See you at Cacao Fest 2016 today! Casa Mascia Apothecary will have a booth in Punta Gorda and all the fun starts at about 9am. We will bring our Chocolate Soaps, Chocolate Body Wash, Copal Oils and Soap. And much, much more at Runaway-Not-To-Missed-Bargain Prices!! Ha-Ha…you can tell I don’t have a marketing degree!
Reserve the Ultimate Gnome Paradise Resorts now! Nestled in the Maya Mountains of Toledo with stunning roof top vista views, you can’t beat the maximal velocity feeling of “I’ve made it.” Coco-Prune Resorts…the Best Resort for the discerning guinea pig. Check out the New-Look Condos…compact luxury for an easy-living life-style.
Gnome Coco-Prune Resorts: The Better Way to Get-a-Way. New Spa and Yoga on site soon!!
We have to have Yoga!!
The dry season in Belize is a great time to harvest roots. We have been pulling up cassava from our beds. Each plant has been giving us a generous 10lbs (5kg) of root. Cassava requires immediate processing because it tends to go off after 1 or 2 days. We usually peel a whole load of them in one go, boil them and then store them in the freezer.
This is food security:
This time we had a surprise harvest. Gnome called me out to the veranda and said,
“Surprise!! I found three brains for you!”
He was of course referring to these; elephant foot yam which we have humourously coined “The Brain.”
More Food!!
So what’s happening with the Zazen Duckies in the Zen Garden? They’ve been giving Mayor Gnome the “Duckie Look” for weeks.
Mayor Gnome has made a valiant attempt to ignore these enquiring looks for fear of confrontation. But alas, it seems that our spiritual duckies are winning out on this staring competition. He finally broken down and asked them:
“What’s the matter duckies?”
Spokesduckie: “Mayor Gnome! We are embarrassed by your weak ploys and foolish manipulation to get us into those concrete monstrosities.”
Mayor Gnome: “Oh, you mean the laying nests which I built for you to strict ISO building standards?”
Spokesduckie: “Yes. Do you honestly think that we would lay eggs in them?”
Mayor Gnome: “Well, yes. What’s wrong with them?”
Spokesduckie: “There have ping pong balls in them!”
Mayor Gnome: “They are supposed to be fake eggs!”
Spokesduckie: “Well you certainly didn’t fool us!”
Mayor Gnome: “So you’re not convinced?”
Spokesduckie: “Mayor Gnome…they have “Halux 40″ written on them?”
Mayor Gnome: “Oh.”
“Sorry!!!”
Yip, these are most definitely habaneros. A while back, I wanted to plant Jalapeños and bought a seed packet imported from the States. When the first lot of leaves started coming out, I had some doubts because they were heart-shaped rather than elongated. Nevertheless, Gnome told me to be patient and I waited a bit longer. The plants started flowering and then I watched the formation of the fruits with great anticipation. All this time, I kept on think to myself…
“Hmmmm…..”
Gnome: “My dear…be patient!”
Well, there’s not denying it! They are definitely habaneros!!
They are still nice and I do like the red colour of these habaneros. Okay…back to looking for some real jalapeño seeds!
A while back, I bought some sesame seeds from the market in Punta Gorda. It was sold in a thin plastic bag and when I got back home, I just placed the bag on the shelf in the kitchen. I am one of those messy types of cooks with a plethora of bags and containers of raw ingredients placed on my kitchen shelf for easy access.
The next morning I found the bag ripped open with tell-tale cat teeth marks on the bag.
Our cat has a predilection for all food in plastic bags; this is because once he found beef jerky in a plastic bag and since then he will attempt to chew through all plastic bags in the hope of finding beef jerky.
Some of the sesame seeds had spilled on the floor so I quickly vacuumed it with my little companion Eureka. The cat had scarpered by then and there was no hope of getting him to clean it up!
Thinking that it was just organic waste, I emptied the contents of vacuum cleaner into a nearby plant pot. And look what I’ve got 3 months later…surprise sesame seed plants!
Looks like it is an easy crop to grow…will probably harvest this lot to plant on the farm.
We are still here! Lately the daily RealFeel of 50C (115F) has been absolutely awful. We have been up at 3am doing our stuff in the cool of the morning (still RealFeel 30C/86F). The heat has frazzled my brain and the inspiration to write just wasn’t there!
Gnome has been charging on full speed and managed to set up the water tank for the imminent (well, we hope) rains. This is the new look tank in Belize called Best Tank:
I think that these tanks are made within the country so they have stopped importing the Rotoplast type.
I mentioned to Gnome:
“Hmmmm…I don’t really like the colour of these new tanks. Quite bland.”
Gnome replied with:
“My dear, are you going back to your Ikea days when you wanted everything in spring green stripes or pastel blue? I’m afraid that we don’t live like that anymore.”
There are lots of different names for the Nato Phonetic Alphabet; it is basically the 26 words assigned to the 26 letters of the English Alphabet. It starts like this: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo,etc. I am sure you know most of it especially if you have watched a lot of British Police TV programs (like “The Bill”) or army stuff on American television.
Anyway, I find that I do have to use this Phonetic Alphabet over the phone in Belize especially when I have to spell out my surname. Some of words just don’t work here! For instance, Foxtrot and Tango usually get a deadly silence…after all, why should you expect anyone to know about ballroom dancing? Lima is no good either…more confusion! Quebec what? Sierra…is that a “Z” and don’t ever say “Yankee” to an American! Oh and forget about Zulu…
Here is my unofficial Belize Modified Nato Phonetic Alphabet. It is largely unchanged except for a few alterations that can make communication a lot easier over the phone.
Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo,
Fox, Golf, Hotel, India, Jaguar,
Kriol, Lime, Miguel, November, Oscar,
Papa, Quick, Romeo, Snake, Toucan,
Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, Xray, Yellow, Zebra.
Hello There!! We are officially Crepuscular!! I have been temporarily away from the keyboard, because it has been sooooo unbelievably hot. I can’t even sit next to the computer because anything that generates heat exacerbates the sweat fest. You are probably wondering what Crepuscular means….
Crepuscular (animals) are those that are active during the periods of dawn and dusk.
Basically, right now in Belize it is so hot (Real Feel of 45C or 113F!!) that we have to get up at the crack of dawn to run about do the farm duties. At dusk, it starts to cool down a little and again, we pack in our activities at this time of the day.
Anyway, Gnome came across the word “crepuscular” when he was looking at possible “farm animals” that he would never be allowed to bring into the country that could possibly help him farm more elegantly. Yes sometimes the pragmatic Gnome does let loose his imagination to fantasize (a little).
This was our conversation:
Munchkin: “I am guessing it’s a monkey to climb trees or maybe one of those big bulls for ploughing the fields…”
Gnome: “Not quite. I would like a coconut crab actually.”
Munchkin: “…a crab??”
Gnome: “Yes, these crabs are huge…about a metre (3 feet) wide. They collect coconuts on the ground, cut through the coconuts with their claws and then they climb up the coconut palm to drop the coconuts down to break the shell. I need a coconut sheller and these would be perfect!”
Munchkin: “Mmmmm…are they good to eat?”
Gnome: “Yes…but that’s not the point…”
Munchkin: “Ok, I’m in! Let’s get an import license for coconut crabs!”
Humans can’t get it right and the Internet definitely lets us down on weather forecasts. The plethora of animals making noises from frogs croaking to rain hawks cawing sometimes get it right. Wait for it…the most consistent sign of imminent rain (for us) has been the grader working on San Felipe Road. Guaranteed 97% with 3% Faith!. The grader came by today to move rocks about and flatten the road a bit. Standby for the torrential rain!!
We are Waiting…
