Well, my tenant (a single woman from Iowa) and I reached an agreement to share my house since she has a lease until the end of June and I want to come back into my home.   She immediately took off for a 3 week trip to Mexico to see the Monarch butterfly migration and other wonders.   After coming back for a week, she took off again for 10 weeks in Colombia.   She’s due back tomorrow and will be moving out on June 15.    So…I’ve had my house virtually to myself since I got back.   It was a great solution for both of us.

So, as usual I’m looking for something about my house to pound on!!  I have 4 bathrooms in my house, but they all have showers.   I do have the hot tub outside, but in rainy season I’m unable to use it much.   So, I decided to install a bathtub in my guest shower (the only one big enough to accommodate a bathtub) while my roommate has been in Colombia.   Unfortunately, the ONLY white plain bathtub in Panama with left hand controls was accidentally dropped in the warehouse and broke.    The only other one they had was a right hand control, which required the plumber to chip out the floor and run drain and water lines to the other side of the shower stall.   It was quite a process, but he was impeccable and got it done beautifully, with some creative concrete work to fill in the unused space around the tub.

I’ve had some really special time with various groups of women that I know and love here in Boquete, since I returned.   One day, Babbe Earle asked us up to her little hacienda on Jaramillo Mountain with beautiful views down to the Pacific.

Babbe & John Earle's House

We had a potluck lunch

It was a perfect day for art projects (Marni, Carol & Marnie)

Gina & I watched Barbie at the easel

And….there was SHOPPING!   Babbe’s daughter makes fabulous pearl necklaces and earrings….so we all got a strand of what we are calling Sorority Pearls that we wear with jeans and tee shirts.  It’s very elegant

Picking out our favorite pearls....

Lazing the day away in the sun!

On another day, Carol and her husband Peter had a party at their place to celebrate Peter’s birthday, and to say farewell….they return to their beautiful home in Vermont for the summer…..they’ll return to us when it gets cold up there!   Pretty fabulous life they have….and their house is on the mountain, just above Babbe’s….so the views are spectacular.   This day we were mostly in the clouds, so couldn’t see down to the Pacific…but who cares, in a surrounding like this!!

Carol & Peter at his birthday

As you can see, their house is literally up in the trees….

Their bedroom is the highest tower...imagine waking up to the view from up there!

Bocci Fun

Another friend named Carol Putnam has moved back to the US and I will miss her terribly…..we shared a going-away dinner

Carol will definitely be missed

Now it’s time for some words and photos from the garden!

Did you know how Pineapples have babies???

Beautiful hibiscus on my terrace

This one is called Navidad (Christmas)....it has taken me 2 years to get the first bloom off my little cutting

Twins

Coral

Giant Pink & White

Here’s a video clip I shot in the garden this morning….

An American metal artist has arrived in Boquete, and I needed a new gate.  He designed something beautiful, and on the opposite side I saw how very, very secure it was…..so I asked him to continue his work along the top of my rock wall.   This was my only vulnerable spot and now it is totally secure.   He curved short metal pieces and cut the ends sharp….so no one in their right mind would try to crawl over my rock wall now.

From my side, the appearance is very organic..you can barely see the bars

But from the other side....OUCH!

Back to adventures…..so one day a bunch of us women drove the brand new paved shortcut road over to Volcan on the other side of the volcano.  We came around a curve, and some Panamanian workers were there…can you imagine…3 gringo cars screeched to a hault, all these women climbed out and started taking photos….and asking them to take photos for and with us.   Then, we just as abruptly climbed back in our cards and sped off.   I would love to hear the talk around those guys’ dinner tables that night!

Girlfriends On The Go!

Road Guys!

When we got there, we played Mexican Train and then went to dinner at Cerro Brujo, which is a wonderful little jewel of a restaurant in Volcan, whose female owner/chef created a wonderful party for us.

We spent the night at the resort/spa that is immediately next door to my very first property here, in Bambito.   The next day, Denise had a fabulous brunch for us (lobster quiche, champagne, salmon rolls) under the trees.   We felt so blessed to be living in this paradise!

When Denise bought this house it was covered with vines...and had no running water in the kitchen!

Denise, Debbie & Helen

Denise, Carol, me, Helen & Debbie and our Mimosas

The setting for our brunch was heavenly!

Our scrumptous brunch!

Does it seem like all we do is eat down here?

OK….you might be getting bored watching a bunch of women eat and drink all the time….so here’s an adventure when we included some guys.

We're enthralled by the live entertainment.....

The night after I got back, Erin and Dave Ross threw a huge party for our friend Garn’s 90th birthday, complete with live entertainment by the Boquettes (the new Do-Op Girl’s Group singing the Oldies), and others.

Panamanian guitarists serenaded the birthday boy.....

And he got the Presidential treatment, with a Marilyn Monroe (at an older age) ballad of “Happy Birthday….”

Our own Marilyn singing...Happy Birthday to Garn...Roady on keyboards

I forgot how much fun it is to live in Boquete…..there’s something going on all the time.   I really miss this group of ExPat’s when down in Ecuador.   It’s great to have a life in these two very different places….

Live music at Guari, Guari in Palmira on a Sunday afternoon

The Boquettes singin' the Oldies at Guari, Guari in nearby Palmira

Here's the monthly Ladies Who Do Lunch club ...a group I started 3 years ago, and it's still going strong!

View from Rancho de Caldera, a small, beautiful resort near Boquete

Three of my girlfriends celebrated Gemini birthdays and they invited me along for their spend-the-night fun at Rancho de Caldera….

Linda, Mikey, me and Sharon....... (birthday hostess, owner of the resort, Gina was busy at work)

The next day, the rest of our women friends joined for lunch and a dip in the infinity pool

Wonderful women live in Boquete, and look for any reason to come together

Yes, some of us really did get in the pool....out of camera range!

The world famous Boquete Chicas (a group of 45 single women living in Boquete, who get together for fun and to support each other in times of need) got together for the monthly birthday celebration.   This month we went to Volcan (on the other side of Volcan Baru) for lunch and a visit to the VERY interesting Petroglyphs.

Chicas nestled between the giant petroglyph stone, calculated to be almost 3,000 years old, and beautiful Lobster Claw heliconia flowers

Chica Louise Orr isn't really this tiny....it's just a giant plant!

The petroglyph place has more than just rocks with carvings….it has plants of all kinds!

And talk about giant plants.....this is a LEMON!

In 1949 National Geographics visited this site, and discovered things they date back 5,000 years!   The stones below have magnetic energy in them that is registered with a compass…..and there’s a spring that creates a stream that flows AGAINST gravity….up the volcano (instead of down)

These stones are amazing...with carvings that date back 5,000 years

This blind dog's leg was broken, which makes it seem he is begging with palm up. He is one of many Dalmations living at the petroglyph place.

One of the great things in Boquete is the Tuesday Morning Information & Networking Meeting, started several years ago as a simple monthly pot luck in the home of Sylvan and Barbara Cohen.   As the number of ExPats living in and visiting Boquete grew, so did this meeting.   Every week, a speaker is asked to present information of interest to foreign resisdents.    Depending on the topic, the meeting is attended by 40 to 80 people each week.   I was asked to present information and field questions from the group during my stay there….about the differences between Panama and Ecuador, and Boquete and Cuenca, since I now live in both places.   It was well attended.  I got an assist from Cheryl and Richard Johnson, who live in Boquete and visited me in Cuenca last September….they know more about the area around Quito than I do.    Just after this, they returned to Ecuador, and bought a condo in Cotacachi, north of Quito.  They too will live bi-country….spending the rainy season in Boquete down in the drier climes of Ecuador.

Explaining Ecuador to the Tuesday Morning meeting in Boquete

There are a few sure things about Latin America….bars on your windows, dogs on the street and roosters that crow at first light.   You get used to it…..actually, you begin to love it.   But some roosters have a special job…that is cock fighting.  I know, I know….me too, but it’s the culture and I prefer it to bullfighting.   So below is one VERY valuable guy who was transported up to Boquete from somewhere in the country, via the trucking company that does so much for us by getting our stuff where we need it to be.   He has his own, color coordinated, leather bag for traveling to the fights.  I kept looking around the trucking office to see where the crowing was coming from….then I spied the bag with his cock’s comb sticking out the right side.

Look closely at the top right side of this red bag...just above the black plastic. A fighting cock is peeking out on his way to the matches.

One of the changes in Boquete since I left 9 months ago, is the new shop Tucan Tiles…..the woman owner is a fabulous artist from Santa Fe, New Mexico.   She designs the tiles, and hires local women to do the production work.

Local woman helps produce the tiles at Tucan Tiles

And here’s my very own tile…oh, it’s of roosters!!!   No, not because of the cock fights here….because my maiden name “Hahn” means “Rooster” in German.   I have wooden roosters topping my kitchen cabinets in Boquete, so it seemed appropriate to get a Rooster tile from Tucan tiles…I love it.

Beautiful Rooster Tile in my kitchen

So…I know you’re asking yourself….what about Zap the Dog?    Well, yes…in addition to bringing her toys back from the US (she just LOVES fibre-fill), I visited with her several times at the home of her new parents, Donna and Ken O’Brien.  I am so lucky to have found this loving home for her…..and she’s growing up to be a lazy old dog.   She’s 3 1/2 years now but I still remember that day 3 years ago when I found her starving at the Zapadora open house…and took her home, just long enough to get her healthy, spaed and find her a new home….well, you know the rest.   She was my constant companion until I moved to Ecuador, where my condo doesn’t allow dogs.  Here she is….I know she looks like an ordinary dog…you’d never know she was so extraordinary just by looking at her.

I still love this dog!!!!

During my visit, I took her to the beach for a 2 day romp….unfortunately, she was attacked by another dog and while attempting to extricate her by pulling on her tail, I dislocated 3 ribs….ouch!    (Yes, that is the attack dog in the shadow).

Lorraine and me from her patio overlooking the Pacific...and Zap, of course

I must say that one of the highlights of my visit back to Boquete was getting to play the amazing new course, Cielo Paraiso (Heavenly Paradise)….which is definitely is!   LONG holes, up to 500 yards, offer amazing views of both the Pacific Ocean and the beautiful rainforest mountains.  I cannot wait to return and play there again.

Finally!!!! A REAL golf course in Boquete. Here with my friend Michael Mullin who lives here with his beautiful wife Debbie. Yes, that is the Pacific Ocean in the background.

One last thing….remember last November, the 40 year flood that practically swept Boquete away?   To refresh your memory, here’s a hotel that was just completed 6 months earlier.   Below that is the repair job being done on it as I departed Boquete…..

The waves were crashing above the first floor windows and water was over the road

The road, rough as it is, is open now and reconstruction has begun!

Yes….those are the very tiny footers you see exposed at the bottom of the photo…..the entire building is sitting on a little dirt and rock in the center of the structure.    They are now pouring HUGE footers inside the empty space.

So….that’s my report on my trip back to Boquete….GOD, I love that place.    I returned to Cuenca on June 29th, and am glad to be back in my cozy condo….of course, I found lots of projects to increase the beauty of my condo (cabinets, tile work and lighting),  and spent the first 2 weeks working on it….now it is finally finished!   Stay tuned for my next report from Cuenca.

My son Paul was the first person to visit me in Boquete....here we are at the Bistro, with murals of coffee and orange pickers that were painted in the 50's

My Canadian friend Annette Preston bought a house at the beach near Las Tablas

Some of my very best friends at a luncheon (L to R..Georgiann, Olga, Helen, me and KitzieAn auction in the gardens of the Panamonte Inn for a local charity

My jewelry exhibit at the Art Expo

A bunch of us at the Bistro doing our thing!

Don & Nancy Huff (and me) in Bocas Del Toro

A breakfast with friends in Portobello

The airport runway on Contadora island

Life in the 3rd World sure is wonderful....on Contadora Island

Exile home of the Shah of Iran, on Contadora

One day I heard a noise in the road outside my house....looked out and here is what I saw

Waterfront in Bocas del Toro

Allison & Scott (left) with me, Teri & Don Murray in PC at dinner. Go to www.earthrace.com to see what Allison & Scott did on their vacation....she's a 500 ton ship's captain...he's a Marine Engineer.

Women gather for Elizabeth's birthday at her coffee plantation

Parade in Boquete

Friend Wanda Stoll visited me in Boquete...AND applied for her permanent residency. Wanda and I worked at Eastern Airlines in the 70's.

Of course, Wanda went tree trekking

This is what tree trekking looks like from afar

We have 40 Chicas (single women) in Boquete...we have a monthly birthday lunch or dinner

Dancing is one of our favorite passtimes....I am taking tango lessons

My parents came to visit in May of 2007

It was great showing them around Boquete

Cousin Joy brought her daughter Tracy down for a little vacation.   I gave a party to introduce Tracy to the best of the best of Boquete

Joy, Penny & Tracy

Girlfriends enjoying a special overnight at the beautiful Rancho de Caldera, just over the mountain from Boquete

Linda, Mikey and Me, with Linda's friend in front

Zap and I went to the beach to visit Lee and Lorraine Handler at their new house right on the Pacific

Zap, Penny & Lorraine....Life is good!

Girl’s birthday luncheon at Rancho de Caldera….complete with infinity pool

Retired Life is SOOOO strenuous...and what DO we do all day??

We’ve got a new Do-Op girl’s group in Boquete…..they are called the Boquettes and WOW are they popular!

Boquettes sing the Oldies at Guari, Guari on a Sunday afternoon

The house was very charming, but of course, I had to “do my thing” and renovate it…..mostly the kitchen, laundry room, outdoor living spaces and of course, new floors.   It was a 2.5 year labor of love, and I am grateful to all those who helped get it done…..here are some photos of the project, followed by photos of the finished product.

First priority....change these floors!

The living room really needed a fireplace

So...we put one in

The finished living room, complete with fireplace

The other side of the living room

In Panama, outdoor living is wonderful…..the original patio was small and not used much….sooooo,  work began to make it bigger…

The patio begins to grow

Living next to a volcano means BIG boulders need to be removed

The old septic needed to go....poor Gary!

As the patio grows, the roof must grow too

And grows.....

And more drywall....

And, of course, there must be a hot tub……

Trench for pipes to heater and pumps

The trench goes around the corner

Zap watches the hot tub case getting built

And then covered with stones

Ready for use.....por fin!

Back to the patio renovation……

More patio

Patio dining area

And even more patio

So…..back to the inside….anyone who knows me knows that a new kitchen is almost always called for….here’s how it looked to begin with

Unpacking fun!!

The window came out, and french doors went in...oh yeah, the cabinets and sink went away too

Let's replace that other kitchen window too

Now the window is a door

So....here it is now!

The other side of the kitchen was pretty sparce

So...there wasn't much to remove on that side

But that doorway was a waste of space....so we blocked it up

Then, the block was sealed

The refrig was relocated to the space where the door was blocked up

The old refrig was here....

Of course all new tile was needed

Where old refrig used to be, and a new pantry

So....new kitchen overview

These dry rock walls are amazing…..these guys are real specialists and it’s all manual labor

The wall begins

Making little ones out of big ones

And then it was finished

Now, the house is as good as I can get it…..here are some other photos

Front of house

Dining Room

My office

My Bedroom

Other end of My Bedroom

Hand carved door to Social Bath

Did you want a closer look at those masks in the dining room….these are the devil dancer masks made of paper mache by a VERY talented Panamanian guy…

My gardens are beautiful….there’s a little stream running on the side of the property that I can hear babbling

Left side back yard

Center back yard

Right side back yard

Beside my bedroomGarden near front of property

Peeking over the rock wall

View of Volcan Baru from my terrace