Ms. Emma's Farm

Last Tuesday, Phil and I went to Ms. Emma's Farm with some of our friends for lunch. Ms Emma is a Philippino woman who owns many acres of farm land. She has trees of all sort of tropical fruits, local and not, vegetables, flowers, orchids, and a shrimp farm. We walked and drove around and got to pick some fruits from the trees. We found what we though was a tangerine tree, until we popped a piece into our mouths... it was a Jamaican Lime tree... tart! Offtah! Ms Emma and her workers made a lunch of fried bread fruit, that was like a potato chip, egg rolls, and then shrimp and pork chops for the main course. Also fresh pina colodas too. Way too much food, but you can walk it off in the beautiful gardens.
Shrimp Fields

Inside Ms Emma's guest dining room

The Kitchen

Different Fruits form the farm

Tiger the Cat. All farms need a good mouser.

Pineapple plant

Star Fruit

This is for you, Dad, and all other gardeners... This is a 2 year old eggplant plant!

Mango tree

Ylang Ylang

Animal Sightings!

On a trip to Placencia we saw our first Coatimundi. A member of the Raccoon family. You often see them traveling in groups.

And our first Crocodile.

A Few New Friends

These are a few of our friends we have gotten to know over the past few months. They would fit in nicely with our friends and family back home... or you would all fit in well down here... We have meet a few people that are, well, odd to say the least.

But as a English woman from Placencia who has lived down here for some 9 years pointed out to us... "Do you know anyone "normal" who moved here?"

Ahhh so true... so true...

Tony and Angela... Beaches and Dreams (http://beachesanddreams.com/) He is an Italian Chef, she is a Pastry Chef! Back in April last year she made the Chocolate Caramel Peanut Torte for Easter... Dessert is a must! BBQ Smoked Chicken Pizza is a must as well!! This is were we play Baci Ball on Fridays... Phil is the Baci Ball ref and organizer. Tony and Angela are form Fairbanks Alaska. They will be returning to Alaska for one more summer before moving down here for good. Phil and I will be keeping an eye on their place while it is closed for the summer.

Jim and Lois... Jim is a fishing guide (www.permitalleyanglers.com) here and has the most interesting life stories that include treasure hunting and flying airplanes. Lois lives in Colorado and comes down once a month... we know when she is here because it rains just about her full visit... and the sun comes out when she leaves... I wish I could say its just a joke... but the sun came out after a week of rain THE DAY she left last month and its raining today... her flight is in at 5! She loves her job back in the states, but is moving back down here soon. Jim and Lois managed a small resort on a Key for something like a year or two here in Belize.

Hair Here

Before....

After....

This photo was taken by a travel writer. She will be writing articles with photos to magazines...in this case Spa and travel magazines. She will let me know if she get in one! Kinda neat! We have also had a writer for the New York Times visit us on her vasation.

My hair grows about an inch a month and my finger nails have never grown so fast and so hard as they do here. I always wanted long nails... now I have to work to keep them short!

Now, this is a BUG!

The other day, I was leaving the apartment and I opened the door to see this!
Ha Ha Phil!

He found it on a path through the sand and went and got one of the gardeners to confirm that it was dead... Phil wanted to share this with you all. No, I have never seen on alive or in any rooms or in the apartment. Don't worry!

Morning Finds

A few weeks ago now, the morning grounds crew found this little guy washed up on the shore while raking the weeds. He was set free a little later on when the waves calmed down. Some of the locals will keep them for a while until they get bigger so they have a better chance of survival. Their tummy are all black and its so neat to see how arrow dynamic they are.

Shortages in Belize

There have been times that we have had shortages of thing here in Belize. When we had the flood last June, there was a shortage of Rice and Beans. Before Christmas there was a shortage of flour and sugar. We had a no lettuce in the country for a few weeks this past December too. This happens time to time due to weather and other things. But, there is one shortage in December that hit hard... tampons... yes somehow there was a shortage of tampons! It took 5 stores to find a box!

When in Belize and you see something you like or may need down the road...buy it! Right then and there!

A hobby for Phil... or maybe not

This happened a while ago now, but her is Phil's fun project with his friend Tony. Tony has this old boat at his place and the boy's decided to see if it floated. And it did! In fact they went out one nigh on a little trip just to see how it went. They tied the boat to the left side of the dock.. it was on the right side by morning. That afternoon she was taking in some water from the waves. Phil could hardly sleep thinking about the boat that night. He was up bright and early the next morning and headed down the beach to see what was happening to the Alaska 1. She had taken in a lot of water so Phil tried to bail her out. But the waves were getting bigger and it was a loosing battle. So at lunch Phil and Tony asked the trusty work crew if they could help pull the boat out. These guys are SO amazing! Angela and I sat on the dock and watched the magic unfold... we may have evne had a Margareta in hand.

The boat is safe on the sand. Further investigation will be needed to see if the boat will be restored to is natural beauty (tee hee hee) or it will become a raised herb garden.

You know when the best two days in a Boat owners life are? they day they buy the boat... the day they sell the boat.

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years in Belize

So looking back to November, we celebrated Thanksgiving with some friends form the resort. I had to work a 1-9 and we had clients until then too. So while watching the Macy Day Parade (got to see what is hot on Broadway!) I made a pumpkin pie, stuffing, prepped the potatoes, made 2 batches of deviled eggs as one plate landed on the steps of my apartment, a salad and a green bean casserole before work. When Phil finished his day of work at 4 he took care of the turkey and cooked all our foods to be ready around 9. We invited some of our friends who work here to come over after their shifts. So for them it was their first American Thanksgiving. We explained how Thanksgiving all started.

Christmas is different here. This is the time of year that people redecorate their homes. New curtains, new bedding, new furniture, what ever they can afford to do. Some do Christmas Trees and lights on their homes as well. Christmas music starts playing in early November (remember, no Thanksgiving down here so celebrating Christmas comes early). Just a song here and there... picks up more in December closer to Christmas. This is a country that not everyone receives a gift or exchanges gifts. There are many who have big family gatherings, but not as a rule like most in the US. As with England, the celebrate Christmas Day and Boxing day on the 26. Christmas eve is a bit more like New Years Eve...people go out and party to usher in Christmas morning. We were house sitting in the heart of Hopkins for Nurse Judy. The music was loud... I mean LOUD! and then at midnight it stopped... I went to the front of the house and I could hear people cheering all over the streets of Hopkins. It was neat! then the music went until 2-4 a.m.! Christmas Eve Phil and I watched "A Christmas Story" on TBS, opened a few gifts in our care package form the US, and had home made pizza and our family traditional olive cheese ball. It was not the same as being home... it was kinda quiet and lonely.... but we made the most of it! Christmas day we had a ham dinner on Phil's lunch break and I worked a 4-8p.m. at the spa. Christmas is a busy time of the year for the resorts!

New Years Eve I was done working after 7 and we went to Beaches and Dreams to have a nice dinner and celebrate with our friends, Tony and Angela. Surprisingly we stayed up till midnight and had a champaign toast with some other friends in the XPat community. We then went to Hopkins to see what was happening there. Its so neat to see that dancing is not just something to do , but its so much a part of this little village community life. When we went to one of the local bars, there were about 30 people there. Most dancing and most over 40! You are never too old to celebrate. Some people, as in anywhere in the world, drink it up a little, but there are many who will have one beer and sip on it for hours! Maybe its too expensive for some, maybe they just don't drink that much.

You know how we all say "Next year I am cutting back" when it come to Christmas... I learned a lot of the Spirit of Christmas this year. It truly is not in what you receive or give... its what you have and who you have around you. And those you wish you had around you....