Hola Amigos,
Almost another month has passed since my last letter, so I felt it was time to catch up! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter to celebrate the fact that Jesus is Risen!
The flower is from our Psuedobombax Elipticum tree (or, easier to remember "Shaving Brush Tree".) Blooms are hand size! They last one day and fall off.
During the Easter Holiday long weekend, the neighborhood was jumping with about a zillion extra campers on the beach, who regularly drove by our house on their way to or from the beach. It is amazing how many tents and cars and campfires and extra canopies and picnic stuff can be put on the beach, and campers were stretched for miles each way from us. It was so full, Zoey and I avoided the beach most of the week (I can't trust her to not eat chicken bones and/or other "treats" from the beach!) There were organized games like volleyball, loud music that goes all night, and gallons of beer drunk! It is the favorite time of year for Mexicans to vacation on the beach. Everyone gets Easter time off (it seems) and the weather is not too hot and not too cold or windy. It didn't even rain this year! Here's the scene on the beach just over 1/2 mile from our casa.
Ben has made great progress with the Model A and the Jeep. The Jeep now has roll bars AND a cover. Ben's project today is painting the roll bars (he tried to price the cost of powder-coating, but didn't get far.) He's pretty good with a can of spray paint, and it's almost done. It went a lot faster than he thought. The sun was getting hot enough that he moved the trailer into the carport to finish the job! It does make a nice painting platform up off the dirt! Anyhow, the bars should quit rusting now, and look very nice.
The flower is from our Psuedobombax Elipticum tree (or, easier to remember "Shaving Brush Tree".) Blooms are hand size! They last one day and fall off.
During the Easter Holiday long weekend, the neighborhood was jumping with about a zillion extra campers on the beach, who regularly drove by our house on their way to or from the beach. It is amazing how many tents and cars and campfires and extra canopies and picnic stuff can be put on the beach, and campers were stretched for miles each way from us. It was so full, Zoey and I avoided the beach most of the week (I can't trust her to not eat chicken bones and/or other "treats" from the beach!) There were organized games like volleyball, loud music that goes all night, and gallons of beer drunk! It is the favorite time of year for Mexicans to vacation on the beach. Everyone gets Easter time off (it seems) and the weather is not too hot and not too cold or windy. It didn't even rain this year! Here's the scene on the beach just over 1/2 mile from our casa.
Zoey and I are continuing to walk 6 days a week. Since I started keeping track with an App on my phone in January, we've walked over 200 miles! The new tennis shoes I bought for hiking are already starting to wear in places... I guess I'm a bit rougher on them and should really have some hiking shoes...something else to look for this summer in Oregon.
For the first time in YEARS, I took an art class offered here locally. This one was Watercolors, and I had a grand time. The instructor, a Mexican named Jose Herrera Gallegos from Oaxaca, is a renown artist, and recently won prizes for his work in Argentina. I've never really done watercolors, so was pleased with the results (after good instruction and some hands-on help from Jose!) My favorite piece of the week that I did was on day 4, when we were to do an animal. I chose Zoey, and this is what I came up with...
I had so much fun doing this, that I've ordered art supplies (I had nothing) and I'm hoping they'll arrive, along with our friends John H and Sue, next week. He's flying his own plane, so is on his own schedule! We'll know they're here when he flies by or gives us a call, and we'll go pick them up wherever they land (usually Punta Pescadero, the closest paved runway).
Ben has made great progress with the Model A and the Jeep. The Jeep now has roll bars AND a cover. Ben's project today is painting the roll bars (he tried to price the cost of powder-coating, but didn't get far.) He's pretty good with a can of spray paint, and it's almost done. It went a lot faster than he thought. The sun was getting hot enough that he moved the trailer into the carport to finish the job! It does make a nice painting platform up off the dirt! Anyhow, the bars should quit rusting now, and look very nice.
On the Model A soft top, we added the valance that we forgot the first time around! Ben had to pull a bunch of staples, remove the "hide-em" welt, put on the valance, and then put on a new strip of "hide-em" welt. It looks very nice. We're still not sure what the valance is for, other than to look nice. That job is done now, so the car is "original"! By the way, the air-driven staple gun Ben bought was a godsend for this project! We couldn't even imagine trying to hammer in a bunch of little upholstery nails! This picture is before the Hide-em welt was added....you can see the row of staples at the top of the valance.
This is after the Hide-em welt. Hopefully, later this week, Ben will take this car into the body shop that did the paint and body work last year. They promised to go over it with a magnifying glass and repair any dents and scratches caused by putting it together, and also repair some orange peel. It should be gorgeous! Then, there is a car show in May where it will have its debut! Should be fun.
Our garden is mostly finished. I harvested all our corn and froze it. We had some for Easter dinner and it was delicious. There are still a few beans producing, but they're getting tired! (Or I'm getting tired...six of one, half a dozen of the other!!) The remains of the crops go across the fence for the cows and burros...the landscape is quite dry right now so I know they appreciate the extra. Oh, and just as I finished this, a burro family came by, so we fed them some of our old corn stalks. Included in this group, the newest baby! So cute!! This one even tried eating some of the corn, even though it's only days old.
We have some company coming next week, and Ben's brother John will be coming in late May. It's a beautiful time of year here right now, and we don't leave until late June. Come on down and check it out!
Oh yes...I do have an April 2019 photo album with a few more pics. Check out those Grandkids (and burros!). I'll get to see 3 of the grandkids this summer in Oregon. 😉
Hasta la proxima vez,
Tus amigos de Baja
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey
