SailingKnitter

We've discovered a great road for hiking through the surrounding countryside. There's no traffic on it as most local folks don't have cars and this is primarily a road to service a gas pipeline. Transportation is by boat throughout this region.

So here's Jonesy, and a forest of trees. What kind of trees? Rubber trees! Much of this area is planted with tall skinny trees which are tapped to get the natural rubber. It sure looks labor intensive and we have seen groups of workers in other plantations.

The white sap feels like silicone caulking. You can see where the workers have slashed the tree trunks.

There are small houses scattered throughout this area some of which are quite rustic. They range from tidy concrete block structures for the higher income folks to huts made from local materials such as poles, thatch and rough cut wood. Chickens and children roam free.

Today, we heard a loud animal-type noise and stopped to try and figure out what it was. Jonesy thought it was a puppy whining because there was a little white pup sitting on a nearby porch. But his lips weren't moving. Nope. It was the large green parrot sitting just a few feet from him on a fence wire! I think it was a Mealy Parrot of the race guatemalae according to my bird book.

We also spotted a pair of Orange-Crowned Orioles singing and hopping around up in the trees. Our bird book doesn't put them this far north of Panama but there was no mistaking them as we got a long, close look at them.

Sometimes just walking isn't enough. When you see a Tarzan vine you just gotta take a swing don't ya?

This blog post (and our sanity) is made possible by our new best friend - the big boy diesel generator. The electrical power goes off several times a day here so the marina has it's own back-up generator. On those super hot & muggy days this baby is a life saver because we can run our air conditioning on the boat. We don't need A/C all the time - it hasn't been on in a couple of days now, but when we want it it's marvelous to be able to turn it on and dry out.

On the knitting front, I've finished up a couple of more pairs of Monster Socks. These are a little more wild than earlier socks. The puple and green pair were an exploration of combining yarns in chunkier, thick stripes with a couple of 2-row stripes added.

These blue and yellow are even wilder still. They have a picot hem top, some fair isle peerie designs and a touch of garter stitch patterning. Not boring socks - to knit or to wear.

Well, it's raining again - another thunderstorm. Which is a good thing because not only does it cool us down, but it also refills the well here at the marina for our water supply.

Also, the rain is good for the wild orchids which have just started to bloom from the vines on the trees.

Sadly, mango season is winding down. I'll miss them - but not the "bombs" falling from the trees when we're outside! Whew! There are mango trees everywhere and you could hear them bouncing down the tin roofs or splashing into the swimming pool.

Later...

# posted by Terry Sailingknitter @ 8:54 AM