What happened to us in 2013?.....

Well, you don't have to worry.... we didn't get swept away by a rain swollen river, trapped up in the mountains by impassable roads, or eaten by local wildlife! Instead, we decided to temporarily decamp to a friend's farm by the beach in search of a little less rain, a few home comforts (like electricity, mobile phone signal & a washing machine!) and more planting opportunities.

So we spent May - November at Lago Bay, a beautiful Panamanian beach side property with big plans for residential plots alongside boutique agriculture, situated near to the surf town of Santa Catalina on the Pacific coastline.

The view of the ocean from the house

The dogs; Reisa, Rosa & Porky getting their daily exercise on the beach

 Ethan's main project over the 6 months was building outdoor furniture with an abundance of tropical hardwood. As well as creating beautiful, individual pieces of art, the bonus for Ethan was that he had a genuine excuse for expanding his tool shop. The day he came home with his first, brand new table saw, he was a happy man!

My main projects turned out to be planting fruit trees and starting a kitchen garden (well, 3 kitchen gardens actually, but only 1 lived to tell the tale after some serious grasshopper destruction!). I think we did pretty well getting over 500 papaya, 130 avocado, 50 cacao and various citrus trees into the ground in a 3 month period. Now the challenge is preventing the leaf cutter ants, flea beetles, leaf miners and caterpillars from decimating them before they fruit!

 

As well as creating, growing and planting we've also been enjoying the beauty of living by the beach with 3 gorgeous Rottweiler puppies and 6 chickens. And yes... I have tried to train both! My chickens will now very obediently follow me to the hen house whenever I have a container in my hand (whether food-filled or otherwise). Obedience from the dogs however is sometimes a little more challenging.

So 2013 didn't turn out to be the year that we had imagined, but whilst waiting for our plans up in the mountains to come to fruition, plan B didn't turn out so badly..... We continued to enjoy the beauty and warmth of Panama, learn more Spanish, pick up a few more skills (and power tools in Ethan's case!), make new friends and plant more trees in Panamanian soil.

2014 promises to be another year of change. In January, Ethan will return to Lago Bay to assist with projects ranging from aquaponics to moringa, while I have a new job at an International School in Santiago (about a 2 hour drive from Lago Bay). It will be nice to earn money again, but I know that my heart will yearn for weekends at the beach with my plants, puppies and spade in hand. And then hopefully at some point during the year, plans for the Mountain farm will again pick up momentum and maybe.... just maybe... we'll be farm owners by this time next year! We both realise that we're extremely lucky to live in such a beautiful country with such a plethora of opportunities and whatever happens... we'll be fine because life is beautiful.