New Years News!
Hello from Never Never Land! As the New Year has arrived, so has a tide of new and return workers on the farm, including travelers from Canada, the U.S. and France. In Nov and Dec more than 35 kids came and played and worked I just heard, I can never keep track, organization being one of those adult skills I never mastered very well. We’re 14 people today; it’s a tight but cozy fit! The numbers can change fast tho.
Heavy rains have held off for the most part in the past week, allowing for steady work to continue on building the new house. It’s huge! The roof is on, the second-story floor is going in, Tina’s already sleeping in it, and plans for decorations are in the works. We are gonna try living walls? Bouganvillias and other viney plants on a macrame? Anyone know how to macrame? It´ll be great, as soon as we figure it out! But this place has just doubled our capacity, so no room worries at this point! We do need people to bring sleeping pads and bags.
We’re also putting in lots of work on the gardens: weeding the dread coneflowers, planting veggies, and harvesting fruit from around the farm. Right now, avocados are especially plentiful (meaning delicious guacamole with most meals) and we’ve found some ripe pomegranates, pineapples and pink and normal grapefruit, as well as the tropical macademias beginning to arrive. Soon we will have oranges and mandarins and the limes and lemons are here now. The gardens are expected to begin really pumping in the next three weeks, its doing OK now but the new plantings of greens should happen fast, and then we switch from loads of gaucamole to lush salads with berry and fruit dressings! White water rafters are hopefully coming soon to instruct the guys some more in guiding. Then more plans for sending commercial rafting trips down the river can become reality! We nontourist types are running it now everytime the river comes up- too much fun!
Jeannie, our new neighboring landowner, is coming to see her place the first week of Feb., Billy, my best friend, is coming back and making big plans for coffee exportacion. The South American Explorers Club has the opening for the new documentary style video about volunteer oppurtunities in Ecuador, including NeverLand, opening tomorrow night, so we expect even more volunteers, building classes in cob and other alternatives. So much is happening this year!
The biggest event of all is coming really soon,
27 de ENERO, 2oo7
will be our BIG annual kids party. I invite lots of local kids to come and kick off carnaval. Its a kids party. Lots of food, water balloons by the ton, water pistols, buckets, clowns and piñatas. Lets all be kids forever together! Last year more than 50 kids came, this year I got t-shirts for 150 kids and adults! This is the best time, the water war rages all over the farm, noone is sacred, frequent creek dunkings happen, everyone ends up feeling and acting like 10 year olds. A better time can not be had anywhere!! Feel free to bring kid games and shows, clown yourself up, or even pitch in financially on food and piñatas- I cant wait! We need cooks, creek lifegaurds, all kinds of help to make this one a great one for loads of kids who do not get this type of fun in the poorest of poor pueblos. Best way to learn the culture, get involved and be free with your funloving selves! So- Hurry up! Get home! See ya soon! Oh! The directions page has new directions, a bit easier. If I can just figure out how to get to that damn page.
Still looking for anyone who might want to help me maintain this web site, god knows I do not know what I am doing!!
Heavy rains have held off for the most part in the past week, allowing for steady work to continue on building the new house. It’s huge! The roof is on, the second-story floor is going in, Tina’s already sleeping in it, and plans for decorations are in the works. We are gonna try living walls? Bouganvillias and other viney plants on a macrame? Anyone know how to macrame? It´ll be great, as soon as we figure it out! But this place has just doubled our capacity, so no room worries at this point! We do need people to bring sleeping pads and bags.
We’re also putting in lots of work on the gardens: weeding the dread coneflowers, planting veggies, and harvesting fruit from around the farm. Right now, avocados are especially plentiful (meaning delicious guacamole with most meals) and we’ve found some ripe pomegranates, pineapples and pink and normal grapefruit, as well as the tropical macademias beginning to arrive. Soon we will have oranges and mandarins and the limes and lemons are here now. The gardens are expected to begin really pumping in the next three weeks, its doing OK now but the new plantings of greens should happen fast, and then we switch from loads of gaucamole to lush salads with berry and fruit dressings! White water rafters are hopefully coming soon to instruct the guys some more in guiding. Then more plans for sending commercial rafting trips down the river can become reality! We nontourist types are running it now everytime the river comes up- too much fun!
Jeannie, our new neighboring landowner, is coming to see her place the first week of Feb., Billy, my best friend, is coming back and making big plans for coffee exportacion. The South American Explorers Club has the opening for the new documentary style video about volunteer oppurtunities in Ecuador, including NeverLand, opening tomorrow night, so we expect even more volunteers, building classes in cob and other alternatives. So much is happening this year!
The biggest event of all is coming really soon,
27 de ENERO, 2oo7
will be our BIG annual kids party. I invite lots of local kids to come and kick off carnaval. Its a kids party. Lots of food, water balloons by the ton, water pistols, buckets, clowns and piñatas. Lets all be kids forever together! Last year more than 50 kids came, this year I got t-shirts for 150 kids and adults! This is the best time, the water war rages all over the farm, noone is sacred, frequent creek dunkings happen, everyone ends up feeling and acting like 10 year olds. A better time can not be had anywhere!! Feel free to bring kid games and shows, clown yourself up, or even pitch in financially on food and piñatas- I cant wait! We need cooks, creek lifegaurds, all kinds of help to make this one a great one for loads of kids who do not get this type of fun in the poorest of poor pueblos. Best way to learn the culture, get involved and be free with your funloving selves! So- Hurry up! Get home! See ya soon! Oh! The directions page has new directions, a bit easier. If I can just figure out how to get to that damn page.
Still looking for anyone who might want to help me maintain this web site, god knows I do not know what I am doing!!