We are almost done pruning the coffee trees and mulching all of the limbs and leaves. A few more days of working on that and it should be done. However, there are other projects we are trying to fit in too. For the next 2 days, we are back working on another section of the road up the hill. The first section is dry, so as we open that part up, we are now going to close another part of the road to fix it. While the paint sprayer was out, Rick painted the roof of another shed that we are trying to "leak-proof" before the rainy season comes again. Some of the coffee has finished the "resting phase" and is ready to be de-husked and roasted. We have been processing a few of the tree's coffee as we have time. Paige, has been learning how time consuming the de-husking can be. He is processing and roasting his own coffee from his tree this year. :) We have only finished 8 of the leased trees so far and hope to get a bunch more done this weekend. :) We are limited on how many packages we can mail in a week, which helps us set our goal of being able to process that many each week. Today has been the first day where it has not been windy in weeks! I am hoping the wind is gone for now...
When we do take a break and look around, we are reminded just how much beauty there is here. Everything from the wonderful sunrises, to the wildlife and to all of the new growth and greenery around us. The coffee storage area is almost done. It just needs a door, some paint and eventually a few more shelves. :) We have started pruning the trees and raking the leaves. The pile was over 3 feet high at one point and that was only for a small section of the field. While pruning the trees, Melvin and Rick found this little green lizard hanging out on one of the trees. It was a very productive afternoon.... Unfortunately, the rest of the day was not as good. Some debris flew into my eye towards the end and then I was busy flushing my eye out with water, while Rick and Melvin finished cleaning up. Then around 4pm, Karma and Dante took off towards the jungle in pursuit of something. (Probably a bunny) Karma yelped and they both ran home. Karma had a gash on her leg which had nicked a vein and blood was spurting out like a fountain. Rick bandaged her up, I called the vet and we got her there just before she was closing for the day. Her bandage keeps slipping off and will not stay up after she walks a few steps, so we are relying on the Cone of Shame right now to keep her from messing with her stitches. Right now we are dealing with a vomiting, very sad dog. She lost a lot of blood and had to have 2 shots of anesthesia. The 1st shot did not last long enough for the vet to her patched up, so she got a bigger 2nd dose. She is showing a little more energy today and has kept a little chicken rice down so far today. She was sick in the middle of the night and then jumped up to snuggle with Rick for the rest of the night. Between her twisting and turning on the bed and my husband snoring, it was a long night last night! I am hoping for a more peaceful night tonight. :) However, Karma was not too sick to try and protect us from our neighbor's horse. She ran out of the house with her Cone of Shame and was going to make a stand against the horse, but I finally got her back in the house and Rick was convincing the horse not to bite him as he was trying to get her back to her own home. (This horse likes to take little horse bites at Rick.) It seems that our neighbor's animals think the grass is greener on our farm. We are constantly chasing their chickens and occasionally dragging the horse.....such is life on a farm! We have also been working on restocking for a month now. I can say that it was finally all caught up for an entire day! We now also have beach bags, totes and new castile coffee soap. We had to say goodbye to our new friends, Dale and Shane. They have moved on to the U.K. to continue their great adventures. It was fun spending some time with them and they were a huge help with the coffee storage area and even spent the last 2 days helping us work on the road. We wish them well and hope they make it back to Panama in the future. Then we just met a new couple that is buying some land on the hill here and will be building a house here. New neighbors...yay!!!
Each day is different and that is what keeps life here exciting for us. The airbnb was closed in February for our friends and guests, now it is back up and running again, coffee tours are still going on and it is time to get ready for our son to go back to school. Here is hoping for another great month! |
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August 2020
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