Over the weekend, I worked on a project that's been on my list for a while now. I've been wanting to make a coconut planter cactus garden. My husband called it a nick-nack shelf. I have been pulling weeds/grass in part of our yard for a long time, but I've had the pallet ready for months to make this little project. I wanted to finish one project before starting another, but over the weekend, I just couldn't pull another weed, so I started and finished this one!

About this same time every year, I really want to add animals to the farm. Recently I thought I would acquire some guinea fowl from a guy who was leaving, but that fell through, so I decided to get some chicks. Whenever I get the day old chicks, they are so fragile that they end up dying. I guess it gets too cold here at night for them to be out, even in a covered dog crate.

A few weeks ago, we got a new cow from a local farmer. We had been buying milk from him and told him that we were looking for a certain breed that he had. He offered us one cow, but we decided on this cow, even though she was a different breed than we were looking for. She is a Brown Swiss and they are supposed to be great family cows. We were looking for a milk Gyr, but our new cow was inseminated with a Gyr, so hopefully a Brown Swiss/Gyr girl will be born in 9 months!

Yesterday I was recording a video for our YouTube channel with a ministry that is here in a local town giving out food and aid to families who can't afford much. It was really eye opening as I haven't seen this level of poverty around me, but I had heard it existed.

Over the years that we have been homeschooling, our kids have only spent one year at public school. That was 6 years ago, the year before Covid. All five (at the time) attended public school here in Panama to learn the language. It was kind of like torture to be on someone else's schedule and do all the homework, so sometimes I question why we decided to do it again this year for the youngest three! Ha!

Last week our homeschool group met up to learn how to make Panamanian tamales. The process of making tamales is a very long process, so if you ever receive a tamal, know that it is a labor of love! The lady helping teach us how to make them had done some prep work in the days before we met. She cooked the chicken, ground up the corn, made the seasoning, and gathered the leaves.