28 March 2016

"...and who knows what the tide will bring in."


     We're on a long stretch of uninterrupted beach at my place...thirty miles, almost totally empty of people.
     And though I am saddened by the trash, mostly plastic, that washes ashore creating a nasty, unsightly, and heavy workload for us - every now and then comes a treasure on the tide, like the dolphin I found years ago (see March 13, 2012 post). 
     We get pieces of coral, odd seeds, lots of pumice, interesting driftwood, hand-carved primitive wooden oars.
     But the dolphin mentioned above has easily been my favorite for years. This hand-sized, hand-carved bird is a close second.



     Thanks to Jose who found this treasure and made it a gift to me. 

     The title quote is from the movie "Castaway" which is how we feel sometimes, even though we're only eight miles by water from a lovely Italian restaurant with linen tableclothes and waiters in tux shirts.

27 March 2016

Beach babies

    The number of visitors to False Bluff constantly increases as do the number of people buying property, so far all of them buying to the north of us. The new owners are mostly European and aren't babies - but more about that later.
     The little girl is part of the family that keeps False Bluff going when I'm not there.  The little boy is my grandson.  
     And playing in the sand is everybody's favorite pastime.


20 March 2016

FY, FB

     (Front yard, False Bluff)




(pictures from a phone and then cropped -
 but you get the idea -
a great place for kids!)

12 March 2016

AI? Do I believe this?

       Yes...because I was there when it happened.
     You can buy lots of brand new stuff on the sidewalks in Bluefields: belts and belt buckles, cell phone covers, bowls of fresh cut fruit, mosquito nets, and bright white socks.
     But not all of what's for sale is new, like these barbie dolls.



     Or this little toy that talks when the mirror is pressed. It seemed ideal for the youngest of us with its bright colors and a cord to help prevent its loss.        
     When first purchased it seemed to speak Spanish, although it might have been a different language...it certainly didn't speak English.
     But the toy had a bit of sidewalk dirt and so it got washed.  After that it didn't say anything at all for awhile.  But when it finally dried out it spoke English.  


     Go figure.

04 March 2016

Posting in absentia (or before absentia)

     When I'm at False Bluff I'm off grid.  
     And when I write "I'm off grid" I'm using those words in the most literal sense - because there's no grid to be on.
     Not having a grid is a temporary situation.  As of a year ago we actually have electric lines running across the property (see previous posts here) and although I've made arrangements to purchase a transformer from ENEL (yeah, you read that right: purchase), I don't have the transformer yet and when I do have it I don't know how much time will pass before the transformer will be installed and after the transformer's been installed I don't know how long before ENEL will install the meter base and after the meter base is installed I don't know how long before the house is even minimally wired (because the wiring just ain't gonna happen unless I'm on site) and once the house is wired I don't know how long it'll be before we get a booster in place so that we have internet service.
     Being the first to 'develop' heretofore 'undeveloped' land, property previously almost inaccessible, has its advantages: privacy, beauty, quiet, clear skies, sand with no footprints.....

     But there are a few obvious disadvantages as well.

      I first posted to this blog on July 16, 2011, and have worked to get a post up about once a week since then.  So prior to making a trip to False Bluff, since I know I'm going to be "off grid" for the duration, I write enough posts to cover my absence and then schedule them to be automatically uploaded at specific times, a service Google offers.
     This blog is a Google blog and Google makes this easy and Google is reliable about posting what I schedule: Google's handled three months' worth of uploads without breaking a sweat.

     Facebook offers the same write-and-schedule-a-post sort of thing that Google offers.  The huge difference is that Google delivers - and Facebook doesn't.  
     Two trips to False Bluff and Facebook blew it both times.  
     I prep for a time off grid the same way with both Google and Facebook: write a post and put it in the queue.
    But Facebook just can't seem to get the job done. Once, Facebook uploaded about four of the sceduled posts and the rest just died in queue. Another time Facebook uploaded a few, intact, but only bits and pieces of the others.
     Next trip I'll just post on Facebook before I go: I'M OFF GRID. MORE LATER.  
     On this Google blog it'll be business as usual.