We have been pretty busy lately with doctor appointments for the baby, making a space for him in our cabin, keeping up with the landscaping (Britton has been having to pull a lot of weight, and I have been putting a lot on -haha), Farmer’s Markets and cabana rental activities amongst all the other various things we have to do to keep all the balls in the air (lawn mower repair, car repairs, house maintenance, shopping, etc). Here’s a little glimpse into some of our random life as it grows along.
Putting the crib together. A beautiful gift from a friend!
Snail hitched a ride to the farmer’s market
Some of our flowers and goods at the market
International Folk Dance night in Rincon was fun
These little geckos are everywhere. They have just become part of the background now
A walk through the tropic gardens
Plumeria in bloom smell so good!
Baby belly needed a rest
Croooaaak!
We hadn’t seen the inside of a hospital at all in many years of living here, and now seem to be getting a whole island tour! Mayaguez Medical Center
Britton and one of the friendliest souls in Rincon, Angel
Britton, turkeys and a cute back-up crib that was also a lovely gift
I actually use these scales that are everywhere in Puerto Rico. I also get my horoscope in Spanish! All for a peseta (quarter)
Dragonfly resting on the truck antenna after eating up the skeeters
A cool car and a cool spot by the water
A wild fruit we found growing by the quebrada that I learned is the delicious local named: pomarrosa blanca
Farm grown pomegranate isn’t as big, but is pretty juicy and good!
This guy is so funny! He dresses up as various comic characters and sells popcorn and other snacks around Rincon (that’s got to be hot!)
View from on high when we took a jaunt up the high hills of Rincon to Pico Atalaya to this abandoned property. It’s a steep trek on scary roads, but the vistas are amazing.
Well, that’s it for our little mish-mash of random life updates. You can also check out my latest baby bump update.
Oh and here’s a cute little song we made up one night at home: Enjoy.
After Maria took down a lot of our trees, it was so disheartening. It looked as though a bomb had gone off and nowhere was it more evident than in the vegetation. As “plant people” and people who live directly in the jungle with all the other forest dwelling creatures we took notice of the changes. We humans weren’t the only ones traumatized by the hurricane. Birds, bees, mongoose, iguanas, and all sorts of other creatures were displaced. There was a sadness that is hard to describe to those who haven’t been through something like that. I am still trying to wrap my mind around the complete and utter chaos that that storm brought to life and its still rippling effects.
In the plants, it was so obvious. Many were pulled from the earth, trees lost all their leaves, and others leaned so far sideways they will never be straight again. The plants that lived through it seemed to go into a shock survival mode of instant spring within about a month, trying to bring on more leaves and flowers, but they were just trying to hold on to life while they restored themselves. Like us all.
Our ravaged tropical gardens the day after Maria
So this spring we have been even more renewed by the sight of true spring. The flowers are blooming again. The bees are pollinating. There is new growth and repair. There is hope. And this scent fills all of us with it. For us, at the farm, this means more work, but we are enjoying it. As I grow this new life form as well, we are preparing in harmony with nature.
Many of our parcha -passionfruit- vines were severely damaged but they are growing and blooming again!
Farm meadow area
Takes a lot of mowing to keep the yard looking sharp -before and after mowing about 2 acres with 2 push mowers (one each)
Lots of yard work!
New baby turkeys came out of the jungle with their mama and we put them in the coop out of harm’s way
Some of the bounty of flowers we take to the Farmer’s Market on Sundays
A new area we are cleaning up and replanting
Turkeys roaming the pineapple garden
From the farm to the Farmer’s Market-flowers, pomarrosa, guineos (bananas)
Scene from the Sunday Farmer’s Market
Another section near “Ridgeline” that we cleared of downed trees and is now being replanted
Hawk Lane and the end of the pink roble bloom
Mulberries (a favorite tree of the birds)
Pineapple that is almost ripe enough to pick
More pineapples growing
Sale and delivery of banana plants (long load!)
Pretty birds, sugar cane, palms, bougainvillea and bananas
It’s that time again to sort through all the photos that have no other real place but in a random photo drop. All the little moments in life add up…
I love checking out old abandoned buildings!
Front
Yard work is always humbling in its scale
And its rewards like seeing this young hawk up close
Or this little guy
Back side of the cabin as it is currently
At another cool abandoned house
Randomness of life here…Viking helmets and old nuclear reactors
So breathtaking -Spanish wall overlooking Pools Beach in Rincóñ
You know it’s a surf town when…
At the international folkloric music/dance night in Rincon -people from all over the world came like Turkey!
Slovenia! (With my funny friend Jenn! haha)
I thought the fiddles, overalls and square dancing was a funny representation of the USA, but somewhat accurate I suppose for folk dancing
Now that’s what you call a lot of junk in your trunk!! 😉
Check out these cool mushrooms growing on rotting wood
White torch gingers at our finca
Plumeria caterpillar munching away
Sphinx moth
Beautiful Boquerón -standing
And laid out (thanks to Amanda for this photo)
You never know what you might see…ram horn helmet and a skeleton at a restaurant!
That’s quite the paint job!
And that’s one heck of a wreck!
We went out salsa dancing with fedoras at a place called Hydra and had a lot of fun! It’s a cool, hip place and while I love salsa dancing and music it does seem to be dying off as a popular music style here on the island. Bachata, merengue and reggaeton are far more favored at most bars. Salsa is like 50’s sock-hop music would be to most people stateside.
We got some moves- haha!
Yah, you know there’s just a random pyramid in Aguada
Wow, it always surprises me when I think of what to write about for the blog. I think, I don’t really have any good topics. Then I look through my pictures and I see that we have actually been out doing quite a few things. Here are a few of them:
Rincón International Film Festival We enjoyed a beautiful and elegant evening at Rincón Beach Resort for the final night of the Rincón International Film Festival also known as “Best Of Fest.” I like to watch all the short films that have been sifted through and chosen as the top picks. As for the resort, I have never been to this one and it was really nice. I have seen it advertised on Wheel of Fortune and it definitely has that sort of all-inclusive resort vibe. It even has a swim-up pool bar that is connected directly to the beach.
With friends at RIFF
Fun at Rincón Beach Resort
Limber de Teta I saw a sign for Limber de Teta and it made me laugh. What could boob limber possibly be? So we stopped and tried it out. It was a limber (like an icee) but sold in a little baggie the shape of a boob. Pretty clever!
Sucking on a parcha/piña boob
At the Limber de Teta stand just off the 115 going towards Aguada
Demolition Derby in Moca A friend of ours invited us to a demolition derby in Moca that was a fundraiser for his friend’s adolescent daughter who has a very aggressive form of cancer. I see a lot of fundraisers around here for various causes, but this was one of the biggest. We hadn’t been to a demo derby since the Greeley Stampede many years ago. Here it was definitely not regulation size or even in a stadium. People just sort of hung out everywhere, but it somehow worked.
One of the demolition cars
Quite a crowd in the middle of a cleared out field!
As we were watching the events unfold a the derby, a young girl walked by that caught my eye. What was in her hands? Snakes! I was intrigued and began asking her about them. She could tell that I wasn’t afraid of them and said, do you want to hold them? I tentatively said yes and she put the large python on my neck and the baby in my hands. You never know what you may find in the randomest of places!
Cassie the Snake Charmer. Starting to get a little tight around the neck!
Flower Power: Playing Music
We played our most recent show at Willie’s to the theme of Flower Power/Hippie Night and it was a lot of fun.
Playing out at Willie’s
Good times! Peace, Love and Happiness!
On the Property
We have been focusing on property landscaping a little more lately and cleanup. While we’re not completely done with the house, it is functional. So now we are making it and the surroundings pretty! The finca has grown a lot in the last 3 nearly 4 years and we are starting to see the literal fruits of our labors!
Nispero Japones aka Loquat first flowers!
Amongst the flowers of our gardens
Kola Nut flowers!
In the jungle of our yard…Hey! What’s that sound?!
We have been clearing out some pretty nasty spiky and poisonous plants lately! Check them out:
Huge harmless spider (on a 2×6 to give you scale)…a huntsman
We’ll cross that bridge when we get there
As I was clearing some bromeliads and underbrush from behind the cabin, I found this old liquor bottle. We have determined based on the markings that it is from between 1932-1964! That’s a long time to be sitting out in the middle of the jungle! This old treasure says: Federal Law Forbids Sale or Reuse of this Bottle. John Walker and Sons Ltd Kilmarnock Scotland 4/5 Quart.
Before it was Johnnie Walker, it was John Walker and Sons Ltd
The chickens and turkeys are all doing pretty good. We have to protect them a little more especially now that we are at the cabin and not as close to their coops. We collect quite a few eggs and enjoy their silly antics. Here’s some voodoo magic you can do with a chicken!
Out and about And then of course there is the randomness of being out and about around the island. You just never know what you might see.
Like a HUGE can of cans!
Beautiful duck, I think a Muscovy in a lagoon
Hanging out with Surfrider and a high school science club doing water quality testing
Cool new mural on a derelict building
And nature reclaiming this one
This sign made me laugh…No! You can’t park here, not even for one second
One of our favorite little food stands, Sana, moved across the street by the Post Office
And at the Pulguero in San Sebastian I spotted these huge fruits. They call them Socato
Hanging out at one of our favorite bars, Olajas in Aguada
