Surprise Visitors at our Gate

Yesterday afternoon about 15 riders surprised Joe and I at our gate. There was a parade in San Jacinto the next town down from us and our dear friend Patricia and another long time friend Pablo, decided to bring their crew to our home for a visit.  After a short welcome, we brought out the beer for our dusty travelers and shared a laugh or two.

The most amazing thing besides the beautiful horses and some pretty fancy silver harness sets were the wooden saddles.  In my life, I have never seen a wood saddle and it was amazing how many were form fitted for what looked to be a very comfortable ride.  Our friend Pablo was riding bareback, he is such a wonderful horseman I guess he can do that. I am sad that the photo of him was just too blurry for me to post, I am sure they will be by to visit the next time they are coming by our home. The great thighs are Patricia’s by the way.

Enjoy, just another glimpse of the beauty of Ecuador and our own Manabita people.

Thank You Ecuador, Hello Uruguay

It has been an amazing seven years. We have lived in several different cities and visited many more in our time in Ecuador.

We are sad in many ways in leaving Ecuador and excited in many ways for yet another adventure. It was a difficult decision to make the move, leaving behind many great friends, but we have all those wonderful memories.

Our new adventure started on January 17th, saying good-bye to our neighbors and neighborhood and making our journey to Guayaquil.  The next morning we traveled by Latam from Guayaquil to Santiago, Chile and then on to Montevideo, Uruguay.

It was a very easy trip with overnight hotel stays both in Guayaquil and Chile. We made it and arrived at our new apartment on January 20th.

The apartment located on 26 de Marzo has a beautiful view of the water.  Small and compact it will be a breeze to keep clean.Montevideo is a big city with much to see and do.  I will be posting as we travel around the area looking for our more permanent home. We are now in the Buceo, or Nuevo Pocitos, area of Montevideo and enjoying it – we are right by their World Trade Center, Buceo Yacht Club and Montevideo Shopping Mall.

 

 

 

Cranberry Walnut Scones: What a Wonderful Breakfast Treat

Last night before bed I was thinking what wonderfulness can I make tomorrow morning.

I have decided that we can eat “good for you” food every weekday but the weekends are special and we should have something even better.  So Sundays I make something wonderful like Lobster Rolls or a Pork Tenderloin Roast with Homemade Sauerkraut and Root Veggies or a Moroccan Roast Chicken with Guava Paste.  But Saturday morning should be special also.  So I remembered making scones once before.  The recipe was from a Rachael Ray cookbook and honestly it did not do it for me.  So I got on the computer and found a recipe from All Recipes.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/79470/simple-scones/

I of course made some changes and this is what I came up with:

Cranberry Walnut Scones

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup chopped nuts I used walnuts
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen or pretty hard
• 1/2 cup sour cream (fresh heavy cream with 1 teaspoon vinegar added)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries (soaked in warm water for a few minutes and drained and patted dry)
• 1 tablespoon regular white sugar

Heat the oven to 400 F.  In a medium-sized bowl mix the top 5 ingredients.  Grate the butter into the flour mixture and with a pastry blender or two knives cut the butter into the flour mixture. Do not use your hands as it will melt the butter. Add the walnuts and mix well, place in the fridge until ready to add the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl add the sour cream or the cream and vinegar mixture and set aside.  Add egg to cream and mix well.

Add your egg/cream mixture to your dry ingredients. With just a few strokes incorporate it – it will have dry ingredients that have not mixed well.  No problem just turn out onto a work area (I use a large plastic place mat).  With your hands knead gently until you have a soft dough.  Do not overwork, you do not want to melt the butter pieces. Just a few strokes with your hands should incorporate it into a nice dough.  Shape into a disk about 1/2 inch thick and approximately 7 inch diameter. Sprinkle top evenly with cranberries and pat into the dough. Sprinkle with the white sugar. Cut like a pie into 8 pieces.

Place on a baking sheet with parchment or another non-stick mat. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes.  Watch that the bottom does not burn.

Serve hot with honey butter mixture or my favorite cream and honey.

Cream or Butter Sauce:

• 2 tablespoon butter or heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon light honey

Mix together and serve on the side with the hot scones.

Great with a good cup of coffee sitting on your porch watching the street come to life.

Joe just Loves this Chocolate

Do you like unsweetened dark chocolate? Joe does. When we were staying in Manta Joe found this unsweetened chocolate in Super Maxi. I think in the states it’s just called cacao – no sugar OR milk solids/fats added.

He would buy several bags and each evening he would sit and have just one of the disks.  It is not for me, unsweetened chocolate – can you say WHAT? That is for making brownies or hot chocolate but eating it straight from the bag?  Not for me!!  But Joe may have something here. All the news you hear about superfoods, chocolate is supposed to lower blood pressure, lower “bad” LDL cholesterol and lower the risk of heart disease. Another reason that dark chocolate is especially heart-healthy it has inflammation fighting properties, which reduce cardiovascular risk.  We do not know if that is true or not but Joe loves it and it really helps him from having other snacks after dinner.

While in Manta last week at the SuperMaxi I found a shelf full, I think I picked up 10 packages.  Joe will just love it and of course he will think I am the greatest for picking it up for him.

12″ Banana Bread for $2

On our way home from Manta earlier this week, Leigh stopped to buy a banana bread from a man on the side of the road. Of course, I had to try one myself, how could I resist.  It was still warm from the oven and at $2. it was a bargain to me.

As soon as I got home I cut a few pieces added a nice pat of butter and we went to town.  I really think I need to cut it in half and put that in the freezer for another day.

Hurricanes and Living in South Florida

Joe and I moved from the snow and sleet of NE PA to South Miami, Florida back in 1976. We had never heard of a hurricane and boy were we surprised when one actually was headed towards our home.  This was many years after our moving out of our first apartment at Kings Creek Village to our first home in Cindy’s Place in South Miami.  It was Sept. 1979 and the hurricane was David.

We thought what good fun and planned a hurricane party. We got together with friends at their home on a golf course. Well things got a bit dicey when the palm trees in front of their house were bowed almost to the ground. We were not partying any longer, it became nail-biting time. As we sat watching the weather reports on TV we became even more nervous. We were lucky it passed us by with only 70 MPH winds.  We never took a hurricanes approach lightly again.

So as I watched folks walking on the beach in Florida yesterday I say, “How Stupid”.

How could you take the chance that this Category 4 storm with somewhere between 120 and 140 MPH winds would not turn inland and strike with the force of Andrew that hit Florida or Katrina that hit Louisiana with such destruction. It is insane to stay on the coast when history has shown that these powerful storms cause destruction beyond anything you can imagine. History does repeat itself.

Never again would Joe or I take a natural disaster for granted.  With a hurricane you have many days notice and you should secure your property and evacuate. Your property will be their when you return, but the loss of your life would be an unreasonable risk for safeguarding a few of your precious THINGS…

Life is Short

Here is the YouTube link for our beach home:

A Whirlwind of Activity on our Home For Sale

It has been a very long several days since we made the announcement that we were leaving Ecuador and moving to Uruguay.  Between working on a write-up for the sale of our home as well as taking and reviewing the pictures so the place would show at its best, Joe and I are exhausted.  So many details to go over, where to advertise, which realtors to contact, so many questions to ask, what is a realtor looking for here, we know the process in the US but we have never sold a property outside of the US.

Now we are getting inquiries and questions from folks looking for a nice beach home and we are so excited about the response. That is great news, now to find just the right people to make this place their home… I know you are out there, looking for just the perfect place to call home.

If you have not seen the YouTube post please take a look:

or view my actual blog post at

www.goo.gl/U8TJV2

Thanks to all our friends that have re-posted our original blog post, you are the best!!!!!

We would love to hear what you think.

Beach Home for Sale, San Clemente, Manabi, Ecuador – Completely Furnished $85,000

This updated and comfortable single family home on one floor has a total of 1,076 sf (100 square meters) under roof, lot size of 2,260 sf (210 square meters). The property is completely walled, private and secure. It comes completely furnished.

The 3 bedroom, 2 bath home is light filled and airy. The well laid out kitchen has new custom cabinets and shelving with plenty of counter space. Included is a four (4) burner gas stove/oven with top broiler, a sizable refrigerator, blender, coffee maker etc.

Kitchen and Living Room:

The living area has a full wall built-in custom shelving unit at one end, couch, coffee table and Sony flat screen TV.  A spacious master bedroom measuring 10′ x 17′ has a sitting area and en suite bathroom. It comes with a queen sized bed, side tables, a large free-standing closet as well as a 12,000 BTU split unit air conditioner. The second bedroom includes a double bed and side table. The third bedroom can be used as an office or formal dining room. The second full bathroom is at this end of the house.

Master Bedroom and en suite Bathroom:

Second Bedroom:

Third Bedroom Currently being used as Office:

Guest Bathroom:

The 10′ x 27′ covered porch faces west to the garden. It has a storage / laundry room with American style heavy-duty washer with clothes drying rack. Electric and plumbing have been completely redone including main outside breakers, inside breaker box, 3 outlets in each room, water pump and pressure tank.  Ceiling fans with light fixture in all rooms and the porch plus extraction fans at the roof peaks. Tile flooring throughout. Many other extras.

Entrance is through a new large wood gate with an easy access door. This gate has security bolts and locks.  The newly repaved granito driveway sits between the covered porch and the garden. This can be used for parking your vehicle or for extra outdoor living space. There is an outdoor shower for the beach bum in all of us.

The garden has several producing fruit trees including lemon, fig, star fruit, pomegranate and a large guava tree that shades a tile and granito 11′ x 22′ patio.  There are two 5-year-old coconut palms on the property that have not started to produce fruit yet. Mature Bougainvillea hang over the front wall from the garden, providing a bright splash of color.

Lemon:Star Fruit in Flower:

Guava:Pomegranate: The home is located in the beautiful Punta Bikini area, also called Barrio Norte, of San Clemente in the province of Manabi, Ecuador. This quiet fishing village is within 45 minutes of Bahia de Caraquez and 1 hour from Portoviejo and Manta. It is a very peaceful stretch of flat beach great for swimming, sunbathing, walking, surfing and fishing.

End of the Street looking North towards the Bluffs:

End of the Street Looking South towards Downtown: Our comfortable, fully equipped home is in the less busy, northern part of San Clemente walkable to downtown with a variety of small stores, restaurants, drug stores and other basic shopping.  Vendors pass the house daily selling everything from raw fresh milk to fruits and vegetables to fresh eggs and butter and toilet paper. Live lobster is available across the street and jumbo shrimp, fresh off the boat, can be purchased 2 blocks away.

This is the third house from the beach, about 150 feet from the front gate to the sand, with refreshing ocean breezes. Our Ecuadorian neighbors are welcoming and helpful. It is a very safe and friendly neighborhood, mostly year round lifelong residents who will help you out if you need anything. Several Expats live nearby. There is a small grocery store at the ocean end of the block.

Internet and land line telephone are available through CNT and electric service from CNEL. Cable TV and Direct TV are available.

Property taxes last year: $21.00, Internet and Land line telephone: $35.63 per month, Electric: $30 to $40 per month, water $12 to $30 per month and gas for the stove/oven $2.50 a quarter.

We are moving due to “itchy feet”. We have loved our 7 years in Ecuador, as we did our almost 4 years in Panama before this.

All papers are in order and ready for the buyer.  Contact our realtor with any questions.

email: tom@ecuadorbeachfrontproperty.com        telephone: 099 635 9373

Fully furnished at $85,000