Still Very Busy

Guanabana tree with bags on it.

First two pictures.
Yes, the first picture is our backyard tree and yes, I did put the bags on the tree. The bags protect the fruit from bugs (our attempt at organic.) The second picture is the guanabana fruit that the bags are protecting. Guanabana is also known as soursop, cherimoya, custard apple, Brazilian paw paw and graviola. It is thought to provide relief from a a wide variety of ailments, such as cancer, herpes, parasites, infections etc. We just knew it tasted good in milkshakes with some vanilla. If all of the fruit makes it this time, I might try making some ice cream too. While we were still living in the States, the tree was only producing 1-2 guanabanas all the way to ripe stage...here is hoping the colorful bags help get more!

The next two pictures.  
Furniture day has come. As you can see we were making an office out of totes, plywood and a dining room chair. Today we broke down and bought some cheap particle board furniture as our HUGE upgrade. At some point, we will either build new furniture or find furniture that we like. I expect that it will take Rick all weekend to finish all 7 boxes of furniture. I am hoping that I can get out of helping him if I bribe him with good brownies. I finally found Pyrex dishes yesterday (it only took 4 stores to before I found some) during my shopping spree with my neighbor.

Update on Coffee Site.
I have been working on the website this week and hopefully will publish the updates soon. We have our new Finca Casanga logo. Yes...that is the name of our farm now. We finalized the papers this week and were able to contract the coffee labels out with a company in David. 

How did we come up with Finca Casanga? Good question. Finca means country estate or ranch. Casanga is the local name for a blue headed parrot that is exclusive to this area. We spent an afternoon meeting with our counsel about the documents that we would need after we came up with a name for our corporation/farm. After many names were thrown around and a few cervesas (beers) later, one of the men said in a baritone voice and a dramatic hand gesture, "You need a strong sounding name like Casanga!" Two more days of throwing around more names, we ended up coming back to Casanga. So, we now have a name!

Next week we will have labels for the coffee bags and we have a very inefficient way of shipping the coffee now. We are trying to find a way to streamline the process, but the rules on shipping here appears to be strict. 

1. The bag of coffee must be shown at the post office, before it is packaged, so that it can be verified that it is indeed coffee and not a prohibited export product.
2. After we show the bag of coffee to the employee, we have to produce a form stating what the item is, where it is going and a ton of other information.
3. Then the coffee needs to be wrapped in kraft paper (brown paper like a grocery store bag) and then sealed up. However, we cannot use tape. It must be glue. 

I have found the paper, but now we need to experiment with the glues. Which glue will dry quick enough at the post office, which is easiest to apply and most importantly....which one can I find at a store.

​It was much easier bringing coffee to the States and just wrapping it for presents!

Update: The oven only has a temperature knob with the numbers 1 through 5 - not sure the brownies will work out well. I have no idea if #2 on the knob is 350 degrees...sigh.