Author Archives: Britton

The Washroom

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The wood house was occupied by a lady named Katherine.  Many knew her simply as Kathy.  Kathy had left this world suddenly and as such a lot of her possessions are still here at the property.  Lots of books, a few dishes here and there, some shoes and a few appliances.

Since we are now living here rather than just visiting we have the need to wash our clothes.  We tried to wash some items in the kitchen sink, but neither of us can imagine doing that for long.  Plus we have blankets and sheets to wash.  Sure, we could locate a laundry mat, but we don’t want to be hauling our clothes and hanging out at the laundry.

Wash Sink

Luckily there is a washing machine in the entrance to the wood house. The other day I decided it was time to give it a whirl and see if we would be able to use it.  It has sat for 10-12 years, but even washing machines in constant use over that time might still be in working order I thought, so there was a good chance that it might fire right up.  Besides this would be a good first small project in getting into the wood house.

The washer is the first thing that greets you when you walk in.

I opened up the door to the house, and wiped of the years of dirt from the washer.  I went upstairs and turned on the breakers, almost all of them stayed on!  One circuit trips and none of them are labeled so I hoped that wasn’t the circuit that the washer was on.  I went back to the laundry room ready to go.  I turned on the machine and it started pouring water into the bucket as they usually do.

“Great!” I thought, “We can save some money reusing this thing.”  Then the rat ran out from underneath.  It gave me a good scare and drew my attention away from my task at hand.  It ran around my feet for a few seconds and was unable to locate a new hiding spot so it ran back under the washer.  That is when I noticed water pouring out from underneath.  I looked back at the control board to shut it off and that’s when I noticed the smoke coming from it.  I shut it down as the water and smoke continued to trickle out.

I popped open the top to see what was going on, and the washing machine was apparently the rat apartment.  There were a few of them inside.

Moving old Washer

So needless to say, yesterday we made a trip to Mayaguez and purchased a new washing machine.  Having a truck, is already paying off.  I wasn’t sure how we would have fit this into a rental car, but I am pretty sure we would have tried (Fridge in the backseat, toilet in the trunk).  I’ve never owned a truck, but they do make life easier.

We are now in the process of cleaning out the washroom.  It becomes a difficult decision as to how far we take this process.  I am thinking I will take all the wood siding off the inside of the room, check all the electric connections, paint everything with Killz and put it all back together.  Or maybe I’ll just clean it out for now and hook up the washer so we can do some laundry.  Don’t let great get in the way of good right?

We already have a collection of old appliances.  Anyone know the proper way to dispose of appliances here in Rincón?  If I don’t start getting rid of some of this stuff, I might as well open up a used appliance store!
BK Appliance Store
BK’s Appliances

Scenes from La Isla

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We have been entertained nearly every day so far.  The world is very different from the one we left and we are enjoying the scenes we encounter.  From La Placita store just up the street, to the pulpo we found in one of the tide pools at the beach.  I wanted to just post a few random pictures we have taken over the last few days.

La Placita
La Placita

At La Placita, they sell gasoline and some random useful items in the store.  Out front they sell fruits and vegetables that are locally grown.

Petardos Petardos Playing at 110 Thai

We went to the 110 Thai restaurant in Aguadilla to check out the local music scene. It was a very interesting mixture. An Oktoberfest concert event held at a Thai food restaurant serving German food that featured bands from all over including the headliner Los Petardos, a Spanish language punk rock band! Talk about a mix of cultures!

Weedwacker motor bike Weed Wacker Powered Bicycles

These bikes are pretty popular and we see them occasionally wherever we go.  They use a weedwacker motor so they are good on gas, are bikes and thus wouldn’t require insurance or Marbete and don’t have to follow all the rules of an actual motorcycle.  They get up and go at the speed of traffic thru the city as well.

We also saw this guy on a tripod bike picking up aluminum cans and it made us take a double look:
Recycler Guy

Then we finally were able to get down to the beach and walk around a bit. We really need to jump in and swim. All the creatures are calling us!

PulpoPulpo (aka Octopus)

Sunset at Steps

Sunset at Steps Beach in Rincon

We have some more projects in the works that we will have pictures of soon as we make the cabana more and more comfortable for us to stay in.

Kitty and the Kumquat Tree

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This trip was a bit different than our other trips to Puerto Rico.  We had lots more to take and we aren’t coming back (for at least a while).  The voyage out to Rincon started in DIA with lots and lots of boxes.  We had prepared for Kitty’s trip by getting him up to date on shots, then getting a health certificate from our veterinarian.  All needlessly.  Nobody checked on him at DIA or flying into BQN.  Better safe than sorry I suppose.

Airport
Almost Everything We Own

We also took our Kumquat tree that we had kept as a houseplant in Colorado.  We have read that they are fairly rare in PR, plus it was an extra challenge.  Can you take plants to Puerto Rico?  How do you pack them?  Will security be ok with it?  All of these questions became fairly easily answered.  You can take plants, pack them however you wish but a shopping bag would work nicely and security was fine. (Thanks Charlotte and Anthony for sticking around just in case!)

Kumquat and Kitty Cat
Kitty All Doped Up and the Kumquat Tree

The flight went well, nothing too out of the ordinary.  We arrived in Aguadilla, loaded up our rental car and set off for the property.  At 1am as that is what time United flights arrive and depart from Aguadilla (BQN).

We arrived at the house around 2am.  It was dark and overgrown, this has been the norm since we almost always have to come back to CO after cutting the jungle back.  Here is a short video of our arrival!

The vines grow over the gate and the trees grow over the driveway.  We can’t park the car in the yard until everything is cut down.  It is quite the undertaking and usually requires around 6 to 8 hours before the car can be parked.

10 minutes later, after our arrival we were still at it..lol

It will take a while to “dig out” but we have our cabin opened up, kitty is starting to come out from under the blankets and eat, drink and pee which is a good sign.  He is pretty freaked out though, as he should be!  This is quite a radical difference from what he is used to.   All in all we have arrived safely, with all of our tattered and dented luggage!

Scared kitty

Kitty Hiding

We did a lot our first day too! We found the post office and got two of our flat rate boxes and we started working on the huge battle against the jungle that has overtaken the yard and house in the last nine months.

We had a couple of awesome and not so awesome finds in the yard as well.

Passion flower

Passionflower

One of the many vines growing everywhere is passionflower/fruit! And the hibiscus and starfruit trees are doing great in spite of the vines all over them.

orange hibiscus

Hibiscus

The not so great thing is that we think the bees are back….Good thing we brought our bee hats and veils! We might have to just get comfortable removing them.

more bees
More bees??! Maybe they are just swarming??

Cassie pulling vines

Even Cassie got into the vine pulling/yard clean up!

Unplugging (Literally)

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It is getting closer and closer to our departure date.  We are leaving on Sept 23! We wanted to stay a bit longer to close up some things but there are very limited flights from DIA to Aguadilla and so that was it! We are off on our journey in 2 weeks! Yikes and YAY!

I have quit my job, handed over my phone, stopped our health insurance, disconnected the internet and cable, and given away my plasma TV. Cassie is nearly there as well (she is working right up to the end). It is a strange feeling to realize that I am now starting to float away from all of the things that connect us to the bigger whole of society.

For internet we have been going to the Library which gives us an hour of surfing a day.  This has been beneficial because we make our time more efficient.  We post things for sale on craigslist, setup our remaining bills to paperless, check FB/email, and also have an opportunity to pick up/drop off books. We have been reading more since there is no TV or YouTube to mindlessly watch. And having the extra time has been useful.  I have been using it to take care of a few outstanding issues at the rentals.

Plastic Down
Laying Down Thick Plastic as a Weed Barrier

When it comes to weed barriers I don’t mess around anymore.  When I did my first landscaping projects I would use the fabric they sell at landscape companies.  I quickly found that Colorado weeds don’t care about it.  they will simply grow thru, around and in the fabric.  I suppose if I wanted to use weed killers, that would work ok but since I don’t I use this thick black plastic sheeting.  It is the best thing I have found so far.  It does have drawbacks in that it traps moisture and can get moldy, but that isn’t a big problem here in the Colorado desert.   I also wouldn’t use it if I were going to put plants in and around the area.

Rocks Done
6 Tons of Rock

I am getting better at the shoveling rock gig.  I was able to pump out 6 tons in about half a day with a wheel barrow and a shovel.  It is hard work, but I find that when I am working toward my own goals, it feels pretty freaking good!

We have also been continually cleaning out the house.  Most of the rooms are empty and I have just listed our cars for sale on Craigslist.  When we no longer have our cars we will REALLY be disconnected. We say we will be losing our “legs” since we’ve always had a car. Once those are gone, we won’t have much except some clothes and our cat.

Empty
Empty Room
Being unplugged from a lot of the distractions not only saves money, but gives me time to focus on my life.  It has been extremely freeing.  When we sell the cars and the house rents, I won’t have any real financial responsibilies that aren’t covered.  We will have a water and electric bill in Rincon and that’s about it for “fixed” expenses.

Now that we have cleared out everything, we have decided to really think about what we bring into our lives. I think initally when we arrive in Puerto Rico we will need to get a vehicle and we will also have some food and “fun” expenditures. We will also get some furniture and we will be fixing up the property and structures a lot. We are currently looking into health insurance. But we can take it at our own pace and we will be much more selective about what and how much we plug into. Plugging in is the norm, but a life unplugged definitely has its perks. It is a freaky feeling, this freedom thing.