Monday, August 1, 2011

A Little Bit of This & That...

Well, it's been over a month since my last post...
I've got old news and some more of the same old stuff:

The picture below is our meter wall...
It's at the gate at the main road.
Originally it was 1/2 the size, but because we switched over our power supply,
they had to build on...
Long story short...we thought it should look nice so I put some stone on it,
Billy put the roof tile on.
Maybe someday we'll have a business to advertise there...?
(Maybe not;)






We have a tree that grows gourds, basketball gourds.
I've been drying them out, carving and painting them:





The eyes are carved out on this one, like a mask.



I broke my Dremel making this one.
I'm thinking about repainting this one.
I love the carving but not the pattern I painted.



This one is an open top bowl.
7" tall & wide




I drilled holes and filled with glass beads then installed a light for this one:
It creates a nice affect, the color of the beads actually shine on the wall.
This was a test run on a smalled gourd that I found at the beach, it's only about 5" tall 4" wide.
I can't wait to do the next one!!



More crafting... 
Hermit Crabs



Dragonflies




I've found a home for my desktop computer.
At my recently installed (personal) work bench!
I've mounted the monitor so that while I work, I can surf the net,
watch movies, TV shows on YouTube...
I've been happily crafting my days away!
Leaving the island is really only important when we run out of food!
We did actually go somewhere a few weeks ago,
here's a picture to prove it:

This waterfall is on the road that goes to Boquete.



do go beach-combing every chance I get.
(And sometimes I take Pepe.
He obviously loves it, his feet aren't touching the ground!) 



Billy, Dylan, Cedar and his son went out on the boat the other day.
They spear fished, knee boarded and cruised the beaches.
(I stayed home and worked ;)



Our friends Mary and Perry were down.
As usual it was great to see them, and meet Perry's son Quentin.
(They still come see us even though we whip them every time at Scattergories! ;)


I finally got a picture of the crock at our boat ramp.


Yep, more orchids.
These are terrestrial, and cover the property! 
The plant dies off during during dry season and flowers in the wet.




The rain is back, and so are things come with it!

I've had a picture of mine, the "Stink-horn Mushroom" (with the lacy thing) published on a web site.
(The owner help me identify it, like my pic and asked to use it.)
Posted in the Hall of Fame@: 




Another: Guess what it is:
(answer at bottom of post)




Billy spotted another bee swarm along our road, so we called the bee keeper!
This guy is crazy!
Jim moved the swarm to a hive on the property, but it was unsuccessful.
Possibly the queen didn't make it to her new home with her family.
However,he checked the other hive and it's doing wonderful:



More birds...imagine!




The truly gross:
(The 2 upper right pics are a trap door spider's home.)

The cool:

The pretty:


The edibles:

"    "
"     "
(Lunch: Octopus Ceviche)



And...
The truly unusual:
A Flannel Moth caterpillar.
The answer to the Guess What.
It looks so soft, you just want to pet it...
but don't.
Billy did, and it wasn't pretty!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

 Well, our company has been here and gone...
all that's left are these pictures to carry on:



We spent a bunch of time doing this:
(Check out daddy's wipe out! I had front row seats for this one as he was being pulled past the house to show off...;)




When they finally wore the board out
(broke after 1st week of use?!)
they just had Billy drag them behind the boat. 
I did not participate in this bty...I sat safely on the porch and took pictures!






More beach fun!



The boys went fishing!
Chris had a blast, his first offshore trip.
He said that was why he came to Panama!


Us girls went to the mountains...beautiful Boquete!
We did a little shopping and ate lunch at Larry & Elizabeth's new restaurant,
which was delicious by the way!




 The girls' trip to Alouatta Lodge...
Next time I go up there it will not be during rainy season!
 We made it though, eventually!
As you can see, everyone loved the monkeys!





The night Dawn and the kids left, we remembered to take a group picture...
You know how that goes, I'm showing 3 of 7!
(You growing a beard yet dad??)




This is how Barb spent her last day:










Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Kneeboarding FUN!


We took the kids out yesterday to drag them behind the boat!!


Dylan:


Chris:


Billy:




And of course I had to join in the fun!



It was a great time, and we're getting ready to go again now!





Friday, May 20, 2011

Old News...






I know this is old news, but I thought grandma might enjoy the video...
...while he was catching that big tuna!
Don't forget, this went on for nearly 4.5 hours!

My baby is growing up!

Remember this picture:






Well, this is how fast my baby grew!




Look at him crashed out...awww! 
If I were a bird, that's how I'd sleep too!
However, as Billy said, I wouldn't be a bird for long!!
PS That was probably the last time Dylan will ever hold him...
He's a one person kind of bird evidently, and guess who his person is?
Ok, it's me at the moment.
After all the work I've done for that little one, it better stay that way!









Poor Pepe...he's just not a very big hit with either of the birds.
All he wants is a little kiss...




Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Birthday Fun!

Dylan's island birthday party turned out perfect!
Lot's of fun, food, and thankfully...
Sunshine!
Yes, we were lucky enough to have great weather!
At this time of year it could go either way!








Just like teenagers, the kids went off exploring for a place to hang out...
away from adult supervision.
Just like a mom, I set out to find them!
They found this cool (dangerous) little spot tucked away on the island:







I stood up on the cliff and took pictures,
knowing all fun activity would stop if I was spotted....
The girls honed in on me first, but played it cool.
When Dylan finally spotted me,
he informed me that he needed me down there to be a wave spotter.
 Obviously happy to be invited and not shunned,
it looked fun to me, so I joined them.

HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY DYLAN!