“I can change the world, with my own two hands
Make a better place, with my own two hands
Make a kinder place, oh with my, oh with my own two hands
With my own, with my own two hands
With my own, with my own two hands
I can make peace on earth, with my own two hands
And I can clean up the earth, oh with my own two hands
And I can reach out to you, with my own two hands
With my own, with my own two hands
Oh, with my own, oh with my own two hands
I’m gonna make it a brighter place, (With my own)
I’m gonna make it a safer place, (With my own)
I’m gonna help the human race, (With my own)
(With my own two hands)” from: With My Own Two Hands – Ben Harper
Mother and daughter – Quiet moment
Poza Honda Ecuador – Meet my very kind and talented neighbors via this pictorial! There are many stories yet very little internet time, so here’s a ‘tickler’ of images to pair with Ben Harper’s song.
We’ll start in Melissa’s home, where she invited her neighbors ‘for lunch.’ Not until the birthday cake appeared did I realize it was her birthday!
Young neighbors Valentina and Daniela have a bit of fun celebrating Melissa’s birthday.
Melissa demonstrates how they steam/sear the banana leaves before making the ‘tongas.’
The tongas deserve their own post, so for now, pretend to be me and wonder what’s inside!
After the birthday lunch and cake, we had an impromptu drawing lesson:
They drew very well!
On normal days, the guys work on various tasks on the property – like tending the coffee, cocao, papayas, fruit trees, bamboo, etc.
Josuelo and Edison – still smiling at the end of their work day…
They helped move the old kitchen work station (from Casa Loca) up the stairs to the new house…
It has a new purpose…
Now painted blue, it holds paints and supplies…
Those paints don’t just sit there looking pretty; they are used on many projects – and fine art!
The ‘fix-it’ corner…
Remember that window at Casa Loca?
The window has been transplanted and now has a new purpose:
*- I hope to be finished moving from Casa Loca in the next week.
Sometimes my sweet new neighbors stop by to say “Hi” or bring fresh eggs or help move something heavy — and at times I hand them a paintbrush and say, ‘Let’s paint!’
The girls needed to go home, which is about one minute down the road – on foot!
Melissa and Josuelo’s yard joins mine, and they helped paint for another half hour.
The next day was a ladies’ day for painting! Five of us worked on a fun sign for Casa Poza Honda!
They are very talented and contributed a lot with their own two hands! * (Those are dried coffee beans behind Daniela!)
At the end of the day, we coaxed Edison, father of the gals, and Josuelo, husband of Melissa, to join us…
Here’s an almost-complete family portrait taken after a school parade. Edison was most likely at work, so he’s pardoned for being absent!
The set of parade photos will wait in queue for a future post.
This is scheduled to be posted on Wednesday morning, and I hope to be back online on Thursday to wish everyone in the USA a happy Thanksgiving.
14-year old Valentina is exceptionally talented…
After the parade…
Thanks to all of you for your positive support! All’s fine, especially when surrounded by such loving neighbors!
Love, Lisa/Z
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
This is my favorite song of all time. What a wonderful way to represent it. Love you, Lisa! ❤️
Dear dear Debbie! Thank you, and of course you are loved and cherished – by me and by many…. I read your posts offline and have your most recent one loaded.. checking out of the hostal now – a bit tardy, and then silent mode til next op.
happy holiday season!
You have wasted no time getting aquainted with your new neighbors. The neighborhood will soon be sporting brightly painted signs and other evidences of your positive influence. Thanks for being such a good friend and for helping us so much at our barbecue party. You certainly do so much with your own two hands! Love!
You are so funny – you’d know them all well if you were there! Great post today though the internet is loading images – and comments = very slow.. the slideshow only showed about three images and then it got stuck – strictly problem of slow internet.
am about to check out and head to ph – the detour to bahia will not happen today – perhaps next week…
thanks again for the great ‘event’ at your place!
You live in a beautiful world with many happy people. And you bring even more beauty into that world. Thank you for letting us have a glimpse!
Dear, dear Hugh! Yes, it’s beautiful here, but it’s beautiful in every country – so much to cherish about our natural world and the cultures and people everywhere we go. You, of course, are one of those people who make our world a better place. Thanks for all that you do.
So loved the Song I had playing as I scrolled down and read your post Lisa.. Such a wonderful family and such help at hand too. I can see their talents are in drawing and painting.
Fabulous photos and good to see your new work bench full of your paints, and love the coffee table from the Window.. See you next time Lisa.. and ENJOY xxx
Of course you’d love the coffee table – as well as those coffee flowers from the previous post. Thanks, as always, for your positive feedback. You’ll soon be sharing inspiring stories from your trip to Scotland.
What a fascinating article that illustrates your incredible talent and social skills. Looks like you now have a wonderful new place to work and live with exciting new neighbors. Congratulations all around and good fortune to you on all your endeavors.
Happy Thanksgiving Lisa, with hugs. Eddie
thank you as well, eddie, and i hope that this long weekend is a great one for you and your loved ones. yes, i am very blessed that Life nudged me to that location.
It looks like you’re settling into your new location with your usual gregarious, appreciative energy. What a beautiful birthday cake. I love the idea that she hosted her own bd party!
and you, my dear friend, carry your own special magic. thank you so much – your words warm my heart!
I arrived on your blog at 12:12 ❤
and at 12:12 I was in a car with friends heading to a restaurant for lunch; i pointed to her auto’s clock and noted the time and expanded on the trivia! thanks for that great comment!
A beautiful uplifting song, Lisa. Each one of us can make a difference in ending poverty.
A Happy Thanksgiving to you 🙂
thank you for your lovely feedback, rosaliene… you definitely play a strong role in helping others and giving others a voice…. thanks for what you do as well.
You and your neighbors are indeed blessed, Lisa, and this is the perfect pre-Thanksgiving post. I’m thankful I found your blog and happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
janet
thank you so much, janet, and for the positive energy you so easily share with others. i read your post via email this morning but have not reached your page to tell you how much i enjoyed what you shared… thank you for your quiet way of carrying your own light and brightening the lives of others.
Much appreciated, Lisa. 🙂 It’s my pleasure.
Oh Lisa!! this is the first of your long awaited posts…I have missed you…and we are now located…wait for it….in North Carolina!! yup! Altitude was not good for Edmundo’s lungs and my arthritis suffered badly there…so we moved in the states to sea level again…two hand operations in the near future for me…and Edmund’s breath has settled quite a bit…:)
I loved this post more than I can say…it was like greeting an old friend at the door!! Happy Thanksgiving…and happy moving into your own new CASA…much love from us both.
Gwen and Mundo!
gwen it is great to get your update and to know you’ve made a new move.. yes, i definitely understand how a particular area can negate our progress on wellness.. we learn what triggers to avoid, and it’s always wise to listen to our bodies.
thank you so much for your comment, and for adding positive energy to this post!
Great. It’s so interesting to see their skills, and a little bit of what it’s like to live in another area of the world!
thank you so much for your comment! yes, they have such natural skills yet few options to learn shortcuts or receive positive critiques.. it’s a beautiful country and a very special culture.. thank you!
Happy Thanksgiving, Liza – it looks like you are surrounded by talented and loving people
…ooops, it went away! …all the time, wherever you are. I guess it is…You…who conjures it all up. A very special person you are;-D♥♥♥
hahaha – that made me laugh, and a two-part comment is extra special! thank you, and you’re quite special, lovely friend from the other side of the pond!
;-D
What lovely and productive folks you have there! Wishing you a happy Thanksgiving 🙂 🙂
ah yes, they are lovely neighbors, and i am the blessed one to have the honor of knowing them! thanks for the holiday greeting!
As usual, your post is wonderful. Thanks for all that you do.
thank you very much.. may your thanksgiving be a rewarding one spent in friendship with all…
Thank you. Please know how much of a blessing you are to me, and to those whom you have never had contact.
thank you, and it is comforting to know there are those who hold me/my life in your prayers, which extends your own congregation’s light for this often-battered world.
You are very welcome. You will stay in my prayers.
What a fine home you are making with all your lovely neighbours.
Alison
thank you so much, and yes, having wonderful neighbors certainly adds to the joy of where one lives.
happy week to both of you!
Your mention of Edison reminds me of my surprise 50 years ago when I found that Nelson was a common first name in Honduras.
Happy Thanksgiving from south-central Texas to west-central Ecuador.
yes, there are names – even ones like ‘junior’ that surprise me. recently a young boy said that his name was junior.. his father’s name is franklin (!) and i asked if his name was franklin as well. ‘no. junior.’ he answered.
happy thanksgiving to you as well. i just finished explaining to ecuadorian friends how ‘cornbread/ and cornbread dressing is made!…
Ah, but did you make them some?
alas, no; i am still moving, so am the perpetual person in transit, ending soon – perhaps one more week….
Happy Thanksgiving Lisa. I wish you much joy and lots of color in your new home!
thank you as well! i think i’ve read all of your recent posts, though i am sorely behind on feedback… you’re cherished by many here in the blogging world!
Thanks so much Lisa. I am still trying to catch up with everyone. I didn’t know until this post that you had made a move. I need to go back and read some previous posts and catch up. Hope you are doing well.
What a delightful look into your new neighborhood, and your new home. I love seeing your paints in their new “home,” lined up like spice bottles in a kitchen. Soon, you’ll be cooking up wonderful treats for your new neighbors — some of which they hardly can imagine now, but which they certainly will enjoy.
Speaking of re-establishing a home, did you hear that one of the birding group — my friend Chris — had her home destroyed by Hurricane Harvey? You may well be in contact with some in the group and know that already, but I’d been meaning to mention it earlier, and just forgot. She was at our meeting last week, for the first time since the flood, and was looking wonderful. She’s slimmed down a good bit, thanks to all the work involved with the rebuilding process, and looks great. She’s still smiling, too — although a bit wryly at times.
You know that I give thanks for you and your vision every day. Some day, whether on the Gulf coast of elsewhere, we’ll have that time to chat: or so I hope!
Ah, Lisa, such a storehouse of good vibes you are! I loved the video, thanks for putting that up. It’s good to see those warm smiles surrounding you, and to sense that your vision is reaching more and more people. Happy Thanksgiving to you – you and I have much to be thankful for, eh? Be well!
Lovely to see you and your belongings settling in to your new surroundings. It looks as though ‘there is a place for everything and everything in its place’. 🙂
Great to see you settling in Lisa and what lovely neighbours. I can see there will be many hours of shared projects in the future.