Happenings of March

Fall is sweetening the jungle air, the internship has brought in new energies, and Mama Roja is as beautiful as ever.  The month started quite a bit of much needed rain, which brought in friends from all over...

  And the muddy world masked us with her clay.  Mud is medicine!

 A television crew came out to film our project...

 ...and they are putting up an educational multi-part series on channel 12 of Misiones.  The first part can be seen at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bPIF64l-48&feature=youtu.be

 Plaster-tastic!

Who was around to supervise our mud plastering, besides the tv crew? Taca, of course! 

 More friends in surprising places...

Rainy days means workshops under the dry kitchen roof.  Wild pear jam on it's way:

 ... and peanut butter too!

Once the sun came back out, we put on our boots and headed to the garden.  Here we're putting in a sheet mulch/hugelkultur bed for native tree saplings.

Using the sun to its maximum: our new solar cooker!  Hat and glasses are not just for looking cool anymore...

 What did we cook first?  Fresh eggs, solar boiled in under 10 mintues!

We've started a new building project too.  A little bath hut adjacent to the yoga shala.  For when meditation moves you...

Each wall will be a different earthen building technique.  Here we're weaving the back wall with bamboo, which is the start to "wattle-n-cob".

 River stone and packed earth floor, re-re-recycled roof, and walls in the works.

 The view from the builders andn creepers!

 A final shot of the darn cute kittens. 

 Bonus photo: a rear view.

Summer Sonnets: of Birds, Kitties, and Flowers

The dawg days of summer, the jungle humidity, the refreshing river, the squeak of the hammock.  Not a lot to do 'round here in the summer, except watch the plants press their life force into flowery blooms, observe yet another batch of kittens crawling into the world, and rehabilitate forest fauna, like a Parrot.

So, this is Maitaca, or "Taca."  He is our latest community member, having come to us via pure jungle luck.  While opening a trail to a new bathing spot in the river, Kim heard a "squawk" and saw a flapping green blur on the ground under the leaves, which turned out to be Taca, a baby Scaly-headed Maitaca Parrot.  He couldn't really walk, much less fly, but he was so darn cute, and something in those beady little bird eyes said "save me..." So, we hand fed him for a week or so before he settled down and started eating all on his own.  We fashioned a roomy cage for him, complete with ladders and a rope swing.  We sang to him, rocked him in the hammock, did exercises to strengthen his little legs and wings... not that any of this is official bird etiquette, but with the sparse advice the vet gave us and some inventions of our own, we are proud to say he is a changed bird!    
  

 

Talk about a quick recovery!  Now he eats, walks, flies, talks... everything but tap dance, but we're working on the circus tricks... 

 

And by a wonderful turn of events, he is totally cage-free, flying in from the jungle (still working on his landing aim), and just comes to see us when he wants food or company. 

Also introducing: the new kittens (yes, 4 more!) that Chicha birthed right under everyone's feet in the patio.  She snuck in her love affair with the neighbor's tomcat right around the holidays, and so there's more little furballs than ever now.  We keep talking to her about the benefits of celibacy, but she just doesn't listen...

It's the usual kitty-in-the-firewood-box shot.  But kitsch is cool, right?

The kitties are making friends with Lulu.  This is very progressive for Lulu, who has been working on her fear of small mobile creatures that she knows she shouldn't eat. 

 Some of the gang lounging and chatting.  (We're gonna miss you!)

Flowers abound: even in this heat (or maybe especially) there are delightful blooms everywhere...

 Loofas and squashes of all sorts on the way...

 Butterflies just can't get enough Mexican sunflowers...

 Itty bitty garden blooms hosting curious ants.

This is a two-part tumeric flower... Part 1:

 Part 2:

 Put your feet up, and see what the aromas might attract.

 We're bananas for bananas.

 Even in the summer, the clouds rest easy in our valley.

Bonus shot: Meghan tries to learn Spanish from Maitaca, but he's already surpassed her level...

Butterflies, Yoga, and Cycles of Renewal

 

So many fluttering friends as we transition through yet another season at Mama Roja.  The internship has just finished, the Yoga Retreat and Ceremony were beautiful experiences, and we are wrapping up the year with deep gratitude and prayers for all that is to come.  

Abundance in wing flutters:

 

Artichokes at the Chacra Suiza, our bi-annual tour to a well-established sustainable farm.

Chicha and her mini saying goodbye-- all the kittens have homes!

 The kitchen extension has a roof:

 Plastering the adobe walls:

 Plastering bliss in pantry spaciousness:

 Working on the arching doorway:

 Trees inside and out!

 Always room for more butterfly pictures.

 ...and flowers, starting to creep up and through the garden:

 Do butterflies do yoga?

 After a great class... ah, sweet shavasana.

Thank you Buena Onda and all the yoga participants!  Gorgeous time of sharing and learning!