Pic-of-the-Month for December 2020

 Hola Amigos!

Feliz navidad y prospero año nuevo!  What a year, huh?  But when we can enjoy God's creation in this beautiful place, we count ourselves blessed!  

We are healthy, happy, busy, and enjoying our life at home and in our little community.  Healthy is a good thing to be in 2020!  I have been walking 6 days a week, usually between 2.5 miles and 3.5 miles.  I walk through sand on the beach (like in the picture), I walk on roadways, I walk on a few trails through the arroyo, up and down hills.  Sometimes, I walk to the flag monument (when I'm feeling very ambitious!) and when Zoey is not with me.  I feel like I've accomplished a great feat when I get up there!  In the picture below, that point of beach sticking out just to the right of center is the same one above in the picture above...just a different perspective.  Anyhow, that picture pretty much contains our house and where I walk.  Los Barriles is at the next point of beach sticking out across the little bay.

Ben has taken on the garden this year for his project.  We are getting some nice results already, in spite of the mystery creatures who have eaten almost every pepper plant, quite a few corn sprouts, most of the lettuce that has sprouted, and have nibbled on just about everything else!  Our first corn crop is sending out tassels!  I'm picking green beans from our bush bean plants, picking cucumbers and Patty Pan squash, and just about ready to harvest some Beet greens.  Our tomato plants have set on fruit, and most of the squash and cucumber plants are producing.  Ben has put in an irrigation system that is pretty slick (as long as the timers and valves work!) and he's out watering (by turning a dial) most mornings.  

Yesterday Ben decided to remove a huge agave and a large nopal type cactus in the front north-east corner of our yard.  That involved the Jeep and winch and chain!  It worked, and today he is taking wheelbarrow loads of stuff to our pile of garden refuse, that seems to be getting bigger and taller all the time!  When we get that all cleaned up, he's going to extend the water line he put in earlier to water whatever goes there.  I'm hoping for some pretty flowers, but probably not Bougainvillea!  (Pretty, but very thorny!)  

One other major project we worked on is that Ben severely pruned our Mesquite tree; Ben finally got to use his new chain saw, which works very well.  It will eventually come down all the way and we'll encourage the San Juan tree growing right next to it to take over.  Mesquite trees have serious thorns on them, so dealing with them is not fun!  We both ended up scratched up after this!  We hauled all the branches over by our fire pit, Ben cut them up into fire pit sized pieces, and I pitch-forked the little leafy branches in piles.  We have been enjoying fires this fall on non-windy evenings, since we do have a nice sized pile of firewood now!  

Another of Ben's projects is to get the 1956 Willy's Jeep running properly.  Soon, he'll have the right combination of carburetor, clean radiator, properly working fan and whatever else it might take to get it to go uphill on a bumpy road without dying or overheating!  We took a ride with some friends a couple weeks ago in the hills to the west of us, and were kicking ourselves for not getting up there a few years sooner!  What beautiful country!!  

This is a canyon where I wouldn't want to be on a rainy day, but it was cool on this day!

We have also been going out the Los Frailes to visit our friends Katie & Mel and enjoying Taco Tuesday with them at La Palapa Restaurant in Cabo Pulmo.   The road hasn't been too awful, and we heard rumors from a person in the know that the pavement would be done all the way to Cabo Pulmo, but it was going to take 5 years or something like that!!  For 5 miles of road!!!  That will be a major improvement for that area.  Some people in the area have fought the development of that road for years, but it looks like it will finally happen.

We had a guest, our niece Chrys from Sisters was here a short time, and spent hours walking the beach and to and from town.  She also came across some baby turtles hatching on the beach, so that was exciting for her!  She loves it here, and would spend more time except for those 2 boys of hers back home!  

We have a "new" Christmas tree this year.  During our house painting last spring, the old one somehow disappeared.  We got this one from a rancher friend who also sells Farm Cheese.  We did two things on one trip when we got our tree!  For those who don't know, this is an Agave bloom stalk.  They last for years, if you don't abuse them.  

We wish all of you a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Please stay healthy, and count and enjoy your blessings!

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet & Ben, Sam & Zoey

Here's the link to 2020 December pictures!