Treasury

Yayy!! My trivet was selected and featured in the Treasury section of Etsy!

They love our mailbox so much that...

It was a peaceful afternoon until I got a phone call from my neighbor across the street. She said "Oh good, you're working from home today! You better come outside now coz someone just ran over your mailbox!"

Again??!!! You gotta be kidding me!
This is the THIRD time someone decides to knock our mailbox down.

I go outside and I see our mailbox smashed on one side and the whole box laying lifeless on the ground and there was this truck who was trying to back out. I went up to the truck waving like a mad woman trying to stop him, at the same time trying to catch the name of the company of the truck.
The phone number was not visible.

So this big guy comes out of the truck and here's tiny me with both hands on my hips looking furious. (Don't mess with me when I am mad)
He apologized and told me he had already called his boss and that they were coming to replace it within 30 minutes.

I had doubts.

So I went online and got the phone number for this company and spoke to the manager. I did not want to give them a chance to deny so I asked "hey by any chance you have someone working in this neighborhood this afternoon?". He said "Yes" (probably thinking I was going to give him some business).
I said "Good, coz your guy just ran over my mailbox".

He said "Oh no"

I said "Oh yes he sure did"

He said "We will replace it"

I asked " When? My mailman comes in an hour. If we are not able to get our mail, that's not going to be nice"

He said he'll call me back and I got his name.

He did call me back and admitted that it was his guy who knocked the mailbox down (obviously his guy lied when he said he had already called his boss because his boss did not know of this incident before I called up)
He informed me that they had ordered a new one from the developer. He sounded nice and trustworthy enough.

In the meantime, Jason had called the police and they called me and said they were going to come by and ask some questions.
The police guy could not understand me over the phone and asked if I speak Spanish.
I told him No, I dont speak any Spanish but he brings a Spanish-speaking police officer over anyway.
They came over during lunch time and Jason was home. Good, coz I don't enjoy talking to people who have problems with my un-American accent. It gets frustrating.
So they asked questions, and called up the company who ran over the mailbox.

About 4 hours later, I saw a new mailbox sitting pretty outside.

Relieved.

All this hoohah over a mailbox! So very unnecessary, yet necessary.

I wonder if they'll allow us to build a concrete wall around our mailbox. Coz we know someone else is going to knock the mailbox down again... they just love our mailbox too much!

The trivets appeareth

I made some trivets using some plain cork coasters that I had bought a long time ago and just sitting aimless in my closet. Since I had not painted for awhile, I decided to decorate the trivets with acrylic paint and sealed it with multiple layers of mod podge and Polyurethane sealant for protection and to make it water resistant.

Lately, I've been addicted to the blue/green/brown combination. I also painted a whole bunch of clothespin in that color but it became really tedious and I got bored doing it. I'd rather stay away from monotony.

Here's what I did :
I've listed them here. And I've sold one yesterday ! :)

Father's Day afternoon...

Some good news

- My Father-in-law's surgery went well. The doctor said the surgery went as he planned and he might also have fixed the problem on his left arm.

- My long-awaited Green card arrived from Vermont !!! The husband is stuck with me for another 10 years (and vice versa)

Phew.. and Yayyy!!!

Crochet needle case

Today I made a crochet needle case for Jessey !!

I struggled with the tension setting and realized later that I did not thread the machine correctly. Duh!

Puerto Rico escapade

Day 1

We left on Friday morning and flew into San Juan. Rented a car and drove to Old San Juan about 15 minutes from the airport. Old San Juan's colonial architecture of hanging balconies and cobble stone streets makes you feel like you have gone back in time. We drove by the cathedral and museums and stopped to visit San Cristobal Fort. This castle was built in 1771 and was designed to protect the city from land invasions.
Parking spaces were limited in Old San Juan so we did not stop much but just drove around to see the sites.

After a quick lunch of arroz (rice) with pigeon peas, we proceeded to head south.
Traffic was awful getting out of San Juan. We were only moving at 10mph. But the view from the highway was awesome. Lots of mountains and valleys on one side and clear blue waters on the

other side and square houses nestled on the mountains.


Three hours later, we stopped at Ponce and bought some snacks, water, juices, tuna cans, buns, etc. We had been warned that meals in the hotel were exorbitant.

We were stuck in traffic again getting out of Ponce.

We finally arrived in Guanica about 6pm, and checked into our hotel, which was just awesome.
Realizing that our hotel is located far away from any other amenities or restaurants, we were glad we bought those cans of tuna.
Dinner was a quick treat at the Las Palmas cafe in the hotel itself because we were just too tired of being in the car all afternoon and did not want to drive all the way down that narrow winding road down the mountains at night. Jason had what he called the best burger he'd ever eaten.


Day 2

Today we decided we'd venture out of Guanica and head west. Armed with a map and plenty of water, we drove to San German,

Puerto Rico's oldest settlement outside San Juan. Streets were again, very narrow. Roads were hilly. Buildings were interestingly old and mostly pink or orange, with a lot of old Spanish charm. Getting out of San German was indeed tricky because the streets were mostly one way and we found ourselves on the same streets again, and again.

Then we headed to Boqueron, a small beach town. The locals love hanging out here. We had lunch at Galloway's which is built on a dock. I had a conch salad and Jason had quesadillas.
We then checked out the beach and all the little kiosks selling "pinchos" ( raw clams, oysters, shellfish). I was so tempted to try some but was afraid to, not knowing how long they have been sitting out in the sun.

After Boqueron, we headed Southwest to Cabo Rojo, in search of the famous lighthouse. We drove, and drove.. and the roads disappeared, and we were on some dirt track. But we saw some cars in front of us and felt not so lost.
Then the narrow path opened to a lovely view of the bluest lagoon I've ever seen. And the lighthouse was up on a hill on the left. We parked and hiked up a rocky trail towards the lighthouse and the view was just breathtaking. We found ourselves on a cliff, overlooking a 200 feet drop to the sea, waves splashing against the limestone cliff. Just magnificent.For dinner, we headed out to La Parguera, which is also famous for its Bioluminescent bay to watch the dinoflagellates (by the millions) emitting flashes of light that give the water a ghostly glow whenever they are disturbed. Unfortunately, I was so ill in the restaurant that we had to leave even before ordering our food. The next few hours, I had no recollection of what happened. I just remember throwing up and having to go to the bathroom numerous times and I had an awful headache. I think I remember chanting to Jason that if I were to die here, just sprinkle my ashes into the deep blue Caribbean waters.

Day 3
The next morning, I felt much better. Which leaves me to think I had a case of sunstroke. Or it could also be food poisoning from the conch salad, though Jason says that it was 6 hours since I had eaten it, so it probably was already digested by the time I got sick.

After breakfast, we packed our backpacks and hiked the Cuevas trail in the Guanica Dry Forest reserve. True to its name, the forest was absolutely dry. Almost desert-like. Lots of Agave and cactus everywhere. At the top of the hill, the view of the sea was just awesome.

For dinner, Javier from the front desk had recommended a place in Guayanilla, a small fishing village, where the locals eat. He told us to ask for directions to the waterfront once we get into Guayanilla. We did. We had to. Because we got very lost. A nice old man at the gas station told us to follow him and he led us to the village with little restaurants on wooden stilts by the boardwalk. We looked for La Rinconada (which means little corner). It was crowded and the waiter told us we would have to wait for our food. Wait we did. After an hour or so, our food came and it was soooo good. We had the camarones tostones( fried plantain batter shaped into a bowl and filled with shrimps) and carrucho (crab) empanadillas (very similar to 'Cornish pasties' or the Malaysian curry puffs).



Day 4

Since this was our last day here, we decided to just take it easy and enjoy the beach at the hotel and made our spa appointments.



For lunch, we drove into town for some Chinese food. The menu was all in Spanish and interestingly, the food was really good and pretty authentic.

We ate dinner at the hotel and decided it was ok to splurge a little since this was technically our anniversary. We ordered the shrimp mofongo (made from fried green plantains, seasoned with garlic, olive oil and pork cracklings, then mashed and stuffed with shrimps) and some calamari fritters.




Day 5

We checked out of our hotel real early and made the drive to San Juan. I was nervous about missing our flight because of the traffic but we got into San Juan early enough. In fact, we were too early. So we contributed some money at the casino at the airport.

There was a Puerto Rican walking band playing at the departure hall. Cute.

This trip allowed us to immerse ourselves into a totally different culture and I learnt a lot of Spanish words because everything is in Spanish, even at McDonalds.
The word "Damas" came in real handy because most toilets are locked and you have to ask for the key.
Most Gas stations only accept cash. So you need to tell the cashier (in Spanish) which pump number and the amount of gas you want ($$ in liters)
People are very friendly and generally helpful.

It was a wonderful Anniversary for us both... and a much needed vacation!

Too many lemons in the fridge

I have atleast 12 lemons leftover from the cleanse. We bought enough for two of us plus I thought I was going to do ten days of cleanse.

So I'm trying to use them up. I know I could just squeeze them all and make a pitcher of lemonade, but nah.. tired of that lemon drink.
Yesterday, I made a baked tuna lemon penne pasta.

Today, its lemon pudding cake baked in a crockpot.
Recipe will be posted here.

I'll give some away to the neighbors and put some lemons in the basket too :)