I've discovered it is possible to bag sunshine after all!
The mangoes on our farm are abundant and ripe, some of the branches resting on the ground because they are so heavy laden with fruit!
For the first time ever, I am using my dehydrator with the intention of bringing bags full of this "sunshine" home to California when Nev and I leave in 10 days.
The results have been absolutely scrumptiously delicious, so much so I feel as though I'm eating more than I'm bagging!!
The best part is knowing these are fresh and organic and sun-ripened with no additives!
I'm now about to borrow my friend, Janine's, dehydrator so I can step up production and maximize these last few days...
anyone interested in coming to help me peel the mangoes,
come on down. 😊😳😁

The heat is on...
and so is the roof!
It seems, since the fourth of July, the heat has been turned up and up down here at Casa Azul, and we wake up to more mornings these days with a cloud bank on the horizon hiding the sunrise, and dark clouds over the mountain range behind us...
but no rain yet,
and no air conditioner turned on in the house other than our wonderfully cool bedroom haven...
it's our attempt to stay acclimated and we do that with regular plunges into the pool!!
In this mighty heat our workers out at the farm continue on without a murmur or a complaint...
and we now have two of the three rooftops poured on the farm house.
The ceiling in the center of the house is three feet higher than the bedrooms on either side so that will be the last to be poured.
We were there at 6am for the first pouring two weeks ago, and I was blown away by the strength and perseverance of our team as they mixed the concrete and then carried it up a steep ladder, bucket by bucket, for four hours until all the foam insulation and rebar had been completely covered!
And then repeated the whole process this past Saturday on the other side!!
Nev cooked up hotdogs and I made yummy brownies and we served ice-cold beers and water at the end of the pour to replenish the guys and cool them down...
and thank them!
So grateful!

We met Gary and Janine at the marina this morning and loaded our goodies for the day onto NAUTIBOYZ, Cayo (our captain) watching over us to make sure we were doing everything right, quietly indignant about us taking the boat out without him!
The weather was gorgeous and we trawled our way up north along the ruggedly beautiful Baja coastline to Bahia De Los Muertos.
This is one of my favorite bays and where I spent my 50th 10 years ago!
We arrived at lunchtime, and after a lovely float on our noodles in the bay with G&T's in hand, Janine and I swam to shore while our men rowed in to get us a table at the beachside restaurant.
We all ordered "pulpo a la plancha" for lunch - grilled octopus cooked to perfection, alongside yummy guacamole and salsa and fresh, cold G&T's...
what a spoil!
Amidst much laughter (the dinghy is tiny!), the men rowed the four of us and our noodles and gear back to NAUTIBOYZ...
and then we trawled, off and on, all the way back home,
not catching a fish or even having a nibble on our lines to tease us,
but surely making wonderful memories.
Thanks for joining us guys...
let's do it again soon!

Yesterday I was flying...
today I was fishing!
I'm just home at Casa Azul after a wonderfully hectic week at home in Oxnard following up with labs and doctors visits and my first hair appointment in 4 months;
also gathering textures and colors for decorating the farmhouse scheduled for completion in October,
and enjoying brief moments with grand-babies and friends!
All of it lovely, especially in a perfect 75 degree climate!
Today Nev and I went fishing together, along with Cayo, our very sweet and capable captain.
The ocean was calm and the temperature of the air around us was HOT!
This is my first trip out on NAUTIBOYZ since Nev and I met in April 2007 when we took a ride in her up to Ventura harbor where she was being hauled out for repairs!!
We had a fabulous day...
the ocean a calm and magnificent blue...
spinning dolphins all about us.
We brought in 12 tuna between the two of us...
and hooked a striped marlin with a magnificent blue fin on our way back in.
Wish I could tell the tall tale that I brought it in on my own, but the truth is there was many a time I thought this 180 pounder was going to pull me overboard with it!!!
With the rod going back and forth between Nev and I, it took about 40 minutes to bring it alongside NAUTIBOYZ before we cut bait, said our goodbyes and thank you'd and let it off the hook to swim wild and free again!
What a day...
What magnificent strength and colors of that marlin!
Thanks my love 🐟🐟🐟
It's good to be home.

My sweet mama came to visit us at Casa Azul, kindly escorted by Josh, and will also be with us for a month by the time she leaves in a week with Josh escorting her back to Folsom, CA, and my sister.
The first week of her visit was a wonderful blur of days spent collecting seaglass, reading, knitting and filling up my flower vases with whatever she could find in the garden.
And then things changed in a split second as her and I went to deliver freshly strained honey from the bees on our farm to our neighbors...
first stop:
she was bitten by the neighbors dog on her calf!!
The bite was nasty and became infected pretty quickly...
three visits to the doctor, including one to a surgeon in San Jose,
have resulted in her being on bedrest for the past ten days,
on antibiotics and having to keep her leg elevated.
She's missed out on a whole lot of fun which has probably been the hardest part for her...
that,
and her walks on the beach in the early morning...
it brought back memories of my summer at bedrest last year!
Of course I'm angry about the experience we've all had to go through...
mostly because it's hard to see my 87 year old mum struggling to walk and in pain...
but her attitude remains one of gratitude for all our kindness and the kindness of the doctor's who have attended to her...
and I will follow her example and be gracious to our neighbor,
because I must!
However, I can't resist saying:
"people, if you know your dog is a biter, keep it controlled!!
This could've been a child's precious face..."

We have a week to go with Joshie here in Mexico...
he's my great-nephew and is visiting us for a month in total.
The first three weeks have flown by and we have loved his company,
his conversation,
his kindness to granny,
his adventurous spirit,
his willingness to embrace all opportunities and experiences offered to him including meeting the younger people who have embraced him and generously shown him more of their world on the Baja which he has loved!
He's helped Nev out at the farm...
he's helped me here at Casa Azul...
he's learned to make avocado ice-cream...
and to sip on margaritas and good tequila...
he's loved the endless supply of avocados, mangoes, pineapples and papaya...
he's braved the ocean and his sea-sickness and been rewarded with a 170lb striped marlin...
he's hooked...
on Mexico!!
He hopes to come back if a job opportunity opens up for him...
of course we hope it will.
For now though, we will enjoy our last week together and pack it full of fun as the weather heats up and the ocean warms up and the fishing gets better and the water flatter...
thanks for sharing him with us, Heavs!
Love you Joshie xx