Pic-of-the-Week for April 15, 2014

Hola Amigos,

Tuesday keeps rolling around, so you get another peek and taste of life in Baja yet again!  

It has been a more quiet week since we had no guests, and things got done around the house and yard.  Ben "attacked" our Mesquite tree out front, since it has grown enough to block some of our upstairs view.  We just hope that it isn't in shock from the severe pruning!  The birds may be missing their favorite branches, but the ones that are left are easier to get to!

This is the view from upstairs now... no bushy branches impeding the view!
 

We've been watching the progress of construction on the house in Vista del Mar, and they did a roof pour on Saturday.  They had about 30 workers, two concrete mixers, lots of buckets and wheelbarrows, sand, gravel, cement and water.  Everyone had a position to work, and they got it done.  

Here's a link to a video I took that shows the process, and the owners watching from the neighbor's house.  Roof Pour in Baja  It was a hot day, and these guys were all out there until the job was done!  They are hard workers.  Walls are going up quickly this week. 

A couple weeks ago I told you about the Pyrrhuloxia ... the Cardinal looking bird.  I had one visiting the feeder a few days ago while I had my camera close by, so I got several good shots of this guy.  His top knot is sparse, but fun!  In contrast, here's the Cardinal sitting in the neighbor's tree. His hairdo looks like he uses butch wax!!  Neat and tidy and up there!  

Last night we enjoyed dinner on the veranda with friends who have a condo at Mar y Sol.  We enjoyed the view, the meal, the moonrise and visiting with friends.  They, like many other friends here, only come on vacation, but are thinking seriously about retirement and more time here.  They do have a lovely spot! This is the view from their balcony towards our casa.

Then the full moon rose (and I didn't have my "good" camera").  Just gorgeous!  And no, I didn't get up later that night (or early this morning) to get pictures of the Blood Moon eclipse.  Slept right through! 
 

We did enjoy our fresh Baja fish dinner al fresco with friends in candlelight and moonlight!  

More photos are in our April 2014 Picasa album.   If any of you are having trouble getting to our "real" album, just add this to the end of the URL address, and it should go to the correct album instead of the Google Plus album. 
?noredirect=1

Easter is next Sunday, and we're preparing for another sunrise service on the beach.  Just in case you can make it, it starts at 6:15AM this year.  Sunrise is at about 7AM!   

Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos en Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Week for April 8, 2014

Hola Amigos,

We had a busy week with our guest Lydia, all the way from Austria.  She went touring around the countryside; north, south, and east.  She went to a style show and bought some really neat new clothes, she went to an all you can eat ribs and chicken dinner and concert, she shopped for souvenirs, she toured deserted beaches and mountainside villages.  She had a great time here (she said) except for the sunburn she got when she went kayaking.  YES, she used sunscreen, but with an hour on the water around noon, and possibly some of it washing off as she waded in the water to the kayak, it wasn't as strong as it could be.  Anyhow, I took her to the doctor, and even that visit was enjoyable.  Very short wait, prescriptions written and filled, very reasonable prices, and a good looking doctor!  She was happy!

 As you can see from the photo below, we had quite a regatta!  Good thing Jim and Pat have 3 kayaks so we could borrow one!  And I have to admit that I got a sunburn on my back (I'm in the green kayak on the left.)  I was so anxious to get into my kayak that I forgot to have Ben put sunscreen on my back.  I had done my legs and arms...that back is tough to reach!) 

Jim even mounted a sail on his Hobie Cat.  He said it had been in the package it arrived in for about 5 years.  In spite of light winds, he was able to get it to work and move his kayak pretty well.  

Sam and Zoey appreciated their time on the beach, but Zoey hates it when I am in the water.  She barks and barks and barks and we can't get her to shut up!  Argh!  She's just fine when I'm sitting on the beach with her in the shade!  Sam is very happy to wade in the water, but not Zoey.  Both Ben and I carried her out to about 1 foot deep water (which is over these guys' heads) and let her swim to shore.  She didn't like that much, either!!!  She can swim just fine...she just hates water!  

Lydia left yesterday, and as of 7am our time, is waiting in London for her flight to Austria.  Ugh.  Reminds me of some long trips I've taken like that.  She does love to travel, though!  

One of the things we like to do is share our great seafood with our guests, either at home, or in some of the restaurants around town.  Since Lydia said she didn't like shrimp or scallops or other seafood, we thought we were a bit hampered.  Then we found out the she didn't "not like it", she just didn't know what she was missing!  I gave her a bite of my coconut shrimp one night, and she decided that's what she'd order next visit.  She also enjoyed our salt water fish, as opposed to the fresh water fish she normally eats at home.  Anyhow, we all ate very well!  We even invited friends to join us in the banquet!  This is a photo of very satisfied diners after another great meal at El Barrilito! 

 
So, on the home front, the garden is doing well.  My beans are going crazy putting on new blooms (I guess it pays to water them deep and often!) so I'll be picking beans and processing (and eating) beans for the next several weeks.  Our Shaving Brush tree is about done blooming, but it did have flowers while Lydia was here so she got to enjoy it, too.  

Our calendar is pretty empty until our next guest arrives in May.  I guess Ben will start working on his boat (again) and think about putting it in eventually.  Our departure date seems to be creeping up, so I'm not sure how long the boat will be in (if it gets put in).  If he doesn't get busy fishing, he might have to work on the "honey-do" list that he created for himself this last fall! 

I have started an April 2014 Picasa album.  I've even got captions on most of the photos. 

Ryan is still busy in San Diego, so until next week, it's just 
Tus amigos de Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Week for April 1, 2014

Hola Amigos,
Well, Ben and I have made a major decision to give up life here in Baja and move north.  HAH!!!  April Fool's!!!  Not ready to do that yet.  We've lived in each of our homes about 16 years, and we've only been here 11 years and a few months (we moved in Dec 2002), so we have a few years yet!  Better get your reservations in for a visit before we move somewhere not as fun!

We picked up our current guest Lydia on Sunday evening from the SJD airport.  It's the latest we remember ever picking anyone up, but she had a long, long trip to get here.  She is from Austria!  She flew from Vienna to London to Dallas to San Jose del Cabo!  Phew.  Almost as much fun as my trips to Jordan.  Anyhow, she made it safely and is enjoying her vacation here so far.  She was pleasantly surprised by her view of the Sea of Cortez from upstairs yesterday morning, since she arrived in the dark the night before. 

We took her to the lighthouse beach yesterday.  We haven't been there in ages because some big company bought a bunch of property out there and fenced off the access road to the lighthouse.  The company has since folded and we could again drive out there.  (Thanks to our friend Harold for reminding us where the first part of the road was located!)  

 They have built a new lighthouse since we've been here (the taller one on the right). 

 I told Lydia her outfit matched the colors of the water quite nicely!  Water was a bit too cool for swimming, at least for us.  She said her mother would love it!
 

This sailboat went by while we were there, and ended the day moored in front of Los Barriles.  There was a nice south breeze to get them there!  

We were disappointed in the lack of shells on the beach.  When we first vacationed here in the 1980's, this beach was loaded with all kinds of beautiful shells.  There are just bits and pieces now.  I guess the advent of the ATV access has made it easy for more people to pick them up.  

Other tours around the area are planned for the next several days; and probably some good old relaxing time, too.  And of course, we'll sample some delicious Mexican food from our local restaurants!  Last Friday, we went with friends Tony and Janet to La Trinidad restaurant near La Ribera.  We were pleasantly surprised by the good food and the ambiance of the place, and we'll probably go back, now that the days are getting longer (and Daylight time begins in Mexico this next weekend).  We DO NOT like driving after dark, since this is free range country and cows and horses and goats and sheep are all black at night! 

Cactus are blooming now, which makes a lot of the birds happy.  This is blooms from a Cardon, with many left to bloom.  Again, like many cactus, the bloom lasts one day.

 And to see how big these things can get, here's a shot of Lydia in front of one that must be well over 100 years old.  People have carved their names in the trunk of this one!

 
I've added some final photos to our March 2014 album (they were taken in March, after all).  Just look near the bottom of the album for the newest ones. 

Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos de Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey (who caught a lizard when we were gone yesterday and left it at our back door!)  

Pic-of-the-Week for March 25, 2014

Hola amigos!

Another week has flown by, and it is definitely getting more "spring-like" all the time.  We have enjoyed eating most of our meals on our front veranda, in spite of the construction noises going on down in Vista del Mar.  They usually start the concrete mixer when we sit down to a meal!  We went upstairs to enjoy the view from our table on the roof deck a few days ago, and realized that our mesquite tree is about 5' too tall and is blocking the view from there!  Ben needs to get out a ladder and saw and clippers and do some serious pruning to restore our view!  When our gardener comes on 
Wednesday, Ben will work with her to get this job done!

 

This view is to the east a bit, and it is how we'd like the view from the table to look!  A bit less "bushy".   

While sitting on the veranda, we always enjoy watching our various birds, especially the Cardinal.  Whenever we come out, he will let us know that his feeder is empty!   Last night, we saw a close relative of the Cardinal, a Pyrrhuloxia.  I didn't manage to get a photo of him, but you can see what he looks like here:  Pyyrrhuloxia 

This photo in the link is from the book "Birds We See", produced by people here in our area of Baja.  Great book! 

 

 

I finished my latest quilt project, and really like how it turned out.  It sure was a lot of itsy bitsy pieces, but I did finish up several fabrics that I've been using pieces of for years!  Now I need to deliver it to my friends who do the quilting (and put in the batting and attach the backing).  They actually have a vacation home down here just a few miles from us, so that is convenient!  They'll be leaving in early April.  Phew!  I made the deadline!  I'll finish it up when I get to Oregon this June by putting on the binding. This is for our newest niece (Greg & Cherlenne's baby) due in late April.  

Other exciting news (for us!) is that our  "Shaving Brush Tree", or Pseudobombax ellipticum is blooming again!  Hooray!!  It is so showy, and we're counting the blooms.  The bad part is that they only last one day, so when they do fall, we pick them up off the ground and put them in a little vase in the house, where they last a few more days.  We grew this tree from seed, and have waited quite a few years for it to bloom (while the trees we gave to friends bloomed like crazy!)   The blooms are hand-sized! 

 

Ben, when he's not helping someone one else with some project or another, has started to work on his boat to get it ready to put in the water in a few weeks, and a few other woodworking projects for our "summer home" (our trailer).  He has not yet run out of things to do, or become bored down here!  We just hope he has some time to go fishing this spring before it's time to head north!

Check out our March 2014 Picasa album for more photos; I'll probably have some captions on them very soon.  

Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos de Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey

 

Pic-of-the-Week for March 18th, 2014

Hola Amigos!

We have had a great week...it is always fun when we have guests.  Oh, the places you'll go and the things you'll see!  Well, we've mostly seen them before, but it is fun seeing them through the eyes of a new guest!  Our niece Chrys took a quick break from work; she came on Thursday and is leaving today, but she knew how to take advantage of her short time.  I showed her the way to the beach on Thursday, and she's been down there several times a day since!  She has taken serious walks; once all the way to Rancho Leonero and back (about 6 or 7 miles total).  It is rather rare seeing someone walking the beach in some of that area, since it is rather remote!  Several people going by on ATV's checked with her to make sure she was OK!  She spotted Flat Top butte on her hike and said to herself she'd like to climb up that hill, so Ben took her yesterday.  Here's the view from there, showing where she had hiked on Sunday!

Rancho Leonero is in the extreme right in the photo above.
 

And....our house is there at the extreme left of the bay.  Just a bit of a hike!  

She also got out in our kayak and had a fun time doing that before it got too windy.  She tried it again yesterday, but said the big swells were a bit disconcerting!  We had a very windy day on Sunday; kind of a last hurrah for winter winds!  At least the sail boarders were happy!  And on her walk this morning, she said the water was perfect for kayaking... she just couldn't haul it down to the water by herself.  :-(

Also in town this week is our friend Sharon from Canada.  We never know who will show up in town, or when, but it is always a pleasant surprise when old friends arrive!  We had her over for dinner so we could catch up on all the things going on in her life in the wilderness of Ontario!  She house and dog sat for us once when our old dog Max was still kicking, and we took a trip somewhere or the other...

Speaking of our house, I showed Chrys where we used to live in Vista del Mar, and it has changed a bit!  The owners had the place torn down so it will probably be easier to sell.  Hard to imagine our little casita here now!  But yes, we lived in that little dirt patch!  

Ryan is still in San Diego doing a remodel project for a friend.  He says it is going well, and he is enjoying time with his friend.  

OK.... I've got to get ready to take Chrys to the airport.  Our dogs have really appreciated having her here because she took over Ryan's dog petting duties.  They'll hate to see her leave!  Ben is off on another trip to La Paz this morning.   Hope you all had a great St. Patrick's day, if you are Irish or if you celebrate it!  It was also an official Mexican holiday yesterday; Benito Juarez day.  He served as President of Mexico for 5 terms in the 1800's.  (That's your Mexican history lesson for the day!)

More photos are posted in our March 2014 Picasa album.  You can check out my quilt progress and garden progress!  

Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos de Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey


 

Pic-of-the-Week for March 11

Hola Amigos!

It has been a lovely week... the weather is thinking seriously of forgetting about all that winter wind and just settling down to some nice calm spring-like days.  "Thinking" about it means that we still have windy days now and then, and some clouds, but we've really had a wonderful stretch of nice weather.  

Just look at this view from La Palapa restaurant in Cabo Pulmo, where we went on Saturday to visit with friends Katie and Mel.  (Yes, that is someone wading in the water).  That is CALM water! 

Katie and Ben attended grade school together in Bend, lo, many years ago, and he discovered last year that she has been coming down to Baja for years, spending her time in the "wilderness" at Los Frailes.  This was our "good-bye" get together, as they left Sunday to return to Oregon.  We don't get together very often, since it is a one hour drive over some serious wash-board roads from our house to Cabo Pulmo.

On our drive to Cabo Pulmo, we passed a truck hauling a trailer which was stopped beside the road.  The trailer was hauling a small float plane, and they were tying it down a bit more securely.  The wings were loaded on top of the pickup.  

We asked Mel and Katie if they had seen this plane, and they said that they had.  These fellows were filming giant Manta Rays at Cabo Pulmo.  They'd fly over them, then the camera man, who was also a diver, would jump into the water and continue filming under water!  Unfortunately, they had a little accident and the plane is a bit "skee-jawed" and is in need of repair.  After our hour long lunch and visit, we saw them just a bit further down the road, again tying the plane down! (It is a very bumpy road!)  

Ben wants you to know a little more about our favorite chef in town, Francisco (or Pancho) from El Barrilito.  #1  He is a fantastic chef, and makes the most delicious scallop appetizers we've ever had.  #2  He is a bullfighter!!!  No kidding.  He took a week off (his wife Nancy wouldn't let him do it for 2 weeks) to go to mainland Mexico (Jalisco, I think) and do some bull fighting.  Well, he doesn't have a cape or swords, like a normal matador.  He does Portuguese Bullfighting, which includes a team of men (forcados) who goad the bull (no capes, no swords, just a silly green hat on the first guy).  These 8 to 10 men surround the bull's head, doing a procedure called a pega de cara or "face catch" and grab his tail, and basically subdue the bull (he can't see, so doesn't move...too much).  Pancho showed us some pictures, and said that he was the first guy and wears the silly green hat!  Good grief!  Here is a LONG video of a Portuguese bull fight.  The forcados are about 16 minutes into it.  It takes two attempts, and then there is the fellow who hangs on to the tail!  He is muy bravo!!!   
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQh8A4ez_Rc    Or, here is a much shorter video with just the "Forcados" portion of the bull fight.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRzPPThS_M0  and here is another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW56Yr6iZVo (this one is 7 minutes and somewhat violent, but has multiple attempts of Forcados doing a pega de cara!)   Does this look like fun, or what???

The interesting part about Pancho doing this fun thing is that he has terrible eyesight!  He says his team points him in the right direction, and he can "kind of" see the bull!!!  Yikes!  We were very happy that he was home, safe and sound.  He said he had a few nasty bruises, and was a bit sore.  I told him I hoped he was paid sufficiently for his troubles, and he said it's all volunteer!!!  Oh my!  No wonder Nancy wouldn't let him spend another week doing this!  Here's the latest scallop appetizer he prepared:  Scallops stuffed with shrimp, with cilantro sauce and hot chili sauce.  Yummmmm....  We just ask him for a scallop appetizer....it is something different, and delicious, every time we visit!  

And then Ben thought I needed the delicious flan at the end of the meal.  I agreed!

On the home front, my green beans are producing (yea!) and the papaya tree will be producing for some time yet!  We get about one a week off of this tree.  And a banana tree has finally started blooming!  We won't see those bananas until the end of summer.  If we're lucky, they might be producing in October. 

I take Sam and Zoey for walks on the beach several times a week, and they love it.  Hard to believe that Sam could barely walk when we got back here in October.  He loves his beach walks, as does Zoey.  

Ryan has been painting our casa, and it is looking very nice.  He is going to go visit and help a friend in San Diego for a while, so we will continue to have more than two colors for our house until he gets back to finish the job.  We'll keep people guessing about our color scheme in the mean time!

I spotted some wildflowers blooming on our beach walk, and couldn't resist taking a photo.  I don't know what they are, but I like them!  Hope you do, too. 

I have posted some more photos in the March 2014 Picasa album.  I might even have captions on most of the photos by the time you take a peek.  

We have company coming on Thursday... a niece from Oregon who has a brand new passport that needs a stamp in it!  We're looking forward to her visit.  

Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos en Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Week for March 4, 2014

Hola Amigos,

We have had a quiet week at home...no guests right now, so we have some time to get some chores taken care of around here.  Ryan has been painting our outside walls; over the years we seem to have accumulated a number of colors on our two tone house.  Paint fades, of course, but there is also the fact that the paint store can never seem to exactly match colors!  Anyhow, it is looking much better as Ryan goes around the casa with his paint roller and cans of paint. 

Another chore that got done yesterday was to hire someone to spray for mosquitoes.  This has been a terrible mosquito year, and I wish we would have known about this guy a while ago!  He comes out of La Paz a couple times a month, and it was a bit windy for spraying yesterday, but we had it done anyway.  He drove his truck right through our neighboring lot and sprayed our "jungle" in the front of the casa (towards the beach).  If you need your mosquitoes sprayed, you now have all the information you need there on his truck! 

Our weather has been great for February and early March.  There are fewer windy days than normal, and the temps are higher than normal.  We may be in for a HOT summer here!  Good thing we'll be in the Pacific Northwest!    We're leaving here at the end of May this year, so I've determined that there is not time to plant my corn crop and have it mature in time for us!  Phooey!  That wasn't very good planning on my part.  At least my green bean crop is doing well.  Ben took good care of the watering while I was gone, and we should have some beans to pick in a few days.  

We are very thankful for friends here in our community.  We were invited to Ray and Karen's for biscuits and sausage gravy breakfast last week!  What a treat.  Ray has been experimenting with his recipe faithfully for years, and it is a challenge here;  you can find ground pork, but not "sausage spiced" ground pork.  We have another friend who supplies the spices, and you have to experiment to determine how much spice to add to your pork.  Anyhow, Ray has it down very well, and we were the benefactors of his hard work.

Karen sets a beautiful table on their "mountain view front door" deck. 

And if you stay long enough, you can also sit in the shade of their "ocean view deck" and  have another cup of coffee.  

That's about all the excitement for this week.  We're looking forward to visiting friends who are spending the winter just over those hills in the distance in the photo above (at Los Frailes) this week for lunch before they head back to Oregon.  I've started a March Picasa Album.  Someone told me that my link took her to Google Plus, and that she had to sign up for Google Plus to make it work (which she didn't want to do).  I'm hoping that's not how it works for everyone.  Here is the direct link to our March 2014 album.  
https://picasaweb.google.com/105471094228418480553/201403March# 

Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos de Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey