Ecuadorean Easter

Semana Santa is a big deal in Ecuador. (Holy Week) Our local church had remodeling done recently and had services starting on Thursday night.  Friday morning the procession of the cross started at the Boca and they walked to San Clemente.  

There are "stations of the cross" set up along the way, and the devout stop and pray. Some people dress the parts and act out small scenes.

At the end many go back to the church and have a service. Many businesses were closed on Friday and the weekend beach goers was smaller than usual. 

School here in Manabi starts again after Easter, so many families were busy getting ready. The weekend was also about life, and many ecuadorean enjoyed family day at home. No Easter baskets filled with jellybeans or chocolate bunnies here, no colored eggs...but stay tuned, the adventure continues. 

House sitting

One of the great opportunities I have now is house and dog sitting, I get to stay in different places and houses and get paid! I only charge $15 a day, but have realized I may need to up my prices for multiple dogs or challenging dogs. This last one was a handful. But the house and location was beautiful and worth it!

The couple recently sold this house on the beach in "Crucita" and were traveling to see where they wanted to move to next. Ocean front has its problems and they were ready for something else. I ask the owners to stock the fridge and cupboards for me as not all of the houses are close to towns or tiendas, this was one of those. Probably 3 miles from the Boca going north and 1-2 miles south til one got to a town center. And this was still a very small town, not Crucita proper.

Perry and I always go a head of time, to meet the dog and make sure we all get along,  so far we havent met a dog we didnt like. (We may not like them by the time their parents come home, hahaa) This is Wolfie, a 3 year old German Shepherd who for the first couple days would hump Perry every minute, thankfully that subsided. But he was big, loud and required daily walks on the beach and showers after.

Beach walks everyday was the easy part, we all had a wonderful time. And had a very relaxing 5 days away. I did a lot of sitting on the patio reading and watching the waves and sun.

What a wonderful place. I am so blessed and thankful for my life. Since the weather in the States is warming up, more expats are traveling so my house sitting jobs have started back up. I am booked almost all of May and into June...so stay tuned, the adventure  continues!

Wildlife

There have been some interesting wildlife visiting around my corner of the world. A couple weeks ago my friends the fishermen who park in front of the old house caught this Oarfish.  They are said to predict earthquakes,  and when one surfaces an earthquake is imminent.  Needless to say, some folks were worried...and a week later we had a 6.5 in Salinas, with up to 50 aftershocks. 

Luckily the earthquake and aftershocks did little damage.  Can't believe how big this fish, and little Zadkiel is. He turned 5 this year, I remember him so small and timid, now he wont shut up when he sees me. Que lindo!

This Bull shark showed up in San Clemente yesterday. The fishermen were able to get him turned around and back out to sea. 

And this morning I was in my bedroom and kept hearing the owl. I knew he sounded close, so got up to investigate.  And here he is looking at himself in the window. 

Another gorgeous day, and you never know what will show up, so stay tuned, the adventure continues!

Work in Progress

Sometime last year a  couple bought a house down on the Boca, and immediately when entering the man, Dave knew he wanted to change the column into a palm tree. They approached me about the task, and I got my mind going. At first he thought paint, but I really wanted something three dimensional.  A little research on Pinterest and my plan was in motion.

I wanted to make the trunk less square, so bought chicken wire to soften the edges. I had originally thought I would scrunch the wire, but it didnt seem to need it. I literally stiched the wire together to secure in place.

At times in my research I thought of using brown paper bags, or the unbleached paper towels found in gas stations, but decided on burlap once I got to the fabric store. Cut the burlap into strips, frayed one edge, and again stitched the strips to the chicken wire.

The palm fronds I did at home and brought the day of installation.  I opted for two very similar greens, for depth. My original plan had been to glue wire between the two pieces of fabric, but that wasnt working. So plan B was sew a channel in the middle, and slip the length of wire in it. I put a solution of Elmer's glue and water on the fronds, to stiffen the "leaves" but really didnt see much difference. Oh well.

I made six fronds, and after installed realized we needed more. I went back to the fabric store, but being Christmas all the green fabric was sold out. Dave and Debbie had to go back to the US to work, so the palm tree is only partially finished. But we ALL are happy with the outcome...so stay tuned, the adventure continues!