Saturday, May 1, 2010. Happy May Day, Kentucky Derby Day and Dancing around the Maypole!!!!! The Maypole might be stretching it a little but you never know. I can remember picking flowers putting them in a paper vase made out of construction paper, taking it to my house and even a neighbors’. I would put the vase with the flowers in front of the door, ring the door bell and run away, giggling the whole time. Well it was better than dancing around a maypole!!!!!
After a cloudy day and thinking it was going to rain yesterday, which it didn’t, we didn’t do much. But today is a beautiful sunny day and the solar panels should do very well. We didn’t have as much wind today either. Yesterday the people that live close to town said there were gusts up to 67 miles per hour. Yeesh!
We had our morning coffee and then I fixed bacon, eggs and toast. Dave was a happy camper as he knows I only make breakfast like that when I want to which isn’t very often.
Dave replaced the old water pump Larry had hooked up, which had been rebuilt more times than we would like to know, with a new one he bought when he was home last. He thought it wouldn’t cycle as much as the old one, but no such luck. It isn’t any quieter but we have more water pressure. Dave looked all around the yard to see if he could spot where the leak is but didn’t find anything. He thinks the leak is under the house where we will never be able to get at it to fix it. So the pump cycles and there isn’t any way around it. Actually the pump is in a wood box next to the trailer and when the pump vibrates so does the box which makes it sound louder than if it were insulated or in a different box or location. We will definitely have to fix that before we have guests as it is loud enough to keep people awake.
I washed the breakfast dishes then washed some clothes and hung them to dry. Then I turned off the refrigerator and freezer as they are all one unit, and put all the frozen food in a thermal bag and took the majority of the perishable foods in the refrigerator and placed them in a cooler so they would remain cool. Then I heated water on the stove and when it was hot, put it in a couple of pans and placed one in the freezer and the other in the refrigerator and closed the doors. After about 10 minutes, Dave came into the kitchen and started chipping away at the ice. It was pretty easy to do as it was melting pretty fast. He did the refrigerator first then the freezer. When he got done I wiped out the two units and then lit the igniter to start the propane. Then the doors were closed and now all we had to do is wait for it to get cold enough so I can put the food back in. Since I could do anything else, I decided to take a walk. Dave stayed home and I walked down toward where Larry and Lois now live. I was close to their house but didn’t want to go visit as I needed to get back and load up the freezer and refrigerator. When I could see their house, I decided it was time to turn around and head home. I had a good walk and even worked up a little sweat. It wasn’t hot out as there was a breeze. So I feel better about getting some exercise.
When I returned, the refrigerator and freezer was cool enough for me to put everything back in and then I took the thermal bag and the ice chest outside and set them on the deck to dry out. I am glad that job is done. It didn’t take long which is nice. As the weather gets warmer, I will need to defrost more often to keep from using a lot of propane as the unit works harder when it is hot.
Dave read a little and watched T.V. to see how the Mariners did. When he saw what he needed too he turned off the T.V. and went to his computer. This morning he went online to find a gift for his son for his birthday. Michael will be 38. Our kids are getting old aren’t they??? Dave found a neat gift and ordered it and it should get to him in time for his birthday which also happens to be Mother’s Day. Our grandson Eian, has his 11th birthday on the 5th which his gifts should be arriving soon to his house. It is a good feeling to get the birthdays taken care of.
I proofed the April blog and tonight I will add pictures then post it.
I gave my plants a little water especially the one I transplanted yesterday. Then I went upstairs. I was going to cross stitch but it was already going on 4:00pm, so I decided to make the clam sauce for tonight’s dinner. While it was simmering I made Dave and I a cocktail and I read for a little while. Dave was reading a book also. Then it was time to start heating water to cook the pasta. They don’t have linguine down here so I use spaghetti. When that was done we ate. After dinner I went outside and had a cigar and enjoyed my wine and the setting sun still shining on the hills across the bay. Unfortunately there wasn’t a lot of wind so flies were everywhere. Dave came out and said to follow him to the electrical room where the generator is. I asked why and he said he was going to start the generator and I was getting a lesson. He showed me how to start and turn it off too. Pretty easy stuff. The oil change on that puppy will be easy to do, unlike the boat! Oh speaking of the boat. We heard from the broker via email and he said the guy who has the older Hunter 40 in the states would like to trade boats. Dave laughed!!! He wrote back and said as long as we don’t have any payments of any kind and they take possession of his boat and sell it. I don’t think that will happen, but it was kind of funny. NOT!!! He hasn’t heard back yet. We just need to get out of the boat payment and paying for insurance. Stranger things have happened ya know!!! If this guy really wants our boat he will find a way to get it. He owns his boat free and clear. It will be interesting to see if the broker responds.
We needed to run the generator so we would be all charged up. It was not even 5 minutes before everything was charged, but we let it run 15 minutes just the same. When we were done charging the batteries, Dave went back to the electrical room and shut it down. I went with so I could see the process. Pretty easy. He just flipped the switch to turn of the generator and then turned the battery switch to off. I went outside to the propane tank and turned it off. There was a strong odor of propane so I told Dave and he came out to check and sure enough the tank was leaking badly. The tank itself is an old one and needs to be replaced. We will have to do that. It isn’t often we need to run the generator and eventually we will get a little Honda generator. So I got some soapy water and gave it to Dave to pour over the fittings and valve and sure enough it was leaking pretty well. So Dave ended up taking the fitting off and the tape that was wrapped around it and replaced the tape then put the fittings back on. It took a little bit to get it tight enough to where it wasn’t leaking any more. When Dave poured soapy water on it again the only place there were bubbles was around the handle. He wiggled it and got it to where it wasn’t leaking any more. One thing too is when the propane truck comes by and they fill the tank they over fill it which doesn’t help matters. But it is o.k. for now and we will replace the bottle on down the line.
After all that we closed and locked the electrical room, put the tools away and locked the garage. Nasario was on his daily walk and he stopped to give me some ceviche he had made from the bass Phil had given him. That was really nice and I thanked him. He gave some to our neighbors Smiley and John and Lesyl. We put it in the refrigerator and will either have some tonight or tomorrow with tortilla chips.
I closed all the windows in the trailer and then went to the bamboo room to close the sliding glass doors and lock up for the night. The trailer and bamboo room are beginning to smell much better.
The wind has picked up and we are having a westerly. Sometimes they can blow pretty good and hot. But this one doesn’t seem hot. It is nice to have some breeze come into the house as it was warm today. Well it is almost time to get on the internet and post my blog.
Sunday, May 2.Dave and I read our books this morning while having coffee. Then we had breakfast and I washed out some clothes and hung them to dry. I came back upstairs and put dishes away and cleaned up a little. Then I decided to take a walk on the beach. Dave was contemplating how he was going to mount our old VHF radio from the boat. So I left him to contemplate while I walked. It was a beautiful day with the wind out of the north. Not a good day to walk in the desert because of the dust that was flying, but a great day for a walk on the beach. The tide was out so I walked on the sand spits looking for treasures. I didn’t see any so I went back on the beach. I walked a while longer then turned around and headed back to the house. I was looking for agates but didn’t find any and nothing else of interest either. I had a good walk and when I got back to the house I fixed Dave and I lunch. Dave had gotten the ladder out and climbed up to the roof of the laundry room so he could try to figure out how to mount the cable for the VHF radio. After lunch I did some cross stitching and then around 2:00pm I took some white clam sauce I made last night and some uncooked spaghetti over to Joannes’for her dinner either tonight or tomorrow. We sat and chatted a while and then she had to get back to her laundry and I to my cross stitch. So we said goodbye. When I got back to the house I shared with Dave about my visit and then I went back to cross stitching. Dave was down in the garage making a wood face panel for the radio and our neighbor Phil came over on his quad and stopped to talk to Dave about bread. Phil wants to make some bread and I am sure Creela told him that Dave makes it. So he got some pointers and then they talked about guy stuff. HA!!! I was upstairs in the dining room but I could hear the conversation in the garage. There isn’t any insulation so you can hear everything. When Phil left for home Dave came upstairs and showed me what he had been working on. He now needs nails and some plastic cable holders to mount the cable to the house. He will have to make a trip to our ‘Home Depot’ for those.
We had Nasarios’ homemade cevchie and it was really good. He put carrots, cucumber, onion, tomatoes, cilantro and a lot of fish. I saw him making his rounds tonight as I was locking everything up and told him it was very good. He was pleased.
I got a little sunburned today on my walk so I put some lotion on my shoulders. It doesn’t hurt, I just noticed I was red.
I cut back some of the scrub bushes surrounding the yard in front of the guest house. I stopped to give my back a break and figured I would finish the rest tomorrow. There is a lot of things we need to do with the yard, but of course it won’t happen until the house is ours.
It is a quiet evening and the sunset on the mountains was beautiful. The wind has died and it is really nice outside now. Most of our neighbors went into town for tacos. It is something they do each Sunday to visit with people. I guess there are different people each week that show up. We stayed home as we didn’t want to go. Maybe when we get quads we might go once in a while, but for now with the road the way it is----it is hard on the jeep and the less we drive it on that road the better. I may have to take it to town to get groceries on Tuesday and then again on Wednesday for the Cinco de Mayo party. We need an old Baja car!!
Well it is time to grab a bite to eat and then read. As I am typing Dave is settled in his chair reading a book.
Monday, May 3.Like every morning when both of us don’t have somewhere to go, Dave gets up first and makes coffee and then I slowly wake up before I get up and then I am ready for coffee. Dave went outside and when I got up he wasn’t on the deck or downstairs so I looked out the dining room window and saw him talking to George, our neighbor. I remember Dave saying something about a big school of bait fish in the Bay so I figured that was what he went over to talk to George about. When he came back I was drinking my coffee and reading my book. I’m close to the end of the book. Dave checked the weather and we are suppose to get wind this afternoon and tonight so I figured I would wash clothes and hang them before the wind got here. Dave was preparing new sourdough starter, using yeast this time as we don’t have enough yeast in the air here. I told him I was hanging clothes and then I was going to finish the trimming of the bushes. I went down to the guest house, hung the clothes, and then opened the trailer windows and the bamboo room doors. I went to the garage, put on work gloves, and then grabbed the clippers. I trimmed the rest of the bushes which didn’t take a long time and some of the plants I pulled up I replanted in areas where the soil needs roots to keep it from eroding. There were some plants that started to overtake the outer perimeter of where they are suppose to be, so I had to get the shovel to dig them up replant them in another part of the yard where the roots are needed to keep the soil together. After that I was done. I put everything away and Dave came out to see my handiwork. It does look much better and cleaner. I went upstairs and he was waiting for the starter to bubble. I looked at it and told him it is definitely doing better than the last batch he made. It is looking promising!! He continued to work with the dough and then after kneading it letting it set to rise in the bowl and then rise again in the pan. It is time to bake it. We now have sourdough bread. It looks nummy, and we will be having some with dinner tonight. I checked email and then I cross stitched for the rest of the afternoon. The wind came up a little but not like they had predicted. It will probably blow tonight right when we want to go to bed!!! But that forecast could have been for the middle of the Sea where it would miss us. So we shall see. It is suppose to be calm for the rest of the week and warm. It was 86 today. Perfect!!!
I lit the water heater (yea for me!!!!) then when the water was warm I took a shower. Dave took one about 30 minutes after I did and the water was still hot. After my shower I turned off the water heater since Dave wasn’t sure when he was going to shower. It all works.
The bread was absolutely delicious!!!! Dave out did himself this time. We ate dinner and as I was cleaning up he took some bread over to Phil and Creela’s house as the crust was crunchy. The crust on Dave’s bread was indeed crunchy, in a good way.
Dave read some of his book this afternoon and just after dinner when he got back from Phil and Creela’s house. Now he is watching sport news while I type. Then we will both watch T.V. and at 9:00pm I will get on my blog site and add a picture I forgot and put a title on it. Then it is relax and eventually go to bed. We are leaving the house early tomorrow morning to go to town for some groceries and Dave has a couple errands to do then drop me at Lois’ house so I can watch ‘Dancing with the Stars’ with the other gals. It’s fun.
Tuesday, May 4.Dave and I were up before 7:00am and we got the cooler, water bottle for filling, and bags to put groceries in. We were heading to town between 7:30-8:00am. What a ride. The Baja Rally kicked up more rocks, or to be more factual, took the dirt off of them so they are now exposed more than ever. When we got into town we stopped at Isla store and got our drinking water bottled filled, some fly strips, and eggs. Then our next stop was to Miguels. I got a few things there, but it was obvious he hadn’t gone to get fresh fruits and vegetables yet. Same thing with David’s. So I managed to get what I needed except fruit as there wasn’t any good apples or bananas. We left there and headed for Dos Piños got a few things then had to stop at Xitlali for milk and a couple other things that the other stores didn’t have. Then we were headed home. When we got to the top of the hill close to Lois’ house, I called her on the VHF so I could check the time. Neither Dave nor I wear or carry a watch and there was no clock in the truck. It was just after 10:00am so I told her I was going home to unload the groceries and would hitch a ride with Joanne and Kathy and be there for ‘Dancing with the Stars’. When we got home I started to put things away, but had to call Joanne to tell her I would be over to her house around 10:45am. I finished putting the items away that needed to be refrigerated and I already had my sandwich made and my drinking water ready. I told Dave ‘see ya later’ and headed to Joanne’s. Kathy arrived right after I did so we got in Joanne’s jeep and off we went to Lois’. There were 5 of us including Lois, who came to watch the show. Then just as it was almost over another gal named Annie came and brought her lunch and sat around and visited after the show. Now there were 6 people, Annie, Maryann, and Kathy sat in a group and talked since they were sitting by each other, and then Lois, Joanne and I, since we were sitting close together had our own conversation. We didn’t leave until 3:00pm and I was ready to leave an hour before that but waited until Joanne was ready. I didn’t have a hat with me so I couldn’t walk home, as I didn’t want to get burnt. The sun is starting to become intense and it doesn’t take long to get sun burnt. We went back to Joanne’s house and I walked home from there.
Dave had been working on trying to get the handle off the pipe that is in our bathroom, that when turned in the up position lets water flow through the copper tubing and you can feel when it gets hot then you shut the valve down and you can take your shower and have plenty of hot water. Anyway---he thinks that since there is a little play in the handle that it could be leaking around the valve. He couldn’t get the handel off though. So that didn’t work. Oh well. We talked about the time I had over at Lois’ and I am glad I don’t get together with the ‘ladies’ too often. Same thing happens here as it does at home. Women gossip and complain about whatever. I just don’t want to get sucked into that.
It was too late for me to cross stitch so I read instead. Dave finished the book he was reading. I hadn’t taken anything out of the freezer for dinner so I asked Dave what he wanted to eat. He said he didn’t care. I gave him a couple choices and he chose sandwiches. So I fixed a nice thick sandwich which filled us up. It was nice because I didn’t have any dishes to wash. We watched T.V. then went to bed. Exciting eh?!
Wednesday, May 5. Happy Birthday to our grandson Eian. He is 11 today!!!
Another beautiful day in paradise. It started out pretty warm this morning but now a breeze is blowing and it feels great. We are going to a Cinco de Mayo party this afternoon at 2:30pm so I have to make a dish to take. I decided I would make Mexican Style Rice.
I finished the book I was reading so now I can give it back to Lois to pass on to someone else. I washed out a handful of clothes and hung them to dry, then I toasted some of Davey’s sour dough bread and cut some cantaloupe and that was breakfast. Then I started cutting up onion, garlic, and tomatoes. I set those aside until I was ready to cook.
Since I didn’t type my journal for the blog yesterday I had to do it today so I wouldn’t forget. So I did that to pass the time until it was time to cook. We were leaving at 1:45pm so I had to time it right so it would still be hot when we left. Time passed quickly and I hadn’t finished typing for yesterday, but had to stop and get back to it when we got home.
I cooked the onion, garlic, the added the rice in vegetable oil. When the rice was brown I added the tomatoes and spices then 3 cups of chicken broth and let it cook for 20 minutes. I also added cilantro too. When the time was up it was done and I put it in a casserole dish and wrapped the dish in foil so it would stay hot. We got ready to go and we left close to the time we wanted to. As it turned out we were the first to arrive. The time was set for 2:30pm and we got there around 2:15pm, and Diane made a comment that people wouldn’t be arriving until later because it was too hot. They were having the party outside. I thought that was strange as it was great outside. There was a breeze which kept the temperature down. So we took the opportunity to talk with Ron and Diane and I joined Ron in drinking a beer. We brought rum and cokes as we were suppose to bring our own drinks, but he had beer and soda for anyone who wanted it so since it was a warm day I had a nice cold beer. Pretty soon people started arriving and I went around to the people I didn’t know and introduced myself and Dave. I may not remember all the names, but I will the faces. Most of them don’t stay down here year round. A lot of them have houses in San Diego or vicinity and go back to them when it gets hot here. Then come back in October time frame. It was nice to meet people you hear talking on the radio and now I can put a name with a face. Dave had fixed a radio yesterday for a gal we met last summer, Mary Crawford, otherwise known to us cruisers as ‘Baja Gal’. She was the one who was able to bring my medication down from the states when I ran out. It didn’t take Dave long to figure out the problem with her radio and she was thrilled to get it back and running again. We had fun at the party. We didn’t play Bocce Ball this time. We let some of the other people play. We played at the last party. It was just nice to visit with everyone. The food was great and plentiful and of course I ate too much. It is so hard at potlucks to not over eat as there are so many dishes and you want to try everything, but I didn’t. I took enough to fill me up and after waiting a little bit after eating, I went and got dessert. These people understand we all need chocolate!!!!! There were brownies, chocolate chip cookies and chocolate cake. As the sun was setting, people started to gather their stuff and say their goodbyes. We were ready to go too so we gathered our things and thanked Diane and Ron for having the party and left. After getting home it was still light outside and the tops of the mountains were red from the sunset, so Dave and I went out on the deck and I enjoyed a cigar and he his pipe. Before we did that we had to open the skylights and sliding glass doors to get some cool air in. We never know what the wind is going to do so for precaution we close the skylights. So it was a bit warm in the house. It doesn’t take long for the house to cool down which is nice. Especially when there is a breeze, like tonight. Now we are inside, Dave checking emails and I am finishing up the journal. We will either read or watch T.V. if there is anything on worth watching.
Thursday, May 6. It was warm when we got up this morning. Dave kept the blinds closed on the water side of the house until the sun got higher in the sky. He opened the skylights and the two sliding glass doors even before I got up. Also the bathroom window. He said it was interesting as on the bedroom side sliding glass door, the blinds were being sucked outward and the sliding glass door blinds in the dining room was blowing inward. Strange!!! Finally the sun was high enough I could open the blinds and enjoy the view. I washed dishes, made the bed, had a breakfast bar and went out to the yard in front of the Bamboo room to dig up the two plants I had planted not too long ago and moved them, hopefully to a better place where the soil is better. Not so much salt. I hope they do better as the one I dug up next to the driveway wasn’t doing so well. I watered both plants and then went to the area where they were first planted and started digging up the soil, turning it over and breaking up the clods of dirt. It isn’t a large area but it was hot and I was getting over heated so I finished what I had to do and called it quits. The reason I was turning over the soil in that one area is because the soil gets so hard and salty. My plan is to work coffee grounds and egg shells into the soil so it will drain better and maybe cut down the salt content. Once I do that and work it a few times, it should be better for plants to grow there. I hope.
It will be a warm one today. There is a little breeze thank goodness. I put the tools and wheel barrow away and went upstairs to have some water and sit and cool down. I turned the fan on above my chair and it felt good. It was 88 today. This is only spring. We have learned not to be out in the sun too long or working in the heat of the day. When we were on the boat we never did any work after 10:00am if it was hot. I was working in the yard at about 10:00am and came in an hour later. The house does heat up and even with windows and skylights open it stayed warm. Of course we didn’t have a lot of breeze to cool us. There aren’t many of those days thank goodness. At least not yet. We still love it when it is hot and the nights are so nice to go out on the deck and enjoy the cool breeze. After I had cooled down I checked email then made Dave and I lunch. After that I worked on my cross stitch. When I got tired of that I worked on the hat I am crocheting. So I kept busy. Dave read some of his book this afternoon and went out on the deck in the shade to get some cool air. Hey----did ya notice I didn’t say I did laundry? That is because I didn’t. There wasn’t enough to do so I got a break today.
Our neighbor Phil stopped by this afternoon and invited us to come to his house and have some fish he smoked. That is after Creela gets back from playing Train with the other ladies. I took a cool shower which felt good, put the meatloaf in the oven, which I had planned to have for dinner. After it was cooked, Phil told us to come on over as people were arriving. So we walked over to their house and sat, had fish, beer and chatted with the neighbors that showed up. We had a great time. When we got back home, I asked Dave if he was hungry and he said he was a little bit. I was too. So get this-----we had cantaloupe and a piece of meatloaf. Nice dinner eh?! I’m not even going to do the dishes tonight. I will do them in the morning.
The house is starting to cool down now which is nice and it will be decent for sleeping.
Friday, May 7. It is starting out as a warm day, but thankfully the breeze came up to cool it down. We opened windows and skylights.
I have started another book titled ‘Cold Mountain’. It’s about the Civil War. Dave started and finished a book titled ‘Strike Force’. So when we aren’t on the computer or watching T.V. we read.
I went for a walk on the beach looking for small shells. I have a unique shaped glass bottle that has been here since we moved in and I want to fill it with shells. I sprayed sun tan lotion on, rubbed it in and off I went. Dave was working on deflating Larry’s dinghy so he could fold it up and put it up out of the way. So I left him doing that while I searched the sandy beach for treasures. I found a lot of shells and collected them in a bag. As I was walking I saw Ruth coming toward me in her quad. She was on her way to Lesyls’ house. She told Lesyl she would help her get tires at the dump. This was the first time I have seen Ruth in socks and boots and long pants. She was definitely dressed for the occasion. The tires are for the end of the runway which is closed. Right now anyone can ride on the runway but it creates as lot of dirt. So since this is Lesyls’ property, she is using the tires to block off the access to the south end of the air strip. The north end has already been blocked. Ruth asked me what I was doing and I told her and she said if I go up further on the beach away from the water I should find lots of shells. I thanked her and said goodbye and she went to Lesyls’ and I looked for shells. When I walked far enough, I turned around and started walking back to the house at a quicker pace so as to get exercise. I thought I had enough shells. It was such a beautiful day with the breeze blowing, blue sky, waves coming on shore and the water was beautiful too. Thank goodness for the breeze as it would be hot otherwise. When I got back to the house, I dumped the shells in a pan of water to let them soak a little before rinsing and laying them out to dry.
I fixed lunch for Dave and me and after that Dave went to the bamboo room to play his submarine game and I finished the hat I was making for a friend of my youngest son. Then I cross stitched.
I took a shower and noticed not all the sun lotion covered where I had sprayed and thought, rubbed in. I had some pink spots, but it wasn’t too bad. No sun for me tomorrow.
We actually had a nice dinner and after dishes we sat and watched the news and then some programs then a movie. We were up until midnight. The movie was called ‘Moon’. It was a weird movie. We went to bed after that.
Earlier Phil stopped by and said he was thinking of going fishing in the morning and wanted to know if Dave wanted to go. Of course Dave said yes. Phil was trying to get a hold of another guy to invite him to come but wasn’t having any success. He told Dave he would keep trying and call him later.
It was 8:30pm and we hadn’t heard from Phil so we turned the radio off. Most people don’t call after 7:30pm. Dave didn’t know if he was going fishing tomorrow or not, but he figured Phil would get a hold of him in the morning.
Saturday, May 8. Dave was up at 6:30am and just before 7:00am Phil called and asked Dave if he would like to go fishing. Dave said yes and said he could be ready and over to his house at 7:30am. I was still in bed. I did get up to make him a sandwich as he was getting things together. I went back to bed and Dave got his coat and hat, lunch and said ‘see ya later’ then went down to the garage to get his fishing gear and he was gone. I fell back to sleep and got up a little before 9:00am. I was having coffee and looking out the window when I heard Joannes’ voice. She was talking to our neighbor and then she walked over to see me and give me back my Tupperware container that had dinner in it for her. We talked for a couple minutes and then she left and went back home and I went upstairs and finished my coffee. Then I checked email.
I ended up cleaning the bathroom, dusting the fans and the top of the cupboards and shelves. Then I swept, shook rugs and mopped the kitchen floor. I got the glass jar down and started putting the shells I collected in it, but found that most of the shells were too big for the opening. I put what I could in there and now I have to go searching for even smaller shells. Oh well. Only a ¼ of the bottle is full of shells so I have a lot of collecting to do tomorrow.
After sweeping the floor, I decided I would quit cleaning and spend the rest of the afternoon working on my cross stitch. I took a shower first and had just sat down to cross stitch when Mary came over from next door. I invited her in and we sat and talked for a while. She is going to be gone next Wednesday as well as her neighbors Smiley and John so she wanted to know if we would feed her dog, Alaura. I said we would. So she said she will write down what I need to do as Alaura takes medicine. We talked about her trip to see her Aunt and Sister and then she said she had to get home to check on the bread her husband, George started this morning. He was off helping a friend. We said goodbye and I went back to my cross stitching. Dave wasn’t back from fishing yet.
Around 3:00pm Dave and Phil got back. Dave brought home 3 trigger fish and a spotted bass. I helped Dave clean them and then I took the meat upstairs, washed it and put the bass in our freezer and divided the trigger fish to give to Joanne and our guard, Nasario. When I was done preparing it and put the fish in a couple zip lock bags, I walked to Nasarios’ trailer and gave him a bag and then went to Joannes’ to give her the other one. When I came home I made Dave and I a cocktail and we talked about our day. He said there were lots of fish they just weren’t biting. Then I started preparing dinner. We ate and cleaned up and I went outside to sit on the deck for a while and enjoy the warm breeze while Dave was watching T.V.
The wind picked up a little more so I came back inside. Dave is still watching T.V. and when I am done here I will be also. It was a good day as Dave got to enjoy time fishing and being on a boat, and I got some cleaning done. I have a little more cleaning left to do tomorrow, but it won’t take long. I couldn’t vacuum the two rugs we have due to cloud cover. We have to allow the solar panels to get as much solar rays as possible on days like this. So I will vacuum tomorrow if it isn’t cloudy.
Sunday, May 9. Happy Mother’s Day to all you Mom’s out there. Have a wonderful day with your family. It is also my step son, Michaels Birthday today, and he is 38.
We have some high clouds today which aren’t helping the solar panels. As the afternoon wears on, more clouds are showing up, but should be gone tomorrow. I vacuumed the rugs this morning but in order to do that we had to fire up the big generator. It took all of about 10 minutes to vacuum and when I was done Dave shut it off. It runs on propane and sucks a lot of it so we don’t want to use it very often. We need to get a small generator for such times as today. I finished cleaning what I didn’t do yesterday and then I made some deviled eggs and egg salad for sandwiches.
I received emails from my sons who were nice, wishing me a Happy Mother’s Day, and my grandboys did too. That is special.
Dave went over to Joanne’s house to look at her motor for the boat, another one and bigger, and was over there trying to fix it. When he came home he said it won’t run because her husband made some adjustments and took some parts out. So Dave did some research online and jotted down the parts she needs to make it run again. Her daughter is coming down next month so she will email her with the list and then Dave will be able to put the motor together and get it running. So that was good.
After lunch I cross stitched for a while and Dave took a cat nap in his chair. When he woke he got online to check his email, news, weather and whatever else.
After sitting for a while I decided it was time to walk down to the beach and search for smaller shells for my bottle. I gathered a full zip lock bag full then took them upstairs and rinsed them and now they are drying. Tomorrow I will know if I have to get more.
It was laundry day and the weather was perfect for drying. I love the hot air as it makes things dry fast. The wind has picked up which means the clouds will be going away. Actually with the cloud cover it made it a little cooler so that was nice. It’s been in the upper 80’s for a while now.
After cleaning the house I took pictures because some of you had asked to see the house now that we have made it ours for the time being. I also took pictures of the trailer and the bamboo room. Unfortunately the hide-a-bed couch is no good for sleeping as it is all rusted out. We hope to replace that with a futon couch that makes into a comfortable bed. They have come a long way from the last futon I owned. They were hard to sleep on but we want to get a Serta Futon which has a cushioned pad. We aren’t buying that until we own the house though. So for right now, any guests we have will have to sleep in the trailer.
Well it is cocktail time and then dinner. I suspect we will probably watch T.V. afterwards. With the wind blowing like it is now, it will cool down the house nicely for sleeping tonight. We have kept the skylights open for the last couple nights just to get cooler air in the house. It has been great.
Monday, May 10.Today is Mexican Mother’s Day. Which is cool.
The house stayed warm last night because we had to close the skylights due to the wind. We weren’t sure how much or long it would blow so we wanted to be on the safe side and close them. Sometime in the middle of the wee hours of the morning, Dave got up and opened them to let some air in then went back to bed. The wind was still blowing when we got up this morning and there were white caps on the bay. It blew all day but it was nice and it stayed cool. I really didn’t have anything planned for today so I just did what I wanted. I walked on the beach to collect more small shells and filled up another zip lock bag. As I was down by Mary’s house, Mary came out to see me and ask me what I DID do since I don’t do yoga, train, or crafts with the ladies. I told her I had been so busy with various clubs and Scouts, when we were in the States, being on the go a lot and now I am just enjoying not having any commitments or schedule. She said that when she first got here she dove into all the activities and was never home. They still are busy but she has cut back a lot. I told her I just don’t have the need to be with the LADIES all the time and I like my free time to do what I want to do. Even when we buy the house I probably won’t change much of my schedule. Actually we will be busy with fixing up the house and yard. Dave enjoys not having a schedule either and doesn’t feel guilty or worry about whether he should be doing something. He is enjoying his retirement and enjoys going fishing with our neighbor once in a while.
After talking with Mary, I finished walking along the beach. She had told me a baby seal washed up on the beach so I went to investigate and found the buzzards did a wonderful job in leaving nothing but bones behind. After viewing that I turned around and walked back to the house. I took my shells upstairs, dumped them in a pan of water to let them soak for a little bit then I went downstairs where Dave was and he said he had been digging holes trying to find out where the pipes go. Most of them are under the foundation. Oh Yeah!!! We went over to the pila where he discovered a live wire that Larry never did anything about. Larry would put things in and when he didn’t need them anymore, instead of taking the parts he wasn’t using anymore out, he just left them. So Dave pulled up the wire and tracked it to the electrical room where the generator is. He disconnected it and pulled the heavy duty wire out and will store it as that stuff is really expensive to buy. After he finished with that he put tools and all away and we went upstairs. I fixed lunch and afterward, sorted and rinsed the shells and laid them out to dry. When they were dry I filled the bottle and it looks nice. I asked Dave to put it back on the shelf for me so he did. Then I cross stitched for the rest of the afternoon.
Before dinner I sat and crocheted a hat I am working on. Then it was time to fix dinner.
Dave is watching T.V. while I am typing this and when I am finished I will join him. The wind has stopped now and I think it will be a comfortable night to sleep.
Tuesday, May 11.We slept well last night as it was a little cooler. When we got up at 7:30am it was pretty warm out already when we walked out on the deck.
Our neighbor John came over to ask Dave about his internet antenna system that he used on the boat. John and Smiley have had a hard time getting internet here so they are going to try this to see if it works. When John left, Dave put the water tank in the back of the truck and took off for town. I did some crocheting, had my coffee, got dressed and went down and unlocked the bamboo room and opened the doors and some of the windows in the trailer as we had a nice wind blowing. Then I unlocked the electrical room and checked the solar panel but it didn’t need moving yet. I came back in the house, had a little more coffee, read a little then made a sandwich to have when I am watching the taped ‘Dancing with the Stars’ at Lois’. When Dave got home I helped him with the water and it was getting close to the time I needed to leave and walk over to Joannes’ to catch a ride to Lois’. Just as I was getting ready to go, Lois called and asked if I would get fish from Smiley to take to an older couple in Rincon. This is the couple that the man had heart surgery and he is cantankerous and Smiley and John took care of him after his surgery then brought him back down here to their home. Anyway, I called Joanne to let her know I would be a few minutes late and she said that was fine as she was running late herself, getting laundry done. I walked over to Smiley’s and got the fish and we chatted for a few minutes and then I got home, called Joanne to tell her I was on my way. She was ready to go when I arrived and so we left. It was only us gals, Lois, Joanne and I. The other gals had things going on. We sat and talked a little and then watched the show. When it was over Joanne and I thanked Lois and we left. When I got home I called up to Dave and told him I was going to go to see Smiley and return the bag she had the frozen fish in. I had a very nice visit with her and she has similar back problems as I do so we talked about that and some other things. This was the first time we have actually visited for a while. When we finished visiting I went home and found Dave on the computer. He had been making phone calls, doing some business. We shared our afternoon with each other and then I cross stitched and Dave played his sub game.
At 4:30pm I went over to see Mary next door, so she could give instructions on what and how much to feed Alaura. Mary, George, Smiley, and John are leaving tomorrow morning and going to the coast where they will make reservations at an R.V. park in September. They will be gone overnight so Mary had asked if I would feed Alaura. Of course I said yes. She is the community dog and everyone loves her. So after I got my instructions I came back home, fixed Dave and I a cocktail, then sat down and did a little more cross stitch and Dave continued with his game. Then it was time to fix and eat dinner. The wind has died down enough to where I can go outside and enjoy the setting sun. That didn’t last long as when there isn’t any wind we have bugs buzzing around and landing. So sitting outside was short lived. Dave was just saving his game when I came in and when he was done I transferred pictures from my camera to a picture file on the computer while Dave called Ron & Noreen, to discuss some business and see how they were doing. He is finished with his phone call and is preparing to watch T.V. I am on my way to my chair in the living room because I am done here. Oh yeah---the wind picked up again and it is a little chilly outside, but no bugs!!!!
Wednesday, May 12.This morning was pretty interesting. Since Joanne had to go to the dump and get a few groceries, and so did I, she offered to pick me and my trash up and we could do our thing together. I told her that was an excellent idea. So this morning around 9:00am she came by, I loaded her back seat with my 3 bags of garbage, as she had her garbage in the back. She has a jeep like ours just a little smaller. She let me know we were picking Kathy up to drop her at Annie’s house so she could play train. So the next stop was to her house. We gave her a bad time because she wasn’t ready when we got there, but she said it wasn’t 9:15am yet. We just laughed. We talked to her husband, Tom until Kathy was ready then we headed over to Annie’s house. Kathy got out and since I was sitting in the back seat with my garbage, I came up to the front seat. We left and went straight to the dump which is about a mile or so out of town. Once you turn onto the dirt road to go to the dump it is a bumpy long dusty ride to where you actually dump your garbage. The dump area has a chain link fence around it but unfortunately all the loose paper and cardboard has blown all over the site and beyond. When we got to the gated area we off loaded our garbage and drove away. When we got back into town she stopped for gas then we stopped at Miguels’ and Davids’ store, got a few things then stopped so I could fill my drinking water tank, then we stopped at the last store, Xitlali , got a couple items and then it was off toward home. She needed to stop at the ‘Home Depot’ to get some parts and order wood for a door she is having built. Then when that little chore was done we stopped at Beach Bob’s house to invite him to our beach party next Wednesday. Joanne is hosting. He wrote it on his calendar and told us thank you for the invite then we left. She drove me home and Dave helped unload the groceries. I thanked her and she went home. I shared with Dave my morning and he said he had been trying to get a hold of Phil and Susan, whom we met at the Cinco de Mayo party last week. They had trouble communicating with their hand held radios so Lois was kind enough to relay for them. Phil would like Dave to help him put his rigging up on his 30 foot sailboat. They said they would talk tomorrow. Believe it or not I was pretty tired after all that running around so I took a 2 hour nap. Bless Dave’s heart he let me sleep and then when he fired up the truck I got up and helped him load the pump in the back of the truck so he could return it to Larry. I stayed behind and did some cross stitching. So that was the extent of my day.
I fed Alaura her mid day snack, a milk bone, and then at 4:30pm went over and fed her dinner and gave her medication and a treat for taking her medication. She is a good dog and she is getting old. Mary and George are gone overnight and will be back tomorrow around 5:00pm. So they asked me if I would feed her and of course said yes. Dave had returned and we had a cocktail and then I prepared some bass which he caught the other day, by rolling it in corn flakes and letting the pieces sit in the frig for a few minutes so the corn flakes can adhere to the fish. Then I heated some beans and cooked the fish and made a salad and that was dinner. It was pretty good actually. Our left over fish will be for tacos tomorrow night. After dinner I locked everything up, turned the solar panel back to the morning position then came inside, got a cigar and went out on the deck to smoke it. There is a little breeze but it was pleasant to outside. No bugs either which is amazing. Dave was playing his sub game. Around 8:00pm Dave saved where he was in his game and I sat down to crochet a purse. Dave came to the living room area and plugged in the T.V. and we watched T.V. until 11:00pm. Then we went to bed. I have to be up by 6:00am to feed Alaura so I need my sleep!!!
Thursday, May 13.I got up around 5:50am and went over to Mary and Georges’ house to feed Alaura. She was glad to see me and knew she would be fed. She danced around and I prepared her breakfast and as she was eating I prepared her medicine. She takes two small pills for her thyroid in the morning and at night and the best way they have found for her to take them is to put them in a small piece of hot dog. No problems, she snarfes it up in a heartbeat. Then she gets a little dog treat for taking her medicine. I made sure she had fresh clean water not only by her food bowl but downstairs too. I talked to her and petted her for a few minutes and then told her I would see her later. I went home and got back in bed. Dave was still sleeping. We both got up around 8:00am and Dave got a call from Phil, the one with the sailboat. Again because of him being in town and us further away, the hand helds don’t work well. Luckily his wife heard them and translated. So Dave left around 9:00am for Phils’ house to help him with the sailboat rigging. He still isn’t home yet. Susan was going to Yoga this morning and I was just getting ready to have coffee so I didn’t want to go with him. Since Susan wasn’t going to be there I didn’t feel guilty staying home.
I dumped coffee and eggs shell compost on a portion of the ground I overturned in the garden and worked it in. Then I watered my plants, took out the garbage and messed around on the internet to pass the time. I did read a little and exercised and am taking care of turning the solar panel. I fed Alaura her mid day snack and made sure she had plenty of water. It was so cute, the guard, Nasario walks the neighbor every morning, afternoon and night. As he was coming back from his late morning walk, he asked me something but I didn’t understand so I told him no comprende, and he repeated with the motion like eating. Then I understood as he was asking if I was feeding Alaura. I told him I was and not to worry. We laughed and I told him thank you and he left. That was so sweet, him being concerned about Alaura. I will make sure I tell Mary. Mary is the one who takes care of Blanco when Nasario goes away for a few days.
Well I guess I will do some cross stitching. I had lunch and am just waiting for Dave to get home. All my chores are complete!!!
Dave finally got home close to 3:30pm and was tired. He said they bought the 18 footer and didn’t know how to rig it. It is a well used boat with many owners that did their own thing to it so half the stuff they got with it didn’t mean anything. Dave said it needs a few more things, but they can go sailing as long as the wind is light.
He checked email and then relaxed. I told him our neighbor Phil came over this morning to see if he wanted to go fishing, but I told him he was helping another Phil with his sailboat. So Dave didn’t get to fish today. As we heard later the fishing wasn’t that great. The Dorado is making their way north and are just south of Santa Rosalia. They follow the warm water. It won’t be long before they will be here. They are good eating fish!!!
Mary and George weren’t home by 4:30pm so I fed Alaura. She was hungry and was a good girl and ate her dinner then took her medicine. Mary and George got home around 5:30pm and it was fun to watch Alaura dance around and be all excited her parents were home again. Mary called me and said she had my fruit and if I wanted to come over and get it that would be fine. So I went over and returned the key and gave her the rest of the hot dogs and picked up the oranges, apples, bananas, and yellow and green bell peppers she bought for me. It is nice to have some fresh fruit again. Town hasn’t had much this week or even last week. We shall enjoy.
It got a little warm today and there was a breeze but the house stayed warm. There is a nice breeze now and the house is cooling down which is great. I sat outside for a little bit and wasn’t bothered by flies. There was a bat flying around catching bugs. We cheered it on!!!! When the breeze came up a little more it actually got chilly so we came inside. Dave is relaxing in his chair while I type this and then I think we will both watch some television.
Friday, May 14.After morning coffee and washing out some clothes, I called my neighbor Joanne and asked if there was anything she needed from town as I was leaving soon. She said she needed a dozen eggs. I went downstairs and got a couple canvas bags for groceries and told Dave goodbye and got in the jeep and went over to Joannes’ house to get her egg carton. Then I was off to town. The road is bearable in the jeep as opposed to the truck ride. The first place I stopped was to get my laundry. It only cost me 80 pesos which is really good. Then I went to Dos Piños and asked if their credit/debit card machine was working and he said no, so I made sure I didn’t get too many items. After leaving there I stopped at Xitlali and got milk and a couple other items then headed for home. I stopped at Joannes’ and gave her the eggs then went home and took the groceries upstairs. I didn’t have much so it didn’t take long to get them put away. While I was gone Dave worked on getting our old VHF radio that was on the boat, mounted on the desk. He had to attach the antenna to the house so he had to get on the ladder on top of the laundry room roof and go up and attach it to the house. Then he had to secure the cord but had trouble as it was windy and the sun was in his eyes. His hat blew off so he didn’t have anything to shield his eyes. He had sun glasses on but that didn’t keep the sun from shining directly in his eyes. Because of the ladder positioned right over the cord, Dave had a heck of a time getting enough leverage to hammer in what looks like a large staple, designed to hold the wire in place. They don’t work that well and with the hard wood on the side of the house, made it almost impossible to get them nailed into the wood. He finally got the cord taken care of and I helped him with the ladder and his tools when he was ready to come down off the roof. It was lunch time so I fixed us lunch then took a walk around the air strip for exercise. It was a beautiful day and the mountains showed their ruggedness as well as beauty. We had a little breeze going which was nice and it made the walk cooler. After I came home I did some more cross stitching and then switched to crocheting. I am making a purse for me. I am almost finished with the front panel and will soon be working on the back one.
After dinner, we went out on the deck and each of us had a cigar and enjoyed the view. No bugs which was nice. Our friendly little bat was flying around at dusk. Dave said he saw another one, but I missed it. When we came inside, I plugged the T.V. in, turned it on and started watching it. Dave joined me. After we watched a little of the news we turned it off and went to bed.
Saturday, May 15.Dave was up at 6:00am and guess who wasn’t. Apparently the guys here are fishing and starting to catch big grouper and yellow tail. The water is warming up so the fish are coming. That is exciting. One guy caught a 40 pound grouper. That is a lot of fish. Yesterday another guy caught a 30 pound yellow tail. So they are not only moving north but are getting bigger. I hope Dave gets a chance to go out again with Phil and catch a big one. The tide has been extremely low in the morning so Phil can’t get his boat out early.
As I was having my morning coffee, I crocheted some more of the purse and finished the front panel. I started and finished the back panel as well and assembled the purse. I used a shell I had found on the beach as a clasp to keep the contents inside, and now I will decorate with beads and small shells on the front. I wanted to make a purse so I could carry it around and let the other gals see it and if they think it might sell at the art show and in November for the bazaar, I will make more. It’s a test. I have fun making them and have a lot of ideas to make them fun. I need to get more yarn though as I don’t have a large variety and most of what I have aren’t full skeins. The purses might get pretty interesting with mixing the colors I have. Hmmm!!! I also read a little and did some cross stitching.
I needed to get up and move so I did some exercises while Dave took a ladder back to Larry. When Dave got home I went downstairs and got the shovel and my gloves and started digging up the ice plants that were growing everywhere by the Bird of Paradise bushes. This type of ice plant is different than what you saw in the last blog. This one is more like a bush and spreads out. So my plan was to dig it up and replant it among the bushes around the property to keep the soil intact. I dug up about 5 plants and two of them were pretty good size. After they were replanted I watered them. Hope they grow. Now it looks better where the Bird of Paradise plants are. They aren’t being overtaken by the ice plants. When I finished with that project I went inside and made lunch. I didn’t have a lot of energy today so I basically, read, crocheted, cross stitched and did the yard thing. Dave worked with the VHF radio as there was a lot of static when we talked on it. He found out that since it is close to the satellite dish for the internet, we are getting interference. He needs to get something off the boat that will fix the problem. So in order to keep from getting static, we have to unplug the computer and the star band connection. Otherwise the radio works great.
Dinner is done and so are the dishes. Now it is time to watch a little T.V.
Sunday, May 16.What a beautiful morning. Dave was up at 6:00 or 6:30am and I got up at 7:30am. Dave asked what I had planned for the day and I told him I didn’t have any as I just got up and didn’t want to think about anything until after my coffee. So I sat in my chair and looked outside at the calm water and the sand spits as the tide was way out again. The two fishing boats on buoys are high and dry. After coffee, I had breakfast and then went downstairs to water the plants I transplanted yesterday then went for a walk on the beach. The sun wasn’t real intense so it was a nice time to walk and there was just enough breeze to keep me cool. I had a wonderful walk. I found some seal bones, another bone that was oddly shaped, a sand dollar and a scallop half shell a different pattern and color from the ones I have. Of course I didn’t have a bag with me so luckily I didn’t find other treasures. When I got back to the beach in front of our house, our neighbor John was cutting the seaweed off the line that is connected to his fishing boat. He asked if I wanted some for a salad and I laughed and said I would pass!!! He asked what I had and I told him some seal bones. I had seen a small mammal on the beach that the buzzards were picking on and I asked John if seals have teeth like humans and he didn’t know but we suspect what I found was a baby seal. They get caught in the nets the pangeros put out and when the seals get tangled the pangeros kill them to get them out of their nets. The skull of this seal was half gone so I suspect that is what happened. Pour thing! I left John to his seaweed and came into our yard. Dave met me and asked what I had and I showed him. The one odd bone was so interestingly shaped Dave didn’t know what it was from. But all the bones I find are going into an area that will be called ‘Davey Jones’ Locker’. I rinsed off my shoes as I walked across the mud flats, then came upstairs and drank some water and washed my hands.
Last night we couldn’t get the star band internet to work and again this morning so Dave called Larry, our star band expert, and he suggested a couple of things and Dave did them. Then it finally started working. Sometimes the satellite clusters move and you don’t get any reception. We may have to move the dish to the other side of the house. We’ll see. If it happens a lot that is what we will do. Larry will come out and take a look at it sometime. We checked emails and then turned it off so it doesn’t cause interference with the radio. Sunday is usually a very quiet day around here. It seems everyone takes the day to kick back and stay home.
I am going to finish my purse and then start on another one. Before I do that I need to wash out a couple clothes items and hang them. Then this afternoon I will cross stitch.
Our life may not be real exciting for you who read this, but one thing is we are enjoying the relaxation, and not having a care in the world.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that yesterday Dave took the kitchen sink faucet apart as calcium from the water builds up and causes everything to crust over. So he cleaned it up and took the goose neck apart under the sink and cleaned that out and then the water flowed much better. He had talked to Larry yesterday when he took the ladder back and Larry was doing that very thing. Again it reminds us of the similarities of what we did on the boat. We don’t mind as we like things to work and since we did live on the boat for so long, it is just a preventative maintenance thing.
I am looking forward to when I can buy plants and get some cactus to plant in the yard and organize it so we have a beautiful yard with some color. Next year. Right now I am getting cuttings off the existing plants here and planting them around the yard mostly as fillers. I love to garden and especially when I see a plant grow and bloom as it is very satisfying. Well I’m off to wash clothes.
Clothes are washed and hanging to dry. Larry came over to check the star band connection. As it turns out he needed to do some adjustments. Now we are in business and it is working great. Dave checked his email and mine too, but there wasn’t much going on.
I finished decorating my purse and went downstairs to the laundry/art room to get some more yarn to make another one. It will be a different pattern.
Dave and I didn’t do much this afternoon. I read a little today and did some cross stitching which is almost half done.
It has been a beautiful day and I am so happy to be able to experience the Baja life.
Monday, May 17.The internet is working well for us, but Dave thinks eventually we will need to move the dish to the south side of the house. Larry had two dishes, one where we have ours now for testing, and the other was mounted on the south side of the house. We’ll have to wait and see.
After breakfast I took a walk on the beach and found bones of a seal with the ribcage and spine still intact. There was a head a little further up the beach I had picked up and then I found a sea urchin, and some large clam shells. This is all for my plot in the yard for Davey Jones’ Locker. It was a nice refreshing walk and I found a trailer that had been gutted and the aluminum sides ripped off to be used for roofs. Apparently the trailer had been abandoned and so the Mexican people helped themselves to what was left. There were a lot of small lizards running from the beach back to the brush. Boy!!! They sure can move. I guess they have to be fast to avoid being caught by the birds. When I arrived home, I laid the bones in their spot and walked to the garage where I found Dave outside digging up rocks along the arroyo where there use to be a rock wall to keep the soil from eroding. I said hello and then got a shovel and went over to the pila and started digging up an ice plant. It was pretty good size. I replanted it along the ridge near where we built the rock wall around the water spicket. Then I proceeded to water it and the other plants I’ve been messing with. So far so good in keeping them alive. While I was digging up the plant, our neighbor Phil came over and invited Dave to go fishing with him. So it didn’t take Dave long to put things away, grab his poles and fishing gear and walk over to Phils’ house. He went fishing and I switched out computers so mine was hooked to the internet and proceeded to spend 2 plus hours answering emails and checking stuff out. The only time I get to play on the internet is when he isn’t here. So I take advantage of it. Around 2 I quit and ate lunch then cross stitched after I exercised. Dave returned around 3:30pm with no fish. He said nothing was biting today not even bait fish. He said he had fun anyway.
I cross stitched a little longer while Dave was on his computer. Then it was dinner time of which we had leftovers. After dinner I went outside to enjoy the fresh warm air and the breeze and had a cigar. Dave was playing his sub game. When I was finished with my cigar I came inside and started crocheting another purse. After about 10 minutes I decided to watch T.V. Dave came and joined me so we watched our favorite shows then went to bed.
Tuesday, May 18.Today is viewing ‘Dancing with the Stars’ at Lois’ house with Kathy and Joanne. After that Joanne, Kathy and I are going to town to get some items we need. It will be fun. I have to see if I can find clear nail polish so I can put a coat on the shells I collected from the beach that I use for my purses. It would bring the color out and be more attractive.
Dave and I are going to Santa Rosalia on Monday to wash the boat and I need to do a little cleaning on the inside. I’ll pick up a few grocery items like chicken breasts and orange juice, tonic water, then head home Wednesday or Thursday. Yes!!!! I will be missing the final ‘Dancing with the Stars’ but no worries. It’s not like I live for it.
Need to go fix my sandwich to take with me to Lois’ then at 11:00am I will go to Joannes’ and hitch a ride.
I did some crocheting before I walked over to Joannes’. My sandwich is made and I put some cheetos in a sandwich bag, filled my water bottle, gave Davey a kiss and left. When we got to Lois’ we talked for a little bit and then watched ‘Dancing with the Stars’. I will miss watching the finals and who wins the trophy, but I can find out from the gals when I get back from Santa Rosalia. After the show was over Joanne, Kathy and I left and went to town to get some groceries. We made our rounds and got what we needed and came back home. Joanne dropped Kathy at her house and me at mine. Then after we had a chance to put groceries away, Dave and I walked to Joannes’ and picked her up and then walked to Kathys’ and met her and Tom and we all walked a little way to Pattys’ trailer because she was having a yard sale. She lost the lease to live there so she is selling everything and leaving. Her husband died a while back and the landlord sold it out from under her. That is how it is down here. So she is moving on. Actually the party is in honor of her. So many people know her and will miss her. Dave and I bought a BBQ, a couple garden tools, some nails, storage boxes, a metal s quare, a tea kettle, a pair of jeans for me, and a dryer drum to put in our fire pit for camp fires. It contains the fire and you don’t have to worry about it spreading anywhere. We got everything cheap which is nice. The BBQ is a Webber and the briquettes come with it. So now we can BBQ this summer and not heat the house up.
It was a fun day. Jay and Jan who have a sailboat and are cruising friends, have a trailer on the south side of the arroyo from us. They bought Patty’s 5th wheel and will be moving it this weekend. They have a small trailer now so it is a step up. Just like moving up in a boat. They plan on keeping the small trailer as well but we are wondering how they will manage to have both trailers in the tiny spot of land they have. It will be interesting to watch. They actually aren’t here all year. They make several trips to the states and keep their boat south of Santa Rosalia. They have never taken the boat over to the mainland just stay on the Baja side. They love to hang out for a while here in the summer. So it will be fun to have them near.
The sun has set and everything is locked up and the dishes are done so now it is time to just sit back and relax. Dave is reading a book and soon I will be joining him in the living room to crochet and watch T.V.
Wednesday, May 19.Jay and Jan are cleaning out their stuff making room for the new trailer. They are putting stakes where they want the 5th wheel to go and measuring. How exciting for them.
Dave is working under the hood of the truck. I have no idea what he is doing, but if I had a guess I think he is trying to tighten the fan belt. When he starts the truck the belt squeals at the beginning and then it is o.k. I just took the carrot cake out of the oven and have already completed my stretching exercises. I am thinking about walking on the beach as the tide is out. Then I will crochet and maybe even do some cross stitching before I have to take a shower and get ready to go to the potluck party. There are going to be a lot of people there. It will be fun. I guess, from what I have heard, these people like to get together a lot in the summer as that is when most of the people are here and the weather is conducive to the outdoors.
We will take the truck over to Patty’s and pick up the Webber BBQ. It will be so nice to have BBQ food again.
I washed out some clothes and when they were hung, I came back to the house and got ready to take a walk. I had dishes to wash from making the cake but I didn’t feel like doing them right now. Maybe later or tomorrow morning. No Worries!!
Well I guess if I’m going to go for a walk I better get going.
I didn’t find any treasures on the beach today. That is probably a good thing. I had a good walk with a nice breeze off the water. When I got home, our neighbor John was over and Dave was trying to get Johns’ computer hooked up for the internet using the EnGenius. I washed the dishes and I was hungry so I made myself a sandwich and ate it in the kitchen. When John left I fixed a sandwich for Dave. I crocheted a little but didn’t do any cross stitching as I didn’t really have enough time to commit to it. I had to take a shower, frost the cake and get stuff ready to go like what we were drinking and our plates and utensils. Dave changed his shirt and we were ready to go. We gathered our things and walked over to Joannes’ house. Creela was there along with Joanne, so we were the first to arrive. Creela and Joanne jointly planned and executed the party. We sat and chatted with them and others started arriving. We talked to most everyone and I got to talk to Lesyl, our landlord, a little bit. It was fun and the burgers were great as well as the salads and desserts. As the sun set, people started gathering their stuff to go home. We did the same and said goodbye to Patty, who the party was for, and everyone else and thanked Joanne and Creela for a nice time. I invited Tom, Kathy, and Joanne to come over tomorrow late afternoon for a game or two of train and also let Kathy and Tom tell us where they have explored. They won’t be here much longer as it is starting to get warm. So we want to pick their brains before they leave so then we can explore.
After getting home we sat down and watched T.V. until bed time.
Thursday, May 20. There is not a breath of wind so it is a little warm especially having the morning sun shine on the windows. We have been leaving the blinds on the east side of the house closed until the sun is above the house. Then we open them and the sliding glass doors and some of the windows to let the breeze in when it comes up. There actually wasn’t much until mid afternoon. I spent most of the day crocheting the purse I am working on. It is almost finished. Dave started another book titled, ‘The Bone Vault’. Looks interesting. I am still reading ‘Cold Mountain’. Since we watch T.V. at night that has replaced my reading time. But when Football season starts, I will be in the bamboo room reading!!! I’ve never gotten excited about football. I’ll watch some of the Seahawk games, but it just doesn’t do much for me so I usually do something else.
Today was a non productive day for the most part. I cleaned the bathroom, and washed dishes, and spent the rest of the day just crocheting. I want to make a lot of different type of purses and hats, and dish cloths to sell in November for people to buy Christmas gifts. I will try selling stuff and if it works out and we are here for the art show, I may just have stuff in that too.
After I finished sewing the purse together I went down to the art room and put a coat of clear nail polish on some of the shells I want to sew on the purse. I am letting them dry and then tomorrow I will do the finishing touches with the shells. This purse is my bumble bee creation.
The one I made for myself is a shell design and I love it. I will definitely have to get more of that yarn as I love the colors and it is bright.
After I finished with painting the shells and letting them dry, I put my stuff away and came upstairs. I put my shoes on and went for a walk on the air strip. It is hot but not as hot as it was earlier. I worked up a good sweat and the sun was less intense at 4:00pm. When I got back to the house I sat outside to cool down and drank some water. Dave is still reading his book. He will be done with it before dinner and then tomorrow start another one. After cooling down, which now there is a nice north breeze, I made Dave and I a cocktail. I am catching up my journal and then will start dinner. When the sun goes behind the mountain I will water my plants so they will stay moist over night. Tonight should be really comfortable on the deck as there is just a little breeze. With as warm as it was today it is nice to have the breeze now so it will cool down the house before we go to bed.
Friday, May 21.Today is definitely a different weather day from yesterday. We could see the wind line starting north and move down where we are. The wind is supposed to be from the north east and then switch to south but so far it has been just north east winds. There are white caps on the bay and we have had to close our sliding glass doors a little otherwise my some of the lighter family pictures get blown off the shelf. The wind does feel good after yesterday. The house did cool down enough for sleeping but it was warm for a while.
Our neighbors, Jay and Jan are smoothing dirt and preparing the spot for the 5th wheel. They had a dump truck load of crushed red rock delivered and smoothed out and now the guys, George, Jay and John are helping Jay move the trailer today. After all the rock was smoothed out the guys brought the trailer in but unfortunately it isn’t going to fit the way they wanted it to. Georges’ shed is in the way. So Jay and Jan have gone to plan B & C. They ended up tearing down one of their metal sheds and Jan is unloading another shed they have. It has been interesting to watch this whole thing. So things didn’t quite go the way they planned. Oh well.
This afternoon at 4:00pm Kathy, her husband Tom and Joanne are coming over to share with us places to go see, and then we will play Train. We are going to have snacks so that will end up being our dinner. Since it is so windy outside, I think we will bring in our grey patio table and use that to play Train on. I really don’t want to scratch up my glass table.
I did some cross stitching and finished putting the shells on the purse I finished yesterday. Now I will start another one and it will be different yet.
Not much else going on today. Dave just fed his sour dough starter so he will probably make bread after we return from Santa Rosalia. I’m off to do some crocheting.
I just received a call from Kathy asking if I wouldn’t mind if they postponed tonight and do it next weekend. Joanne has a stomach bug that has been going around so she isn’t feeling well and Tom just finished helping the guys with the trailer, and they would be arriving late, so they figured it would be better next week. I told her it was o.k. and when we get back from Santa Rosalia I will call them and we can decide what day. So I guess we are having salmon tortilla rollups tonight for dinner and some sliced apples. It’s sort of nutritious!!!
The wind did a switch and now we have a westerly going on. It is hot wind and a lot of it. We had to close the windows on the west side and the skylights that pointed in that direction. We hope it doesn’t last long as it is warm in the house. Looking forward to a wind shift from the north. May 15 started hurricane season down south, and next month starts Chubasco season. Oh yea!!!! At least we won’t be in the boat. It will be fun to watch from the deck because there is always a lightning storm and then the wind follows that but usually later at night or sometime during the wee hours of the morning. It will be interesting to observe them from land this time. Stay tuned, as there may be some really interesting pictures and stories coming!!!
Saturday, May 22.Dave took the truck and the water tank in to town this morning and got back a little after 9:00am. While he was gone I watched the neighbors move the 5th wheel closer to Jay and Jans’ small trailer. At least it isn’t sticking out toward George and Marys’ lot. It looks like it is where they want it for now. They will be leaving in a day or two and then be back for a while to get things organized.
When Dave got home I helped pump water which isn’t really hard. I hooked up the hoses and Dave started the pump. When the tank was empty we took the hoses off, drained them so the water would go into the pila, coiled the hoses and moved the pump out of the way. He took the truck with the tank in the back over to the carport and we took the tank out of the truck and secured it under the car port. I brought the pump and hoses over to the truck and once the pump cools down Dave and I will load all of it back in the truck and take it back to Larrys’.
I came upstairs and washed dishes then got ready to go into town. I am taking the jeep, dumping garbage and getting some fly and wasp spray. I called my neighbors to see if they needed anything from town and they didn’t so I left. It was a quick trip as I didn’t have to go to all the stores. I filled our drinking water bottle and got some bug spray at Islas’ then dumped garbage and lastly stopped at Xitlali to buy 3 small boxes of wine to take with us to the boat, and looked for some hornet/wasp spray but they didn’t have any. I bought some armor all for the jeep and came home.
When I got home Dave said he was just getting ready to go to Larrys’ as he just got home. Before he left he carried the water upstairs to the house and then left. I washed the windows of the jeep as they were really dusty. They look better now. When we get back from Santa Rosalia we will wash the jeep and wax it and I will detail the inside so it is protected from the elements. After the windows were clean I parked the jeep in the garage. I turned the solar panel and went back upstairs. Shortly after that Dave returned. We had lunch and he said Rainy had called about me taking care of a plant of hers while they are gone for 4 months. I called her back and she asked if I would take care of her plant. It is an indoor plant and all I need to do is water it when it needs it. So I told her I would do that. Apparently it is a big plant as she said it can be hung or placed on a stool as the leaves droop down. It is like or is a Philodendron. They are pretty hardy plants and do well if kept out of the sun. Hopefully it will do well.
I have been watering the plants I transplanted every night and they are drying up a little but still look like they are alive. I hope they make it. The test will be in what they look like when I get back from Santa Rosalia. I have also planted the seeds that look like dried dates I got in Santa Rosalia. One looks like it is growing. I hope so. It would be nice to have some palm trees here. I think I will pick up a couple more of the seeds when we are there at the marina. Just in case these don’t make it.
I worked on my cross stitch, and will read a little this afternoon. The wind is howling and there are some white caps on the water, but the wind feels good and is keeping the house cool.
We’ve had to close the skylights at night as the wind comes up pretty strong. So far the house temperature at night isn’t bad.
After dinner Dave played his sub game for a while and I sat outside until the wind quit and the bugs came out. Then it was inside to watch T.V. Pretty quiet night.
Sunday, May 23.Today was a busy one. I made breakfast to use up my eggs, then I went to make zucchini bread and noticed I needed 3 eggs. Oops!!! I don’t have any more eggs. I called Mary and asked if I could have 3 eggs and she said sure. I brought her some zucchini I had left over from what I needed for the bread. When I returned from Marys’ I put together the bread and got it in the oven to cook for an hour or so. I cooled it when it came out and then sliced a piece so I could make sure it was good to give away. It made 2 loaves and I cut 4 slices for Mary and George and the rest of that loaf is for us for breakfast tomorrow and Tuesday. The other loaf is for the staff at the marina at Santa Rosalia. I took the bread to Mary as it was still warm. I came back home and gathered some limes, a banana, leftover stir fry from last night, one zucchini and some cilantro. I found the lone zucchini after I took the others to Mary. Since we are going to be gone for about 5 days none of that stuff would last so I wanted to give it to Nasario, our guard. He can always use food. Dave helped me figure out how to say we were going to Santa Rosalia, and giving him food. I wrote it down and took the food and my notes with me. I walked to the trailer where Nasario lives and told him what I wanted to in Spanish. He understood so I felt good I could communicate with him. He was happy to have the goodies. When I came back to the house, I stripped the bed of the dirty sheets and put clean ones on, exercised, and got my stuff together so I won’t have to do it later.
We have had westerly and south winds all afternoon. On the Pacific side there are gale force winds off shore and those come here over the mountains as westerlies. We had to close 2 of the skylights as they face the west. At least we have wind and that is our saving grace for the hot days.
People are starting to pack up and move back to their state side homes for the summer and come back in October. Rainy is coming by at around 4 to drop off her plant. I found a spot for it that won’t be too hot and gets a lot of light.
I think I have everything I need for our trip. I cleaned out the small vacuum so I can take that with us. I need to vacuum the floor on the boat as it hasn’t been done for a few months.
The wind has let up and just when you think it is done we get another long blast, but at least it is cool air not hot. It is 8:00pm and the wind is getting less. Once in a while we get a gust but I think it is winding down. I hope so. We would like to leave the skylights open tonight.
Rainy came by with her plant. It is a nice philodendron. I got some pebbles from the yard and put them in a dish pan to raise the pot so it won’t sit in water, but then discovered there is a pot inside a pot so I didn’t need the pan. I watered the plant well and will check it in the morning but I think it will be fine for the 4 days we will be gone.
All I need to do in the morning is make our sandwiches, put the dirty clothes in the jeep and do some last minute packing and we will be ready to go. I’m looking forward to going to Santa Rosalia as I like walking through the town and looking in the stores.
Monday, May 24.Happy Anniversary to Dave and me. It has been 19 years. Hooray for us!!!!
We got up early and finished getting things together and packing then we left. The ride always puts me to sleep as there isn’t much to see. A couple of times Dave had to stop to let a large truck rig pass by as they were going so fast around the curves they swung over to our lane. That was a little unnerving. We made it to Santa Rosalia safe and sound though. It was windy when we left the house, but it is really blowing here in Santa Rosalia. Reminded us of our trip from La Paz to here and we came across from Marcos Island with the white caps lapping at our beam and pushing us around and the wind was blowing 25 knots. It was scary trying to fight the waves and wind to get into the marina, but we did it and the rest is history. Alan and Barb arrived about 10 minutes after we did. They will be washing their boat tomorrow, borrowing our pressure washer. I need to vacuum and clean the heads tomorrow. Pretty exciting stuff huh!!? If we can get things done on the boat and the weather calms down, we may take her out for a spin so we can run her. We’ll have to see. It would be nice to leave the marina if the weather and seas are good. If not this trip, maybe the next one.
When we got the electricity and water hooked up and all the stuff brought down from the jeep, we just hung out. It was already 3:00pm and a little late to start any projects. Plus I was really sleepy. I did lay down on the settee for about 10 minutes, then I turned on my computer but couldn’t get the internet. Dave went to the office and they said the server was down. So maybe later today or tomorrow. Dave can only get on the internet by standing in the main hatch on the boat. He gets a better signal. We played games on our computers to pass the time. I read some from my book then got ready to go to dinner. We changed clothes then walked to town for a chicken dinner. It was good. After dinner we came back to the boat and now are relaxing. Dave was able to check emails and I still can’t get on. Oh well. The wind is trying to calm down and once the sun goes down I think it will get quiet. I hope so. Tomorrow will be a busy day. It is nice being on the boat, but not enough to not want to sell her and move permanently on land.
Tuesday, May 25.Today was a busy and successful day for me. I rinsed the cushions from the cockpit and the cockpit itself. There was a lot of dirt in there from all the wind they have had. It looks much better now. Alan came over and borrowed the pressure washer. Half way through washing his boat the pressure washer stopped. The extension cord he was using was too small so it overheated and so did the pressure washer. Alan ended up buying a new cord and then it ran well and he was able to finish washing his boat. It looks so much better now.
One of the guys that moor his boat here year round had car trouble. They call him Doc, or Andy. He and his wife were supposed to leave early this morning for San Francisco but the car broke down. So Alan and Dave took Doc to his home in Punta Chivato to get his other car. While Dave was gone, I vacuumed, cleaned the heads, the shower, the sump pump, and put water in the bow thruster battery which is under our bed. Just before I cleaned the sump pump I walked to the office and got some tokens for the washers and dryers. I put 2 loads of clothes in the washers and went back to the boat to clean the sump pump. By now Dave was back and Doc and his wife were on their way to San Francisco. Doc couldn’t understand why they had to leave this fine weather to go to cold weather in San Francisco. Apparently it was his wife who wanted to go. They had a graduation or something like that to attend.
When Alan was finished with the pressure washer, Dave used it on our boat. We still haven’t been able to get the bird crap stains off the grey non skid on the deck. Not much we can do about it.
Dave got an email from La Paz Yachts asking us if we could bring the boat back because they have a couple other Hunters there and it would be nice to have them together. We aren’t keen on the idea of taking the boat back down there, and if it doesn’t sell we would have to bring it back to Santa Rosalia. Not good!!! But you never know what will happen. Dave and I will take the boat back there only if they will maintain her so she will sell. They would have possession of our boat and we wouldn’t need to make any trips to clean her or anything. I guess it will all work out. I will go with the flow. We haven’t gotten a response back from La Paz Yachts yet so we will see what they say. We wouldn’t do anything until July time frame any way. So we will just see what happens. If we take the boat to La Paz, we would then catch a bus back to Santa Rosalia and drive back to the house.
Tomorrow I will treat the leather seats as the leather is dry. Then I plan on going to town to see if we can get an appointment to get our teeth cleaned and I want to go to the fabric store to see if I can find some fabric to make curtains for the trailer since the ones I washed shunk. I will do a little shopping for some food items I need and then Thursday go back to get fruit, vegetables and meat because we are leaving on Friday to go back to the house.
Wednesday, May 26.It is a beautiful day and it is going to be warm as there is no breeze. What am I going to do today? Exercise, clean marks off the wall behind where I sit then go to town. I need to get a couple of things at the pharmacy, see if I can make an appointment with the dentist for Dave and I to get our teeth cleaned, go to the fabric store and mini market for some food items. I walked past the street where the dentist office is so I had to back track. I stopped at the Similars pharmacy and was able to get my calcium but had to go to another pharmacy to get the digestive pills we take to ward off any intestinal stuff. When that was accomplished I walked back where I came from and found the dentist office. I went in and there were a couple of ladies waiting to be seen. There was no receptionist and I could see the dentist working on someone. I tried to ask one of the ladies about making an appointment but they didn’t speak English so I just said I would come back and left. I went on to the fabric store to hopefully find some material but I didn’t find anything I liked. So I left and went to a mini market and got a few items and asked how much chicken breasts were a kilo. They are 48 pesos. Pretty inexpensive and the breasts are large. I checked out and walked back to the dentist office to see if I could find out about an appointment, but what I figured out was you just show up and wait and take your turn. I left there and walked to another mini store and got some more grocery items. Tomorrow I will get hamburger meat, chicken and bread. I will buy fruit and vegetables tomorrow also. The last store I went in was a hardware store and I bought a car windshield cover for the jeep. Then I walked back to the marina and the boat. Dave was checking out the water in the bilge and wondered where the oder was coming from that we have in the boat. He siphoned the water out of the bilge and it didn’t smell so we still wondered why we had an odor. It wasn’t like that last time we came down. I’m sure we will figure it out.
Since it was warm today we ran the fans in the boat. Unfortunately it didn’t cool it down. It just pushed the hot air around.
After getting back from town, I fixed Dave and me lunch and then I got online and emailed and posted pictures on Face Book. Then I went out and rubbed the stainless steel all around the boat and cockpit with spot remover. It worked really well and I didn’t have to polish, just spray a cloth with a little of the sport remover and rub it on the stainless steel. It didn’t take long at all. When I was finished doing that I went back to messing around on the computer looking up stuff.
I washed dishes and took a shower and got dressed for dinner. Dave was on his computer. I went outside to the cockpit and brought my book to read. Dave came up and joined me. It was actually cooler in the cockpit then down below with the fans running. I read for a while and Dave dozed off a couple times. Then it was time to figure out something for dinner. We both weren’t really hungry, but we had to go to the bank so we would get something. Dave put shoes on and then we left for town. We have no birds on the mast or spreaders yet. But WAIT!!!! They will be there I’m sure when we return. We went to the bank and then stopped and had a hot dog. We walked to the dentist office which is across the street from where the hot dog stand is and we were able to talk to the dentist and ask him how much a cleaning would cost. He said 500 pesos each. That is around 38 dollars or so. Pretty cheap. We will probably go tomorrow first thing when he opens and get our teeth cleaned. His hours are from 9 to 1 and then from 5 to 7. He speaks a little English so I think we will be able to communicate. It will be nice to get our teeth cleaned.
After seeing the dentist we left and walked back to the boat. We had a gin and tonic and a little later Dave had some cheese. We are both on our computers doing our own thing.
All day yesterday and today there are men working to demolish the ferry landing as it was destroyed in the hurricane last summer. So we heard the jack hammers and pounding of sledge hammers and the like. It wasn’t too bad. They took a break when we went to dinner and they were working when we returned to the boat. We did have a visitor on top of our mast so we shooed him away. He kept coming back so when Dave wanted a break, I went out and did the shooing deed until the sun went down. Once the sun goes down they are already where they will be for the night. Interesting birds. It is quiet now and the men have stopped working for the night. They will be at it at 7:30am tomorrow.
I told Dave that next time we come we should plan on staying longer so we can take the boat out. I also said if we wanted to we could extend our time here this trip and take it out before leaving. But Dave was non committal. So probably next time. If we had gone out today we would not have sailed as there was no wind, not even a breeze. I would like to take the boat out before we sell her.
Well it is almost bed time. Time to do a little crocheting I think.
Thursday, May 27.Our plans have changed for leaving tomorrow. Dave has been thinking about leaving Saturday morning. We need to check the sea strainers, back flush the water maker, run the gen set and engine. He doesn’t want to rush to do it so we back flushed the water maker, I cleaned the sump pump where the refrigerator drains into, and Dave checked the sea strainers which were good. Tomorrow we will run the engine and the gen set so we know everything is working.
After I had breakfast, I gathered my backpack and some money and was going to go to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned and then shop for fruits, vegetables and meat. But since we aren’t leaving until Saturday, I will just get hamburger meat and chicken breasts. Dave got ready to go and we walked to town.
We got to the dentist office and the lights were off but the door was open and we saw someone in the back room. We rang the bell and then waited. Pretty soon the dentist came out and asked if we wanted teeth cleaned and we said yes. I was first and had a good report. Not much tartar. I haven’t had my teeth cleaned for a year so this is a really good thing. I paid him then it was Dave’s turn. I left him at the dentist office and did my shopping. I got my meat and chicken breasts and then stopped in a couple stores on the way back to the boat. I found a mouse pad and a juicer so I can squeeze oranges for fresh orange juice. Pretty inexpensive stuff. I bought a smaller windshield cover for the jeep as the last one I bought was way too big. Once I finished shopping I walked back to the boat. Dave was already there. He didn’t have much tartar either. So we are good for another year. The cleaning was done by lazer and it was fast and efficient. At 13.25 exchange rate, it cost only 38 dollars each. Not bad huh? Health care and dental has been good so far.
We had lunch and then I washed off the hatches on deck as they had bird droppings on them. Then I washed the hatch leading down into the boat as water calcification had started due to when the boat was washed and the water left sitting. We still have a calcification stain, but not much I can do about that. When I was finished with that I went below as it was warm outside, and turned the fans on and did crocheting of another purse. We lost internet and phone signals for most of the afternoon so it was crochet or read or both. But I was so into the crocheting I stuck with it all afternoon. Alice from 3 boats away, stopped by the boat to invite Dave and me to cocktails at 5:30pm. That sounds like fun. It will be good to get to know these people. They also invited Alan and Barb as well. Alice and Bill have a 50 foot pilot boat that has been as far south as El Salvador. Bill is 73 and Alice is 66 something. Very nice people and we love talking with them. They will be in the Sea of Cortez for the summer and when they come to B. of L.A. they will give us a call. It will be nice to see them again. They are toying with the idea of taking the boat up the coast to Washington and cruising there, Canada, and Alaska.
We went over to their boat named M/V Grey Wolf, and had cocktails with them and Alan and Barb. We had a very nice visit. Barb and Alan left before we did, and we stayed and talked to Bill and Alice for a while longer. Then Alice followed us to our boat so she could borrow the Sea of Cortez cruising guide over night. We said good bye and we would see them tomorrow. Alan and Barb are leaving in the morning to go out to San Marcos Island for a couple days. This is a mini boat vacation before they go back to the states for 3 months. They are helping Alan’s parents with their house repairs and moving the folks out to Alan’s sister’s place.
We had planned to walk into town and get a couple steaks and BBQ them tonight, but when we got finished at Alice and Bill’s place, it was late. So I made a sandwich with the rest of the egg salad that is left, cut it in fourths, cut some cheese and added the crackers. That was dinner. Oh yeah, a glass of wine to accompany the food. Dave is playing solitare on his computer, I answered emails and sent a couple and then typed this. Alice has a blog on Blogspot also which I am going to take a look at. The air conditioner is working and the boat is cooling down nicely. We should sleep well.
Friday, May 28.Today was a leisure day. It is promising to be a warm one but there is a little breeze thank goodness. We saw Alice and Bill from M/V Grey Wolf this morning and she gave us our cruising book back and also loaned us her photo album to look at places they had been. We helped them back into their slip after they got fuel and then we talked for a little while.
I started packing things up so I wouldn’t have to do it in the morning or forget anything. Then I went up to do some laundry but the door was locked and there wasn’t anyone in the office. So I went back to the boat and started reading, got sleepy and took a nap. At 3:00pm I walked to the office and Carlos was there and I asked if the laundry room could be unlocked. He was surprised it was locked but he unlocked it and I thanked him and proceeded to wash and dry the load of clothes I had. While the clothes were washing, I took my book up to the pool and sat on the edge of it and dangled my feet in the water. It felt really good. Dave came up to say hi and look around as there is a wonderful view from there. Then he went back to the boat and I went down and put the clothes from the washer into the dryer and sat in the room and read. When the clothes were dry and folded, I took them to the boat and put them away. Then Dave and I walked to town. He went to the bank and I went to the mini mart to get a couple of steaks, and beans to go with it, and then walked back to the boat. I prepared the steaks and Dave got the BBQ ready after we had a cocktail. We ate in the cockpit which was nice and there were no bugs. Not like at the house where you step outside and there they are. Hopefully that will change as we have a big patio table we would love to have meals on this summer.
After dinner we walked to the little store across from the marina and got ice and tonic water. The ice is for tomorrow to keep our meat and cheese cold on the way home. The tonic water went in the back of the jeep. We went back to the boat and I did the dishes and took a shower. Then Dave and I went out into the cockpit and sat and had a cigar, a glass of wine and listened to the music being played in the courtyard of the marina. Carlos said it was Poetry reading and Chamber Music. Well whatever it is it is in Spanish and the part I heard was a man singing to words, like karoke. So I don’t know. There wasn’t a band or anything. Now tomorrow night is suppose to be a loud one as there are going to be a couple bands playing and it will be a real party. Unfortunately we will be at the house. That party will probably go to the wee hours of the morning so we wouldn’t sleep much. It is nice they put on events here at the marina for everyone. It makes good use of the facility.
Well Dave is in bed already. He was tired and he does the driving both ways when we come to the boat. So he wants to be well rested. I am not far behind him. We are planning on getting up at 6:30am and leave by 7:30am tomorrow.
Saturday, May 29.We left Santa Rosalia bright and early this morning. Both Dave and I were tired as the music last night went on forever it seemed. There was dancing and guitar playing and even though the speakers were aimed away from the docks, it was still loud enough to keep us awake. Eventually they stopped and we were able sleep. The drive to and from Bahia de Los Angeles is not the most exciting so you have a tendency to get sleepy. When we got to Guerro Negro we found the Super Mercado and went in and looked around. Dave said he was going to go back to the jeep and see if he could catch a couple winks. So I did the shopping and when I came out he was there to help, but 2 Mexican guys got to me first and helped me with the cart and groceries. Of course they wanted to be given money so I gave them 5 pesos each. Dave said it was a good thing he came back to the jeep as the guys were hustling to wash cars while you were gone and expected you to pay them when you returned even if you didn’t want it done. That is how it is done in Mexico. They are so eager to make a few pesos they think of ways to get it. So Dave was making sure the guys didn’t wash the jeep. We went to a couple pharmacies in town looking for some medicine for Mary but unfortunately they didn’t carry it. So we ended the search. She had enough to last her she just wanted extra. The fog was lifting since Guerro Negro is close to the Pacific Ocean, and the wind was blowing pretty well. I definitely like the Baja weather better. It was too cold here. No thanks. The stop was enough of a break for Dave, despite no nap, that we made it home safe and sound. We arrived around 1:00pm. Before turning on the dirt road to our house, we stopped at Xitlali to buy milk and some chips. When we got home we unloaded the jeep, turned the solar panel to face the sun, and carried everything upstairs. I put most of the things away but left the unpacking of clothes and all that for tomorrow. It’s amazing how much a long ride like that zaps your energy and we didn’t have any to begin with so there ya go. I was so sleepy I wanted to take a nap even though I cat napped most of the way home. I didn’t take a nap though. As long as I was busy it was o.k. Besides by the time I got groceries and all put away, it was already 4 in the afternoon.
I watered my plants and Dave checked email and all that. Then we sat down and watched T.V. and ate dinner. Around 10:00pm I called it a night and went to bed. Dave followed shortly thereafter.
Sunday, May 30.Ahhhh!!!! Warm but not hot weather. It was definitely hotter in Santa Rosalia and with some humidity so I did some sweating! Here it was just right. A little breeze blowing, plenty of sunshine and when you were out of the breeze it was hot. I checked all my plants and I unpacked and put things away and then spent the rest of the day crocheting and reading. Dave turned the Minneapolis 500 race on and I watched a little of it while we had lunch then I went to the bamboo room to read. I ended up getting a lounge chair putting it on the deck outside of the bamboo room so I could read and enjoy the breeze. It was very comfortable and the view, outstanding. The lounge chair was getting a little hard for sitting so I moved inside to the chair and ottoman. I read a little and got sleepy. I decided to go into the trailer and check out the twin beds. I was curious if they would be comfortable. I laid in the one that has the mattress and boxspring for a few minutes. It was o.k. Then I laid in the other one that has just foam cushions. That was o.k. too. So I know they won’t be too uncomfortable to sleep in. I will have to get a cushion for the double bed at the other end of the trailer so that will be comfortable. Needless to say I didn’t sleep. I went back to the chair and read for a little longer then went back outside on the deck into the lounge chair and just looked out on the water and beach. What a beautiful sight. Pretty soon I heard footsteps and Dave came to visit to see if I was sleeping. I told him I thought about it but nope!!! Didn’t do it. I had noticed tire tracks in the yard in front of the bamboo room and was trying to remember if they were there before. Dave said they weren’t. It looked like someone on a quad came to check things out. If it was one of the neighbors, that is o.k. as I know they are keeping an eye on the house and guest house. So no worries.
The propane guy came this morning just as we were getting ready to leave to go to a garage sale. Maryann, whose Dad recently died, is back and she had help from a couple gals in getting things organized for Maryann to sell. We decided I would go to the garage sale and see what there was and Dave would stay behind to receive the propane when the guy got there. The propane guy had to stop at each place here so it would be an hour before Dave could get away. So I left in the truck----it is so fun to drive. I wish I could drive it more but not the way the tires are. Anyway---I got to the sale and there wasn’t anything I was interested in except one lone toilet plunger. It was like the one I gave away when we were in Mazatlan and I have never found a replacement for it until today. It cost me all of 5 pesos. That is about 50 cents. Yahoo!!! My big buy of the day!! After that I left and when I got home the propane guy was just leaving Smiley and Johns, heading for Mary and Georges’ house. We are next. I showed Dave my big buy, and then went upstairs. We got one propane tank filled and now we are good for another month.
We defrosted the freezer and refrigerator. It will be necessary to do that more often now that the weather is getting warmer. It is an easier job than the one on the boat, let me tell you!!!
We have been invited to a Memorial Day party in honor of Maryann’s dad passing. So I will make a carrot, raisin, and pineapple salad to take.
Smiley and John are leaving in the morning to go home for three weeks and then they will be back. So they were getting everything put away and secured. John brought over the little genie antenna he borrowed. We exchanged email addresses and John said if there was anything we needed that was small and not very expensive, to let them know and they would bring it back. That was nice. That is what we do around here whenever we go to Ensenada or the states as that is how we get what we need and want.
Phil apparently called Dave while I was in the bamboo room and invited him to go fishing in the morning about 6:30am. We have heard people are catching some good size yellow tail. That would be great if they caught some. They make good eating.
I crocheted and finished the back part of the purse I am working on. Now I just have to sew the two pieces together.
At cocktail time Dave was at his computer and I went outside on the deck and sat and looked at the view. It was perfect weather with the breeze being cool, not cold and the view spectacular. Dave said he liked the weather better here than Santa Rosalia. He also said he didn’t like the cold of Guerro Negro.
When the breeze started to diminish, it was time to come inside. Dave turned the T.V. on and we started watching a movie. I fixed dinner and after that and dishes were done, we watched another movie. It was movie night. Not much else on. Later I made popcorn to Dave’s delight and went to bed around 11:00pm.
Monday, May 31.Happy Memorial Day. May we all take a few minutes out of our day to remember those who have gone on before us and especially those men and women serving our country!!! And don’t forget our Veterans’!!!!
Dave left the house around 6:15am to walk over to Phil’s house so they could go fishing. They had to leave before the tide went out because otherwise it would be too late to go out when the tide came back in. Hopefully they will have a successful day.
I got up, had coffee, read a little, ate breakfast then started to work. I made the bed, vacuumed the window sills as there were all kinds of those tiny flies lying dead. I washed clothes and hung them to dry. I read email and found out that the party has been changed from 2:00pm to 3:00pm just so the guys that are fishing will have plenty of time to do so. I have to start proofing the blog so I can get it posted hopefully tomorrow.
I will make the salad around 1:30pm and the guys should be either heading back or back already from fishing.
Well off to my proofing.
Dave and Phil returned from fishing at 1:00pm. They didn’t catch a thing. What a bummer. That is really too bad. Oh well. There will be another time.
I made the salad at 1:30pm and got our dishes and drinks together then I changed cloths. Dave fell asleep in his chair and I didn’t wake him until 2:40pm. He freshed up and then we went to the party. There were people there I hadn’t met yet so I introduced myself and Dave and then we mingled. Some people are leaving to go to the states tomorrow and Thursday for the summer and be back in the fall. From what I hear, our weather has been really nice and cool so far. I guess at this time last year it was in the 90’s and the year before that in the 100’s. So we shall see what the summer will bring. So far it hasn’t been uncomfortable. I do remember last summer when we went to town it was really hot and Dave and I were covered in sweat just from walking from the dinghy to the internet place which wasn’t that far away.
No one played bocce ball until after the sun was behind the mountain as everyone said it was too hot. No one played horse shoes. Most of us ate and sat around and visited which was nice. Just before dusk everyone started to pack up and leave. It was a nice party.
After we got home we watched T.V. and went to bed. It was a very nice day and perfect weather.
This is the kind of stuff I really enjoy about being in the desert. Here is a jack rabbit nibbling on one of our bushes.
Isn’t he cute? We had to be really quiet. I watched him for about 10 minutes and then Dave made a noise and the rabbit was gone. They are every where.
and Dave took off to see about a couple of generators that had been advertised on Craig’s list in that area. When he got back he said they were old but used pictures that showed them when they were new. We visited until around 2:00pm and then said goodbye. I told the boys I would see them on Sunday when they were with their dad’s soccer game.
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