Friday I took my laptop and a patio chair cushion to SAGA Humane Society to hang out with their cats. SAGA can always use help walking the dogs they care for, or socializing the cats - they have around 30 cats currently, in two rooms. The new shelter is so nice! Concrete, air-conditioned...and they own it. The previous location was wood (hard to sterilize!), no A/C, and rented. Most of the ca ...

Tuesday morning I awoke to a WhatsApp from Oscar - he built us 4 teak pool chairs this time last year at a great price. We moved down a 22" Blackstone flat-top grill I had won at work, but we didn't have anywhere to set it. I asked Oscar if he took custom orders, and he did - so I sent my chicken-scratch rendering over. Two months later, our table arrived! It's perfect. But our grill is alrea ...

I've had a very busy week so I'm overdue to catch up! A few readers have asked about our beach house, so here's an update on it: Our architect, Alex, has dialed back the living space to a more agreeable size, and I've gone from having two living floors to 1. My original plan had two master bedrooms stacked on top of each other. In the U.S., it's cheaper per square foot to build up a story t ...

Nothing like a polarizing election to boost blog readership! If you are new here, welcome! My name is Sharon, and I'll be your tour guide on how to escape the U.S., regardless of your motivation. Politics and division were strong factors in our decision to expatriate.  Increased website activity wasn't on my radar Wednesday morning until a dear friend texted me: I'm sensing your expat blog ...

My apologies for the long delay in posts; life has been hectic. I was set to fly to Arizona on October 28th; the week leading up to then was a bit of a blur, trying to find an appropriate dress in my packed clothing, shoes, a jacket...make sure Nathan and the cats had everything they would need while I was gone.  We renewed our passports early just in case something went sideways with my tr ...

This week has seen a LOT of rain, with small breaks of sunshine. Surprisingly, the King Tide has not been a factor so far this month, it was projected to start on the 16th. I'd prefer it stay away as we are forecast up to 10" of rain with the tropical depression currently southeast of Belize.  Tuesday I completed the grocery shop circuit, only missing a few items from my list. I'm getting be ...

Tuesday I headed to Caribbean Queen/Depot to order rock to fill our villa's yard - they don't just deliver things via the barge, they are also a source for raw building materials like dirt, sand, rocks, etc.! I'm not entirely sure how far their scope expands, those are the items I know of for sure. They sell rock by the square yard, not ton, so this required some new calculations compared to ...

It's been a long week! The King Tide continues to torture us. The full moon was a few days ago, we had hoped it would take all of the water with it. It did not. So we now park our cart on the driveway into our bodega. Monday night I decided to make pierogi for the first time ever. My grandmas both cranked these out when I was little, but I was not involved, so this was 100% Internet Learn ...

Yesterday, I took a free class on ICF Construction, sponsored by Fox Blocks. ICF stands for, "Insulated Concrete Forms" - essentially, making your home a giant Yeti cooler.  The above photo is an ICF panel - it is 16" tall (it's on its side in the photo), 48" wide, and this particular one has an 8" hollow center, where strapping, rebar, and concrete will go. It replaces 6(!) cinder blocks ...