Easter is coming!

Easter greetings from Belize! We’re in the middle of the dry season…no measurable rain in months…and some of the plants and animals aren’t very happy. Some of the animals have become scarce, while others seem to have made a special appearance, probably looking for water. The parrots must be on vacation as they are not as prevalent as they had been. We miss them swarming to and from “work” everyday. Rick was fortunate enough to see an Agouti at our gate one afternoon. It’s a small, Belizean rodent, fairly rare in this part of the country, so he felt pretty lucky. On one of their morning walks, Dee and Linda encountered a large king snake slithering into the cane fields. The half they saw was about 3 feet long and 2 ½ inches in diameter. Since then Linda carries a large walking stick for just such encounters. We had our second batch of baby fish born on our reef…seeing the specks of babies swimming in and out of the rocks is very rewarding. Our free-range chickens are now laying 6 eggs everyday with the orangest yolks we have ever seen! Very tasty!

We had to turn the a/c on for a couple of days in the last month (heat index was 114 one day), but now it has returned to 80’s/60’s. Our favorite time of day continues to be 4pm happy hour/backgammon on the beach. Linda has become a master and Rick has had to completely change his style of play to have any chance of victory. He found some barely adequate Belizean Gin and some fantastic large stuffed Spanish olives for his occasional martini…shaken, not stirred.

We decided to dive into Belizean culture last month by visiting some of the medical community. Linda had her annual physical with labs. Everything looks great, except her elbow tendinitis continues to be an issue. Cost was less than $80 USD for everything! Rick had a dental exam and cleaning…only $35 USD total. Linda’s still trying to get up the nerve to get to the dentist…his office was busy when she attempted and she was too hungry to wait!

Rick went to our favorite butcher in town a couple of weeks ago looking for a specific cut of meat (for Pok Chuk…a Mayan version of pork fajitas). The butcher didn’t know what Rick was talking about, so he flipped around the pig that was lying on the front counter of the shop, handed him the knife and told him to show him what he meant. Rick proceeded to teach him how to butcher a pig. The Pok Chuk results were outrageous if anyone wants the recipe!

Linda has given up on homemade sourdough bread…it either was sour and wouldn’t rise or not sour and rose fine. The whole wheat bread will have to do for now. Today Rick tried his hand at shrimp ceviche. He went out to the garden and picked fresh cilantro, tomatoes, habenero, serrano and jalepeno chilis, mixed it up with onion and lime juice and it was scrumptious. The garden is also producing lettuce, carrots, chives, sweet basil, broccoli, cantaloupes and zucchini.

We closed on our house in Arizona at the end of March…the process was a little difficult being so far away, but with our realtor and Janessa’s help, we succeeded. We’re glad that we have one less thing to worry about!

Ed and Dee bought a pedal boat last weekend. Rick and Ed added a sun canopy and now Dee and Linda are pedaling around the lagoon every morning at 0630. OMG…it’s a lot harder than it looks! It’s also fun and a great way to view the early morning scenery.

We’ve been keeping our eyes open for a good deal on a boat and this week the opportunity arose to fulfill our needs. We purchased a 24ft pontoon boat, trailer and motor to putter around the lagoon. It holds 10-12 people and will be perfect for dominos, poker or other festivities. We’ll post some photos once the deal is finalized and we have the boat in the water. While the same guy was cleaning out his garage he also found a generator which will come in very handy as a back-up during those frequent power outages, especially during hurricane season.

Linda continues to keep busy with puzzles, latch hook, reading, baking, sunning and an occasional trip to the casino with the girls. Last couple of times she’s even come home a winner! Rick and Ed enjoy an occasional fishing trip on the lagoon, but last month they were lucky enough to make an overnight trip to Bacala Chico with some Belizean friends. They caught hundreds of fish, drank to their hearts content and got a hell of a sunburn. We posted pictures with last month’s blog, but forgot to mention the details in the blog. They’re hoping to repeat the trip as soon as time permits.

Easter is a huge holiday here in Belize. Family and friends gather and celebrate from Thursday through Monday. We can already feel/sense the festive atmosphere. Hopefully you are all in the spirit of Easter, too. Jesus Lives! : )

Guess that covers things for now. Livin’ and lovin’ life in Belize. Stay tuned!

our first month with visitors!

What a month! Lots has happened and almost all of it good!

Rick bought me a beautiful handmade hammock for Valentines Day. We found the perfect spot for it near the lagoon and, after shopping several stores, found the hardware necessary to attach it to the trees. It’s the ideal place for reading, relaxing and napping.

The red-tape on the car was finalized and we picked up our new 2010 Toyota Rav 4 in late February…just in time for the kids arrival on 2/28. We’re very happy with our purchase and have already put over 2000 km on it…most of which was while the kids were here.

Speaking of that, while they visited we checked out a couple of beaches (in sarteneja and copper bank), went on the New River/Lamanai Mayan Ruins tour, went zip-lining through the jungle canopy, did a two mile cave tubing expedition, played some games, started a puzzle, did crafts and had an overall good time. We even got to spend Jason’s birthday together as a family for the first time in several years! It was fun. I got sick with a bad cold the day they arrived, but I didn’t let that get in my way! Hope I didn’t give it to either of them… Jason was less than impressed with our dial-up internet connection and bumpy, unpaved roads, but he was a trooper and didn’t put a damper on things. Janessa enjoyed the adventure a bit more…she made friends with the chickens, named our three resident geckos, climbed to the top of one of the excavated Lamanai ruins and thoroughly enjoyed the zip-lining. I asked them both to say a few words about their trip for the blog. Jason said “it's a nice place to visit but you have to be crazy to live there” and Janessa said “Hot and humid, but the beach is nice. Slow paced. Exotic. MONKEYS! ZIP-LINING! RUINS LIKE MOUNTAINS!” We hope they both return very soon.

While the kids were here we got an e-mail advising us that we had an offer to buy our house in AZ. We accepted the offer and are currently in the final stages of closing the deal. We’re awaiting receipt of the paperwork via Federal Express and will then need to schedule an appointment with a lawyer/notary for our signatures. Meanwhile, Janessa is packing up her things and preparing to move out tomorrow. We hope that the whole process will be finalized before the end of the month…being rid of that responsibility will be a huge relief!

Since the kids left, our lives have returned to normal (puzzles, crafts, backgammon, dominos, poker games, exercise walks, reading (I got Kindle for PC), keeping a check on our baby fish in our reef and gardening). No darts since I have tendinitis in my R elbow…boy does it hurt! We had some excitement a few days ago when one of the chickens gave us our first free range egg! Rick ate it yesterday and said it was the most flavorful egg he had ever eaten. We haven’t gotten any more since then, so yesterday while we were in town we picked up a bag of plastic eggs. Rick’s brother Bob told us that if you put those in the nesting boxes it encourages the chickens to lay…we’ll see what happens.

Looking ahead, starting in March through June, the whale sharks come to visit for apx. 10 days each month. If any of you are interested, visit: http://belizescuba.com/whalesharks.lasso Let us know and we’ll set something up! The guest house is vacant and available!

Right now Rick is preparing Belizean Venison Breakfast Sausage. Tune in next time for an update on how it turned out. I’ve been experimenting with sour dough bread and some different fish and chicken recipes. The sourdough bread has the perfect texture, but is still lacking that wonderful sourdough taste. Janessa told us to be patient as it might take several months for it to happen. We’re never at a loss for “good eats”!

Check out our photos and keep in touch! We love hearing from you and hope to see some of you very soon.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our one-year anniversary in Belize!!! It’s been quite an adventure and learning experience. The last month has been spent building the guest house, building a reef in the lagoon (to attract more fishes for snorkeling) and continuing the activities that we have come to love (lots of darts, poker, sunbathing, gardening (the garden is about ready to give up it’s first harvest) and bird-watching). The guest house was completed today and is now ready for the kids arrival on 2/28 (can’t wait!!!) We’ve had visits from crocodiles, iguanas and toucans, but no visitors from the US!

We got a hand-made armoire for the guest house from the same Belizean who built our dining room set…it turned out great! Since we were placing an order, we also purchased a dresser/book shelf for the bedroom. It’s beautiful! We are also currently shopping for a new vehicle. In the QRP program we have one year to purchase a vehicle duty-free…our year is up in May and doing this now will save us over $20,000 BZE. We’re looking at a Toyota Rav4 and hope to have things finalized by next week.

Progresso Village also grew a little this month with the addition of a new Chinese restaurant. The ambiance could use a little work, but the food is delicious!

The weather has been beautiful, for the most part, with cool nights (60’s) and warm days (80’s and 90’s). We did have a 48 hour period last week of cold temps (highs in the 70’s) and steady rain...nice change of pace and good for the trees, flowers and plants.

We hope you have enjoyed the blog and photo updates. We will continue them if/when something exciting or unusual happens and will forward these updates to you. We thank you for keeping in touch with us over the last year and hope that you will continue to do so.

Happy 2011

Happy 2011! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. Our month went well and the adventure continued.

Rick’s birthday was good. Dee fixed him a wonderful birthday dinner and we spent the evening playing games. The following day he got a great gift…the sale of the RV…so we went to the casino and celebrated. Dee won a bundle and at least we didn’t lose!

Christmas Eve was very quiet, just the two of us. We celebrated Christmas Day sharing a potluck dinner with a group of friends at Ed and Dee’s house (see photos). The weather was quite warm; I think it hit 90 degrees! Ed had built a BBQ pit and planned to overnight roast a huge piece of pork. The pit was a little too efficient and by morning the pork, pan and all, was charcoal! Quickly thinking, they called friends in the village who slaughtered five chickens so that we could have a nice dinner. Nothing like fresh BBQ chicken! All of us had “winter” colds, but we played darts and poker and had a great time. Rick and I bought each other kites for Christmas, so over the next few days, when luckily the wind was blowing, we got to use our presents. Brought back memories of when we were dating!

We started going to Copper Bank on Saturdays for dart tournaments and met some great new friends. This culminated with a huge New Years Eve party with a potluck and dart tournament. Lots of fun was had by all. We haven’t been back yet this year, but plan on doing so.

Since the RV sold, construction of the guest house began on January 3rd. It’s been 2 weeks now and things are progressing nicely (see photos). It will have two queen-sized beds, a bathroom, a sitting area, a screened-in patio and a small “kitchen” area with a counter and refrigerator. It should be completed within the next few weeks, just in time for our kids visit at the end of next month. Who will be next?

The garden is growing well (see photos) and soon should produce some veges and herbs. We’ve already been able to use some of the basil and I think the carrots will be ready next.

We’ve had some new wildlife encounters, too:
-The puppies chased a coatamundi up a tree and guarded it until the next morning when they were put to bed (see photos).
-Parrot hour had quieted a bit in October and November, but resumed full-force in December.
-We saw a large wake in the lagoon the other afternoon. By the time I got the binoculars and camera and ran down to the shore, whatever it was had submerged…we think it was a manatee, though, and have been keeping our eyes open for another visit.
-Rick and Ed were lucky enough to eye 5 toucans in a tree near the site of the guest house construction. I can’t believe I missed them!
-The chickens are getting big so quickly (see photos). They now can fly out of the coop and wander all over the property eating bugs, frogs and whatever else they can find. We ring a bell around 4pm and they know it’s time to return to the coop for the night and have corn for dinner. We keep them closed in until morning when the dogs are put away. Speaking of the dogs, they’re doing well. The puppies have just about caught up in size with Gracie and they delight in all of our table scraps and bones.

Even though we live in paradise, we have made some travel plans. In July/August we will return to the USA to attend our nieces wedding and to visit with family and friends for a couple of weeks. Then, in March of 2012, we’ve booked a cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona, Spain on RSSC. Anyone interested in joining us?

I continue to experiment with baking, most recently working on my sourdough bread recipe. I haven’t quite mastered it yet, but I’m trying a new starter recipe today. I’ll let you know how it comes out (the last one wasn’t sour enough). Other than that, I’m still baking all of our bread and made quite a splash among friends with my sour cream coffee cake. Needless to say, my New Year’s resolution of losing weight hasn’t gotten very far yet! Rick put a few pounds back on eating all the Christmas cookies that I baked. But they are coming back off quite easily.

Rick’s next project is to build a reef 30 feet off of our beach. The natural rock materials are in place on shore…just waiting for the water level in the lagoon to fall another foot. He will then construct a raft (using the inner tubes we brought down) to float the rocks to the location. He will then layer them in to make lots of nooks and crannies for the fish to live and hide in. The smaller fish should bring in the larger predator fish so Rick can fish right from our beach (in our new lounge chairs) sipping on a Belikin. Now that’s fishing at its best!!!

We had visitors yesterday who are moving to Belize from Canada. We showed them around the property and had a nice visit. We hope to have them as new neighbors soon! : )

I think that brings you all up to date! We’ll keep you posted!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

The holidays are upon us and we are feeling very blessed this year. Our adventure in Belize continues and the positives of living here absolutely outweigh the negatives. It’s been a couple of months since we’ve updated the blog and so much has happened, but at the same time things have remained simple.

My birthday was a success. Rick and I went for a scenic drive to Altun Ha Mayan Ruins, saw a 5-6’ Maribu Stork off the side of the road, hiked the ruins (until the mosquitoes won), had a picnic lunch, another scenic drive home and then dinner and games with our friends/neighbors. I’m getting older, but also better !

I’ve been baking up a storm (pies, cookies, pizza, bread, pretzels) and have been working on perfecting the variations that the flour, sugar, heat and humidity cause in the product. Still having some issues, but the pizza and bread are definitely perfected. Best pizza you’ll find in Belize is right here in Progresso Shores! Rick has been doing some cooking of his own. He’s been smoking beef, pork and poultry, has experimented with homemade ceviche and grilled lobster. As you can see we have no issue with finding enough good food to eat here.

We also started our own outdoor adventure…we built a chicken coop and bought six laying chicken babies to raise and hopefully get eggs from. We got the chicks about 3 ½ weeks ago and man do they grow fast. We should be getting eggs in a couple of months, but in the meantime they’re pretty cute to have around!

We’ve been lucky enough to be invited to some parties in the last couple of months. Scott’s birthday was in early November and he threw a huge party on the beach of Orchid Bay Inn (unfinished) in Copper Bank. There was a band, kegs, beer pong, horseshoes, lots of good food and we met a lot of very nice people. Last weekend Dove and Phil got married at ? resort, also on the beach in Copper Bank. The weather for the festivities was absolutely perfect, the bride radiant, the beverages flowing, the food yummy and the guest list was full of Gringo’s…more than we have seen in one place since our arrival in Belize 10 months ago (yesterday).

The garden is finally taking shape. We have planted peas, beans, zucchini, cilantro, basil, green onion, lettuce, tomato and carrots. So far the only thing we’ve been able to harvest has been basil…boy was it incredible. The rest of the seedlings are coming along…should have fresh veggies in a couple of months if the insects and deer don’t eat them first! Our fruit trees (dragon fruit, pineapple, banana, soursop, tamarind, coconut, sugar apple and avocado) are also looking good. Bananas will probably be the first of those to produce.

The weather through the rainy season was interesting. We were threatened by five hurricanes, but the only issue we had with any of them was some minor roof leaks, a couple of downed trees on the property and some flooding. A storm last month topped them all when it rained for 3+ days straight. The roof leaks were a little more pronounced, a tree actually fell right on the house (no damage) and the flooding was much more advanced...we even had a sink hole! To pass some time during the storm, we worked on a giraffe puzzle that I have had for years but never opened. It was quite challenging, but after 10 days it was complete. Now we are working on preserving it by gluing together and making a piece of artwork out of it. Following that storm the roof was resealed so the leaks are now under control and the sink hole was excavated and filled in. Since the beginning of November the mornings have been cool, sometimes into the 50’s, but for the most part the daytime highs remain in the 75-85 degree range. Perfect! Most days we have a nice breeze, so last week I picked up a kite at a local store and tested it out on Monday. It worked great, so on Tuesday we went back into town for supplies and picked up a couple more!

We have started bird watching and had the opportunity to see a heron up-close when he/she wandered underneath the RV coach after having been injured. Later he wandered over to the neighbor’s house and Ed, in an attempt to pick him/her up, got a beak right above his eye. Needless to say, he left the bird to fend for him/herself. A few weeks later we spied a greater blue heron standing on our beach. It was about 3-4 feet tall and pretty spectacular. Speaking of sightings, we also had a 4 foot iguana sunning on our dock…no camera handy for that, but check out the other photos!

We’re both perfecting our darts, cards, dominoes, poker and pegs and jokers. We’re enjoying each others company and falling deeper in love everyday. I miss the kids (they will be coming for a visit in late February/early March) and the holidays won’t be quite the same without family, but it can only be what we make it, so we will make it the best we can.


We hope and pray that your holidays carry only happy memories and that your stockings are filled with joy and laughter! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Fall has arrived!

Fall has arrived in Belize and with it came a tropical storm (Matthew), hundreds of dragonflies, cooler weather, a friends’ illness and recovery and a visitor to the lagoon. It’s been an eventful month…

We were supposed to have hosted 60+ people at our housewarming party on 9/26, but Mother Nature had something else in mind. TS Matthew started heading our way on the 22nd and was predicted to be in our backyard on the 26th. We cancelled the party and started preparing for the storm instead. It ended up being much less intense than we had expected, but it’s a good thing we cancelled the party because it would have been a muddy mess if people did come. We’ll be rescheduling after hurricane season and will let you all know when to make your travel plans…lol! We did have a loose battery in the bathroom water heater from all the rain and humidity and had a couple of days without hot showers. Shortly thereafter our well water pump gave out (no water!) and had to be replaced…luckily our builder took care of that for us!

Dee and I had a girls-day-out a couple of weeks ago. We went to Corozal and had our hair done (I had a cut and style for $10 BZE…$5 USD!!!) Afterwards we headed to the free-zone casino for some blackjack and slots. I won $100+ USD!!! The day ended on a low note though. When we returned home we found that Mousey, Ed and Dee’s Chihuahua, was very sick. Turns out she was in renal failure and fought through the weekend only to die late Sunday night. She will be greatly missed.

That same weekend Ed started feeling poorly. By Sunday night he and Mousey were suffering together. Ed and Dee headed to the ER in Orange Walk on Monday morning and Ed was diagnosed with appendicitis. He had surgery later that same day (appendectomy and exploratory which discovered a perforated diverticuli) and insisted on being released from the hospital on Thursday after 4 days of questionable nursing care in the hospital. He and his doctor agreed that he would recuperate better at home as long as he had a nurse to give him antibiotic shots, remove his drain and monitor his incisions (guess who?) Dee took great care of him and Rick and I helped with what we could. He had his surgical follow-up appointment yesterday and all is healing well. The total cost for ER, tests, surgery, all meds, 3 nights in the hospital and follow-up care = $6000 BZE/$3000 USD. Try that in the States!!!

Almost as if on queue, the weather cooled off and the humidity dropped on October 1st. Since then the early morning temperatures are in the 60’s and we’re averaging about 90 for daytime highs. The breezes have shifted and seem to be coming from the north and west instead of the south and east. The grasshoppers are dying off and the dragonflies are taking over…they are much preferred because the grasshoppers were munching on all of our new plants! The parrots like the cool mornings and are waking us up with their song/squawk around sunrise. They’re still really vocal and active around 5p too. We love to watch and listen to them and make up stories about what they’re saying/doing. Last night during our happy hour on the beach we had an unexpected visitor to the lagoon. I spotted a crocodile about 30 feet offshore. We had the binoculars with us, so we both got a great look at him/her. Gracie, Goldie and Diablo came over to us for a visit and the puppies jumped into the lagoon for a quick swim. We saw the crocodile turn and start swimming towards them, but they got out of the water before we had to worry. Took a couple of pictures, but they don’t do him/her justice. Needless to say we will be extra careful when we’re cooling off!!!

Last weekend we went into town for the “horse races” (see photos). Not quite what we’re used to, but interesting none the less. We ran into the guy that installed our home a/c units and chatted for a while. His cousin’s horse won the 3rd race…first race he had ever entered! That was exciting!

The RV coach is still for sale. Rick has been busy getting it all ship shape and we’ve had some inquiries. There is a possibility that someone will be coming to take a look this coming week. We’d like to sell so we can get started on the guest house before a possible visit from Rick’s brother and family over the holidays.

It’s my birthday on Monday and we’re trying to decide how to celebrate. If it’s not too hot we may go visit the Altun Ha Mayan Ruins southeast of here. Word is that the ruins there are what inspired the label on the Belikin beer bottles. If it’s too hot we’ll take a trip to one of the few white sand beaches in northern Belize, not far from here.

That wraps things up for month #8. Ready for visitors if anyone is interested! Just give us the word and we’ll make some plans.

Open For Business

Almost autumn! Not sure what that will be like here in Belize, but we’ve heard it will be beautiful. The last few weeks have been fun…we will just share a couple of the highlights.

In late August Linda was entering the lagoon for a relaxing soak and encountered a 4 ft. stingray! It was more afraid of her than she was of it, so it took off to find shelter. One of the few times Linda didn’t have her camera handy, so her memory will be the only record of that encounter, but she will remember it fondly.

We celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary on September 3rd by travelling back to the Placencia peninsula for a few days. The weather, water and company were wonderful. We had a great time (check out the photos)! On our way back home we stopped at a huge nursery and Rick picked out some beautiful flowers to accent our landscape (which is coming along quite nicely). The garden is growing too…we planted some of the developing seedlings and Rick took some rose cuttings and is hoping they will take root. We’re still waiting for the rest of the seedlings in the trays and the rooting avocados to be ready for transplanting. If we can outwit the insects, this should be quite a producing piece of property when we’re through. Rick is also thinking of going into the nursery production business since there are no plant nurseries within 60 miles. The roses should prove a true test as to his abilities.

Our latest efforts have been focused on preparations for our housewarming party on September 26th. We have 60 confirmed guests and are planning a table full of food (roasted pig in the ground accompanied by some authentic Belizean dishes), a couple of kegs of Belikin and lots of fun. We’re praying for the weather to cooperate!

Speaking of weather, Tropical Storm Karl blew through this week with 40 mph winds and buckets of rain. We suffered minor flooding on our lot and a few downed trees, but overall we were really lucky…we were prepared for much worse! Since we had the downed trees already, Rick decided to do some tree work. With the help of 4 of the crew, they cut up the downed trees, cut down the dead ones and cleaned up the property. They ran out of time yesterday, so this morning Rick decided to cut the last of the dead trees (it was threatening to fall on the RV!) He thought the two of us could do it, but three-quarters of the way through the attempt we decided we weren’t strong enough. Ed and
Scott came with their ATV’s and muscles and we finally were successful in bringing it down. Besides the storm, the weather has been much more stable than in mid-summer. It’s still hot and humid, but with wonderful breezes throughout the days and cooler temperatures in the mornings and evenings. We’ve also had some incredible sunrises and sunsets (see pix)!

We have nightstands on order that are being built by the Mennonites across the lagoon in Little Belize. They were supposed to have been ready 10 days ago, but since we’re on “Belize time” we’re just hoping to have them prior to the party. We haven’t found the right bookshelf yet. If the nightstands are completed to our liking, we may design something for the Mennonites to build and then the decorating will be complete.

We have the RV coach up for sale and then we will start thinking about the guest house. We’re still waiting for our first visitors…we’re ready whenever you are!

Life remains pretty much a dream. It’s like living on a cruise ship except for having to do our own cooking. Speaking of cooking, it’s LOBSTER season in Belize, so it has become a part of our weekly menu.

Everything we do is done on our self-made schedule with plenty of time for relaxing, playing in the lagoon and falling deeper in love. You have to live it to really understand what this experience is all about. Any takers?

Until we write again, health and happiness to all…