Pants Season..?! Plants Arrive, Tax-Free Weekends!
Lots going on here on La Isla...
My Feature was published on Tuesday, I'm super-excited to have such a big project in my portfolio! They didn't use my Ex-Pat Interview (yet) which is a bummer for the couple I interviewed - it will push out in a future issue. It will be delightful to be paid for that assignment in a few weeks! Income!
Tuesday night we ventured down to The Alibi in its new location, in the Reef Lofts building, across from where the Island Academy used to be. It's always great to see Joe, he's such a character! Our other reason for the journey was for fried chicken for Nathan, but they were sold out of breasts by the time we arrived. Next time!
Wednesday was a wasted day - I took an hours-long nap after not sleeping well, and it was rainy and blah - so I ordered the jalapeno popper pizza from The Dog House to take...it's soooo good. We enjoy having them close - right across the street. We are infinitely bummed that The Patty Flipper didn't re-open...they had the best burgers on the island! And it seems 303 Belize has closed permanently, as well. We are losing our walking-distance-options at an unhealthy clip. I get it - this is a TOUGH market, lots of competition, high costs...
Thursday my plant order from House of Leaves was dropped off at Tropic Air Cargo in Punta Gorda, in the very south of Belize. The owner sent me a receipt with a tracking number, so naturally, I was hitting the cargo tracker every 15 minutes or so, after my "Basil-burning disaster" shipping basil via Caribbean Queen's barge. At 5 pm, it was still showing that a bill was created, but no info on it shipping - and it would have a layover in Belize City. In light of being live plants, I decided to go check in person.
Since it had been raining all day, I was unprepared for how COLD it was outside! I put on jeans, tennis shoes, a rain jacket with hood... I was unsure how much "cold weather" clothing to move down, and I'm sure I brought too much, but boy was I thankful to have options!
Tropic Cargo said it was due in at 6, so I waited 30ish minutes to find that my plants did not make the last flight, and would leave Belize City in the morning.
Sure enough, I received a text a little after 8 this morning from Tropic Cargo that my shipment was in! I checked the tracker and it confirmed - so I guess the tracker only tells you the arrival, not that it's in transit.
Cold again - my phone said 73 but it felt considerably chillier! - I was back in jeans and a long-sleeve shirt, but flip flops. A true fashion icon.
The condition of the box had me slightly worried...
I was excited to get my treasures home and see what I had! I provided a list of what I wanted, and was sent a total cost ($125BZ including airport drop), but what actually shipped was a bit of a mystery.
It also dawned on me that I have neither a place in the ground to plant them, nor potting soil ready...d'oh!
Once home, I had 11 different types of plants - croton, all kinds of orchids, and different gingers/heliconias. Nothing was labeled, so my Google Lens function came to the rescue!
They all arrived in great condition, and the pricing was excellent - plants for sale on the island are not very common, and when they are, they are expensive - like $25BZ for a vegetable plant. I think we paid $45BZ for some canna, which in hindsight, was silly - they litter our neighborhood's common areas, I need to go on a walk. At night. With a bag. And a small shovel.
Nathan also cleaned up our coconut palms - you can see one in that photo - he shaved off all the dried thatch (I don't know what it's actually called) to expose the trunks. They look fantastic!
The rest of my day was spent preparing for a SALES TAX-FREE WEEKEND, courtesy of the Government of Belize! To encourage shopping and help us out for the holidays, this weekend and next weekend no sales tax is due - this is a big deal, as sales tax is 12.5%! I scouted hardware stores as we have some general items we need (like Orchid potting soil), but also I want to buy exterior paint (re-do the railings, and paint the doors dark blue) and find some sort of epoxy coating for our porches. If we hose them down, the concrete is disintegrating. A lot of homes in our neighborhood have tile on their porches (as do we, but just on the rear, original porch) but let me tell you, it is slippery as hell when it rains, which is pretty frequent!
I wish our beach home was close to being finished - many stores are doing sales on top of the tax waiver, like appliances 20% off, or 25% off ceiling fans.
I finally stopped at a regular "yard sale" in front of TheHotel, just north of us - an unfinished hotel that has been abandoned for years. We periodically see a large sale set up out front - tables upon tables of goods, and a lot of pots and pans. I killed it on Nellis Auction before we moved, getting All-Clad individual pieces, but I'm one saucepan short. I found a stainless steel Flint brand in excellent condition with a lid, $20BZ, and grabbed it. I was today-years-old when I bought my first piece of used cookware. It's in the dishwasher already.
We'll have to figure out a plan for renting a golf cart - with high season upon us, rates are going up. I get it - gotta make hay while the sun is shining - it's just nuts that we can't BUY a cart. At least, not without bribing someone.
It's raining AGAIN but at least my new plants aren't roasting in the sun - we'll hit the stores early tomorrow and hopefully the weather holds out for some beach visits this weekend - enjoy yours!