We tell friends that we're "planting our grandchildren's inheritance" on our little property near Bullet Tree Village. We're trying to retire there and live a quiet life, planting Mahogany, Teak & Neem trees & learning to live off-grid.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
A great tractor story
I guess we're weird because it gave us both a tug to finally sell our little tractor. I know, it's just a thing, but we seem to get attached. Art really got a kick out of driving it, but without the flail, it lost it's usefulness to us. It did give us one final "tractor story" as a farewell. We had a terrific rainstorm today, which always does lovely things to the bottom of our road and it turned out that today is the day the new owner wanted to pick it up. We were waiting for him when I got a call that he was stuck at the bottom of the road, in heavy mud, with his full-sized pickup and trailer. What to do??? Well, Art drove the little tractor down and they hooked it up to the truck and she pulled it out. Took some back & forth, but finally got them turned around and she pulled them back down to Paslow Falls Road (ick!) where we finalized our deal and off they went. She may be little and old, but she's tough. We'll miss her, but maybe the money can help us fix some of the road. I am a dreamer!
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Kubota diesel tractor for sale
Before moving to Belize we purchased our small, older Kubota tractor from a neighbor. Dennis is a tinkerer and had totally gone thru the tractor, replacing parts and putting her back to nearly new shape. We shipped it, the blade and an old flail that we purchased separately, to Belize and paid the duty. We paid $4k US for the tractor & blade & $500US for the flail.
The tractor is a B6100D (yes it's old, but in beautiful condition), diesel, 4 wheel drive with a 3point hitch & PTO. The flail is even older and since we're not mechanically inclined, it's been a struggle to keep it functioning, even tho' it's a fairly straightforward and simple machine. We have all new blades and connectors for it.
We're asking $5k BZ for the tractor and we'll throw in the flail. I must say that the flail does a fantastic job of mowing, with the loose blades. It just needs some TLC. Contact: gahubbe@aol.com or Belize 636-4403.
Bullet Tree Falls land for sale
Yes, we're back in Belize and it's HOT. This is usually the time of year that we get rain as the storms pass on their way north. So far this year, not much relief. It's hard for me to adjust to the change from the heat of the NW, which is very dry, to this hot and very humid. I can barely put one foot in front of the other.
We returned to find all well here at Dreamer Farm. Rene did a wonderful job of watching out for our place and taking care of Bailey. He was very worried when we first left as Bailey wouldn't eat, but he finally won him over by adding eggs to his food. We did get a warm welcome from our big boy, but now he's just lying around, panting and wondering why we don't take him to a cooler climate. Poor woolly bear.
I've been meaning to put in a note here about a beautiful piece of land that Rene has for sale on the fringes of Bullet Tree. It 23 acres and is titled land. There is a road to the property, but it is off the grid. Thru the years Rene has planted various fruit trees and there are several large timber trees on the land. The pieces around him have mostly been sold and seem to be to folks who want year-round homes. He's asking $80k US, but I know there's room for negotiation. Rene is an extremely honest, hard working Belizean, who is looking forward to being able to retire before too many years. He can be reached at (Belize 501) 661-1840 or thru my email of gahubbe@aol.com. We are only doing this because we love Rene and want to help him. We don't get anything from the sale.
Blessings, Gale
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Ready to return home
We've had an extremely hectic couple of weeks, running from Dr. to
lab to my brother's and back again. Got lots of answers, some good,
some not so good, but we're doing ok. Weren't able to get everything
done, but decided to head home anyway. We've been staying with my brother and sister-in-law in their wonderful home in Sisters, Or. Great to have a place to stay while we dash around, but two weeks is a long time to have someone invade your home - even family. Was great to spend a little time with our two grandsons here, see our daughter and now will head up to Washington to spend a couple of days with our son & kids and then head for home.
I love Oregon
and it's diversity. We raised out kids in Astoria, which is at the
mouth of the Columbia River, just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean.
From the ocean you travel over the Coast Range, to the Willamette
Valley, which is a very fertile, beautiful, busy area. Then there's the
Cascade Range. If you haven't seen them, they're spectacular. When
traveling from our son's, south to Bend (which is in the center of the
state) you get a view of several snow-capped from a single viewpoint.
What's left of Mt. St. Helens, Mt Adams, both in Washington state, Mt.
Hood, Mt Jefferson, Black Butte, Three Fingered Jack, Mt Washington, The
Three Sisters (three spectacular peaks just south of Sisters Oregon,
Broken Top and Mt. Bachelor. Wow! The center of the state is known as
the high desert, where they grow lots of hay and cattle. So much to do and see and remember.
Both, heading south into Oregon and back to Washington, I wasn't able to take photos of the mtns. as there were forest fires on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation and at Mt. Jefferson, covering most of the mts. in a layer of choking smoke.