Our Ninth Month

     We started off the month with our Ecuadorian breakfast delivered to the door by friends Cata and Luis of whom also have been entertaining us each Saturday with dinner at Playa De James. For $2 they deliver a banana leaf wrapped up containing mashed potatoes, chicken, dates, macadamia nut, peppers, etc  Well worth the wait each week. We could order it for every day if really wanted too but i consider it a treat and want to keep it that way. It washes down nicely with Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.

     Tuesday night and we decided to head over to Playa De James to catch the movie along with some of James's fine cooking. The movie was good and shortly after a few people joined the movie crowd and motivated some of us into dancing. Always fun when someone has this kind of energy.

https://vimeo.com/238207848

        We received notice from our realtor that our escritura had arrived finally. That took 10 weeks, similar, but a little quicker than our deed for our Coco Beach lot. We caught the bus into La Libertad and then a cab into Salinas to grab it from Kimberly's office. We then went over to the Mercado in La Libertad to see what they had to offer. Claudette grabbed a bunch of shrimp and fish.

     I then scanned the escritura and sent a link to our visa facilitator in Guayaquil. She informed us that as our visa has expired so there is nothing that she can do at this point until we receive a new visa. She informed us that they are no longer offering 90 day extensions within the country and that we would have to apply at a consular in another country. I sent an email to the consular in Peru with a link to my Onedrive scanned documents.

     We took a cab into Olon as Claudette wanted to see their Mercado but it wasn't open as it was a little too late but it wasn't too late for lunch. A glass of fine German beer and a toasted 3 cheese sandwich hit the spot. Claudette's chicken sandwich was good too but she didn't want to share it.

     I pressure washed the pool side of the house on Thursday and Pedro then painted it on Saturday. He was pleased to see that I had pressure washed it in advance. Made his job easier. The pressure washer is taking quite a bit of paint off of the wall. I am guessing that it's never been cleaned prior to painting in the past.

     Claudette drug me out for a walk on the beach and we headed north for a change. She hiked this way the day before and wanted to take me this time. We walked to Simon Bolivar before turning back. It was a similar distance to walking to Montanita and back. Here are a few photos of some of the homes along the beach.

        We stopped at Rob's and enjoyed some hot chocolate. This was our second time and the china appeared to improve. Didn't have the "ting" that Claudette is used to with fine china though. The hot chocolate is the best in town so it's a good bet that we'll leave with a smile.

       My adopted cat seems to enjoy sleeping on the roof. He spends time on just about every roof around the place. It's kind of nice as he keeps the rodents at bay. Once the house is done painting we would like to get Pedro to close in the space under the tea house. We plan on putting in a washroom and a storage area.

     I moved some of the furniture out to the patio and Oscar fell in love with it. Out of the two chairs and the couch, he seems to stick to the couch. Oscar's now living the dream.

     We have started seeing these large Owl butterfly's coming around lately. They have a real cool pattern on their wings. This one landed on the side of the couch that I moved out to the front porch.

   
     The central park here in Manglaralto is attended by residents well into the evening. It's nice to see parents and their young children playing in the park in the evening. Pretty sure it's better than sitting at home playing on a computer.

     We have finally started to see some sunnier days. Looks like winter may finally be over and spring is on the way here. I have noticed some of the perennials starting to poke out of the flower beds. We have even been entertained with the odd beautiful sunset.

   We attended a fund raiser for a local orphanage. We donated several paintings for the event as we found that we did not have the wall space in our current house with all of the windows and stone work. It was a fun event to attend and we each spent about $100 towards some of the services that were offered in the auction. The children even sang for us which was nice to see. Claudette got an email the morning after from one of the event organizers thanking us greatly for our contributions. The fundraiser raised $8300 USD for the orphanage. That amount will fulfill all of this years plans and make for a great Christmas for the children.

     The warmer weather has helped to bring up some of the items that I planted in the garden. Pedro finished painting the perimeter recently too.

     

     One of the locals arrived in this car one evening at Playa De James bar. I had to run out to grab some photos of it. Here is one of them.

     I took advantage of one of the items that I received from the silent auction. I had to catch a cab over to San Jose to Samai Eco Lodge. It was located high in the jungle. It was a Sound Bowl Float which reminded me of some tapes that I picked up back in the 80's. the views from the lodge were fabulous and I was surprised that I could hear the crash of the waves from that distance.

https://vimeo.com/241929983

vimeo.com/241930398

     We then capped off the month by getting all dressed up for Halloween and we were also invited to a birthday party in the country side near Manglaralto.

     It was a great time and following dinner we headed off to Olon to another party at Mi Cotinga and following that party we then went back to Manglaralto to finish off the evening with some drinking and dancing at Playa De James.

vimeo.com/241922359

Our Eighth Month

     We started off the month with a bus ride into La Libertad to pick up a new water heater and Pedro looked after installing it. I made sure to take some photos of the water meter and the power meter. Wish I would have taken a photo of the power meter last month as the bill came in a whopping $71 with additional fees for garbage collection and Fire Department bringing it up to $91 which is the most we have paid in all of our time in Ecuador. Strange as all of our lights are 15 watt, 25 watt or 9 watt. I am guessing the pool pump may be contributing to the cost.
     I received the water bill which showed the water reading hadn't changed in the last month although I knew for a fact that it had. Oh well, only have to pay $5 this month. Claudette has been cooking some really healthy meals. I look forward to it every day.

     We have made it a plan to eat at Play de James every Saturday evening as one of the local couples looks after preparing the meal and running the bar. They make a bit of income from this venture each week which helps them out. James also gets the night off from running the bar. His new bar is slowly coming along. It's a great place to get to meet most of the local gringos.
     We have seen cows and horses wandering the malecon past our house. We see all kinds of wild life but horses and cows in town just seems a little unusual. Caught this photo through our kitchen window.

     We went to Daveed and Preston's open house on Holiday Monday. James made sure to bring his beer on a dolly.

     I was making coffee one morning and noticed a moth on the window so thought I would go outside and get a better look. I was surprised at it's wing formation. It even had a horn on it's back. I told Claudette about it and she thought it was a bat moth that was recently out of it's cocoon.

     I had to shut down the pump for the swimming pool as I was loosing water through the drain line. Each time I wold backwash the sand filter, and place the valve back in Filtration mode, it would leak past the valve and down the drain line. I decided to put a ball valve in line on the drain line to stop that from happening. We had to head to the pool store in La Libertad to obtain the valve. Another bus trip which included some shopping at Paseo Mall.
     On Saturday I had Pedro install the valve for me. I also picked up a little electric 1/2 hp motor as I would like to see if I can keep the pool topped up with salt water from the ocean. At least I won't be losing any water now that the valve is installed on the drain line. I just have to remember to open the valve when ever I plan on back washing or draining the pool.
     I then had Pedro pressure wash the outside property wall facing the street. He then scraped some of the loose or peeling paint off so that it would be prepped for painting the next Saturday. I thought I would select a sandy color rather than the white that was on the wall and the house. Will trim it with dark brown later on.
     We decided to catch a cab over to Olon for dinner on a Wednesday evening as there was live entertainment. It is only a $2 cab ride over there. The dining was okay and the singer's vocals were really pleasant to listen too.

https://vimeo.com/235270006

     The next morning I planted some vegetables in the garden. I put in a row of cabbage, lettuce, radishes and carrots. I put some stones that were left in the house to mark the rows.

     We headed into La Libertad to pick p some more items, less than usual which is nice as we are finding more and more items locally. I checked with our property lawyer on our deed and this time he informed me that it would take a couple of weeks yet. Some issues with the new lady in Salinas continually asking question after question. Starting to sound like she may be from Jamaica.
     Pedro painted the outside wall and fence with the new color that I picked up. He used a paint brush even though I supplied him with a roller. A roller won't work on the house because of the stone type texture.
     On Sunday Claudette offered to take me for lunch at a nearby restaurant that is only open occasionally. For $5 there was more than I could eat. It was more than we would normally pay in town but it contained loads of protein.

        The next day we walked the beach to Montanita again and enjoyed some lunch before heading back home. We manage to get or 10,000 steps in by taking this little trek.

     When we got home it was high tide so I retrieved a short video while I was scouting out a spot to pump sea water from for the swimming pool.

https://vimeo.com/235268041

     Looks like that plan means shifting a lot of rocks, so we'll put that idea on the back burner for now. We'll have to see just how much our water bill is next month as they didn't actually read it last month. It should come to two months of water.
     Seems that every time we walk into Montanita, we have lunch before heading back home. We have been trying different restaurants each time. There are enough in this town to keep us entertained for a very long time. On this occasion we started with a mojita as they were free with the meal and then 2 for 1 pricing afterward. Two of these are enough.

     Following lunch we walk back home along the beach. Always a nice walk to complete the 10,000 steps that we should put in every day. Our home in the following picture is off in the distance on that point with all of the fir trees.

     We heard a rumor that the house south of us wold be back on the market and while walking past it today, the sign was up. It's for sale again!

http://www.ieiecuador.net/default.asp?f=listing_details&listingid=396905&listingtype=1

     Once back home I headed over to Playa De James's for a cool one and spotted this bird in the park. We had a hard time figuring out what kind of Heron it was but our friend Roger who does some birding felt it was a Yellow Crowned Night Heron.

     Friday night and we decided to try one of our local small restaurants that serves Burgers and Fries on their menu. We have had them deliver right to us at Playa De James but thought it would be a good idea to let others see us dining at their establishment. We order a picture of Sangria which was loaded with plenty of fruit as you can see from our glasses. It tasted great!

     On this Saturday Pedro began painting the fence and fence wall with the color that I had selected. Turned out that it wasn't exactly what I was looking for but I  am sure it will grow on me. It has just a little too much yellow in it.

     Spent my Sunday out on the back patio listening to tunes and reading a book. It's tough reading a book out here as there are far too many distractions with the waves and the wildlife. Small iguanas running around and pelicans swooping by. They are so fun to watch as they glide along the waves.

     We occasionally stroll around town shortly after dinner once I have the dishes washed. You get to see a lot more at night as the town kind of comes to life after dark. Even the local church looks good when it's all lit up at night.

     Our neighbor Monica gave us a lift into Olon so that I could get some plumbing fittings that were not available in town. We got what we needed after a little back and forth communication in broken Spanish. It was good that they had several employees behind the counter and one could understand a little English. We then walked to the beach and had a little lunch before returning home.
 

     

     Sporting my Evraz cap. Making the world stronger was their slogan. I used to have close to 40 or 50 caps but had to discard a bunch. Only have about a dozen with me now. They come in handy on a sunny day. 

     We caught a cab back to Montanita and then walked the beach back home. A cab ride home is $2 and a cab ride to Montanita is $1.50 so we saved $.50. That will by a few oranges!

     One of the things that makes my day is seeing these little tykes from daycare strolling the malecon in front of the house. They all hold hands and every one of them looks so happy.

     Here are the fishing boats on our beach. And at the same time there are about 20 of them in the water fishing right now. I know those that are in the water are not from our town, so it tells me that there is good fishing just off the beach from our town.

     I had Pedro sweep off the roof before tackling the painting of the wall on the house. We get a lot of fir needles that land on the roof. The needles are about a foot long. I think it's a good idea to clean them off every few months especially prior to the hot rainy season coming up in December.

     I have had this cat visiting with me off and on over the last couple of months. I have started to feed him as he was looking so thin and unloved. He just adores attention and as I have seen him with a mouse, I trust he's doing his job around our property. Since I started to care for him, he's starting to look healthier.

     I love sleeping in and staying up late. It sure is nice to wake up to a view like this in the morning. It's a true pleasure to open the blinds to see what the weather is like. This turned into a nice sunny afternoon and when it's like that, I spend most of my time out on the patios.

     Truly a beautiful view and I have to wonder why I even want to leave home. Ah, but we do have to get out and socialize with the neighbors as most everyone in town is friendly. We spent a late evening at Playa De James that even the kittens could sleep just about anywhere.

    

     We returned for the Saturday night dinner but didn't stay late as the night before was still weighing heavy on me. Meal by Luis and Caty was good though. We have been attending this dining experience every Saturday for the last month. It's a night off from the good cooking that Claudette provides and a night off for her too.

     Wondering why we chose Ecuador, not anymore!

Our Seventh Month

     We started off the month slowly unpacking boxes. Over 100 of them so it's been fun. Some of this stuff I had not seen in over a year. We started packing a lot of our stuff prior to listing our home for sale which took over a year to sell with Calgary's declining economy.
     Our home was 3600 sq ft and our new home in Manglaralto is about 1600 sq ft  smaller, so just finding a place for everything has been challenging. I have been donating a lot of items.
     We received notice also that the water would be disconnected. It was a final notice which I had to run off to pay. Total was $124.00 so I took some photos and emailed them to our real estate lawyer to double check with the home seller on why we had to pay so much. I received the power bill the next day which was okay. That was a relief.
     Had to shoot a couple of videos of the ocean in front of the house.

https://vimeo.com/231791336

https://vimeo.com/231791343

     Claudette has been spending some time watching the whales that swim by. Doubt we'll ever get tired of it. The whale season ends in September as the ocean begins to warm up as El Nino starts to take over as the predominant current. The ocean is currently 25 C and will now start to warm up to 29 C.
     The temperatures this month have been quite comfortable. Highs of 24 or 25 Celsius and lows of 19 or 20 C so we have not had to use any AC and rarely use a fan. It has been relatively overcast most of the month. A little rain at night and in the early mornings. It usually ends by noon and the clouds get lighter. We get the odd day where the sun breaks through.

     We got to see our first sunset before the clouds covered it up. Most of the residents in town tell us that the cloudy days are not normal similar to how we experienced all of the rain in Salinas. We are in the middle of winter here and if this is what winter is like, then I will take it.
     We have been attending Playa de James every Saturday evening for dinner and drinks. His bar was within stumbling distance from our house and now he is 7 blocks away. I have found that I can still stumble that far.

     We have been heading into La Libertad just about every week to buy items for the house. The Hypermart at the Paseo shopping mall is similar to a Walmart and carries just about everything. It means taking the bus which is about an hour ride and then a short cab ride to the mall and back. We have also made some stops at some other shops to pick up pool supplies along with a propane bottle for the BBQ. It was fun bringing that one back on the bus. It was even full when we purchased it.
     We can get most of our food stuffs and cleaning supplies right here in Manglaralto. There are several small tiendas to choose from. We even have fresh fish and seafood delivered right to our door. Fresh fruit and vegetables are even delivered to the door. We received 50 oranges, 25 mandarins, 15 bananas and a bag of potatoes for $5. I love juicing, so I am enjoying all this fruit.

     We then headed back into La Libertad to pick up a water heater as the one that came with the house did not work. It was a propane heater which is frowned upon now as the government subsidizes propane for cooking purposes. A 40# tank of propane is $3.75 to refill. The government wold like to end that subsidy and is promising more reliable power to meet that end.
     We have been experiencing the odd power outage and water outage too. We have a cistern that we can utilize for the water outages but nothing for the power outages. It just means a cool shower if the power's out in the morning.
     We have walked to Montanita a couple of times and enjoyed some dining along with grabbing a few groceries before spending $1.50 to cab it back home.

     Montanita is this side of the point in the photo above. Olon is on the other side of the point. We will have to check out some dining in that town next month. Here is a short video of some unsuspected cows walking the street in front of our house. It includes some of the lot next door to us which is empty and the house next to it which will be up for sale soon.

https://vimeo.com/232589122?activityReferer=1