CR Update June 23, 2006

CR Update June 23, 2006

Hi Everybody:
The puppies are now 5 months old. They are cute but sometimes too active. One eve they dug up a water pipe, chewed through the plastic connectors and we heard the sound of “glug, glug, glug.” This happened just as two cars were coming up the driveway for the pub. We were fortunate that our friend Ty was willing to come over to fix it—no 24 hour plumbers here and we have not yet collected enough materials or have the knowledge to fix things ourselves.

The pub-club is slow right now but we do have a core group of regulars, 40 people on our membership roster and new people come up regularly. We are having problems with the beer. The brewery in San Jose infected 5000 liters so there will be no new beer for another week or so. I did bring some yeast from CA, gave it to our friend and brewer Jose, and we are hoping that with Buck Shaw’s recipes, he will make ale for us. Joe will be starting a film club which is separate from the pub but it will bring people up here. We have a marketing plan for the pub and I have started circulating resumes to see what kind of work I can find. Starting in July, I will be teaching Breathwork classes at the yoga center—once/week. A lot of our time is spent getting things done or trying to hire people—both are time consuming tasks. We think we have a regular gardener and we may have a new housecleaner—we hope.

We continue to meet new people. Our new friends, Ty and Sarah, have been here several years and live on a palatial estate with a 360 degree view up on a nearby mountain. They have almost completed our shade shelter with an outdoor kitchen and a space to show films outside and Ty will Joe his bridge to go across the pool. He may also put a gas burner in our antique English fireplace. Construction skills are extremely valuable here as are mechanic skills other trade skills.

We look forward to our new visitors. Talia and Bria, my friend Amy’s daughters, will be visiting next week from the Bay area. They are college age and will bring their friend Jenna for part of the time. It will be fun spending time with young people and Amy was one of my good friends in Boston 25 years ago so I feel like I know her kids. We are aiming to have our guest houses fully functioning for their visit and we are always glad to have guests to help us be in the vacation mode.

Write when you can. It is good to hear from everyone. The best time to visit is anytime that we are here--however Mar-Apr is the height of the dry season and Sept-Oct, the height of the rainy season. We are still hoping to visit the northeast in Sept. Here, it is always warm and nature is always present. With our view opened up, Joe and I have watched spectacular lightning from our terrace. Better than television, we say. And the clouds moving among the hills with the sun lighting up sections of the vista--What a light show! Come and visit. Love Helena and Joe