Let’s start with home news, the telephone and Whatsapp have been red hot this week, asking for appointments to view the house in Bello, along with offers. We had reduced the price by $10million COP (approx £2000), but a couple decided to gazump another couple who had made an offer, and took the price back up, unfortunately they had done so without access to their savings, then started making demands for changes in paperwork to give them more time. We have cut our losses, as a result lost the two Buyers, but we have a meeting tomorrow with another Viewer who is interested, having seen the property this morning, with more Viewers this weekend.
There has been no interest in the Finca so far, but one thing at a time, I rather concentrate on getting rid of the other house, then we will have to start traipsing over to Bello to look for an studio apartment for the Mother-in-law.
Tito has been causing us concern, the medication from the Dermatologist has done nothing to help him, and then he didn’t eat for three day, ending up being hospitalised, it was supposed to be overnight, as he was dehydrated, but the Vet told us that he had ripped out the drip four times, so there was no point in keeping him, we were to collect him, and syringe suero into him over the next 24 hours.
6.30pm I made it to the Vets, and Tito looked the picture of innocence, once home he wolfed his tea and then his medication as if nothing was wrong, added to that he was drinking water normally, so I postponed forcing him to take suero by syringe, because not only would it have stressed him, but put me at risk, because he will bite and fight to avoid the syringe, the Vet knows this, so I was not that pleased with him.
Last Sunday was a National Protest aimed at President Petro, people turned out all over the Country in their thousands.
The President tried to make out that nationally only 250.000 had turned out, but that was disproved just by photos, in Medellin alone there was upward of 350.000, apparently it was the biggest protest since 2008 when they protested against the violence and FARC. Will he listen, no, I don’t believe he will, and instead of stopping all his plans and taking stock, he is forcing them through as fast as he can.
Pensions are the next target, He has stated that all Pension funds will be seized by the Government, and used to finance pensions for all, so those who were members of a Pension fund will lose all their contributions, to fund a pension for those that haven’t contributed a peso, Marcela has calculated that from a decent pension she will now receive only 200.000 pesos a week, which doesn’t even cover the weekly shop, never mind utility bills and clothing. If this passes into law, then I think people will decided that enough is enough, and who can blame them, especially as he has stated that some of these funds will be used to pay delinquents a monthly payment to keep them out of the justice system. So to keep thieves out of prison, the President is happy to steal from those that made provision for their own future.
Back to the subject of Health provision, the latest is a budget across the board, whereby Doctors and Specialists will be paid a fixed figure for each process they undertake (e.g.£3.50 for a nerve block injection) , Doctors here are not well paid as it currently stands, this will make their pay derisory, already there is talk of them downing tools permanently, and moving abroad, honestly, who can blame them.
Just to bring everyone back down to earth, yesterday, I cut all the hedges, and today I have brushcut the grass, and cleared down to Pepe’s grave site in the orchard. Now it’s time to put my feet up!
Life has been ticking over… because we had been away, and because of all the rain, the garden has been, not neglected, but allowed to become, one with nature! After a long dry spell, I had not cut the grass for some time, because in places it was just brown and burnt, I had been allowing it time to re-establish, so it was time for a trim.
The grass has now been cut, as always here, using the brushcutter, and the climbing shrubs on the perimeter security fence trimmed, unfortunately I have had to speak with the Renters next door again, the male of the partnership could be heard clinking his machete on the metal fence, indicating that he was cutting it too tight again, risking another catastrophic kill off. I told him that my video and photos were going to my Solicitor, and he could expect to hear from the Judge if he killed of the shrubs, as a result the female (debatable) of the partnership came out and videod what he had cut… now we see if they start respecting other people’s property.
The rains have been coming nightly, we certainly need them, the country is in drought mode, having done nothing to reduce consumption, before the reservoirs dried up, we are waiting to see what happens, the President is on about Nationalising all Public Utilities (Electric/Gas/ Water), but we all know it wont help, they will just pocket the money and let the country rot.
The President has decided that he likes the idea of being a Dictator, and even passed a law stating that all Public Servants would receive a Public Holiday to celebrate his Birthday, which was yesterday, however many of the Territorial Governors countermanded that, and stated, not in their areas, but if the President wanted to give those working for him the day off, so be it.
The Health Service continues to crumble, many of the smaller Providers having little choice but to give in to the President’s wishes, as they have exhausted their funds, some are still sticking it out, but how long they can do so, remains to be seen.
This Sunday is a Countrywide protest against the President and his Government, he is trying his best to stop the protests, in Bogota anyway, by telling everyone to leave the City this week-end and enjoy time with their families elsewhere, in doing so, help conserve the Cities water supplies, whether people will listen is another matter, hopefully they will see through the charade. What I don’t understand, is that despite the number of anti Government protests, nothing appears in the International Press.
Tito remains a concern, he is still scratching and licking, he has a shampoo every other day, and the medication he is on, has certainly calmed him down, maybe too much, but the skin condition doesn’t seem to be improving sadly.
Marcela spoke with the Dermatologist yesterday, and she says it is too early to make decisions, and to continue for another week, poor lad, I hate to see him suffering, and he appears to have cottoned on to the disguised medication, and is refusing to take it, there is no way I can force him, he wont take it orally, I have the scars to prove it, we’ll see what next week brings.
We are hopeful that the house we are selling over in Bello may sell soon, we have six appointments today and two on Monday, then it will just be the Finca, once the house is sold, we will have to devote some time to going over to Bello, to look for a small place for the Mother-in-law.
We had the water bill on our return from Bogota, and consumption had rocketed, despite us cutting back, the only reason I could think of for that, was that someone has been using the tap in the orchard, and I have my suspicions! Now we have a tap lock
This month, I will just have to grin and bear it, yes we had been away for a few days, but Marcela’s Associate had been here spraying the trees, so using water. However if next month is the same, we will have to ask the Water Suppliers Plumber to come and check the meter and pipes to ensure there is no leak, I can’t see any signs of wet patches, but you never know.
I didn’t say anything before we went on our trip for Security reasons, and since everything was OK on our return, I guess that played out.
On Sunday morning the Kids went into Kennels, Tito seemed quite happy, jumping up into their van and sitting alongside the Driver, Nala not so much, but at least she didn’t put up a fight.
We had to be at the Airport for 4am, it’s only 30 minutes away, so we set the alarm for 2am, but I didn’t sleep a wink, so to say I was knackered was an understatement.
Why Bogota? Marcela applied two years ago for a US Tourist Visa, but due to Covid appointments were taking two years, the only way to get one is to attend the Embassy in Bogota. The initial application contains most of the information required, which seems to include everything including, how many times do you go to the bathroom (jest!) but you have to take marriage certificates, bank certificates, not only yours, but those of your Partner as well, a letter from myself guaranteeing financial support whilst in the US, family details, the list goes on. For a residence visa I could understand the amount needed, but just to be a Tourist for two weeks!
Medellin Airport at 4am!
The process itself takes two days, so we decided to go for three, and have a day sightseeing, I can’t say I was that impressed, we had a Plan A and B to cover weather changes, and it was a good job we did.
Plan A, was to visit Mount Monserrate which has a Shrine atop it, I am not religious so the shrine was of no interest other than visually, but apparently the views from there are spectacular. The plan was to go up by cable-car, and come down by Funicular ( I have been on one before in the UK, the Lynton & Lynmouth Cliff Railway in Devon, not for the faint hearted, it is a train on an almost vertical cliff, hauled up and down by chains).
However by the time we had been picked up by Courtesy Bus, dropped our cases off at the Wyndham Hotel, the weather was closing in, and we decided to go for Plan B, which was to to go to Barrio La Candelaria, which quote “is Bogota’s vibrant heart, with landmarks like the colonial-era cathedral and neoclassical Capitol flanking Bolivar Plaza. Narrow streets lined with shops selling emeralds and handicrafts lead to cultural hotspots like the Gold Museum, with pre-Colombian artifacts, and Museo Botero, showing international art in a colonial mansion.”
The narrow streets and murals were disappointing, they looked as old as they were, and needed some titivating! From there we could also look up and see Monserrate.
Monserrate
We then wandered down to Parque de Bolivar, (Bolivar Square, named after Simon Bolivar, who was responsible for Colombian Independence from the Spanish) where we saw the Congreso de la República de Colombia, unfortunately they were erecting staging for a forthcoming Protest by the President to show that he still has support, but as in all these events the people are paid and bused in from elsewhere to make it look as if the square is full.
Then there was the Palacio de la Justicia de Colombia
A Plain but impressive building, that looked as if it was having some work done on it.
As you can see in all these photos an overriding theme is pigeons, they were a pain in the backside, but for some reason Colombia seems to think that they are a tourist attraction, they have people there feeding them corn, and selling corn for people to feed them, much like Trafalgar Square in London of yesteryear! Fortunately I was wearing my flatcap, because one of these blighters scored a direct hit, on the center of my head!
Also in the Square is the Main Cathedral of Colombia
Marcela wanted to have a look inside, but because of the Protest preparations it didn’t open.
At least she can say she has been there, albeit like me, she isn’t religious, you can also just make out Monserrate on the hill in the background. Shortly after the clouds came down, and the heavens opened, it totally disappeared out of sight. We took refuge in a few Malls selling Gold and Emeralds by the bucketload, just before that, we had wanted to see the Casa de Nariño, the Presidential home, but he is running scared, according to the Police on duty there, he has had barriers put up a block away to keep his critics at bay, it was walking away from the checkpoint that the pidgeon bombed me! To commiserate we went for lunch. Before taking another Uber back to the Hotel.
Talking of Uber, and I can only talk about those in Bogota, because I have never used them before, but I found them to be a lot cheaper than Taxis, punctual, friendly and the new security feature of being given a PIN when you book, the Driver confirms the PIN on pickup, you already have his name and Plate details, and to know that its reasonably safe to jump in, also you know the price from the outset, so you don’t get ripped off. Hats of to them, they did a great job.
On the Tuesday, Marcela had to go to have her Fingerprints and Photo taken for the application in the afternoon, so in the morning we went off in Uber, to purchase a couple of new mobile phones, I had been in contact with the Company from home, since it was only five minutes from the Hotel, it made sense to collect them, Marketphone (https://tuscelularesbaratos.com/) lovely people, I had a problem because it was my intention to pay via Visa, but they wanted 5.4% of the phones cost as an admin fee, which was ridiculous, so that left me in a pickle, because I had reduced my daily limit on my debit card for Security reasons. Fortunately Marcela had her card, and between us we paid (I have now paid her back!).
For years we have both had Xiaomi mobile phones, and until the last couple of years I have been very happy with them, but then for some unknown reason, I started having problems with one after the other, unlike Marcela who swears by them. I decided that it was time for a change, Marcela upgraded from a Poco X3 Pro to an X6 Pro, I have changed from a Poco X4 Pro to a Samsung S24+, the reason being, because I am giving up my life long hobby of Carpentry, I needed another to keep me occupied, so I decided that photography and videography were the way to go, originally I was going to use the money from those tools I sold, to upgrade my Computer, but decided that if we are going to move Countries, that was a stupid move, therefore having done some research on using smartphones to do this hobby, the general consensus was that the Samsung was an ideal candidate for the job.
After making our purchases, it was back to the Hotel, deposit the phones in the safe, and go for lunch, after which Marcela went for her appointment, she had booked the Visa package at the Hotel, so the provided a Driver to take her, because he was not busy, he said he would wait for her, which was nice, they negotiated a price and back she came safely.
Wednesday morning, Marcela’s appointment at the US Embassy was at 10.15am she was told that if she arrived more than 15 minutes early she would be sent away.
This is the queue, waiting to enter the Embassy, for all types of Visas and business, as seen from our Hotel window, so she only had a short walk to the compound.
Unfortunately it was not to be, Marcela stated that the Woman ‘interviewing’ didn’t even look up from her computer, she asked her about four questions, and of all the documents Marcela had been told to take, she only asked to see my Pension certificates, and just turned to Marcela and said No. no reason given. Marcela is convinced that from the woman’s attitude the decision had already been made, before we even left Medellin, they could have saved us a lot of cash.
Many people in line with Marcela said this was their second or third attempt to get a Tourist Visa, I can’t see the attraction, I went once twenty eight years ago, that was enough, but for some reason, Colombians feel that having a US Visa opens a lot more doors for them, maybe it does. However in this case, Marcela has to wait six months before she can apply again, if that is what she wants to do, she says she expected this result so is not too upset, personally I think she is just putting on a hard face, I know she has been looking forward to this for months.
Anyway we flew home last night, finally getting to bed about 11pm, then up early this morning to go and collect the Pups, both who seem none the worse for wear after their four night stay, just hairy and as always hungry, both of which were soon remedied!
Visa or no Visa, it was nice to have a break away with Marcela, now we look forward to going to Panama.
What a hectic few days, last week the Veterinary Dermatologist asked Marcela to get ultrasounds done on Tito before we next saw her, so last Monday I took Tito, and he had his ultrasound, they found many things wrong with him, but nothing that explained his skin problem. He has gastritis, colitis, a weak heart, to name but a few, but nothing that helps. Marcela has spoken to the Dermatologist and our Vet again, and it’s possible the next stop is a Heart Specialist…
As I said to Marcela, Tito is nearly eleven, I am not going to let him suffer, so that Specialists can use him as a Guineapig, if it comes down to it, Tito has had a good life, he will have to join Pepe in a better place.
The other day, Tito came for a walk with Nala and myself, we had probably only walked 500m, when Tito had an episode, his front half walked normally, his back arched, similar to a cat, when it is threatened, and the rear half of his body turned at right angles to the rest of him, and he came to a dead stop. I had to carry him home, but as soon as I put him down in the garden, he ran off as if nothing had happened. Both strange and worrying, when Marcela spoke to the Vet, he said I should video it… sorry but the last thing on my mind when Tito is suffering, is to get my phone out and video him!
On Wednesday it was Marcela’s Birthday, the grand old age of 44, so we headed out for lunch, which was an unusual affair this year, we went shopping first, then for lunch at one of our favourite Restaurants out in the sticks
Fortunately the rain stayed away, as although the place had a roof, of sorts, I wouldn’t class it as storm proof.
But… Marcela wanted her dessert from Crepes and Waffles, back in the Shopping Centre, who was I to argue, so back we went, Marcela had the Special
and I had my cone! Then it was back home.
Yesterday, the Local Authority sent their Contractors up to grade the lane, if anyone had any sense, they would grade where it was needed, and leave the parts in good condition well alone, but no, they rip up the lot, then along comes the roller and does a half hearted job, whilst trying to vibrate the wall of the house down, I was not happy. To add to that last night we had a heavy storm most of the night, I knew what I was going to walk out to, and I wasn’t wrong.
The lane had been fine outside, but with the mornings heavy traffic, it was a mud bath. It happens every year. Our section of road, because the Rich and Influential don’t live here, only gets graded, but I counted six Dumper trucks pass early today full of gravel, heading to where those people live. I was out in the road with my rake and hoe this morning trying to lev el it off a bit, when one of those people stopped to talk, I made it clear exactly what I thought, I doubt he will be stopping for a chat again!
It looked a bit better when I had finished, but it still needed rolling, so I guess it’s probably going to look almost the same now, maybe I’ll have a peek, maybe not.
Then it was time for hedgecutting, fortunately the rain held off.
Rain is becoming a necessity all over the Country, yes this last week, the rains have returned, but we are going to need it for months if there are not going to be consequences. Yesterday, the Mayor Of Bogota announced that as from Monday, they will probably have to introduce water rationing. Personally, I say that is a reflection on those responsible for supply, from the water companies, to the Local Authorities, to National Government, why have they waited until there is no water before taking action? Restrictions should have been in place since they were first aware that we had a problem.
As for the position of the Health Service, because the President has not got his way with Health Reforms, he has starved the Providers of funds, and now one by one they are going out of business, or he is declaring them inadequate and closing them down, today it was announced that one Provider has gone bankrupt, they have three million plus patients, who now have no health service. The law states if this happens other Providers have to take them on, but so many have been affected, and also being starved of funds, they have said it just isn’t possible.
If all the Providers, or EPS withdraw their services, the President will have got his way, but at what price? People are already suffering, and he has nothing in place to replace those he is closing down, and make no mistake about it, he is 100% responsible for this situation. Colombia is returning to the Dark Ages.
You have to laugh, well I do, or I would pull my remaining hair out! Every time I go to the Doctor for a Blood Pressure checkup, he gives me a set of recommendations, one of which is to eat no more than one piece of fruit a day. I have to admit to not being the biggest fruit eater, but I tend to eat at least two bananas a day, and any other fruit I fancy.
Where we have a variety of fruit just in our garden, I have no intention of letting it go to waste.
Oranges (Green or yellow, hardly ever orange!)
Lemons ( Green or orange, never yellow)
Peaches – Yet to have one that has survived until full size
Mandarines (constant battle with black fly)
Guayaba / Guava Fresa (Great for juice)
Guayaba Palmira/Guava
The last being Apple, I bought two trees at the same time as all the others, believing the climate was ideal up here, as it is similar to the UK, but they have done absolutely nothing, two sticks, that are an insult to the apple family. I suspect the problem was in the grafting, quality over here leaves a lot to be desired, as well as the knowledge of those in the Garden Centres selling them, for example, the apples, what varieties are there? answer, green or red!!!! Give us a break.
Another problem we have, is that when we erected the security fencing, we wanted a couple of Avocados included in the garden, and not part of the orchard, there was a natural cut off, which gave us two Hass trees and one Padilillo, the latter I don’t like the taste, and Marcela only eats it, if there are no Hass, but one of our Hass, is looking decidedly ill.
I asked Marcela to speak with her Associate who looks after the Orchard, and he said he though the problem was the Pedilillo, it was sucking all the nutrients from the Hass, and needed a hard prune. He stated he would come last week-end with his chain saw. Like all Colombians, you end up asking yourself, which week-end. which month, which year, so I decided to get the ladder out, you all know I hate heights, but it had to be done.
With the able assistance of Nala, who kept running off with the branches, I pruned the tree, using my mini chain saw, and my pole loppers
Then it was a case of clearing up, I have missed a couple of whispy bits, but I have brought the height right down, and cut it, so that it’s not growing into the Hass.
Now we can only wait and see if the Hass recovers, or if I was too late.
Yesterday, I was on my morning walk with Nala, when there was a terrific noise in the trees above.
Squirrels / Las Ardillas
We often see one possibly two of the red squirrels that live in the pine trees here, but this was a family of ten or more, just playing chase at the top of the trees, totally oblivious to their audience below. Nala just sat watching them, and I have to admit, I was entranced, so only caught the latter part of their activity before they saw us, deciding to try poo bombing us, we made tracks before they had us in range. I have never heard them chattering before, it was great to watch them.
Tito continues with his treatment, after a week we had to reduce the frequency of the showers and the tablets, it’s showing, he has started, licking and scratching again, Marcela has spoken with the Dermatologist, who says that he can’t stay on this medication, it would be dangerous for him at his age, so they will have to rethink his treatment, she asked Marcela to contact her again this Saturday, even though it is Semana Santa (Easter) Week-end. I hope that a resolution can be found, because he is not happy, and when I brush him, his fur is full of dead skin, he must be at his wits end, I can understand why he is scratching.
We had rain last night, all night, and the type of rain we need, constant, heavy but not torrential, if this is a sign that summer is nearly over, then surprisingly, I am happy, I love summer, but the reservoirs and river are down meters not feet, the situation is getting worrying, if it can’t at least be stalled, we run the risk of no water in the taps.
When we were in a situation with no water once before, they didn’t send tankers with potable water, they sent the Fire Brigade, who had pumped the water from the river, and filled our buckets, with something that looked as if it had come from your septic tank, it doesn’t bear thinking about.
Last week the Estate Agent came to check the details we had supplied and to take more photos to supplement those we had supplied, to give him his due, he was the only Company that bothered to come out and look, he also took some drone photos, which is different to most companies here.
So if you are thinking of moving to Colombia, and want a quieter lifestyle away from the urban racket, in a well maintained finca, this might be for you.
Mid week, Marcela’s Business Associate came with a Crew, and picked the current crop of avocados, as we thought, due to the weather it was down on weight, being only 740kg or 0.8 tonnes, but still better than a kick in the teeth.
Photo of the crop being loaded:
I have to be honest, rather them than me, every sack is 40kg and they have some way to carry them… uphill!
Tito’s every other day showers continue, he is getting used to them, and after being covered in shampoo, he has to be left running around for 5 minutes, before showering it off.
We have to remember to shut the door to the house, but with the current weather, temperature in the mid 20’s, its not too bad, albeit on Wednesday, Marcela was not here, so I couldn’t use the outside shower, and he had to suffer freezing cold water poor lad, but we got it done, and after a good towelling down, and a run in the sun, he was fine.
Now we are coming up to Semana Santa, or Easter, but like all things Colombian, it doesn’t just effect a couple of days, because we have Palm Sunday tomorrow, and a day for St. Joseph on Monday, which only leaves Tuesday and Wednesday before the next bunch, many places close for ten days, so we had to make sure we were stocked up. It is no wonder the Economy of Colombia is behind others, if they cut half the Bank holidays a year, productivity would soar, but as long as they are happy, that’s something for them to decide. I suspect in maybe decades to come, someone will figure that out and something will change.
Another couple of weeks and we will be off to Bogota for a couple of days, Marcela has her Visa interview at the US Embassy, she has waited two years for the appointment, and no guarantees she will get it, we’ll wait and see.
Then a few months after that, we are off to Panama, on our first scouting mission, to see if it is somewhere we could happily live, we are starting off by visiting David, (flights and Hotel booked) we know it’s hot year round, much like it was in Copacabana, the heat doesn’t faze us, it just depends on the area, as we are looking at urban living, to keep the Boss happy. If David doesn’t tick most of our boxes, then we will return again, and spend some time near Chitre, the only downside to that, would be that Officialdom for there, would be in Panama City, three to four hours away. Maybe we could get lucky, and all things change here, and we wont have to move countries at all. whatever happens, I have learned my lesson, probably too late, we will still move all our funds abroad, and rent, then at least, we can just pack our suitcases and leave.
Now it’s time for some gardening, fortunately although it’s warm, it is overcast, so some suncream, a hat, and off I go.
We took Tito to see the Veterinary Dermatologist, and she found an anomaly, his skin was ‘dry’, yet it was covered in a fluid, and the interior of his ears were very inflamed, and yet they were very clean, all signs, she told me of an allergy. She has taken skin scrapes, and blood samples were sent off.
The following day, she contacted Marcela, and sent copies of all the results which are inconclusive, she believes he has an allergy, but to what she has no idea, this is supported by the blood results, so Tito has been put on a course of medication, and has to be shampooed every other day, which he doesn’t mind.
So far, he appears to be scratching and licking less, but he is still drinking loads of water, and has started with diarrhea, it’s early days, we’ll see how it progresses.
Phone calls for my tools seem to have dried up, to be honest, I’m quite glad of the rest, I’ll think of another marketing plan, at least all my big tools have gone, which probably was the easy part, now I think I’ll have to start selling my smaller tools in packages, to make it worth while anyone coming for them.
Now it’s Marcela’s turn, her phone has been going non stop for days, for the house in Bello, and there has been a constant flow of viewers which has been encouraging, but as yet, no offers. Marcela isn’t quite so happy with all the interruptions, especially when she is at the Gym, with age, she seems to have lost her patience, now she knows how I feel, although you wouldn’t think so, to listen to her… ha! ha!
She is still getting the calls from oddballs, she had one asking if we would accept installments, yes, right, we are a Bank after all. Another asking if we would take a Taxi in part exchange. God give us strength.
A regional Estate Agent came to visit on Saturday, the first to get off his backside, come to view the Finca, he had to sell. He took some of his own photos to supplement those we had taken, also Drone footage for their website. He doesn’t think we have over priced the property, which is encouraging, we all know, that it’s a starting price, and we’ll negotiate from here, now we will see what happens… if anything!
Tomorrow, I have my Blood Pressure checkup, and know I have going to have an argument with the Doctor, he told me to pick up the order for blood tests at the end of February, when I went, I was told to return for them on March 8th, only to then be told that the Doctor hadn’t put in the order, and I would have to make another appointment to see him and get an order. They must think I have nothing better to do, I had no intention of returning again, if they couldn’t message him, and he couldn’t do his job, that’s their problem. Now we will see what he has to say. I would tell them to stuff it, except for the fact being in the Blood Pressure program is a condition of me being in the Health Service full stop. I also need to ask for my annual prostate test, that should be interesting!
I have been cussing my decisions this week, my Cell phone hasn’t stopped beeping, as I receive messages about the tools I have for sale, I have sold quite a few, a number were multiple purchases, so a bit of discount was given, but at least I am recouping a better share of the cost, unlike when I left Spain, everything was last minute, and I received a fraction of the value.
Most days I add a few more tools to Facebook Marketplace, and the messages start again, the frustrating part is the people who do not bother to read the Ads, which clearly state where in the country I am, I tell them they are for collection only, and they ask me to send them, I say something is a fixed price, and they ask for a discount.
This is something I don’t like here, if I am going to buy something, and it doesn’t say its a fixed price, I will make an offer if I think the price is high, here they see your price, and say “What is the minimum you will accept”, I tell them, I have stated my price, if they wish to make an offer I will consider it. Then they take the mickey, I have one item up for $1.500.000 ( don’t have a heart attack thats about $380 US) and yesterday I had an offer for $1.000.000… yeah right, I’m a charity! I guess it goes with the territory.
The one thing that has surprised me is that we had the house in Bello up for sale on Marketplace, it’s been there since last year, and at Christmas enquiries dried up, but this week they started flooding in again, so much so that I removed the Ad from my account, and re advertised it on Marcela’s account, which I should have done in the first place, because she is dealing with the sale of the properties. Yesterday we had three couples go to view the house, I don’t think the Mother-in-law was that happy, we are just keeping our fingers crossed.
The problem with the Renting neighbour continues, I stated about them hacking our flowering hedge back to the fence, it turns out that they have done more damage than we first thought. they have cut some of the main shoots, which went through the fence and back again,
as a result we have die-back, all down the fenceline.
I confronted the neighbour, who’s response was “it’ll grow again won’t it?”, maybe, but it’s taken 3 years to get it to this stage, and a dead hedge is not something a potential buyer wants to see, I am fuming, and I think Marcela is a bit worried about my next line of defence, or is that attack!
My first effort at annoying the neighbour was
As many of you will know, my firepit is alongside their house, I have tried to have my fires when they are not there, but … unfortunately it burned a treat with not a hint of smoke, I was gutted, I had it going for about four hours burning rubbish, old timbers I will never use, and wet leaves… absolutely nada!
I am pleased to report that many of our Avocado trees are laden with fruit,
So my earlier worries seem to have been unfounded, we’ll see, the proof of the pudding is in the picking!
And as for the Title… Tito seems to be going downhill, we took him to the Vet, who could find nothing wrong to indicate a skin problem, unfortunately the earliest appointment for a Dermatologist was the 13th of this month, which at the time was 11 days away, a long time for a dog to suffer. I am now wondering if this is a Psychological problem, because if he is on my knee he can sit for hours and not move, as soon as he gets down he starts scratching and licking non stop, and it goes on all day and night, this is not just affecting him, but us as well. I can manage, I’ll siesta in the day, but Marcela has to have eight hours uninterrupted sleep minimum, and she’s not getting it, so she is on about moving into the apartment every other night, not something I want, and definitely not something long term.
Tito has also started showing his age, like this morning, recently he has been coming with Nala and me for the early walk, instead of me taking them separately, however, we had only gone 200m, he sat in the road and wouldn’t budge, I had to bring him home, and start again with Nala.
Like Pepe, we are not prepared to see Tito continue to suffer, he can’t tell us whats wrong, the Vet can’t find anything, if the Dermatologist cant resolve it, then Tito will have to follow Pepe, I hope that’s not the case, he’s the same age as Pepe was, he’s had a good life since we adopted him, and he’s repayed us a thousand fold, but if its time!
On that downbeat note, I will go and look for some more tools to sell!
I think I have taken up a new career, I said I was going to start advertising my tools from the workshop, I have kept it local using FaceBook Marketplace, and the calls have been pouring in, I am beginning to think that I should have only put one or two on the platform at a time. Most people have been reasonable, I have said that, not being a business that Buyers would have to make their own arrangements to collect whatever they bought, as I was not going to the trouble of arranging transportation, and still one or two have tried it on.
I had one person contact me from Cartagena on the North Coast, he wasn’t a happy bunny, but if he can’t read, that’s his problem, another said that as I could not send the item he wanted, to Cali, down south, then he would come up by Bus, if I would meet him at the local bus station, that’s what you call dedication, because it would have meant, eight hours from Cali to Medellin, then another hour and a half to here, and then back again. He said he would contact me today to confirm, I am realistically not expecting to hear from him.
After all that, my Saw Bench and my commercial Bandsaw both went, along with my Planer/Thicknesser, my Scrollsaw (which disappeared down the lane, precariously balanced on the back of a motorcycle), and some other tools. I have someone coming today or tomorrow to look at one of my welding machines.
Last night I had an enquiry for one of my old woodwork Routers, he asked me if I had all the accessories and router bits it came with, when I asked him what he ment, he sent me the photos from Homecenter the national DIY Store, I couldn’t believe it, so I told him, that if that was what he expected, go to Homecenter and pay their prices!
I have obviously made a loss, on all my tools, but I am not making the mistake I made when I left Spain, and sold them at the last minute, for pennies, and sat there crying afterwards, at least I will have a reasonable sum to put towards a new Hobby, which I have in mind. That is something to be revealed in the future.
At the moment I am keeping all the tools that have battery packs, along with my handtools, I may well still need them, and they can always be sold from an Apartment, if that is where we end up.
I said that I was going to buy a bag of cement, and repair the house rendering, I had a change of heart, for a lot of repairs I have been using a silicon cement, it is brilliant stuff, comes in a caulking tube, it’s sticky, and of a cement texture
I cut each of the cracks open with my grinder, then pumped the filler in, once it was firm I gave it a coat of paint. It doesn’t look great, but it’s weatherproof, and runs most of the way around the house under floor level, aproximately the first metre is effected. To rectify it totally, I would have to chip off all the render and redo it, only for the same to happen again, in a year or two.
When you think that four years ago, the entire outside of the house looked like this, I personally think, it still looks better now.
This week we have finally put the Finca up for Sale, with two Estate Agents, our asking price is the wishful thinking price, but it leaves us plenty of negotiating room, now all we can do it sit back and hope. I will be very surprised if we are on the move this year, but we can live in hope.
This week began another saga, we hope it doesn’t turn into one, but by now, you know our luck, Tito has been having an irritation problem, he has been licking and scratching at the rear half of his body, for the last weeks, and has been to the Vet, who can find nothing wrong, his skin appears fine, we have been having to shower him twice a week, and give him medication… no change, so yesterday, back we went, and on Monday we will have a Specialist appointment with a dermatologist, Tito is now nearly eleven, and most days, showing his age, but we will do what we can for him, whatever it takes.
Hopefully, it won’t take long to resolve, because he is keeping us awake at night, and he is suffering, which tears us apart, just because we don’t know why.
I think we are ( no sorry, I am) about to start a neigbour war, the woman and her toyboy that rent the house alongside for a knocking shop, talked about ‘respect’ when they moved in, slagging off our friends who live on the other side of them, but she is worse than them all, she has four miniture Pinschers, none of which are trained, and they insist on running up and down their driveway yappying like a gang of rats, standing in line with our house door, or my office.
When the woman is not here her male concubine, comes to work the land, arriving sometimes between 6-6.30am and leaving at 5pm, he has the music centre at max volume all day, so he can hear whilst working.
Yesterday, the lazy Git took his brushcutter to the Climbing plants on our fence, and now there is no privacy, you can see right through, the whole fence was shaking, Marcela went out and spoke with him, and he stopped, but I guess it wont be the last time.
The trouble is that there is very little respect for other people’s property here, they only understand one thing, and that ends up with the Police in attendance!!! It is just part of the culture, you learn to live with it, or retaliate.
I’m building a lovely big bonfire ready for the next time they appear with visitors, my fire pit is in the orchard,alongside their house. Before the house was built, the smoke went in the opposite direction, but since it was built, the winds have been altered, and it is drawn towards the property. In the past, I tried to have all my fires, when they were not there… no more! I have also set up my pistol range as near to their house as possible, without causing any danger. Petty? yes, I know it is, but it makes me feel better, and her dogs run!
Someone asked me the other day, what I thought of our Chevrolet Tracker AWD, I readily agree that it is a more comfortable ride than the Prado, but that is to be expected, hopefully now the major problems have been repaired, there will be no more for a while. The one thing I still haven’t got used to is the automatic gear box, as I have said previously, I have driven automatics in the past, briefly, but never owned one. I find it to be less than responsive, you want to pass someone quickly, it roars, and feels as if the clutch assembly is slipping, hopefully, it’s just me, and not something else wrong with the car, gently acceleration, no problem, maybe I’ll try selecting the manual position, and see how that performs.
Now it’s time to do some more Clerical, so I’ll start my second shift of the day… The first was gardening.
Have I got a lot to show for this week… in one word, No! but I have still managed to get a lot of small jobs done, which I had kept pushing onto the back burner.
We have started contacting Estate Agents with regard to selling this place, so the little maintenance jobs need doing, before anyone sees them.
I spent a day doing my usual chores, of cutting the grass, cutting the hedge, and pruning the fruit trees in the main garden, that in itself felt as if it was a workout.
We took the car into the Garage again, the antifreeze, expansion bottle was empty, or appeared so, there was still liquid in the radiator, because if you eased the top open when it was warm, the antifreeze filled the bottle. The Manager looked at it, and said it was a problem with the Chevrolet Tracker(Trax) and would be the hoses, but as they were not easy to access, they would need it for the day, I suspected from the leakage, that it wasn’t just the hoses, but kept my mouth shut. I took the car in early one morning, and came back on the Bus, I had asked the local illegal taxis for a price, and they wanted Gringo prices, I thought that was behind me, but obviously not.
The Garage hadn’t finished the car, when we enquired late afternoon, so Marcela said she would catch the bus to town the following morning, when she went to the Gym, and collect it. Sure enough, I was right, they had also changed the water pump, the bills are starting to add up, I hope there are no more for a while.
My morning walks with Nala, have been a joy.
From trees appearing out of the mist
To spies keeping a discreet eye on us, on an early walk
To spider activity, I wasn’t getting too close to that, because I was bitten about two months ago, by a spider hiding in my garden jacket sleeve, and the pain has only just subsided.
Back to Odd Jobbing, and that entailed the wall at the side of my bed, I think damp had been getting through from our shower (re grouted last week), resulting in some of the render coming away. I had moved the dehumidifier to that wall, then removed the crumbling render, repaired it with stucco, since the wall is rustic, I waited for it to start drying, then padded it with a sponge, now you would never know that there had been a problem, I’ll leave it a day or two to thoroughly dry out, then paint it.
Then it was into the Workshop, sort through some more tools, and list more for sale, I’ll upload those today. It’s taken a while, because I had been taking photos of the Finca to give to Estate Agents, most want you to supply the photos, I had to move things around, so the house looked tidy, even if it wasn’t!!
The next job, is to buy a small bag of cement (I have the sand) a couple of the outside walls, the rendering has cracked with land movement, nothing serious, it’s only cosmetic, but to sell, I rather it looked OK, than if the house is about to disappear down the mountain, fortunately all the cracks are near the base, so no ladders.
That about brings me up to date, so I had better get some of my ads for tools uploaded.
An Englishman in Colombia 