We’ve been working on the new area out behind the back patio. This past weekend, we cut down another seven trees to be used as borders for some of the garden paths. Only the smaller trees are coming out, which will allow the bigger ones to thrive. Also, this will let a little more light in the area and the new plants should do well.
We’ve got an idea of how we want the paths to go, so we’ve started laying out some of the logs and clearing the dead leaves from them. We will have to cut a few more trees down for borders as we need them. Which won’t be a problem as there are thousands to choose from. After cutting down the trees and dragging those logs around, we were a little sore the next day. I hate to say “we’re getting older” but I guess we actually are.
For the past couple of months, we have been gathering a lot of plants we find and getting cuttings in pots from stuff around the property. One plant that is common up north for landscaping is lantana, with its orange and yellow flowers. We just happen to have that growing wild on our road heading down to our place. After a little Google search, it said that lantana roots easily from cuttings. So we took a hike and brought back a bunch of cuttings to get started in pots. Hopefully they will take, if not, we will try again.
The other day we took a walk around the property to look for a few more plants to relocate back towards the house. We ended up finding a few nice philodendrons that we will put on some of the trees out back. There were also a couple of nice six-foot bay leaf palm trees that we will attempt to relocate back here. We know that the philodendrons will have no problem growing, but we have never attempted to relocate a bay leaf palm. If the palms do well, we might have to try a few more, as there are a lot of them around.
Another plant that grows wild here is the Snake plant or mother-in-law’s tongue. We’ve already got some growing around the house, but we will probably try and gather up some more to place along the new trails. There’s such a variety of native plants to choose from that it’s almost like going to a Home Depot garden department up in the States.
Other plants that we have growing around the house are the Philippine violets. They grow very well, get a lot of beautiful purple flowers, and do great from cuttings. Most of the time when we trim them, we either give the cuttings to friends or just throw them out in the bush, but this time we’re putting a bunch in pots for future use.
Also our caladiums (heart of Jesus) are starting to reappear, after the past months of being dormant. After the first of the year, when they go dormant again, we will be able to dig up some of their tubers and get them planted around the new paths. It’s starting to look like a plant nursery around our place. Currently we’ve got well over 100 plants and cuttings in pots getting ready to go in the ground. Over the next few months we will start getting some of these planted along the paths. Hopefully, in a year or so, they will have taken hold and started filling out.
It’s been a while since we’ve checked our trail cameras. The one out in the bush didn’t have much on it, so it will get moved to a different location. On the other hand, the one in the driveway had quite a few different critters on it. Besides a lot of pictures of us going back and forth, there were also birds, possums, squirrels, agoutis, big green iguanas, and a Tyra (bush dog). There was also a dark picture of a wild cat walking towards our house. I wish the picture had turned out better, but you could definitely tell it was a good-sized cat. We think it was possibly an Ocelot or a Margay. We don’t think it was a jaguar because of the size, unless it was a juvenile.
Here’s an interesting picture. Any idea of what it is? Give up, it’s a centipede curled up on a tree. Usually we see centipedes just crawling along, not all curled up. We didn’t know that they are segmented like that. Learned something new today.
We’re still picking a lot of cacao, but we were getting behind in our chocolate making. Our malanger (chocolate grinder) started making a noise, so the manufacturer sent out a new transmission for it. That lasted about 2 uses before it started making the same noise again. So they sent another one, and that one did the same thing. Then they contacted us and said that there was a bad batch of bearings, and sent another one. So, after a couple of months of being down, we are finally up and going again.
Since we were able to start making our chocolate again, we decided to try another type of copycat candy. This time we made Kelley’s favorite, chocolate peppermint patties, sort of like a York candy. They turned out great and will stay on our list of candies to make again. After making these, there was still some melted chocolate left, so we put some peanuts in a mold and covered them with dark chocolate. It’s great being able to make our own candy bars and actually controlling what ingredients go into them.
We were talking to someone who helps people with their weight management. She found out that we made chocolate and asked if we had some that was sugar-free, because she believed there would be a market for it. So we made up a batch of chocolate bars using stevia instead of sugar. I could tell the difference between real sugar and stevia, but for the most part, it was still a good chocolate with a little sweetness to it. I think if you are cutting out sugar in your diet for any reason, this would still satisfy your chocolate cravings.
Whether it’s your first time to Belize or you’re a regular traveler here, you need to know that Belize has redesigned its paper money. This past few weeks was the first time it was made available to the public. The Queen on the paper money has been replaced by Belizean historical figures. It will take a while to phase out the old currency, so if you end up with two different bills of the same denomination, it’s okay for now. Just be sure to use up the older ones with the queen on them first to help phase them out.
Earlier this year they decided to replace the low wood bridge between Santa Elena and San Ignacio that took you towards the market. Every year during the rainy season the old bridge would flood over and end up needing repairs. They still have a ways to go on the new cement bridge, so in the meantime, you have to use the New Macal River Bridge on the other side of town.
Okay, any of our friends or family up for a spur-of-the-moment trip to Belize? Saturday, September 6th we are once again having our “Lobsterfest in the Jungle”. At this point, our guest house is available. So if you are feeling like you need a quick getaway for some delicious lobster dishes, just shoot us a note and the guest house is yours. And for our Arizona friends, remember it’s only a 2½ flight from AZ to TX and then another 2 hours down to Belize. Are any of you that adventurous?