight.  Sure wish you could all be here to sing along with us!  We're singing lots and lots of Christmas carols and hymns.  I'll be busy at the keyboard, while Ben runs the PowerPoint show and Ryan does the sound.  

Cousins John and Allyson arrived last Friday, and they are great guests!  They have never been here before, so everything they see and do is a new experience, and for the most part, they have enjoyed themselves!  

Yesterday we took them and some other friends to our favorite restaurant in Santiago, Palomar, then on to the Santa Rita hot springs.  We were the only ones at the hot springs, and we sat and enjoyed them for several hours.  Just as we were getting out, another group showed up.  Perfect timing!  That water felt SO good!  (It was a very windy day at home, so a great day to go to the hot springs).  

Here is our "tour group" of friends who spent the day enjoying lunch and the hot springs.

John, Allyson, Ben, Sandy, Harriet, Debi, Pat, Jim and Ryan.  

Oh yeah!  I did finish the baby quilt!  At least as much as I will do until it needs to be bound.  I let professionals put the backing on and "quilt" it, and I'll have that done in Chicago when I go to visit in February.   

Well, we've got things to do, and places to go, so I'm making this letter short today!  We hope your holiday celebrations are happy and safe and blessed!   

More photos are in our December 2013 Picasa album.  I even have captions on most of the photos!  

Feliz Navidad a todos nuestros amigos!  
Tu amigos de Baja
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey 

 

This cactus is on the trail to the hot springs. We all took turns posing! 

Pic-of-the-Week for December 17, 2013

Hola Amigos,

Only 8 shopping days until Christmas!  Where does the time go??  There are no presents under our little tree, because the dogs probably wouldn't leave them alone (especially any food items).  Besides that, none of us has bought any gifts.  Ben does well enough just buying items over the internet for his old cars!!  Each time he makes a purchase, I say "Merry Christmas"!  (It is exactly what he wanted, after all!  Can't go wrong on that gift giving!)  Ben has been attached to Model A's for a LONG time.  Here's a photo his brother Ken sent us recently with Ben as a little boy sitting on the fender of an old Model A that was on their farm.  The others in it are his sister Carol and Uncle Jess Bunnell, and brothers Dan and Ken on top.  He said, looking at it with his more experienced eyes, that it was really in pretty good shape, considering! 

He has been busy still working on the Woody, especially.  Checking the brakes (which are in bad shape!), re-adjusting this and that.  It looks good on the outside, but needs some work on the "workings".  He hopes to take it to a National Model A meet in Puyallup this summer, so that means fixing up the car trailer as well.  Lots of details to work out!   

I helped my friend Janet at a local style show the other day.  Here are her models; many of whom are my friends, too.  Janet's shop is very popular here in town.  It's nice to find clothing appropriate for the climate and the life style here locally.  I didn't model; I was a "back room" assistant, getting the clothing that was modeled back out on the racks.  (Janet is the blonde (Hah! That eliminates one person!) in the grey dress on the right).  

Work on our palapas upstairs is continuing, and they will probably finish tomorrow.   Miguel and his crew do really nice work, and he's asked me to ask all my friends if they need any palapa work done on their houses.  So....anyone need a palapa roof done at their house?  Ryan's only complaint is that they show up VERY early in the morning (one time before 6AM) to start work!  Some other friends who had them do a job for them told him "no work before 8AM"!  I guess it worked, although Miguel was chomping at the bit outside their gate!! 
 

 I have been working on the quilt for our new granddaughter, although I don't have much to show for it!  It took me several days to figure out how to do the borders.  I even took photos of possibilities and posted them on Facebook for my quilting friends out there for suggestions and/or comments.  Some are real pros, so I really valued their input.  I think I've finally got it figured out, and am in the process now of putting it all together.  My normal Oregon "quilter" is not doing any work until April (they now have a house down here, but no quilting machines), so I'll be taking the top with me to Chicago in February, as Rebecca says it can be done there.  I'll post a photo of the finished product...when it's finished! 

We're looking forward to my cousins arriving this Friday.  We hope to show them some of our favorite things and places and food while they're here, and also, give them some time to just relax!  

Here's another "blast from the past"... Ben and I cross country skiing at Clear Lake, Oregon, in the 1970's.  See... we can get in the cold winter spirit, too.  At least we used to!  

Right now, we're enjoying bright sunshine.  The temp is rather low this morning at 61 right now, and a low of 56.  I imagine it will get into the 70's today.  

I haven't posted any new photos to my December 2013 album.  Not much picture taking happened this week.  (That's why I fluffed this up with old ones!!)  

Hasta la proxima semana,

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Week for December 10, 2013

Hola Amigos! 

It was a very quiet week at Casa Purkey, compared to the last 2 weeks, in spite of the fact that Miguel and his helper came to work on our upstairs palapa!  (No sweet little boys chasing dogs or blowing bubbles or digging in the dirt!)  Today is Aaron's 2nd birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY from Grandma and Grandpa Purkey, Aaron!   Looks like he's climbing up to the table for his next meal, maybe of birthday cake this time! :-)   Hard to believe that I was there in Jordan for his birth 2 years ago.  How time flies!  

Now we're getting ready for the birth of his sister in a few short months.  I just made my airline reservations last night.  I won't be there for the birth, but will be there to help Rebecca when she has her knee surgery mid-February, and a bit after.  I'll get home just in time to help entertain Greg and Cherlene (Ben's brother and sister-in-law), who will be arriving in Baja the same day I return.  

We're also expecting my cousin and his wife on a visit late next week.  John drives school bus, so his schedule is a bit tight!  Allyson runs a Health Food store in Prineville, so she had to make arrangements for someone to run that while she is gone.  It only took them 3 or 4 years, but they finally got it figured out!  Hooray! 

Since things quieted down, I hunkered down yesterday and worked on the baby quilt.  I actually made really good progress, and have the main part all put together.  Now, since I'm working without a specific pattern, I've got to figure out how to do the edges, probably 8" more all around.  I'm thinking more "fans".  What do you think so far?  Enough color?

Another exciting thing that happened is our plant stalk finally started blooming!!!  And guess what color the flowers are????  


GREEN!  It is very pretty, though.  It does have yellowish stamens (which are full of pollen...don't pass too close by!) 

This plant definitely makes a statement, and I'm loving it!. 

Like I said earlier, Miguel and his helper come early every day to work on the palapas upstairs (like, 7am!)  On the day they removed the old palm leaves, it rained!  They are still putting up the new Palo de Arco cross braces.  They took yesterday off from working here to accumulate more.  I imagine the palm leaves will start going on late today or tomorrow. Here is what it looked like the other day after they got the available Palo de Arco sticks up on the palm beams.

When they started doing the work upstairs, Ryan hauled our "Christmas Tree" downstairs (we store it up there).  He strung the lights and I decorated it, so we're all set for Christmas at Casa Purkey!  

You might notice our gas heater behind the tree???  Ben actually turned it on the other night.  He said it was in sympathy for all of you who are suffering such low temperatures in the US, especially Oregon.  (We remember the last time we had below zero temps in the early 70's when we lived in Eugene....  BRRRR!!) 

There are a few more photos in our December 2013 Album, and even some captions.  We hope you are all staying warm... temps here are in the 60's at night, and 70's during the day.  We've had quite a few clouds; it seems like the jet stream is flowing right over southern Baja, but we can usually find a warm sunny spot somewhere!  If not, we'll just head to the hot springs!!  (Or turn on the heater!)   

Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos de Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Week for December 3, 2013

Hola Amigos,

Yes, I know this is late today!  Today was Rebecca and Tim's last day here.  We ran them and the boys to the airport late this morning and saw them off with their two big suitcases, 2 backpacks, a duffle bag, a stroller, two carseats....and oh yeah!  Two little boys!  I think they're going home well rested.  Hope so, because Rebecca and Tim will be leaving Chicago for an 11 day conference in the UK on Friday!  The kids get to stay with Tim's grandparents.  (I'm wishing them lots of energy and patience for the time!!!)  When you're not used to it, little ones (even your very own, precious, smarter than any other kids and so good looking grandkids) will certainly try your patience!  I guess that's why we have our children when we're fairly young and resilient (and don't need so many naps as I do now!)  Anyhow we had fun with them, and I will see them all again when I go to Chicago to help Rebecca when the baby grand-daughter is born, and for some knee surgery Rebecca has scheduled on Valentine's Day. 

We had a very nice Thanksgiving, although I was sick in bed with a stomach upset the day before.  Ben ended up with the same crud Saturday afternoon, and he's finally feeling better today.  Rebecca helped a lot with the cooking on Thanksgiving, (for which I'm very thankful!) and Ben smoked a turkey that turned out delicious! 

Aaron loves mechanical things, and he eventually spotted his Grandpa's coffee grinder, and ground to his heart's content!  (there were only a few beans in it)

 Aaron thought his Unca Ryan was pretty cool.  He went looking for him in the driveway this morning (where he had been told NOT to go!)  He was very happy when Ryan showed up and rescued him!  

The boys also spent a lot of time blowing bubbles.  It's a real treat for them to be outside and barefoot this time of the year (I rarely saw them in shoes, unless we were going somewhere). 

They also spent some "down" time looking at videos on David's tablet.  They got along pretty well together!

I got the boys to help me measure the plant that hasn't bloomed YET!  It is now way taller than either I or the boys could reach!  Can't wait for it to start blooming.

I've started a new album for December 2013.  Not much in it yet, but it's early!  (I stole some from Thanksgiving and added them in December).  I might even do captions some day.  

Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos de Baja
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey