Thursday, November 14, 2013

The Boat, The Boat---???

About 9:30am I walked to the marina office and Isabel was in. I have learned that when Mexican people say a time, it doesn’t really mean exactly that time. It is whenever so that is why I gave her another ½ hour to get to the office. I know she doesn’t always get in at 9:00am. She called the doctor office and said I could see the doctor. I asked if she would take me as I really didn’t know how to get there and she said she would just give her about ½ hour. At 10:30am I walked back to the office and waited a few minutes until she locked things up and we were off to the doctors. She had errands to run so she would drop me off and after she was finished she would come back to pick me up and take me back to the marina. She said the doctor said it would be alright about the language barrier so life was good. When I got into the doctor office there were a few people waiting so I sat and waited my turn. Actually there are no appointments. You go and wait your turn. When the doctor had finished with his patient he shook everyone’s hand and welcomed them. Then the next person went into his office. He was pretty quick in getting people seen and moving on to the next person so I didn‘t have to wait long. When it was my turn, he had me sit on the other side of his desk and asked me what the problem was. I tried to tell him but some things weren’t getting through and I didn’t understand everything he was saying to me so he said he would call his nurse as he/she spoke good English. He called the nurse on the phone and I expected him to tell the nurse to come in. You know like what the doctors in the States do. No! That isn’t what happened. Apparently the nurse was somewhere else and so the doctor spoke with him and then gave the phone to me so I could explain what was going on with me. Then I gave the phone back to the doctor and the nurse translated what I said to the doctor. The doctor said something and handed me back the phone. This went on for a couple minutes. Then when the doctor was satisfied and knew what was going on with me he hung up. He weighted me, took my temperature, and blood pressure. Temp was normal, and my blood pressure was excellent. He commented on how it was like a young person. Then he had me lie on the exam table and proceeded to ultra sound my lower abdomen. He had done that the last time too and I was hoping it would be the same this time. He said there was an infection in the bladder and kidneys and he wanted me to have a urine sample done and blood drawn the next morning. So I had to fast after 8:00pm until I got the lab work done. He gave me a urine cup for the sample and said after I get the results of the test to come see him. I thanked him and proceeded to pay. For the urine cup and office visit it was $410.00 pesos which is about $31.00 dollars U.S. I was finished with the doctor and Isabel wasn’t back yet so I waited about 10-15 minutes and she drove up. I told her about the visit and how he had to have his nurse translate. We got a chuckle out of that. We went back to the marina and I thanked her for her help. When I got to the boat, Dave had already put some of the side curtains up to enclose the cockpit area. I told him what happened at the doctors and that I have to go to the lab in the morning. The rest of the afternoon I helped Dave with the rest of the curtains. The top middle one was a bugger to put on as you have to get the zipper inside a rubber casing and slide it onto the fiberglass dodger which is over the companionway going down into the boat. He was working in the hot sun with his ball cap on but still he was very hot and sweaty. It was a struggle and it took a while but he managed to get the top section on. I tried to stay out of the direct sun and handed him the screws and tools he needed. We both took breaks to drink some Gatorade then back out into the sun to finish the job. Once that piece was in we put up the larger curtains and we were done. Dave wanted to pressure wash the boat but I suggested we wait until the sun was lower and it was cooler. So we went inside where the air conditioner was running and waited until the sun went down. We had a cocktail first then pressure washed the boat. Actually Dave did the washing and I stayed on the dock to guide the unit, water hose and electrical cord so nothing would end up in the salt water. The boat looks much nicer now. He was finishing up when Alberto stopped by to talk to Dave. Alberto doesn’t work for the marina anymore as he was hired by the mine. He will be working on the dock dealing with fuel for the ships and maybe even the rigs. He will be getting twice the amount of pay than he did at the marina. So all is good. Dave asked him if he would still wash our boat and take care of having the diver come once a month as usual. He said he could do that as he had weekends off so he could stick to his usual schedule with our boat washing. He washes it 2 times a month and the diver cleans the bottom once a month and Alberto pays him with the money we have left with him to do that. Alberto is a very trustworthy man and has taken care of our boat for 2 to 3 years now. He is a good man. So we are happy he will continue to keep the boat clean. Plus this gives him and his family extra money. I told him Christmas is coming so now with the new job he can buy lots of presents!!!! He laughed and rolled his eyes!!!! After Alberto left Dave finished with the boat and went below where I fixed dinner.

The lab doesn’t open until 7:30am so I wasn’t in a rush to get there at that time. I got up at 8:00am, my normal time, got dressed and took my sample with me to the lab. The diver had arrived to clean the bottom of the boat and I was on my way to the lab. Because the town isn’t far from the marina, I usually walk everywhere if I know where things are. I have made it a point to walk all over the town to learn where certain things are, like the pharmacy, grocery stores, fabric store and the like. So I am really familiar with the town. Unfortunately the doctor is not in town, he is located up on the hill so that was why I needed some help finding his office. When I arrived at the lab there were people coming and going. I didn’t have to wait at all and I was whisked into the back room. The lady technician asked how I was and took the urine specimen and proceeded to draw 3 vials of blood from me. The doctor wanted to know everything about my health. When the technician was finished I paid $750.00 pesos, which is about $58 dollars U.S. That is with the current exchange rate at 13%. I was told to come back at 1:00pm. That is when the results are ready for pickup. When I left the lab I walked to the grocery store which was just a block away and got a few things then walked back to the boat. The diver was still cleaning the under belly of the boat and since I had a while to wait before going back to the lab, I had coffee and breakfast then went out into the cockpit and rinsed and shammed it dry. I was going to clean the stainless steel but it looked good so I will wait and do that next time when it is cooler. It is already getting hot. It was after 12:00pm so I had a half sandwich and a little bit of Gatorade, changed my clothes and headed for the lab to pick my results up. They are open only from 7:30-9:00am then close so they can process the lab work then reopen from 1:00-2:00pm for people to pick up the typed results and are closed for the rest of the afternoon and evening. When I say typed results that is how they are done. By typewriter. No computers. Mexico, in the smaller towns are not up to speed with technology. The bigger cities are to some extent. Even with computers at the desks, there is always a typewriter close by. When I walked in the lab another lady was waiting. They asked my name and said it would be a few minutes as they needed to get it ready. About 5-10 minutes, if that, they handed me the results in an envelope and I left and headed up the hill to the doctors office. The hill didn’t seem that steep until I was almost to the top. It was hot, so I took my time. When I arrived at the doctor office the lady that handles the pharmacy and paperwork was there reading a paper. She spoke no English and I, with my limited Spanish had a hard time understanding what she was trying to tell me. Even with the language barrier, I finally understood that the doctor was at lunch and he would be back soon. It was about 1:15pm and he arrived at 1:30pm. He walked up to me and smiled and asked how I was and shook my hand. Then invited me into his office. There I gave him the results, which I had looked at while waiting for him, and he was pleased with the blood work. I was even surprised to see that my cholesterol was 205 which is the lowest it has ever been!!!! I must be doing something right!! Anyway----I only had a bladder infection which was good to hear. The kidneys weren’t effected this time. So he sent me to his wife, which is the lady who does the pharmacy and paperwork, and I got 10 vitamin-C fizz tablets to take in water once a day and medication for the infection, Keflex tablets of 500mg. There are 12 tablets and I take 1 every 8 hours with lots of water until they are gone. The medication was $462.00 pesos which is $36.00 dollars U.S. So with the doctor visit, lab and medicine it cost us $125.00 dollars U.S. Very impressive isn’t it! I got good care and it is cheap compared to what we have to pay in the states. We really didn’t want to fork out the pesos because of being short in the checking account from vacation, but in the long run it was great!!! So I am on the way to recuperating. I do have to say that as foreigners we have to be careful where we go for medical care. We know that Santa Rosalia has a good sized hospital, Dave had the lucky experience having to go there when he split his leg open and had to get 25 stitches, and I had been to the doctor once before and got excellent care. Rosie, who was my interpreter the first time, had recommended Dr. Jose as that was her family doctor. So I wasn’t concerned. But like any place you travel it is always good to be cautious and ask around.

When I got back from the doctors I drank the Gatorade that I left in the refrigerator and cooled off. We had checked the water level in the batteries before I left so that had been taken care of. I sat down and started this months blog and after a while Dave said the air conditioner sounded funny. Well as a boater, if something sounds funny it needs immediate attention. I was sitting on top of one of the air conditioning units so I took the cushion off and opened the compartment and there was a lot of water in the pan, which it does get due to condensation, but there was too much and it was almost to the top of the pan. So needless to say it needed some attention. Dave was thinking there shouldn’t be that much water as he put in a hose that goes from the pan to the sump pump for drainage. So maybe the hose was clogged. Well with our brilliant deduction, the hose clamp around the hose coming from the air conditioning pan was loose causing leakage around the hose. I tightened the hose clamp and wiped up the water around and underneath the hose then proceeded to suck water out of the pan with a turkey baster. I have to do that with the other unit that is underneath one of the guest beds in the back of the boat as the guy who installed it didn’t put a drain hole in it like the other one. So it is one of my jobs to keep an eye on that so it doesn’t over flow. It isn’t a big deal as I only have to do that when the air conditioner has been running a lot. The water does go into the bilge but we don’t like to have standing water there so we try to prevent that from happening. So with the hose clamp tightened and a lot of the water sucked out of the pan, things were working much better. Water was then draining into the sump pump like it was suppose to and while we were fixing and cleaning, I cleaned the sump pump as it hadn’t been done in months. Then I moved to the back of the boat to the smaller guest room where the other unit sets under the bed and sucked water out of that and noticed the filter was dirty which will cause the unit to run hot. So I cleaned that. Now we are good with everything. Oh yeah, yesterday morning the freezer wasn’t working right and we noticed the little red light was blinking near the compressor which indicates over heating. We forgot to hook the fan back up when we came onboard and it has been hot which means the water is hot causing the boat to be hotter than normal and with the added heat the compressor faulted. So we opened the compartment lid where the compressors for the refrigerator and freezer are and let it cool. In the meantime Dave shut the
freezer off for a while until the compressor was cooled. The freezer was turned back on and it is working just fine. We didn’t hook the fan up but during the day when it is hot we open the compartment to let the hot air out and then close it at night. So all is well. There is always something that needs to be tended to when we come. That is just boat life. So tomorrow, our mission, is to get a tarp to cover starting in front of the windshield of the dodger to the mast. The purpose of the tarp is to keep the bird guano off the boat! The tarp we had on the boat was in shreds but it did it’s job. Then I have to launder the sheets and dirty clothes and we leave Friday morning to return in December.

I drank my morning coffee in the cockpit where it was cool. A little breeze is coming up. Feels like it will be a little cooler today. Dave walked to town to see about getting a tarp but didn’t find one the size we need. He is going to walk further north of the store he went to and see if they have any. I needed to walk so I went with him and we were successful in finding not only the right size tarp but a light bulb for my kitchen light in Bahia. We stopped at the marina that is north of where we keep our boat and saw a couple of people we know so we chatted for a while. That marina is old and it fell apart when the last hurricane, Jimena,(sp?) came through about 3 years ago. The moorage is cheaper but the marina isn’t well kept. Anyway---we talked to our friends Jim and Casey and then walked back to Fonatur marina where we are. Dave took the tarp and light bulb to the boat while I went to the laundry room to wash a load of clothes. Then it was lunch time. Not much going on today!!! After lunch I went up and put the clothes in the dryer and stayed in the laundry room until they were dry. I brought a book to read while I waited. When the clothes were dry and folded, I went back to the boat. Some of the floor boards were up as Dave was in the process of cleaning the water maker filter and unit and then re-pickling it. I was so sleepy I wanted to take a nap but if I did I would sleep too long and not be ready for bed tonight. So I played games on my computer and actually was able to get onto the internet long enough to check emails. I was able to look at all the mail and then I lost the internet signal. It is getting worse instead of better. I can remember we could be on the computer for hours on the boat. Now we barely get a signal and to get one we either have to go out into the cockpit (which is too hot and humid) or go up to the marina office. I didn’t feel like hassling with it so I chose to just shut down my computer. I managed to stay awake packing up our stuff and putting things away. We will be leaving tomorrow for Bahia. There were some clouds that came in and it cooled us down a little then they went away. Later in the afternoon clouds were building again and it looked like we might get rain, but by the time the sun went down behind the hill, the clouds were gone. Now that the sun is down we can go out and put the tarp on. It is just the right size so it didn’t take us long to get it secured. It will help keep the bird guano off the boat. Once the tarp was in place I went down below and fixed dinner. We had burritos. After the dishes were washed and stowed I packed more things and turned the propane off. I made sandwiches for us tomorrow and all we have to do is pack the cooler with what is in the refrigerator and turn things off and stow the electrical cords and water hose. Then it is 2 trips to the jeep to pack it and we are on our way to the house.

I have been taking my medicine and drinking lots of water and am starting to feel a little more energetic. That is until this morning. I didn’t want to get up and it took me a while to wake up. As long as I was moving around I was o.k. I just hope I can stay awake tomorrow for the 5 hour trip home.

Well I did it. I took a 5 hour energy drink before leaving the boat and this time it seemed to be more effective. We stopped in a town called Vizcaino to get groceries. This time they had a lot of fresh vegetables and fruit. When I was finished we took off for home. It was windy for the ride home but not too bad. Dave said that Bahia was getting their northern winds and it would blow for 3 days. When we got to Bahia we stopped and got gas and went on to the grocery store to pick up milk and some other items. We had taken the truck to Philipi on the way to Santa Rosalia to ask him to fix the gas gauge and a couple other things. Unfortunately he only was able to look at and fix one of the items. He got pulled off our truck for a hotter job. So Dave drove the truck while I drove the jeep to the house.

Home sweet home. Everything looks good and so now we cart all the stuff from the jeep up the stairs into the house. I put the groceries away and decided to unpack at a later time, either later that afternoon or tomorrow. The rest of the evening was quiet. It is windy here and it is suppose to blow harder tomorrow. Oh yea!!!

Things have been unpacked and put away and I have straightened up the house a bit. Still not feeling up to par so I am taking it easy. I read most of the day. The wind was blowing about 25-30 miles an hour and we had to shut the windows a little, otherwise things have a tendency to blow off shelves!! The skylights are closed so we just wait for the wind to subside. About 1:00pm Dave and I heard a crash and wondered what was going on. At first it sounded like a BIG bird landing on the roof so I went out on the deck to look on the roof and our TV dish antenna had come loose from part of the stand. It was just barely hanging on. We went over to our neighbors house to get his tall ladder and we put it up on the south side of the house out of the wind. But the problem was we couldn’t get on the roof to do anything because it was blowing too hard. As we were getting the ladder situated the antenna came loose from the stand and fell over on the south side of the house just outside the dining room window. It put a rip in the window screen but other than that everything was alright. We were very lucky as I expected to be hit with the dish as I was standing right under where it flew off. I put my arms over my head so if the dish hit me my head wouldn’t be bonked!!! Well the good Lord was watching out for us and the dish never disconnected from the cables that were attached to the house and run in the house to the TV. So now Dave had to climb the ladder and unscrew the cables and bring the dish down. Once it was on the ground it was inspected and we found metal between the 2 holes for the pop rivets was cracked. Dave would have to reinforce that before it goes up again. He found some scrap sheet metal and because we didn’t have tin snips he had to saw at it. He wasn’t getting very far and I was trying to hold down the metal for him and I was getting tired. I suggested he use garden shears but he said they probably wouldn’t cut. Well after a bunch of sawing on Dave’s part, I walked over and got the garden shears and he had his doubts but tried them and low and behold he was able to cut the piece he needed for repairs!!! I have to brag at this point because I’m not always correct in some things, but this time-----I knew I was right!!! So yahoo and good on ME!!!! He was very surprised and managed to get out----”good job”!!! We then proceeded to repair the top part of the dish and Dave had to drill a couple more holes for the rivets to go. The wind is still howling so there was no way that dish was getting on the roof right then. We just have to wait. In the meantime, the ladder is still in position and Dave said he would have to go up and check to see if the stand was still bolted down to the roof and everything else was o.k. But then he asked me if I would go up. Well I said I would. I climbed to the top of the ladder where I could see the roof and the stand and all was good. Everything was intact. So hopefully the wind will calm down later and we can get the dish back up. Otherwise, no TV tonight. It really isn’t a big deal not to have TV as we cruised without it for months. And even when we moved into the house we didn’t have the direct TV hooked up so we just watched movies. Dave and I went back to reading and waited for the wind to die but it didn’t die soon enough and it was dark so no getting the dish up today. It is suppose to be less wind tomorrow so we will just have to wait and see. We left the ladder up against the house and wondered later if that was such a good idea as the wind switched around and came out of the south then west. If it blew hard enough the ladder would fall and possibly bend it all up and/or break our kitchen window. Oops!!!! We watched a movie we had and went to bed when it was over. Then when we heard the wind blow from a different direction we were unable to get into a deep sleep because of the ladder. Needless to say we made it through the night and so did the ladder. Whew!!

It was breezy this morning when we got up and then it laid down enough to where Dave could get on the roof to inspect the holes where the rivets go. To his dismay he had to pound out a couple rivets, as they broke off and stayed in the stand, and then 2 more rivets that had broken wouldn’t budge so he will have to drill them out. Unfortunately, his drill isn’t charged so he has to wait until it is before he can pop rivet the antenna dish on the stand. So he came down and just shortly after that the wind picked up. It isn’t as bad as yesterday, but it is still too dangerous to be on the ladder and roof. So again we wait.

I am drinking so much water and juice that I think I will bloat up and float away------. I feel better but that funny feeling hasn’t gone away yet. I have the last pill to take this afternoon and then we shall see. I will need to keep up the large amounts of water for the rest of the week and then we will see what happens. I’m really hoping it will disappear!

I finished the book I was reading, which was a really good one. The title is ’Journey from Darkness’ and it is about 2 brothers and the desert elephants of Africa. It is based on a true story. Now I am reading a murder mystery. The wind is still howling, but today it is about 20-25 miles per hour, so it is better. It looks as though the antenna dish isn’t going up tonight. We have lots of movies so we will watch another one tonight. The wind is suppose to die tonight and become benign tomorrow. So looks like Dave will get a chance to go on the roof again and do his magic!!!!!!! HA!!

I was cross stitching this afternoon and watched some birds diving for fish. They didn’t look like seagulls so I got my binoculars and checked it out. To my surprise they were boobies. I told Dave I thought they were and then I saw one of them get ready to dive and it had blue feet!!!! Wow!!! That was exciting as I haven’t seen them here before. They aren’t many places around here where they roost. On the mainland there is an island where they call home off of Mazatlan and cruisers can go there to see them. We never did because the conditions for anchoring were not the safest. We had heard of cruisers getting their anchor hooked on rocks and debris so we avoided the area. We did get to see a couple that flew close to the boat but didn‘t get pictures. Since they were right out front of the house I took some pictures and we’ll see if they turn out. We have a different camera then my last one so I have to learn how to use it. My other camera still works but the button that you push to take the picture is getting stuck and when you turn off the camera it snaps a picture at random. I’ve had it way before we went cruising and I am surprised, with the elements of the sea and weather, it survived this long. Well it is time to fix a cocktail for Dave-----L I can’t have any until the medicine is out of my system. Oh well---I will survive!

People are heading down from San Diego so some of the gals have been chomping at the bit to play cards. I was invited but didn’t feel up to it as I am still not totally healed yet. Besides I am not ready to get with the ladies yet.

The bladder infection is not cleared up and I am getting concerned about it. I could go to the clinic here but they don’t have any means to test a urine sample and I would have to drive to Guerrero Negro which is 2 hours from here to have it done then have to go back and etc., etc.,. So Dave suggested that maybe I should start on Amoxicillin as that is for soft tissue infections. I checked on the internet about it being used as a treatment for bladder infections and it said it was good. The Amoxicillin that we have is 500mg so I started taking one capsule every 8 hours as recommended. I drank lots of water and kept on that regiment for 7 days. I did stop at the clinic to see if they had any Amoxicillin, which they were out of but they did have bladder infection medication. So that is good to know. I still have plenty of Amoxicillin but one day I will need to get more. I am finally over the infection and back to normal. Thank goodness. That was not fun!

I have gotten together with the gals for cards and train and decided I won’t be playing every single week like I was doing last year. I get burned out being with the gals all the time so I am picking and choosing when I want to play.

Dave and I were invited to a friends 70+ birthday party but we weren’t sure if we would get to go as the jeep had trouble starting. Unfortunately a door had been left ajar so the battery was low. Dave charged it earlier and the jeep did start so we headed across the bay to the party. We had a good time and there were a lot of people there we knew. They made pizza dough so everyone could make one or more individual pizzas. They put out several toppings and cheese and had people line up to receive the dough with pizza sauce and move along the table choosing what you wanted to put on it. Rainy and Dennis made a brick oven in their front yard for cooking pizzas and they enjoy having pizza parties from time to time. It was a fun party and we said our goodbyes and got in the jeep to leave but when Dave turned over the key it didn’t sound too good. The jeep did start but we were worried about getting all the way home. The play we were at is across the bay from where our house is and you have to drive through the dessert and it was pitch black out. We did manage to follow our landlords across the desert so that was good and hoped we didn’t have to stop along the way!! We made it home safely and the next day Dave found a dead battery. Well all I have to say is thank goodness we were able to make it home from Washington State, Santa Rosalia (where the boat is) and Rincon (where the party was) without a problem. Now we have to get a new battery. If we buy one in town here they usually don’t last longer than a year. We do have an option as we have neighbors coming down in a few days so we asked if they could bring us a Costco battery. We gave them the information and they said they could do that. We will pay them when they get here. It is better to do it this way than to have to buy another battery later.

We have our battery and the jeep is back up and running!!!! Speaking of running, I had to go into town for groceries and gas. My normal Saturday morning ride into town. I drive the beater truck and it has been good so far but we baby it to make it last as long as possible. That is our Baja vehicle. We don’t drive the jeep around here as the road is terrible and hard on the suspension and tires. Anyway---I was almost to town when the truck started to slow and I had no power. Uh Oh!!!! Now what. I filled the tank 2 weeks ago so it couldn’t be that I’m out of gas!!!! I had the VHF radio with me so I called Dave and our first thoughts were of someone siphoning the gas out of the tank. Well that couldn’t happen as it has a lock on the gas cap. Well next we thought of the fuel pump. My good friend, Penny heard me call Dave, and asked if everything was alright and I told her no. She sent her husband Murrey to bring gas and check things out. Well to make this long story short-----the fuel pump was fine and I WAS out of gas!!!! I guess when I filled up 2 weeks prior, I filled a gas can first and then the truck tank and heard it gurgle like it was going to spill out so I shut it off and figured the tank was full. Well it wasn’t!!!! Once Murrey put some gas in the truck and the fuel lines were full, the truck started and ran and he followed me to the gas station. Yep!!!! It was empty!!! I thanked Murrey and called Penny to tell her all was good and I would have them over for dinner as payment. I got my groceries and headed for home. I was really relieved it was just a gas problem and not anything mechanical. All is good now!!! We found out that we probably won’t get the fuel tank fixed so it will show us how much or little the tank has in it as we think the wires that go to the sensor were disconnected and won’t be able to be fixed. So now we are back to writing our treks to town on the calendar and fill up on the 3rd trip. There is a reason they call it a Baja car!!! Ha!!

Happy Anniversary to Jonathan and Susannah Adcock on their first year of marriage!!!! May they always be happy! October 27, 20013.

The neighborhood is starting to fill up. Tom and Lynn were able to bring my medication down from the states which I am grateful for. Most of the neighbors are coming down for a community meeting with our new land lease owner. That will happen on November 15.

The weather has continued to be warm which is unbelievable as last year mid October the switch was flipped and we had wind and it was cool. We are still in the 80’s. Loving it!!! There was one night it did get cool enough for me to put slipper socks on and flannels. But that didn’t last long.

Since the weather has cooled a bit we are seeing more spiders and bugs come into the house. Our screen doors on the sliding glass doors need replacing and the bugs get in around and under the door. Anyway--one night we saw a pretty good size spider on the wall by our bed so we killed it. It was a hairy guy. A couple years ago we had a similar one and he was huge!!! We thought we wouldn’t see another one for a while but low and behold a day or two I was heading out the door going to play Train when I opened the screen and inside the door jam was this hairy spider like what we saw the other day. I had to leave since it is a 45 minute drive to town so I asked Dave to take care of him but to save it. I want to find out what kind of spider it is and if it is dangerous. It looks like it could do some harm. So Dave sprayed it and when I got home from Train I found it on the counter in a zip lock bag. I got my magnifying glass out and took a good look at it and discovered it had 8 eyes. A row of 4 and another one row of 4 above those. So I started searching the internet trying to find this spider and I did. It is called a Hunter spider. It is found in warm climates and eats bugs. It can grow as large as a tarantula and they could cause some discomfort if bitten. They are called a Hunter as they have the tendency to move in all directions to get to their pray. Their legs are higher than the body which resembles the tarantula . So now I know what it is. I threw it away and then later when it was gone thought that I should have taken a picture of it. But if you want to see it just search Hunter spider and you will find it. It was kind of interesting!! I guess they get really big in Australia.

Happy Halloween and Birthday to Dave!!!! We are going to a party and I am dressing as a Pixie. Dave is whatever anybody thinks he is. He wore his white pirate shirt, black jeans and a black belt. We don’t have much in the way of costumes. I borrowed the wings and developed my character from that. Anyway it was a great party and we had good food and fun!!!