Pic-of-the-Month for November 2022

 Hola Amigos,

This is our first bunch of bananas this season.  All either frozen or eaten!

October was a strange month for us this year!  About a week after we got back home, the pump in the city well gave out.  The entire pueblo of Buena Vista was without water.  Not just for a couple days, either!  We figure it was about 21 days before we heard water running in our pipes again.  We've never seen anything like this in our 20+ years here.  Fortunately, we have a 5000 liter tank buried in our garage to hold our water supply.  So, our house had running water and we could wash dishes, flush, shower (quickly!),  our neighbors, who didn't have a pila, came over and showered, and I did one load of laundry during that time.  We watered our outdoor plants with that pila, a bucket or watering can at a time!  Ben had started garden seedlings, so we had to pay careful attention to those babies!  All our outdoor sprinklers are from city water, not from our pila (water tank).  There was a lot of cheering going on when the water started running again.  Fortunately, there were water trucks making deliveries regularly (for free), and we were scheduled to get water the day it came back on.  The good news, our tank still had 1/4 volume left after 21 days.  

Our first guests of the year arrived October 24 (when we were on water reserves!).  My sister Shelley FINALLY made it down here, and she invited her husband's cousin, Mary.  We had a great time visiting, playing Mexican Train, touring the countryside, and eating good food every opportunity we had.  (They also sampled quite a few Margaritas from various restaurants and bars around town!)  I also made them fans of our niece, Kendra Elliot, who writes mystery novels based in the Pacific Northwest.  I have three of her books in our library, and they each read all three!  I think they're hooked!  

Shelley and Mary.  They spent a lot of time enjoying this view from our veranda.

 They're not smiling in this picture because it was almost time to go to the airport and head back home!  

I mentioned in the last P-O-T-M that I was going to do the American Cancer Society Breast Cancer walk, with a goal of walking 35 miles for the month and raising $$ for ACS.  Well, I walked 75 miles and made $$$!  I had my friend Jill walking with me many days this month, and Shelley joined me a few times, too.  AND.... My walking goal for the year (of 600 miles) was met today on my morning walk!  TA-DA!!!   The great things about my walks is I get to walk on the beautiful beach here, and until Daylight time ended last weekend, I captured some gorgeous sunrises over the Sea of Cortez. 

Ben has been very busy getting our garden ready.  He's hauled cow manure from our Rancher friend Arturo's place, ordered limo (top soil) and has tilled much of our garden space.  We have several squash that are doing very well (thanks Carolyn S. for the seed!) and now have cucumber starts in the ground.  He's also made several trips to La Paz to get some oil changes done on the truck, and fix a boo-boo on the Roadster.  We have a car show scheduled in La Paz for the weekend after Thanksgiving, the first one in a very long 2 years.  

Speaking of Model A's, Ben was asked by our friend Evelyn, manager of our favorite restaurant La Playa, if he could drive her and her Mom to the church for her wedding, and her and the groom back to the reception.  That involved getting the '28 Woody ready to run (putting the battery back in, checking tire pressure, topping off the gas tank, dusting and polishing the whole thing, and a test drive with Shelley and Mary).  Everything worked as expected, bride was delivered at the appropriate time, and bride and groom delivered back to the reception.  

The reception was at the newly remodeled La Playa restaurant, and it was amazing!  Live music (a Cuban salsa band), then a Mariachi band, then a light show and DJ music until 3 in the morning. (We went home well before that!)  The drinks were abundant, and the food was delicious.   

The October 2022 album has pics of the wedding, walks, company, and other things that tickle my fancy.

Zoey is aging, not so gracefully.  She had a nasty infection in an eye that involved several vet visits and 10 days worth of medication....again!  She's doing much better now, and occasionally will go on a short walk with me.  She really WANTS to go, but man, is she slow!  Especially heading back home!  

Friends Katie and Mel showed up last night....in the dark....tired to the bone!  They traveled the length of the Baja Peninsula in 2 long days, driving her big old dually and towing a little car.  Turns out they said they'd cross the border on the 3rd, and I told them I'm flying out to Oregon for a week on the 4th!  So they hurried on down here to visit before I left town.  Anyhow, it's another new experience for them, as they have their Chocolate Lab pup Cocoa to get used to Baja.  She's doing pretty good so far! 

Pouring the roof with a pumper truck. 

Our neighbors house is going up quickly.  The roof is poured and they are doing the finish plastering now.  They hope to move in by February....maybe!  Amazingly, this crew doesn't play loud music!  Brian told them I loved music, but they resisted!  (Thankfully!)  They have a few of the crew living on site in a little plywood shack.  That's fine, except that now Zoey loves to go over there and check for any food or bones that might be laying around.  I had to go over there one midnight in my jammies carrying a flashlight to find her and drag her back home after she told me she was just going out to go potty!  

 

Yes, I will be in Oregon for a week, and of course, the forecast is for COLD and SNOW in the Bend area.  Good grief.  Anyhow, my trip involves a couple visits to the dermatologist and whatever else I can fit in, if I can get around OK!  Thanks to my friends Tony and Janet for A) putting up with me    OR   B) putting me up!  

In the meantime, 4 out of 4 Egrets approve of the fact that we are back in Baja and that I can take photos of them.

Hasta la proxima vez,

Tus amigos en Baja, 

Harriet, Ben & Zoey