Hola Amigos,
What a difference a few weeks makes! The birds are still singing and the fish are still jumping, and in our first post at the beginning of March, we were not too concerned about the nasty Corona virus. But things changed rapidly here, as in the rest of the world!
We took my brother Rich to the airport on the 17th of March, and since then, have been mostly staying close to home and avoiding social contact. We canceled our "Feeding the Hungry" Fashion Show for the 20th of March (one of the first functions in the area to be canceled), and since then, every other social function has been canceled here, and around the world. Thank goodness we still have internet and telephone to communicate with each other. Even though we're "senior citizens", we've been trying to help others as the need arises, including several single ladies.
Today there are 10 confirmed cases in Baja California Sur, 8 in Cabo San Lucas and 2 in La Paz. The kite boarders are still out when the wind blows, but the Mexican Marine Board has closed the harbors; no fishing boats can go out, and no other boats are allowed to come into port or go out. I guess if you're on a yacht on the high seas, you'll just have to stay there! The airports are still open, but with a lot less flights. Depending on how this plays out, we may just be here a good part of the summer. We usually leave in late June. This year, who knows?! Will the border still be open? Will it be better or worse in Oregon? So, in the meantime, we're staying here and praying for the best outcome.
We do feel that this is a very safe place, and it is our only "home", so we are very comfortable, and our fridges and freezers are full...especially when friends leaving town empty their refrigerators in our direction! (We even have plenty of toilet paper on our Costco shelf!) My garden is also producing some wonderful green beans and tomatoes!
Now that we're home-bound, Ben is getting many "home improvement" or maybe just "home maintenance" projects done. He's cleaned his shop, waxed his tools, and is building a wooden rack for his drills to hang from. He refinished some old Mexican wooden chairs for our friend Pat, fixed this and that, and is just heading off to the hardware store for the 3rd time today to get a couple of new outdoor faucets for some that have broken recently. (Oops, I just broke one today!) We go to town for groceries, to go to the bank to get money (they limit it to 3 customers at a time inside), and to help the local economy, we occasionally eat out at several different restaurants who have the tables set far apart. I've been doing more cooking (since we're eating at home more often), and I've got several embroidery projects going. I'm also wanting to start a new quilt, and have a few pieces cut out, but changed my mind about how I want it to go together. So I'm still thinking about it!
Zoey and I are still walking. We haven't been going up to the monument, but still get in about 2.5 miles each day. Oh, that bright yellow flower I showed you in the last letter, and am showing you again? That is a Yellow Prickly Poppy, all parts of which are poisonous! You can even get sick if you drink milk from a cow who ate the plant! Our current orchid crop is doing fantastic. These are all plants that are blooming again. We've had them at least a year. I keep them outside on my courtyard counter (shaded with a palapa roof) when they're not blooming. They seem to like it! I'm also experimenting with our Dendrobium orchid, to see if I can start some new ones. I chopped some stems up, and have them in damp sphagnum moss.
Today, we managed to get a new project started, because it is pretty easy to maintain a social distance here. We are having the west wall of our house painted. It is BIG! The workers showed up just before 8am, as promised, and immediately went to work power washing the building. They are now patching all the cracks, and it's looking very nice. Ben went to the store and bought plenty of paint for them. They finished the cracks this afternoon, and are painting around windows and doors, doing edging. We are pleased with the work we see them doing. We got a price from several others for the entire house, and kind of choked! But we might have this fellow do some more of the house if we like what we see. By the way, the color should be very similar to what you see here. (We hope!!)
Here's what it looks like as they're starting to put paint on around the edges of windows and doors. We like it! You can see the new paint especially around the window and at the bottom of the wall.
What a difference a few weeks makes! The birds are still singing and the fish are still jumping, and in our first post at the beginning of March, we were not too concerned about the nasty Corona virus. But things changed rapidly here, as in the rest of the world!
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| Seen on my morning walk the other day; a Pitahaya cactus bloom. |
We took my brother Rich to the airport on the 17th of March, and since then, have been mostly staying close to home and avoiding social contact. We canceled our "Feeding the Hungry" Fashion Show for the 20th of March (one of the first functions in the area to be canceled), and since then, every other social function has been canceled here, and around the world. Thank goodness we still have internet and telephone to communicate with each other. Even though we're "senior citizens", we've been trying to help others as the need arises, including several single ladies.
Today there are 10 confirmed cases in Baja California Sur, 8 in Cabo San Lucas and 2 in La Paz. The kite boarders are still out when the wind blows, but the Mexican Marine Board has closed the harbors; no fishing boats can go out, and no other boats are allowed to come into port or go out. I guess if you're on a yacht on the high seas, you'll just have to stay there! The airports are still open, but with a lot less flights. Depending on how this plays out, we may just be here a good part of the summer. We usually leave in late June. This year, who knows?! Will the border still be open? Will it be better or worse in Oregon? So, in the meantime, we're staying here and praying for the best outcome.
 |
| A bucket of green beans |
We do feel that this is a very safe place, and it is our only "home", so we are very comfortable, and our fridges and freezers are full...especially when friends leaving town empty their refrigerators in our direction! (We even have plenty of toilet paper on our Costco shelf!) My garden is also producing some wonderful green beans and tomatoes!
Now that we're home-bound, Ben is getting many "home improvement" or maybe just "home maintenance" projects done. He's cleaned his shop, waxed his tools, and is building a wooden rack for his drills to hang from. He refinished some old Mexican wooden chairs for our friend Pat, fixed this and that, and is just heading off to the hardware store for the 3rd time today to get a couple of new outdoor faucets for some that have broken recently. (Oops, I just broke one today!) We go to town for groceries, to go to the bank to get money (they limit it to 3 customers at a time inside), and to help the local economy, we occasionally eat out at several different restaurants who have the tables set far apart. I've been doing more cooking (since we're eating at home more often), and I've got several embroidery projects going. I'm also wanting to start a new quilt, and have a few pieces cut out, but changed my mind about how I want it to go together. So I'm still thinking about it!
Zoey and I are still walking. We haven't been going up to the monument, but still get in about 2.5 miles each day. Oh, that bright yellow flower I showed you in the last letter, and am showing you again? That is a Yellow Prickly Poppy, all parts of which are poisonous! You can even get sick if you drink milk from a cow who ate the plant! Our current orchid crop is doing fantastic. These are all plants that are blooming again. We've had them at least a year. I keep them outside on my courtyard counter (shaded with a palapa roof) when they're not blooming. They seem to like it! I'm also experimenting with our Dendrobium orchid, to see if I can start some new ones. I chopped some stems up, and have them in damp sphagnum moss.
Today, we managed to get a new project started, because it is pretty easy to maintain a social distance here. We are having the west wall of our house painted. It is BIG! The workers showed up just before 8am, as promised, and immediately went to work power washing the building. They are now patching all the cracks, and it's looking very nice. Ben went to the store and bought plenty of paint for them. They finished the cracks this afternoon, and are painting around windows and doors, doing edging. We are pleased with the work we see them doing. We got a price from several others for the entire house, and kind of choked! But we might have this fellow do some more of the house if we like what we see. By the way, the color should be very similar to what you see here. (We hope!!)
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| Crowded beaches of Buena Vista; Los Barriles in the distance. Look! A family of 4!
We wish we could invite you down to enjoy quarantining with us at our casa in beautiful Baja, but that is just not practical, unfortunately. We hope that you are all staying healthy and filling your time with good things to do. Our children are isolated in their parts of the world, and are all good right now. Let us know how you are faring, and don't forget; GOD IS IN CONTROL of this world.
I leave you with this benediction from the book of Jude in the New Testament.
24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
I have added some new pictures to our March 2020 album. Enjoy!
Hasta la proxima vez
Tus amigos en Baja
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey
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