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!)