What!? It's Sunday Again?

I guess it's time for another grab bag. Nothing in particular, just some shots accumulating in the camera.

First up, some young men we saw beside one of the creeks that empties into the bay. This one is right in front of the Social Security building. They're using a cast net, tossing it into the creek to catch small sardines or minnows or "baits" as they called them. Which made sense as that's what they were going to be used for - as bait for their morning's fishing expedition.

When I asked if they minded if I took their picture, all three straightened up like soldiers and froze for the camera. It took a small bit of coaxing to get them to forget the camera and just do what they were doing.

Catching Some "Baits"

Christmas and Beyond

On Christmas Eve, Jen and Matt, a young Canadian couple staying at the Oasis Guest House, did the catering, cooking, serving, etc., for a north American style Christmas dinner.

The meal featured turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, tasty stuffing, egg-less eggnog (with shots of rum available) and desert (sweet potato pie or black cake - a fruitcake-like affair, very rich).

We were a bit slow on making reservations, so we got in on the second seating - at 5:30 PM, under the palapa at the Oasis.

Below is a shot of the 3:30 PM crowd just finishing up. This being Belize, they were a bit slow. We got seated and served around 6:15 or so, basically right on time or "right now" as the saying here goes.

Early Birds For Christmas Dinner

We brought a bottle of Cabernet to share at our table. It went down very well with the meal, which, by the by, was excellent.

Here's Craig Relaxing After Christmas Dinner

Here's Mae After Christmas Dinner

Here's an update on our guest house. You can see the rough-ins for the plumbing going in, and the forms for the floor pour are almost completed.

Roughed-In Plumbing In Place

More Roughed-In Plumbing

Before pouring the guest house floor, the guys had to finish parging or plastering the inside of the septic tank. They also had to fabricate a temporary wood deck on the septic in order to pour the roof of it. The that and the guest house floor would be poured in one go.

Parging the Septic Tank

A couple of days ago we went over to the house across the street that Mae and Craig are building. I shot a couple view of our place from their upper deck - gives a different perspective.

They sure have a nice view of the bay from up there as well.

Our Place From Mae and Craig's

Another View of Our Place

Our Guest House Area From There

Of course, we toured the house. They've really done a nice job of it, inside and out. We really liked the texturing they have for the downstairs ceiling. So much so that we're planning to do the same thing in our guest house. We also liked the trim pieces on the wood ceiling. And again, we're going to add those to our current house ceiling. It gives it a much more finished look.

Wood Ceiling Treatment

A sad day for the doggies yesterday. My walking partner, Twyla, left to head back to her folks place in Canada, eh? Not permanently, just for 10 days or so. Long enough to bring her mom and dad back down here to paradise for a visit. So, for the doggies, no group walkies early in the morning till she returns. Secret and Cindy and I will still go, but Doug's not into long walkies.

Doug and Twyla invited me to ride with them down to Belize City to see Twyla off, and to go to Benny's Hardware Store, Courts Furniture and Appliances, and Brodie's Supermarket after we dropped her off at the airport.

Doug and Twyla Arriving at Phillip S.W. Goldson International Airport

Doug and Twyla Entering the Phillip S.W. Goldson International Airport

Doug and Twyla Saying Their Farewells

After dropping Twyla off, we zoomed down to Benny's for the serious stuff... I needed a belt sander. That would have been nice to get, but they were closed (Benny's had told Doug a couple of days earlier that they would be open. Hey, it's Belize!). So, off we zoomed to Courts. Uh, same thing. I'm detecting a pattern here. We did notice that traffice in Belize City seems quite light, but were a little slow to put things together.

Then, we decided to try for Brodie's. Ah, success! They were open. We completed our mission involving shopping lists and headed back north toward Corozal.

Along the way, we decided to see if the bakery was open in Orange Walk. Of course, we just happened to pass by Landy's Hardware in OW. They were open, but didn't have what we were looking for.

Last stop, we hoped was the bakery. Yeah, they were open. We each bought a bunch of dietary supplements and headed out of town for Corozal. It's a good thing the bakery isn't in Corozal.

By the time we got home and Doug dropped me off, the workers had finished casting the floor of the guest house. Here's a couple of view of it including the roof for the septic tank and it's hatch.

Guest House Floor Poured

Septic Tank Access Hatch

In the last but not least department, the day before Twyla left, as we were walking the dogs along the waterfront, we happened to spy this heron taking a break from his heavy labors. I thought it made a nice photo.

Great Blue Heron On Corozal Waterfront

Guess What's Started?

I admit it. I did take a brief hiatus for a few days. I'd like to say it was due to some sort of equipment malfunction or something, but no. It was mainly due to laziness on my part. My apologies to everyone.

Here's what's been going on. We've started making great use of Skype, as evidenced by the photo of Dianna below talking to her brother, David.

Dianna Talking to Her Computer

Since we're on Satellite, we can use Skype. If we were still on BTL, well, that's something that they block. I've heard they block it illegally, but still it's blocked.

Skype works pretty good. It's not perfect by any means, but when you think of the distance and nearly instantaneous comms, well, it's really better than pretty good.

I've finally started shooting more stuff with my DSLR (a Canon). A couple of days ago, I fired up my telephoto lens and snapped this great egret roosting in the pine trees across the canal from our place. If you look carefully, there's someone else in the picture also checking out the crane.

Two Visitors

Long-time readers will remember Cody's (our caretaker) silver and red Chevy van. Well, he finally sold it (for more than he paid for it too). He took that money and now is the proud owner of this nice little red Nissan. BTW, the stereo works fine - sounds like a jukebox on wheels as he comes down the road.

Cody's New Ride

Now to the news... Construction has started again. Our guest house is finally underway. Here's a couple of shots showing the logistical end of things, the staging of the materials. Loads of sand and gravel, and about 700 6" blocks, and under the palapa, 35 bags of cement. Oh yes, and a bunch of lengths of rebar.

Getting Ready for the Job

Getting Ready for the Job - Part II

And here we are with construction underway. You can see it's going to be about 23'x23' and will but up right against the pool deck. A nice location.

Forming the Footprint

More Forming the Footprint

Isidoro and his brothers are doing the construction, working for Bob who's the GC. Footing pour is well underway in these shots.

Guest House Footings Being Poured

More of the Guest House Footings Being Poured

More of the Pour

And More of the Pour

Esidoro Adjusting the Bridge

We have a new "pool boy" - Cody. We enlisted (ok, press-ganged) him to clean tiles in the pool. Here he and Dianna are hard at it. I know, it's pretty rough duty. Notice the liquid refreshment...

Dianna and Cody Cleaning the Pool Tile

Still Cleaning the Pool Tile

Quackers is Keeping an Eye on Things

Cody Hard At It

We had been thinking of having a mural painted on the pool house where the waterfall comes into the pool. We met with Gale Peterson and Ali Shandiz and they suggested doing a mosaic. Here's a design they've proposed for us. It's based on a Roman spa mosaic and looks pretty cool. It will definitely be a great addition to our pool. They have a website too: (http://cpsnetworki.com) showing off their artwork and projects they have done.

Proposed Mosaic for Our Pool

Last but not least, just to show that we have done some things in the interim, I've been working some to neatify the pump house. I've added a bracket (actually a planter box support frame) to hold up the vacuum hose.

Pump House Beautification