Ruminations

As I get older I'm finding that lots of things get harder, so I find myself in auto mode, just doing what needs to be done and trying not to overthink anything.  Getting the two pups has been a blessing in so many ways as they are so happy most of the time.  My stress there is that we've had a lot of rain, thus the fenced area that we worked so hard to create, is now a mud hole.  I hate to put them out there as they come back up filthy and they're very clean dogs by nature.  I'm struggling with should we put in an underground electric fence to allow all three dogs more freedom.  It's a budget stretcher, as so many things are, and I'm not convinced that it's going to work.  I imagine, with a little effort on my part, that I can train the Setters to stay within the fence, as they have thin, fine hair, but Bailey has such a thick coat.  I also worry about how much the shock will affect them.  Worry, worry!  

We still haven't heard from the insurance company about repairing the pickup.  Everything moves so slowly here.  I phoned the office and found that they're still waiting for the owner of the other car to turn in some paperwork before it goes to their main office for approval.  In the meantime we can't lower the tailgate on the truck, which is inconvenient.  Patience, patience.

I've tried to manage to do some of my artwork, but it just isn't in me right now.  To keep busy with more mindless work I'm painting the interior walls of the house.  We intentionally built without finished interior walls.  We only have the studs and the exterior siding.  In such a tiny space, it's given us more room and there isn't an interior hidey space for bugs to nest.  Ants, bees and other icky creatures.  The downside is that it's dark and we don't have a lot of lights.  

I found some terrific Mayan themed fabric in Melchor, Guatemala (which is just across the border from here) and am using that as my focus.  I'm picking up the greens for the kitchen and a lighter green for the living room area.  It's brighter in here already.  A friend suggested that I use exterior paint because the house gets so much air and the exterior paint has a mildew resistant ingredient.  It sure goes on great.  I haven't spent much time on a stepladder for quite a while, so giving me a little exercise.  I'm using a tough enamel on the window screens as they really take a beating.  

A bright spot for me has been my friends.  I look forward to our ladies luncheon once a month and a few of us met yesterday for lunch at a lovely new place in San Ignacio called the Guava Limb Cafe.  What a sweet place it is.  So many restaurants open here, last a month or two and close.  They don't get the concept of having several months operating funds put aside ahead of time.  We're all thrilled that a couple of new places have opened that are operated by successful resort owners.  They are stressing quality and moving outside the usual Belizean offerings.  I enjoy stew chicken rice and beans a lot, which is the typical Belize fare, but I yearn for some variety.  The cafe where we ate yesterday is in a charming wooden house that was totally restored and updated and they offered a nice bistro type menu.  The food was terrific and the company was delightful.  I'm excited now that Art & I will be able to enjoy a lunch out in such a comfortable place.  

All-in-all we're doing ok.  We miss family and Art desperately wants to be back in Oregon, but we're still taking it a day at a time up here on our hill.

Tundra hit AGAIN

Friday was a nice day and Art decided to go to town with me.  Just had to stop at the post office and then to the market.  I parked the Tundra (pickup) near the post office, across from Shopper's Choice with a car behind me and one in front.  No big deal, but I was glad to find a parking spot so close to our destination.  We took our time, enjoying not being in a rush.  When we got back to the truck I went around the front to get in and a traffic officer knocked on my window.  I hadn't seen that the back of the truck had been hit - again.  Poor truck.  Luckily, the officer had seen it happen and they were hunting for us.  The damage wasn't severe, but took out the back lights and put a big dent in the fender and bent the bumper.  

This is the third time our poor truck has been hit since we moved here four years ago.  The first time a taxi passenger opened her door into the side of the truck just as we drove by.  Taxi owner's insurance covered the damage.  Over a year ago Art parked the truck to go into a restaurant to pick up dinner and when he came out, it appeared that a large truck had sideswiped the passenger side, leaving a large, black dent the full length of the side about chest high.  Since you can't buy coverage for your own vehicle if it's over 7 years old, we had to pay for this one.  Anyway, it was hit and run.  

Friday we were glad we didn't have a lot to do because we ended up spending over two hours in the police station and then in the insurance office.  The poor fellow who hit us was pretty shaken up.  We still don't know how he managed to swerve to hit us as we were tucked in between other vehicles, but it was just an accident.  He was extremely apologetic and the police were very helpful.  The other car was a nice newer SUV and his right front fender was totally demolished along with his front bumper.  The poor guy is from Orange Walk and had to drive back with the mangled fender dangling.  The police seemed to be worried that we might collapse in an upset heap or something because of our ages.  I guess we've been thru it enough times that it's ok as long as it wasn't our fault. 

We stopped by Bedo's body shop and I'll have to take the truck in Monday to get an estimate, as well as go to a mechanic to be sure that there wasn't damage underneath.  We just had new tires put on the truck, so were glad to see them intact.  Bedo told us he doesn't think Belize likes our truck as it sure seems to be a target.  Since this will be the third time he's repaired and painted the sides, I told him should stock up on our paint color.  We're just happy that none of these accident's were more severe and really only caused cosmetic damage.   Maybe we should just have him paint a big target on it.  It probably isn't a cause, but we don't plan to buy another gray vehicle as they seem to blend into the road.  

Selling property in Belize

The housing market seems to be in a funk all over.  I hear that it's supposedly improving in the States, but talking to friends, they don't see it.  It's much the same here in Belize.  Property prices are all over the place, but we don't hear of much moving.  We've talked to most of the realtors in this area and, just like in the US, they want to list your place, but that's the last you see of them.  There is supposed to be a multiple listing service coming to Belize, but seems to be all talk.  Also, I don't like to give anyone an exclusive listing, because then they REALLY don't do anything.

Another route, which we've also tried, is to sell our place ourselves via internet sites.  We tried several of the free sites, but they seemed to attract the bogus interest of "I'm really interested in your place, can give you cash, but first I have to find a way to get the 17 million dollars I found while in the service in ___ fill in the country."  We haven't had a lot more success with the paid sites, but continue to work it.  

Our property is titled and fenced with a home and additional buildings, all new 3 to 4 years ago.  I've been very frustrated with some comments about price as tho' you should sell for the price of the land.  Until you've tried to build in a country such as Belize, you have no real idea of the hurdles you must cross.  It sounds wonderful that, in the country, you don't have to get permits and have an inspector looking over your shoulder for everything.  The other side of that coin is, who do you trust?  

We were extremely fortunate to have researched and found a wonderful Belizean man who contracted to build our houses.  He's honest and knows a lot about building.   His hobby and obsession is reading books about building.  Almost everyone we talk to who has built here has horror stories of being ripped off by a person who claimed to know how to build, or one who charged them huge prices for inferior materials.  We've watched a neighboring property where a huge crew seems to be taking forever to do very little work.  Just had a discussion with a couple who are trying to have a place built and nothing is as they want it, and some of the rooms aren't even square.  

Besides the work, the materials can be difficult to find.  We went thru a couple of concrete block suppliers before finding ones that would hold together and being square made it easy to plaster.  There isn't anything like a "licensed" electrician or plumber.  Here again, you have to talk to a lot of people to find one who can handle your work.  We have several DC appliances and even the solar people didn't really know how to wire in our AC and DC circuits.  We eventually found "the" guy who has helped us tremendously.  

It can seem wonderful and exciting to find a piece of property that's back-a-bush and makes you feel like a pioneer.  That's just about what you have to be.  Something that can seem easy to get to in dry weather can be impossible in the wet, which is much of the time.  Finding a reliable person to bring in bulldozers, graders and rollers to put in a decent road and then bring in rock that will withstand the weather conditions can be a huge challenge.  We have seen neighbors have loads of white gravel dumped on their road and then during the wet weather, the gravel just disappears into the mud.  We had a lot of prep work done and then had about 20 loads of heavy rock brought in for our road.  It was then rolled.  I treat it with roundup periodically to keep it clear and after four years it's still great.  It just took a long time to find the right person to do the work for a price we could afford.  

Once you get your place cleared, it's important to find someone to help you keep it that way.  We've been blessed with Rene, who has worked wonders for us.  But, most Belizeans don't work as hard or efficiently as Rene.  Previously we had a crew of three do clearing work for us before we moved down.  We paid a huge price and they took a week to clear a strip about 30' wide and they only chopped it to about ankle high.  Wonderful.  Walking thru was a great way to break an ankle with all the debris.  Before we moved down, we saw Rene working at another expats property and he was working all the time and the folks weren't even in the country.  We'd found our treasure. 

I guess my point of this diatribe is that this challenge isn't simple, or necessarily cheap.  You have to have patience and be willing to ask lots of folks for their help and recommendations.  You have to be willing to LISTEN. For Art and myself, it was the reason we came to Belize.  We needed new challenges.  Boy did we find them.  We don't regret the struggle, but do feel badly for folks who talk as tho' it's all going to be skittles and beer and that they can naively trust everyone. 

Another day with the pups!

Wow, this rain is really dumping.  Keep losing the satellite.  I made a rash move tonight by letting the pups go from their fenced yard to the veranda without leashes.  Dumb!  They've been doing fine if I keep one leashed.  Anyway, they veered off and took off like a shot.  It was getting dark and they were gone for about 1 1/2 hrs.  We could hear dogs barking in all directions.  Art was taking one last pass down Paslow Falls Rd and I was starting the generator when they finally showed up.  I suspect they got scared as she was quite a ways behind him.  They're dirty and full of burrs.  They both threw themselves on the ground in front of me and flipped onto their backs, as if to say "I know I was bad."  I didn't even care, I just pushed them into the fenced yard and didn't trust myself to not spank them soundly.  I was also worried about Art as he headed out back to hunt for them.  When all was said and done, we're all alright, if not a little frazzled.  Anyone who gets two pups at a time should have their head examined.  They're 8 months old today, so they're just dumb kids right now.  Patience, patience, patience.  I know they're going to be wonderful dogs when they're grown, but for now I'd like to strangle both of them.  I just have to figure out how to teach them to honor the boundaries.  May have to resort to an in ground electric fence, but expensive and not sure I'm up to the learning curve.  Tomorrow will be another day and all will be well, even if a little wet.  

Homemade dog food

We're on a fairly limited income, so I do everything I can to stretch those Belize dollars.  When we decided to buy our beautiful little Shannon, we knew it would stretch our budget a little, but we really couldn't resist those beautiful brown eyes and her crazy personality.  The unexpected was to have a little boy pup placed in my arms with the request that they really wanted good homes for their precious babes.  How could I resist, but woe to the food budget.  We'd already gone thru the trauma of seizures with dear Bailey and preservatives.  We discovered a local food that stated it uses vegetable preservatives and haven't had a repeat of the seizures, but with puppy food for two added, I could see $200 per month being a stretch.  We have a wonderful friend with four dog who makes her own food, so I decided to do some research of my own.  I came up with something that is working well and the dogs all seem to be thriving.

This may not possible in the States because of food restrictions, but I have an arrangement with a local butcher to get the scraps from their blade when they cut meat.  They grind this and sell to me for $1 a pound.  My friend who also uses this adds things to the meat, makes into balls, bakes and then freezes them.   I take another approach.  I cook this meat product in a large frying pan, breaking it up into bits as it cooks.  When done it looks like hamburger.  (I make fairly small batches of food because it can get heavy and hard handle). 

A batch lasts for two feedings a day for three dogs for two days.  
Two cups of uncooked rice in 4 cups of water.
Add approximately 4 cups of meat mixture
Slice three to four large carrots, cook and then run thru processor.

For the pups I give them one cup of dry puppy chow with 8 to 10 ozs of the rice/meat mixture.  Sometimes I'll add a raw egg to each dish.  They get this twice a day.

For Bailey, who is grossly overweight, I was feeding him just once a day, but he would watch the pups eating and it didn't seem fair, so he gets a small feeding twice a day too.  He get about 1/2 cup of adult chow with 6 to 8 ozs of the rice mixture.  I can't really say he's lost weight since we've switched to this mix, but he does seem more alert and has more energy.   

I'm still working to determine exact amounts, but it looks as tho' we'll use about 15# of the meat mixture and 10# of rice a month.  That would translate to about 25$ BZ.  With dry dog food at $80-$90 for 50#, that is a significant savings for our meager budget.  I add whatever cooked vegetables that I can find, but really like the carrots because they have a sweetness that the dogs all seem to like.  By processing them, they're not faced with hunks of vegetables to spit out. 

 

Bats

For quite some time I've known that we had little bats living behind one of the shutters on the window of our guest house.  The clue was the persistent pile of guano on the floor.  When I first discovered it I attributed it to the darned geckos, but soon realized that there was a "pile" rather than little "gifts".  Some time back I had closed the shutter because of the weather & was startled when the bats flew away.  I think we all have creepy visions of bats and what they can do.  These are just tiny little guys who haven't bothered us or made their presence known until then.  For some time I treated this as a cool thing as they eat mosquitoes so was silently cheering them on.  I could only see them if I scrunched against the building and peeked behind the shutter and during the day, they weren't flying.  This peaceful coexistence continued for several months, with me cleaning the guano up with increasing regularity and spreading it on my plants.  I have a clothesline on that veranda and I could hear a faint humming and figured that their numbers were probably increasing.  I finally decided this had to stop for sanitation reasons.  I had Art pull the shutter closed so that I could get a couple of quick photos.  My camera and I are both very slow, so missed a shot of the whole group, but did manage to get a shot of a few of them.  It's easy to miss identifying them during the day as they're the size of a large butterfly and fly in much the same manner.  Flitting instead of flying directly. 

We plan on building a couple of bat houses to encourage them to stay around, but in the yard, not on the house.  From what I've read, one bat can eat it's weight in mosquitoes every day and a pregnant female will eat 2 1/2 times her weight each day.   Now I'd REALLY like to get rid of the geckos.

I guess I've been in a funk

Time just seems to be slipping by. We're not doing much except spending time with the three dogs and doing a lot of reading. Not very productive but such is life. No matter how hard I try to limit my trips into town, I still seem to trudge up and down our hill at least four times a week. I try to take the old Trooper a lot to save the wear and tear on the pickup. Regardless, we've had to scrape up the money for a new set of tires for both vehicles. We keep debating about selling the Trooper as it's expensive to keep up, but Rene uses it a couple of weekends a month and it's security since we're so secluded. It sure isn't pretty, but the 4 wheel-drive works and it just keeps plugging along. I feel as tho' it's a kindred spirit. We both have traveled a lot of miles, are getting old, but are reliable and just keep going.

It's always hard to admit that we're slowing down so much, but Art's health is declining and we both feel that age is kicking us in the backside. I refuse to admit my age, but sometimes it's hard to deny.

The up-side to all this quiet is that I can sit and listen to so many birds and just appreciate the quiet. We are truly blessed to be able to spend this time here on our lovely little place. I have to keep remembering that when I am missing family. When I'm writing, it's always easy to fall into looking at the negative, so I'm going to shut down now, feed the dogs and get our dinner and be thankful that I'm able to do all of these things.
Blessings

Embassy party

We had a wonderful opportunity to slip outside our everyday rut to celebrate the 4th of July here in Belize at the US Embassy. This year they wanted to celebrate the artistic contributions of Americans residing here thru painting, music and crafts. I was so pleased to be asked to participate with some of my paintings. Rather than actually sending them we each emailed photos and they were shown in a slideshow at the celebration. Since the embassy is closed on the 4th, the picnic was on the 3rd.

Art & I decided to make the trip count by including other errands. The picnic didn't start until 1pm, so we did some hardware shopping on the way. As it turned out, we were still early, so parked on a side street and walked to the Embassy. Wow, security everywhere. I was surprised to see that they were Belizean, rather than American soldiers. In fact most of the staff seemed to be Belizean, and, as it turned out, it appeared that the majority of the guests were also. We had to present our invitation and then were permitted to enter the courtyard. The picnic was under a lovely, large tent, so sun or rain didn't matter. The weather was perfect. Of course, red,white and blue were everywhere. I've enjoyed living in Belize, but I'm proud to be an American. I didn't realize how much I've missed our country until I heard the National Anthem.

When we first arrived, we went thru a reception line and were introduced to the Ambassador, Mr. Thummalapally and his wife, Barbara. They were extremely gracious and not at all pretentious. I was interested in his name and found that he's originally from India, but came to the US to go to College, where he roomed for a time with President Obama. I've heard that's that how most Ambassadors get their appointments, but, from staff comments, we felt they had a great deal of respect for both of them and that they'd made a definite contribution to Belize. It seemed sad to us that after four years here they'll leave soon to return to the US. I hope that the next ambassador will be as good a representative of the US. Sometimes it seems Americans are viewed as wealthy and arrogant.

Due to the harsh light, the slideshow had to be inside, so I doubt that many folks viewed the work, but I'm still pleased to have been included.

We're pretty quiet folks who don't do a lot of mingling and found that we didn't recognize anyone else, so after enjoying barbecued sandwiches, salads and brownies, we chatted with a few folks and headed for home. It's about an hours drive from Belmopan to Bullet Tree and we like to head up our hill before dark. (As a reminder to anyone who might stumble on my blog, here in Belize sunset is close to 6pm year-round). As we left the Embassy, we were surprised to see that they'd blocked off access to the road and only guests and local residents were allowed near. Seemed unusual to me as we're usually the ones who aren't allowed in. It was a lovely diversion for both of us with a couple of little momentos and a page in my blog.

mistreated pups

Yesterday we stopped to see Claudia and Franklin (owner's of our pups parents) to see what yummy baked things Claudia had to sell. Under the name Vanilla Hills, she sells wonderful breads and pastries. Franklin was extremely upset and had to show me the three pups he'd "repossessed" just hours before. Originally a fellow from Spanish Lookout purchased the three pups to use to hunt. Franklin visited their place to talk to him about the agreed upon spaying and neutering. He found the three, each on a 3 foot chain, without water and filthy. The particulars are his business, but I'll just say that Franklin returned their money and eventually bro't the pups home. They were dashing about in the wonderful, huge yard he fenced off for their dogs, like released prisoners and coming to the fence for hugs along with the rest. The three were muddy and looked horrible compared to the beauties of Claudia and Franklin. At least it appeared that they had been fed while in captivity. Poor Franklin, who is such a kind and gentle man, practically had steam coming out of his ears he was so upset about the state of these pups.

Today he said he'll bathe the three and then has arranged with a vet to handle the spaying of the one female and neutering the two males. As they already have the parent dogs and two pups, along with three other dogs, they will be looking for good homes for these three.

We had never set out to buy Irish Setters, but being around them has opened our eyes to what loving, intelligent dogs they are. Our two have brought such joy and love to us. They really want to please and just offer love and puppy hugs. To tie them up and keep them isolated is a huge crime against their loving nature. If you live in Belize and have love to offer, I know they are just looking for good homes for these three. Blessings

Tough couple of days

No matter where you live, life can kick you in the shins. We all think "why me?" but the truth is that we all get a share of crumby. Monday I took a dear friend to the airport for his trip to Florida to hopefully get answers and relief from many health problems. His wife & I did a little shopping for groceries and then headed home. They've had way more than their share of problems and watching them deal with theirs has made ours seem small. We worry about both of them. It's not a long trip to Ladyville, a short 2 hrs., but always ends up taking all day.

Yesterday, we took both our pups to the vet to have Rusty neutered and Shannon spade. They're both so beautiful and seem perfect to us, but at 5 1/2 mos. we knew that our little world would soon be disrupted by the SEX thing, so literally had to nip it in the bud. It was hard for me to look at their trusting faces and know that they'd soon be feeling horrible. We were able to pick them up by the end of the day, but both were very woozy. Rusty had a makeshift cone on his head as he continually irritated his incision. We traded the cone for a t-shirt put on from the back end, which did get him thru the night. He still scratched, but couldn't get to the injury. Little Shannon was so thirsty that she drank a little water, which she promptly vomited up. That went on most of the night. She would whimper occasionally, but the pain pills seem to help. Today she's slowly getting a little more strength, but poor Rusty is extremely uncomfortable. He can't walk without his incision irritating, so he sits down hard. Not sure if it's a normal internal thing or if, because they are so young and still quite narrow built, if the stitches are irritating his legs. The vet, who specializes in wildlife, of course, isn't available today except by answering machine.

By the end of the day I was hurting for them them as well as a frustration with the vet over the bill. I was quoted a price for the procedures and told that that would be the cost unless there were complications. When I phoned to check on them I was told that everything went well and I could pick them up at 4:30pm. When I was presented with the bill it was considerably higher, with a charge for every medication including injection fees and dispensing fees. Pooh! Never again. The problem is that there aren't very many real vets in Cayo. The nice little Belizean girl who presented me with the bill, said, when I was upset, that I could "just write a check for the balance." The inference was that, since we're gringo's we undoubtedly have money, so what's the problem. We get that attitude frequently, so try to let it pass, but sometimes it hurts when I've had to struggle to come up with the money myself. Oh well!

I'm spending today reading and watching the pups. They both move to wherever I am and lay by my feet and ask for reassurance that this too shall pass. They and Bailey are definitely the bright spots in our lives. Blessings.

We bro't the rain back with us

I guess I whined enough because yesterday the clouds finally opened and blessed us with a little rain. We expected it to give us a downpour, which just rushes past, but instead we were blessed with short spurts of drizzle. Our cistern is slowly filling and I swear I can almost see the bushes smiling. Our precious dogs have quit panting so much and Bailey has more energy. I hope it works for me too as I don't handle the heat well. Today is for quiet activities as tomorrow is too since it's another Belize holiday. We're taking each day as it comes.

Can anyone Say "HOT?"

If you know of someone who wants to come to Belize, please warn them to not visit during April or May unless they love being really hot and sticky.  During this April and May the temperature reached over 100 most days and the humidity couldn't have been far behind.  Even the locals talked of little else as we watched the ground dry and crack and all the underbrush in the jungle dried up and disappeared and most trees lost their leaves.  I know I've written this before, but the hotter it gets the more the folks take advantage of the dry to burn their fields and anything else that gets in their way.  For the most part the fires burn along the ground, eating up the leaves and dead brush, but when a dying tree catches fire or a cohune, the flames can soar 30 or 40 feet, burning overhead lines and jumping fire trails. 

After suffering with the heat for weeks, we were pleased to head for Oregon and Washington for a couple of weeks.  We were sure that by the time we returned it would have rained here in Belize.  Silly us.  The weather in the Northwest was wonderful, heading into the high 70's and low 80's every day.  Folks there commented on how hot it was, but we basked in the drier and, to us, cooler air.  We returned on the 21st of May to find it even drier and still hot.  

We've been on the fringes of a controversy here between a neighbor who apparently bought the leases on all the property across our road to the north of us.  She hired a bulldozer to clear the road right- of-way and pushed the debris, thankfully, to her side.  This whole thing has angered the previous leaseholders, who choose to fight with death threats and setting fire to the lots.  We keep our property clean and hope safe, but is still worrisome.  One day I headed to town to run a short errand.  When I went down the hill, all was well, but when I came back up the hill 45 minutes later, the debris piles were in flames and they had jumped the road and were burning our neighbors property below us.  The fire on our side was just burning the leaf cover, but was still a worry.  I phoned all the neighbors, who didn't seem to be too worried, but we monitored it until it died back.  While we were in the US, another fire started, this time opposite our gate and the little house.  When a cohune ignited, sending flames shooting in the air, Rene and family were here to monitor it.  There is one fire truck in San Ignacio, which did come up one time and arrived in just 15 minutes, but with all the fires, we can't count on them.  Also, they've been known to show up to a fire without water.  

Now that we're back, things seems to be settling down.  It's been extremely hot and humid, but this morning we had a very short rain with the hopes of more.  The weather here is very unpredictable.  Watching the satellite photos, the storms can come from the SE, as well as the Pacific side.  They swirl and change directions so fast.  The best we can do is make do with today and hope that tomorrow will be a little cooler.  As soon as the rains start again, things will burst into life and we won't be able to keep up with the growth.