Meet A New Family Member and Company Comes Calling

Meet A New Family Member

We were at the open air farmers market last week and my Mother saw a young girl around 7 years old, kick a kitten. She called me from the truck, to check on the kitten. I went over to the neighboring  vegetable stand  and a orange and white scrawny flea-covered kitten came up to me. The mother of the young girl sat eating and would drop a bite of rice or two for the kitten to eat. I scooped the little kitten up and it started purring. I was hooked, as it snuggled into me and let out several desperate little mews.

I asked the woman three times if she would sell me the kitten. She kept telling me it was her daughters and pointing at her. I came back to the truck and shrugged and told Mom “We cannot take all the kitties we fine”.

When our maid got back from finishing the vegetable shopping, Mom told her to ask the woman about the kitten. Well, by that time the woman’s husband was there and we watched him pick up the kitten and bring it over to the truck and dump it unceremoniously in the back seat of the truck cab.

Matter settled. We were the owners of a new cat.

Just wanted to add, this was not the kitten my Mother saw kicked. It was a black kitten and had scurried off after the assault. We wished we could have taken it home as well.

Meet Stuart Little the newest member of our tribe of cats

Company Comes Calling

I had been out working outside and walked into the house and in the middle of the living room floor, of all things– sat, a crab.

The Crab

I started calling out for our maid and for my Mother, asking “Hmmm, Where on earth the crab came from… ????” And one by one the cats surrounded me and began to investigate our uninvited house guest.

“Hi! My name is Ed the Cat. Nice to meet you little fellow.”

“Ouuuuuu–uch He got me guys! He got me!”

And by the time our maid and my Mother came onto the scene, all of a sudden “Mama Crab” released around 30 babies, which soon were scurrying across the tile floor in every direction.

Mama Crab and her 30+ babies collected off the tile floor and  ready to be released by the creek

One of the things about Panama, you never know what is around the corner.

New Pastures

The last couple of weeks our workers have fenced in the open side of the driveway. We now have two pastures there. We have moved the ram there with his ‘harem’, so he doesn’t have to live alone anymore in his solitary pasture. He is a happy fellow! Our five youngest calves currently occupy the other pasture.

I also planted a row of lemon grass alongside the new fence line. I think it will finish it off nice, as it matures and mirror the shape of the pineapple plants on the other side of the driveway. Plus lemongrass makes a nice tea.

The pasture as you enter the driveway

The second pasture as you near the house with our baby calves

Another view of the second pasture

Everyone here is well. Steven will be here tomorrow and we get to spend two weeks together, before he goes back to work again. We are both looking forward to our time together.

We are going to start putting up the greenhouse and we would love to get it completed during this time, but if we do that will be a surprise. We have over 140 pieces of bamboo to cut and assemble, then to add the plastic and insect netting. We also hope to complete our remodel of two rooms in my Mothers home, which we combined into one room, so we would have more private quarters at the end of the house. So little by little.

I pray you all are doing well– happy and healthy dear friends and family!

Much love from all of us in Panama~Rose

P.S. A picture of the beautiful sunrise this morning. (Pretty soon Steven, you will be here to sit and enjoy it again! I have missed you.)