Sunday Morning Grab Bag Comes On A Monday

Just a slight change in the routine, but hey, we're flexible, right?

As usual, this a smorgasbord of stuff, mostly photos I've shot, that don't really fit anywhere else.

For example, the shot below is of one of our two kitties, Miss Blue. She retired from the Washington State Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) - well, at least that's where she spent a good deal of her time at their offices. They were located about two houses down the street from our duplex apartment, so much so that they even fed her.

When we moved, several JLARC staffers made us promise to provide updates on her activities. Below is one of her favorite things to do. She sends her best wishes to all her friends.

Miss Blue, Still Enjoying Retirement

Now, a few days before Easter, while walking the doggies, I spied this character, using the initials of E.B., somewhat relaxed on the sidewalk. That photo was taken sans bottles. I implied that perhaps they had been tossed over the fence before the shot was taken.

This photo, corrects that mistaken image. Here we see EB in all his glory. Of course, now it's after Easter and he can claim to be relaxing after an epic journey providing Easter eggs around much of the world. Uh huh.

EB - The Photo I Should Have Used

Changing scenes once again, we're now at a meeting of the Corozal Men's Group (also known as The Royal Order of the Knights That Do Nothing, International, Belize Branch, Corozal Chapter 001).

This particular meeting was at Nigel's place - that's him below preparing some of the fine fare the group is noted for.

Nigel Working Magic At Men's Group Meeting

Of course, as anyone can testify, we work mightily at solving the world's problems at each meeting, applying liberal doses of beer or other tipples, and of course, high quality junk food. You can see an example of our deliberative processes going on below.

Solving The World's Problems

Shifting once again on our stationary pedestals, we are now treated to a different scene, although one which has become fairly routine in our neighborhood. Mr. Trummer's 'trac-hoe' or 'high-ho' as some folks refer to it, most recently was excavating for a canal bulkhead at Doug and Twyla's place. It's also tasked with placing those large boulders back into the trench its bucket digs.

A Common Neighborhood Sight

Here's an example of the filled trench the trac-hoe leaves when it's done.

Doug and Twyla's Bulkhead Aborning

And now, back to Casa Winjama, where we see the ladies taking part in their Friday afternoon exercise/swim session in our pool. This session usually last about an hour and a half, then everyone who didn't join in the exercise session gets together for happy hour, a social get-together where those attending provide their own snacks and drinks. Strictly an informal affair.

Lady's Swim Time

A couple of weeks ago, Dianna and I barbequed some pork ribs our Godson Isaiel had provided for us. Man, were they ever good - and they fed us for about two or three meals as well.

Real Men Wear Aprons

As you can see, I'm sporting a proper chef's apron. Probably not exactly the way Hiram Abif would have done it. But, if he'd thought of it and if he'd had a nice BBQ and a great set of ribs, he'd have done it just like this!

The Master Chef At Work

Here's a shot I've been meaning to take and post for quite some time, but it's just one of those things you never seem to get around to, y'know? Anyway, this is the side door of the local Roman Catholic church in Corozal. It's had carved and painted and celebrates the consecration of the first native-born Belizean bishop, O.P. Martin, in 1982, and when Pope John Paul II visited Belize in 1983. A pretty big deal, I guess, for those of that faith.

We walk past it every day, and I thought it was interesting and worth posting.

Carved Church Doors

Ok, we've reached the end of another grab bag. Aren't you glad?

I've got to run. I just got a text message from Loreta that she and Bill are watching the Cubbies on SI.com. I've got to check it out.

Cheers,

St. Nick Takes Time

Good old St. Nicholas, Father Christmas, Santa, or whatever, took time from a well-deserved vacation in paradise, to have a mini-Christmas for one little boy.

Joshua (1-yr) Opening his Present

Our Godson, Isaiel, his wife, Amarilly, and their son (our great-Godson?) Joshua, came to visit this morning from Guinea Grass. We had a present for Joshua to open, which he did with gusto.

Rip It Open

Joshua is 1-year and 2 months old. I guess in the State, you would commonly say, he's 14 months old. They don't do that here. Anyway, last time we saw him - two months ago, on his birthday, he was almost walking. He could stand up and hang onto things. That's all changed. Now, he totters around without hanging on to anything. Oh sure, he still falls now and then, but the change is amazing. Next time we see him, I have no doubt he'll be talking, and probably reading too.

It's a Little Talking/Singing Piggy

See? All Mine

So, do we sound like doting grand parents? How weird. We've gone our whole lives without kids and now we have this little urchin we can spoil (within reason) and do all that sort of 'grand parent stuff'. Just seems bizarre.

Dianna Doing A Little Doting

This wasn't the only reason they came up to Corozal. They had a gift for us - a nice bottle of white Caribbean rum, and Isaiel had five hose holders I had asked him to fabricate for us. These things are so cool. They turned out much better and fancier than I dreamed we'd see.

Isaiel Finishing the Hose Hangers

Amarilly and Joshua Supervising Dad

We have five plastic hose hangers around the place now. Of course, with the sunlight we have here, the hangers lifespan is nearing the endpoint, so we had to do something. I found a picture a while back on the Intertubes, printed it and asked Isaiel if he could come up with something similar. These turned out much better.

 Four of the Five Drying

I can't wait to get them bolted up in place. I'll take a couple of pictures after they're installed so you can see them 'in action'. Well, as much action as a hose hanger will get, anyway.

We had a nice visit with them. It takes a while, culturally, I think, to become really comfortable and at ease with folks. Both directions. You don't want to say anything that will offend, etc., sometimes, you're not sure what they mean when they say something. So it does take a while to get that relaxed and comfortable feeling. I think we're there now.

There was also more work going on with the bulkhead today. The way they work is, a couple guys run the 'machine', filling up about a hundred and ten bags with dry-mix concrete.

Having Too Much Fun

That'sa Lotta Bags!

Then they wheelbarrow a couple filled bags at a time, dump them in the water, and one or two guys manhandle them into position, adding rebar and drain pipes as needed.

Lowering Bags into the Water

At the place in the canal (boat slip area) where they're working, it takes a lot of bags. The water is anywhere from 10 to 12 feet deep, so at 6" high (roughly), that's a few layers of bags just to get up to the surface of the canal.

Here's One Just About to Splash In

They are making good progress, although Emir says it's taking about double the amount of concrete that they estimated.

Later this afternoon (in about an hour), we'll be heading over to Sherry's new house to help her break it in, on New Year's Eve, yet. Then, this evening, we are all heading over to Tony's Inn & Beach Resort, for a sit-down dinner and some drinks. Then it's home. We'll be back home easily by 9:00 PM. That's late for Corozal.

Have a great, safe and peaceful New Years everyone. Cheers.

Just When You Think It's Smooth Sailing

Well, here it is, the morning after Turkey Day. I'm sitting in the living room. Dianna, out on the porch, calls me, saying Bob C. is across the canal hollering for me, something about the canal.

So I put my Crocs on and hobble on down the stairs (I bunged-up my knee yesterday morning walking the dogs. Right across from Caribbean Village, I slipped in the muck and fell pretty hard. The dogs were thankful I didn't use them as landing pads. Anyway, my knee is scratched and scabbed, sore and stiff today. But that's not the topic at hand, is it?

What Bob wanted was to tell me I had a river coming out of our bank and making a cute little waterfall into the canal. He was right. Looking down, I could see it bubbling away. I could also see some large cracks in the bank, in fact, along the whole left canal bank on our property, it looks as though a cave-in is imminent.

Taking Bob's advice, I jumped into the Isuzu and headed over across the canal to see it from his perspective. Wow!

Our Endangered Canal Bank

Our Endangered Canal Bank

And here's the waterfall - almost right in the middle of the span.

The Waterfall, Bubbling Happily Away

Here's a bit of a close-up of the waterfall.

Almost Dead-Center

My posting the other day regarding the need for remediation and restoration in the canal before we have problems? Guess what? We got's problems! I was hoping to defer putting in a bulkhead till after the guesthouse was completed... That ain't gonna happen now. This definitely takes priority.

I've got an engineer coming over to take a look at it sometime this afternoon, and what Bob and I talked about doing (I'll see if the engineer agrees) is waiting for four or five days, checking each day to see if the waterfall volume is decreasing, as long as we're (hopefully) done with the rain for now. Then, when it stops (hope, hope) we'll begin putting in the bulkhead with lots of 4" drain-pipes to allow the water to disperse, avoiding a pressure buildup, and at the same time protecting the dirt from needless further caving.

Well, there you have it. I'll let you know what I find out and what the plan of action will be just as soon as I know what it is, well, maybe a few minutes later.

You know, I always say, "If it was easy, it wouldn't be any fun." I could do with a tad less fun for a while.

Making Up For Lost Time

After having had a fairly dry and uneventful (knock on wood) rainy/hurricane season, now that we're less than a week from the end of the season, Mother Nature seems bent on ensuring we get our full alotment of the wet stuff.

National Meteorological and Hydrological Service of Belize

General Situation: A moist and unstable airflow will continue to dominate our weather for the next few days.
24hr Forecast: Cloudy skies today with a few sunny breaks.
Tonight skies will be mostly cloudy. Off and on showers and possible isolated thunderstorms will continue to affect most areas.
Winds: Easterly at 5-15 knots becoming gusty near heavy showers and thunderstorms.
Sea State: Choppy... Becoming locally rough at times.
    *Operators of small craft should continue to exercise caution*
Outlook: For Wednesday morning thru to Thursday morning is for a similar weather pattern to prevail.

It looks like this weather pattern is going to continue for at least the next few days. Hopefully, the timing will work out so that the girls can get some exercise in at least every couple of days. To say that Cindy and Secret are unhappy is putting it mildly. On the one hand, they're upset that it's raining hard at the same time we are scheduled to go for 'walkies' for two days in a row, and on the other, they're upset with the pack leader (me) for being such a wuss in not wanting to get wet.

Cindy & Secret Making Their Own Fun

Especially now that they're trapped in the confines of the yard thanks to Isaiel's fence installation. They just can't run out of the yard whenever they feel like it to harass armadillos, gibnuts, and bicyclists passing by.

Speaking of the fence, here's a few shots of Isaiel's handiwork. It's almost done. Just a few sections remain in need of painting. Isaiel's hoping to be able to get that done today.

Isaiel Inspecting the New Fence Bits

Fence View Looking South

Looking East

We're also beginning to move forward in a more coordinated fashion with the canal. The South End Canal Association, at this time a loose coalition of property owners whose property is immediately adjacent to the canal, has a Steering Committee. The Committee's purpose is to guide the progress of rehabbing the canal and to recommend and guide maintenance and future improvements to the canal.

After the last Steering Committee meeting at Doug's place, we all traipsed out to Doug's bulkhead and boat slip area to see how he did things.

Bob C.'s Boat Moored at Doug's

The Slip Toward Doug's House

Doug's place is a great example of how a bulkhead can be done economically and provide great protection against further erosion, and if the owner wants, suitable moorage for a boat.

Rocks & Concrete, Rocks and Concrete

Doug's Bulkhead

The process is simple. sharpened Pimenta sticks or poles (a local wood & I'm not sure if that's the right name or spelling) are driven into the bottom and plywood sheathing is added. Then local rocks are added, alternating layers of a dry-mix concrete (hydraulic concrete would be great... if it was available) up to the desired level. Then, if desired, like with Doug's boat slip area, a smooth concrete walkway is poured to cap the whole affair.

Here's How It Looks From Doug's Patio

Bob M. Inspecting the Moorage

Dianna and I will have to be doing something similar to what Doug has done with the bulkhead - and fairly soon too. We have some serious bank erosion underway. If we don't address it, we stand a good chance of damaging our newly completed fence. Well, it just goes to show you, if it ain't one thing, it's another. Hopefully, we'll be able to complete the guest house before we have to tackle the bulkhead. Stay tuned for further developments.

As an example of the kind of thing that occurs, since our properties all over northern Belize lie on a limestone base, similar to Florida, cave-ins, etc., are pretty common. This shot is of Elsie's side of the boat slip area, and shows a small cave developing. This sort of things can lead to the edge soils collapsing into the canal. Hopefully, with proper maintenance over the long haul, a well-constructed bulkhead will solve this sort of problem.

Elsie's Boat Slip Area

Our problem area that I already mentioned is worse. it is already collapsing into the canal. So we have to do something soon to take care of the problem. Like I said, stay tuned.

Let's see, what else has been going on? Internet connectivity issues. Since we live out beyond the reaches of civilization - that is, beyond where the two cable companies in town reach to, if we want to connect to the 'Intertubes', we have to resort to satellite, or at least really strong string and rust-free tin cans.

Well, if it was just for our house, that really isn't much of a problem. I set up a wireless network that broadcasts throughout the house, so we can sit in the living room and surf the 'tubes' while we watch TV (also on satellite - another dish is required). But, once we started building the guest house, we realized that anyone who was going to stay there would probably want to connect to the Intertubes as well.

Unfortunately, it's not quite as simple as running a piece of wire down there and plugging the visitor's laptop in. I figured the best solution was to do it wirelessly as well. So we did. With some great help from a friend we met through this blog, Bob from New York City, we managed to get that part of the 'Winjama Network' up and running. We have a good strong signal to the guest house.

Not only that, but the signal is strong enough to reach across the canal. It just so happens that Canadian Bob's place is across the canal and up a ways, and he has an unrestricted line-of-sight view to our antenna tower.

Bob Doing Technical Stuff

Dave Trying to Get Bob Connected

Dave and Bob came over the other day trying to get Bob's laptop connected to our wireless network. Unfortunately, it was to no avail. For whatever reason, the electronic gremlins would not allow a connection that day.

However, a couple of days ago, I went over to Bob's and tried to connect him. Again, no go. So, on a whim, I brought his laptop back over here and hooked it up physically to my router. Bingo. It worked. So, then I disconnected from that and tried again from the guest house. Success. I took the laptop back to Bob's. Still good.

Why we were able to connect now, I guess the stars and the moon were in proper alignment or something. Anyway, Bob is now happily surfing the 'Tubes'.

Finally, for this edition, we missed probably the entertainment event of the year - the Moscow Circus, which had been in Belize City for eight days, came to Corozal.

Moscow Circus Came to Town

We didn't go, having spaced on it. In any case, it was expensive - especially for local folks - $20.00 BZD per adult for general admission. We heard that for special seating, the fare went upwards of $40.00 BZD. For a family, the cost could well become prohibitive. I guess, probably no more so than taking the family to a Mariner's game at the Safe in Seattle.

Anyway, we did get to see them departing town. We were walking the doggies, as we do early in the morning. As we came past the Catholic church at about 6:10 AM, here went their gaily painted semis right in front of us. I just barely was able to grab the camera and take a shot.

Moscow Circus On the Road Again

Lastly, thanks for the emails and Facebook messages wanting to know if everything was alright, that it had been days since I made a posting. I'm ok. There was no problem other than a case of laziness on my part. I could blame it on writer's block... yeah, that's it - writer's block. That's what it was.