Block colors

Right after Jonas left, Inga and Constitine showed up at Isla Bonita by walking from Lithuania. They actually knew Jonas from there and missed him by half an hour. A couple of days later a gentleman arrived on bicycle from England named Gerard. He's been a big help at our place. He took an old idea of making compost tea for our gardens. He set it all up in a huge container we had on hand. A few weeks ago we are producing the tea efficiently. Every day he would wake up early and help come up with new ideas and produce them. Gerard stayed with us a couple of weeks. It was a pleasure having him stay. People are still showing up all the time. All travellers.
Sanson's family came and hung out with us for a bit. He brings us power tools and fun times. Tattooing from his van and Caroline painted the front entrance block colors which looks great. We all have been doing big block colors on any white wall. Mostly to cover up the  crapy graffiti. The good creative graffiti we've kept. Once the block colors are all done we then have a base coat to paint something creative on top. The kids did a cool fire show at night and roasted marshmallows on the fire. Lorenzo a guy from Italy stayed for a couple of night's and could play any instrument we had. Its nice when we all sit around and play music. Especially to hear all different styles being everyone is from somewhere different.
Tom has been building a boat by hand. His materials are wood and plastic bottles. About every 2 days he takes it into the ocean and sees what adjustments he needs to make. It's a work in progress.
Joe and Melly got a gig painting a mural on the wall at the weed club. It turned out beautiful. One is a flower and the other one is a logo of the club. The owner Kiko is super happy about the murals. Two guys stayed with us for two days. One is from Ireland and the other from Barcelona. We gave them a place to relax for a bit and to enjoy the company. They left us a cool painting on our garden grounds. Fun to have all different artistic styles.

New happenings

Rose and I opened a free thrift store at Isla Bonita in one of the old bathroom stalls. We collected all the clothes, shoes, and good finds from around the property when we cleaned it up in the first place. I spent 3 days hand washing the items so at least they were clean. Rose painted a cool pink leopard where the mirror used to be and put grass around it to look more naturistic. We cut a piece of yucca wood ( when the yucca grows old it turns into a tree then blows over in the wind) and made the two pieces into a rack to hold the clothes. Then below in each stall is 2 wood crates that have the folded up pants and shorts. The shoes are laid out in front. There's  a men's and women's side. Then we put a piece of driftwood on the floor in the back to hold miscellaneous items. There was a piece of plastic piping that was right in the way so we put a tree branch in the hole which made it easier to hang belts n hats. The walls had spots to screw in hooks for scarfs. Rose and I had a grand opening for everyone here with wine, bread with cheese, olive oil, and oregano, and chocolate. It was a blast creating. Now it's running itself. We get donations of clothes and we all swap in and out.
We have 2 new people from Spain, Carla and Moises that showed up on bicycles carrying 2 dogs. They have made such a big impact here. Every day I would walk by them two wondering what their building next. Moises carved out a old trunk of a palm tree and made a cool drum with a leather top in all. I was amazed. The two of them redesigned the bottle window using a bamboo supportive in between each column of bottles. Our other bottle window blew out as a whole piece during a wind storm. We don't get bad weather here but we do get the wind being right on the coast. Moises and Carla also helped us by putting up a door in the kitchen area to block the wind from tunneling through. Then attached swinging doors to the outside communal shower's to improve them. Some things we improve all the time. Communal shower is one of them. We had a few fish dinners cooked over the fire by Carla and Moises which were always delicious. They stayed for about 2 or so weeks. Sad to see them go. 4 days later Jonas from Slovenia left too. Jonas has been here for a month or maybe a tad longer. He brought us all smiles, good times, and many drum circles. Jonas painted a peace flag on the side of the house which turned out awesome. It's a circle with 3 circles within. Simple and represents. Jonas was like a family member here. We miss him already. Jonas took off on foot. We do a group photo of everyone in front of the Isla Bonita mural before they leave. Then we all clap until their gone out of sight.
Melly and  Richard moved into a little house on the property. It's cool they have their own spot now. Next to them is the compost area and a spot where tents set up to stay. They have the 2 perfect palm trees for a hammock out front. Melly painted the outside of the place beautifully. Now all of us have our own cozy room.

Artists in the works

Now comes the fun part as if every day isn't fun, ha. We are decorating every inch of Island Bonita in paint. Mostly focusing on the beach side of the property to start with since the public views that side the most. Our concept is vibrant with flowers with other mixed paintings. Joe, Melly, Richard and I worked on mosaic in the art gallery floor. There was a bunch of missing tiles from the floor so we turned them into a long snake with a apple from Adam and Eve concept. Richard and Melly made designs. We used concrete and smashed up other tiles we found. Never done Mosaic before but pretty fun. Joe created two shrines in one of the old fireplaces in the soon to be art gallery. Turned out colorful. A family from New Zealand came by here and stayed 2 days. They are a amazing family. There's 2 girls ages 5 and 7 traveling with their own packs on a bicycles and have gear. The family goes 40 or so kilometers a day. Wow. The girls created a Nome scene with all homemade items made from the earth. A woven grass blanket, clothe line, and all the nomes faces are hand drawn different. Such great talent. The guy helped us siphon out the stale water from the pool which was a huge accomplishment for us. Now the pool is garbage and water free. A couple from Ireland named Garth and Hanna arrived here by bicycles as well. They are such fun people. They stayed for about a week and joined us in a few drum circles and fires. Always a blast to have people but sad to see them leave sometimes. Island Bonita, we set up a website called Warm Showers where bicyclists can contact us and ask if they can stay here. We get some traveler's that way or people are just drawn to this place and end up here, and some people we meet in town and invite them back to our place.