Red banana, redux

     Remember that newly planted red banana that I posted about in December, 2014 - with the pictures of how fast it had grown over a period of just three weeks?  The "not-yet-a-tree" had been planted at the base of a newly installed utility pole not too far from the kitchen.
    Here it is about six months later, starting a family of its own.

Spoor of ENEL

     And even when ENEL's not visiting and working, their spoor remains.

Mr. Julio

     There are several earlier blog posts here, with pictures, of some of Mr. Julio Lopez's hand-carved woodwork. 
     His studio and workshop are at his home; and his studio is loaded with lovely things on display that are made mostly from rosewood, sometimes from mahogany (the piece of a rocking horse, shown in the July 25, 2013, post is of mahogany and was considered by Mr. Julio to be a piece of trash when I found it at his workshop, on the ground, helping to prop up a bench).
     I try to visit him when I'm in Bluefields and often commission something from a piece of rosewood I get to pick out. He taught me early that many craftsman darken their rosewood pieces with shoe polish - so I always opt for un-shoe-polished. 
     And I always ask him to sign what he's made for me, which is what he's doing here:

     The shallow rosewood bowl shown above has a sea turtle carved at each end. The bowl is now in Richmond and currently filled with small 'officer' shells that I've collected on the beach at False Bluff (at least one local has told me these are called officer shells because they have stripes).

ENEL comes to visit

     ...often.

     ENEL (Empresa Nicaragüense de Electricidad) was created in 1994 and is the national company in charge of electricity generation, transmission, distribution and commercialization throughout Nicaragua.
     During the last couple of years ENEL installed power lines that run from the west side of the country to Kukra on the east, down the Caribbean coast to El Bluff, and then across Bluefields Bay to - of course - Bluefields.  And while much of this construction was ongoing I wrote a lot of posts about ENEL's activity on, and use of, False Bluff facilities between April and November, 2014. 
     Having electricity along the Caribbean coast - any part of the coast - was a huge surprise to us and is a game changer. All of my plans for False Bluff had revolved around solar power. Now, solar is "an" option, not the "only" option (we'd not given serious consideration to wind power because of the maintenance issues involved).
     Much of ENEL's construction work was staged from False Bluff. Watching it (and living with it) on a daily basis was interesting and thirteen posts here show the incredible amount, and difficulty, of what ENEL did to make it happen.     
     But with the precedent that our invitation set during construction in 2014, any time any work needs to be done on the lines for miles in either direction of False Bluff - False Bluff is where ENEL comes. 
     I think the crews like to visit False Bluff above and beyond the fact that being here provides easy access, and puts them close, to their work.

     And when they come to work they often stay for days, living in the house, hanging hammocks in the sea grapes, enjoying the Caribbean, cooking, doing their laundry...

and, of course, working.

Damn, I missed this...bad timing

     One of my favorite plants here at False Bluff forms a wreath around the base of a coconut tree.
     Merry Christmas year 'round (no pun intended) from nature!

     Lots of earlier posts about this zoysia grass (even when I mistakenly labeled it 'bermuda' grass), incuding how it first came to be at False Bluff.