Pic-of-the-Week for November 13, 2012

Hola Amigos,

Another week gone, and the weather is turning more "winter-like" all the time.  We've had several cloudy days and several very windy days.  We're closing windows, turning the fans down, and wearing some warmer clothes (t-shirts instead of tank tops!)  I've even worn a light sweater the past few evenings when we ate out at open air restaurants!  

 Speaking of eating out, our friend Leo went out fishing on one of those windy days, and caught some nice Dorado.  He invited us to one of the local restaurants, where they'll cook the fish you bring in to your specifications.  Leo brought in 15 pounds for the 9 of us!  When they brought it out, we were surprised at how it had shrunk.  They did admit that they had trimmed it to remove the bloody parts, but Leo (who is a chef at his restaurant in Florence, Oregon) had already trimmed it.  Anyhow, we enjoyed it, and as you can see by the photos, we didn't leave much!  In fact, we ate the whole thing. 
 




<---------Dorado Empanada












Dorado al mojo de ajo, what's left of it!        ------->








Ben finally gave me a driving lesson in the Model A pickup the other day.  I didn't grind the gears too much, but he was grinding his teeth some of the time, I'm sure!  He said a couple times that my jerky driving would have thrown the princess right out of the back of the truck.  I didn't think it was THAT bad, but I do need a few more times to practice so I can get those gear changes nice and smooth.  The dang parade route has a bunch of topes (big speed bumps) so that always adds interest!  We have one more week until November 20, so we'll see!  (We need to be to the parade early in the morning, so count on this letter being late next week, AFTER the parade.)

Some of you ask us what we do for entertainment here, especially since we don't have a TV.  Well...we have quite a collection of geckos in our house...can't keep 'em out.  They do keep our bug population down inside the house.  A little gecko came out from behind our clock one day last week after spotting a little moth.  I took several photos of him waiting and calculating, but missed the quick kill!  

When we absolutely have to watch TV (an Oregon or Oregon State football game, for example) we go over to our friends Ellis and Marsha's house.  I get a kick out of their dog, Roger, who bellies up to the bar on their veranda and watches the beach, while we watch the game. Ellis said the dog used to jump up there to sit, but he fell off on the other side (which is quite a drop) several times, so they trained him to do this pose instead!   He can stand there for a long time.  

I showed you a photo of my old plant with new flowers last week.  This week, you get to see my new flowers with butterfly added.  Butterflies really like this plant, and they flittered around and landed often enough that I got a few good photos.

Don't you just love those little bloom buds?  Perfect little round balls that burst into beautiful bloom!  This butterfly likes them, too!  

Ben went shopping for me yesterday in La Paz.  My old keyboard had some problems...maybe serious, and he'd taken it into a repair man last week.  Ben had been shopping around for a new piano last week, and we decided this week that I NEED to have a keyboard in my house, so he bought me this one...

It is a Yamaha, somewhat similar to my old one, but with a lot more bells and whistles.  Fortunately, that's the owner manual there on the music holder, so I'll be able to figure it all out...eventually.  I'm really hoping that I can record music onto my PC.  There is a USB connection there on the right, and a CD to load on my computer, so it's looking very possible!  Poco a poco! (Little by little).  Then, he called the piano repair man as he was heading out of town, and the fellow said the old piano was repaired and works just fine.  So now I have TWO pianos.  I am truly blessed!  (Ben has two Model-A's, doesn't he?)  We actually have a place to use my old piano, so everything works out just fine.

More photos are posted in our November 2012 Picasa album.  I have made the album public, thanks to my friend Jill, who wanted to look at them last week but found she couldn't get to them.   New photos are at the end. 

Sam's foot is healing nicely.  The vet said yesterday that it looked just fine.  

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

Pic-of-the-Week for November 6, 2012

Hola Amigos,

November is here!  One of my favorite months in Baja, since it is a transition month between the hot humid days of summer and the cooler, windy days of winter.  We have windy days, and we have perfectly calm days, probably 50 / 50.  There is opportunity to use the kayak, walk the beach with the dogs, or garden in comfort.  There are also days when sitting on the veranda with a cool drink and a good book is the best option, because it can still get hot!!!  We've just got to be flexible!  Ben says that working in the garage on his cars gets more comfortable as it gets a bit cooler, because we never have installed the fans that we designed for the garage.   Maybe some year!  Anyhow, he is working on getting some new parts installed on his 1928 Martin Parry Woody.  Turns out there is a parade and car show in La Paz on November 24th and 25th, so we are planning on going and taking the Woody.  Our friend Hector Manuel Amarillas has posted a really cool poster on Facebook...our car is on it!  See it down there at the left bottom?

The Buick convertible to the right of our car won top prize this last spring.  Ben has also promised to teach me how to drive the 1929 Ford Model A Pickup so that we can take both vehicles to the parade in Los Barriles on November 20, Revolution Day.  Ben thinks he's going to be giving rides to the queen and all her court, but I told him the queen may have trouble riding in his car with her tall crown.  They don't mess around here.... crowns for the queens are substantial!!  Here's one from last year's parade. That's the queen riding in the back with the tall crown.  The princesses just have the little tiara.  We'll see!!! 

Halloween was this week, and yes...we had our contingent of trick-or-treaters.  They love the chocolate Hershey kisses and little candy bars we hand out.  I also gave out some sugar suckers that are coated with chili powder.  Believe it or not, those are very popular, and every Mexican kid loves them.  I don't!  I'm glad I managed to hand them all out to the kids (and their parents).  

 

Zoey is not too sure about that little devil in front!  

   This little one is not pouting...I think she's just eating a Hershey's Kiss! 

We have met some new friends.  Janet is a Eugene, Oregon gal, and Tony is from California (we won't hold that against him).  We took them on a ride on Sunday to Hotel Punta Pescadero, then on to El Cardonal, and back around to Los Barriles on the "Road to Nowhere" (which actually does go to El Cardonal these days...until it washes away!)    We came across this huge boulder on the top of a pile of dirt.  It was originally from a cut and fill operation when they built the road, and I think it is now someone's bad idea of a joke.  Someday that boulder is going to tumble down.  But in the meantime, someone has added a shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe at the bottom!  Amazing.  Add your candle at your own risk! 




 
 Sam had kind of a rough week.  He had a thorn in his paw that the local vet removed, but he still had an abscess.   So, I took him in to have the abscess taken care of, and decided to have his teeth cleaned at the same time.  (That's adding insult to injury!  He had no food or water that morning, and was a bit upset with me for feeding Zoey and NOT him!)  Poor guy. 

 Then I made him wear a bandage wrap so he wouldn't chew out his stitches.  It was very stylish, but he didn't care for it much!

He is doing well.  He hasn't removed the stitches, (he stops licking it when I ask him to stop)  and he has a few days worth of pills remaining, Then I'll take him back to the vet again to check it out.  He's a trooper!  In the meantime, he and Zoey have discovered a lizard residing underneath our car trailer, so they've been harassing that poor thing daily!  At least they are working in the shade!

Here's another flower that is blooming since we removed those invasive trees from the next door lot.  First time it has bloomed in about 5 years.  This is called a Bird of Paradise plant, although it is completely different than a "normal" Bird of Paradise.  It is still very pretty!

I have started a November Picasa Album for your enjoyment.  Included in the photos this week is a recent roof pour (yes, your casa, Mary) and more from our Sunday afternoon drive.

Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos de Baja,
Ben, Harriet, Ryan, Sam & Zoey (and a few harassed lizards!)  

Pic-of-the-Week for October 30, 2012

Hola Amigos,

October is winding down.... Halloween is tomorrow, All Saints Day is November 1.  Time keeps marching on!  Before we know it, it will be Thanksgiving! 

You may know that one of our last BIG purchases in the US was a new Webber Smoker that Ben decided he must have.  (Thanks for that great recommendation, Mike & Anne!)  On Sunday and Monday, Ben did a test by cooking a 15 lb turkey.  That means 8 hours in a brine bath (soaking it in water with a mixture of sugar, salt and spices), draining it and letting it dry in the refrigerator, then smoking it for approximately 8 hours in the smoker kettle over charcoal.  Of course, we invited some friends and neighbors over to help us eat it last night, and I must say, it was very successful.  Moist, tender, smokey flavored.... it was a winner.  Now, who is going to come down to visit us for Thanksgiving for the next smoked turkey???  The photo above is the concoction of spices that Ben came up with for the brine.  And believe it or not, I forgot to take a photo of the finished turkey nor our guests enjoying the early Thanksgiving-type dinner, but it was a beauty!

Some other neighbors came to visit the other day, and I did get some photos of them.  There is a family group of 4 burros who roam our neighborhood.  They were over the other day for some gumdrops.  These guys are wild, but they will eat right out of your hand and let you pet them.

Hee-haw!!!!  We love our gumdrops!

Full moon was last night, so we have had some high tides.  Combined with several windy days to make some big waves, it made for some pretty sights on the beach.   The log below is one Sam ALWAYS has to sniff and mark...but he didn't even get close on this trip!  Guess he wasn't ready to get his feet wet!  Besides, I'll bet all the good odors had washed away! 

We are enjoying the flowers in bloom around us; cactus, and all colors of wild flowers.  The San Miguel is a wild vine that will grow up trees and cactus, and has a bright red bloom.  The photos I took make it look pink (maybe there are different varieties?  I don't know!)  Anyhow, it sure adds a splash of color to the desert scenes around us this time of year.

Our funny little cactus is blooming nicely, too.  I think it appreciates the rains that we've had.  

I've added a few more photos to the end of our October 2012 Picasa album. 

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

Pic-of-the-Week for October 23, 2012

Hola Amigos,

We are enjoying the aftermath of Hurricane Paul.  It is lush and green, green, green here. We had no bad wind storms here on the Sea of Cortez side of Baja, just several days of heavy rain.  Of course, we had to drive into San Jose to deliver people to the airport on the worst day, but it was interesting to see what people have to deal with in the big towns.  There were some serious road washouts south of Loreto, however.  Here's a link to a YouTube video if you're interested.  Lots of water, and it closed Highway 1 for at least a day until they built detours around the washouts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6vtng50RHY&feature=player_embedded 

The photo below was from our drive into San Jose last Tuesday.  Yes, that is a river flowing across the main road, probably close to a foot deep, and moving fast.  I've often wondered what happens to all the businesses (nurseries, car and equipment dealers, etc) who are set up on the "high side" of the road in the middle of the arroyo.  The definition for arroyo is "dry wash".  It definitely wasn't dry that day!  

Anyhow, everyone got delivered safely, and the rain had pretty much stopped and the sun was out by the time we left the airport for the trip home!  And the suicide butterflies were out and about!  You've never seen so many pretty little butterflies in your life as there are in Baja after a rain.  They are everywhere, flitting around....usually right in front of your car!  Yes, sadly, here is a photo of a suicide butterfly who got stuck on our antenna.  I'm surprised I was able to get a clear photo of him through all the butterfly smears on the windshield! 

 

Now, we're enjoying scenes like this....calm seas and sunny skies.  By the way, this is the view from our new carport deck.  (Our guests "private" deck, because you have to go through the guest rooms to get to it!)

 

 "Mexican Time".... have you ever heard that term?  It is something we deal with here every day.  Mexicans do things at their own pace, usually a lot slower than us Gringos are used to.  Even after living here for over 10 years, we are still frustrated with that pace in some situations.  Here's a story for you as an example.  

While we were on our way down to Baja in early October, and still in California, our son Ryan was driving our white truck on yet another airport run. He was taking a friend to the airport, then he was going to take the truck to the shop in San Jose where we go.  It had been in for repairs of the front end a week or two before, but he said it was making some strange noises, so he wanted to have them check it out.  Well, as he was on the way to San Jose (is there a song in that?), the wheel fell off the truck!  Yikes!!!  He was on one of those rare stretches of road where there was a gradual, wide pull off, and the shoulders weren't straight down.  He managed to get the truck over in that parking area.  Here's the photo he took with his phone right after it happened.

 
 He even managed to find the wheel in to bushes (and cactus!) and called a tow truck to take them to San Jose (never mind the Federal Police stop down the road a ways where they were giving him a hard time about leaving the scene of an accident before a policeman was there).  He sent us this photo before we left our hotel room in Tracy, CA, Tuesday morning.  Whoa!  We were so thankful that he and his friend Ken were OK!  This could have been a disaster!  Anyhow, we told him to make sure to get a receipt from the tow company, because we were hoping the insurance would pay for that.  

When we got back into town, we e-mailed our insurance company, and yes, it would pay for the towing.  We just needed a receipt from the tow company.  We didn't think the one we had would suffice (no company name, just the price and a word that must have meant "towing"...I couldn't read his writing!) There ensued a two week process of multiple phone calls (mostly made by our friend Dalia) to the insurance company, the tow company, the insurance company, the tow company.  We needed an official factura for the insurance company.   The tow company needed an "RFC" number, which we don't have, to make an offical factura.  The insurance company told us to make it out to their RFC number.  It then only took about a WEEK for the tow company man to make out the Factura.  Then we had to figure out how to get it to us so we can take it into La Paz to the insurance company.  He was going to bring it by our house on Saturday (we were there ALL day).  He never showed up.  Dalia called him on Sunday, and he needed MORE information (which we gave to him).  Ben finally drove out to La Ribera and picked up the "official" factura from the man.  Ben will take it to La Paz, maybe manana, and then we'll see how long it takes for the insurance company to pay up!  It was over $300 US, so it is worth it to us to go to all this trouble.  Oh, and a new phone card for Dalia!!  
 
And finally, a success story!  About three years ago, our friend Karen, who lives north of Los Barriles up on a hill, told us about a pretty little plant she had found, and she wanted us to come up and dig it (shhhh....don't tell anyone!)  We dug it and transplanted it in our yard, and put a little marker by it, because we didn't want the gardener digging up the little grass like plant.  The next year, we didn't see any plant...just the marker.  The next year, no plant...but this year!  Eureka!  The plant is back!  It has a little bulb, so it may take large amounts of water to reproduce.  (We did plant it in our cactus bed, which we don't generally water).  It's a cute little thing, don't you think?

We always like to show you our bugs, too, so here is a Walking Stick we found by our kitchen door the other day.  (Mexicans call them Burro Killers.  Why?  No idea!) 

  
More photos are posted at the end of our 2012 October Picasa Album . 

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

Pic-of-the-Week for October 16, 2012

Hola Amigos,

We've been writing these letters using our "Multiply" blog sites for the last several years, but Multiply is going away in November, so we have started using  Google's "Blogger".  We then copy them to our e-mail and send them on out the majority of you who don't "blog".  That's why it is looking just a bit different.  If you have any problems seeing any of the photos, just let us know, and we'll scratch our heads and try to sound intelligent when we tell you why you can't see them properly!

For the last several days, Hurricane Paul has been blowing by on the Pacific side of Baja.  It is bringing a lot of rain to our area, which is a good thing.  Baja is very dry, and needs the rain.  Not much wind (yet), but it is now a major category 3 hurricane.  We're expecting more rain and winds on Tuesday when it actually goes by us.  Also, Sunday night we had a major power outage; power was out from about 8:30pm to 3am.   This is what is looked like most of the day on Monday... very cloudy and rainy (kind of like Oregon!)

 Check out this site if you want to follow this storm. 
http://www.eebmike.com/        Ben's brother Ken is planning on flying out on Tuesday, and I don't think he'll have any problems making his flight.  We've heard wind forecasts of 35 to 40 knots, so not too bad.  (Just a good kite surfing day!)

The photo above is what we'd  prefer our weather to look like.... this is the view from our friend Pat's veranda down in Vista del Mar the other day!  Hopefully, once Paul blows by, it will look like this again soon.
  

Many of these big moths have been flying around inside our house this fall.  Mexicans call them "Death Moths".  They have about a 5" to 6" wing span.  Seeing one in your house is bad news for them.  I wonder what 5 of them in our bedroom one night means? 

I've set up a "new flower" in my garden.  This is one I purchased at the Salem Art Fair in July, and in October, it finally found it's home in my garden in Baja.  I might have to get a few more next year, although Ben did object to bringing down the rebar stem!  Oh well....

Zoey and Sam  (this is Zoey) both enjoy the sunshine.  I had to do some serious "talking" to get Zoey to go out in the rain today to do her duty.  I guess she figured she'd melt if she got too many raindrops on her. 

We get together with Rebecca and her boys regularly using Skype, which is this Grandmother's joy!  Aaron is such a smiley little guy!  And David loves to type and write his ABC's.  Rebecca said it is starting to cool down a bit where they live.  Cooled down here today, too.  Our maximum temp Monday was 77.2!  Brrrr!!!   Low temp on Monday was 69.4. 

I've added some new photos to our  October Picasa Album.

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

Pic-of-the-Week for October 9, 2012

Hola Amigos,

We are home!  Hooray!!!  I've been sleeping like a log because that old familiar bed is sooooo comfortable!  And the air conditioner in our bedroom works like a champ, although the low temperature this AM was 68.  That's pretty cool for this time of year, but it sure feels nice.  

We had a great trip here.  After leaving Bend (we captured Ben's brother Ken and brought him along with us) 

we stopped in Eugene at Jerry's Building Supply and picked up our brand new Webber Smoker, then repacked the truck so it would fit!  That was quite a challenge, but Ben is a real pro at getting everything in there....somehow or the other.  We went on to North Bend and visited brother John and his wife Sirkka, and spent several days.  We had some nice hikes, and our dog's favorite was a run on the beach.  They hadn't seen a beach for months!

 They had never seen a dead Sea Lion on the beach either....they avoided that!

We traveled on down the coast through Port Orford (where they have no harbor and lift the boats in and out of the water from the dock every trip), and on to Brookings, where we joined up with our friend Pat.

 We helped her load some heavy things into her car, relaxed at her place for a couple days, and headed south down the coast on Monday the 1st.  We saw quite a few elk in several places down the road (right next to the road!!!...on the road!!!) 

 It took us two days through California; first night - Tracy, second night - San Diego.  We crossed the border at Tecate, got tourist visas for Pat and Ken at the border there, and spent 3 days traveling through Baja.  The trip was beautiful.  Due to the rains this summer over most of the peninsula, it was the greenest we've ever seen it.  Lush and beautiful!  There were even ponds and little lakes where we've never seen them before!

We arrived home Friday afternoon, tired and travel weary, but thankful to be here.  It has taken us a while to unpack and organize, but we're getting there!  We're also appreciating the shade from our new carport...it looks very nice.  (The workers just finished putting the last paving blocks down as we arrived!)  Ryan, although he'd been sick most of the week, had the place nice and neat for our return. 











And as you can see by the example Ken is setting here, it is a nice place to relax!  So all of you who promised to come see us this year...let us know when you're coming!!!  

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

Our latest photos can be found here: 

https://picasaweb.google.com/105471094228418480553/201210October

   

Pic-of-the-Week for September 25, 2012

Hola Amigos,

The pickup is packed and we're ready to head south; that is, after a detour to the Oregon Coast to visit the last brother we haven't seen yet this summer!  It turns out that we've got a bit of spare room, so we've invited Ben's brother Ken to join us on the trip down.  He's excited that his wife Bea allowed him to go!  We hope to leave from Brookings, Oregon on or about October 1.  We try to be fairly flexible with our schedule.  In fact, one year, before we had a trailer, we informed our hostess in Keizer that we were staying with her for another week, because there was a hurricane going through our neighborhood in Baja!  No reason to go down and maybe not get there due to washed out roads, or fight for the resources (gas, food, etc.)  There is a tropical storm off off Baja right now (Miriam) that will drop some rain, but shouldn't actually go over Baja.  In the meantime, we keep watching the weather forecasts for that area.

Our dogs, Sam & Zoey, have been enjoying the last days of our vacation.  They have been enjoying playing with the BIG dogs!  When we got to Prineville to visit cousins John and Allyson, Sam and Zoey got to know Hayden, their beautiful white German Shepherd.

Zoey fell in love, and Sam was a bit jealous!   The dogs also got to run and play at the Prineville Park by the Crooked River, and chase balls with Hayden.  They had a grand time!

Harriet's cousin John has just opened a bike repair shop in Prineville.  He attended a bike repair school in Ashland this summer.  He's an avid bike rider, and teaches a spinning class in the gym where his shop is located.  Seems like a good fit for him!

John in his shop.

Allyson trying to get Hayden to give the ball up.  He knows if he drops it, Sam (in the blue collar) will grab it!

Allyson (left) & her assistant in Allyson's Health Food store.

We had a great time visiting with them.  Then we drove to Tygh Valley to clean out our trailer and put it away for the winter.  We saw these two deer at the bottom of the driveway just about every time we went by!  They had comfy beds dug out in the dirt, and hated to get up when someone drove by. 

Believe it or not, Zoey spotted this little guy near our friend's garden, but was too scared to chase. 

As we were leaving Tygh Valley, we came across a cattle drive.  We passed by slowly.  Typical site in much of Central and Eastern Oregon.

We got to Bend on Sunday, and by late Sunday afternoon had all of our stuff out of the attic and packed into the pickup.  We seem to be pretty good at arriving at places at opportune times.  On Sunday afternoon, Ken & Bea's youngest daughter Beth showed up for a several day visit, and daughter Marilyn, with her two youngest daughters also arrived.  They're all from the Portland area.  Then daughter Chrys showed up, and there was a birthday celebration for Chrys & Beth, whose birthdays are both in September.  

We promised to take Ken & Bea out for their 49th anniversary, and the first free night for them was Tuesday, so we'll do that tonight, then leave tomorrow, with Ken in tow.  In the meantime, he's out mowing his lawn and getting a list of things done so he is free to go with us.

Chrys on left, Beth on the right.

Three year old Devin, Chrys's son, enjoys reading the newspaper each day.  

He even reads the ads! 

On Wednesday we leave here for the Oregon Coast, first Florence, then North Bend, then on to Brookings.  After we leave Brookings with our friend Pat, we will get serious about putting on some miles each day.  

So....until we return to Baja, this is probably the last Pic-of-the-Week until sometime in October.  More photos are in our September Picasa album at https://picasaweb.google.com/105471094228418480553/201209September#    You should really check out the shoe tree we found!  :-)

Your friends on the move in Oregon & California & Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey (who just got their baths and are ready to roll!)