Pic-of-the-Week for March 31, 2015

Hola Amigos!

Happy last day of March.  Where did that month go so fast?  Are you enjoying spring days wherever you are located?  We certainly are.  Nice and warm here, and each of us are sporting some pink skin, thanks to several outdoor activities.

 And you know it's spring here when Ben gets out the Woody for a drive!  He got it all cleaned up, checked the air in the tires, added gas, checked the oil, and we headed out to the north side of Los Barriles where our friends live.  We picked up them and their guests, and headed back through town for Rancho Buena Vista, (the resort closest to our house) and had a little picnic by the pool and the ocean.  












Ben always appreciates taking lovely ladies for rides!  And the picture opportunities are boundless!  It was a little tougher keeping the 2-year old boy out of it after we got there and parked.  We kept hearing the horn tooting, and when Mark, one of the owners of the resort came to tell us about the little guy, we decided he'd had enough "fun".  His Daddy was there watching him, but the little boy sure didn't want to get out when I told him to.  Typical 2-year old tantrum at that point!  

Ryan walked down the beach with Sam and Zoey and joined us (it took some convincing and carrying to get them all that way on a hot day).  They were very happy for a nice drink of water when they got there, and were very happy to see us, too!  (They did get to ride home in the woody, and were very happy about that, too.  First time for them to get a ride in there!)  


It has been an activity filled week.  We went to see the community's annual Shakespeare play...this one not written by Shakespeare, but in Shakespeare fashion.  Shoot, old Will was even in the play, with notebook and quill in hand! On of the people who did write it is Igor there on the left (Larry Epstein).  He and his lovely jailer friend, Insana were a hit in the show as they tortured their prisoners in the dungeons!  The co-writer was Jill Broussard. 

 On Saturday, our community choir, the OK Chorale, performed at the local Saturday Market.  I play keyboard for the group, so it was fun to do about an hour's worth of music we've been working on all year.  We've got quite a repertoire now.  If we can only remember it until next fall, when we'd like to do an indoor concert.  

On Saturday night, we went to a local restaurant and heard the Lack Family perform a couple songs, then Scott Lack joined a local rock group, Flat Dog, for the rest of the night.  They had lots of folks dancing!  (Couldn't get Ben up, but everyone else was!)

On Sunday after church, we celebrated with friends Jerry and Jean Justus, who had decided to retire from Baja after spending 20 winters here.  This is a picture of many in our church family, but not Jean and Jerry!  It was our gift to them, whether they wanted it or not!!  They will be missed by many.  Even in their 70's Jerry was still kite boarding and motor cycle riding in the wilderness of Baja, taking long multi-day treks on the "back-back" trails here in Baja.  Jean is an avid hiker and spent many days leading hikes in the area.  

Yes, we did spend time at home this week.  Ben chopped more out of our Mesquite tree, and also took on the big Cholla cactus in our yard.  That took about 4 large leaf bags worth of pruning, just for the cholla!  He is not quite done yet with the Mesquite, but one day soon he will be.  He's about 2/3 done.  I've been canning beans, so the cupboards are getting full of nice jars of beans for next winter.  I'm hoping for a few more canners full, and some fresh ones to eat as well.  I see lots of blooms, so am waiting in anticipation!  The corn is coming along nicely, too.  

The most exciting thing in our garden is that our Bombax Ellipticum is blooming again, and better than ever.  I can't even count the buds and blooms there are so many.  Take a picture quick, though, because each bloom only lasts one day.
Here's a day shot, and a night shot. We're proud parents because we started this tree from seed!!!  (And it took about 8 or 10 years before we got a single bloom).  Each flower is about hand size, fingers all extended!  

More photos are posted in our 2015 March Picasa album. 

Hasta la proxima mes!  
Tus amigos en Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Week for March 24, 2015

Hola, Amigos!

First, Happy Birthday today to my much older sister Sharon!  Hope you can blow out all those candles!  

Phew!  The busy weekend is over, and now we have the next events on the list! The Ladies Conference put on by our church was great!  We had over 40 women attending (that's a BIG number for this area) and a great speaker all the way from Tennessee, worship singers from California, and a wonderful local restaurant to serve us lunch.  As Emcee, I managed to remember most everything (I think!)  and didn't flub up too often.  We had a couple fun games, and here is the result of one of them!!!   Aren't they cute???  

In case you can't tell, the winners were the team with the lady in the blue dress. They managed to blow up balloons and stuff them in the panty hose faster than any of the other tables. (I think they got the most balloons in there, too!)  We got more laughs from this game than anything else! We used it to wake them up after that delicious lunch!  

I didn't have to do the music for this one, so I got a bit of a break there!  Now, the OK Chorale, our Community Choir, will be performing at the Saturday Market here next weekend, so I'll be practicing for that.  The next weekend is Easter and our churches Sunrise Service, and that will keep me hopping.  After that.... maybe I'll start a new quilting project!! 

Our dogs always make life interesting.  Zoey found an old coconut shell somewhere and she and Sam have been carrying the silly thing around and chewing on it for several days.  You buy them toys, but this is what a Baja dog ends up treasuring!  Sam has it firmly in mouth.  I told him to take it outside, and he got close... but there are no rugs outside to lay on, so he stopped there by the kitchen door.

The first day of spring was last Friday, and although we aren't on Daylight time yet, the days are getting longer.  We had to use our shade screen when we ate dinner on our veranda last evening.  But even more of an indication that it is warming up is the sight of Iguanas on top of cactus.  I spotted this one on one of our Cardon cactus yesterday afternoon.  (He was kind of hard to miss!)  He was soaking up the sun for several hours up there!  It is usually the White Wing Doves and other birds who perch on this cactus, but they gave this guy plenty of leeway yesterday!  He probably lives in a hole in this cactus or one nearby.  

When the dogs and I took a walk the other day, we came home down "Burro Alley"... there were 5 of them hanging around this neighborhood.  (You've trained them well, Marsha...I think they're missing you and your treats).  The little one on the ground is the newest baby.  Mom is smart enough to stand in the shade while baby is doing his (her?) morning nap.  

Pictured below is the newest pair in the barrio.  She is much darker than our typical burros, and the youngster with her is darker, too.  They were very polite and stepped aside when the dogs went by.  Dogs on one side of the road, burros on the other!  The dogs didn't even bark.  I always wonder if they're listening to me when I tell them not to bark...they really did very well, kept quiet and showed proper respect to the burros and their kicking legs. 

The local community has been putting on Shakespeare plays since we moved down here, and this year's play is Robin Hood.  I'm looking forward to it as we've heard some good things.  By the way, this isn't one that Shakespeare wrote.  Several talented people here write the plays, and they do them in Shakespeare style.  Our Community Choir director is very involved in the music side of it, and she is quite talented, so I expect great things.

Since Ben finished and installed the cabinets, he's been cleaning up his shop (and organizing his screw collection) and hanging some cute signs he has purchased at various car shows (or maybe on the internet...he's always got something coming from EBay!).  It wasn't just a simple matter of hanging the tin signs.  He cut out and glued together some nice wood, finished  it to perfection, then mounted the sign on the wood.  If you ask Ben to do something for you, it is going to be done very nicely!  And then there's the fact that these walls are concrete block and plaster.  Not an easy medium on which to hang things!  Get out the impact drill for this one!  

OK...it isn't blooming quite yet, but it's almost as tall as it's going to get.  You can see from the size of the wheelbarrow at the base that it is one BIG agave stalk, all grown in about 2 months.  We might need a chain saw to cut this thing down!!  

There are a few more photos in our 2015 March Picasa album.  Wow, one more Tuesday in March, so these aren't the last photos I'll add.  


Hasta la proxima semana
Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Week for March 17, 2015

Hola Amigos!

Happy St. Patrick's Day.  I'll have to find something green for the first photo!  

AHA!  How's this?  My green beans are producing nicely now!  Ryan's contribution of compost from his juicing operations is helping a lot!  We did a bit of an experiment...I used Ryan's compost in half the row, and a bag I got from a local farmer in the other half.  Ryan's seems to be doing better, and it has less weeds.  We are getting tomatoes and papayas sprouting on that half of the row, however!!  

The corn is also coming along better since I replanted and put a screen over the area the cat was using.  I've also strung a new soaker hose through there, so it is getting plenty of water.  We just might have corn by May!  I'll keep you posted. 

We're getting extra water this year from the plentiful rains.  I think we've had more winter rains this year than any time since we moved here in 2000.  Maybe the jet stream changed a bit and the rain clouds are going over the tip of Baja instead of further south.  There was a very impressive looking storm that moved through late yesterday afternoon.  Here's a panorama shot I took standing in the empty lot next to our house, looking from the east where there is blue sky, to the west, where the storm clouds are rumbling in! 

 Of course, the desert can always use more rain, and the ranchers love it; they don't have to buy so much hay for their animals.  

Speaking of animals, Sam and Zoey met the newest baby burro the other day.

They did fine until one of them barked, and started chasing it.  Baby had the right reaction....run to Mama!!  (Mama and aunties and older brother ignored the dogs!) 

Ben got the kitchen cabinets installed last week at our friends little house in El Campamento.  She is SO happy!  She told us her friends are asking for the "carpenter's" phone number so they can order just exactly the same thing!  Ben told her to tell them he's now retired!  

She said she's short, so she'll need a stool to reach those top shelves, but she is very pleased!  And.... her little boy can't get to it (yet!)  She said he often pulls stuff out of the bottom shelves below the counter top, as there are no doors. (Typical 2-year old actions!)   

  
I'm busy this week getting ready for our church's Ladies Spring Conference this weekend.  A friend decided I should head it up and be the Mistress of Ceremonies. OK... I was a project manager and a Toast Master in a past life, so I can, with God's help, get this done!  I'm offering this newest table runner I finished making yesterday for a prize item.  It was fun to make!  (Same one as was pictured last week, but finished with the binding.) 

When I looked out my bedroom window this morning, I was greeted with a beautiful view, so I'm sharing it with you today.  I could happily wake up to this view every day!! 

 

 More photos are posted in our 2015 March Picasa Album.  

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

Pic-of-the-Week for March 10, 2015

Hola Amigos,

Are you getting used to your time change?  Those of you on the US West Coast are now the same time as us here in Baja California Sur.  We don't change until April 5, Easter Sunday.  We always get up extra early on Easter Sunday to set up and have our Easter Service on the beach, with the service ending at sunrise.  I can see a nap in my future on that day!

I was invited to go with friends on a garden tour last week.  Buena Fortuna gardens in La Ribera was started in the late 90's by a botanist.  They had big plans and lots of room, and started planting plants from around the world that he thought would grow in this area.  He had great success with many of them, and there are many exotic plants there.  Unfortunately, he contracted meningitis (I think that's what it was), and has since moved to Hawaii.  His wife (ex-wife?) is now running the garden, but it is for sale if anyone is interested.  Lots of work involved there, and they have many volunteers to help (usually young university types...horticulture students or botanists, probably).  

This is a Hibiscus flower.

Black bamboo.  Kitsia(sp) is the owner and tour guide.

Many different kinds of Aloe, which is blooming right now.  

I have posted more photos from the gardens in our March 2015 Picasa album.

Here on the home front, Ben has finished the cabinets and will be installing them manana.  He also spent a lot of time yesterday picking up his screw collection that he managed to strew all over his shop floor.  When pulling out his drill press, he didn't realize that it had a cord hooked to it that ran behind his screw and bolt cabinets, and they all fell over!!!  Ay ay ay!  What a mess.  Only one of them broke, and he managed to find most of the screws, but there was a lot of sorting to do! 























For my "hobbies", I've had some fun making some quilted table runners.  They are a lot smaller than quilts, and can be finished quickly.  I put one together yesterday in about 2 hours, maybe a little less.  Of course, I still need to quilt it and put on the binding, but I did manage to get the "guts" together!  (Now I need to remember to buy some batting when I visit the US this summer!) 

Here's the one I made a few weeks ago.

I'm not going to tell you how long I've had some of this fabric!  But I did buy the orange print with this kind of thing in mind, and last summer I found a book with lots of patterns, so I'm a happy quilter!

In the garden, the beans are ready to start picking (yay!) and the corn needs some re-planting.  Looks like we've either had a cat in the rows adding some fertilizer, or dogs digging up a few extra smelly areas.  And, some of it just didn't come up.  I do have more seed, so will be doing that today. 

We had a beautiful full moon the other night.

 
 And the Agave plant is still getting taller.  The top is still forming buds, so it has some more growing to do, and the lower branches are getting ready to bloom.  In this photo you can see it across the garden.

Sam and Zoey and I still go down to the beach on occasion, and when we went the other day the tide was very low.  Lots of rocks were seen that we don't normally see.  We're having less windy days, but still enough to keep the wind surfers and kite-boarders happy.  

 
I started with a Hibiscus, and I'm going to end with a Hibiscus.  This one is in our garden. 

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

Pic-of-the-Week for March 3, 2015

Hola Amigos,

Another kind of busy, kind of quiet week has passed.  No major activities, like whale watching...just normal stuff.  I've been busy with organizing the Ladies Spring Conference our church is holding the end of this month, and with my music for the church choir and community choir (keeping my fingers active tinkling those piano keys), and some gardening.  My beans are blooming, and to the top of the wire!  Hooray!  I've planted two corn crops, and the first one has sprouted.  I have to spend a lot of time out there making sure the dogs haven't trampled through it, and to cheer it on!  I'm trying some new varieties this year that take less time to mature.  It seems like I've also been making a lot of pies lately, what with the strawberry vendor showing up at our house regularly, and the lemons being available at the veggie store.  

Ben has been spending a lot of time upgrading his web site for Martin Parry owners.  Ryan built it for him originally, and has trained Ben to do many of the updates that he requested....most of the time.  If you want to take a peak at it, it's at http://www.martin-parry.com/   He's recently been scanning some dealer catalogs that are now located under "Technical Info".  (I was wondering what he was going to do with the Martin-Parry stuff he was buying off E-Bay!  Now I know!)

He has also been working on building kitchen cabinets for a Mexican friend in El Campamento who has a tiny little house, and a tiny little kitchen with no cabinets!  I think she's going to be pleasantly surprised when she sees what he has built for her!    

These are the doors.  He has made them out of oak, and the melamine shelves help keep out the termites.  

He also just discovered termites in a shelf he made for our churches sound equipment!  It must have been in the wood when he built it, but they weren't noticeable until they sat in the church for several weeks!  Get out the bug spray!!

Things are growing fast around here, including our agave, which is now putting out side branches.  

And just to the right of the agave and cactus, we have a Neem tree stump that we are trying to eradicate!  We've been having evening "campfires" around the stump, and it's going to take a few more fires before we have it gone.  Hopefully, we'll burn enough that it will give up and not sprout any more, but we're not holding our breath!  

It's very nice to have the new brick path on which to set our chairs!  

Since we extended and improved our drain system, this stump won't be standing in water any more, so it should be not as eager to grow.  (The plywood behind the fire is to protect the little palm behind it, which we'd like to keep.  

Our dogs want you to know that it is a pretty relaxed life down here, with lots of "soft spots" to lay down and rest, in the sun or out of it.  We've had one more visitor cancellation, and we have a room available at least until April 14.  And we just got an ad from Alaska airlines that they have some special one-way fares from here (San Jose del Cabo - SJD) to LA ($178) and Portland ($219).  Check it out!!  Maybe some of my lady friends would like to come down for our church's Ladies Conference March 20 - 21???  

 This photo of the dogs is on the window seat next to my piano, where they have to be whenever I'm playing the piano!  They love their music....or they love the soft seat in the sunshine close to wherever I happen to be!  

Last week was Dia de la bandera in Mexico (flag day).  That's the only day they put up the Mexican flag on the Flag Monument near us.  They have a big celebration and speeches and a band and choir.  We can see it from our house, and always appreciate it when it's up.  It's a very impressive sight!  Here it is from the south side (the lighting was a bit better).

I've started a March 2015 Picasa album.  Not much in it yet, but there will be!  I even set it up so you can get into it and look!  

Hasta la proxima semana,

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey