It's officially not all that fun living here after a week of our home continuing to find ways to suck, and getting fleeced at every turn. I'll get to those specifics in chronological order. Prepare for a bitchfest. Monday afternoon saw a bill for almost $2,000BZ come over from Angel, and that was without pumping and sanitizing our septic system - that was just replacing the pump. Even more f ...

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 ...

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 ...

What a week! I ran errands and grocery shopped on Tuesday, and picked up some plastic plant pots for an absolute STEAL at Harmouch's Hardware!  After yet another defeat in Fantasy Football, I opted to eat my sorrows with a banana split from Western Dairies, $4.50 U.S. and I got to choose 3 flavors of ice cream (strawberry, pineapple, and chocolate for the win.) If you have visited the islan ...

Saturday was Belize's 43rd Independence Day, having split from the rule of England in 1981. I still have plenty to learn about Belizean culture, but one thing I know for sure: They take holidays and celebrations seriously! "J'ouvert" (translates to, "Daybreak" in French - not sure why a French word is used) starts at 5 on the morning of Independence Day, and seemingly, most folks stay up all ...

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 ...

Wednesday was pretty uneventful - although I did draft out a design for a grill table for our patio. We have a lovely gentleman on the mainland who sells teak furniture for a song (compared to the U.S.). He sent us 4 teak pool lounge chairs last year, they were $225U.S. each. We want 2 small tables for those chairs (for drinks, phones) and a 36" wide x 24" deep x 36" tall table with a shelf. ...

Saturday we met with a builder we are considering for our beach home; we have identified three that we would like to interview and do our due diligence. He made arrangements for us to walk a home in the final punch stages with the homeowner, who has built three other homes (spec homes, he sold them) which tells me he is happy with the outcomes, which is a big plus! We drove down south, almost ...

On Tuesday I completed another installment of "Try It Tuesday" with Relleno. Not what we had back home, which was a hatch chile or poblano pepper stuffed with cheese, dipped in egg batter, and deep fried - this is a black-colored stew! Here is the video: Try It Tuesday - Relleno Wednesday I journeyed to Caribbean Queen, the barge system that brings goods from the mainland to the island. I fo ...

Saturday we ventured out to Secret Beach to drop off a metal rake and cash for the guys clearing back our lot. They also informed us that the guy who is not afraid of snakes or crocs but DEATHLY afraid of spiders and had a tarantula crawl up his leg! He swiped it away and immediately a large iguana was on it and ate it. Our previous clearing crew relocated an 8' boa out of the way a few years ...