Mal de Mer

I get seasick. Even wearing a Scopalomine patch, I get seasick. Even on a day when the sea is flat, I get seasick. I knew all this, and until yesterday have mostly succeeded in avoiding going fishing with Ron on the Sea of Cortez. He wore me down, and I went, just to get it over with. Possibly never again. I hate nausea worse than I hate pain and spiders.

We took our neighbor Jack with us, too. Our boat has had more than its share of mechanical breakdowns this year, and I prefer Ron has a second set of knowledgeable hands on board. Plus I love Jack.

Left home at 5:30 AM, were launched and at Ron's "spot" at Isla Estaban at 7:30 AM. So far so good.

Cap'n Ron

Jack

Sunrise

The first hour or so of slow trolling for Yellowtail (tuna) was fine. We were surrounded many times by huge schools of leaping, cavorting Dolphins, SO much fun to watch but difficult to capture with the camera. And I finally learned the difference between a Dolphin and a Porpoise: Dolphins have that curved dorsal fin and a definite beak. Porpoises are smaller, have a triangular fin and a rounded snout, no beak.

See the curved fin?

See the beak?

At 9:00,  Jack hooked and landed a Yellowtail, maybe 10-15 pounds. I had begun to feel a tad queasy at this point, but not too bad. Yet.

Hookup!

Ready to net it.

Nice fish, Jack!

I decided to go lay down in the tiny "cabin" for a while, try to feel better.

Dozed off for over an hour. When I woke up, I felt worse, but apparently the patch was keeping me just shy of actually vomiting. I went to sit in the back of the boat, and suddenly the rod in the holder next to me jumped, whirred, and nearly caused an accident in my pants.

Fish On! At 11:00, Ron landed his Yellowtail, maybe 15-20 or more pounds.

Nice fish, Ron!

There was just one more fish, a small skipjack or bonito or something (which they kept to use for bait for bottom fishing), and I'm feeling worse and worse. Convinced them to cut the day short, and they were both OK with it. Trolled a bit on the way back near Isla Turner, then back on the trailer by 2:15 PM.

It took a while to gas up, wash down the boat and wait for the workers to clean our fish, but just being on land again, I felt a bit better.Was home at 3:30, and my friend Jan had arrived! We had large Gin and Tonics to celebrate, and by bedtime, I felt OK.

Never again.

This is what it's all about!

Beginning to get used to this retired thing. A few days a week I don't even shower or get dressed. Eat when I'm hungry. TiVo everything and watch them when I want. (I hate that zombie commercial from Sprint that airs 50 times a day.) Beachcomb for treasures on my ATV: found a hand-made slingshot yesterday! And am happily, almost giddily anticipating the arrival of some of my friends this week!

I've kept sort of busy stressing over the responsibility of watering plants for my neighbors. I actually have a brown thumb, no clue whatsoever what plants need, so was thrilled when Al and Sal arrived yesterday, gardeners extraordinaire.

The football season affords me ample crafting time. I go over to the trailer (Craft Central) and create. Made curtains for three trailer windows out of a khaki twin bedsheet. Lots of photos, you can click on them to enlarge for details...

Plus I've been churning out these Jellyfish, made from Sea Urchins.They'll sell at the local craft fairs.

Also have been rearranging furniture. Sold the small futon to Ann G., and decided I wanted the large wicker one in my screen porch. We use that porch a lot because the weather has turned BEAUTIFUL, PERFECT!
Also moved my best finds in years to the porch: two orange wrought iron rocking chairs. Had seen them in a yard in Old Kino, and kept going back there til I found someone home to sell them to me. 300 pesos for both! They're getting a fresh coat of Rustoleum Orange paint when Jan arrives tomorrow with the paint!

The table and chairs were moved out to the RV pad. Eventually there'll be a palm-thatched cover over that and the trailer.

And my new red quilt arrived, looks good in my red and turquoise bedroom.

I love my new casita living room with my Show Low furniture in it. Spend a lot of time moving shit around. Still awfully crowded.

That's not a stain on the carpet, just the nap askew. Have removed the hand-painted "awning" that was over the sofa, hope to put it up over the desk if the hay bale walls will hold it.

Have been attending the Friday night Happy Hours at Club Deportivo, but they're quite a snooze so far. Should improve after some of our neighbors arrive.

Loving life here. My cat Luther follows me around like a shadow, loves going with me on my plant-watering rounds. The dog Sofia discovered she's better off on the sofa at night with TWO people in the bed, which is great because she has ticks. Am using Cedar Oil in the casita and on her, seems to help. Plus Frontline and a flea/tick collar.  Going out on the boat with Ron in the morning, my first time. Will apply a Scopolamine patch tonight to prevent seasickness, supposed to be calm tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Here it is, all moved in!

Facebook Friends, you've seen these.

Non-essential boxes and excess furniture all stacked in the garage. Since these photos were taken, Ron installed a second air conditioner in the bedroom: I'd been sleeping in the trailer because the bedroom was too hot. It got to 115 IN THE SHADE here yesterday!

Living room with my Show Low Furniture. Note Sofia on sofa...



Trunk at foot of bed, holds sheets, and my stuffed cat. There's a red bedspread coming!

Ron's gigantic TV in a small room...

 

Looking toward kitchen, Knickelbein;s old recliner.

Our trailer, AKA Craft Central.

Trailer interior

Trailer interior

Need to find a TV for there. That's my Amigas with Cocktails picture!

The cat Luther is getting used to it all, and the dogs know he's mean. It's incredibly hot here: did I mention it was 115 in the shade yesterday? The AC's in the casita keep it between 80 and 85, but the trailer AC is frigid! Haven't been back to the beach because of the No-See-Ums. I read, watch TV, nap, repeat. Jaq, Larry, and Eileen visit, and I go check on the absent neighbors' plants periodically.

Just waiting, biding my time until mi amigas come home.

Ex-Pat

Sold the Show Low property, bought an old travel trailer (to use for guest quarters), loaded it up, and moved to Kino Bay full-time. I'm an Ex-Patriot.

WHEW!

Will NOT be building another casita atop the garage. Turned out that at our age, towing a trailer down here once and DONE was a simpler and less pricey solution. Better to spend it on boat repairs...

May come to regret it during the hot summers here, as summers in Show Low were SO perfect, but I'll just den up in the AC and be crafty. I suppose we could hook up the trailer and tow it somewhere cooler for a couple of months, but I'm not feeling it right now. Going to try to settle into this retired and relax thing.

Been here 4 days, already had a whole day of diarrhea (Pargo Rojo, the shrimp kebabs), have 26 No-See-Um bites, and we're still side-stepping boxes everywhere. The garage is full-to-bursting, will have a yard sale this fall.

When we don't have guests in the trailer (we never have guests) it will be my escape pod for football season and the guys' PlayStation Golf marathons. Craft Central. Amigas with cocktails...

The trailer's a 1993 Aljo, 27 feet, and turned out to be a kind of a lemon. But it's fine for what we need it for.

My rescue cat Luther loves it here. I'm keeping a close eye on him for a while until I'm positive he knows where home is. He still likes to be where I am, follows me back and forth from trailer to casita to garage. And he's taken the upper hand with the puppy Sofia. Luther disappeared for 7 days in Show Low. Came home on his own 8 pounds lighter, scarred, feeble, and sneezing but he's doing great now. By the way, those nail caps really work great if you're committed to saving your leather furniture, but they don't go on quite as easily as their video purports...

Will put up pictures of the casita (with my Show Low furniture) and trailer when we're done unloading. Maybe another month?

Need a nice, cool summer vacation home?

Or a nice, warm, winter reverse-snowbird home?

We've been thinking...yeah, I hate when that happens.

Just returned from 10 days in Minnesota. Spent oodles of quality time with some of the grandkids and 2 of the kids, but were unable to see the rest of the family nearly enough. We drove there for granddaughter Lindsay's wedding reception: busy time for them all. Got VERY homesick for child/grandchild contact, so we started discussing whether we should sell the Show Low property and try to buy something similar "Up North" in Minnesota, and just plan to spend June through September there.
But the distance from there to Kino Bay would eliminate any chance of spending time in Kino in the summer, when the Dorado (or Mahi-Mahi) are running, if you get my drift...

So! We thought some more and came up with this:

If we were to sell the Show Low property, and invest that money into making our Kino Bay Mexico property truly perfect, we could stay there all year. Force the kids to come visit.

The Kino place really needs nothing now, (maybe sturdier/more permanent utility lines and A/C) but I'd like ANOTHER casita atop the garage. Just one-room-with-kitchen-and-bath. Here's my rendition of what I'd want:

The garage is about 19 feet by 24 feet. It'll be cosy.

I figure with one of those apartment-size refrigerators under the kitchen counter, it'd be perfect for guests. Or for ME, for those times when Ron and I can't stand each other any more! I'd just move next door...
There's a small overhang outside where that sliding door is located for a narrow deck.

So I listed the Show Low place on Craigslist today to see if I got any bites.

http://showlow.craigslist.org/reo/3986275278.html

Most people don't know about the Show Low area. It's way up in the White Mountains at 6500 feet elevation, where the valley people go for the summer to escape the heat. Summer temps are rarely over 90. It's thickly forested, and lots of lakes nearby. Winter temps seem to average 30-40, snowfall varies widely, NOTHING even CLOSE to Minnesota winters. Good skiing, I'm told.

 Lots of wildlife viewing. From the sofa, LOL!

WalMart, Home Depot, Lowes, JC Penney, Walgreens and Ross are ALL a few blocks away. Gazillions of restaurants. Antique and Boutique stores, art galleries. Nice hospital. VA clinic. Casino 15 miles away. Only 3 hours from Phoenix or Tucson.

Here are more photos of the mobile home. They only allow 8 photos on Craigslist.

Rear bedroom

Rear bedroom

Second bedroom

Second bedroom

Washer and dryer in bathroom

Living room

Living room and deck

Gas grill attached to outside of elevated deck!

I'll even include the snow shovel and bear spray.

Email any inquires to barbilou2@hughes.net

Guess I forgot to blog!

Facebook Friends know all this stuff already.

Looked back and realized I haven't added any updates for quite a while. There's a few new things, some progress on mi esposo's Honey-Do list (Hah! I just accidently typed Hiney-Do and I cracked myself up!), and a bit of scary excitement.

I'm back in Arizona, too hot in Mexico already. Ron's still there, because he has a boat.

I rescued two gentlemen cats from the Humane Society. They were in adjacent cages there, figured they knew each other. No history came with them, just separately surrendered. Luther is 2-ish, a 20 pound Russian Blue who eats like he'll never get another meal. Food aggression issues, but he likes to snuggle.


Luther

Malcolm is 1.5 years, smaller, very timid but vocal, loves being petted but not held. Doesn't eat much, but then with Luther's feeding sound effects, I wouldn't either.

Malcolm

They both shed horribly, are error-free with the litterbox, and keep me hopping because of THE CLAWS. I've ordered Soft-Claws, glue on plastic nail caps that sound awful to actually apply.

I live in fear that my leather sofa and chair will be terminally shredded. Using squirt guns helps, as does the scratching post (catnip spray-on was extra) and lots of toys. I tire them out evenings with "The Red Dot" games, hoping they'll sleep all night.

Yes, I put handles on them.

My bedroom and bathroom are now blue.

There are black bears in Show Low, AZ. They like the suet and hummingbird feeders. One big guy (400+ pounds) came right up on my deck, hopped up on the railing, and snatched my suet feeder. I was on the couch watching TV right in front of the glass door. It felt like an earthquake when he got on the deck, the whole mobile home shook. They got him a few days later, darted him and relocated him. But he had come back twice in the interim. I began taking all the feeders inside every night and putting them back out in the morning. However, the other morning another one visited my deck at 9 AM, broad daylight.

Bear on railing. (Re-enactment, as I was too busy shitting myself to think of the camera.)

That's mostly what's new or different. Having lazy days here in Show Low, lots of naps and shopping. It's what I do now. I do miss my beach and my ATV and mi amigas!

(photo by Jan Knickelbein)

8/7/13 UPDATE! Malcolm was returned to the shelter. He had such severe stranger anxiety, I couldn't have anyone but me here or he'd starve to death under the futon. He needs a hermit that never has visitors. And he bit me (badly) during one of his "OMG! A voice in the living room!!!" freak-out episodes while I was trying to put him in his room. I felt like such a failure.