Ojo de Agua, Panama

Here are a few photos of the first few plants I have started around the house. I am going to try to have as much edible landscape as possible. I planted five Coconut Palms, seven Aloe Vera plants, nine Platanos plants, three Vetivers, two Moringa trees and a bunch of Lemon Grass. I am working on a grey water system to drain to the platanos, they never get to much water. Plants and trees grow so fast here, in a few months it will look completely different. We also planted a patch of corn from some seed my worker Jose Maria saved from his last harvest. Cant wait to roast some ears and soak them in butter!

As to keep with the theme of mixed element construction in the house being built in Ojo de Agua we decided to build a concrete bar. The bar was built and formed with plywood screwed together in the living room floor a few feet from where it had to be finally set. It took a few days to build the forms and wire the rebar skeleton, place the granite, glue the inlay, a day of classifying and cleaning the sand and river gravel and a day to actually pour and work the concrete. After letting it set on the floor and cure for over a week I encouraged (two cases of beer paid for at the local cantina) ten of my strongest neighbors to come over on a sunday afternoon to help lift it into place. Once in place Dexter spent a couple of days sanding, polishing and sealing the finished product. Dexter really got into it, I have never seen him so excited about a concrete project. It really turned out beautiful, functioning as a work space, cooking, dining and entertaining area. I can not wait to cook my first meal with friends and family in this kitchen.

Here are photos of the beautiful hardwood doors I had custom made by a professional fine carpenter named Jose from Guarare. Famous for its annual cultural event named La Mejorana, Guarare is a small traditional Los Santos town located near Las Tablas.
One of the neat things about this country is that in many of the small towns their is one thing that many people are good at. In Arena, near Chitre, everyone makes bread and ceramics. In Guarare many men make their living with wood. It seems as if almost every other house has a wood mill, piles of saw dust, scraps laying around and freshly varnished pieces of furniture on display. Jose’s home is no different, he is a third generation carpenter. He has a nice little shop just out the back door of his house. His neighbor does all the finishing and sealing on his own back porch and apparently inside his living room. As with many of the “sub’s” on this build, I got lucky meeting Jose.
Jose “busted out” the Cedro Amargo doors and a beautiful Teak vanity ahead of schedule.
I am really pleased with Jose’s job. The doors add a nice touch to the house slowly taking shape in Ojo de Agua, Panama.

There is no job as monotonous as painting. First coat of primer, then second coat, then first coat of paint, then second coat, rolling, brushing, trim… jeez when does it end! Okay I cant lie, I only painted about ten percent of the house, Dexter was a little faster then me and he painted about fifteen percent before we threw in the paint rag. I had to bring in professionals. Two brothers referred by Uri Valdez, the dependable electrician, came in to finish up and they did a hell of a job. Clean, fast, mess free and had their own brushes. Hired! In a couple weeks they knocked it out. The house is shining like a new diamond! Sasha Cole, a professional designer friend, helped me pick out the exterior colors, thanks Sasha, the house is looking great.