A Change In Bahia Winter Weather

Here we are in the New Year, 2017. Each year brings new adventures and it will be interesting to see what this year holds for us. We are getting a new president so things might change a lot. We will have to wait and see what happens. We had Christopher over for dinner new years day and Dave roasted a pork tenderloin on the BBQ. It turned out good. Christopher will be leaving soon so we wanted to make sure we got to visit with him. We are back to our regular routine with going into town for groceries, putting gas in our beater truck, and taking in laundry. Since my washing machine has broken I just do the small stuff at home by bucket and the larger things like sheets and towels and heavier clothing go to Yolanda. We had water delivered and because the price of gasoline and diesel has gone up, we are being charged a little more for our deliveries. It makes sense so no worries. There has been a lot of protesting along the coast of Mexico in a couple of the small towns which is preventing any deliveries of gas or diesel to get to Bahia. So just to be on the safe side we are keeping the two trucks gassed up and getting jerry cans full of gasoline to keep our generators running when we don't have solar to charge our batteries. So far it hasn't been too bad here in Bahia. Pretty soon the demonstrations will calm down and things will get back to normal. The Mexican people don't make a lot of money at the jobs they are employed with and when the gas prices jumped 20% it made everyone mad. They were barely making it before the hike and now it is even tougher. A lot of the people are out looking for other jobs to supplement their current income. These people will never get to see retirement like the Americans do. It is sad. Our grandson, Jonathan Jr. turned 4 today. Wow time flies. It will be fun to see him this summer. Pretty soon it will be all day school for him. That will save the parents some dollars for day care. Bahia still has no diesel but we got gas so that is good. The word is that when diesel gets to town it will be rationed. Our gate guard's wife, Brianda's birthday is today, the 18th. I crocheted a scarf for her as the weather is still cold. I had made a carrot cake and gave her and her husband a couple slices. We finally were able to get propane. The last time the truck was here in town they didn't stop as it was dark by the time they got unstuck from the mud on the flats and delivery to Rincon. So now we have 2 large tanks and 1 small to fill. More expensive but it is what it is. At least we didn't have to take them to town and get them filled. It is a little cheaper when they deliver it. I have been busy making 2 wreaths. I have covered them with shells and other miscellaneous material. I think they turned out good. Here is a picture of both. After that project, which took a long time due to placement and coverage. I am glad that project is done. Now I am making signs for the November show because when I get back from summer vacation there isn't going to be a lot of time to make things. The wreaths will also be in the show. I am trying to create different things for each show so it isn't the same stuff over and over again. It keeps things interesting not only for me but for those who are looking for different items. I was making hanging angels out of shells but put that aside to make the wreaths and signs. These are the ones I am making for the nursing home. I will not be able to get all 200 done before going up to Washington this summer but at least I have started. There are 26 so far. For the signs I am using old fan blades. I only have 4 right now but will try to get some more from people who would be tossing old non working fans out. I am planning on making more signs out of wood strips from pallets that had been setting in our yard for a long time weathering. One project at a time. Here are the signs I have made from the fan blades.

I finished an afghan for our grandson Conor. It is soccer Seattle Sounders colors, well the green and blue. I wanted to learn how to make a granny square so I did. A big one. I like it and it went fast.

Another project will be to make fabric stuffed fish out of bright colored fabric. I will take some north with me this summer to try and sell along with some of my jewelry and other things I have made that have been in previous shows that haven't sold. We got some interesting news from our grandson, Eian, who is graduating high school in June. He had been interested in joining the Air Force and took a test but didn't score high enough on it to get him a decent training, so he was going to test again around this time of year. E.J. his brother, tried real hard to get his brother to join or at least try to better his score. Well we just heard from Eian that he has decided to go into the Army. He wants to be a Policeman and has talked about that for a long time. With the Army he can train as an MP (Military Police) which will help him on the outside a little if he still wants to pursue that when he gets out. He has always talked about joining the Army ever since he saw his Uncle Michael in uniform. So even though we were bummed he chose the Army, we understand and applaud his decision. He signed on the dotted line the 24th and will be going to boot camp in Missouri in August. So he won't be waiting a long time after graduation to leave. I think the military is a good choice for both the boys. They will learn a trade or skill which will be useful when they get out and their basic needs will be met with no problem. Good benefits and extras. Played Mexican Train with the gals. Here are my game friends. A lot of them get together for cards too but I have tailored my game playing for only one day a week. The weather here in Bahia has been different. Usually it is cold in December and January. But we don't usually get a lot of cloudy days or rain. January had been cold then it warmed up a bit then got really cold to where we had to bring out the thicker winter clothes. We had so many cloudy days that it was reminding us of Seattle weather. We had some hard rain too which washed out our road inside our community. Dave and I gathered rocks and we had some compression sand left over from another project to fill in the gap in the road. We did a good job but if we get another heavy downpour again we will have to get more rocks and sand. That will be at the land owners expense. We lucked out this time though. February starts to warm up and get us back in the upper 70's, lower 80 weather again. That will be nice. We had a rainbow on Christmas day and then had another one on New Year's Day. I always love seeing them and these were pretty bright. Christmas Day taken from our deck. New Years Day taken from inside the house because it was raining. We haven't been able to get good plywood to replace our deck yet. We are hoping by March or April we will be able to get some ordered and then get that project done. Remember I mentioned about having a leak in the pipe on the hot water side? Well after Dave fixed it, the hot water only comes into the bathroom down by the trailer which is working out great. Little by little we are getting things straightened out. Dave and I talked about the house we wanted built in front of the current house we live in now, and we are changing our minds about that. We don't want to put all of our money and time building a house when we could just live in the one we have, fix it the way we want and have time to travel and do things before we get too old. We don't know what the future holds for us and even though a one level house sounds good, I want to live the rest of my days having fun and seeing different things and going different places. After we get all our past bills paid, we will be in a position to do that so that is what I am looking forward too. I like our little house. Sometimes the stairs are a challenge when bringing things from the garage up, but hey----it is exercise. Gotta keep moving right???? Heheh.

The small building along the side of the house is my art room. Then there is the trailer and a view of the front yard looking at our smaller room which between that and the trailer is where the bathroom is. Then just a nice picture of our beach. We are definitely enjoying our little paradise!!!!!