The Dreaded To-Do List

To-do List
It is now the slow season for us. Harvest is a few months away and the rain is here a few afternoons a week now. So, while we were not super busy with everything else, we sat down yesterday and made our to-do list. It was 2 pages long and I think we both were too sad at how much there was on it to continue adding things.

Last night we signed up for the workaway program. It is a way for people to travel around the world and learn new things and meet new people along the way for cheap. We provide food and lodging and our wonderful sense of humor (okay, so it is supposed to be adding cultural experience and not so much my sense of humor, but hey!) and someone travelling through helps us out for a few hours a day. I will let you know how it goes, but I am feeling very hopeful after the depression of seeing our huge list of stuff. :)

Today, Rick and I accomplished 2 items off of the list. I was the lucky one. I just had to refinish some wood in the outdoor kitchen. I forgot to take a before picture, but the first picture is when I was halfway done sanding it.

This area used to be exposed to the elements outside and the wood started getting black and pretty gross. Now that it is under a roof, it was time to spruce it up. I am not a wood-working kind of person, so I think I did a pretty good job.

Rick's Job
One of the cameras went offline this week. While trouble-shooting it, another one went down too. One of the issues that we found is that waterproof items made for places other than Panama and not-so-waterproof. The box that houses the wires was full of water from the last huge downpour. Then we found out that the wire that is buried underground got water too. Which might not be so bad, if it had not been the fake CAT 5 wire we had purchased our first year. So, he had to dig up some of the pipes, try and take out the old wire (1 of them broke inside) and then get new wire through the underground pipes. Then he had to get it through all of the pipes into the house where all of the magic happens...haha. Here are a few pictures of the mess. He fixed it and still had time to fit in something that was not even on our list and 1 other item that was!

Mowing the Lawn
We normally use our neighbors mower, but it was sadly not available today. So, Rick mowed our lawn with a weed-eater. The lawn was getting a little out of control...maybe not the lawn, but the weeds growing in the lawn were!

Recycling Milk Jugs
Since we have learned that waterproof does not really mean waterproof for Panama, this year Rick is putting shields over the cameras. I cannot tell you how many outdoor, waterproof cameras we have had flood with water. Maybe his milk jug hoods will help save a few of them this year. I took a picture of my sweet husband fixing the hoods over the cameras from the live-feed camera app on my phone. Maybe he won't read this post and won't see this picture...haha.

Bugs
We had a coffee tour with a person that actually is doing the workaway program. Talking to her actually helped us decide to try the program out. Anyways, she was a Entomologist and really, really likes bugs....

I have asked her to go through the blog and add comments on any of the bugs that she knows the names of - if she has time. I am hoping she does! We were talking about the Whip Spider that day and she was hoping to see one while she was down in this area. Of course after she left, that night we see a Whip Spider! I sent her the picture, but no more talking about creepy bugs or spiders with people for me....just rainbows and butterflies from now on!

Coffee Trees
I was responding to someone's email this morning and took these pictures to better show what I was talking about. The first picture below is a different coffee farm's trees and the second picture is a picture of some of our trees. After putting the 2 pictures close together, it reminds me of what all of the hard work is for and how healthy our trees are. 

Last, but not Least....Bathtub Update

One of my dearest and best friends just sent me a picture of what arrived for me in the mail today. I will be seeing her in a few weeks and had my new tub sent to her house!!!! YAY!!!!!

Some may still think that my blow-up bathtub is just silly, but I will take silly over no bathtub any day. :)