Our resident yoga teacher, Johnny Daybreeze, at Coco-Prune Resort and Residences, left today to take up a new position at the bright pastures of San Antonio.
Goodbye Johnny Daybreeze and good luck with your choreography career!
There is now a position as Yoga Instructor available at Coco-Prune Resort; application is open to guinea pigs only with yoga certification. Please send your curriculum vitae (with two passport sized photos, police report and character references) to Casa Mascia!
A Big Thank-you to Ruri-chan for a late Christmas gift all the way from Singapore! Just arrived in Belize last week and it was a lovely surprise to open up a box of pressies at the post office. As usual, I had to go through the rigmarole of opening up the package in front of the Postal Worker.
When I opened up the box with the extremely blunt knife, the worker looked at this funny looking purple case and said, “What’s that?”
I confidently said in an even tone,
“It’s a Smiggle Bag.”
He shifted slightly, coughed politely and said,
“Yes it’s a Smiggle Bag.”
He wrote “Smiggle Bag” on the customs form and then waved me out of the postal room. Outside the post office I just cracked up laughing because neither of us had a clue what a smiggle bag was but yet we both insisted on pretending that we knew what it was!
I had to do a Google Search on Smiggle Bag and “Smiggle” is actually an Australian based retail store that sells well, Smiggle stationery!
Thanks for the Smiggle Bag!!
We have had heavy rains and we are surrounded by a sea of water, the Jacinto River is up and there are flood signs everywhere. The river floods onto our road every year and it looks like this occurrence is imminent. In addition to all this, the truck is behaving dodgy (oh how technical of me!) and the two tonne front gate is still done broke. In other words we are on forced house arrest!
There was a downpour lastnight so we couldn’t even get anything done on the farm. I was so frustrated and said to Gnome today:
“Aaaaaargh…the weather refuses to cooperate! Everything is conspiring against us!”
Gnome replied with an enigmatic smile:
“My dear, we must sway like the bamboo…learn to bend like the limbs of the bamboo…be flexible!”
In response to this, I lifted my arms up in the air and flailed them from side to side. Testily I said,
“Is that it???!!! I don’t feel any better!!”
Gnome:
“No dear you are not doing it right…you need to smile while you are swaying.”
This the Gnome-Style Swaying Bamboo Technique.
A couple of weeks ago, when we were in the height of mango season, we chanced across somebody on the street selling huge bags of these black mangoes. They are hairy, very juicy and loved by Belizeans. When you eat these, you are expected to eat about 10 to 20 in one sitting because they are so delicious and very messy to eat; no point in dribbling mango juice down your front and elbows for less.
Anyway, a while later, we met a friend and hailed him down. We grabbed a couple of these mangoes, that we had bought, and presented them to him as a gift.
Unexpectedly, he gave us a sideways suspicious look and he said cautiously,
“Where did you get these from?”
Before we had time to answer he said,
“Did you get them for a drunk Spanish guy?”
We nodded our heads in unison…in our heads we were thinking…yeah the guy kinda couldn’t walk in a straight line and had slurred speech!
The friend picked a mango and scrutinized it,
“These are my mangoes!! That guy is selling my mangoes!!”
Then he suddenly stopped and laughed, realised the humour of the whole situation and said,
“Ha-Ha!! You guys are giving me back my own mangoes!! No, no take them!! I have plenty at home!!”
We all had a good laugh about it and then we drove back home to feast on the black mangoes…guilt-free!!
With the heavy rains in July, we have had lots of wild mushrooms popping up on the farm. The Stinkhorn otherwise known as bamboo pith or bamboo fungus (Phallus indusiatus) has been a common one for us. These are edible and we are perfectly happy to eat them. I say this because I have seen strange looks from Non-Asian people who look too frightened to try this epicurean delight.
These mushrooms start off as an egg-shaped structure, commonly known as “Witches’ Eggs.”
You can pick them at this stage to eat; once cooked, they have a gooey texture. They are alright (not great) if you are feeling adventurous…best pan-fried with onions and garlic.
Asian people eat the mushrooms at this stage when they become erect and rather phallic looking. In the Asian Market, they are cultivated and sold dehydrated.
You can stir-fry them and put them in stews and soups. Go on then…do something different today and find some of these lovely specimens in Toledo and cook them up for dinner!! They are supposed to be an aphrodisiac!
Interesting that we are still stuck on the farm but for other reasons this time. About a week ago, half the gate fell over; it’s a really heavy gate made from sturdy hardwood but unfortunately the post has been destroyed by termites. We didn’t see this happening because the termites had cleverly burrowed into the wood and were digesting the wood from the inside…on the outside it looked perfectly normal.
The gates can be moved with brute Gnome strength and so any trip out entails the moving of a tonne of wood back and forth.
So we have had to think seriously about taking trips out of the farm…basically no joy rides or “…let’s go out and get something quickly.”
So the other day, just in good humour, I said to Gnome:
“Darling, we have run out of sugar to put in our tea.”
Gnome replied rather facetiously with,
“Well, would you like me to move a 2 tonne gate and run out to get a cup of sugar for you, my dear!”
The Trials of Munchkin and Gnome Continue….
It is really had to start back on writing the Blog after this hiatus; it is actually easier to write everyday as you get into the rhythm of writing. Oh well, let’s try again!!
It’s been raining almost everyday so we have had to resort to indoor activities. We managed to get a new hand-cranked pasta maker that is a lot sturdier than the last one. The last one was a disaster for USD $25.00; it was a Made In China piece of evil terribleness which didn’t survive past the first crank!
“Evil Terribleness!!”
We’ve been experimenting with all sorts of wonderful and exotic ingredients including cacao butter, chocolate, banana flour and miso with great results. Here are few pictures to show what we have managed to crank. Thank goodness this machine is still going past the 20th crank (yay!!). Gnome said,
“Well. It’s because this one is made in Italy of course!”
Pasta Noodle Making:
Cooked Home-Made noodles Chinese Style:
What a delight to have a machine that actually works. This means a lot when you are in a Belize because there is no Amazon 24 hour delivery…if we need anything from overseas, it is usually a 3 to 6 month wait! This one was worth the wait…
We haven’t been writing lately because the Internet has been on and off with the bad storms. Right now, it is on but I don’t know for how long so I will take this opportunity to write.
It has been absolutely pouring down and in the daytime, we have been wading about in ankle-deep puddles! Needless to say that no one work can be done outside! It is mostly raining at night and early morning…I will remember to mark July on my calendar as “wet, wet, wet!!” to remind myself of this every year. Otherwise, I will get frustrated and feel that I can’t get any work done…
Wise words from Gnome (whilst staring out of the window at gigantic puddles and grey skies for the last week):
“Hmmm…July is a time for contemplation.”
Munchkin replies with,
“What is there to think about?!!”
About two weeks ago, we had a really bad storm which uprooted one of our trees which then landed on the roof of our nursery. It caused devastation with branches falling everywhere and it ended up blocking our usual walking route through the farm.
When we saw the extent of the mess, we could see the amount of work involved, we looked at each other and said at the same time,
“Oh No!!”
And so we procrastinated for a while plus luckily for us, the weather wasn’t cooperating so there was never a ‘right time’ to clean up. Our Munchkin and Gnome form of procrastination included re-vamping the web-site, making copious amount of pasta to dry and store, designing new products, seeing patients and stuffing ourselves with mangoes. Oh, and I am learning to touch type!
Anyway yesterday was the day and we just got out there and did it! Here are some pictures:
We managed to get the tree off the roof!
We cut up all the wood and it was my job to gather it all up for mulch.
All done and as Gnome surveyed the surroundings with a sigh of relief he said nonchalantly,
“Oh, now I need to fix up the nursery.”
I’m flabbergasted…usually when Gnome takes pictures they are out of focus, poorly composed and just generally awful! Oh but look at these pictures:
And he even took a short video of Mimosa pudica:
So What Happened?
Gnome beamed a big wide grin and said,
“Oh I just read the GnomeWiki (TM) entry on how to take photographs!”
