There is a never-ending list of things to do around here, but I think our big “someday” projects are dwindling down. One of the last big things to do was to get our bedroom closet doors on. About a year ago we had two mahogany doors made for our bedroom closet and they have been sitting in the container ever since. Last year I put two similar doors on the laundry room and it was a nightmare. Doors not square, door frames not square, and a lot of cutting, shimming, and frustration. We figured it was time to just suck it up and finally get the closet doors on. After some measuring, cutting, sanding, and finishing it went pretty well. So that’s one more thing off the list.

There are a lot of smaller projects we’d like to do around here, but with only the essential businesses open it makes it impossible to get materials.

Since we missed out on our 36th Anniversary trip to Columbia we thought we would do a little pretending we were somewhere else for dinner. We found this little Churrasco (Brazilian barbecue) restaurant out in the middle of the jungle (it’s in our backyard) that served Pacanha. You know, the steak of Brazil (Not Belize) that is famously served on the swords table-side. Our chef (me) cooked it up perfectly and our waitress (Kelley) brought us over a nice bottle of red wine from Argentina. It was a great relaxing meal and afterward, we even danced the tango. Sorry, there was no evidence of that dance, so you’ll have to take my word on that one.

It wasn’t exactly our Colombian vacation we were hoping for, but Brazilian style steak and a bottle of Argentina wine was about as close as we could actually get to a South American experience. All this and we didn’t even have to leave a tip, but we did end up having to do the dishes. Maybe next week we will pretend to go to Mexico for margaritas and chimichangas.

Plants of the week.

Lobster season is here! Well not the crustacean that you are thinking, that doesn’t happen till June. It’s our lobster claw plants, they are blooming like crazy. There are at least 20 different blooms on them right now with more to come. We saw these beautiful plants years ago and said that if we ever get a place where they would grow, then we would need some. They definitely grow well here and now we have a yard full of them.

Our pineapples are starting to get some good size to them. Out of the 65 or so pineapple plants we have 9 pineapples that will be ready fairly soon… if the animals don’t get to them first. Of course, when we pick them we will cut the tops off, put them back in the ground and start the cycle all over again.

The last bunch of bananas that were ready Kelley made some banana-pineapple jam. That along with the homemade peanut butter on a piece of warm banana bread. Well… that’s just good stuff! And the main ingredients for this came from our garden, so that’s pretty exciting.

I don’t know if you have ever tried lemongrass before, but it makes a great tea. We have a few big plants and a couple of times a week Kelley will cut some and make a gallon or so of tea. It has a very lemony taste to it, plus there are a lot of health benefits that go along with it. Besides just making a tasty tea it is also used in Thai cooking and the plant itself helps repel insects. I’m sure if you looked around where you live you could find some at the nurseries and start making your own healthy tea.

Even though we are avoiding going to the big market in town, it doesn’t mean we can’t have fresh fruits and veggies. A local farmer came by the other day with a pickup full of fresh stuff from his farm. We got cantaloupe, tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers, and okra for $1 a pound (that’s 50 cents US). We already have this same stuff planted, but ours won’t be ready for a while, so this worked out well.

This week’s wildlife.

The lightning bugs are back! These are very cool insects that have what looks like two green LED’s for eyes. Once you catch one, if their eyes start to go dim all you have to do it touch their back and they are back on at full power. Plus they look really cool flying around out in the jungle at night when there are a bunch of them.  (I know… we really need to get out and socialize).

It has now been 11 days now without a new Covid case reported in Belize. So far there have only been 18 cases reported and five have totally recovered. Hopefully, soon they will open the whole country back up to interior travel, of course, the borders will still be locked down for a while, but at least we’ll be able to move around. As soon as this happens we are going to get in the truck and head over to Hopkins for some fishing and beach time.

Speaking of Hopkins, we just found a deal for a three-night stay at a beachfront resort for $200, usually, this place goes for $200 per night. It is a killer deal, totally refundable, you don’t need to pick your dates yet and it’s good till December. We grabbed 3 of the three-night deals, so we will definitely be going to Hopkins for some R & R.

We love and appreciate everyone’s comments, but there has been some problem with the blog. Some comments are coming across as “anonymous” for the name and we don’t know who you are. If you think your comment is coming across as anonymous then please at least put your initials at the bottom. That way when you say you will see us later in the year, we will know who you are.

Have a great day and be safe.