Cueva Balcones

Today Katrina and I finally did something we have wanted to do since we moved here. We went spelunking with two very gracious members of the Sociedad Espeleológica de Puerto Rico Inc. (SEPRI) group.
Katrina and I have always been interested in the natural environment. We go underwater so why not underground. In Washington State we visited the Ape Cave (1 1/4 mile long lava tube) at Mt St Helen's. A few years back I took a cave diving course in Akumal Mexico and while I was in the class Katrina dove in some connecting caverns. Then after the class we took some tours of some local caves there.
We knew Puerto Rico had some great caves and that was another benefit of moving here. I just wish I didn't wait 8 months to make contact with SEPRI.


A self-portrait of me with Katrina, Ivan, and Julio getting ready in the background.

Katrina protecting her new 'do' with a helmet.


We so happened to park right next to a wasp nest. It was well hidden. I would hate to walk into one!


After a short hike in the forest we arrive at Cueva Balcones. Ivan and Julio are very knowledgeable about the area and the caves. They were very good at explaining how Puerto Rico and the caves were formed.

As soon as you enter the cave bats fly all around. If Katrina hadn't gotten her hair cut last week I am sure she would have caught a few in her hair.



The bats were really neat and they were all over the place. Unfortunately just our presence there with bright lights disturbed them. Hopefully they didn't mind too much. The faces were really cute. What wasn't so cute was the bottom of the cave. With all those bat droppings it made for a muddy mess. I wore shorts and managed to get my legs covered in bat guano.

Only minutes into the cave Katrina needed to be moved aside before she brushed into the above poisonous cave tarantula (ha ha).


Many kinds of beautiful cave formations.

We had a great time. This was a "beginner" cave. I only needed to crawl a couple of times a short way until I could stand up again. We learned a lot and want to go a couple of times a month. No rope work was needed for this cave. We need to learn the rope work so we can go in some more difficult caves. You really need to be careful because it is so slippery.
Thanks again Ivan and Julio. Hope to see you soon.

Tool Time 2

This looks like a handy feature - handles that slide out to three different lengths. Is it useful? When I have to lean really far to prune the croton hedge maybe, but for day to day the shortest setting gets caught in my shirt and irritates me. I want to go back to a tool I had in Washington that required only one hand to operate, didn't really have handles and had blades that were lighter weight. We'll see if they make them any more and how much it costs to ship here!

Another problem with this tool is that the parts can come apart. Note the upper right screw like thing isn't there anymore. It came out twice - first time I found it and the second time it went to Jeff's "shop" for a repair (diving backplate part added).

Gloves gloves gloves. How many have we had? Everything is terrible. Leather is hot and inflexible. Cloth gets wet and tears easily. The rubberized ones were our favorites (bottom left) except I keep wearing out the fingers. I have determined that all will suck, so now I go with the most comfortable cheapest ones that are $1.24 (upper left). They aren't waterproof, thorns go through them, and they will tear. They are my new favorites unless I am pulling vines or doing cement. Then the bottom left rubberized ones are better.

A good home depot trowel. There was a bigger version that had a neat fulcrum/pivot point but it was too heavy so I got this. Unlike all the others, this one has not bent yet!

My $1 pink plastic rake has been the best tool ever! Light weight, the teeth haven't bent or broken and lets me move a lot of stuff around. Finally the handle bent right in the middle and then snapped. I found a replacement handle for $1 but it snapped the first day I used it. So I went to Mr. Special and replaced my pink rake with a barf brown one. It is no longer $1, it was $3 something and the handle is heavier and wood. Oh well, still more suitable for me than a heavy metal one.

Tool Time 1 - What works and What Doesn't

Spray nozzles - something has to go on the end of the hose. The metal one on the left came with the house and has been working fine. We had another metal one that had a part pop off or rust off so we tried the green, cheap, plastic one on the right. Don't do it - plastic cracks where the metal is and they don't function correctly. My favorite is the nozzle in the middle for a couple reasons. Price is right. It is brass so it doesn't really rust. No parts to hinge or pop off. Easy to operate because you can grip the twisty part with gloves on and it twists to adjust the spray and you don't have to hold it or loop a metal loop (that falls off) to hold it open. It is a hands down winner. Walmart has them for a little over $2.

Rakes (rostrillos) - the one on the left is Jeff's favorite despite the fact that the tines have bent. He pulls vines with it and moves twigs and plant material around. We got the thatch rake on the right first, and it is wonderful for really heavy thatching or "pull everything out of the ground" clearing. Note that the tines are really bent. It has an adjustment so you can adjust the angle the tines are to the ground which is great when you are on a slope. It is too heavy for me but would be a good tool if it were lighter and smaller.

We have had 3 shovels. The first one had a wood handle that snapped where it joined the metal. We got the one on the right next, with a fiberglass-type handle. I like it because it is light for a normal size shovel. It is about to break though so there are certain things to use it for and other things I don't use it for. Jeff got the one on the left with the beefed up handle. Note that the metal is much longer and puts the stress point in a less stressful spot! Unfortunately it is too heavy for me.

These are great pruners but they have design flaws. On my first pair the handles simply fell off! Yes I was pruning things too big, sure I was swinging them to knock twiggy dead stuff off the orange trees, but the handles? I returned them and got another pair. This time the handles were designed a little differently. The grippy part is shorter (first pair had long ones that pulled out when they shouldn't have). What is nice about these pruners is the gearing. It makes a big difference. You can prune bigger stuff than you should with them and not feel it in your hands as much. Unfortunately the handles still fall off unless you duct tape them!

Good gearing. Bad for the handle to pull out. The shorter grip was an improvement, but come on - the handles still pull out. Even with the problems I can say this is a very useful tool and the gearing is what makes it great.

Tom Boy Gone Girl

Look at the new do! I've been feeling kind of frumpy with gray hair starting and really ratty hair from the salt water and sun. Combine that with a no-style hair cut and things were looking bad.
My neighbor said she was going in to have her hair "painted" and I asked to come along for an $8 haircut. Instead I ended up getting my hair painted too for the first time. Jeff loves it because it is red red red. Hard to tell in these photos but it is really really red - a very nice change! Here's the do from the side.

Here it is from the back - note that there is no more hair on my back. Nothing to leave itchy hairs sticking on my back. No hair to tangle in the first stage of the diving gear. No hair to make me sweat. Believe it or not it is long enough to put in a pony tail when we dive or cave or garden.

It's a little longer in the front so when I put it back it stay back. It is so girly !

It is really red so Jeff is happy.

I am happy about it too but this may be the only time it ever looks like this. I don't see myself using the iron, blow drying etc. I don't know if the color is going to become weird or faded in the salt water. My other neighbor told me to wear a hat gardening or my hair would fall out so at least when I garden it will be protected.

So why would a person do this? I wanted hair off my back. I was tired of it tangling in my scuba gear. I just needed a change.



Why coloring it? It was an impulse thing. It started with Mary and Gary (in laws) giving me a gift certificate for having a manicure and pedicure before we moved here - not something I would ever pay for. The manicure was weird - like paying someone to do personal hygiene - but the toes? Ever since then I paint my toenails. I think the hair may be like that - something that makes things a little nicer... so Mary and Gary take a look. I am stepping out into the world of girl. And friends at home...did you ever think you'd see the day? Kind of like the belly button ring. Out of character but fun...