Moving

March wind came in like a lamb. But the second day it roared like a lion. Nothing too severe though. We are getting cloudy weather but it is starting to warm up a little, however that north wind still makes it chilly. Not yet able to sit on the deck and read without it being chilly.

Dave and I put up the new ceiling in my art room. It is nice looking and it will do for what I need. Putting the new ceiling in gave me the opportunity to take almost everything out of the room and clean it real good. Dave put the blinds up so now it is going to be more comfortable in there as far as temperature and will help in the summer to keep some of the heat out.

I cleaned out more things of my art supplies. I actually had a lot of stuff I wouldn't use so I am setting them aside to give to our water lady. It truly is amazing how much stuff you can accumulate. Now the room looks better with less clutter.

Dave and I have talked about moving back to the states and we were going to wait a year and move in 2022, but we are pushing that back to April 2021. We made the decision to move due to our age and it is getting harder to get our medicines here. We have to rely on a friend who lives in San Diego but he isn't getting any younger either. So the house is up for sale, however, not being advertised right now as we have a prospective buyer coming down from San Diego soon. We sent him pictures and answered questions so we shall see. If that doesn't work we have another person who wishes to be in our neighborhood. We have mixed feelings about leaving but in our hearts we know it is time. There are still places we want to travel to with friends and family, so lots more to see and do. We will have to live in our trailer in Washington, where - I don't know, but once we get up there we will seek out somewhere. We are excited to be moving back to be close to family and health care. This house we have is requiring a lot of maintenance as it is going on 30 years since it was built. There are wood termites here which are a big problem so we have to keep our eye on that. Plus the trip back and forth from here to Washington is getting old. So there are many reasons for leaving. It has been a wonderful adventure down here and I love the desert and warm weather, except summer with humidity, but time to get back to some civilization. I am excited for our future. Dave loves to fish and he hasn't been able to do much of that here as the tides are always at the wrong time of day to launch. So there have been pluses and minus but life is like that. Once we meet the prospective buyer and hopefully he will buy, we will pack up the truck and head north. We are looking at the first part of April.

I packed up most of the art room to give away and kept just the things I really want. Our water lady is getting all kinds of fun things to share and make with family and friends. I feel really good to have it go to people who love to create. She had 2 small truck loads when I got through. She and her grandkids were so excited.

Once our Mexico adventure and life ends I will no longer be keeping a blog. I just wanted family and friends to know of our trip down to Mexico and our life here in the little fishing village of Bahia de los Angeles.

The house is sold. We met the buyer and his friend came with him to check everything out. Unfortunately his wife will have to wait and come later. We talked everything over, he left and the next day made an offer. We excepted and the rest is history. We are so thankful the house sold. It would be hard to sell it if we were in the states so everything worked out great. He and his friend left to go back to Oceanside, California and the buyer and his wife will come back in a couple weeks. We will be gone but Dave went over everything with the buyer and we have written up stuff that is pertinent to this house and it's workings.

We have started to pack. The nice thing is we are leaving pretty much everything here as it is turn key. That is how we were able to get buy it and it makes it so easy to pack up our personal stuff. So the truck is full and all that is left is our overnight bags and some miscellaneous stuff.

We are excited and looking forward to our new life. We will miss the pretty much everyday sunshine, but we can travel to sunny places.

The weather is getting warmer and it is beginning to feel like summer. The fish are biting and the tides are low for clamming. The new owners will have a lot of fun.

Our friends here in Bahia gave us a going away dinner at our favorite restaurant, Alejandra's.  It was a bittersweet moment but I am sure our paths will cross sometime again.

Our bar tender - Oscar    

 

 The lovely lady on the left was the one who arranged the party.  So much fun

Thank you for reading my blog and following our adventures on the boat and in Mexico. A new beginning is on the horizon!

Quiet On The Home Front

We are into February now but the pandemic is still going on. The good news is the vaccines have been released and are getting into peoples arms. A vaccine has come to Bahia but it isn't one we can get because it hasn't been approved in the United States, plus you have to wait 40 days between the first shot and the second. It is great for the people down here and the Americans from Italy, but not for us. So we will head north to Washington mid April so we can get our vaccines. It is hard to get information here about the vaccine as I have asked questions but no answers. I talked with a friend of mine from San Diego and he found out that the vaccine wasn't approved in the U.S.. Dave and I had decided that since we couldn't get answers to our questions we would wait. Glad we are.

Pretty quiet here in Bahia. I am thrilled that the Mexican people are getting vaccinated. I can breathe a little easier but will still wear a mask and keep my distance.

The weather has been pretty windy lately. March is coming and that is when we get the higher gusts but February is giving March a run for the money. It is nice to have the sunshine but with the wind it is still cold. Oh well. Could be worse.

My arts and crafts are coming to an end to get ready for summer. When we were camping at Elwha RV park last year, the owner bought several of my wood mobiles. She wants me to bring her more this year so I have created quite a few.

Since the ceiling in my art room is starting to come down, (just panels that fit into a frame), Dave is going to take all the ceiling down and put up wood. It should be an easy job but it will require me to move things off the top shelf and also the storage bins across from my work area. I am excited to get it done and then we can put the blinds up on 2 of the windows.

There is a lot of fabric that was given me and I finally went through it all again and got rid of a lot, along with yarn. The Mexican lady that delivers our water sews and she also does crafts so I offered it all to her. That way she can go through it and choose what she wants and the rest share with friends and family. I am trying to downsize but it is hard because there are things I may not need now that I have, but in the future, it would be useful.

The last thing I am creating are Christmas ornaments for the grandboys. I try and make them to represent their life for the year. So we have two gamers, David and E.J., two snow guys, Conor with skies and Brody with snowboard, Jonathan Jr with an apple for the teacher, Cameron with his school supplies as he started school this year, and Eian who is deployed in the Netherlands. 

 

With those done and wrapped I am done with creating until I get back from vacation in the fall.

One thing I did decide was to wait on creating the sea horses from sea glass as it takes a lot of glue and I don't want to be breathing the fumes. So this summer I am buying a mask so I can be protected.

There has been quite a bit of my art sold in January but has slowed down due to Covid as Americans are in the states getting their vaccines. Maybe March will be a good month to sell as those Americans that are vaccinated will be coming back to the bay. I need to get rid of the old stuff to make room for the new. This last day of February the lion is roaring with high gusts of wind. Hmmmm. Will March come in roaring too or will it come in like a lamb. Tomorrow will tell.

 

A New Year - A New Beginning

Happy New Year! Finally a new beginning. I sure hope so. I am looking forward to the day we can be in groups with friends and family and not have to worry about Covid or wearing a mask. Being a realist I know it will take a few months for things to straighten out. I'll wait.

To start the year I made 2 octopus hanging wall art. A large one and a smaller one out of sea glass. My neighbor likes octopuses so I made the two and then had her come over to see which one she wanted to buy. She chose the large one and also one of my bead necklace and earring sets. A good way to start the new year.

After creating those guys I decided to make a mermaid out of shells, seed beads and glass beads and another ceiling fan blade funny.

I will be going through all my old jewelry I made and marking them down to have a sale. Out with the old and in with the new. I also will start making mobiles again as the gal that runs Elwha Dam RV park, bought some from me last year to resell in her shop and wants more. Along with those mobiles and what I have made so far that doesn't sell here, will go north this summer to sell.

It has been pretty quiet around here. We play Mexican train at my neighbors with just 6 of us, and I only go into town to grocery shop and get gas. I have noticed that some items they are having trouble getting that I buy on a regular basis. There is toilet paper and paper towels though! LOL!!! We just go with the flow. The United States has it worse so I can't complain. There are now 15 cases of Covid here. That is a lot for this small fishing village. The Americans have been coming down and think they will be safe from it, but they aren't!

The weather has turned windy and cold. I am limited to how much time I spend in my art studio. I leave the door open for ventilation due to using toxic glue. About a week or so ago, we had some strong winds and sand blew into the studio. What a mess. I cleaned it up yesterday so it looks much better.

Saw a new bird in the neighborhood yesterday and again today. Very colorful and beautiful. I looked it up as it appeared to be hawk like. Found out it is an American Kestral. Wow!! Awesome. I am always looking to see what kind of birds we have here. It seems we are getting different ones each year. I'm sure they have been around but just never see many of them. This one landed on our TV antenna outside the dining room window. He is orange, dark blue, gray, black and a little brown.

My friend Mary Ann hasn't been found and no one has any leads. Whomever did this planned it well. Disappeared without a trace.

I have made some mobiles out of plastic bottle bottoms. They are fun and can hang inside anywhere in the house or on a protected porch. None of my mobiles are made to withstand high winds and inclement weather. My wood ones are pretty delicate.

I am going to do a wall hanging of 2 seahorses, mom and baby, out of sea glass. I have to wait for it to warm up some as it is too cold for the glue to flow freely. So in the meantime I will work on the cactus wood mobiles.

I decided to take a break from playing Mexican Train. My 2 neighbors and a couple of the others always go into town to eat at restaurants and shop. They wear their masks but you can't wear one when you are eating and drinking. Most of the Mexican people here just think it is a winter cold. They call it Grippa. So most of them don't even report they are sick. There are many Mexicans and Americans that can be seen without masks, so to be safe I am staying far away from people who frequent town a lot. It isn't worth me getting ill over it. Besides it gives me another day to work on my art and crafts.

We had quite the wind storm the other day. Not like what we had last year where half of our big garage roof blew off and into the house. But 60 knot winds was enough to get us concerned about windows blowing in. We finally went down to the garage under the house, which is cement block, and stayed there until it calmed down enough to feel comfortable upstairs again. The next day I had to vacuum the sand off the window sills, the floor under the window and kitchen counters.

The weather is getting cold enough for us to have to bring our little propane heater upstairs. It has been nice and it doesn't take long for the house to warm up.

Dave and I have been taking walks almost everyday, if the weather co-operates. We walk at different times as I need firm ground under me on the beach and that doesn't happen unless the tide is low. If I walk on soft sand it is hard on my back. Dave doesn't have that problem so he can walk on the beach anytime. We also have an old non-functioning airstrip behind our community that when it is too cold and windy to walk the beach we can walk that. For me it is boring to just walk the airstrip, so I walk in the dessert and see what cactus' have fallen. You never know when I might need some more yard art.

One of our lady friends that came down here to Bahia in the fall, winter and spring, had to leave after Christmas to go back to their home in California. She had doctor visits and then she and her husband were planning on coming back in January. Unfortunately she was in bad health and got a blood clot in her leg which got infected and gangrene started setting in. They found out she had Covid so she was in the hospital on a ventilator hoping to get her better so they could amputate her leg. Well her lung collapsed so they had to fix that and in the meantime wasn't strong enough to have the surgery. Unfortunately she died about a week ago on her birthday. So sad. She was a sweet lady and one of our train players. So many people have lost loved ones and friends. Now there is the variants that are in the states and more contagious then Covid. Now that the vaccines are coming in and people are getting vaccinated, it will help but it isn't happening fast enough. Just a uncertain time for all.

We had beautiful day with no wind. I walked on the beach at low tide and Dave went over to one of our neighbors place as part of their garage roof blew back from our 60 knot winds the other day. Dave and our gate guard was able to get it secured temporarily and hope we don't get high winds from the west and south. We were in contact with those neighbors and sent pictures and told them what was done so they are sending money down with a friend to buy some materials so Dave and Tito can secure it better. At least get it through our windy winter and spring. When they come down they will need to have it redone with stronger material.

Since I walked the beach yesterday and went pretty far, I decided not to walk today to give my back a rest. Dave went for a walk and I trimmed the bushes in the front yard. If let alone they will take over the whole yard so every spring I go out and cut them back. I was able to get it done before the spring growing season started so I am happy about that.

Remember I was having problems with my arms going numb and hurting? I am doing the exercises the doctor gave me everyday, but with this cold weather my back muscles have tightened up even further causing discomfort. I have had to put heat on it to try and loosen the muscles. Also I learned years ago when I had this problem that putting a tennis ball in a long sock helped to work the muscles. I just fling it over my affected area on the back and press up against a wall and roll the ball around to work that muscle. With the heat and doing that the muscle is starting to relax a little but still wants to be persistent. It is my left side that is giving me all this trouble. I think when I did the back to back months of camp hosting, my back got so tight it never relaxed much and cold just sets it off. A hot tub would be nice!!! Oh well. Part of getting old.

 

The End Is Near For 2020

It is finally December and the end of 2020 is coming. What a year it has been and I don't mean that in a positive way! With so many people dying from Covid and others really sick, and worrying about loved ones and hoping they are keeping healthy, it has been a stressful year. I hope and pray that 2021 is so much better and the pandemic goes away for good. I don't see things going back to the 'normal' like they were, but at least we will be able to gather and hug and travel without fear!

Not much going on in my neck of the woods. The weather is windy and cold but the sun is still shining. Winter has arrived. What is funny though is it will be cold one day and then it warms up and is really quite pleasant and then the wind blows and we are cold again. Very different than last year.

The ladies and I are still going into town to play Mexican Train at our favorite restaurant, but we sit outside. We have heard of 7 Covid cases here, so people are masked up and we are being very cautious. We have had a lot of the Americans that come down in October, staying through the holidays. That is a first as most of them go home for the holidays. I wouldn't want to be in the states now either.

One of my good friends went missing on the 17^th. She was supposed to meet with 2 of her friends for breakfast on the 17^th and never showed. When the gals stopped by her house the door was open but Mary Ann and her truck were gone. The dog was still there and the cat couldn't be found. Mary Ann would never leave her pets without making provisions for them. Plus she was staying here for the holidays instead of going up to Los Angeles to be with her boys. She is a widowed lady living down here by hereself and has been for many, many years and no one ever thought something like this would happen. No evidence of fowl play and to the police it just looks like she took off. But those of us who know her well, know she would never do that. Her boys and family have been notified and the police are looking but nothing has shown up yet. She didn't have any money as her husband left all the money to their sons, and left her to fend for herself. Unfortunately the boys weren't interested in helping their mother so she relied a lot on people around her here. She is being missed a lot but it has been 2 weeks and no word about anything so I fear the worst. Her dog is with a neighbor now and we haven't seen the cat, so we think it got out and the coyotes got him. He was an indoor cat. Her purse was taken but no other items. Her oldest son is watching her bank account for any activity. It just doesn't make sense. I am very sad and have the gut feeling I won't see her again. So unfortunate.

On a happier note, our grandson Eian is driving from his base in New York, Fort Drum, to Seattle so he can spend Christmas with his family and friends. He drove his car to his dads so his dad can keep it for him. He is planning on flying back to Fort Drum to pack all his stuff and fly in February to the Netherlands where he will be stationed for 3 years. I am really hoping we can go visit him in a couple years. That would be so awesome. It will be quite the adventure for him. Our other grandson, E.J. is coming home for Christmas too. So all brothers will be under one roof this Christmas. Yay! E.J. flew from Sacramento, where he is stationed at Travis AFB, to Seattle on the 22^nd and needs to fly back on the 29^th. A nice time for all to be together. Everyone is healthy too which is awesome.

Our Christmas was ok. I did put up some decorations and lights to make it more festive and we had two of our neighbor ladies over for dinner and then played Cruiser Mexican Train which is different from what the ladies play in town. At least it gave us something else to think about instead of what has happened to Mary Ann.

The creative bug has bitten me and I have been very busy creating. I made a turtle from shells and as soon as I advertised it, it was sold.

My girlfriend in San Diego bought it. She is sending money with a friend when he comes down in a couple days.

Today, I sold 5 of my art.

There is a man who comes down to get some R&R in for a few days and he saw what I had posted and told me he would come by. So this morning he came over and picked out what he wanted for the gals in his office back home. When I get paid in pesos it goes into our spending money for down here. The U.S. Dollars are saved so I can shop for more stuff when we are in the states this summer. So I am a happy camper. Looks like I found my niche! I need to get some business cards made and a sign to put out by the road to attract more buyers.

So far nothing has been found out about my friend Mary Ann. Looks like she is gone. Her house stands empty and don't know if her sons will come down and claim any of her belongings or hold garage sale, or try to sell it. So sad. We sure didn't need this along with everything else this year. She had a new generator that was stolen and an outboard that didn't run, stolen. But that is all they have found. Her flip flops were found by her bed so whatever got her out of bed startled her. The cat was found hanging around on the deck so now my neighbor has him. I am glad he was found and I know my neighbor will love him like he was her own all along.

Since this has all happened with Mary Ann, I have decided not to put a sign out on the road to advertise my business. I have done that on social media and I will leave it at that. Don't want to draw unknowns through our gate. If people do come they have to let me know that they are either by emailing me or calling me on the radio when they get to our locked gate, if the guard isn't there.

There are more Covid cases reported in town so I only go into town to shop for groceries. No more Mexican Train at the restaurant. My neighbor is hosting at her house in our neighborhood and keeping attendance small.

Hope all of you are wearing a mask and keeping your distance. This stuff isn't something to mess around with. Stay healthy.