February 2018 News From Baja

Dental Work in Mexico - mmm????

I know, I know....WHY do we go to Mexico when there are drug cartels everywhere, you can die from drinking the water, you probably will get food poisoning, and people are risking their health by doing cheap dental work here?

1.  We haven't gotten robbed yet or shot.  BUT....two policemen did stop us on Friday while Rich had just turned right on a red light in the middle of the big city of La Paz.  They told Rich he wasn't supposed to turn on stop lights.  Rich was pretty sure that was not the law.  They told him he would have to go into the station and pay a big fine.  He asked for their identification which they promptly showed.  Then he asked me to get a paper and pencil and copy their names down.  OOHHH!  They got so upset.  Then one proceeded to tell Rich he better realize he was in MX no, not the USA and he'd better respect the police.  Then they said GO and be on our way.  It is common around here for the police to want to be paid off and bribed if they tell us we will go to jail.  Whew - a little frightening, but we've yet to see any drug dealings or problems that way.

2.  Water and food.  YES, it's true, you may get sick if you drink the water so we buy water.  The food is just fine and we wash our vegetables that we buy, but we have a beautiful garden that we know is organic and safe.

Greens, Greens, nothing but Greens!

Cute momma hummingbird on her nest of two tiny eggs.
 So beautiful!

3.  Dental Work.  YES, I have succumbed to get my cleaning down here every year.  It costs $40 and  is the most amazing cleaning.  She takes nearly an hour and you go through four different processes.  If you'll remember, I lost my crown in August due to a cracked tooth underneath, I guess.  SO....I had 3 different estimates and consultations in Idaho Falls about what to do.  It would be from $3,500-$5,000 to get an implant and crown.  After her telling me I would probably get an infection and my bite would change and I was too young to have a missing tooth when I smiled, I made an appointment with her oral surgeon.  The cost: $1,500 for extraction of the rest of the tooth, sinus lift, bone graft, implant, and a crown next November after I'm healed.  
So - I'm healing, resting, eating soft foods, NOT eating hot or spicy foods, nuts, seeds, or anything like that.  I'm on pain meds and antibiotics.  I get stitches out on Friday and wait til November while the bone grafts into the socket.  OH BOY!  Not the worse thing I've gone through, for sure!

NO PHOTOS as I don't look too hot!

Work-Away Friends - We have a couple our age staying with us this year from Canada.  They are so fun, knowledgeable and WORK HARD!  The gal in the middle is from Columbia and she is teaching us all better Spanish.  She is so energetic and LOVES life!

Randy, Ingrid, and Gail

 THE CASITA next to the Sea of Cortez

Front view looking to the north.

Everyone works 25 hours a week in exchange for room and board.  This couple sleeps in an old trailer that is sufficient for their needs.  We have a little outhouse (with flushing toilet) close by as the bathroom in the trailer doesn't work.

View to Isla Cerralvo to the northeast and our beach

Ingrid is helping lay tile with Rich.  They are learning how to do it together.

 I know the colors are bright, but it's MEXICO - right?  The pink is in the kitchen and the blue is in the bedroom.  Originally, it was supposed to be more of a red, but that's okay - I actually really like it!

The bathroom is yellow with a laundry room beside it.

A view of the bathroom area

Kitchen with a big picture window

Large bedrooom/office area with walk-in closet

Top of the casita - Sunrise spot where I stretch each morning

Gail & Ingrid with their big smiles after doing dishes!

Dancing, Singing, Laughing, Washing Dishes, Cooking, and Working together sums up each of our days. 
Then we have the occasional hikes on our days off.

Trip to the Cardon Forest

Beautiful, majestic cacti that are hundreds of years old

Can you see the chamber orchestra of cactus with the giant snake cactus coming to get them?

Peek-a-Boo

Beautiful cloudy day for our hike

I climbed up into this one (actually Rich lifted me up on his shoulders!)

This is my favorite - the Palo San Juan tree

 Have you ever seen a Sun Halo?  I hadn't.  On our hike this day, there was a little rain and a lot of clouds, but when they finally subsided, the sun had a beautiful rainbow-like circle around it. 

 Halos around the sun or moon happen when high, thin cirrus clouds are drifting high above your head. Tiny ice crystals in Earth’s atmosphere cause the halos. They do this by refracting and reflecting the light.

I captured the previous photo, but here is one I copied off the internet from Sweden that is very cool!

To La Paz for our bi-weekly shopping trip, we often times see cows in the middle of the row.  WATCH OUT!!

Wouldn't want to tangle with this one!

On our way home after a movie and shopping all day, we see more cows.  This one is close to home and he knows that trash pick up day is tomorrow!

UH-OH!  I'm caught!

Ahi Tuna is the BEST!  Freshly caught at the market.....Time for Randy to prepare it as he is the BEST COOK!

$11 in Mexico - Randy says it would be $100 any place else!

Add some steamed Swiss Chard from our garden

Curried rice and a tomato side dish - YUM!  What a feast!

CELEBRATE!  CELEBRATE!  In our garage dining room!

There was BLUE, BLOOD, SUPER Moon a couple of weeks ago that I hope you all saw.  We had a very cloudy streak for three days, so we never saw the moon.  VERY sad!  But, I loved this photo of it with one of my favorite hymns.  Have an AWESOME month all of you!