Pic-of-the-Month for November 2025

Hola Amigos,

Happy 1st of December.  I didn't manage to get the Pic-of-the-Month out during November, but this is close for a short month! (Only 30 days in November, ya know!) 

We had another busy month.  Ben and two of our vehicles participated in the November 20 Revolution Day Parade in Los Barriles.  Queen Frida rode in neither of them...she decided on a horse!  (And all my pics of her and Ben's cars are on videos!  You'll have to look at the 2025-11-November photos album to check them out.)  This involved getting them both running and cleaned, which can be a big job.  They did fairly well in the parade, but Sandy had some trouble with the Jeep, so it's radiator is on the way to La Paz this week to fix a leak.  

Here's a bunch of high-school girls who were marching and dancing. These parades are very colorful!

 

Ben's 1928 Woody was full of "youthful" royalty.  Our friend Sandy drove the 1956 Willy's Jeep with last year's parade queen.  

Early in the month, I ruined my cell phone, and could not recover it.  We drove down to Cabo San Lucas and found a nice one at Walmart, and I switched in my original Sim card.  Unfortunately,  the new Mexican phone was locked to my AT&T Sim card and wouldn't work without wifi, and AT&T could drop service at any time.  Not good (and the locked Mexican phones was something I had completely forgotten about).  So, since I had friends coming from Oregon, I arranged for my nephew Bryan Purkey to shop for and buy me a similar new one, and my very good friends Katie and Mel Crabb brought it for me when they came on the 19th of this month.  I think I have everything working pretty well on it, and managed to get most of the data and apps copied over.  I am very thankful for technology, so that I can communicate with all of you from a 3rd world country!  

Speaking of Katie and Mel, the first full day they were here we took them to the parade, and while waiting for it to start, our friend Ruben drove by, and then parked and came back to give them hugs and chat!  They were thrilled!  This is the first time they've been here in almost 2 years, so are happy to see so many of their friends!  

They have been very busy cleaning up their wilderness camp, and were overwhelmed with all of the damage done by rats and mice to the 5th wheel parked up the arroyo at Las Frailes.  We have loaned them our little trailer, which is parked closer to the beach so Mel can go fishing (after he repairs the cow, mice and rat damage to his boat....getting close!)  So, they at least have a place to stay with a nice fridge, comfy beds, stove, an indoor toilet, and comfy seating.   

I've been walking with Gus and Pancho, and my friend Jill, and a few days with cousin Tom, who finally made it down here after dealing with some medical issues.  I did meet my adjusted November goal, and am going for a larger number for this month.  We'll see!  I have used an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of my daily mileage since 2022, and I have noted when I reached 700 miles last year, and several years before.  Those dates are coming up, and .... well.... I'm not doing that much this year!  Right now I'm just over 576 miles.  I'm hoping for 625 miles this year, and I'll be glad to get it.  I could blame the dogs, who refuse to move when they find a shady spot, and it's been hot longer, and I get tired, too!  I'm just glad I can get out and make it back home! We see some beautiful things on these walks, and it's a blessing to be able to get out and enjoy God's creation.

Ben's garden is growing leaps and bounds, with a few set backs.  The dogs got into one of the fenced garden areas and completely dug up a row of lettuce that was just sprouting.  OUCH!  Bad dogs!  They do love to dig, and have gotten some pretty big holes going, but the garden is NOT the place to do it.  So, Ben has replanted, and started closing the gate!  

The tomatoes have started to bloom, we've had some nice squash, radishes are very close to ready, and cucumbers are blooming.  Some good eating is planned for soon.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving Day dinner at our house.  Ben smoked the Butterball turkey we were able to get here locally, I made 2 pies, rolls, lots of mashed potatoes and gravy, and home canned green beans.  Friends brought side dishes and salads.  There were 10 of us here this year.  It was a great time with good friends.  (And a lot of leftover turkey!)

 That's about it for November.  Again, here's the link to the picture album for the month:   2025-11-November photos album .  Most of the pics have captions.  I must confess, the first picture in the album is from about 1994 or so, I think, and a photo I really love.  It's a pic our daughter Rebecca found in her files recently of Ben and I in front of our Salem home with the 1959 Ford Thunderbird that Ben restored.  We sold it after we moved to Mexico.  These roads are not conducive to driving a car that nice (and low)!  It was a very pretty car, and a job very well done (as usual) by Ben.

We are looking forward to this month with maybe a bit cooler weather (highs are still on the low 80's most days) and some fun activities, including a Feeding the Hungry ATV Fun ride on the 12th.  We talked Tom and Karan into going on that with us.  We are also planning a Christmas dinner with guests.  I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to bother with putting up a Christmas tree, because of the destructive pets in the house.  We'll see!  

We hope your Holiday Season is Merry and Blessed.  Remember that Jesus is the reason for the Season!  

Hasta la proxima vez.

Tus amigos,

Harriet, Ben, Gus & Pancho  

PS.  And Gus just came in with a chunk of cholla cactus stuck to his back, and rubbed my leg as he went by.  Ouch!  Part of the fun of having pups.