Saturday, October 8, 2011
photo link
many comments have requested a link to photos. if you would like to view photos related to our blog, please contact us by e-mail for a link. luluder@hotmail.com thank you!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Where does the time go?
I can't believe almost 4 months have passed since our last post. We survived our second summer in Belize, traveled back to the U.S. for a visit, took a road trip to San Ignacio and continued with our previous day-to-day activities.
The summer was warm, wet and humid, but it seems we're growing more accustomed to the change and used our a/c much less this year. The rain brought a growth spurt to all of our plants and flowers. The garden provided lots of good veges and our banana tree has delivered multiple clusters of lady finger bananas. Rick even hung bunches of basil on the clothes line to dry. We visited several nurseries over the past few months and now the yard is almost half complete. We even bought a cocoa tree to test our forte for growing chocolate! Now that Fall has arrived the weather is starting to cool down, especially in the mornings, and the water in the lagoon is refreshing again. We're getting lots of lizards, spiders and critters coming around, but so far no negative interactions between the species even though we've encroached on their habitat. A crocodile tried to have one of the chickens for lunch last week, but, surprisingly, the chicken was smart enough to squawk and run! Speaking of the chickens, we're still getting about 40 eggs a week and are able to share with our friends and neighbors. One of the restaurants/bars that we frequent has even started paying us for a dozen eggs every week...that will help with the cost of the corn that the chickens seem to inhale!
In July we set out on an adventure that covered three countries and five U.S. states. We drove from Progresso, Belize to Cancun, Mexico on the first day. The trip was smooth sailing once we crossed the border and dealt with the red-tape there. Belize and Mexico are trying to see who can outdo the other with taxes...we were stuck in the middle! We spent the night in a hotel near the Cancun airport, spent a little time the next morning touring the city and then, leaving our car at the hotel, took the hotel shuttle to the airport. We flew from Cancun to Phoenix, AZ and then onto Spokane, WA where we met our son, Jason, who had flown in from Dallas, TX. The three of us rented a car and, exhausted, drove to the nearby hotel for the night. The next morning we enjoyed a buffet breakfast at the hotel and Jason took us shopping. After picking up some necessities, we drove to Pullman, WA to meet up with Rick's family for our niece's wedding. The next three days were spent visiting/partying with Rick's family and celebrating the addition to the family (the wedding was absolutely beautiful). We had a wonderful time. On Sunday morning Jason drove us back to Spokane airport where we took a flight to Salt Lake City, UT and then onto San Diego, CA. It was there that we were joined by our daughter, Janessa, and Linda's side of the family. We had 3 days/4 nights of visiting and touring San Diego. A great time was had by all. From there a bunch of us caravan-ed to Casa Grande, AZ where we had a quick tour of Linda's parents new house before renting a car and driving to the Phoenix area. We stayed with Janessa in her apartment (thanks, nessa!) and spent three days visiting with as many of our Phoenix-area friends as we could. On Monday morning, exhausted, we were on the road again, headed to Laughlin for a couple of days of gambling/relaxing. Linda got her "Wizard of Oz" slot machine fix and Rick played enough penny and nickle machines to make up for some of what Linda lost! After Laughlin we drove over to check out the now-completed Hoover Dam Bypass...pretty impressive!!! Rick watched so much of the construction of the bypass during his frequent drives to Vegas to tend to his mom's yard that he had to see the finished product. It was a little out of our way, but well worth the trip. From there we drove to Vegas and spent the night at Rick's mom's house. We played a little bit at a local casino, but went to bed early so we would be ready for our early flight the next morning. We flew from Vegas to Phoenix to Cancun and shuttled back to the hotel where our car was left. We had dinner by the pool and then crashed for the night. The final day was spent driving back from Cancun to Progresso. It was a beautiful drive...hundreds of thousands of butterflies everywhere...and no incidents at the border! We arrived home safe and sound and spent the next few days recovering from our 18-day "vacation"!!! A big "thank you" to all who made it possible.
Last week we took another road trip to San Ignacio and visited with our friends, Adam and Mona. We got to see their beautiful new house, played some darts and took a day to visit Spanish Lookout, a Mennonite village north of San Ignacio. What an incredible experience. This group of settlers was allocated land from the government of Belize and turned it into a self-governed, self-sustaining farming/agriculture community. We will definitely be going back there for another taste of their culture.
In-between road trips Linda spent her time baking, cleaning, laundry, sunning, reading, latch hooking, parrot watching (extremely busy season this year!), listening to music, lounging in the lagoon and playing cards/dominos/darts. Rick kept busy with gardening, tending to the two acres of land, cooking new recipes and playing cards/dominos/darts. We're working hard at becoming as self-sufficient as possible and we're having lots of fun doing it. We're expecting visitors in November...Rick's brother and his family and Rick's mom will be here for Thanksgiving. We should have some more adventures to report on after their visit. Until then, follow your dreams!
The summer was warm, wet and humid, but it seems we're growing more accustomed to the change and used our a/c much less this year. The rain brought a growth spurt to all of our plants and flowers. The garden provided lots of good veges and our banana tree has delivered multiple clusters of lady finger bananas. Rick even hung bunches of basil on the clothes line to dry. We visited several nurseries over the past few months and now the yard is almost half complete. We even bought a cocoa tree to test our forte for growing chocolate! Now that Fall has arrived the weather is starting to cool down, especially in the mornings, and the water in the lagoon is refreshing again. We're getting lots of lizards, spiders and critters coming around, but so far no negative interactions between the species even though we've encroached on their habitat. A crocodile tried to have one of the chickens for lunch last week, but, surprisingly, the chicken was smart enough to squawk and run! Speaking of the chickens, we're still getting about 40 eggs a week and are able to share with our friends and neighbors. One of the restaurants/bars that we frequent has even started paying us for a dozen eggs every week...that will help with the cost of the corn that the chickens seem to inhale!
In July we set out on an adventure that covered three countries and five U.S. states. We drove from Progresso, Belize to Cancun, Mexico on the first day. The trip was smooth sailing once we crossed the border and dealt with the red-tape there. Belize and Mexico are trying to see who can outdo the other with taxes...we were stuck in the middle! We spent the night in a hotel near the Cancun airport, spent a little time the next morning touring the city and then, leaving our car at the hotel, took the hotel shuttle to the airport. We flew from Cancun to Phoenix, AZ and then onto Spokane, WA where we met our son, Jason, who had flown in from Dallas, TX. The three of us rented a car and, exhausted, drove to the nearby hotel for the night. The next morning we enjoyed a buffet breakfast at the hotel and Jason took us shopping. After picking up some necessities, we drove to Pullman, WA to meet up with Rick's family for our niece's wedding. The next three days were spent visiting/partying with Rick's family and celebrating the addition to the family (the wedding was absolutely beautiful). We had a wonderful time. On Sunday morning Jason drove us back to Spokane airport where we took a flight to Salt Lake City, UT and then onto San Diego, CA. It was there that we were joined by our daughter, Janessa, and Linda's side of the family. We had 3 days/4 nights of visiting and touring San Diego. A great time was had by all. From there a bunch of us caravan-ed to Casa Grande, AZ where we had a quick tour of Linda's parents new house before renting a car and driving to the Phoenix area. We stayed with Janessa in her apartment (thanks, nessa!) and spent three days visiting with as many of our Phoenix-area friends as we could. On Monday morning, exhausted, we were on the road again, headed to Laughlin for a couple of days of gambling/relaxing. Linda got her "Wizard of Oz" slot machine fix and Rick played enough penny and nickle machines to make up for some of what Linda lost! After Laughlin we drove over to check out the now-completed Hoover Dam Bypass...pretty impressive!!! Rick watched so much of the construction of the bypass during his frequent drives to Vegas to tend to his mom's yard that he had to see the finished product. It was a little out of our way, but well worth the trip. From there we drove to Vegas and spent the night at Rick's mom's house. We played a little bit at a local casino, but went to bed early so we would be ready for our early flight the next morning. We flew from Vegas to Phoenix to Cancun and shuttled back to the hotel where our car was left. We had dinner by the pool and then crashed for the night. The final day was spent driving back from Cancun to Progresso. It was a beautiful drive...hundreds of thousands of butterflies everywhere...and no incidents at the border! We arrived home safe and sound and spent the next few days recovering from our 18-day "vacation"!!! A big "thank you" to all who made it possible.
Last week we took another road trip to San Ignacio and visited with our friends, Adam and Mona. We got to see their beautiful new house, played some darts and took a day to visit Spanish Lookout, a Mennonite village north of San Ignacio. What an incredible experience. This group of settlers was allocated land from the government of Belize and turned it into a self-governed, self-sustaining farming/agriculture community. We will definitely be going back there for another taste of their culture.
In-between road trips Linda spent her time baking, cleaning, laundry, sunning, reading, latch hooking, parrot watching (extremely busy season this year!), listening to music, lounging in the lagoon and playing cards/dominos/darts. Rick kept busy with gardening, tending to the two acres of land, cooking new recipes and playing cards/dominos/darts. We're working hard at becoming as self-sufficient as possible and we're having lots of fun doing it. We're expecting visitors in November...Rick's brother and his family and Rick's mom will be here for Thanksgiving. We should have some more adventures to report on after their visit. Until then, follow your dreams!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Our second spring in Belize
Summer is almost here…spring was fairly quiet. We did sell our corolla, bought a used 22’ pontoon boat, survived a drought with multiple sugar-cane harvest fires and pet sat for the neighbors 3 German shepherds and parrot while they were gone to the U.S. for 6+ weeks. We also decided to purchase Mexican auto insurance, which we used for a couple of trips to Chetumal…the first as a search and explore mission (to eat at McDonalds and to shop at Wal-Mart) and the second so Rick could have his overdue colonoscopy…all fine!
The flora and fauna around here detested the dry season, but we are starting to get a little bit of rain now and things are looking up. Linda has now witnessed 2 snake visits (ewwww!!!) and while the neighbors were in the states a basiliscus basiliscus (iguana) took up residency on their patio. After a few days he/she was starting to die of thirst, so we captured it and tried to set it free, but the dogs had another idea for it. Linda tried to save the iguana from the dogs, and vice versa, but no good deed goes unpunished…it bit her right index finger and wouldn’t let go! Ouch! Rick had to grab it behind its jaws to get it to unlatch! He was able to carry it to safety and Linda’s finger healed nicely. Rick has had his share of bites, too. The ants and doctor flies love him (they cause extreme swelling unless treated immediately with Preparation H) and now the mosquitoes are starting up. Between the bites and the CheChen, his skin has seen better days. He had to get another steroid shot last week to try to get things under control…so far, so good, for now!
The garden and orchard are growing pretty well with Rick’s attention and frequent watering during the dry season. This update can report fresh tomato, chilis (jalepeno, Serrano and habenero), zucchini (makes exceptional chocolate zucchini bread … http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/chocolate-zucchini-bread-ii/detail.aspx), cantaloupe, carrots, chives, onions, cilantro, cauliflower and bananas. We’ll soon be trying to grow bok choi, which seems to do extremely well here. We’re also making our own bread, pizza, Italian dressing, onion soup mix and desserts. Add to that the 4-6 eggs we’re getting from the chickens everyday and the kanep, strawberries, star fruit, passion fruit, mango and avocados from the neighbors and fruit stands, we’re eating as fresh as can be!
In family news, Janessa found a new job and a new apartment, into which she moved about 10 days ago. Linda’s sister, Shea, had to have surgery for a fractured femur head and just recently returned to work. Rick’s brother, James, is on an expedition to climb Mt. McKinley in Alaska (www.2011denali.com). We’re planning a trip back to the U.S. in less than 5 weeks, at which time we will get to see everyone! We’ll start out in Washington for a Ludka wedding (congrats Tiffany and Mark), from there we head to San Diego to have a reunion with Linda’s side of the family, then to Phoenix to visit with friends, then off to Laughlin for our overdue NV casino run and then we conclude in Las Vegas for our flight back to Cancun. It will be a fun-filled 2+ weeks with family and friends.
Until we leave for our trip, we will continue our virtually stress-free life with weekly Saturday afternoon dart games at Scotty’s bar and grill in Corozal, cards and dominoes with our recently returned neighbors, boating, swimming and sunning in the lagoon, reading, gardening, puzzles, latch hook and our daily afternoon happy hour backgammon games on the beach to keep us out of trouble. Hope this update finds you all happy and healthy…keep in touch!
The flora and fauna around here detested the dry season, but we are starting to get a little bit of rain now and things are looking up. Linda has now witnessed 2 snake visits (ewwww!!!) and while the neighbors were in the states a basiliscus basiliscus (iguana) took up residency on their patio. After a few days he/she was starting to die of thirst, so we captured it and tried to set it free, but the dogs had another idea for it. Linda tried to save the iguana from the dogs, and vice versa, but no good deed goes unpunished…it bit her right index finger and wouldn’t let go! Ouch! Rick had to grab it behind its jaws to get it to unlatch! He was able to carry it to safety and Linda’s finger healed nicely. Rick has had his share of bites, too. The ants and doctor flies love him (they cause extreme swelling unless treated immediately with Preparation H) and now the mosquitoes are starting up. Between the bites and the CheChen, his skin has seen better days. He had to get another steroid shot last week to try to get things under control…so far, so good, for now!
The garden and orchard are growing pretty well with Rick’s attention and frequent watering during the dry season. This update can report fresh tomato, chilis (jalepeno, Serrano and habenero), zucchini (makes exceptional chocolate zucchini bread … http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/chocolate-zucchini-bread-ii/detail.aspx), cantaloupe, carrots, chives, onions, cilantro, cauliflower and bananas. We’ll soon be trying to grow bok choi, which seems to do extremely well here. We’re also making our own bread, pizza, Italian dressing, onion soup mix and desserts. Add to that the 4-6 eggs we’re getting from the chickens everyday and the kanep, strawberries, star fruit, passion fruit, mango and avocados from the neighbors and fruit stands, we’re eating as fresh as can be!
In family news, Janessa found a new job and a new apartment, into which she moved about 10 days ago. Linda’s sister, Shea, had to have surgery for a fractured femur head and just recently returned to work. Rick’s brother, James, is on an expedition to climb Mt. McKinley in Alaska (www.2011denali.com). We’re planning a trip back to the U.S. in less than 5 weeks, at which time we will get to see everyone! We’ll start out in Washington for a Ludka wedding (congrats Tiffany and Mark), from there we head to San Diego to have a reunion with Linda’s side of the family, then to Phoenix to visit with friends, then off to Laughlin for our overdue NV casino run and then we conclude in Las Vegas for our flight back to Cancun. It will be a fun-filled 2+ weeks with family and friends.
Until we leave for our trip, we will continue our virtually stress-free life with weekly Saturday afternoon dart games at Scotty’s bar and grill in Corozal, cards and dominoes with our recently returned neighbors, boating, swimming and sunning in the lagoon, reading, gardening, puzzles, latch hook and our daily afternoon happy hour backgammon games on the beach to keep us out of trouble. Hope this update finds you all happy and healthy…keep in touch!
Saturday, April 16, 2011
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!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
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.
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.
Monday, January 17, 2011
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!
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!
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