Backyard Tour

Every month all our pictures go into a folder and categorized (or deleted!) and pile up until at the end of the year I burn a few DVDs of the pictures from the whole year to back up and start afresh. Looking back over December pictures, I didn't do a very thorough job sharing! I've always been more of a sprinter than a cross-country runner (not that I really do either one in real life!) but consistency and plodding along are not my strengths. I'll work on it...

A couple weeks ago we had a flat tire (somewhat common considering the roads we drive daily) and it became a family project to 'help' Kent change the tire. With every other member of the family roaming the driveway and backyard it seemed like a good time to come out of my shell and snap pictures. So this is the changing-of-the-tire backyard tour! (for those of you who are photographers, I apologize. I have a wonderful little water-proof shock-proof travel camera with a lens about 1/2" wide, so alas, for now, this IS as good as it gets... =))

My genius linguist, our fearless leader, who can figure out most anything...

Hey Mom, check out this silly face!

The boys pose in our pineapple patch. Did you have any idea that the leaves you whack off and throw away can be planted? (and actually grow new pineapples here!) The stump with or without some of the fruit stuck in the ground and fertilized and voila! More pineapple! I'll save all those pics for another post...

Weird to me that Anna is as tall as these pineapple plants!
She's not 3 for a few more days and already 3' 3" tall.
So does this make her really tall? Or does this make the pineapple plant really tall?
I'll let you decide...


When we moved in June this sugarcane was shorter than I am, and now I think it's probably 10-12 feet tall! Guess we don't chew our sugarcane fast enough. Most of it was turned into Christmas presents for people here who love it. Not really our thing. It's life will likely be shortlived in this backyard.


The adorable, playful Moshi. Not so subtle dropping your beloved frisbee on our feet every 5 minutes buddy. Love to see him jump though! So when will they put that contraption down and play with me??

Love the color changes in the ripe sugarcane... such an extravagant Creator.


maboke or pumpkin-looking squash growing next to a baby banana start


nefla or loquat tree, which apparently is a distant cousin of the peach. They are ping-pong-ball-sized yellow fruits that taste almost like cherries if that were possible...


It's a great climbing tree for the boys too. The fruits ripen in May, so we only got a few of the last ones last year. Can't wait for May!

The back fence and future garden, with staked tomatoes and a few varieties of bananas.


...conveniently staked with leftover ceiling lattice wood - recycling in action! Gotta love year-round vine-ripened organic tomatoes...

I love the purity and simplicity of banana leaves. Love that clean green. Here I couldn't resist the contrast between the God-made and man-made, clean and dirty, smooth and rough, growing and decaying. Quite a contrast.


Next to that gorgeous banana tree is our favorite variety of mango. I say 'our' out of courtesy, it is Kent's favorite variety of mango - good flavor and not stringy.

We love having our own trees and being able to let them ripen a bit longer. Most fruit in the market is picked green (if someone doesn't knock it down and eat it first!). These mangoes are almost ready! Juice is dripping...

Just in case at this point your mouth is watering and you are starting to think we live in some kind of ever-producing garden of eden - STOP! This is a 100% real tour of the backyard. No holds barred. So back toward our mostly-finished house... the utility area with our beloved and faithful friend Faustin washing our clothes under the water tank as he does every morning:

I hope to build him a decent sink someday. Just envision a back patio here...


She might look like a giant next to the pineapple, but she still looks tiny next to this beast...


Joel: Hey! Check out my serious face!


Kali: Oh look! Time to lounge! zzz


Did I say 100% real?

Pineapples, holidays, Anna's gorgeous locks and more on the way...