Well, we are working on the fourth week in the new house and three months in Ecuador. We are still very excited about living here. We wake up daily feeling blessed and go to sleep feeling very content. Life is good, and we enjoy just being together.
Our Dutch friends who live in Yangana have stored their furniture in one of our storage rooms, and are traveling the country for the next three months They plan on going to Amazonia (the Orient) North of Quito to the Volcanoes and to the coast as well. They want to experience all of Ecuador with their 3 teenagers.
We continue to grow closer to Francisco, Rosa and Marley each day. They are delightful, and very caring people. They are patient with our Spanish and try to speak as much English as they can. And yes, sometimes we do have to resort to sign language! They are both working on the grounds this week as the steel workers are on the Casita and there will be no work for Francisco until next week when they resume laying bricks on the second floor. They are getting so much done its incredible. Lisa has been painting the wrought iron fence in the back yard, and I have been planting tomatoes (49 to be exact) and prepping new gardens for veggies. Bananas are coming in left and right, and boy are they good. So aromatic and a wonderful taste to match. This morning we ate a cherimoya from one of our trees. What a great fruit! Giant figs are ripening as we speak. They are big as tennis balls.
We just received a letter saying that my Visa has been approved, and that we need to go to the Central Bank in Cuenca to register our CD. For those that don’t know, we must deposit 30K in a CD as we are obtaining an Investor Visa which is one of the three ways you can get Residency in Ecuador. Jesse and Haydee will handle that for us. Then we go back to Machala and retrieve my Visa and Lisa will then be allowed to apply as my dependent. So much paperwork!
I just installed a new “Califone” or “on demand” water heater this morning. We purchased a much larger one that should work better for a house this size. The old one will be installed in Francisco and Rosa’s house as they have not had hot water the entire time they have lived here. We must put a roof on their house first. We feel that the least we can do is provide a roof that does not leak and some hot water for showers.
We bought 8 new baby chicks for layers this week. It will be almost six months before they start to lay. However, Francisco’s chickens are providing a good amount of eggs for all of us. We are developing plans to build a new greenhouse in front of the old one, which is damaged and needs repair. We thought having two would be a clever idea. We want to ramp up food production for both families and visitors. Any overage will be traded for other things we may need.
My BP is starting to level out a bit and am feeling more energetic. I think I over worked myself the last two days, so I am mostly just puttering around the place today. I feel bad, because Francisco is working 10 times harder than me, but I must remind myself he is 27 and I am almost 61 (sigh.) To be honest, Rosa does 10 times more than I do as well. That really destroys any amount of ego I may have left!
Lisa is excited that she has a sewing machine on the way and should be here in a week or so. She is anxious to get started on some draperies for the windows. She also has some oil paints coming so she can start to paint pictures again, she likes to have “me” time as it relaxes her. She is doing wonderfully overall. She is getting used to the altitude as am I.
Please find attached a short video with pictures of progress and wonderful flora!
Until next time,
Dios te Bendiga
May 2018
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