Tag Archives: Pick-up Truck

Bumper Ride!

December 22, 2020 Munchkin

We had a right old bumper ride a few days ago! We were driving along the highway and we suddenly heard a scraping, dragging noise coming from the back of the truck. The bumper came half way off!! To make things worse, it was pouring down!! Gnome stopped the truck by the side of the road and ran out to assess the situation and quick smart, ran back into the shelter of the truck.

Gnome: ‘Munchkin, the bumper’s handing half way off! What are we going to do?’

There was no place nearby to take shelter from the pelting rain. So, I thought the this was the most sensible thing to do:

Munchkin: ‘Let’s have a cup of tea!’

It wasn’t the response that he was looking for but it seemed logical enough so Gnome agreed and we sat down in the truck and had a cup of tea.

It was quite funny…we were actually really cool about it and we didn’t get annoyed about the situation. Gnome asked me if we had anything in the truck to fix the bumper problem temporarily…something like rope or string. I reached down underneath my seat and pulled out a burlap sack…a fairy must have packed this for us…inside the bag, there were two ponchos, 3 large belts for securing loads and a whole lot of string. The first thing I said was:

Munchkin: ‘Do you want the purple or the blue poncho???!!’

(Ha-Ha!!! I was trying to be funny!!)

Gnome didn’t quite get that I was Humorous Munchkin at that point and he said,

Gnome: ‘…this is not the time or place to be choosing colours of ponchos!!’

(Ha-Ha!! Guffaw!!!)

It stopped raining after a while and we both donned the ponchos and went outside. The bumper was still welded on the left side but loose on the other side. It was a shame that it didn’t come off entirely because that would have made it easier. Anyway, it was the usual Gnome Magic.

He just made it look easy and simple…he secured the belt with the bumper and added a bit of string for support. An old man came along to help us which was a very nice gesture. Hey Presto:

Now, we are driving about like this. It’s not anything unusual in Belize…some people are driving around with a belt or rope securing something loose on the truck. We have joined the ranks of Belize-rigged trucks!! Now, Gnome with have to learn to weld…mig or tig?? We are not sure because we both know nothing about welding!! We better learn quick…

Belize, Farming, Food, Philosophy, Plants, Saving Money

Car Stuff And Farm Stuff!

April 29, 2017 Munchkin

The last few days, we’ve been having a bit of car trouble; we were driving back home and the fuel warning light came up. Of course, we didn’t know what that meant so Gnome had to phone up the Toyota dealership to ask them about the light. This is what he was told over the phone: get a new fuel filter, get a car mechanic to install the fuel filter and then get the mechanic to re-set the warning light. This is what Gnome did: get a fuel filter, do a Google search on “how to install a fuel filter” and “how to reset a warning light.”

There was enough information on the Internet for a Gnome, without any car mechanic skills whatsoever, to install the fuel filter. We would ordinarily have just paid to get it done but this time Gnome said to me,

“…wait a minute…between the messing around with a mechanic and paying for it, maybe it’s just easier if I have a go at doing it myself.”

And so he did. His conclusion was that generally car stuff is quite simple and straight forward and if you actually take the time to read up instructions on the Internet, you can generally get it done yourself. He did say as an after thought:

“…I’m talking about car stuff…not medical stuff…there are too many people who get on the Internet to make a self diagnosis and get it wrong.”

That for true, I can vouch for that!! Too many people using Dr Google!!

Anyway, with the car thing, I am really glad that Gnome works with the philosophy of self-reliance and he’s not afraid to learn new things all the time.

Okay, so what’s happening on the farm? Well, we have some new harvests. This is suriname cherry which has a lovely resinous taste. I have taken a picture of one pristine cherry because we seem to have something that is biting holes in all of them. I can’t spot what is causing it but I think that we have a problem with ants.

Some nice cayenne chilli peppers. Gnome has strung these on a string in the kitchen to dry.

Oh, and these are canistel. They taste like sweet potato; we actually eat this with our meals as a carbohydrate substitute. Our tree is loaded this year! Yay!!

Ooooh…it is really punishingly hot right now!! Try to keep cool everyone!!

Belize

We're Stuck!!

July 4, 2016 Munchkin

Together.Talking.Horses Alas the saga continues…you can’t get away from truck problems especially when you live down a dirt road. We’ve been having car problems on and off for a few weeks with the clutch sticking. At the beginning, it was so infrequent, Gnome was able to hook it back up with his foot. On Friday, we had a fine run-around in Punta Gorda seeing patients and that was the day of all days (of course 😉 ) for the things to get worse.

The clutch ended up stuck down for good! Arrrgh!!! We managed to pull over safely and the ever reliable Gnome managed to improvise by attaching a rope to the clutch to hoist it up.

That was indeed the last straw but we had one more thing to do; drop off stuff at Belcampo Lodge. We both pictured the steep hill (30 degree incline) and we stared aghast at each other! Imagine the clutch failing on that hill!! Luckily I phoned Belcampo and they very kindly came to pick up the stuff. Phew!!

We managed to get home without a hitch and we did all the sensible things like lubricate the clutch pedal and check hydraulic fluid levels; Gnome-brain is postulating leaking master cylinder seals (whatever that means) which he can’t do anything about.

We’re stuck at home right now!!

To all our friends from the United States, Happy Independence Day! I never realised it until now but we never celebrated it in the UK!! 🙂

Amusing, Belize

City Trip!

April 19, 2016 Munchkin

Together.Talking.Horses For the last year or so we have had problems starting the truck. When we turn the key in the ignition sometimes the engine starts and sometimes it doesn’t. Usually it takes a few goes before it gets started. It was becoming such a routine that the Catholic Gnome would turn the key with a Sardinian prayer. Finally I said to him that it was just getting too ridiculous and we should just get the starter replaced. I said to him,

“What if we get stuck out in the middle of nowhere!”

Together.Munchkin.Annoyed

And he replied,

“Babes, we are in the middle of nowhere!”

Piggies Are Happy.

Oh…so we are.

Munchkin.Upset.View

Anyway we took a trip to the Big City last week and got the truck fixed up. Everything is now fine; we even saw a freezer on a pick-up. That’s 850 points.

Remember the rules? Here they are again…

This is a Point Allocations game for the spotting of Goods (and assorted paraphernalia) on a Pickup (with a picture):

Fridge 1000pts.
Washing Machine 900pts.
Freezer 850pts.
Estufa (Spanish for Stove) 800pts.
Boca (Central American Chip Packets) 750pts.
Pig 500pts.
Tractor Wheels 500pts.
Large Ruminant 350pts.
Small Ruminants 250pts each.

When you spot the Fridge on a Pickup, the rule is to jiggle your bottom on the car seat and shout out,

“Fridge On A Pickup!!”

with whistles, loud expressive whooping and hand gesticulating.

Thank-you Ginja Bwai for continuing to play this game with us!!

Amusing, Belize, Philosophy

Fridge On A Pickem-Up: The Rules.

November 25, 2015 Munchkin

Yellow.Rubbe.Gnome.Driving.Boots

Here is another Munchkin and Gnome Game which might become famous once we are minor celebrities. So, even although it seems like we are the only ones that find this game humourous, it is our hope that this might catch on at some point…”go viral” so-to-speak. However, I would like to give a Big Thank-you to Ginja Bwai for playing this game with us once.

Last week, we spotted a Fridge On A Pickup at Tommy’s Superstore in Bella Vista.

Gnome:

“Quick, quick, get a picture before you miss it!”

Munchkin:

“Yeah but…how can I miss it? It’s not moving!”

Gnome:

“Sorry Babes, but you do have a habit of missing them!”

Gnome.Looking.Friendly

Spotting a Fridge On A Pickup means 1000 points!!

And we have had close calls in the past as I fumbled around for the camera as the truck and fridge came whizzing by. Look! It’s speeding away!! There have been a few fast and furious car chases in Belize with Munchkin and Gnome!

Anyway here are the Point Allocations for the spotting of Goods (and assorted paraphernilia) on a Pickup (with a picture):

Fridge 1000pts.
Washing Machine 900pts.
Freezer 850pts.
Estufa (Spanish for Stove) 800pts.
Boca (Central American Chip Packets) 750pts.
Pig 500pts.
Tractor Wheels 500pts.
Large Ruminant 350pts.
Small Ruminants 250pts each.

When you spot the Fridge on a Pickup, the rule is to jiggle your bottom on the car seat and shout out,

“Fridge On A Pickup!!”

with whistles, loud expressive whooping and hand gesticulating.

Add up all your points and come to the sober realisation that none of this means anything and try to have More Fun!!

Belize, Food

Fun Lunch Stop and Many Police Stops.

July 27, 2015 Munchkin

Hi Everyone!! We are back. The truck has brand new universal joints so it no longer makes that funny creaking noise at the back. We feel so much better for not hearing the truck groan and complain! We had a much nicer time once we started on the road again, driving down the Southern Highway, away from Belize City.

We stopped at the Taiwanese Store, outside of Belize City. Everytime, I go there, I always point at things in a curious way and ask the owners what they are and how to cook them. This is because a lot of food is not labelled or labelled in Chinese only. This time, the owners were having lunch and offered to share some of it with us.

We were most honoured by their generosity, and as we ate, the lady pointed to the various food packets and condiments to explain to me the ingredients which she had used. In typical Chinese teaching fashion (this is how I learned to cook from my mum), they told me to taste the dishes so that I could mimic the flavours through memory.

The Taiwanese couple are vegetarian so most of their food is soya-based (bean curd mostly) with plenty of fresh greens and vegetables and rice as the staple, of course. In this instance, they used dehydrated beancurd as a main protein source, in different sizes, to give various textures and consistency. The greens that they were eating were sweet potato greens. They also cooked some of their own fresh bamboo shoots. The food was delicious and had the taste of home-cooked Chinese fare. The couple was also rather impressed by Gnome’s use of chopsticks and general Chinese etiquette (Gnome, the Chinese Wannabee).

Here are the various types of dehydrated tofu. I will write more about these in another post. The different shapes and sizes give the appearances of different cuts of meat. For instance, the small stringy ones mimic the consistency of minced (ground) meat. I never considered being a vegetarian before this but I could definitely handle eating this food everyday.

I spotted some dried Lion’s Mane Mushrooms, Hericium erinaceus; also known as Monkey Heads. This one will have a future post, I promise you!

Anyway, back on the road, there were road works on the Highway from Belize City to Belmopan. There was even road congestion and a small traffic jam in Belmopan (wow…never seen before…the country is developing).

There were numerous police stops presumably because the country is on nationwide alert for the wanted man, El Chapo (the “notorious Kingpin”), who recently escaped from a Mexican prison by digging a one mile tunnel out to escape. Sounds like something out of a movie, doesn’t it?

We used “Rabbit Ears” mostly as our hailing signal on the road. Protection to All!

Homeward bound, we saw a veritable bounty of white goods on a pick-up truck. One Fridge, One Freezer, 2 Mattresses and an Amoire. What an auspicious find.

Once we hit the Toledo, the road was definitely quieter with no police stops within the district. Definitely the “Forgotten District.”

Homeward Bound in Toledo. Note: Bag of Craboo.

Amusing, Belize

Stuck in Belize City.

July 24, 2015 Munchkin

I am writing this post at 10am today and I have scheduled this to come up later this evening. We are waiting for our car service (that part was done over-night) and now the replacing of an array of ball-joints and universal joints. If you can recall a previous post from two weeks ago, we had complained of all sorts of funny creaking and screeching noises emitting from the rear of the truck. We did come to the conclusion, in our professional opinion, that it was a “God-Knows-Watsit-Joint-Problem.” So here we are, stuck in Belize with really slooow Internet. We also stayed over-night at a hotel in Belize City with virtually no Internet (although they boasted Free WiFi). I now feel better about our really bad Internet access; I always thought it was due to the fact that we lived in the middle of nowhere. No, it actually appears that the problem is across the whole country, regardless of location.

Anyway, I am not that bothered about the Internet being slow. It is not as if my life depends upon it and that I will fade into nothingness without the distractions of a computer screen in front of me. Although, I have seen some people react in such an irrational way…I am not sure what emergency emails they are basing their whole existence upon.

I am hoping that we can get out soon. The waiting is really tedious with bad television (we haven’t watched television for 20 years). The adverts get really ridiculous; seems like everything is marketed to the hilt and sensationalised. Also, the law firm adverts are really scary…makes it sound like you can get sued at any moment. Boy, I am so glad that I live in Belize with no television. It is a simpler life out here.

Let’s hope we can get out of Big City soon so that we can get on with our schedule. So far, no schedule has been fulfilled!!

We did see a fridge on a pick-up yesterday. Didn’t get a picture because it zoomed straight pass us I fumbled about looking for the camera!

Amusing, Belize, Philosophy

The Tao of Belize: Car Hailing.

July 13, 2015 Munchkin

This is intended as an introduction to the unspoken customs of Belize. Car Hailing is a particular idiosyncrasy pertaining to the Toledo district, the southernmost part of Belize. If you ever go outside of the district, you will find that you can “car hail” amongst fellow Toledo people so it becomes even more esoteric and meaningful. Nevertheless, this is just a simple and friendly way of “saying Hello” to drivers on the road and it is of particular importance in such a small community where everybody knows each other.

Symbolism is a means of communication without words and so we have ascribed a name to each of the hailing types in order to give meaning to the gesture. Above all, it is just about having fun. So here are the Fundamental Five:

Rabbit Ears: Gentle but kind. Offers Protection to All on the Road.

Double Gibnut: Double Luck. Gibnut are solitary creatures and are rarely found in pairs.

Pointing Snake: Projection of Inner Knowledge.

Jaguar Paw: Respect to the Power of the Predator.

Upward Facing Dog: Companionship.

Car Hailing in Belize: Upward Facing Dog.

Ok, everybody, let’s start the car hailing revolution. Actions speak louder than words.

Amusing, Belize, Food, Mushrooms, Soap

A Day in a Life of Munchkin and Gnome.

July 7, 2015 Munchkin

This morning, we got up a tad later than usual at 6am. We sat down to have a hot honey drink whilst drunken baymen (black stingless bees that buzz and bumble in a swaying motion) swarmed around us trying to steal honey from our mugs. It wasn’t that comfortable because every-time I took a sip, the bees would make a mad swoop for the mug and I would cough and splutter trying not to swallow a single bee! What a way to start the morning!

This is a typical day in the life of Munchkin and Gnome.

We mixed up a batch of soap; this time we made Chocolate Vanilla Cookie which is fragranced with a blend of essentail oils to give off the smell of oven-baked cookies. They appear marbled at first but with time, they assume a uniformity with a light chocolate brown colour.

Gnome then went off to procure a large stick…wahooo!! The Big Stick is coming out so coconut products will be available soon!

I went off to wash the dogs…they were actually really well-behaved today as I soaped them and then doused them thoroughly with Sulphur-Lime Dip (a Gnome Bored-in-Belize concoction) which is used against fleas, tics, mange and ringworm. It is great stuff and works well…however, we all end up smelling of rotten eggs. Afterwards, I had a shower and doused myself in lavender oil.

Next, we both donned our respectable clothes to go into town to assume our identities of Doctors Munchkin and Gnome (or “The Doctors” as we are known in Punta Gorda). We had an appointed patient review.

So, we did our doctoring stuff and as Gnome was walking down the path, he spotted a decaying tree with a whole load of oyster mushrooms growing on them. You have to be on the look-out at all times for mushrooms to pop up! They were such beautiful clean specimens. We picked the whole lot of them and I was so pleased with our find that I let Gnome store them in my town hat.

We also spotted White Goods on a Pick-up! Our Pick-up game that we like playing where we spot white goods on trucks for points.

Munchkin: Sloooow down! What do you think it is…a washing machine? Or a mini freez…

Gnome: Quit blabbering! Take a picture now!! We’re turning left now!! Pronto!

As we were leaving Punta Gorda, we stopped off by the sea to have a hot drink together (yes, I brought my food bag with the thermos flask…no biscuits this time). We stared out at the choppy sea and marvelled at the enormous amounts of seaweed on the shore. This will be a Munchkin and Gnome project for the future…this particular seaweed is called “sargassum.” It is of particular interest to us because it is actually used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is named Hai Zao and it is used to dissolve phlegm, act as a diuretic and relieve oedema.

Homeward bound back to the farm where I cooked up curried ripe jackfruit and lentils for lunch:

Will post recipe this week! Too much to write about…

And that was just the morning of a typical day with Munchkin and Gnome!

Amusing, Belize, Food

Tommy’s, Fridge on a Pick-up and Pineapple Cobbler.

July 4, 2015 Munchkin

Today we planned a day out to a plant nursery in Stann Creek and set out about 9am for our two hour leisurely cruise. Gnome laughed at me when I packed our “food bag” which consisted of a thermos flask of milky tea and some digestive biscuits. I just shrugged and said that there was simply no place to stop for refreshments (except for supermarkets and bars) on the way to Stann Creek. I didn’t want a beer, I wanted a cuppa tea!

Anyway, as we trundled along in our pick-up truck, we couldn’t help but notice that it kept on making a screechy, high pitched noise every-time he went over 100kph. So, Gnome spent the whole drive trying to keep the noise at bay. The sound was aggravating and we spent the entire drive worrying about ball joints and universal joints and God-knows-what-joints! Gnome is not skilled in fixing mechanised vehicles so if the truck happened to break down, we would be stuck in the middle of nowhere!

After an hour’s drive up the Southern Highway, we finally reached the first civilisation stop: “Tommy’s Superstore” in Bella Vista. This Chinese supermarket is the size of a K-mart and looks like a regular supermarket (this is a big deal in Belize because most of them don’t…not that I care).

Tommy's Superstore, Bella Vista, Toledo. — Tommy’s Superstore, Bella Vista, Toledo.

We stopped at the car-park and I suggested having a cup of tea with a biscuit. If in doubt…bring out the hot beverage to calm the nerves! We romantically sipped our tea in front of the Chinese supermarket laughing and making light of our harrowing journey. We both agreed that it was best to turn back home in case anything happened. Before we left the car-park, a local farmer on a bike laden with pineapples approached us. You should have seen him…he strung the pineapples in lots of three and hung them from the handle-bars of the bike. He must have had at least thirty of them hanging like Christmas bobble decoration. We bought 15 pineapples just because we were so impressed by his superior co-ordination with the bike-load! And, they looked so sweet and tasty. Gnome was thinking about fermentation whilst I was thinking about dessert!

On the way back home, we saw a fridge on a pick-up…1000 points!! Here are two views of our auspicious find.

Munchkin: Slam on the breaks Gnome. I think we got us one here!

Munchkin: Slowly…slowly….

Gnome: Hurry, hurry before you miss it!

For anyone out there who has the vaguest interest in this crazy game that we play, we like to spot “white goods” and various paraphernalia on the back of trucks and we award a points system according to the item. This is our idea of fun (I like to write about it in the vain hope that other people would consider playing the game with us…but alas, nobody seems to get the “fun” part). Anyway, a fridge is awarded the highest score hence the reason why I make Gnome sloooowww down to get a drive-by picture for the blog. Very auspicious!

We got home in one piece, thankfully…

Most of the pineapples have been pared, cut into pieces and frozen. Weather permitting, I will try to dehydrate the rest. I made pineapple cobbler today..I am going to pour some of our wonderful elixir (liqueur) onto it before serving!

Have a Good Night!!

Casa Mascia Apothecary