We have most certainly had an interesting week. A couple of days ago we met our neighbours to be, and they had a wealth of local knowledge to share. Where to begin!
This is a loofah vine. It is growing along our neighbours fence and is a gourd.
Once the fruit is dried, the skin is just like paper. If you squeeze it, the skin cracks open and inside is an amazing loofah.
Give it a little tap and the seeds come out easily.
Apparently, if you leave them on the vine too long the inside will get discoloured. I know because I picked some. When washed most of the darker colour came out.
We have been using one in the shower for several days now, and it is the real deal. I read they should be good for a month and can be used to clean anything that needs a mild abrasive.
I saved some seed for next year.
Another amazing tidbit our neighbours shared is that we have Uvilla (pronounced oo-vee-lya) trees. Well, we don’t actually have any yet, but there is one just outside the fence that will be moved inside next year.
Hopefully when the tree gets pruned and watered regularly it will look healthier. Pruning is going to be a challenge as there are spines that are killers.
Who would have known this is a fruit bearing tree? Thankfully our neighbours did. And it is edible.
Our Spanish teacher said the fruit is also used to make wine.
YouTube came in handy again with a video on how to prepare juice. Boiled, smashed and drained is all it took. The juice is kind of sweet and sour and tasted good too.
I saved some of the juice to flavour my next batch of kombucha. That’s another thing, here kombucha is ready to be bottled in a week. Daryl is a recent convert.
Just to keep life interesting:
A couple of days ago somebody posted this picture of Playa El Arenal on one of the local news feeds.
Squid, calamari, were beaching by the thousands. We did not actually see the beach like this.
Fortunately our neighbour got calamar and we were able to get a couple that were already cleaned.
They were big!! One was sufficient for a meal for the two of us.
And very tender.
We recently went back to Playa El Arenal after not having been for a while. Well…. the squid are still hanging around, just not as many. When we first started our walk, we passed a couple carrying two big dripping bags, Daryl said they probably have squid. I said no, more like wet towels. Boy was I wrong.
This guy was making a travois to carry his load. It was very interesting to watch him use dried palm branches and twigs, then grass to tie it together. Finally he weaved more sticks in through the grass to make the platform. I didn’t get a picture but he demonstrated pulling his load.
This couple very generously offered to share their catch with us. We didn’t accept but the generosity of people is wonderful to see.
We walked almost 2 km down the beach and passed many people looking for calamar. It was getting darkish as we got back to the parking lot. There were dozens of people standing in the water and more arriving. Wonderful free food!
Retirement continues to be an amazing adventure.
Cheers.
Ruth
ruthkennedysretirementblog 
The loofa looks amazing,love reading about your adventures,can’t wait till we see each other in August.
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