Beach Clean Up 2012

My favorite event here in Panama,

The Annual Beach Clean Up!

This is 6th year "Buzos Boca Brava"

("Dive Boca Brava") 

has been involved,

and our 4th time participating.

This event is held ever year in October throughout the country

and below are pictures from our area:

Golfo De Chiriqui,

Pacific Islands,

Panama.

Just Another Day in Paradise!

Two gourds I've recently completed:

I bought some seeds when I last visited the states so I could grow a different variety of gourds.

They're supposed to be giant, however I'm lazy about fertilizing so the biggest one I grew ended up to be only 12".

(Trying to figure out what I can make with the one on the left ;)

 

We bottled about 36 cases of wine...

(432 bottles!)

As you can see, it was a family affair! 

Sampling wasn't the only fun part...

With a little trial & error adjusting the flow,

we ended up pretty wet!

Next, I have to come up with a name & design a label,

so far, I'm stumped!

Our buy of the week:

$5 buys this 20lb sack.

(front & back view)

They've started selling these roadside lately 

& I love the idea!

The only thing I needed that's not inside: cucumbers!

A real time & money saver!

Billy sitting on the front porch enjoying the rain &  beer:

Thing's in bloom:

Oh...I left a few out of the collage above:

 

Blooming Orchids:

Bingo & the babies:

(sooo sweet! ;)

More baby pics! 

I figured since they have a new home now I'd post my favorites!

(Yes, Pepe la Pew is licking his lips!)

One of Billy's recent fishing trips.

(Not the most recent however...

last Sunday he caught 100lbs & 

sold it before he got home) 

I've been meaning to post this:

Honey from our own yard!

Also, a swarm of bees Jim collected to put in a trap.

Miscellaneous pics:

The 2 upper left are of momma bird bringing her babies some food.

Her nest is on our front porch in one of 3 hanging pots.

It was a fun process to watch.

The daddy actually built a nest in all 3 pots and then lured the female with a wonderful little dance to show her all he had to offer!

We could see them through the window while sitting on the couch,

even watched them leave the nest for the first time.

A wicked and venomous (dead) snake!

Bingo saved me from being bit as he found it slithering on the sidewalk next to the house.

Well, I think that brings me up to date!

Yay!

I've been quite a slacker as of lately posting pictures!

Coming up next:

Sunday: Whale watching/island fun

Monday: Our 14th Wedding Anniversary!

Sometime later next week: Trip to Bocas del Toro!

My latest gourd!

Yay! Done at last!

This thing took forever!

I had to put down the power tools & 

use good old fashioned carving knives for most this project!

Sunday's Boat Trip

 We set out for a boat trip Sunday!

The weather was questionable, but we decided to risk it anyhow...

We headed out to the Peridas Islands and was hoping to,

along the way see some whales, as it's the beginning of season,

but instead we only saw some dolphin:

 I wish I had been able to get better pics,

but as we approached the bait fish they were feeding on moved away,
and of course, so did they! :(

Billy caught several fish, including this Horse-eye Jack:

He also got a nice snapper fishing off the island we stopped at.

I had a MONSTER snapper hit my popper...It came out of the water & BAM...

took off like a bat out of hell...

HA, I didn't stand a chance! 

I tried to pass the pole to Dylan but it was too late, 

the line got cut off on the rocks! 

So not only did I loose a $20 popper but

can you imagine the crap I got from the boy's the rest of the day for loosing that fish!? 

This is the island we stopped & played on:

Dylan lured us up a rock cliff to see this:

There was a crab living in there (which Dylan ate).

He was trying to convince us that the crab planted the seeds to the fern

as to give his home some privacy...!

(LMAO)

Then he convinced us further up the cliff:

"Oh...come see this tree guys!!"

And further still...

"Oh, and come check out this view up here guys!"

(The hand on the pic points to the spot we climbed to)

A pretty little tide pool:

Perfectly balanced:

Great views:

I did a little snorkeling & found these:

It turned out to be a great day,

we didn't even get rained on!

And we even had fresh fried fish for dinner!

Ground Breaking News!

Well, maybe not news to all.

And depending on your idea of news, 

a 3 week old story may not qualify!

Anyhow, we've broke ground on our new venture:

The Oil Palm business!

Below is a Google Earth image showing the outline of the property

in regards to the Pacific Ocean:

It's a 6 year old picture, hopefully Google Earth updates it soon!

The tree line is the border of the property:

As you can see in the next several pictures it's planted with Teak.

 

             and these....yikes!




                                                                                                              A small stand of Bamboo.

Well, we have a year to get  150 acres cleared & planted with the Oil Palm.

When rainy seasons comes along next year we should  be up & growing!

Hopefully we get more rain in the next season than we're getting now,

we've been a little more dry than usual,

and are hoping not to have to put in a very costly well!

Billy needed to move the back-hoe over to the farm,

which would normally take about 45 minutes, unless your going 19mph!

I forgot my iPod at home & was quite bored following him,

so I took some pictures:

I'm going to try to get over there sometime soon & take some new pics.

I can't wait to see what he's done!

We've hired 5 guys that have been working 6 days a week,

plus Dylan on Saturdays :)

so there should be some serious progress going on!

Boathouse Bathroom, DONE!

 I needed to create some space on the shelves in my work room so I decided to use up some of the shells I'd been collecting.

It was supposed to be a quick project...if I only knew when to stop!

It took about a month to do the border!

Then I added the water,

then a lighthouse, 

plus 20 other things that I just had to do! 

I actually had to go collect more shells during that time to get it 'just right!'

 (I also scored that oar on a beach combing trip!)

Unfortunately, because the way I sort my shells

I really didn't end up with any more space!

 

 

Happy to be done!

All I could think of the whole time I was working on this project was the new gourd I'd start carving as soon as I was done!

But first, I had to work on 1 more thing for the bathroom...

A couple seahorses I'd carved.

Half way through that, my Dremel took a crap on me!

That would be the Dremel I  carve my gourds with!

:(

Now it's in the shop, sure hope they can fix it!