Friday, October 5, 2012

Bits and Pieces


When I was on my way home from the Parade of Horses, I saw this woman going into an unfinished building.  I wasn't sure what she was doing until she had gone back into her house and I passed the place she had been.  She had food in that container and had put it down in there for the dog to eat.


I recently splurged and bought an electric juicer.  This isn't the kind where you peel the fruit and run it through and it pulverizes everything and separates the pulp from the juice.  No, this is just one of those things like the manual citrus juicer we're all familiar with but it's electric.  I juiced about a quart of juice in less than half an hour and the cost of the oranges was only about 30 cents.  I would have gotten more juice out of them if I hadn't had them hanging around for so long.  I was having a terrible time juicing them by hand and the older they get, the more the juice dries up or evaporates or something.  Now I can take advantage of sales on juice oranges and have fresh juice whenever I want it.  Some days it's the little things.

Have you noticed the Cluster Map at the top of the right column?  I've been fascinated by it.  Sure, it tells me where people live who are reading my blog (and I'm shocked, amazed, and very pleased that they are from such diverse locations) but it also breaks things down by state in the US.  In addition to that, it shows me where the last 10 people who have viewed the blog live.  It's fun for me.  I have no idea if it might be of any interest at all to anyone else but, you know me, it struck me as interesting so I shared it with you.

After writing about what to pack when you come here, it occurred to me that I had left something rather important out.  Bring your hand sanitizer.  I suspect you can buy it here but I haven't noticed it and you'll want both a little portable one and probably one to refill it.  Bathroom sinks here do not have hot water and there are many places where the public restrooms won't have any soap.  (Of course many of them don't have toilet paper, either.)  If you have germ issues, the hand sanitizer is a good idea. Quick update on what's happening in my life these days. My computer still awaits its new hard drive which has either already been sent to me from the States or will be in the next few days. I'm cat sitting at two separate home. It's a wee bit more challenging than it originally would have been but, well, life happened. One of the kitties managed to escape and was on the run for pretty close to two weeks -- she came home yesterday -- hurray! I've gotten a tiny job doing administrative work for a friend of mine. I've spent lots of time with new friends who have been avid blog readers. We have a new restaurant in town. In other words, lots is going on here and there's a ton to write about as soon as I can blog with a bit more ease. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

3 comments:

  1. For those who might be moving to Ecuador, it might be useful to know the brands of the products that you have success with. I honestly don't know if they are the same brands we are familiar with or not but with most things, some brands are better than others. Remember the toaster.

    Paul

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  2. I have been hesitant to write this, but now I am convinced that we have lost the BEST ever blog on Cotacachi. Something, other than the computer problem, is preventing Cynthia from giving us her frank and unbiased views of Cotacachi life. Perhaps she has been TOO candid, TOO frank, she probably touched on SOMEONES sensitivity, and therefore the SILENCE, the unbearable SILENCE.
    But I will remember Cynthia Goes to Ecuador as the BEST EVER blog.
    So long, Cynthia...
    Edward Solano

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    Replies
    1. Oh, Ed--I'm so sorry to have abandoned all of you for so long. You're right--part of it has to do with my computer--I still don't have the new hard drive--it's been in transit in the mail for three weeks so far. I'm truly hoping it will arrive. The other part has more to do with a combination of an extraordinarily busy life and not being well for about a month. I'm doing much better and new computer or not, I'm going to do what I can to post on the blog a little here and there. It's hard to not be able to have the photos cropped or edited but I can manage.

      Thank you so much for reminding me that I have people out there who really like reading my posts. Watch for something later today.

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