Monthly Archives: November 2016

Amusing, Belize, Blog, Farming, Food, Plants

Unusual Edible Greens!

It’s official: The Blogging Wars have started and Man-Shack Panda is in the lead!  If this keeps up, we’ll be making Panda Appreciation Products (PAP) as an off-shoot of  Casa Mascia.

Gnome: “Dearest, there are no blogging wars…it’s all in your head!”

gnome-shiny-glasses.png

 

Munchkin: “I know…but the mere whiff of competition gets the stats up!”

Munchkin.Feeling.Rightous

Anyway, let’s not get waylaid by interpersonal blogging.  This blog is about living in the bush and the wonderful things that come with the change in lifestyle.  Here are some unusual greens from the farm.

Jute leaves are very nice to eat steamed or stir-fried.

Jute Leaves.
Jute Leaves.

Oooohhh…horse radish leaves…tastes like mustard:

Horseradish
Horseradish

We bought some chia seed from the supermarket and managed to grow them.  They have mint-like fragrance and makes a nice tasting tea:

Chia Seed Plant.
Chia Seed Plant.

C’mon then, give Munchkin some Likes!!  She is sticking to the true essence of the Blog!!

Amusing, Belize, Blog

So, How Do I Get Out of It…

Mayor Gnome Shows Grace.

Panda’s new popularity might workout well for me too (hee-hee-hee); he gets the self-esteem boost, groupies, popularity, people thinking he is really cool and “spiritually advanced” because he can talk about his emotions, in touch with his feminine side, so to speak.  AND (this is more important!) I can stop writing these stupid posts and do some real work for a change….the plot thickens…

So this morning, to Munchkin:

“The Panda is doing really well, isn’t he?”Gnome.Funny.Face

M:  “Yes, I’m glad we are getting him out of his shell…”Munchkin.Drinking

G:  “I just thought of a great idea…”Mayor Gnome. Gets Raw.

“Yeeeaaaahhhh, what?”Munchkin.Upsidown.Upset

“I don’t want to take the lime light away from him by writing my dumb posts…how about I take a break for a while (I can do some extra work) and let him experience the joy of popularity?”Gnome with Enigmatic Smile.

 

M:  “No!”munchkin-full-hankie

Amusing, Belize, Blog

Needle-Work With Munchkin and Gnome.

2 Comments

Together.Pointing

It’s too funny!!  Panda is now the official celebrity of our blog!!  After the weekend wobbly post, our stats are booming.  I guess Munchkin and Gnome have to take a back seat…so what fun and exciting offerings do we have….hmmmm….this post is on needlework.  I can hear you all groan and say, “these guys…they are two boring fogies in the bush!”

Well I am dying to tell you that Gnome is crocheting a beautiful blanket:

Start of a Blanket.
Start of a Blanket.

It’s a basket weave pattern and the picture does not do it justice. It is 8 foot wide so Gnome diligently does one row a day which takes one hour.  He is aiming for an 8 foot length blanket so we have calculated that at this rate, he will finish it by dry season (April/May) next year!  We definitely won’t be using it at that time so we will have to store it away for next winter.  Best things come to those who wait.

So, Gnome is teaching me to crochet.  I am a knitter and have had disastrous lessons from Gnome…this was about 15 years ago  and I remember getting terribly upset and I telling Gnome he was an awful teacher,

"You're an Awful Teacher!"
“You’re an Awful Teacher!”

This time round, the lessons have been great and I have picked up crochet really quickly.  I told Gnome that he wasn’t such a bad teacher after all, and wondered in amazement at what had changed after all these years.  This is what he said:

“Dearest…I have not changed in the slightest.  You have changed.  Before you were rebellious and contumacious.  Now you actually listen!”

Gnome.Smiling

Oh.  He’s such a smart-arse and the worse thing is, he’s right.

munchkin-cute-shot.png

Anyway…next exciting project for two boring fogies in the bush is crocheting pineapple doilies!!  They will look great at our camp ground by the pond…Ha-Ha!!  Imagine us sipping cups of tea and eating cucumber sandwiches!  Doilies are a must!!

Camp Ground.
Camp Ground.

Now we have to find some fine mercerised cotton thread in Belize.  Hmmm…we may have to take up spinning….

Belize, Construction

Remember Remember The 5th of November.

Yes, we did have a Guy Fawkes Night on the 5th of November!  Here are some pictures of the day.

Special thanks to Panda for The Guy (made from rice trash and lots of imagination)!

Penny For The Guy:

Guy Fawkes.
Guy Fawkes.

You really have to have grown up in the UK to realise the significance of Guy Fawkes Night.  As children, back in the good old days, we used make an effigy of Guy Fawkes and then take it around town saying “penny for the guy” to get money for the bonfire and fireworks.  The 5th of November is a really big day in the UK and is usually marked by spectacular firework displays.

Gnome made a temporary camp, with bamboo, by the pond:

Guy Fawkes Sitting Area.
Guy Fawkes Sitting Area.

We had all our meals for the day out here.  It was really quite lovely with the views of the pond:

Pond View.
Pond View.

Towards the end of the day, the wood was stacked in preparation of the bonfire:

Bonfire Pile.
Bonfire Pile.
Bonfire Starting.
Bonfire Starting.

Ooooh…great Bonfire!!

Guy Fawkes Bonfire Night.
Guy Fawkes Bonfire Night.

Got to end the post with this…

The Fifth of November
Remember, remember!
The fifth of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
Guy Fawkes and his companions
Did the scheme contrive,
To blow the King and Parliament
All up alive.
Threescore barrels, laid below,
To prove old England’s overthrow.
But, by God’s providence, him they catch,
With a dark lantern, lighting a match!
A stick and a stake
For King James’s sake!
If you won’t give me one,
I’ll take two,
The better for me,
And the worse for you.
A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,
A penn’orth of cheese to choke him,
A pint of beer to wash it down,
And a jolly good fire to burn him.
Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring!
Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King!
Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!

Amusing, Belize, Blog

Thoughts for Today…

Gnome.Writing.in.the.Library

The day has been productive.

Now I am at the stage of converting 8-bit signed and unsigned numbers to and from decimal numbers.  A few more exercises and it will be done.

More sorghum is maturing.

I still have not done today’s row on “the Blanket.”

I analysed the bamboo structure (that Panda will talk about soon…) and that we built together.  It is stronger than the first one I made by quick and dirty eye-balling and guesstimating by myself.  The zip ties were a good idea, though thicker ones would have been better, the amount of time saved in not having to use string was significant.  Measuring to a standard length also had its advantages in terms of evenness of the structure (apart from the inevitable bananas).  I would use a shorter standard length next time; say, cut down the distance between posts to 6 or 8 feet.  The next one will be better.

Also:  started two new growing tables under the potato garden for…yup, potatoes.

The Panda is depressed.  He sounds like Lucas from a dodgy History channel series called Alone (…given to me by the same Panda…no less!).  I told him to publish his email to me as his second blog post, as therapy  but I get the feeling that he is too shy to reveal his inner-most sensitivities to BlogWorld (TM!).  I think he is still finding his inner Panda…

Okay BlogWorld (TM!), have a nice Sunday and think deep thoughts.

Amusing, Belize, Blog, Construction, Farming, Philosophy

Slice Of Life.

New.Munchkin.Gnome.Yellow.Boots

I was thinking that the best way to describe our blog is that it is a “Slice of Life.” They are snippets of conversations, ideas, farm life and our way of life.  With humour thrown in for extra good measure.

This snippet is a perfect example of the Tao of Munchkin, Gnome and Panda.

The other day, Panda came at 8am in the morning to assist Gnome in the construction of a bamboo shelter for growing potatoes.  There was no pre-amble and “let’s have a cup of tea first, mate.”  Gnome and Panda went off to the bamboo to cut and haul.  Everything was measured to the correct size.  Holes were dug in the ground and work was done without the need for idle chit-chat.

The structure was made in 6 hours (separated into two mornings of 3 hours).  Panda, still new to the “The Way of Munchkin and Gnome” kinda looked at us funny and asked politely what farm work had to be done for the afternoons.

Munchkin reply:

“Our farming way of life encompasses a way of life.  It is not about working like a dog for 8 hours a day…”

munchkin-walking-shops

Gnome added,

“It’s all about doing what you want to do…with focus, discipline and motivation.”

gnome-reaching-out

So Gnome suggested that Panda take the extra cut bamboo home and, “have fun with it…make something cool…maybe some blinds or something.”

Panda, who happens to like working with bamboo (well, he is a Panda after all) was very pleased that this way of life also offered creativity and leisure:

“This is great.  I like that!  I’m off then!”

He said this as he slung the bamboo poles over his shoulder.

Panda Happy.
Panda Happy.
Amusing, Belize, Blog, Farming

Words Echoing in My Brain…

1 Comment
The Artist Known as Gnome.
The Artist Known as Gnome.

Even though the Munchkin hasn’t said anything, this look,

munchkin-eating-bread-chair

at breakfast, makes these words reverberate in my brain:

“Since everybody is writing posts, you should write too!”

Gnome.Glasses.Shot.Another

So, today, I put the clear tin on the potato garden; ground sorghum for flour and breadcrumbs; watered everything with horrible, stinky water; sorted out Munchkin’s photographs for blogging; put another egg in the incubator; crocheted another row of “the blanket” and now I am settling myself down to sit in front of the computer and do some coding….moving on to end of Chapter 3 quiz…

See?!?!?  I wrote something…remaining bloggers together…I hope I get one of these:

munchkin-with-hamburger-smiling

rather than one of these:

munchkin-funny-look-yet-another.png

Cheers!  Have a good day everyone.

Amusing, Belize, Our Products, Pets

Lime Sulphur Pet Dip is Popular!

Presidente.Pet.Sulphur.Lime.Dip

We just delivered a fresh batch of Lime Sulphur XXX Pet Dip For Mange, Fleas, Ticks and Ringworm (wow…what a looooong name).  The guys at the Farm Store in Punta Gorda just call it Presidente (the name of beer from which we have recycled the bottle)…for Pets.  Brian, the manager at the Farm Store tells us that the Pet Dip is very popular.

Mr. Brian Cho at The Farm Store.
Mr. Brian Cho at The Farm Store.

Later on I spoke with Gnome and discussed the possible reasons for the popularity of this particular product.

munchkin-buying-food

Munchkin: “Hmmmm, Maybe it’s because we use recycled bottles.”

or

“Maybe it’s the Triple XXX on the label…makes it look really serious.”

or

“Maybe it’s because people imagine two doctors in the bush, stirring over a cauldron of sulphur pet dip, and think it’s really cool imagery….”

Gnome, of course had a reply:

Glowing.Gnome

“Maybe it’s because it actually does what it says on the label.”

Oh. Selling something that actually works.  What good marketing strategy!

munchkin-amazed

Checkout this product in The Apothecary or check it out at The Farm Store in Punta Gorda, Belize.

Amusing, Belize, Blog

This Is What Happened Today.

gnome-sitting-on-rocksToday I was talked at:

Munchkin:  “Since everybody is going to write posts, you should write posts too…”together-munchkin-pointing

Gnome:  “Yeah, but I’m too busy coding right now, I’m almost at Chapter 3; and I have to move the tin for the potato garden cover I made with Panda; and there is the gate to chisel out and fix…maybe when things settle down…”

Gnome.Smiling

Munchkin:  “Since everybody is going to write posts, you should write posts too…”together-munchkin-pointing

Gnome:  “I don’t think I have time…maybe some other time…”

Gnome.with.DrinkMunchkin:  “Since everybody is going to write posts, you should write posts too…”together-munchkin-pointing

Gnome:  “I think I really don’t have time…”

The Artist Known as Gnome.

…but I guess since everybody is writing posts…

Gnome.Writing.in.the.Library

Belize, Blog, Philosophy

Munchkin And Gnome Genisys.

2 Comments

together-from-front.png

Well, we’ve been here for 12 years.  We came to Belize clueless and naive to be wannabe farmers.  So what have we achieved in all this time.  We have fulfilled our main goal of reducing our footprint on the earth.  We dig in the dirt, grow our own food, eat and cook our own food, live in a very modest wooden shack and catch all our own rain water for all our needs.   We can build with sticks, we can start a fire and we can slaughter our own fowl for meat.  Our doctoring skills have been put to good use with our practice of medicine without the need for numbers, blood tests and scans to make diagnoses (yes, you just need to know the human body and mind and ask the right questions to arrive at the same, or even more precise, conclusion as a machine).  In short, we have become no-nonsense, pragmatic people who tell you what you need (if you ask) and not what you want.

Anyway, what’s next?  This is Munchkin and Gnome Part 2:

We have decided to gather forces and find people of like-minded philosophy.  In doing this, we have made a recruitment; he goes by the name of The Panda and he has moved onto a piece of our farmland.  His goal is to reduce his footprint on the Earth.  Our goal now is to impart our experience and knowledge to help him make this transition as positive as possible.  The Panda will be posting his experiences on this blog so watch this space!

panda
Hello, I’m the Panda!

Our regular WordPress Followers will automatically get these new posts.  My FaceBook Followers will have to go into our WP site (or follow) to get these new instalments.  Undoubtedly, the Panda will publicize onto to his own FB account.