It’s a brand new year bringing change and clarity. Let us all be imaginative and creative so that we can get out of the blah and mundaneness of life. Munchkin and Gnome will strive to keep the Magic going!! Are you ready to follow us…
Into The Jungle (Our New Theme For 2016)!!
This story, all names, characters and incidents portrayed in this production are non-fictitious. Identification with actual persons, places, buildings and products is intended and should be inferred.
Yes, Bruk Dong Monday continues with a vengeance. If you will recall, on Monday all our machinery stopped working including the weed-eater, the chain-saw, the drill bit broke and our make-shift table (crate) broke. After that, we decided that the best course of action was to lay low and do nothing. I even stopped Gnome from mowing the grass. At about 6pm that very day we heard a funny popping sound coming from outside but we could not determine the source of the noise. On Tuesday morning, Gnome smelled some smoke in the air and thought that it was a funny time for some-one to be burning at this time of the year.
It all started to make sense when Gnome went to get out the brush-mower on Tuesday morning. This is what he found:
Look…the wires have all melted!! Gnome explained that the ignition switch finally gave up and in failing caused a short circuit that melted the wire. This has also caused damage to many other parts and in short (ha-ha)…it is not working.
Gnome apologetically said:
“Sorry, I can’t Gnome Rig this one!! We need to bring in the parts from the States!!”
And I replied cheekily,
“But Dear, we don’t have 24 hour rush delivery in Belize!”
So, no more mowing for a few months until we get the parts. I guess we can finish the house paneling and the duck coup instead! Definitely no shortage of work on the farm…
What a Monday. This morning, before we had even stepped out of the house, Gnome had said rather aptly (with great humour intended):
“The equipment on the farm works according to the planetary day of the week.”
He started off with the chainsaw and it refused to start. He even cleaned up the spark plug to make sure. In the end, he told me that the Primer Bulb had broken…I have to say that statement meant absolutely nothing to me….
Next, he started using the weed-eater and it kept losing power and cutting out. Gnome finally inspected it and thought that there were carbeurator issues (again that statement just went over my head). When he was trying to open the weed-eater up, the drill bit broke:
On top of all of this, the crate (which was a make-shift “work-top” suddenly broke!
We finally decided at 9am to “call it a day” because everything was done broke. I did not want to tempt fate by asking him to get the brush-mower out! I was even eyeing up the huge pile of laundry and sorely tempted to switch on the washing machine. Having thought about it for a few seconds, I finally said to Gnome,
“Ok Gnome! I think I get the message. Let’s take it easy!”
And so we did…just because of the unfortunate conjunction of the stars!
A Merry Christmas to you all from the Piggies at Paradise Pastures! Wishing everyone a Happy Festive Season and they are all looking forward to Christmas Pudding tomorrow..
Message from Mayor Gnome:
“Happy Christmas Everyone!! And may all your dreams come true in the New Year!”
“Get Ready Piggies For 2016…Gnome Buddy Does It Better!”
This story, all names, characters and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons, places, buildings and products is intended or should be inferred.
Phew…another busy day today in town! Crazy day with patients, in between dashing into very busy shops. It was so funny, in the Chinese supermarket, waiting in line and watching everyone buy “Christmas Goodies” including Aunt Gemima’s lemon cake mix, marbles, Pringles and basically anything appearing “luxurious” and decadent.
I walked into the Chinese restaurant:
I looked over at the wall of beer and I said to the Chinese girl:
“Are you ready for Christmas?”
And she replied with a sheepish smile:
“Yeah!”
Well, I suppose with 1898 bottles of beer she is all geared up for Christmas! Are you Ready For Christmas?? Merry Christmas Everyone!!
The morning started off with a torrential rain which filled up our tanks. Yay…this means that we can continue to have long hot showers and keep on using the washing machine. We are thankful for small blessings! After the rains, we walked together with a wheel-barrow of seedlings to plant out (gosh…this is Munchkin and Gnome romancing!).
We planted out Carob seedlings. We are especially excited about these because these can be a nutritional chocolate alternative and the seeds are a source of guar gum. We planted these on high ground because they are not supposed to like “wet feet.”
We also planted some good varieties of mangoes…I know that this sounds rather mundane for the tropics but on our farm we have NO mango trees! This also happens to be our favourite fruit so we are trying to catch up. When we first came to Belize ten years we spent all our time planting unusual edible tropical fruits and forgot about the ubiquitous mango.
We have found from our own personal experience as wannabee farmers that the best way to plant a seedling is to cut the bottom off the plant pot and set it in a shallow (6 inches) hole. This ensures that the roots are not disturbed and also you can weed-wack around it without damaging the plant.
Ooooh look our betel nut is flowering…not sure what to do with it so we will have to do some research on that one…
And, last but not least, the mushrooms are coming out with the rains. This is Turkey Tail mushroom which can be boiled up for a tea and is rich in anti-oxidants.
This is Chicken of The Woods. We are waiting for them to get bigger so that we can harvest them to eat. When you cook them up, they taste just like chicken. Yummy…can’t wait!!
What exciting things on the farm!!
Oh what a day…phew I am glad that I survived it! We had a whole load of Christmas deliveries to send out today and guess what? The truck wouldn’t start!
This is when the Italian Gnome came out with lots of gesticulations towards the sky, gesticulations towards anything really…even the goosie got caught in the cross-fire. Goosie sort of looked at the ranting Gnome and edged away into the coconuts (now, that is something for a very aggressive goose who thinks that he is boss of the farm).
There was a lot of muttering about the “starter” and “connections” and then I slowly edged away too. It was all rather emotional, hairy with some heavy breathing. Not something a Munchkin can cope with so off I scurried into the house to look busy!!
It was really “touch and go” for the while! Eventually the car did start and I didn’t ask any questions. We just loaded the packages into the truck quick smart so that we could get a move on.
Poor Gnome…what a strop he got into…the emotions of an Italian can sometimes get so hot and overbearing (a bit like the dry season in the Tropics). Anyway, I finally got Gnome into a better mood with a coffee by the sea:
Thank Goodness for the Duckie Bag!! Phew…saved by the Duckie Bag…all problems solved with a hot drink and plenty of love and encouragement by the sea!
It is a Saturday night and I am posting up pictures of terrapins…ha-ha…I have “tagged” this one as “Friday Night Stuck At Home Post.” As you already know, Gnome has been hard at working cleaning up the farm. The other day, whilst he was mowing, he found a big terrapin in the grass. These are so big compared to the tiny ones that I used to have as childhood pets.
Here are a few pictures of this lovely, cute friendly beast.
And, another one…
Anyway, if you are also at home this evening, here is a tune to listen to whilst sipping a glass of red wine or port:
A tune for reminiscing…
Since we have been doing a super clean up of the farm in this fabulous weather (bright and sunny with no rain) I thought I would take this opportunity to share some pictures of the farm. It is remarkable how great it looks when it is not all bushy with high grass!
When we first came to Belize, 10 years ago we ventured into the bush in search of rosewood seeds to start a grove on our farm. Over years, there has been much logging of these magnificent trees and they are dwindling in number. We have set up this grove as a “seed bank” so that there will still be opportunity to cultivate these trees in the future. Our rosewood trees are looking good and gives a shaded place for a cool picnic area.
The first young fruits of the soursop have just started which is a much-loved fruit of the Tropics:
And this is roseapple which tastes of rose petals. They are actually very hard to spot because of the green colour…if only they would turn pink or red! I think all of our resident birdies taste of roses since they are the ones eating most of them…
Last but not least, our lovely pond area where we would like to house a gaggle of geese! One day, we shall have loads of geese a-honking in our pond!!
Gnome-Of-All-Trades is doing all sorts of things. You would think he was a super hero or something with all the work that he is getting on with. Super- Gnome (TM!!). Mmmmm, with all the Super Hero films that are being churned out of Hollywood maybe they would consider this as a movie…Ha-Ha!! Could be plausible…after-all, they have done an Ant-Man? What’s next…Mosquito-Man?
Anyway, excuse the rant and let us move swiftly onto the subject of Gnome-Rigging. This is what happens when something breaks and there is no 24 hour Amazon delivery to get parts needed urgently. The main switch for the brush-mower has fallen apart (from age, tropical weather, somebody else borrowing it and not using it properly, etc, etc) so now Gnome switches it on by fusing two wires together (like hot-wiring cars). Like so:
The main switch does not work anymore…so connections now have to be made manually. Hence the reason for the “bird’s nest” of wires attractively sticking out the back of the mower. Artistic…
Please be warned that Gnome-Rigging does not comply with safety standards and regulations. Yes, you better Belize it!!
More Gnome Rigging: No proper table to work on so he balances plywood on two crates:
Against all odds, he is doing it all on the farm! He is also panelling the inside of the house! Yippee!! Of course, all this work is intermittently interrupted by hissy fits from a poor frustrated Gnome trying to get things done despite all the imperfections of living in the bush!
Are you sure you want to….Follow us into THE JUNGLE??….