Fire & Water!

 As many of you may know, Don loves to build large brush fires.  Here is one a number that he has already enjoyed and I was actually there to help this time.  We are burning cuttings from the fruit trees Don has pruned, coffee wood that has also been pruned and just stuff we have cleaned out of the coffee fields!  Also, Cana which is slow to burn and sizzles and pops until it dries out.

The fire was a bit smokey and we kept it going most of the day burning whatever we lugged out of the fields.

There's my little fire bug!

At this point I'm pooped and done for the day.  My boots are off and I'm ready to head home, Skeeter too!

It seems Don isn't the only one who enjoys a good burn.  Costa Ricans love to burn only they burn hillsides.  This hillside got a little out of control but fortunately did no real damage.  This must be the season for burning and we are constantly seeing smoke off in the distance.

Wednesday Don and Roberto dug a ditch and laid water pipes up to the area where we are building.  It was grueling work with huge boulders and roots measuring 12" on a very steep hill.  As you can see, I took photos!!

Easy day for me!  I actually did more than take photos.  I cut the yucca and cana that was growing in placed we did not want it and painted it with "special stuff" so it will die.  I also cleaned up some of the fields.  A busy day for all!

Getting close to the top!

Finally at the top and look who is here to help--Skeeter!

Or should I say "be a pest"!  Skeeter can be very needy at times but mostly he's great!  By the end of the day the pipe was buried and we had a faucet at the top of the hill.  Thanks Don and Roberto.  Oh, yeah, you too Skeeter! 

Pura Vida!

This and That!

We have really been enjoying our bananas which started full and green and now look pretty bleak! Sorry the photos are so dark!  Can you believe we ate almost all of them?   Some days we had 4 or 5 so it's a good thing they are only about 5 or 6" long!  They may not be big in size but  they are huge on flavor!!   

As you can see here, we have another bunch ready for picking.  Have fun Honey!  I'll be missing out on this bunch as I'll be in Denver talking care of our new granddaughter, Madeline!

ROOSTERS, ROOSTERS and MORE ROOSTERS!

With thoughts of you Phyllis, Don took about 30 photos of this neighborhood rooster so.... if one of these poses doesn't quite work, just let us know!  Happy painting everyone,  Don misses you all!

Although this rooster is quite handsome, he's a real pain in the ass at 4:30 a.m.!

By the way, we've named the Rooster "Craig" and his favorite hen "Beth"!

While picking oranges one afternoon we came across this incredible swarm of bees!  It was a total mass of buzzing bees and had disappeared by the next day!   Hummmm...wonder where they all went?  Hopefully preparing to pollinate our coffee!

The Progress of Power!

So much of what is done in Costa Rica is done by people.  Four men dug the holes necessary for the concrete poles that hold the wiring for phone, electricity and internet. 

Once the holes were dug a large truck arrived with the concrete poles and deposited them into the each hole with a large crane.  

This post hole was dug not only by men but by ants.  Remember the large ant hill we shared on a previous post.  Well, the men digging were happy to discover that the ants had done half of their work!

Done digging for the day and ready for the wiring to arrive.

The wiring arrived, also on a very large truck, which, unfortunately, became stuck in the drainage ditch on the side of the road!  A call to Roberto who called Paco (Backhoe owner) and by late in the day much of the wiring was done and the truck was free!  We never imagined that the site of power lines would be something that would make us smile.  Isn't life a kick?

The job isn't quite complete, however, Paco and his backhoe will arrive on Monday to dig the ditch that will be used to put underground the wiring from the last pole to our homesite.

Don arrived from the finca this afternoon to report that the transformer has been added to the existing poles and wiring.  Not only that, we also have a street light!  Now how "uptown" is that?

As I am leaving for Denver Saturday at 6:00 a.m. we will have to rely on Don to supply the photos and information for me to continue blogging!

Big News!

Tomorrow the work on our power begins!  This has been such a hurdle in our journey to build that we are jumping up and down with excitement!!  And....we have lightening bugs outside our window!  It seems to be a banner day for "light".

Pictures to follow!

l

Easter in Costa Rica with Videos!

I'm home today waiting for the washing machine repairman to fix my washer.  As it is after 4:00 p.m., I'm thinking he may not appear.

We had our first Easter here in Costa Rica and it is almost as big an event as Christmas.  Our employee worked extra hours so he could have the week off to go camping with his family and, although we were invited to go along, we decided we liked the luxury of our real beds too much!  

Good Friday we were in San Ramon to meet with our tax accountant and to visit the Feria (Market) to stock up on fruits and vegetables.  Well, we met with the accountant but the Feria, along with the rest of San Ramon was locked up tight!!  A usually bustling and function city, it was strange and a bit nice to have the streets to ourselves.

On Friday a procession of people passed our house, we assumed, on the way to the church. There were similar processions in San Ramon down all the quiet streets. We were invited to attend the Easter service on Saturday night (not Sunday as in the states). All day we worked at the finca where our car died!!  The trailer was full of Cana we had cleaned from the coffee and nothing was moving. So, leaving the car and trailer behind we walked home to get ready for the 6:00 service.  Whoops!  The service was at 7:00 and while awaiting the event at the Soda, Roberto and his daughter's boyfriend insisted that they could fix our car and get it home. Unfortunately, the  car spent the night at the finca!  The next morning, with the help of Dario and his friend, we were able to jump the car and get it to Jorge to repair, once again.  And there it remains!

Our Easter Sunday was spent at the finca gathering oranges and harvesting our first bunch of bananas which is now hanging in our kitchen for us to eat!  YEAH! 

While at the finca, I took a few videos with my phone and am going to add them here. They are very amateur but fun and I want to apologize for the fact parts of the videos are sideways!!

We wish parts of this weren't so dark but considering that I'm using my phone....   By the way, we don't have to tip the tree over to get the oranges, like I said, some of the videos are sideways!  You will also notice that this particular coffee isn't looking as nice as it could.  The coffee finca needs work, which at times is very overwhelming.  Poco poco and hopefully in a few years we will have beautiful coffee plants.

The orange trees in this video are only a couple of many.  We have bags of oranges in our house and have given away many more including the ones we toss to our 4 legged friend--the cow!

More, please!!




 

Our day is done and it's time to head home.  On the way we are going to share our ride with you.  Hang on tight!

Pura Vida!