Santa came to Belize again

We dug into the duffle bag, stored under the bed and dusted off Art's santa suit. He would have enjoyed being Santa for more kids down here, but ended up just visiting with one group. What a lovely experience tho'. We've met a wonderful young couple who have opened a Pancake House in San Ignacio. The restaurant is next to their house, which gives them a nice situation with little overhead, and he's the minister of a small church which is across the street. They get no outside help with their funding, but give most of what they have to the children. The 19th of Dec. they fed 85 children a beautiful breakfast of bacon, an egg and pancakes and made up really nice gift bags for each of them. Art was delighted to share in this experience by being Santa to this excited group. Like children everywhere, they had stars and hope in their eyes as they gave him their wish list along with generous hugs. How we wish we could give each of them at least one special gift. We see the children here as well loved and cared for. It's so common to see a father holding the hand of a toddler, walking down the street. Most of the kids are clean and dressed proudly by their doting parents. So much of what little the parent's make is used for school fees and to take care of their children. Why do so few have so much when so many in countries like Belize, have so little? Santa's magic isn't able to fill the gap.

Early Christmas with friends

We're blessed by having a few, very good friends here. Yesterday we celebrated with a lovely Christmas dinner at Betty & Robin's. The brother and sister-in-law of our friend, Diane were here for a couple of days from Florida. There were about 12 of us enjoying a fantastic dinner with more goodies than is probably healthy. We all pitched in which makes it less stressful for the host. We had a wonderful time just visiting and enjoying the sharing. We even had a round-about gift exchange. The weather turned out to be lovely so we managed "the hill" just fine. I'm so tired of worrying about our darned hill, but at least it wasn't a problem yesterday. Diane will be returning to Florida with her family for about five weeks. I'll really miss her, but am so happy that she'll have this time away.

As usual, I forgot my camera, so can't include photos, but maybe I can get some later.

It's difficult to be away from beloved family during the holidays, but some of the sadness is diminished by the hugs and companionship from dear friends. May we all be so blessed.

Happy Holidays, Gale

Generator problems

We bought a Briggs & Stratton generator because, in the States, it's easy to get parts and they're very reliable. When our generator started to spit oil at us we took it in for repair. The fellows determined that the piston was good but the rings are bad. They just tell you what they need and we have to do the hunting. This turned out to be an almost impossible quest. We left it at Perfecto's shop, in pieces, carrying the piston and as many numbers from the machine as we could find,with us to Spanish Lookout. It seems inconguous that the Mennonites are the only ones in Cayo who carry parts for machinery, other than cars. Seemed like a siple task. Go over, get the part from Universal Hdwr, where we bought it, and return. Wrong! They didn't have it and said they needed better numbers. We visited three stores with the same results. Nada! Ok, back home. We have a three year old phone book in which I found the number for a place in Ladyville that specialized in B & S. They were able to tell me where to look on the machine for the model number. It was hidden way inside. After getting those numbers it turned out they didn't have them either, so we had to resort to ordering them. They might be in this week or after the first of the year. When they finally arrive we then have to figure out how to get them up here. Ladyville is adjacent to Belize City. For now we're functioning on whatever we get from the sun. Thankfully, today is occasionally sunny, so we should be able to get through the night with moderate electric use.

Once the generator problem is solved, we'll then have to assess is our solar is working properly. Hope we didn't damage it by having to pull the batteries down so far. Live and learn folks. These old folks are still learning some really hard lessons. Blessing to all. Gale

Trying times

If you decide to try to live in Belize you have to be aware that the elements are hard on machines and people, things break and they're expensive to fix or replace.

Today was one of those days that feels as tho' you're being knocked down and every time you try to get up, someone else hits you a good one. We had to take our Toyota Tundra in for repair because, when it was converted over to butane, the fellow jambed the air filter into the headlight, causing a short. I was thinking that my night vision was getting worse, but discovered that one headlight was barely on. Also, we've been down here over two year so it needed a good tune-up. $$$$s.

The inverter for our solar system has been giving us very confusing messages, including no a/c power. We've tried to figure it out from the manuals, but they might as well be in Russian for all the good they did us. We could manage, at times, with the generator as backup, but it started using oil like crazy. The last couple of days it used a gallon of gas @ $10+ and a pint of oil. Took it to a fellow who does small engine repair. Has to tear it down and is probably a bad ring. $$$s.

The solar inverter gave us all kinds of blinking warning lights. (Take a deep breath). Could be bad batteries, bad inverter or who knows what. All huge dollar problems. To get local help we have to phone to Belmopan and hope for the best. HUGE $$$s. I tried to email Backwoods Solar in Idaho, but didn't have the power for the satellite, so when we took the generator in for repair we found a WIFI spot and tried to send. Bummer! AOL couldn't send emails right then. I was ready to scream or have a nervous breakdown. I took a deep breath and we headed for home, stopping to buy minutes for our cellphone so that I could phone the US. I can't sing the praises of Backwoods Solar enough. We bo't our system and appliances from them and they've always been available with patient help.Today Shawn talked me through our problems, helping me make adjustments to the settings. He told me he'd had the same issues with his system and the what we were doing was fine and he didn't see a major problem. Phew! That one was a big relief. I was able to breath again. Still, because it's so cloudy and rainy right now, we won't have much chance of producing solar power, so we'll have to supplement with lamps, but we have hopes that soon we'll be back to something resembling normal.

The trouble with a day like this when you're past earning an income and living not only off-grid, but in a whole country that feels like it's way off-grid, is that unexpected, heavy expenses are really frightening. The pot never get replenished.

We're going to go out (when the road dries so we can get down the hill) and buy a turkey or ham and I'm going to fix a Christmas dinner for us and put this out of our minds for a bit.
Blessings!

Art's home

Thanks for the questions about Art's health. I'm happy to say, after having to extend his trip for over a week, he's now home and doing fine. It's going to take him a long time to be totally free of his problem with his leg, but he got wonderful care with the VA in Bend, OR and came home with medicine and instructions. He'll get checkups here as follow-up.

Our dear Bailey was so much company for me while Art was gone and he missed Art, but seemed to adapt just fine. The telling thing tho' was when Art came home and Bailey saw him. Wow, he just about turned himself inside out trying to get to Art. We've settled down now and are slowly getting back into our rut.

At the last minute I decided to fix a Thanksgiving dinner. They don't celebrate Thanksgiving down here, but the Mennonites do raise turkeys, so it's not hard to get one. They're VERY expensive tho'. We invited a few friends to share with us. One couple are Americans who have lived here for 15 years. Another couple are German and Austrian and a lady, who's husband is working in Florida, is Canadian, so we had quite a mixed group. It turned out wonderfully. Everyone contributed something, which made it easier. We missed our Thanksgivings in the States with family, but it felt good to be with friends. The best part is that we got to enjoy the leftovers.

We're having the best weather right now. It's cold at night, so we had to put a blanket on the bed, but it's warm enough during the day to still wear shorts (only around here). We have to remember this time as it will get really hot in April and May.

Army (cleaner) ants

Seems I just keep going from one crisis to another. I'm going to preface this by saying that prior to moving here, we lived in the mountains or Oregon at 4200' elevation. That meant we had very few bugs. No fleas or snakes and because they sprayed in our area, no mosquitos. Now, fast forward to Belize. I've been chewed and nibbled on by a whole range of things from tiny no-see-ums to mosquitos and an assortment of flies. OK, if I pay attention and put on repellent, my pale gringo skin is relatively safe.

It was dry here for a couple of weeks and now it's started to rain a little. During our tree cutting operation I noted a line of ants moving down the hill. Rene said that that's because it's going to rain. OK, they're down there, fine. Yesterday they were back on a new path, going between the bodega and our house. Funny, for a bit they went one way, then an hour later, they were going the other way. Finally, they went the first direction again and by nightfall, they were gone. Whew!

Well, today, as I was eating breakfast on the veranda, I noticed a couple of ants on the table. When I looked down there were lines of them marching along the edge of the house. Here I have to say that I've heard from lots of folks about the cleaner ants and that if you just let them in the house, they don't damage anything, they just eat dead bugs and bits and clean your house and move on. Ick! Ick! I just couldn't handle that, altho' heaven knows I'm not a very good housekeeper. Maybe that's it. I could imagine them keeping busy for weeks! I couldn't bring myself to kill them as they're just doing what they're programmed to do, but I didn't want them in the house. I put Bailey out on a line as they were starting to swarm around him and he was totally confused and then I got the spray. I sprayed the doorways and at the base of the house and in front of them on the side of the house to discourage them from going those directions. I then sat back and watched them trundle the length of the veranda, down the pillar and within about 15 minutes they were gone.

Every day is an education in the bush.

shutter on guest house

This probably sounds like a small thing, but it's turned out to be very important for the comfort of any guests we might have. I love our two guest bedrooms, but the one with the double bed, which faces east, has proven to be very hot in the morning. There isn't a veranda on that side, nor does the roof extend out very far. If we had it to do over again, we'd extend the roof a lot. Anyway, all our shutters are hinged at the side. We've kept the shutter on the east side closed most of the time to keep the sun from beating in. The problem with that is it also keeps the breeze, which generally comes from the east, from blowing in.

When Alejandro and Carlos were here, cutting down the trees, I had them remove the shutter and change the hinges to the top. Now it's propped partially open, protecting the window from the sun and the rain, but allowing us to replace the screen and have the breeze blow in.

Since the weather can be so extreme here. This should definitely be a consideration for anyone wanting to have shuttered windows. I have to add that we love our screened windows and wouldn't trade them for the louvered windows.

Cohune

I hated to have to take down the trees, but it was really interesting to watch Rene take down the cohune. We've had large cohunes fall during storms and have cut down the little new ones, but this is the first time I've watched them take down a larger tree. This one was young enough that it hadn't built a trunk yet. The base of the fronds went to the ground, but it was still about 3' in diameter.

Rene told me that he's taken down lots of cohunes, especially during the many years that he ran a survey crew, mapping out much of the jungle of Belize. He's hacked his way thru the bush in all districts, even on some of the cayes. Cohunes can be deadly, as the base of the fronds is a hiding place for scorpions and snakes. This one was easier for him because we've worked around so much, most of those critters have moved back into the bush.

The fascinating thing for me was to watch him cut out the heart of the palm. I don't know if this is like what you buy in jars as "heart of palm." Rene had to use an axe to cut down the cohune as well as to get to the heart. I was so surprised to see the size and consistency of the heart. It's very white, quite soft and spongy and the piece that Rene cut out was about 9" across and over 2' long. I ate a small piece and it was slightly sweet and quite good. He took it home to see if his mother, whose in her late 80's, would cook it.

This heart isn't a common food any more, but during the 30's when the hurricane nearly wiped out Belize, the cohune kept many of the local people alive. The most common use for it now is to make oil out of the nuts. What a fascinating tree.

Taking down trees for solar

As a confirmed "tree hugger" it really hurts me to take down a tree, but we've had to be practical because of our solar. This close to the equator, it gets dark between 5pm and 6pm almost year-round. The sun does move tho' from the north to the south. Right now, our small system shuts down or goes to sleep on cloudy days by 2pm. Even if we could afford them, our system has been in operation for nearly two years, so we can't add more batteries. We have to maximize what we have. We decided to cut down several trees to the west of the guest house to open up the sky in the afternoon.

I say "we", but Rene, along with two of his sons, Alejandro and Carlos, did the job. It made me so nervous to have Rene climb up the trees, but I had to leave it in his hands. They work so hard and are so good natured about it all. They cut down five trees, most of which are of no useful value. The only one we'll make use of is a small cabbage bark which will make good fence posts.

I'm hoping that this new openness will accomplish our goal of giving us at least another hour of direct sunlight.

Walkway completed (mostly)

Amelio and Alejandro worked for three days and basically completed our walkway from our house to the guest house. I think it looks great and is very strong. We'll have to figure out how we're going to treat the handrails, but for now, they're great. I also have to build a gate at our end to keep Bailey from wandering over, down the stairs and off into the bush. We're extremely pleased with the idea of purlins so we don't have to have support posts underneath. The revised span turned out to be 17' and the purlins are steel, 2 1/2" by 8". I think this will look a lot better painted, but that decision will come later.

Medical update on Art

Art headed for Oregon for his annual checkup with the VA. We got his records from Loma Luz Hospital for his VA doctors. It turned out to be a good thing as they checked him over and found that not only was his blood clot not better, it had gotten frightfully worse. It's such a blessing that the medical facilities in Bend, OR are wonderful, with excellent doctors. At one point they were contemplating surgery, but have now decided on an intense program of medication. Not sure if he'll be able to come home as planned this next weekend. The doctors don't want him to travel for a bit. He's really frustrated and wants too come home, but time will tell. The great thing for him though is that he's getting to see our grandchildren. Max & Tyler in Bend and our son's three great kids in Kennewick, WA. It's hard to believe that Max has now turned 16! ! !

Surprise!

I really have some dear friends. I was really surprised this am to get a birthday greeting from a really nice lady here in Bullet Tree. Then another came in! I started to get the idea that this came from Facebook and there was a problem there, as it wasn't my birthday. It's not for another 10 days on the 16th. No biggy, I was just so pleased to be remembered. A truly great friend came to see me to help me with a download issue. Shortly after that, here came another car with two other friends, bearing a cake, a chocolate pie and munchies. What a lovely surprise. I hated to tell them it wasn't my birthday yet, but we all had a wonderful time. We called it my birthday anyway, but I told them that I refuse to accept the additional year to my already staggering number of years, until the 16th. What sweet friends.