Since we got back from the States we’ve been going nonstop around here, cleaning up the yard, tending to the garden, getting more plants in, and making a lot more of our meat products. In the past week we’ve processed 150 lbs of pork into bacon and different sausages. We barely had time to sit down and relax with a cold beer.

It’s been a while since our butcher has been able to get us some decent-sized pork bellies to make bacon. He called the other day and said that he had some that we might be interested in. Boy, did he come through with some big pork bellies, they weighed in at 25 lbs. apiece. We wasted no time in getting them trimmed, into the cure and ready for the smoker. This will make a lot of people happy as we haven’t had any bacon available for a long time.

Since we started having occasional rains, it was time to get some more plants in the ground around the new paths out back. Over the past few months we’ve been taking cuttings and potting them, waiting for the rains to start before we put them into the ground. We have about 150 pheasant tail ferns that Kelley grew from seed. Some of those were getting over a foot tall and needed to get in the ground, of which we got only about half of them planted. The pheasant tails have big leaves, get 3-4′ tall and add a real tropical feel to the yard. We also planted over 30 more cordylines that we had potted, a few other misc plants, plus a bunch of caladium bulbs we dug up a while back. 

All this planting put a small dent in what we had potted, and all that really did was free up more empty pots. Which meant it was time to trim the hibiscus and a bunch of other plants to get them rooted for next time. Sometimes I think we have rooted, planted, and given away more plants than most nurseries.

We also have these beautiful ferns that grow on our cohune palm trees. In the past we’ve planted some directly in the ground or in pots and they’ve sometimes done well, as long as they were kept wet. So we gathered a bunch off our palm trees, and Amanda also had some around her place that we were welcome to. These all got put in the ground to fill in around the other plants that we’ve put in. The new path area behind the house is really starting to fill in with all the different types of plants. Hopefully, by next year when everything gets big and fills in, it should make for a nice little tropical garden to walk around.  

We’re trying to make our new area a little whimsical with things to look at besides just plants. So while we were in the States, our son plasma cut us a couple of metal sasquatch silhouettes to put on some trees. We saw some online, but all we could find were sasquatch flipping you off. So Kelley modified the ones we found and put a beer in his hand like he’s looking for a party. I think they turned out great and make a nice addition to the area. 

The wild plants around here are always surprising us. The other day above the garage, one of the vines decided to show off its colors. Beautiful purple flowers with green leaves all around it and a blue sky in the background. A lot of the wild plants around here only bloom or show colors once a year, and sometimes only for a few days. That’s why a lot of times we’ll see something bloom that we’ve never seen before.

We’re always looking for funny signs to put out back around the BBQ. On our trip up to Washington they had a lot of great signs that we’ve never seen before, but this one stuck out and we just had to have it. This warning is never a problem, but just in case. Sort of like the warning for tsunamis, or don’t pick up hitchhikers outside a prison. It’s something you should never have to worry about, but at least you’ve been warned.

We’ve always talked about how cool it would be to have our Wicked Toucan logo on our chocolate bars. While we were in the States that became a reality. Our son laser-cut some acrylic to the size bar we needed and then engraved our logo on it. After that we poured some food grade mold making silicon over it. We ended up making four molds that do four bars at a time, and we think they look pretty awesome.

Two of our eight mango trees produced a small amount of fruit this year. There wasn’t a whole lot, but we’ve been able to have a couple every day for breakfast for the past few weeks. Kelley found a recipe where you diced up the mangos and sprinkled Tajín seasoning on them. I know that’s a favorite way to enjoy them, but these mangos were first soaked in tequila overnight. Sounds good, right? Well, they were very, very strong with the Tajín and tequila combined. I would almost compare them to cherry bombs soaked in grain alcohol. Maybe the leftover tequila and the mangos might be good blended into a margarita, but as for these little bites, they were way too strong. We’re always looking for something new to try; sometimes it just doesn’t taste as good as it sounds.

Belikin beer has a new promotion going on where you enter a code from under their bottle cap and you could win. So far we’ve had 5 winning caps. One for a single beer, one for a case of beer, two different ones for a six-pack, and one for a $25 certificate at the Belikin store. Plus every time you enter a cap code you are entered into a drawing to win beer for a year. It looks like we might have to find a little more time to sit down with a cold beer.

For the past week or so we’ve had this little Yellow-throated Euphonia hanging around the house. He is constantly on Kelley’s office window looking in and also on the truck windows and mirrors. Not really sure what he’s doing, maybe he sees himself and thinks it’s another bird. The Yellow-throated Euphonia are small songbirds common to Central America. Every year there have been some that build a nest in a palm tree right off our porch, but they’ve never been fixated on windows and mirrors before. 

Not everything goes as planned. Eight years ago when our shipping container was delivered, it was not placed in the exact spot we wanted it. The delivery truck broke our water line and it was a big mud pit, so he dropped it where he could. The other day we decided that we would straighten out the container, get it up on blocks and paint it to match the garage. We dug spots out, jacked it up a little and put temporary blocks under it to slide on. Then we hooked up the 12,000 lb winch with a snatch block to the truck and put the pressure to it. The back end only had to slide 1-2 feet to straighten it out, but that thing didn’t budge. We dug more, jacked more and sweated our ass off, and it still wouldn’t move. That’s how we spent the 4th of July. We really should have gone down to Placencia for Lobsterfest, it would have been a much better time. 

Lobster season opened on July 1st and will run through the end of February. If you love lobster and the Caribbean beaches, or just want to visit us, this is the time to get down here. See you soon!