Two Months Now

WOW!

Almost two months now since we left Canada...you know the saying...time flies when you're having a good time...it's very, very true!

I can't believe it's over a week now since I last blogged. We have been so busy.

The carport is now officially complete.

Our handrails have been fabricated, installed and painted.

We are still painting the inside of our security bars...very tedious job.

We have begun to paint the outside of the house. This is no small feat. We didn't think we had a very big house until we started painting. I want a hut I decided. Less work!

Ross cleaned the basement bedroom. No living insects anymore. Light fixtures are hung. Windows are clean. And, the bathroom door now closes thanks to a machete that was used to plane the door so it fit into the frame. (Ross thinks he's becoming Dominican...well at least he's starting to think like one - gotta be innovative when you don't have tools which I hear about daily.)

We're still working on the neighbour's yard. Our current project is draining the pool with a garden hose...been at it for three days now...probably another two at least. Now that's a tough job.

I now have another job - a part-time job. Doing some paperwork for (get this)...Rent A Gringo. Ross is their "new" mechanical guy. We have a welder, a roofer/painter and a carpenter/plumber. What a team of misfits!! LOL

I'm still going to the animal shelter every Wednesday morning for a few hours.

Last job: suntan which is getting wicked by the way!

Still no sign of rain and we could desparately use one day at least. We have had to start watering plants every night...not good!

Still counting the sleeps till Hailey's arrival.

Thieves Market

Ross and I went out this morning to the Thieves Market at the Jolly Roger Bar. Kinda like a farmer's market only lots of second hand stuff, new stuff, burned movies, food and lots of other stuff.

Got some new "used" books to read and had breakfast.

I picked up my new, handcrafted shoe rack. Perfect fit by the front door. Just have to train Ross to put his shoes on it now!! LOL

So we stopped at the local minimart on our road on our way home this morning. I wanted to pick up a fresh chicken, a bottle of water and some fresh pork chops (from the German butcher next door). The minimart has a little bit of everything there...cold beer, rum, fresh veggies, rice...and VIAGRA...holy but did I laugh...just imagine...stop for a quick beer, a bbq chicken half, a little blue pill and off to see your woman...only thing missing from this little scenario is a remote control!

Ross had a little project. He decided to see if he still had his high school carpentry skills. He built a seat for the back of the quad. He used up some of the left over lumber from the carport. I must admit, it turned out quite nicely. He sat Jack on the back of the quad today and took him for a short ride. Jack only fell off once but clearly enjoyed his ride with Dad. I guess the next ride will have to be mine although I'm hoping that Ross will put some padding on the bottom to save my delicate butt from slivers...

Weather has been so friggin HOT. We haven't had rain in eight days now and we are starting to feel its affect. We had to water all the plants last night as everything is starting to dry out. We go into town and it feels like we are in an oven. Good thing we almost always have a breeze on our little patch of paradise. I actually ventured into the pool today as I was so hot.

So the carport is almost finished. We are waiting on one last roll of roofing material and it is finished. It has been re-enforced with cross beams...something for me to back into!

Life is good...relaxing and fast all at the same time. The days seem to fly by so quickly. It's a busy day when you do a load of laundry, check your facebook, make dinner and fall into bed at 9:30 pm because you're exhausted.

27 more days and Hailey arrives for a much anticpated visit!!!!!

Some rambling.....

Yesterday, I hired a local boy (Manuel) to do some painting for me. He's 13 years old and is one of the few remaining local shoe-shine boys in Sosua. He's basically a good kid but does require supervision. I have to give him credit, he took his task very seriously and worked hard in the hot sun.

I had him painting the fence, some window trim and apparently part of the house along with his jet black hair. His trimming skills are not that good yet...LOL

By this time this nice young man finished up a whole gallon of paint, he looked like a gringo. He was covered with paint! Ross and I decided the poor kid should take a shower to wash some of the paint off before sending him home. Ross got the basement bathroom cleaned up for him to use. There are a few things I should have pointed out to Manuel BEFORE leaving him alone in the bathroom.

1. Closing the shower curtain when showering. Aparently, Manuel has never had to close a shower curtain (probably has never showered in an actual shower stall before). The bathroom floor was completely soaked with about a 1/2" of water on the floor. No harm done...its tiled and has a drain on the floor.

2. Shutting the water off after taking a shower. After Manuel came out of the shower and dressed in his painted clothes, he joined us on the patio. I thought I could hear water running so went to check the bathroom...yes, water was still running...towel on the floor..typical teenager.

Manuel didn't know how to put a seatbelt on either. When I drove him back to town, I had to show him how to put a seatbelt on.

This gives me some great insight into how much we take for granted. We have to re-teach our way of thinking in this country. There are so many people in this country that have not been exposed to what we consider daily acts in life. Many people have told us not to expect much from the Dominicians and Haitians when getting them to work for us. I will probably get burned for my efforts but I want to be optimistic and try and help someone everyday in some small manner. It left me with a good feeling to pay this young man for his labour and it left him with a huge smile on his face to put some pesos in his pocket.

I am going to have him come and work for me on Thursday as well.

So, now for the good part.....

Ross and I were invited out for beer and pizza last night by a couple of guys we have working on our carport. We went to the local mini-market about a km from our house...middle of nowhere...you can pick up some staples, water, etc...they bbq chicken, make pizza...it's quite a busy establishment.

We sat at the picnic tables for about three hours. Good food...cold beer and met lots of people. So, now it's dark, the guys on the bike had no headlight..."not to worry," says Blaine..."it's all downhill into town." We were all pretty gooned. Three beer (an not little beer bottles either) for RD$100 (about $3.65)I for one was glad we didn't have far to go to get home.

God Bless the Dominican Republic!

Ants

Ross and I have been discussing the dramatic amounts of snow that home has been receiving. We only have access to American news (New York/Boston) and are amazed at the amount of snow the northwest states have been receiving. We can't say enough how glad we are that we don't have to shovel snow, wear gloves and boots, and be cold.

That being said, we have our own problems.

1. We are dealing with constant sediment in our pool. Try and try as we might, we just can't seem to get it under control. We have hard water and I think there are large amounts of calcium in our water and I think this is part of our problem.

2. Vines and weeds. Not only do the plants grow quickly, so do the weeds. I pull weeds everyday and they appear to grow in front of my eyes.

and.......

ANTS!

Note to self, when Ross drops food on the floor between the stove and cupboard, pick it up IMMEDIATELY. Before we went to bed last night, Ross commented that there were a couple of ants on the cupboard. Upon further investgation, I found a piece of meat on the floor between the cupboard and stove COVERED in sugar ants. Got out the handy can of toxic bug spray and took care of that problem.

But, our problem didn't end there. When I got up this morning, my countertops were literaly moving. I forgot to put a few crackers away in a plastic bag and the ants were having a feeding frenzy.

Unfortunately, I used up the last of the industrial strength bug spray last night and didn't have any left. Thus, at 8 am I was at the Supermarcado buying the biggest can of spray I could find.

Ants are gone and my kitchen is now spotless and insect free!

And the carport saga continues.....

We have three guys: a business major (from England), a welder (from Saskatchewan) and some Swedish dude who breathes too many paint fumes. All nice guys who are trying...

Ross stands and shakes his head...their construction work will pass however, they argue constantly. Maybe by May they will be done...rotflmaopmp

You can't help but laugh at them. Even they say that they work "Dominican" style...which means VERY slowly. To their credit, they do analyze everything to death and do measure twice!

Volunteer Work

I started some volunteer work today at the local animal shelter. They are a not for profit society similar to the SPCA in Canada excepte they are extremely under funded and unorganized. Their intentions are absolutely fantastic, however, without more volunteers and sponsors it will remain so. They have some wonderful dogs and absolutely adorable puppies. Ross almost came home with a little brown, black and white lab cross. I had to drag him away. I met some really great people today as well and got a bunch more insight into living in the DR.

The most important lesson I learned today: never kill a Dominican's chicken. They will kill you. It's like it's their national bird or something so you don't touch. We joke about killing the rooster that lives not far away that starts crowing about 5 am but I was cautioned to not even think about touching it. Dammit! I hate that rooster!

I'm going back on Friday to the shelter to help organize and clean the office and whatever else they throw my way. Ross is going to come and walk the dogs and play with the puppies.

We've been busy working in the yard. I mowed the lawn for the first time yesterday. Thank god for the neighbour's lawnmower that had an automatic drive on it. Even so, I have muscles that are sore that I didn't know that I had. All this outdoor work is making for one awesome tan. No tanning bed required here!!

I bought a rake today. I am so excited to be able to gather up all the crap from along the fences and I won't have to step in the fire ants. I have been searching for a rake for six weeks now and finally found one at Freddie's Hardware Store. Another trick I've learned: fire ants don't like baking soda. You feed it to them, they take it home to the family, feed them and they DIE. Tough life.

Cure for mosquito bites: organic molasses (another tidbit I picked up today). One tablespoon, once per day will supposedly stop the itching. Takes about two weeks to be effective. So, my plumbing will be cleaned out, my iron levels boosted and hopefully, no more itching! Probably have to stick close to home for the first couple of days.

The quad and chain hasn't come out yet to move the tree that Ross cut down. This means I haven't been able to play with gasoline and fire yet. Maybe tomorrow when the construction crew is here we can get that tree moved and burned! Ross was working on chopping down another tree today but it's a biggie so it may take awhile.

So, I was reading about all the snow that BC has been getting as well as other parts of western Canada. I'd really like to say I miss that weather but I'd be lying. We had not a cloud in the sky all afternoon with a lovely breeze blowing. Just leaves us wondering when visitors will begin to arrive :)

Swimming Pool Maintenance

I learned a lesson today - CAREFULLY READ THE LABELS ON YOUR POOL CHEMICALS.

I committed a major screw-up over the last two days. I've been faithfully testing the pool water to check for proper PH and Chlorine levels. For the past couple of weeks, the PH level has been slowly creeping up. I know that the PH needs to be lowered cause I'm starting to get a lovely green carpet on the walls of the pool and the chlorine just isn't cutting it anymore. So, I get out the 3.5 lb tub of what I think is "PH reducer" and start dumping this soft white, expensive powder into my pool yesterday. The water was a little cloudy but after consulting with Ross (aka non-pool expert either), we agree to leave it "settle" overnight to see what happens.

This morning, the pool looks no better so around 9 am, I decide to turn the pump on and give it a healthy dose of "PH reducer". By now there is about 1/2 lb left in this huge tub. My water is so cloudy it looks like fluffy white clouds in the sky. And, as the pool pump circulates the "PH reducer", I am watching the clouds becoming thicker and thicker. I'm thinking...WTH is wrong?

It is at that point I decide to re-read the label for further instructions.......not good...I've just put 3 lbs of PH BOOSTER into my pool.....

So, now what? I google "how to reduce the PH in your pool". Muratic acid...about a $1 a gallon.....I dump two gallons into my pool. PH is now approaching a normal reading. Probably only need one more gallon....

I'm becoming a pool expert....

Ross's new name is "Paul Bunyon".

He chopped down a tree today with a little, itty bitty hatchet (a boyscout sized one) and hand saw (the kind finishing carpenters use)...

Nasty large thing that was more of a weed. You can cut off the new growth and within days the damn thing is sprouting new leaves. We have a small problem...the damn thing is too heavy to drag. We have no idea what we are going to do but there was something mentioned about "quad and chain". My instincts say that this isn't going to turn out well.

I'll keep the dogs in the house with me.

Beach Day

Yesterday, Kaylen and I made a trip to Puerto Plata. My first solo trip without Ross. I didn't get lost, made all the appropriate turns, made it through the horrific traffic circle that is more like a triangle than a circle, and successfully missed all the potholes in the road! We shopped at La Serena (Dominican Walmart) and I found hair colour! Kaylen picked up a few goodies. We then drove to Cabarete and Kaylen finished her gift shopping.

We hit the beach today! Well, not literally, but we packed up the dogs, some cold beer, towels, water and went to the beach. The dogs ran their doggie butts off. We had an encounter with people riding some horses on the beach. Not the kind of encounter you are probably thinking of...the dogs were leashed when the horses passed..the horses left a small gift behind...the dogs had a vegetarian snack...yes, THEY ATE THE HORSE POOP! Little less kibble in the doggie dishes tonight...LMAO

Stopped at the grocery store on our way home. Ross sincerely loves the DR. You pick up groceries, grab a couple of cold beer from the cooler and the cashier actually opens them for you at the till so you can enjoy your cold beverage on your drive home!

What a great country!

New Year

Saw Mimi (from Drew Carey) in the bar last night. Well, at least she was a look alike. Just missing the blue eyeshadow! LOL

Drank lots of cranberry juice last night, well okay, there was a bit of vodka involved.

Lots of policia action on the streets last night trying to keep the hookers (male and female) under control. Never mind the tourist and locals. Great night to people watch and the more cranberry juice we drank, the more interesting it got.

I got two numbers last night...from old English broads...we are invited to play bingo on Tuesday. Kaylen and I will go and make an appearance. The "godmother" of the bar took us under her wing as well so we are officially accepted in Sosua!

The weather has been cold, rainy and generally crappy at best. We are wearing long pants in the evenings with hoodies. Good thing for a fluffy comforter on the bed - we would freeze otherwise. Not nice enough to hit the beach. Maybe tomorrow.

Put enough chlorine in the neighbour's pool yesterday to kill all the tadpoles in it. Nasty mess. Ross is going to fix their pump this coming week so we can get it all cleaned up for them. I have been busy pruning trees and hedges. Next all the grass will have to be mowed as well. Either that or we will have to consider a couple of goats. Jack could herd them.

So, off for a nice afternoon nap. Gonna sleep off the lovely little hangover from all the celebrating we did last night.

Happy New Year to all our friends (old and new alike) and family!