Tideproofing, Steak, and Septic Storms...
Friday after work, Nathan and I were in the front yard working when a local guy was speaking with our neighbor - and offered to help spread rock, with our neighbor vouching for his work. Perfect! Welcome to the team, Benji.
Saturday was our "60 days in Belize" mark! We're still here! I think we're starting to find our groove, and realize that we have really large-scale plans and decisions to make. It's daunting, but we have to take the leap and get our butts in gear.
We were deterred by morning rain; we had to get the yard ready for the rock to be spread on Sunday! Fortunately it cleared mid-morning, and Nathan went to work installing the lattice skirting around the bottom of our home. Additionally, we moved the larger rocks around to create barriers for the many, many raccoons around our property.
Nathan determined the outlet Nick replaced for us for our septic pump wasn't working when he plugged in a hedger. Swearing ensued. Nick came out Saturday afternoon to take a look. It turns out, the outlet is fine - but as soon as we plug in the pump, it trips the breaker. He said the pump's wiring is causing the issue. Fantastic.
Saturday night we had reservations at Charmaine's Cafe, a restaurant we had not been to yet. On the first Saturday of the month, she offers a $55BZ Prime Rib special, with mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables, and a roll. We have not tried anything in the "steak" category here beyond a carne asada, as most say it is very tough and chefs aren't well-versed in preparing steak. Well, Charmaine figured it out! See the video here: Prime Rib Night at Charmaine's Cafe
Nathan ordered the tenderloin option - it was a thinner steak than you might expect but well-seasoned and tender! As you can see, my prime rib slab was an unreasonable amount of beef, but so delicious, as were the sides. Charmaine introduced herself to us; she's delightful, as is her staff - very friendly and attentive. Charmaine had us sample every one of her gelato flavors - oh boy, she's nailing that, too! Our favorites were the strawberry, coconut rum (put THAT in coffee!), and key lime pie. They produce gorgeous pastries and desserts, check them out on Back Street!
After a glass of red wine with dinner, we wandered into SuperBuy (the grocery store) next door and picked up a bottle to take home. To my surprise, they had pumpkins! Pumpkins are not very common on the island; jack-o'-lanterns are more of a North American thing, and pumpkins are expensive when imported. Naturally, they were not priced, but I posted this photo to Facebook and the general concensus was that they would be $50-60BZ each! Time for me to start farming pumpkins for next year!
Pumpkin display at SuperBuy's downtown location
Sunday morning we awoke to exceptionally hot and steamy weather. Vandam was here right at 9, and Benji and his friend rolled in closer to 10 for our 9 am start time. Nathan worked with them to get the rock distributed, but we'll be short - we didn't get the side yards at all. In hindsight, I should have put a tarp down before the truck unloaded the rock - it's deep in that area, the guys didn't want to dig it out, so we lost probably 3-4 yards of material there. We put a piece of plywood over the septic pump area so it is accessible.
I stayed safely inside, coming out to deliver drinks or weigh in on how it was going. Now that all my kitchen goods are here, I've been cooking! Cilantro-jalapeno hummus, naan, greek chicken meatballs and fries, and coconut cookies. I'm loving my Ninja Foodi XL 10-in-1 Smart Oven! It preheats in 90 seconds and, while it does give off some heat, is so much better than firing up our butane-heated oven! I had a basic air fryer in Phoenix, but this machine does it all efficiently. I'm concerned that I may be making (and eating!) a batch of coconut cookies daily, it's so easy. And they are like crack! Here is the recipe I used - I subbed coconut oil for the butter. Brilliant! Chewy Coconut Cookies Recipe
By 3, 3:30 the guys were pretty much done and definitely overheated; we burned through 13 PowerAdes and 8 sodas, plus water. It's not complete, but our yard looks a ton better, and we should be able to stay out of the tide water when the King Tide returns this month!
This morning I was notified by Maricopa County that my signature for voting did not match my signature on file. No shit, I had to sign it electronically... They provided directions to log in and verify the vote, which had me upload a photo of my state-issued ID and do a good amount of information verification. Fingers crossed they accept it now!
I also contacted Angel, referred by one of our neighbors, to look at our septic pump. He was able to come by quickly, and confirmed what Nick told us - our septic pump is shot, and our sewage is seeping. Even better, whenever the tide comes in, it's filling up our septic and stressing out the pump. You can likely feel the tab for this rising, as do we... Angel is sending Jose and Vandam (working for Angel is Vandam's "day job") by this afternoon to dig out the pump and see where all the pipes go, to provide a full quote for repair/replacement. Angel suggested raising the pump above the water line so it doesn't short out when the tide rises. $$$$$$$$$
I'll be home today waiting for that estimate, and I ordered a Butane delivery for our 100# tank - this is how we fuel our stove and oven. They're supposed to call before they come some time this week, we'll see if that happens!