It might seem like we are always over on the coast, but that is one of the great things about living where we do, you can be on the Caribbean shore within a short drive from our place. This time, seven of us went down to Placencia for a few days to let loose for Amanda’s birthday. Of course, this being the rainy season it didn’t allow for any offshore adventures, but that was okay.

We spent the day in the pool meeting new friends under cloudy skies and getting more sun than we really should have. Of course there was some beach bar hopping involved and delicious food along the way. And since lobster season was open, we had to stop at Barefoot Bar for a lobster grilled cheese sandwich.

We couldn’t be on the coast during lobster season and not bring some back home, so we picked up 36 tails and 25 whole lobsters. It looks like we will be doing another “Lobsterfest in the Jungle” sometime soon. The last time we did this we brought back an ice chest full of lobsters and everyone bought them from us to make something tasty for Lobsterfest. Then the day of Lobsterfest everyone brought their dish back to our place where we had a taste of everyone’s creations. It was great tasting all the different recipes and a good time was had by all. If anyone is interested in participating this time, just let us know and we’ll see if we have any extra lobsters left.

We’re finally going to give this a go… We have been making sausage, bacon, pastrami, and other meats for a while now and everyone seems to want more. So we’ve finally acquired all the proper equipment we need to grind, slice, stuff, smoke, seal, and store anything we can make. We are starting out with sausages; breakfast, Italian, summer, chorizo, hot links, and maybe bratwurst. The Italian sausage will be sold in links as well as loose for use in pasta dishes or pizza. After that, we will move on to the more time-consuming meats such as corned beef, bacon, pastrami, and maybe ham.

Breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, and bacon are available in Belize, but as for the other meats, they are nearly impossible to find. The sausage and bacon you find here have a different flavor than what you would get back in the states or Canada. That’s why we will be making ours with the taste and spices that ex-pats were used to back home.

We’ll vacuum seal most of the meats in one-pound packages except for the summer sausage and the corned beef. Once we have a good supply we’ll put the word out to our friends and let them know what we have available. In the past when we’ve done this we have sold out very quickly leaving people wanting more. This time we hope to have most things available as needed. It will all be packaged under our trademarked brand Wicked Toucan.

A couple years ago Ruben gave us some cuttings from a cactus that he said was Pitahaya or dragon fruit. We built a small trellis for it to climb on not knowing how fast it would actually grow… and it grows fast. Over the last year or so we’ve been taking cuttings and planting them on a bigger, stronger trellis we built that is currently 35′ long. The small original trellis is currently falling down, so it’s time to cut that one down and add another 35′ of new trellis.

We have two different types of dragon fruit, yellow ones that have a white flesh and the other is a pink one with deep purple flesh. We had never really eaten dragon fruit before we started growing it, but it’s definitely one of our favorite fruits, if we can get to them before the animals do.

Another delicious fruit from the garden is Star Fruit. The tree was loaded with small fruit this year, but I think the rains knocked most of them off. The tree still has some fruit on it just not as many as it did, but that’s okay because we are still getting plenty of bananas and pineapples. It’s always great having a variety of fresh fruits available for breakfast.

Earlier this year when we were picking cacao pods, there was one that was left on the plant too long and it was starting to rot. So just for fun, we decided to plant the seeds and see if they would grow. Well within a short time they started to sprout and now we have 36 more cacao plants growing. We’re not sure where we are going to plant these as they need a certain amount of sunlight and shade combined. Most of our property is pretty shaded and doesn’t receive enough sun and our other one down the road gets too much sun. Maybe we will just stick them out in the bush here somewhere or place them down on our other piece where they get a lot of sun and see what happens. Either way, they will get planted here somewhere, because who doesn’t need more chocolate?

A couple of months ago we were out walking around the property when we spotted a plant that looked like a lily. So we dug it up and moved it up next to the house. This past week it bloomed and it turns out it was a white spider lily. We love going through the jungle and finding plants to relocate. Sometimes it feels like we are living in the Home Depot garden department where all the plants are free.

Last Sunday we got 2.5″ of rain in just about an hour. Which was enough to bring out the Mexican Burrowing Toads. They are interesting looking toads with a tiny head and can only hop a few inches at a time. Most of their life is spent underground in a burrow until there is a heavy rain when they come out searching for a mate. They usually only have 1-3 days to mate before they burrow back into the ground. A unique characteristic of this toad/frog is that they are the only ones whose tongue shoots straight out as opposed to all other species of frogs that fold out.

Recently we have noticed that a lot of people are finding the blog when researching info on Belize. There are also people who find it through suggestions from friends. We usually post a new blog every 2-3 weeks depending on what’s happening around here. If you would like to keep up with our adventures in Belize, you can sign up for notifications every time a new one is posted. Don’t worry there are no advertisements and we don’t do anything with your info, this is all just all for fun and to keep friends and family updated on what we are doing.

To sign up just click where it says “subscribe” in the left-hand column or send an email to BedrockToBelize@gmail.com and we will get you on the list.

Next week it’s off to the beaches of San Pedro to see Jim Dalton and Nick Scropos (Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers) along with the Jons, and Jeremy Lawton (Big Head Todd & the Monsters). Jim and the Jons put on a great show last year and it looks like Jim is going to make this an annual event, so mark your calendars and maybe we’ll see you here sometime.

Till next time, take care and keep your dreams alive.