Dos Equis – Mermaid on a Raft

Setting limits

09/29/2015 It’s been another quiet week here. We are happy to be able to enjoy the roof with the dogs. They seem to think it’s free for all time up there and go a little crazy. Until we get the pergola built, we have to wait until the sun goes down some or else we’ll melt up there. Speaking of melting, it’s been stinking hot and humid here.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — The Beach Boys and their roadies

We decided since we had such a boringly normal week we would hit BJ’s on Friday. If you’re an ex-pat and not been to BJ’s, you’re missing out. BJ’s is a wooden building on the waterway in Oak Ridge. The building is nothing, the view is fabulous, boats coming and going, cruising by, people headed home when going by boat is the only way to get there. Like many of my friends, boat access only. With only water access, it’s a different way of life. We arrived at BJ’s around 1.

I happened to have a petition that was being circulated on the island to try to get a good cop returned; he was rotated to the mainland. I wanted to get some more sigs on it so I took it there. I was successful in many ways that afternoon.

12080014_887230677998099_8438438798185110269_o — The Banditos, the guy on the far left was a tourist who got up to sing.

12068663_887230917998075_3993620972431625918_o — BJ herself, enjoying the music.

12030517_887232111331289_6131913679761233974_o — Larry in the hat and Kelly, a wanabee Larry in the matching shirt behind him.

12027279_887230094664824_3431516153392528559_o — My friend Carmen singing with the band, she’s good!

12022602_887228644664969_5403319037056248805_o — Peggy and Alex, didn’t get to hear Peggy sing!

12022565_887228987998268_1555176150128102038_o — #3 wine down.

12015121_887228844664949_4190431612202000000_o — Betty and BJ. **All of the photos at BJ’s are courtesy of Marilyn Northagen Poirier.**

So this is my story:

#1. They had white wine, even if it was served in a jelly glass. Thank you Marilyn, you rock and thank you for taking proper wine glasses to the bar for them to use. I had a jelly glass full of wine.

#2. I got a full page of signatures on the petition. I had another glass of wine in a wine glass.

#3. I think I may have had another glass of wine after Marilyn and I got some exceedingly good news that caused us to act out on the pier.

#4. I danced several times in my bare feet, it was fabulous. I had another glass of wine and was drinking Kelly’s drink also.

#5. I believe I may have also guzzled the last sip out of Marilyn’s glass at some point before we Bill decided it was a good idea to leave.

#6. May have made plans for a party at our house, which is fine, but I didn’t remember when it was for.

We got home before 4 PM and I drank a bottle of water and went to bed and slept until 9 PM. When I woke up I filled a bowl with lettuce, put grated cheese and dressing on it and ate it. For dinner. I then drank more water and could not go to sleep. It sucked because I had the airport gig the next day and obviously I drank too much wine on an empty stomach. I had already slept 5 hours. Ridiculousness.

I now have self imposed limits.

On Saturday I volunteered to fill in for one of the greeters at the airport. I always enjoy my time spent there, getting to meet new people and talk to them about the island; it’s a fun afternoon. My friend Kathy had just arrived back on the rock and decided to wait until I was done and then I would give her a ride to her boat. (She lives boat access only) We had a great day in immigration, it went smoothly despite the fact that 2 planes landed 10 minutes apart. I met lots of fun people and hopefully made them feel welcomed to the island.

Kathy and I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and as soon as I walked in I saw people I had spoken with at the airport. They all said hello and a few aisles later I helped them pick out some booze for the week. I mean, obviously I would know this. I gave Kathy a ride to BJ’s and then came home w/ groceries for the party that we may be having. Only issue is that while at the store, my phone was dead. I always keep my grocery list on a program called KEEP on my phone. I could NOT access my list. I forgot shit.

That’s OK though because Bill had to go to ACE in the morning for something plus he was picking up primer for our other friends who were coming to dinner and live boat access only too. He stopped at the store and got what I forgot, which by the way was very minimal. AS IN, I remembered.

Sunday we busted our butts cleaning up around here, we were indeed having friends over. The house does get bad, there are things laying all over the kitchen island and the porch and house is a mess with dog stuff. BUT, when you have 6 dogs and a cat, you get special passes for hairy floors and hairy whiskers. It’s the hairy whiskers that get me all the time. Sunday was the eve of the blood moon and the lunar eclipse.

12052564_887234557997711_4380043329303598237_o — Bill and I on the roof

12045790_887234914664342_4691197355903598660_o — Brett, Alex and Bill

12030358_887235607997606_3938162151856050957_o — Brett, the other half of Brett and Carmen

12010782_887235061330994_2865795273117015946_o — Carmen, they are from South Dakota and now live here.

12017479_887234144664419_485746886603920215_o — They have an awesome water access home on the beach. Pretty sweet deal. I posted photos before of being at their place.

12017663_887236071330893_8133535260511133762_o — Sunset over the North shore

12068848_887235934664240_6048002286537072474_o — Sky over the south shore. **All of these photos were also taken by Marilyn ..**

We saw zip, zero, nada of the blood moon due to clouds. However, just when we thought all hope was gone, the clouds cleared away and we were treated to the eclipse. Of course, my camera was downstairs and I was ultimately too lazy to go get it. Just for the record, I only had 2 glasses of wine and then switched to water. A much better idea for me.

It was a fun evening up on the roof with great friends. It will be much nicer once we get it finished up there and have a few creature comforts..

On Tuesday I joined Nidia and her friend Lidia on a trek to go visit Doña Maria, who lives alone in the jungle. Nidia and Lidia had been to visit her not too long ago. She had a request for a few more items so we were going to deliver them. These photos of Doña Maria were taken when Nidia and Lidia went to see her.

12003212_979599695396903_4018563601676488839_n — Peeling sugar cane with her machete

12004776_979599498730256_7921719574399201588_n — Showing Nidia her church dress, she needs a new one.

12037937_979599512063588_6019696297284058877_n — She also needs some new shoes.

12039605_979599338730272_6329513113681731783_n — She LOVES Coke so they took her some and also some groceries.

We started our trek at the Roatan Culture Village, a place I never knew existed. It is an old resort that must have been pretty darn amazing in it’s day. We parked my car and walked through a gate and I was dumbfounded. There in the midst of the jungle is this eerily cool old resort. It is very run down, has had no visitors for some time.

Karl Stanley (click on his name) lives on Roatan and he has done more for chronicling and capturing things below the sea than many who came before him. Marine Biologists from all over the world come here to go down in Idabel with Karl to 2000′ feet below the surface. Check out his adventures here: https://fathomlessinnerspace.wordpress.com/2013/09/28/magical-mantas-and-pink-pyrozomes/

We trudged all the way up to her house and she wasn’t home. Now, it’s not like she has a lot of places to go. She is 82 and lives in the middle of the jungle, alone. She has no electricity, no running water,no bathroom, no kitchen. She has a few neighbors further up the valley.

We walked on up to her neighbors house but nobody was home there either.

Disappointed that Doña Maria was not there, we headed back down to my car. On the way we dropped the coke off at her house, kind of hid it as a surprise for her.

Our plans are to go another day, very soon. I bought her shampoo, cream rinse, soap, dish soap, laundry powder, toilet paper, some plastic glasses and a pair of used Keen shoes in great condition. Nidia has a few dresses and some slippers for her. Hopefully we’ll go soon! We didn’t leave the other things we got for her because we were afraid someone would happen by and take them so we will be going back and I will be taking a walking stick and wearing more bug spray for sure.

These last few photos are random shots so bear with me.

12091331_10205348473771898_896282021873614948_o — My friend Kathy’s watchie took this photo of a snake in her yard. We all (ASS)umed it was a boa but turns out it is a rat snake. A big assed rat snake,

12091328_10205348473651895_7189208589440792135_o — Hello, I see you………………………..

12069004_10205348473251885_5495729234968599403_o — Yep, big assed snake

12048799_10206106071549824_2053498944_n — Not to be outdone by Kathy and her big assed snake, Bill killed another Coral (poisonous) on our porch the other eve.

Calling it a night. I organized 2 bags of dog collars after I got home from an early morning with Because We Care and CALM Ministries from Baton Rouge, LA. We passed out school supplies to 400 kids in Oak Ridge.

More on that later, didn’t feel it was appropriate with my confessions of too much wine..

IMG_20150930_120638 — I wanted to nap, the Beach Boys wanted to party!

The Bean is back

09/18/2015 Yes, Frito Bean was returned to us, well actually Bill went to get her. The people who adopted her didn’t feel she barked enough. Seems that someone stole her food dish off the porch while she was there and she didn’t bark. I don’t know if she barked or not, all I know is she must not have felt at home yet. Whatever the reason, Bill went to get her on Monday and she cried like a baby when she saw him pull up. Obviously she is happy enough being here, even if she is separated from the others and we’ll just keep it like that, if she’s happy, we’re happy. And, we’re back to 6 dogs. YAY.

Tuesday was Independence day in Honduras. There were parades and marching bands from all of the schools out in full force, clogging the already clogged up roads. It’s really kind of insane that they march on the main streets, as there are no other roads, not an alternate route and traffic is stopped. What if there were a fire in one of the old wooden buildings in downtown Coxen Hole and the streets were filled with thousands of people, I don’t know what they would do. The whole block would be gone in minutes. I guess that’s how they do things here.

The parade was to be over at 11 so I planned to pick up a friend and meet some other friends at a specific location downtown. Marilyn got to my house around 10 and we left for Coxen Hole, not knowing whether we would be stopped for a parade or not. We encountered no parades (if I had not allowed time for them we would certainly positively have been stuck in one) and made it to Eldon’s where I was meeting Lauren.

Lauren is a new friend I met on Facebook. She posted that she needed to buy a cat scratching post. I told her she would not find one here but my husband could make her one. I’m so good at volunteering him for things. Well, the cat scratch pole was a challenge, but he was up for it. She wanted it 3′ high and weighted and covered with sisal rope. The only place we could find sisal was ACE and it was .25 a foot.

Lauren and I became friends on FB and through messenger I invited her to the all consuming craziness that is a Honduran celebration of any type. I said I would pick her up at Eldon’s grocery store. We met there and I drove into town so we could park (hahahaha) and meet Chris and Shannon and their kids for the Children’s Celebration. {I met Chris and Shannon on FB and was at the airport to greet them the day they moved here.}

We drove down the main street and the closer we got the more impossibly ridiculous it looked. Most of the cars in front of me were doing 19 point turns in the middle of the 2 lane road with cars assaulting you from every angle. I followed suit. I ORIGINALLY planned to meet Chris and Shannon at the parking lot across from Carrion; however, you could not get within 20′ of the entrance. I turned around and went to a small parking lot by a sort of hardware store. There was a dirt road alongside the building and we wondered if it might take us where we wanted to be. It did not, however it took us to a dead freaking end with no place to turn around. My option was backing up with a 3′ drop off on my left and buildings on my right on a quasi dirt path. Those who know me know that backing up is not my forte’. Garage doors, tractors, etc. I made it back to the original spot and parked the car to go talk to a guy on the other side of the fence. He spoke English and was very nice, he said I could park there and he would keep an eye on the car. We gave him a few bucks and set out for town. I was carrying 2~ 30 packs of raw eggs and 12 big spoons. Once we got into the crazy crowds, I reached for my phone to call Shannon and realized I had left it in my car, WAY back there through the crowds. DAMN. We watched a few marching bands as we pushed and shoved our way through the crowds, I really enjoy watching them, except when in the hot sun surrounded by 300,000 other people. The kids were in full dress uniforms, long sleeves, long pants, hats, capes and gloves. Sweat much??

Click here to watch the bands and pay close attention to the kids moving, they are into the rhythm.

We walked down to the lot where the Children’s Celebration was to be held with a quick stop off so I could hug Miss Catherine (Daine’s Mom). We found the lot where the party was to be but it was locked and there was nobody around. I left my eggs with Marilyn and Lauren and I walked back to my car so I could get my phone to call Shannon. Lauren was hot and not being used to the insanity of these things, she was ready to grab her cat scratch pole and get a cab home. After I tried to return Shannon’s missed call, I decided to move my car closer to the party; except the lot I was going to park in was all of a sudden closed. I thought I was screwed until I found a spot across from Woods Clinic in a small lot. I had seen Nidia on the way to get my car so I knew things were happening soon. When I got to the lot they were setting up tables and starting to put the sandals and toys and gifts out for the kids.

She had all the kids line up before we started any of the activities. What she really was doing was PUMPING THEM UP. And it worked.

They did a foot race, literally, one guy ran in his bare feet and another in his socks. We had traffic blocked off (again, on the main road).

After the races we moved the crowd inside the parking lot and had some other contests there. First they did a spaghetti eating contest. The plates were heaped with spaghetti in tomato sauce.

Next up was the chugging contest with a 1/2 liter bottle of warm Pepsi. The boys all got up on stage and once Nidia blew the whistle, they started chugging. Some of them started coughing and had it coming out their noses, some were burping while others were pacing it, not guzzling. One boy got a little carried away and puked all over the stage and on the kids standing right up front. It was so gross. Obviously, he lost.

We were going to leave after this but the Plat Pole was going to be next so we stayed so Marilyn could see it (and of course, I wanted to watch it again).

We didn’t stay for the whole plat pole dance because Marilyn’s car was at my house, from there she had to drive to Oak Ridge and then jump in her boat to get home. I was hoping to have her make the trip while it was still light out, but, this is Roatan and that didn’t happen. We had smooth sailing until we got to Los Fuertes, right before the BIP gas station traffic came to a STOP. We barely moved for 45 minutes. I asked some guys passing by what was going on and they said marching band. Just when you least expect it…foiled again. It was dark by the time we got to our house. I was so exhausted all I wanted to do was shower and go to bed!

The guys have been here working on the roof rails so someone had to be here to put the dogs in or out, it’s been a week of sticking close to home. Wednesday morning I was meeting Brenda and Toni to pick up the stuff that Helping Paws Across Borders left here. I got to BJ’s around 8:30. Once we had my car loaded and I mean loaded, it was packed so full that only the 2 front seats were open. Brenda got in and Toni squeezed on her lap with his head out the window. We drove like that to my house so we could unload all of the stuff. Then the 3 of us went to town. She had to get paperwork from Doc C, go to Carniagro and Eldon’s. After Eldon’s they were going to Bojangles for one last time. I had milk, eggs and cheese in my car so I decided to come on home and they would taxi it back to their boat. I’m sad because they are moving back to Germany, I’m really going to miss them. Vet clinics won’t be the same without them.

They stopped the next day on their way to the ferry to give me one last bag and to say our final goodbye. I was crying..

Bill has been working on the cabinets and a security system for the house. The cabinets are finished and hung and now I have much more storage and several empty drawers. Next is the cameras for the security stuff.

The dogs have been spending way more time inside and they love it. I’m OK with that except I have to clean the floor everyday, well, I should clean it everyday, but I don’t.

This morning I was going to walk the pups and Frito, one at a time. I attempted to let 1 pup out but 2 managed to scamper outside and run down the driveway and back up, ears blowing in the wind. Bill and I were trying to catch them but they were too busy running. I was just about to grab Barrio when they both went running to the bank along the house. One side is steep but manageable and planted with trees and bananas, the other side is a sharp drop off onto a barbed wire fence and weeds. Gringo hit the weeds and disappeared. I screamed and Bill came running. I got Barrio back inside and went to help Bill rescue Gringo. I could hear him crying and see him but could not get to him. It’s all itch weed and briars and thorns down there. Bill went one way over the bank but couldn’t get to him so he tied a rope around a pillar and lowered himself down over the cliff. Once Gringo saw him he went to him. Bill shoved Gringo up to me and pulled himself up by the rope. Bill immediately went inside to take a shower to get the itch stuff off. I checked Gringo and he wasn’t hurt, no barbed wire cuts or anything. I’ll be so glad when that is fenced off and we can let them out there and not worry about them falling down into the abyss.

Our roof rails are done, finally. Bill went up there with the vacuum and actually cleaned up the metal fragments on the roof. We are looking forward to being able to go up there and watch the sunset tonight, with the dogs. Especially now that we know they can’t fall off.

Next we are having the roof fiber glassed (since it’s flat it will guarantee no leaks) and then the pergola goes up. Bill still has to puppy proof one area because the other night Max jumped right out to the roof and took off running. Not cool Max, not cool at all.

I’m out of here, but let me first say, always WASH the damn knife after you have chopped up a jalapeno. Rinsing it does not remove the hot, therefore the lime you cut for your Dos Equis will be spicy as shit. Lesson learned.