As we move into April the sunsets get even more spectacular. Here are four different nights.

In April the sun sets behind the volcano.

If you enlarge this picture you can see the rainbow colors on the tip of the circular cloud.

Grand finale. The entire sky was lit up like this that night.

Hey, I get some stuff done! I chopped this wood and then took a nap.

Lots of bananas coming in.

Two more stands here and a huge one ripening in the bodega.

Too cute to pass up. Mocha doing her statue imitation.

Sharon, the garden guru, setting the boundaries for a palm garden.

There. Instant garden with an eight foot date palm!

Here's a ground shot. It's in with gardenia plants.

Our other gardener, John, brought this with him the other day. This baby is a Hercules beetle. Looks like it could cut steel pipe!

John holding it to get a feel for the size. Some pretty wild pincers. Remember, this was not at our house.

Here's what you can do with your satellite dish this close to the Equator. It's hiding behind that wall of plants.

With this angle as long as there aren't any plants hanging over the LNB there's no signal problem. Just have to go out and clip them back occasionally.

A ten year-old Boquetena girl, Ana Elisa Miranda, won the Panama children's song contest. We went down to the central park for her arrival Saturday.

It was a huge crowd. They had 5,000 people in the park the night of the finals. The mayor had set up several huge screens so everyone could watch. Another excuse to party!

This is the central park gazebo.

When she arrived she sang several songs but she was hidden by all the cameramen standing around her. Stage could have been a little higher. It started raining hard right after this shot. Luckily, Amigos Bar is right next to the park!

Morning rainbow - we have had a bad storm for the past four days - much, much, wind and lots of mist.

Cat in tree - we lost one of our big trees a few weeks ago and now Noche has taken an interest in what's left of it. He climbed too high and decided he needed help getting down. If you look closely you can see the white spot on the limb.

A closer shot of our big boy.

Daddy comes to the rescue with the help of Ricardo. Noche was very happy to be carried down.

Picture of Panama City - I didn't take it but found on web.

Whoops! It was a windy Christmas night and this 30 foot tree fell over and just missed the gazebo by about two feet.

Jaguar decided the tree skirt is her favorite naptime spot. Yes, that's my 50+ year old Lionel train set. It still works! Happy Holidays!

Here are a few shots from the rest of the garden update project. This is the finished courtyard outside the office window.

Here is a view looking from the carport up the driveway to the gate.

Here is the finished wall and door coming down the side of the driveway.

These are ornamental bananas. Very small but colorful.

This past week we hiked to an area called la India where our gardener's family has property. Here's a flower we hadn't seen before.

We crossed several streams along the way. The water is still running strong from the rainy season.

Our gardener Ricardo. The rocks in this area are huge.

We made it to la India. In the middle is the Rio Caldera which runs through Boquete. There's plenty of pristine land around.

More of the garden walk. The pathway to the bottom. Lots of coleus.

Coming back up. That is a spiral ficus in the center.

Mocha can't resist any new container.

Skies are clearing as we come into the dry season. The weather has been spectacular.