May 27, 2009
Well, I think we've had 4 or 5 plagues already anyway. First, we had to get the bats out of the house so we could live there. Bats are good to have around to keep down the mosquitoes, but when you have several colonies living in your attic and the bat poo is raining down in your house as black dust...well, that's just too much. So, the whole roof had to come off piece by piece and the attic cleaned out. Three wheelbarrows full later, we were able to move in. And, the bat poo is now fertilizer for our new coffee plants. Another grand experiment.
After the bats, the scorpions started. It's dry season and when it's hot and dry in Belize, you have scorpions. But, I've been stung before and it's no big deal. A couple hours of ice and it's history.
The spiders are different. Now, I'm not talking about tarantulas - those I love and have great respect for. They don't harm you and a female can live 35 years. That you have to respect.
No, I'm talking about the small spiders that put a serious and horrible bite on you. I now have the remnants of a necrotizing spider bite. It's been almost a month since the bite and the hole is still healing from the inside out. And, I have had an easy time due to ten days of the strongest antibiotics known to man and antihistamines to dry it up. I guess I have to be more careful when I garden.
Which leads us to doctor flies - I guess they call them that because you feel like you need a doctor if you get a couple of bites. The one good thing is that eventually it seems like they don't do as much damage. We must get hardened to it or something.
So, despite the plagues, we are surviving and actually thriving I think. It's a beautiful place and everyday has at least one nice surprise.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Belize jungle lodge
May 5, 2009
So, here's the latest...our phone finally works. I have to whisper that so the modem doesn't hear me and start to give trouble again. Rusty cut an even bigger bamboo pole and between the stability of the thicker pole and the added height, it seems like we got it this time.
And, the cable seems to get better all the time. The cable guy is opening a hardware store and it seems like the more we buy from him, the better the cable gets. Whatever works, right?
The dish is also doing its thing so we have internet and wireless. I will say we can use a bigger antenna for that so next trip to Belize City will include a bigger router antenna.
But, all in all, it's pretty good. Here we are in the jungle on the internet with the cable going in the background waiting for a phone call. Technology comes to the jungle. I love it.
We're seeing great birds these days - the trogons just sit asking us to watch them. And, every day a new flower blooms and I have to figure out what they all are. One totally cool one is the torch ginger. Not only is it a flashy flower but the flower comes up on its own leafless stalk and it's bright red from the ground up. The leaves are on a different stalk all together.
On our own house we have started the fight with the bats. The former owner had let bats take over the roof of her house. We like bats because they eat mosqitoes but we don't want them living with us. So, Rusty is removing the roof piece by piece, cleaning out all the bat poo, putting in moth balls and then we will seal the inside off from the roof so when(not if) they come back they still are not near us. The roof will have to be replaced next year anyway, so at that time we can take more permanent measures. Now, it's just a matter of needing to move in our house.
Everyday we learn something new and that we really like.
So, here's the latest...our phone finally works. I have to whisper that so the modem doesn't hear me and start to give trouble again. Rusty cut an even bigger bamboo pole and between the stability of the thicker pole and the added height, it seems like we got it this time.
And, the cable seems to get better all the time. The cable guy is opening a hardware store and it seems like the more we buy from him, the better the cable gets. Whatever works, right?
The dish is also doing its thing so we have internet and wireless. I will say we can use a bigger antenna for that so next trip to Belize City will include a bigger router antenna.
But, all in all, it's pretty good. Here we are in the jungle on the internet with the cable going in the background waiting for a phone call. Technology comes to the jungle. I love it.
We're seeing great birds these days - the trogons just sit asking us to watch them. And, every day a new flower blooms and I have to figure out what they all are. One totally cool one is the torch ginger. Not only is it a flashy flower but the flower comes up on its own leafless stalk and it's bright red from the ground up. The leaves are on a different stalk all together.
On our own house we have started the fight with the bats. The former owner had let bats take over the roof of her house. We like bats because they eat mosqitoes but we don't want them living with us. So, Rusty is removing the roof piece by piece, cleaning out all the bat poo, putting in moth balls and then we will seal the inside off from the roof so when(not if) they come back they still are not near us. The roof will have to be replaced next year anyway, so at that time we can take more permanent measures. Now, it's just a matter of needing to move in our house.
Everyday we learn something new and that we really like.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Dog tired
I have never been this tired each and every day as am these days. But, everyday sees something accomplished and that's a really good feeling.
We finished our first month this week and actually made money - very little - but at least we didn't lose. We had nice guests and best of all, they liked my food. That was a real worry - whether I could pull off the cooking in a fashion I am happy with.
My current project is tiling the bathrooms in the lodge. I have one shower tiled and ready to grout so I'm feeling good about that too.
In the spirit of recycling, the Slaty Tailed trogon pair took over the abandoned termite nest hanging on the lodge. Really cool.
And we had a couple from the Jaguar Project stay with us this week and they foudn ocelot scat in the garden. So, we have small wild cats roaming near the rooms at night. We really like that.
The dogs, Onyx and Tiger, have decided they love it here. Only problem is they think the entire place belongs only to them and want to roam free and keep everyone else out. So, they have to be fenced some of the time by the house now. Big punishment.
The eyes are closing. I'll be better about posting.
We finished our first month this week and actually made money - very little - but at least we didn't lose. We had nice guests and best of all, they liked my food. That was a real worry - whether I could pull off the cooking in a fashion I am happy with.
My current project is tiling the bathrooms in the lodge. I have one shower tiled and ready to grout so I'm feeling good about that too.
In the spirit of recycling, the Slaty Tailed trogon pair took over the abandoned termite nest hanging on the lodge. Really cool.
And we had a couple from the Jaguar Project stay with us this week and they foudn ocelot scat in the garden. So, we have small wild cats roaming near the rooms at night. We really like that.
The dogs, Onyx and Tiger, have decided they love it here. Only problem is they think the entire place belongs only to them and want to roam free and keep everyone else out. So, they have to be fenced some of the time by the house now. Big punishment.
The eyes are closing. I'll be better about posting.
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