AND WE'RE BACK, THANK GOODNESS

It has been several months since our new computer, old computer and tablet died and our last blog update. Because the computer was still under warranty, we took it back for repair to the computer store in Tacloban where we bought it We stayed at Hotel Alejandro which was nicely decorated for Christmas.

We did a little shopping at Citi Hardware for fixtures and we decided to stop by Ruiz Furniture where we found a nice table with a built in lazy susan and chairs. We also bought a sleeper couch which comes in handy when we have company over.

Since then, we occasionally went to an internet cafe to check Facebook and e-mail. In early February Flor was in Maasin and bought a MyPhone (think iPhone knock off but, get this – it has Angelus programmed in to go off at 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock and 9 o'clock everyday – and I'm thinking if this is America, there would be lots of gnashing of teeth). It is internet ready and Flor was able to check Facebook.

We picked up our fixed computer mid February and while there we shopped at ACE Hardware. They had a Black & Decker string trimmer which we went ahead and bought. We had a couple of days in a row of no rain and Mike started using the string trimmer on the most overgrown part of the property. He enjoyed using it (reminded him of the Kansas) and unburied several pineapple plants that had been overgrown with weeds.

While in Tacloban, JJ and Mike did their annual immigration report. We paid 320 pesos each and had to sign their immigration card.

We enjoyed Christmas with the tree Flor made. It was a tree limb that she wrapped paper on. We did have some blue Christmas lights (Dad Owen loves blue Christmas lights so we opted for blue lights) and decorated the porch. JJ's school had a Christmas program where the kids exchanged gifts.

JJ continues with his schooling. He is doing good, even in the Philippine language subjects. When Mike needs an interpreter and Flor is not around, he calls on JJ.

It is the heart of rainy season here. It has rained for about 4 out of 5 days for the last several weeks. It is not just rain, it is rain with high wind. Sometimes it is side ways rain. We have temporary yard flooding, but the water drains off rather quickly. The rains did reveal a flaw in our house plan. We have big windows and gable vents and the rain would blow into the house. We closed down the gable vents half way and added shutters to the windows.

We also have experienced several earthquakes. Does shake the house some and sways the hanging lights. You can hear some of them coming, there is a deep rumbling sound coming from deep down and then the earthquake hits. We felt the big one that hit Surigao in early February. It went on for a good 3 – 4 minutes and shook the house quite a bit. Still, we do not have any damage and we get on with life.

Plumbing in the house is basically complete. We have a 55 gal drum half buried in the dirt attached to the city water with a float valve in the drum. The drum can fill when we have water (in dry season it comes about 3:00 am). We have a pump on top of the drum with a pressure switch attached to the house plumbing. Open a faucet, the pump comes on and provides water. We have a 2^nd 55 gal drum for reserve water for the dry season. It is nice having pressure at the faucets. We have shower assembly which is a water heater so we can have warm/hot showers.

We continue to buy, process and sell coconut meat. The cooker is working out good and we ended up with an almost mold free batch on our last run. After cooking and shucking the coconut meat, we leave it in the cooker to air dry. We put a fan in the fire box and push air through the coconut meat. We then chop, bag and load the coconut meat in the Revo to take to San Juan where we sell it. We do have a lot of husks left over and try to burn it before it gets wet. If it gets wet it cannot be burned and we have quite a few that are wet and waiting for dry season to burn. We did have a couple of days of no rain the first week of March and was able to burn some off.

Leaving the coconut meat in the cooker keeps it off the porch and we were able to reclaim our porch to use as a porch. And in between coconut processing and making shutters, Mike made a porch swing out of bamboo. His thoughts were to make the swing then go to town to get screw hooks, bolt hooks and chain. Mike misses West Lake Ace, he tried all the hardware stores in town and could not find the hooks and chain. Since we were heading to Tacloban to get the computer Mike thought maybe Ace or Citi Hardware would have the hook and chains. No they did not, Citi did have some chain, but it was expensive and not the best chain. The only option Mike could come up with was rope and drill holes in the framework for the rope. It is very nice and relaxing. Porch swings are an uncommon sight in the Philippines and the looks it gets are interesting. They are not used to that, although they have hammocks.

Our sow had her litter and we had 7 piglets. Two piglets died and we suspect the sow accidentally crushed them. One of the remaining piglets went to the man who provided the boar that inseminated our sow. Since most Filipinos operate on a day to day cash need, they expect payment when selling a piglet. When we had our piglets, nobody could afford to pay for piglets. Since we did not need the cash immediately, three piglets went to a butcher that will pay us when she butchers the pigs. We get a report on the three piglets from the butcher every week. We kept the runt to raise to weight. He is no longer a runt and is eating good. He is a strange pig, acts like a dog, likes to be petted and demands food. He likes to dig and lay in his holes. The sow is pregnant again and should have her next litter in April.

The night of February 23, Mike went to put the goats in their pen. Next to the female was standing a new born goat. The next morning Mike went to put the goats out of the pen and there was a 2^nd newborn under the pen. Mike did not know if he missed it the night before, or if the female gave birth to the 2^nd over night and it fell out of the pen. Either way, the 2^nd newborn was not doing good and the mother did not want anything to do with it. We tried to bottle feed it, but by mid day the 2^nd kid was dead, sad. However, the 1^st kid is doing okay, is a female, and we raise it for breeding. Except for the initial cost of buying goats, they are cost-free and mostly profit when sold. Our Billy is starting to sport his beard and still has his do.

The rice field is heading out and looks good. Should be harvesting mid to late March.

We have a couple of jackfruit trees on the property. One of the trees keep dropping its fruit and Mike is working on this tree. The other tree has a nice fruit on it with several small ones.

We also have avocado tree and it's bearing some fruits but not very many. The strong winds cause the flowers to drop before they have the chance to develop. Avocado trees normally have lots and lots of fruits when in season but I don't think our tree will have many this year. This is its first time to bear fruit.

We have a cacao tree on the property that bears fruit. The fruit does not last long as the neighbor kids ask to pick it so they can eat the pulp. Flor lets them pick it as long as they give the seeds to her. Flor intends on grinding the seeds to make cacao powder, which is pure bitter chocolate.

As always thank you for following our blog.  God bless.