September Blog with United Country/Panama Coastal Real Estate

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September 30, 2024

Coral shares life in Punta Barco, Panama, with nature, adventures, and updates on her pet Jazz.

September Blog with United Country/Panama Coastal Real Estate - Coral

At 6am this lovely cool morning I went out to plant cuttings from the large beautiful bush plants with gorgeous yellow and red/orange blooms into the newly planted hedge plants either side of the entrance path. A visiting friend noticed our path plants were a smaller variety growing to a height of only about 500mm. I didn’t realise this, thinking it was the same variety we enjoyed on the other side of the garden growing to over 1m high!
So now hopefully, we will have both varieties welcoming you when you arrive! In New Zealand I always put cinnamon on the cutting pieces in the ground. It really worked helping propagation. Hope it does here! Finished about 9am and enjoyed the breakfast and coffee J brought me while cooling down with the fan on the terrace looking at the Grackel birds pick up the bread pieces thrown out on the grass. Mentioned before they are a lovely bird very agile and such a shiny deep purple black colour. Gorgeous. Hesitant at first thinking the neighbours 2 cats might appear but then becoming bolder until the bread disappeared.

Early last week Jazz went to the Vet for his 3rd major vaccination. Next month Rabies. Some say there is no Rabies in Panama so will research and reconsider in a year if we need a second vaccs. He is growing fast, now 4.2kg.
Today 27 August took Jazz for his first walk outside our compound. He loved it keeping to the road and paths. Guess about 700 metres. Have to check out his feet but they have been hardened with his many walks around the pool every day for the last couple of months.

I just received in the mail a new book “Names Will Never Hurt Me” from my author friend in Auckland, Ann Andrews - Note her signature below:

Ann Andrews CSP
Author, speaker, profiler, Life Member PSANZ 
Check my latest tool: HOW TO DEAL WITH THE AWKWARD PEOPLE IN YOUR TEAM
Women Behaving Courageously
Leaders Behaving Badly
My Dear Franchisees
NEW RELEASE: Names Will Never Hurt Me (How to deal with bullies)
Testimonial: Ann thank you very much for your excellent presentation to our Annual Managers & Leadership Conference. 
We consider a delegate score of 3.7 a good result, and 4 or above as excellent. You scored 4.63 – this is not only the best score of the conference, it’s the best score for the year so far (out of 70 speakers)!  EMA (Northern) Inc
To book Ann to liven up your next conference call her on
0272 465 585 

Well surprisingly John asked if he could read it first. Well, he did over the last day and his comments:
“I have read your book Ann and understand why you wrote it and congratulations on your research and your approach to providing self management opportunities. So that they are not all wimps kowtowing to bigger wimps’…”
Well, I will read it in a few days. Sort of like looking at it here on the coffee table and saving up reading it. Strange but true 🤔🤔🤔. Will make it last longer. Especially being over here such a long way away. Get sort of nostalgic at times like this. Not home sick really. Missing all of you special friends and family…..Love being here guess that is why 🤔🤔🤔.

The fence to keep Jazz close to the unit is finished. Not all that visible so excellent. J had the steel tubing for the 2 gates and the 1 big door into the outside laundry all sanded and painted ready for the welding. Siso is a great welder and now J is painting the steel in oil based black getting the dog fence gates ready for the wire and the big one for the acrylic top and aluminium base. So progress is good.

One of the Bridge ladies is a tailor and her work is amazing…. Just picked up J’s 2 pairs of shorts she ‘took in’ around the waist - more
than 2 inches so the fruit and vegetable diet with smaller quantities of meat and with lots of liquid - heaps of coffee of course - means he has lost a lot of weight around his midriff - I have too but not as much as that!!
It will come. Feel physically better although my back plays up sometimes and just need to keep up the stretching and walking and I will enjoy the results I’m sure haha!

An interesting story from a Lady from Texas who moved to Panama recently.

  • Saundra Lohr, 68, moved to Panama City from McKinney, Texas, in 2021, two years before retiring.
  • She's not alone: Nearly 2,200 retired US workers were receiving Social Security in Panama as of December.
  • Lohr said she settled on Panama because of its affordability, welcoming feel, and quality of life…..

The trees here are lovely. NZ trees are too but here they grow so fast and there seems to be more new bright green and growth these rainy season days.
Sunday 15 Sept today.
YAY!! So so exciting. Yesterday J came home with our swapped vehicle. So so lovely.
A medium shiny blue FORD EDGE. 82k kms with leather seats and so comfortable. I love it. And yes. It is Automatic… electronic key and bits and pieces but not overdone. The vehicle has been used mainly
In the city so not a lot of wear on the suspension with the bumpy roads we have here. So. This morning I went out on a driving confidence lesson. Hard to believe I’ve been driving since I was 15 — 63 years and I need a lesson to gain confidence!! Sad huh?
Well it was needed. Keeping away from the right hand drains while passing on a very narrow road. Sometimes easier to stop and let the passing vehicle pass. Always slowing down round tight corners on very narrow roads. Phew!!

The American Highway is the opposite. Keeping up a good speed 60KPH or more and keeping an eye out for the crazy taxis and trucks and buses weaving in and out often at high speeds…. Easier for me than the narrow roads around our place here.
“Steering wheel in the middle of the road” the mantra….I did aok with dear J being very supportive……Parked here and inside to a very welcoming Jazz and of course a welcome wine 🤔 and iced water out on the terrace relaxing watching the birds and colourful butterfly’s in the greenery.

Last night 4 of the units were full of people and they had a great time with loud music lots of drinks singing and swimming in the pool - still going strong when we retired around 10.30pm. Love hearing the happy voices and enjoyment. Very quiet this morning of course. Home today for most of them. Start of the school
Holidays here.

Today J had all his upper jaw teeth extracted and 3 implant posts inserted. Help!! No pills. Gosh I would
Want a GA!!! All stitched up to aid healing. So he’s having a well deserved snooze now. Great for me to pick him up now I’m very happy and confident driving. I will be able to drive myself to Bridge now. Yay!!!

Just home from 6 days away at a Retreat type property only around 15 minutes drive from here. Playa Grande. The beach is spectacular and we enjoyed total peace and rest and reading books. No TV. Fantastic.
Jazz was well behaved and had a good rest as well.
He is a kg heavier now 5.2kgs.
Not sure if he will be any taller when fully grown.
He was so happy to be home, running around with reckless abandon!
Now off to the dentist for J’s check up. I will do the grocery shopping and then the weekend to enjoy. Can’t wait for our swim before dinner. Missed the pool when away……
Take care everyone.
Cheers
Coral
PS:
1: The photo is taken from our terrace sofa showing our new fence and gate with Jazz relaxing on the cool tiles and the gorgeous trees that surround our lovely unit here in Punta Barco. 

2. I wish to sincerely thank Roberto, Edouard and the Team of United Country/Panama Coastal Real Estate for allowing me to use their website for my Blog. Yay!