Plant Acacia Trees...check, Build Dam...check, Got Milk...check

It was a busy week for us around here last week and Dane was able to complete some of the projects that he has been working on.

First off, he got all 3,000 acacia seedlings planted with the help of three of our neighbors, brothers, Roberto, Ricardo, and Lucas. I am sorry to say that we didn't get any pictures of the planted trees, but maybe Dane can do that sometime when he goes over to check on them. The trees will need to be cared for pretty carefully because it seems that the ants, the biggest nuisances of all around here, really like them.

Dane also put together a milking stanchion for us to milk our cow. She is getting used to it and we have really been enjoying the milk. Her calf is only a little over a week old now, so we plan to start separating her from her mother at night, so that we can get a bigger catch in the morning.

This is a picture of the cow in the stanchion being milked.



This is a picture of some of the deliciously creamy milk that we have been getting.



Dane also completed the dam for the hydroelectric project.

These next three pictures show the dam with the gate that he built in the middle. The piping begins in the pool above the gate. We will try to include some better pictures in a future posting.

The piping extends 100 meters from the dam along the creek. The span includes two waterfalls in order to increase the force of the water when it meets the turbine which Dane hopes to get installed next week.

This is a picture of the water coming out at the end of the pipe. A little more work needs to be done to remove the air out of the line so that the water will flow at full potential.

Also this past week we did a little more planting. The children and I planted watermelon, cucumber, canteloupe, and a few more green bean plants. Thankfully, everything that we planted previously is sprouting and doing well with the exception of the bell peppers which haven't made their appearance yet. I also accidently planted some okra in the middle of Dane's first row of corn and the two types of plants are coming in together, I don't know if this is a problem or not, so I am contemplating whether I need to plant some more okra somewhere else.

On another note, Dane was in a minor car accident last night when an oncoming car lost one of its wheels. The wheel hit the 4Runner and caused some damage to the front of the truck and the front wheel on the passenger side. Praise the Lord no one was hurt and Dane was able to change the tire and drive home. He thinks he can repair the truck this next week.

The weather here couldn't be more beautiful. The days and nights have both had comfortable temperatures nearly the whole week. We have enjoyed some rain and are very thankful that the Lord has seen fit to water our newly planted seeds and seedlings.

This morning Dane took this picture of the cows grazing out in the yerba field. You can see clouds forming and rising above the river in the distance - a beautiful sight to behold.

>