Oktober Draft

(Began Oct. 26) (Finished Oct. 29)

I'm trying a different method of putting these postings together.  I've been putting up a lot of photos on a "blank sheet" for 2 or 3 weeks, and then organizing and captioning them.  Before this, I would look at photos in my files (usually ones from the last couple months) and THEN put them up and caption them topic-by-topic.  I think this may end up being faster.    

The last two postings seemed to me to be a little "heavy" on the construction project, so I'm going to try to get some more "miscellaneous" topics into this one.  We'll see how that works out.

This photo could be contemporary - - it sure looked familiar
to me, with the utility post remaining in the middle of completed
roadway!   It arrived in an e-mail with 20 or 30 photos, titled
"Gotta love Africa - -" or similar,  and is from central Africa
dated 2001.

For reference, the small photo shows the recently widened
National Hwy.  about 4 miles away from our place.  Above 
is the highway intersection of one of  TWO roads that go
into "downtown Tibiao."  Viewed from the highway, its
"ONE WAY" is not specific which way but it seems to be
there to discourage highway traffic from entering.  BUT
the other side of the same sign seems to prohibit local
traffic from exiting.  In reality, everyone just uses that
road whenever they want to, it seems.

The newly-widened National Highway to the south of us, is repeated to the north of us, when the road again passes through relatively open area.  Houses and businesses are too close to the route in our immediate area to allow a 4-lane road - - at least for now!

There were apparently no utility poles to conflict with this
section of the widening project.  But after less than 2 miles
of 4-lane roadway, the road curves through another congested
area as it heads towards the Tibiao River Bridge (small photos).
Midway through this "blind curve" situation, a delivery truck is
blocking the north-bound lane, causing the tricycle ahead of
me to cautiously pass by it in the south-bound lane.  I have
closed the gap with the tricycle, intending to closely follow past
the stopped truck -  his passage effectively blocks any potential
south-bound traffic momentarily.  GOOD MOVE!  as I get clear
of the truck, there is a lineup of stopped south- bounders which
would have delayed me. (AND, with both sides not being able to
CLEARLY SEE any opposition, things would have been nerve-
wracking.)  Meantime the tricycle had managed to turn
left into a small side-road, as another vehicle came out.

The puddles to the right of the road are in the never-completed
approach to the NEW BRIDGE.  Two-plus years after this very
expensive bridge is complete, it sits unusable by traffic for lack
of 50 YARDS OF CEMENT PAVING on each end.  We cross 
the river on the old bridge.  The locals use the new bridge for
sun-drying their harvested rice.

I guess the bridge-approaches just got overlooked in the
excitement of building disconnected 4-lane highway
segments all over the place.

I had the camera held in my right hand at shoulder height,
clicking without being able to aim, for these several shots.

I ride a bus or service van to San Jose (45 miles+-) if I
need to go for 1 or 2 "simple" errands, and not much
running around when I get there. This 2-and-2 seating
bus had plenty of open seats when I got on, but within
a short distance had filled up.  Before we had our vehicle
here, I was a "standee" fairly often, for short periods.
I called it "road surfing" because the motion of the bus +
a narrow aisle to stand in requires some footwork and 
body-shifting to stay in place.  Some of these riders
ended up "surfing" for more than an hour on the 2-hour
trip.  (Most buses have 3-and-2 seating, so more seats
but less space in each seat.)

I didn't ask the seller if the chicken was "formal" or "casual."

"Dressed chicken" means prepared, ready to cook, usually

frozen. As this means the feathers have been removed,

I say it is UNdressed.  Commercially produced chicken

is common here, but in every small town home-grown

chicken runs "neck and neck" with it.

This pumpkin is fairly typical of the local variety, about

dinner-plate size, 9- or 10- inch.  They can be any

color from light tan to dark green. Their skin would be

better than KEVLAR, for making bullet-proof vests.

   It is so tough to peel, that I have been cutting

"cantaloupe-slice wedges" and then steaming

them. After 15 minutes of steam, and you can

remove the flesh from the rind with a soup spoon.

The other item is a "totally gnarly" ginger root.

(Can you see the "elephant?")

I've heard the expression "bathtub GIN," referring to illegally produced "gin" during USA

"prohibition period"  from 1920 to 1933.  Kind of before my time - - -  

As to this posting's TITLE  - - - I have been drafting, lately.

For the last several weeks I have been home- brewing

"shower stall GINger-ALE," which has proven to be an easy

and productive hobby.  Ginger ale is not generally available

here; Coca-Cola and Pepsi both have "short lists" of several

products which don't include it.  Ginger ale CAN be found in 

"import section" areas of big grocery stores, but expensively!

SO, I started with 1/2 cup or so of water + 1 teaspoon of

minced ginger (not peeled ) and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in

the jar.  After a few days this "starter"  began bubbling, and

I brewed a "tea" of 3/4 cup of ginger + 2 cups of sugar, plus

4 tsp. of lemonade concentrate, into the 5 quarts or so of

"final" mix that you see bottled here.  The little- used shower

in the blue house is a convenient place to keep them.  

The "starter" is added to the cooled-down "tea" just before

bottling, but half-a-jar of the mix is reserved for next-batch

starter. I've found that re-used "soda pop" bottles work fine

for bottling.  One week is enough time for the ginger ale to

carbonate, but it seems "better" if left for two weeks. I started

marking my batches to keep track of them: "X15" and "X22"

are the production dates and they are batch 5 and batch 6.

Batch 5 is darker because it has much more molasses,

which I have been using to add flavor and color. 

 This week, I put a little bit of starter into a 12-oz. 

bottle of "raspberry-tea;"  I'll know how that turns

out in a couple weeks.  I have found lots of recipes

for various flavors of "soda pop," and I intend to try

out "cream soda" sometime soon.

We have been hosting "Oktoberfest" the first Saturday
for several years, usually on a small-scale.  Here are a
few of our guests arriving.  I'd say that fewer than 1/20
of families can afford to have a "personal tricycle"  here;
it is the "next step up" from just having a motorcycle.
(Motorcycle is much easier to drive, though - -)

Not-unusual table-spread, and Bernadette's newly-baked sweet-potato pie.

On Oct. 5 I "took a ride for fun" to San Remigio, a municipality about 45 miles from us, about 15 miles inland.  Note that their boundary "welcome sign" features a strawberry- motif.  The farther-inland parts of the area are quite mountainous and elevated, and well-known for being able to produce specialty crops which won't grow elsewhere.  However, these remote areas are "not for foreigners to travel," so I was content to get to their main-plaza area with the public market. Well, it wasn't "market day" + it's too early in the season for strawberries, 

but I learned a little about our extended area here and had a nice ride.

One species of palm tree has branches about 5- feet long, with long tapered leaves.  These are often folded around the "spar" and woven, to be used for awnings and shades.  They last a few months, and there are always plenty more available.  People here have a remarkable capability of making 'something' from little-or-nothing.

Colorful flowering and foliage-plantings are in every available
space, here.  I don't know what most of them are;  this bunch
is in front of a neighbor's house a few yards down the street.


I spent a couple days (parts of 2 days) at a conference
in San Jose, and this is the only photo I took, just before
dismissal.  Lots of folks here are eager to record each
passing moment (Face- Booking?) but things mostly look
the same to me from one meeting to the next.

Well, I didn't say there would be NO construction updates!

Here's what the front looks like, from the front corner of

the "yellow house."  10:46 a.m. and the large shadow  area

on the front wall shows that the 30-inch overhang above

is doing its job.  An "A"-frame roof will complete the

upstairs at some future date, blocking the view of our

water-tank tower. We expect to be able to finish-coat

the downstairs and install doors in the next few weeks;

the estimate for the windows hasn't come in yet.

Inside, the base for the cement floor was watered and
thoroughly tamped down.  We went with less re-bar in
this floor slab than in earlier ones, as it hasn't seemed
to make much difference in surface-cracking.

Interior walls will be smooth finished like the outside, and I
am determined to find and apply Styrofoam insulation panels
to the underside of the cement upper deck (our ceiling)
before finishing it;  this large slab gets about 8 hours of full
sunlight each day.  The "A"-frame upper roof will also be
well insulated, but it may be a while before it's in place.

My walk took me past this "sunset moment" one late afternoon. as a small-boat fisherman
was preparing his lights for nighttime.  The lights shining on dark water attract fish
to be netted.  Nobody uses this method in the week around full moon.  This photo shows the usual disposition of Sulu Sea, a smallish ocean body which is usually "flat as a farm pond," surrounded by land- masses.   (Yeah, I know, Star Trek - - maybe Gene Roddenberry got the name from a map - -   [Link: Sulu Sea].)

It's going to be a challenge to put next month's posting together.  I have scheduled several "distance trips" for meetings and one wedding in the next few weeks, + ,maybe a one-day trip on Thursday or Friday, as daughter Thea, Joseph + friends are asking if I want to go see Kalibo area (All Saints Day and the day after are Holidays for office workers in the Philippines).  I hope to keep the camera clicking if "new" or "different" scenes come into view.

Have a great week, and may the joys of the approaching holiday seasons utterly surpass any of the included hectic activity!  ;-)

TJ and Bernadette Larson

Antique Province, Philippines

"Rainy Season" Over! (?)

(Begun Oct. 5) (Finished Oct. 10)

We are relieved the last couple weeks, because it seems like we have finally run out of "rainy season." This year it seemed like we had at least "double" the rain of a typical rainy season;  several large-scale typhoons passed north of us, but their activity drew a high amount of moisture towards us from the annual "southwest monsoon" system.  This rain respite means that we can finally move forward again with our construction project - replacing a derelict bamboo building between our houses with concrete-and-steel construction.

This posting ended up pretty heavily angled towards the construction, although I tried to lessen the number of photos on that topic.

I have quite a few "random-selection" photos from recent months, not included here; possibly I'll end up doing a "special miscellaneous edition."

I'm still pleased to be able to get out for a while most afternoons and walk the beach.  I noticed that around sundown there are often several distinct layers of different clouds, hovering above late-afternoon-shadow light, creating a dramatic effect.

This photo is indeed only 3 minutes later than the above.

The clouds moved from in front of the sun, and I changed

the direction I was pointing, plus I think I was experimenting

some with the "light adjustment" settings on the camera.

I often wonder what combination of volcanic events would

produce stones with so many fracture cracks, all filled in with

contrasting (white) lava at a later date.  There are quite

a few of these lying around.  I found one a while back

which looked like the layout for a "miniature airport"

runway and taxiway system.  Ancient tiny Alien

visitors?  Who knows - - -

We spend more time with food preparation than we did in Kentucky, partly because it's a good hobby and partly because various "ready made" items are not in our immediate area.   We've been pleased to find a regular, reasonable source for some "luxuries" like American style bacon and California pepper-jack cheese.

I make batches of Hominy-corn as needed,  because this

process improves the corn's nutritional quality, to be used 

for tortilla-making and several types of casseroles.  I had

been using a pre-Columbus method of processing with

wood-ash lye, but I got some pickling lime this time, which

makes it easier and makes the finished product a brighter

yellow.  My "hands on" time for doing a large supply is

about an hour, now.  The hominy is boiled for 30 minutes

in the lye- solution, then sits and absorbs fluid "overnight."

  It just takes a few minutes to spoon it into plastic bags and

toss it in the freezer.

I was pleased with this finished product, a pork-with-veggies

pot- pie.  The local food here is all mostly OK, but nothing

beats "down home" USA  cooking once in a while.

I think I'd shown "rambutan" here before.  A little larger than a golf-ball,

the inside is a white gelatinous flesh containing one large seed - tasting

like seedless green-grapes common in USA.  I want to try making

jelly sometime, if I ever get that far.

The same day I was looking at the rambutan photos,  this photo

of newly-born porcupines came in e-mail as part of a longer article.

The construction project was approaching the stage shown below, when the most recent BLOG was posted.  The  "process" photos below that show about 2 weeks' work for a crew of 4 guys, as the walls reached their height and the "temporary floor" and re-bar steel and forms all got put in place for the cement 2nd- floor "deck" to be poured as a unit with the bond-beams which set on top of the walls.  All of the plywood and wooden and bamboo reinforcements and posts are temporary - - they will be removed when the cement is poured and set.    This link and this one will take you to early-stages of material gathering and construction in our 2013 project;  If you navigate through 2013 entries for a few months' worth,  every-other (alternating) entry in that year or so was angled towards projects and construction.  These can give you an overview of how cement building construction happens here - - a much different process than in the USA! The articles in- between were more about the sights, customs, and occasions of this area, from a "new comer foreigner" point of view.   NEARLY EVERYTHING FROM FIVE YEARS AGO got repeated as we pulled this project together.  EXCEPTION: this is the first time I tried to get a cement slab poured 8 or 9 feet above the ground.

The last photo above shows the building with all the form-work ready for concrete pour.  I was surprised as the costs of everything mounted up and up -  we used quite a bit more re-bar steel than I had thought, and I believe it is the most significant expense of the project.

On a fine Saturday morning, we were ready to do "the big cement pour."  We had arranged with 14 workers to come and handle various tasks.

Seven cubic meters of sand-and-gravel mix had been trucked

from the local river-bed and deposited along the road beside

our fence;  this, to be carried as-needed to the mixing area.

After the S n G mix is dumped in a long mound, the cement

is sprinkled over the top of the pile, and it is systematically 

double- shoveled to ensure a consistent mix. Water from

the well hand-pump is added to a "crater" formed at

the center of the mix and all is mixed to a quite-watery

 final consistency.  I think the "thin" mix is easier

to carry and will pour without forming air-voids.

Not shown is "making buckets" from 5-gal. plastic

cans, plus some other preparatory work which

all happened at once.

So, all the cement was shoveled into buckets, and handed up

via a "bucket line" to the pour-area on the 2nd floor.  The

time-log on the above photo is correct: the "pour" which

began at 8 a.m. was actually completed a little before

12:00 noon - above being the last corner completed.

Just four hours, and a lot got done!  I estimated that

a little over four cubic meters of our S n G material

got used, and 20 sacks of cement, in about TEN

"mixings."   This would equal a smallest-size "mini

batch" delivery truck in the USA.  Cement drum-

trucks are only seen here on government and VERY

large contract projects; a portable cement mixer

might be used for a long term project, but for a one-

day job,  "ready?  mix!" with shovels is the norm.

 "The Larson Foundation" should display

from this link, and it will give another quick-view of

what cement work is like around here.

This photo, from 8 or 9 days later, shows the completed

2nd floor cement deck.  This will be allowed to continue

"curing" for another several days, sprayed with water

morning and evening, before the forms and temporary

support posts are all removed, sometime next week.

Our plan is to build low walls around the edge of the

2nd floor, and then roof a modified "A-frame" with

pop-out dormers for additional head-space at the 

height where the "A" gets too narrow, around 8- feet.

Most likely, we will try to get the cement floor into the

downstairs and do some finishing there, to make it

a usable structure.  But "other priorities" are starting

to clamor for attention, so it seems we will delay the

2nd- floor project for at least a few months.  This

sort of "building in spurts" is pretty usual here -

we've watched our neighbors do it, often.

We had several nice rainbows in late afternoons recently. This one was quite

bright so it shows pretty well in the photo.  I missed catching a complete double-arch

about a week before I made this photo.

There are several travels planned for the next few weeks: San Jose at least TWICE, and Iloilo with overnight-stays possibly 3 times before December.  Conferences, and one wedding.  "Errands" attempted around the meeting schedules.  So I don't know exactly when I'll get another posting together ;-).  

We hope that you all are doing fine, as the end of 2018 approaches, and that the several approaching festivities hold a special joy for you and your loved ones.

TJ and Bernadette Larson

Tibiao, Antique Province, Philippines