First pot on the new fogon

Ham and bean soup.  Mmmmmm.

Dinner on the barbie

The guys finished the fogon and horno just before they left last week, except for the doors on the horno, which I don't want to use right away anyway because I want the cement to have a good long time to dry so it doesn't crack.  But, the fogon/grill is ready to go, so we are cooking with wood.  Last night we had picana, a Brazilian style steak, and tonight it is BBQ chicken.  Craboo smoke is delicious!

BTW, the chimney is being faced with beautiful yellow slate, but this side isn't done...yet.

7 Miles Internet Center

In addition to working on the business and hosting weddings during our blog hiatus, we continued to work on some community projects, with the help of our guests. What we think was the most important of these was helping to get the Community Internet Center set up in the Village of 7 Miles. The village had received a grant for the purchase and set up of a Hughesnet satellite system and the solar system necessary to run the satellite, some computers, and lights in the building in a village without electricity. The village then had to provide a suitable space, the computers, and the monthly internet subscription.

Front view of old library before internet center started

Old library collection of books before internet center started

When the project started, Julio was still the chairman of the village, so we were fully aware of the obstacles and difficulties in getting this project moving, even with the generous donation of the satellite and solar. Julio and the village council decided to use half of the existing library for the internet center. However, before the organization donating the satellite and solar would start installing any of the equipment, they wanted the building to be secure. This happened right around this time last year, and we were explaining the difficulty to our guests, a family from California. After they left, we were surprised by a very generous check arriving in the mail, with the funds earmarked for security bars for the windows. We turned the check over to the town, who ordered the bars, which were made to order fairly quickly. The bars were picked up and installed, and the satellite and solar equipment were delivered and installed in the spring.

Inside old library, back wall before cleanup

The public still couldn't use the internet center because the town did not have the funds to purchase computers. The specs for the computers ended up being fairly specific; laptops were needed rather than desktops because of the power issues with the solar system, but tablets wouldn't work because the machines needed to be connected via cables rather than wifi because limited bandwidth made wifi impractical because use needs to be strictly controlled in the center. Again, we shared these frustrations with a couple of our guests, and in fairly short order after the guests went home, they contacted us and asked if they could donate old laptops. The answer they received was of course an enthusiastic "Yes!" and we arranged the logistics of getting the laptops to Belize, which involved having guests we hadn't even met yet take delivery in the US and carry them to Belize when they arrived on their vacations. Hooray for our guests!

Inside view of side door of old library before cleanup

Inside view of front door of old library before cleanup

Julio and Tom built tables and desks for the center, then Tom cleaned up the laptops and collected a couple of others, one of our old ones and one some friends who left Belize had left with us in case we found anybody who could use it, and the internet center had four laptops. The next hurdle was to get the Hughesnet service turned on, which turned out to be more complicated than expected. The monthly fee offered by the company who had installed everything was considerably higher than what we pay for the same plan at our B&B, so Tom did some investigating and found that not only are the new plans more expensive, but they are based on newer equipment, and what was installed in the Internet Center is the older equipment, the same as what we have at the B&B. Tom then discovered that current subscriptions could be transferred, and with the help of Harry from the Computer Ranch, we were able to transfer the subscription of a customer in Belmopan who was changing to BTL's DSL. The plan matched the equipment, and was about $40US a month less than the original proposed plan.

The next step was to make sure everything worked together, and open the center. Although this doesn't sound tremendously complicated, consider that this internet center was being opened in a village that doesn't even have electricity, so very few people have any computer experience, or experience in running this type of business, which, although it is a service for the village, still needs to be run like a business to make enough money each month to pay Hughesnet and do maintenance. And, because of how long it had taken to get all the pieces put together, the opening wasn't happening until summer when the kids were out of school, and students were supposed to be the major customers. Tom went to lots of meetings to figure out how to manage and staff the center, mostly because he has the experience to help get this sort of effort up and running, but also because the Hughesnet monthly bill has to be paid with a US credit card...which we have, unlike the Belizean citizens of the village, so it behooved us to make sure the center at least made enough money to pay the monthly bill.

Inside El Progresso Internet Center

While I would like to say that the internet center opened and the villagers flocked in to use it, that hasn't been the case. The people who are using it love it, and it is giving villagers who didn't have access to computers an opportunity to use and learn about computers and the internet. When school started again in September, students found it useful. However, it has been difficult to find enough qualified people willing to staff it, so opening hours have been limited, and many villagers gave up trying to figure out when it was open and when it was closed, and didn't even try to go. Then something happened with the electrical system and blew out the inverter, and it took time to get that fixed, and whatever momentum it had thudded to a stop. We're now in the middle of the Christmas holiday break for students, so they don't need it for their schoolwork, so it is getting very little use. The monthly bill is still being paid from village funds, but neither the village nor we have unlimited funds to continue to pay for something that isn't being used, so at this point it's possible that it will just be shut down if business doesn't pick up when the students are back in school.

Front view of El Progresso Internet Center

We find this very discouraging on a number of levels. Many individuals and organizations contributed a lot of both effort and money to get this project off the ground. And, the village needs it, both for the students and to give everybody an opportunity to improve their computer skills. We don't understand why qualified people in the village don't step up and volunteer to staff it, since it would get more use if it was open more than three evenings a week...if the staff shows up on the posted opening hours. We understand that people are busy, and many are intimidated by the technology, and that although we see this as a very beneficial thing for the village, many of the villagers understandably just don't see the value; they've never needed it before, so why is it a "need" now? Perhaps the most discouraging thing is that we can't figure out how to get the project moving since the village has to want it, and it appears that most people just don't see it as a priority. Perhaps, this is just another case of our first world values not applying in a developing country...but how can the country develop if the people can't or won't use the tools given to them to advance?

Close, very close

Before the staff left for the holiday on Saturday, they put on the final cabinet doors in my kitchen.  We still need a little finish work, but we are almost there.

Good Food, again

G & M gave us a bottle of Frangelico for Christmas since it is one of Tom's favorite liqueurs.  We opened it last night, and G messaged us this morning to see if we had enjoyed it, and the conversation somehow swung around to how good Frangelico Crepes would be.  I hadn't made breakfast yet, and that sounded like a brilliant idea, so 45 minutes later we were having chocolate hazelnut Crepes with a Frangelico sauce.  Thanks too to Susan and Paul for the hazelnuts, a real delicacy here!

And then there were four...

We moved up here with only three horses because Elphie was killed by a snake shortly before the move.  Our friend Marjie is reducing her herd, so she asked if we would be interested in her horse Boogie.  He is exactly my kind of horse, so we have been waiting for a break in the weather so I could ride him to his new home.  Today dawned bright and sunny, so today was the day.  I GPSed the ride and it was a little over 11 miles, and a rise of almost 1400 feet.  Boogie was a star the whole way!  We had one little discussion about crossing a bridge that has become a dam with a very deep washout on the far side which he stepped in and almost fell on the first try, but with a little encouragement from behind, he jumped the chasm and I remounted and we were on our way!  He was dragging a bit towards the end, and I was thinking "We need to work on forward," but when I got home and realized he had done over 11 miles uphill, mostly on muddy jungle trails, in just about 3 hours, I decided he had a good reason for slowing down.  I hosed him off and turned him out with the other three, and the four of them are getting along great.  Lodo seems delighted to have another boy in the herd!

Planted the Greenhouse Today

The guys finished the second chicken coop a couple of weeks ago and we moved the pullets out of the greenhouse.  With the rainy crappy weather I have had a hard time getting motivated to do anything outside, even under the greenhouse roof, so I just got around to planting seeds in the greenhouse today.

I'm not much of a gardener, so this project is a little hit and miss.  I was dumping compost in there for the chickens, so I had to turn all of that into the ground.  Then I hoed the dirt into small hills, and made sure all of the clumps were broken up in the hills.  My friend Susan, who is an avid gardener, had given me some seeds, and M had also given me some seeds that she has collected, both, I think trying to motivate me to get the greenhouse going.  It turned out to be a little overwhelming, and for the size of the greenhouse, I probably have five years' worth of seeds.  

No gardening knowledge is involved in how I decided what to plant and how I arranged.  I made five rows, and there are four cross sections defined by the wall supports, so I selected 20 different types of seeds and divided each row into four sections.  I planted a bunch of herbs because I like to cook with fresh herbs, and then planted mostly salad stuff since that is the most difficult to get up here and keep fresh:  a few different lettuces and greens, carrots, peppers, and a couple of kinds of tomatoes, along with some broccoli just to see what happens.  I didn't even try to figure out relative space for each type of plant, so I probably won't have anywhere near enough tomatoes and peppers, and I will probably have herbs out the wazoo.  Except for Susan's seeds, all of the seeds were a little on the old side, so I'm just going to see what grows, and I'll base the next round on what works here.

Fogon & Horno, Almost Done...and the Chimney Too!

The finish work is being done on my fogon and horno.  Tulio says I should wait a week to use them to give the cement time to dry before it gets too hot, so right after Christmas I can start cooking with wood again.  I can't wait!  As an added bonus, Jose is putting the slate facing on the outside of the chimney too.  The whole setup is beautiful and functional.

She's a character

We've had another cool and rainy day today, so I had a fire in the fireplace to cut the damp.  We were busy doing things that didn't allow sitting in front of the fire later this afternoon, so I let the fire go out.  Kismet did not agree with this decision.  Tom and I will pay for our negligence tonight when she crawls into bed with us with her ash covered coat.

The new toy, er, tool

The slabbed pine boards were finally deemed dry enough to be run through the new planer.  Tom and Tulio were not about to let any of the crew man the machine, so they took over for the first run.  Tulio is now in the process of turning the planed boards into cabinet fronts to finish my kitchen.

Finally...

...Jalis sees the light and decides to relax in front of the fire.

The weather outside is frightful...

...but the fire is so delightful!

It has been raining pretty much nonstop for over 24 hours.  And the temp never even hit 70 today.  Thanks to a wonderful husband who turned on the generator and fed the horses and chickens, I haven't even poked my nose outside since lunchtime.  I was busy watching Season 1 of The Great British Bakeoff!

This is about as good as the weather map has looked all day.  At least it is mostly blue, not orange and red like it has been.

Jalis is not at all upset that we didn't get out for a walk today.  I asked him to pick up his head when I took the picture, and he couldn't be bothered.

While Kismet would have been perfectly happy going out for a walk in the rain, she is also perfectly happy curled up in front of the fire.  Kismet is smart on the Mellow scale, and those of you who knew Mel know what I mean.

Good food

At the B&B, our guests, delighted with the food, frequently asked if we ate as well when we didn't have guests as we did when guests were there. My slightly sheepish answer is still true...we eat better when it's just the two of us!

Tonight we had eggplant stuffed with a ground lamb stuffing.  We think it is delish, but it's hard to find guests who like both eggplant and lamb.  I made it a few times when I had checked ahead and the guests liked all the ingredients, but we eat it a lot more now, as well as other slightly odd but yummy things.

Fogon and horno by the end of next week!

Tulio and the crew made great progress on my fogon and horno this week, despite being delayed by more rain.  By next weekend, I will be back to cooking with wood!

Fogon and Horno on the Way!

Since we moved from the B&B, I have been missing my outside kitchen.  I have a really nice commercial stove here, so it hasn't been a major irritant, but every time we eat at the B&B I visit the fogon and horno and sigh before enjoying the delicious food Janeth cooked on it.

With the road work getting done last week, Tulio and the crew are back to work on the final few things on our house, and one of them is my outside kitchen.  Tom and I met with Tulio on Tuesday to draw up the plans for the fogon and horno, and they poured the slab and built the base for the mesa this week. Tom and I went shopping yesterday and got the firebrick and cement, and it should be done in two weeks when the crew leaves for the holidays.

My B&B outside kitchen was built in the Maya way with limestone, white mal, and clay.  This one is being built with cinderblocks, firebrick, and cement so it will better fit the look of the farm, but I think it will work just as well, and will probably be a little more durable.  I will also be cooking on oak and craboo rather than tropical hardwoods, so I will have to get used to it.  But, I've learned over the years that even a new stove requires some adjustments as you get used to the new equipment, so this will not be a big deal.  I am looking forward to a Christmas dinner flavored with woodsmoke!

My kitchen is just inside the door to the left, so this outside kitchen is very conveniently placed.  When everything is done, the guys will face the chimney with slate.

The fogon will be closer to the house and will vent into the fireplace chimney.  The horno will be further out, and will have its own vent which we will be able to block when we bake to keep the heat in the oven.  

Like the Maya version, the base is filled with sand and gravel to hold the heat.

The Road is Done!

Well, except for letting all of the fill settle so it can be capped and graded if necessary.  We finally had a couple of relatively dry days, so the guys were able to get fill out of the quarry without picking up a whole lot of mud, and get it dumped on top of the rocks.  The road is actually wider than it was before, and probably wider than either of the approaches.  This is Tom's first big farm project, almost complete!

This is the view of the road heading towards the farm driveway.

This is the side of the road, on the downhill side.  After the flood, the road was washing into this ravine almost the entire width of the road.

View of the finished project from the top of the fire tower.