Hot Chili Peppers

The reason I like the food here so much is because it is HOT, spicy hot. At the outdoor market, we get lots of great produce. The price of produce has gone up dramatically in the decade I've been here, but it is still very, very, very cheap compared to prices of fresh meat and veggies in the USA. We now have grocery stores in the city (only since the year 2000), but the market produce is better than what the stores have.

April in Bedrock

Just a few pictures of things around me in April. McDonalds is close to where I live, so I often go there to drink a cup of coffee and people watch. On one recent trip I saw this little tyke eating breakfast (his dad had gone to get a refill on coffee or something). He's growing up in the shadow of Ronald McDonald.

I guess ladies in England have morning tea, but here in Bedrock the ladies sit on stools in their garages and shell peanuts. This lady is a neighbor of mine who often has a crowd of ladies sitting around with her shooting the breeze. On this particular morning, Mimi was relaxing and taking in the fresh air along with the ladies. This neighbor lady is a believer.

Spring in Bedrock

Hi! These are some pink blooms in my apartment complex this month. They don't last long, just a week or two. I noticed this afternoon that the pink blooms are gone as of today.

The reasons I haven't posted many new things lately are (a) I couldn't find the wire for downloading photos from my camera to my computer--I finally found it in my luggage last night, and (b) my internet hasn't been working well lately--I can check e-mail okay, but it's next to impossible to get on many internet sites; I can't get on Yahoo at all, for example.

Hope all of you are well!

The Dog Wars

Meet Toby. Toby is a Bichon, 3 months old. Mimi is a Pekingese, 3 years old. They look rather sweet in this photo, so you would never guess that they are mortal enemies.

I have some American friends who live in my city. During December when I went to America for a month, they kept Mimi at their home. So since they got a dog a few months ago, it is only fair that I help them out to return the favor. Unfortunately, Toby is not house trained yet; this is really not the biggest problem; I have a mop and don't find it any big deal to clean up after him. The BIG problem is that the two would like to kill each other. More specifically, Mimi doesn't like Toby swatting her face, and Mimi would like to eat Toby for lunch. So, for two weekends in the past month, I have played referee to the two little mutts. I've tried separating them in different rooms, which leads to whining like you can't believe. When I took Mimi for a walk by herself, I could hear Toby crying from two buildings away and five floors down; Toby sounded like he was caught in a meat grinder; I'm sure the neighbors thought I was beating him. I stepped on Toby's foot, and he wouldn't use it for hours, so I had to take him to the vet on my motorbike in cold, windy weather. Nothing was broken. Anyway, the drama was rather overwhelming, and both times when he left, Mimi and I have collapsed. I didn't tell Toby's owners any of this drama though (just the vet visit)...I have to return the favor. They kept Mimi for 30 days, I've kept Toby for 7 days, so I figure I owe them another 23 (although I should get a discount for the fact that he's not housebroken and I have two dogs to contend with at once). :-)