Every morning I mix half a bag of cement and make a dozen patio stones for my new greenhouse floor.
August 3
Life in the jungle: After making my patio stones I did a little bit of yard work and planting around the house. The sky looked like it would rain any second and I figured I should be close to my patio stones when it started raining so that could cover them up if need be.
I planted some Rambutan seeds, watermelon, cantaloupe seeds, and some hibiscus and cactus cuttings that had rooted and were now established and growing well. I also worked on some clothing Instagram posts for my print-on-demand website (that I had recently started) and video editing. But I was not happy with my productivity.
I also got a Warm Showers bike touring message this evening. I have a guest coming tomorrow.
A spitting spider
August 4
Life in the jungle: I made my dozen patio stones and then did a little housework in anticipation of my guest. I decided to chop in the coconut field today. In anticipation of my guest, I figured I wouldn’t concentrate well in front of the computer and I have so much outdoor work I don’t know where to start. I desperately need to start staking and flagging last month’s seedlings that I planted. Most seedlings are looking great. But most of them are not visible anymore from the height of the grass, weeds, and vines that are growing all over them, hence the need for flags and stakes. I got stung by my first wasp this year.
My guest, Jakob is a 21 year old German kid biking around the world. He arrived this afternoon. Twenty-one seems so young but he grew up with his family bike touring most of their family vacations.
A cashew and pomegranate seedling flagged and staked
August 5
Life in the jungle: Today was not a very productive day. I made my patio stones and then I brought my guest up to the village for a bike ride. We picked up groceries and we biked into Bermudian Landing. A new hen has decided to set. That makes three hens sitting on eggs, so now I am completely out of eggs to eat for breakfast tomorrow.
Another hen sitting on eggs
August 6
Life in the jungle: Today is Sunday. I slept in and then I gave Jakob a tour of the property and took him to visit my big Tubroos tree in the jungle behind the coconut field. In the afternoon I wrote 1,650 words of the Mexico chapter of my book. I am getting close to completing my Mexican chapter.
August 7
Life in the jungle: Jakob left very early this morning to catch the bus to the city to catch a water taxi to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. He left his bike and gear here until he returns from the caye.
I made my dozen patio stones and then spent the rest of the day finally completing my application to be an online English tutor. I have been making excuses for over a week about completing this job. It turned out to be a long and miserable job completing my application to be an online English tutor. I had to make an introduction video about myself. I am very uncomfortable with this type of task. The other frustrating aspect was that my phone selfie/display camera lens is cracked, so I had to record myself with the phone camera positioned backward. It took forever to make many multiple sample photo tests to make sure the angle and positioning of my “broken” tripod was sitting right. [In the end, I would end up abandoning the idea of becoming an English tutor.]
Mango seeds and a few days after putting them in soil
August 8
Life in the jungle: I sort of slept in this morning. I should have opened some windows last night for the sunrise to wake me up this morning. I usually always keep my bedroom windows open to help wake me up every morning.
I technically have three sleeping areas that I use for myself. For many months after I first arrived in Belize I slept in my loft. That is technically my bedroom. After some really bad allergies, I transitioned to sleeping in my hammock for many months. And then I ended up sleeping in a bed at a hostel in Guatemala for a weekend and my back got very sore. Which I assume was from sleeping in a hammock for almost 6 months. So, then I started sleeping in the bed in my master bedroom for convenience (versus the loft). But whenever a guest(s) arrives I move back to the loft. Because my current guest is visiting San Pedro Caye he is still using the master bedroom I have temporarily transitioned back to the hammock as the loft tends to get a little hot and always seems to have a mosquito or two lingering around at night. I don’t use the hammock when I have guests in the master bedroom as the hammock hangs right in the middle of the living room. Personal space is important to me and to also give personal space to my guests.
It was a hot morning. I made my dozen patio stones. After lunch, I started working on my budget and banking. This is another job I have long neglected because of having had no internet connection for such a long time. We haven’t had any rain in a few days now.
A dead Tailless whip scorpion – harmless
August 9
Life in the jungle: After making my patio stones I headed to the village for groceries. Arriving home, I did a little work on my bike. On my next city trip, I need to bring my bike in for a fairly major overhaul. Months ago, I ordered and had a bunch of bike parts shipped to Belize. I spent the rest of the working on my banking and budget. The grass is getting longer every day but we need rain.
August 10
Life in the jungle: After making my patio stones I spent the afternoon cutting grass at the ponds. The grass was up to my knees and it was killer hot today. I am completely exhausted. I also cut some of the grass in the front yard. Jacob returned from San Pedro Caye this afternoon. He also returned with beers. A very pleasant surprise. I went to bed exhausted and didn’t bother eating supper.
Baby Fer de Lance eating a skink lizard
August 11
Life in the jungle: Jakob left this morning and headed towards Guatemala. I made my patio stones. It was another killer hot day. I spent the afternoon cutting the front yard grass. In the heat it really kind of killed me pushing through such thick grass. My hands are sore with blisters from cutting the grass these last two days. I had no appetite for supper.
it’s hot out
Belize Part 89 (July 25 to Aug 2)
Belize Part 88 (July 18 to 25)
Of Note: At this time I am currently 11 to 12 months behind in posting my Belize blog posts due to having no internet for the first 18 months of living in Belize.
Glossary of Terms
Glossary of words or people that may or may not be part of this blog post. This glossary will be at the bottom of every blog post for Belize.
Jack & Jill – These are my ex-property managers (names changed). They are Canadian, they introduced me to Belize in 1997, sold me their house in Belize in 2003, and rebuilt my house from 2014 to 2018. I have known them for over 30 years. After almost 20 years of me supporting their life here in Belize Jack decided quite unexpectedly to declare “war” on me right before Christmas 2021. They would end up stealing my business license and causing me a lot of grief. They live on the farm, but not on my land.
Wayne – He is the son of the original owners of the farm (both owners are deceased). The original farm was 2 – 30 acre pieces minus 2 – ¾ acre parcels for my house and 2 – ¾ acre parcels that Jack & Jill own which were all originally purchased from the original owners. In 2017 Wayne sold me 40 acres of land from the original 60 acres (30 acres plus 10 acres). Wayne lives in his parent’s house and has a few cows on his remaining 17 acres of land.
The ponds – I have 2 large (300ft long x 50ft wide x 10ft deep) ponds on my 30 acre parcel of land which is basically a jungle. I have about 60 coconut trees (mostly mature) around the ponds. In my first 2 years of living in Belize, I also planted about 250 assort fruit tree seedlings (Lime, jackfruit, custard apple, pomegranate and avocado).
The coconut field – I have about 400 coconut trees planted (various growth states) on about 3 acres of cleared land of the 10 acre parcel. I plan to add various fruit trees to the same field as soon as I can.
The river lot – my house sits on an ¾ acre lot. I have a second joining ¾ acre lot that allows me river frontage on the Belize River. I call that my river lot.
The dry – Belize has 2 main seasons. The rainy season and the dry (no rain). The wet is obviously the rainy season.
Chopping – using my machete to clear brush, vines, weeds and unwanted trees.
