Happy 17th birthday to our Grandson, E.J. Hard to believe he is that old already. He’s a great kid.
We made the trip to Ensenada. Our plan was to stop at our friends place to see the house they moved in a few months ago but Penny was ill with a lung infection. We contacted her and plan on stopping on the way home from Ensenada. I can’t wait to see her and Mur-man. (That is Murray’s nick name I gave him). As always it was a quick trip but we got a lot accomplished. We got our renter and car insurance taken care of and then did our shopping. We were going to stop at Sam’s Club but it appears it is not open yet. So we shopped at Walmart and Home Depot where we got paint for the kitchen, dining room and part of the living room, brushes and tape!! So we are ready to start painting when we get back. We stayed overnight in Ensenada, had dinner at my favorite cheap place----McDonald’s and then did the Costco shopping the following morning. After Costco, we gassed up the jeep and headed for Penny and Murray’s house. Murray met us part way on the road to their house so he could show us the way. They are way out in the boonies but close to the ocean. They have a 2 story home they are renting which sits above a cliff with a beautiful view of the ocean. There are a small number of houses near them and we were able to meet one of the neighbors. A couple of the houses in their area have been started but not finished. We had a nice visit with Penny and Murray even though Penny wasn’t feeling up to snuff. It was really good to see them and have the time to catch up! We stayed overnight and headed out around 8 or so the next morning after their neighbor fixed breakfast for us and a couple other guys in the area. It was nice.
We said our goodbyes and headed home. I hope Penny and Murray can come and visit us soon. Penny and I decided we can just catch the bus to visit each other as it is a pain to drive. This way Penny and I can have a great visit! It will be fun.
Happy Birthday to my eldest son. He is 39!! How does that happen!!! My kids are getting older and I’m not!!!! Yeah right! The big 40 next year!
The painting has begun. We picked a pale green for the kitchen and one wall of the dining room. It is called Sage Tint. It looks really nice. The time consuming job was the taping. Then we painted the east wall of the dining room and living room in a pale yellow called Tea Cookie. That turned out great too!! We really like it. And now that I have all my pictures and knickknacks up it looks super!!!! We are done with painting right now until we get three walls put up and then we will get the other colors we need. So I am excited to have color in the house and our plans are coming together. We still need a money tree though!!! Ha!
Now that all the painting is finished I can finally clean. So that is what I did today. Dave and I are proud of what we have done to the place!!!! It’s a lot of work but it feels great when it gets finished.
When we arrived in Santa Rosalia we saw that the mine loading pier was finished and some buildings had been built. Town is bustling! When we reached the boat we were disappointed to see it hadn’t been kept up like it used to be. Now that Alberto is working for the mine he only has weekends free and I am sure he doesn’t feel much like washing a boat, but we pay him so he should continue to wash it 2 times a month. We noticed the bottom had been cleaned so that is good. We are going to be spending most of our time scrubbing the boat while we are here. We don’t do much the day we arrive so I was able to connect with the internet and not worry about using up star band minutes. I had fun searching for crafts and stuff like that.
I got a good night sleep and my arms didn’t go numb. We have a California King at the house and the mattress needs to be replaced but we don’t have any way to buy one and get it down here so we will need to buy a memory foam pad to put on top. We have one on top of the mattress on the boat and it makes a big difference. So when we go to Ensenada I will check it out and see what Costco, Sams Club and Walmart have. Unfortunately that size is expensive. I figure around $100.00.
It is a beautiful sunny day and cool. It got cold last night and it was cold this morning until the sun came up. I know-----cold is relative depending on where you are. After coffee and a bowl of cereal I went up to the jeep, got the clothes I brought from home and did laundry. I brought the throw rugs that have been in the house since we moved in and they are filthy. At least I will feel better having them clean. Then I had a load of towels and sheets. Tomorrow I will wash the sheets that are on our bed, on the boat, and any dirty clothes we have. While I was washing clothes, Dave was investigating the engine. He found antifreeze under the engine and it isn’t supposed to be there. With further investigation he found some broken hose clamps which would cause leaks. The leaks must be from the last time he ran the engine. His plans were to power wash the boat and fix the forward sump pump so it will run again. Well neither of those things got done today. He had to walk to the ferretera (hardware store) to get some hose clamps and in that process found that only one store was open. Today is a holiday for Mexico, Constitution Day, so most of the stores are closed. I wasn’t doing anything so I told Dave I would fill a bucket with water and get the scrub brush and baking soda and start at the bow of the boat and scrub the grey part of the deck to mid ship. It shows the bird doo the worst. The birds have been finding us and making a mess. So we are back to scrubbing again. So while Dave did his thing with the engine I swabbed the deck!!!! It looks much better and I am glad I could help Dave in that respect. He will pressure wash the boat tomorrow morning when I am in town. When I return from town I will try and clean parts he didn’t get to. We go back home on Friday.
Well it is cocktail time. Our work is done for the day. Along with cleaning tomorrow the battery levels need checking so I can help with that.
After a cup of coffee and some cereal I walked to town. I needed to get some sweet bread at the bakery for our gate guard and a few grocery items. I wanted to walk the town to see if any new stores had opened. It was a fun time. When I returned to the boat Dave had the engine going and he was trying to heat up the hoses so he could tighten the hose clamps. Unfortunately more of them broke. Well it has been 12 years since they were put on so it was time. He still needs to get a couple more tonight when we walk to town for dinner. After he finished the job he went out to power wash the boat and I checked the water level in the house and bow thruster batteries. I stripped the bed and gathered clothes for washing later today when we were all done working. I heard Dave outside complaining and come to find out the pressure washer nozzle blew off and into the water never to be seen again. So much for getting the boat power washed today. He has to order another nozzle. So he had to scrub the deck with the brush; rinse it and clean the solar panels. I wiped down the inside of the bimini and the stainless steel as there was a lot of dirt and crud collected on them. Then we were done for the day. Dave ordered another nozzle and we should get it in a few weeks.
We discussed the option of moving the boat to La Paz as we received an email from our broker there. He said our price on the boat is right in the ball park to be sold and a lot of people come down and walk the docks looking so he wondered if we could keep the boat there so it would be easy for people to see it. After giving it some thought, I think it is a good idea. Rent is getting more expensive in Santa Rosalia, and the birds are a major problem where in La Paz there wasn’t a problem with birds at all. It is going to be hard to find someone to wash the boat and dive it like we have done here at a reasonable price. Our moorage contract is up the 19th of April so we are thinking we will take the boat to La Paz then. Dave checked moorage rates at Palmira where we moored when we were in La Paz the last time with the boat and it is actually going to be cheaper than leaving it in Santa Rosalia. The advantages to having the boat in La Paz is we can haul it out and get the bottom painted; work on the boat and clean her up, shine all the stainless steel, fix the dodger and parts are easier to acquire. So I think that is what we are going to do. We have to do something. The boat is falling apart here in Santa Rosalia with no place to get parts or fix canvas and etc. So the next time we come back to the boat to do repairs where necessary, we can take her out for a test run. I have to get my sea legs back!
We went to town and stopped at the bank and then had a Santa Rosalia hot dog. They are full of cholesterol but ohhhhh so good. The hot dog is wrapped in bacon then deep fried. Yum!!! I only have one and Dave has 2. It’s a treat when we come here. We have packed things up and will leave for home in the morning. Alberto stopped by tonight to talk to Dave about the boat. Since the boat didn’t look like it had been washed, Dave is going to ask him if he still wants to wash the boat as we understand he might be really busy with his new job.
Alberto just left and Dave said he still wants to wash the boat. Actually he did wash the boat and right after that, about 3 days the birds came back and messed the deck badly. So Dave told him to stop by on his way home from work and if birds (cormorants) were on the spreaders and mast just smack the shrouds that connect to the spreaders and they will fly away. When it is dark they don’t fly so they won’t come back that evening. Alberto is going to talk to the guard here and ask him to shoo the birds away as he walks the dock each night. So the boat may stay a little cleaner. I hope.
Dave had contacted Palmira in La Paz and they sent him information on the cost to moor our boat there. Well it wasn’t cheaper than Santa Rosalia. Matter of fact it would cost us $700+ for moorage, electricity. Then try and find someone to clean the top and bottom while we were gone. So we will check and see if Fonatur marina has room for the boat. That is the marina we moor at in Santa Rosalia. No matter where we go it is going to cost us a few pennies.
Since we have been back at the house we have had a rock wall built alongside the south arroyo to guide water to the sea if we get a downpour. It turned out really nice and it makes the house look better too!!
In April, Rafael will come back and build a couple more and then that will finish that project. We had a gringo friend, Roger, come over and move dirt around to help level out the property. He also made a trench for the water to flow down to the north arroyo. That way the water will be diverted away from the driveway. Roger has a backhoe and he loves to play—so we let him. We have more property than we thought we did. Now we have enough room for Dave to build a large garage and workshop. As it turns out we didn’t need to order any dirt to level the driveway as Roger did that. Awesome!!! The first 2 pictures are the before ground leveling.
I finished the afghan I was crocheting for E.J. He will be happy to get it this summer to use in winter. I am making crochet bracelets which are fun and I plan on selling them at the Arts and Craft Show in November. I have several grandmothers that come down here before Christmas that have granddaughters so I should sell a few. I hope!!
I have made some angels made with shells and wine corks as well as shell wall decorations for the show.
We finally were able to get the guys we wanted to build our walls out to the house to tell them what we want to do. They gave us an estimate and they will be starting in a few days. We need to go to town and get the supplies.
Saturday is going to town day for building supplies and groceries. We were able to get the wood, sheet rock, mud, tape, and nails. So we will be able to tell the guys they can start on Monday.
I was all excited to have the work begin when the two young men showed up on Monday and said they were on another job and if we could wait a week. We said no as we have to make a trip to Santa Rosalia. So we decided on Thursday and it will take 2 days to complete. I was kind of bummed and I think Dave was too, but at least it is only 2 days we have to wait. Dave did all the prep work in removing the vinyl tile pieces so the wood frame will set on top of the bare wood on the floor. Wednesday we moved furniture and the rug and we are ready for them in the morning.
They arrived and got to work right away. It is a dad and his son and nephew that work together. They take only 2 breaks, one for lunch and one a little later. They got all but one side of a wall sheet rocked but they will put that up and mud tomorrow. It really is exciting to see the walls go up and how it has changed the house. We really like it!
Friday morning they showed up early and got to work. Yesterday and today I have been in the art room creating while they hammer and make noise upstairs. I am now working on a wreath!!! One nice thing about these guys is they clean up their mess. Awesome!!!!!
The job is complete and now it is our turn to paint! We had to figure out how to rearrange the furniture before that. The living room is a little cramped right now with the furniture we have but eventually that will change. It is cozy. We will now concentrate on painting 2 of the new walls. You’ll have to wait for pictures when we are all done to really understand what I am talking about. Sorry.
Wow!!!! What a difference color makes!!!!! It really looks great!! We are finished with painting for the time being until we can get the 2 colors we want to finish the living room and bedroom. We have to concentrate on the boat now and see if we can get moorage in La Paz. Dave has contacted our broker and Fonatur marina there, and it looks as though a slip might be opening up. That would be great. Then we can move the boat in April. After the move we will have the bottom painted and clean her up and make repairs where necessary and hope and pray someone comes looking and buys!!!! It will happen!!!
The tides have been low in the morning so I took a long walk a couple days ago to the Estuary. The morning was perfect for it. I know I said I would hike back to the mountains again but unfortunately the weather wasn’t cooperating and it is now too warm and the snakes are out. So it will be put on hold until fall when the weather is cooler and the snakes are gone. Anyway-----back to the beach. I found a couple paper nautilus and a couple shells which is always a treat and there were 4 young coyotes romping around at a distance from where I was. They didn’t seem to mind I was approaching but when I got closer they ran away. When I reached the estuary I saw something lying on the ground with buzzards standing on top of it. My curiosity got the better of me and I had to investigate. That meant I had to cross a couple of streams to get close to it. I got my feet wet and the water was actually warmer than I thought it would be. Of course I got sand in my sandals but I’ll take care of that later. Unfortunately that something lying on the ground was a baby fin back whale. I had heard there was a mother and calf swimming around in the bay. It probably got separated from mom and got too far in the estuary and the tide went out and left it stranded. Unfortunately it happens more than we like. It’s a shame but nothing we can do to prevent it. So it was food for all the animals, birds, and critters. I didn’t stay too long as the tide was coming in and I didn’t need to do any swimming to shore. Ha!!! So I headed back to the beach and rinsed my feet and sandals in the surf and walked home. Once in a while, I walk to the estuary, which is 2 miles more, than my normal walk, if my back is feeling good. Today was the day!!!! I definitely got my exercise. I had thought of walking later in the afternoon when the tide was low again, but I am glad I didn’t as the wind came up after getting home. The wind has been pretty brisk lately so if you don’t manage to get a walk on the beach when it is calm, it doesn’t happen.
May your days be filled with rainbows!!!!! Pictures taken from our deck.
