Jungle Ping-Pong

PHOTO:  ZAIR SILVA
 

I just put together this ping-pong table made from 3 sheets of 3/4 inch (18mm) plywood at the back of our Sauce headquarters of Estrella de Sauce, a Waldorf education community outreach program.  Here are Gabriel and Bruno, 2 grandsons visiting from Lima, trying out the table for the first time.  The top will get 2 more coats of green paint ready for when we begin our southern hemisphere 'summer camp', known as 'vacaciones utiles' (useful vacations) here, on January 17th.  The old geezer is me, Martin Stevens, your humble blog author and wood butcher. Game, set and match!

Photo below added

January 19

Photo below added Feb 20

Merry Christmas from the jungle of Peru!

 Despite a year with various challenges we have been able to keep our Estrella de Sauce Waldorf community outreach program going with two groups of children and our grandmother's weekly gathering.

Today we had our end of year celebration for the children who received good things to eat and drink and various gifts along with live Christmas music, games and a revision of all the songs and poems in English they have been learning throughout the year.

Thanks to all who have helped us keep this program in Sauce and the new Tarapoto Waldorf school Khuyay (love in the Quechua language) going and flourishing during this difficult time on planet Earth.

We send out heartfelt good wishes for the Solstice, Christmas,Yuletide, Hanukkah, New Year and all other seasonal festivities to all our family and friends.  Do please come see us!

Field trip for local children on 'La Laguna'

There is a great divide between well-heeled tourists who come for vacations to Laguna Sauce and children in the lakeside community who rarely get to go out in boats.  Today we took a group from our 'Estrella de Sauce' community outreach Waldorf educational project on a boat trip over to 'Recreo Paraiso' on the other side of the lake for swimming, games and other fun.

Three of my guitar students are in the front row.

Noble cider

 Asheville North Carolina's favorite beverage kicks off a unique promotional campaign here in South America with this tanker train stopping in the small jungle community of Sauce, Peru as its first destination.  Soon to be appearing in a cantina near you we hope.

Repair and re-vamp

 We had rain damage to a wood-framed wall at Estrella de Sauce and had to demolish it and re-build with bricks.

Following this we re-vamped our garden by changing the soil in our enormous planter made from a wooden canoe, planting flower and vegetable seeds and making a painted rock feature. Here's grandson Zair and friend Shilo painting and arranging rocks.

Then granddaughter Xiara and Lourdes repainted our tree-stump gnome.

Classes continue with both older and young children's groups in Sauce.

200 years of independence

 On July 28 Peru inaugurated new president Pedro Castillo and celebrated 200 years of independence from Spain.

Here in Sauce Lourdes invited 15 grandmothers from the community to a celebratory lunch at Las Cabañas restaurant followed by ice-cream in the Plaza de Armas.

Posing at Lourdes' son Luis Justo's Pizza Castle under construction.

                                                              Our community is called 'Sauce' which means willow in Spanish.

We begin building a new small house

 White string and stakes indicate the planned 8 meter x 8 meter (25ft x 25 ft) footprint of a one-bedroom house overlooking Lago Sauce on 2 hectares (5 acres) of land we have owned for the past ten years.  I'm remembering as a child seeing the construction of  my paternal grandparents Victor and Doris' retirement home at Lechlade on the river Thames in the UK and I guess we are doing something similar here in Peru.

We have in mind some solar power, organic raised-bed gardens, chickens and fruit trees.

We will proceed 'poco a poco' (little by little) with the construction and right now are at the very beginning figuring where the house will go, levelling the building site and clearing brush.

Also planned is a a rainwater collection tower that will double as an elevated lake viewing platform.

So far there are 4 posts in position next to a huge Ojé tree where the tower will be built   Stay tuned for future developments.