Backhoe Day 2 and the Soil Engineer!

The second day of backhoe work began at the top of our driveway just to the left of our home site.

Paco has started to take some soil off the top of the driveway and push it down the steep part to make the incline less severe.  He is also going to remove an area to the left in this picture to make the road wider for the large trucks that will need to use it during construction.

This is the area that is being widened.

 Paco used the shovel part of the backhoe to knock the hillside down and then pushed it all down the hill.

Knock down and push, knock down and push over and over.

Another view of the hillside being knocked down.

Here the backhoe work is completed starting at the bottom of our driveway.  Our driveway is on the left and the road on the right follows the bottom of our finca.

This is the start of our driveway and the next photo

 is approximately where our water is located and where we planted the Yucca shown in our previous blogs.                              

Here is the steepest part of the road which has been greatly improved by Paco and his backhoe!  Thank you Paco!

In order to build on our property we needed to have a Soil Engineer come and test that the land is stable.  They used what looked like a ice auger (I grew up around ice and snow) and dug a hole.  They also used the tripod in the photo to pound a pipe into the ground to also get the samples that were required.  We are now waiting for results but were told we were on very solid ground.

Cows and Day 1 of the Backhoe!

I have been working on this blog a large part of the afternoon but keep getting interrupted by the friendly cow!  The fence around her pasture, next to our house, is broken and three times I have ha  d to chase her out of the yard, away from flowers and down the road back to where she belongs.
Don and Dario are now repairing the fence!!!  Also, Elian, Maria Valaria and her brother arrived with a baggie full of small leaves to take care of the "Pulgas".  Thanks to Google Translate I learned that the leaves needed to be rubbed on Skeeter to get rid of fleas!  The four of us proceed to lie on the floor with Skeeter and rub every part of his body with the special leaves.  Wish I had a picture but I was too busy eradicating Skeeter's fleas!  A fun time was had by all including the dog!

My last adventure with the cow came about because Don came by the house honking to let me know the cow was in the road.  He had just made a trip to the San Ramon Emergency room to have his hand x-rayed; which, by the way, he had injured at least 2 weeks ago.  He did not return alone, it seems, as Roberto and his parents were with him---which is why I had cow duty.  Roberto's Mother had been in the hospital the last two weeks and had been released today.  It was Roberto's idea to finally get Don's hand looked at here at the Clinic in Berlin. The Clinic sent him to the Emergency room for x-rays but because of our delayed Residency statis and NO health care, Don refused the treatment!  Now that the cow is in the pasture and Don is home safe, maybe I can fill you in on what has been happening with us at the property.


On. Saturday the 9th Paco and his backhoe arrived to work on our "driveway" and our homesite.  By the time I arrived at the finca, a few hours after Don and the backhoe, our future Talapia Pond was already created and Paco was ready to start pulling some large dead trees up from the side of our very steep hill.  Paco's dog rides along on his backhoe and he and Skeeter (yes, Dog finally has a name) were wary friends. 


Does it look like he's going to slide down the hill?  I think we all thought so at moments.  Don & Roberto are down below hooking the chains around the dead trees that we want removed!  A bit nerve wracking to watch but very successful!

Here it comes!






Both sectiions are finally on top and added to our growing  burn pile and all are safe!

Paco is so good at running the backhoe that it seems like it is an extension of his body.  It also looks like a dinasour the way he hops it around and gets in the right position.  It was actually great fun to watch which is what we did the whole day while offering direction when needed

 

.

It is now time to start moving the pile of topsoil that is currently blocking the view and in the way of where we wish to put our house.

 

 

    Paco removed Cana and fruit trees which were also deftly lifted and carried to the burn pile with the dead trees.

 

As you can see, we have quite a bit of top soil and a good sized burn pile.  This picture was taken early and by the time we were finished with all the tree removals and backhoe work the burn pile was at least twice as large.

 

 

One more balancing act along the side of the steep embankment to remove a disruptive orange tree.  There are many kinds of citrus trees in Costa Rica and we have a number of them on our property.  The one being removed is in the middle of the coffee, not necessarily a bad thing, because it was a sour orange and the sour orange trees have 2 - 2 1/2" spikes on the branches.  Needless to say, it made working around those particular coffee plants painful.  The reason we have so many citrus trees in with the coffee is because they are used as shade.

 

 

 The last job of the day is to make sure everything is smooth and level.  It was a long day and much was accomplished--we were very pleased!  Monday Poco and his backhoe will return to do the work on our "driveway".

Tenga un buen dia, amigos!

Endless Vista!

Although today was cloudy, cool and very windy most of the day the vistas are still incredible from our little casa!

It's a Trailer or Carreta!

Remember our trip to Turrubares?  Which, by the way, was spelled incorrrectly in the previous post. Anyway, we met Julius and Oscar and discussed and designed the building of a trailer for us to use on the finca.  Ta, Da!!  Here it is, almost completed!

Julius called last night to ask what color we wanted it painted and said it should be done by Saturday! Guess where we are probably going on Saturday.  Hopefully this time the repaired lights will continue to work and the repaired window will continue to go up and down and the repaired lock will continue to lock and unlock!  

The only other question remaining is who will be hitching a ride with us!!

The good looking young man sitting in the trailer, (carreta) is Julius. He speaks a little English and we gave him our English/Spanish dictionary.  They also do word work, constructing of furniture and carvings.  Julius is the one who carved our bird coffee maker that Flor gave us as a gift!  We have lots of things in the back of our mind that we would like to have made, if only we had a house to put them in!!!  Looks like we may have some more trips to Turrubares in our future!

Have Sewing Machine Will Sew!

Now that I am "dryer free" and need to hang my laundry outside I decided I needed somewhere to put my clothes pins.  Thanks to Roselin, a sweet friend, I have access to a sewing machine.  Unfortunately, I don't have the vintage wooden hanger to make it hang properly, but it still works great!

The seating in our little casa were a little to firm for Don's   "carneyless"  (not sure that is a word) but so...we now have cushions!  Fabric choices aren't what I am used to here but we can certainly make do until my stash arrives!

Fortunately, I packed my knitting and crochet needles when we first came to Costa Rica knowing that I would need something to do!  The coffee keeps Don much busier than it does me so I have been creating little projects!  Marcella, our landlord, is expecting in May and the sweater and Mary Jane booties are for her.  

Not having time to investigate Pinterest in NC I am now just about addicted!  I have discovered endless projects that I need to make and so many ideas for our B & B!!  Pinterest is now my vice of choice while having coffee in the morning at about 5:00.  Now it's off to the finca to do some pruning.  Don left at about 5:45 a.m. and I will walk down with "Dog" and work until about 2:00 when we will all be done.  Don & Roberto are spraying and "Dog" and I will do whatever they need us to do!!

Tenga un buen dia!

"Flat Mistaya" Meets "Dog"!

This is "Dog".  He seems to have adopted us and we are becoming smitten!  In some ways he reminds us of our dog, Maverick, who passed away in NC at the age of 19.  Dog is a different color but has that same "You have to love me" look on his face.

We are not sure where he belongs.  People have told us he has no home.  He guards our home and walks with me protecting me from any other dogs.  He comes when we whistle and has a sweet personality.

"Flat Mistaya" thinks he's pretty nice too!  So...what do we do?  Is it too early to give him a name and call him ours?  We have posted him on FB and here to see if anyone claims him.  With hope in our hearts, we are thinking about names!

A Little Bit of Progress!

As many of you know, we have made a number of trips to ICE in our efforts to have power brought to our property.  After delivering many documents and making a number of trips to Palmares and Sann Ramon, we have learned that our "Public Road" is not considered "Public" by ICE.  What this means is that we need to find a private electricion who is ICE qualified to put the power not only down the "Public Road" but also to our house.  We are now in the process of getting bids, we think.

These letters arrived from ICE today!  Even in English it's not easy to know what we are supposed to do next:  Sorry, couldn't find a way to attach the letter so you will just have to use our imagination.



Don & I have been busy working on the tentative plans for our "Barn/Garage" and House.

 

 

The drawing above is the basics of our house.  The 3 rental rooms are on the right with private baths.  The attachment at the bottom right is the "Barn/Garage" and is shown in more detail below.  The outline in red is our bedroom.  The main house is marked in black with the Terraza around the outside is outlined in blue.  As it is difficult to see I will try to explain what is going on.  The kitchen is on the lower left part with the laundry and pantry along the side.  The dining room is directly above the kitchen at the top of the page and the rest is living room.  The main entrance is just to the right of the pantry and as you go in and to the right there stairs going up to our bedroom.  The other stairs which are visible are outside along the side of the house and go to the "Barn/Garage" upstairs.

 

 

 

This drawing represents the outside view of the "Barn/Garage" facing the road and driveway.  It consists of a 2 car garage, workshop and studio with kitchenette and 1/2 bath upstairs.

 

 

Here is a view of the stairs that run along the house up to the studio above the garage.  The three Coupolas are over each of the rental rooms and will provide ventilation.  The stairs are covered to make travel in the rainy season possible without getting wet!

Now that we have shared our ideas it needs to be said that we have not talked with the Architect!  Once that happens we may discover that our designs are not possible or are going to cost more than we can afford.  It's fun to dream for awhle.  We hope to get with the Architect sometime this week.

Today Don and Roberto are in Palmares talking with one of the argicultural groups that offers help to coffee growers.   The coops where items for farming are purchased are also helpful and a wonderful resource.  The only downside is that we are not fluent in Spanish!

Speaking of Spanish, I have been taking lessons every Friday.  Now that I am not picking coffee, I ride or drive (I'm practicing) to the finca and walk home studying my Spanish lessons.  It is mostly up hill which also gives me at least one dose of exercise a day.

 

Planting and Drying

We are starting our post today with a photo of some of the incredible Bougenvelia that are currently in full bloom.  The colors range from purple, to pink, to red or orange with just about everything inbetween.

While Don and Roberto have been pruning the coffee plants and just cleaning up debris, I've been picking coffee and love doing it.  I get to be outside, which is such a treat after 9 years sitting at a sewing machine--which I also loved and miss terribly!  Anywa,y I've picked so much coffee we have it drying everywhere:  here in the cistern, on our septic tank and piazza at the casa and even in the casa.  Once it is dried we will take it to a Tico near our property who processes and roasts the berries.  Then....we will have our own coffee to drink and share with friends and family!

This is also a phto of the cistern which is now completely covered with coffee!

Remember the Yucca we saw on our adventure?  Well, these are the sticks we were given to plant.  Don is recutting them so they can soak in the bucket of water for a couple hours while we dig holes.  He is cutting the Yucca on the side of the old cistern where our coffee is drying.

The Yucca soaks.

Here we are planting on the side of a hill next to the cistern and the road to our property.  It was real fun digging and planting while trying not to slide down the hill!  We are told that it takes 3 months to grow Yucca so we will keep you posted!

Although I don't have a photo to post, we have another bunch of bananas starting to grow.  The others are still not ready to pick!  Darn!!  Hopefully soon.  We've been picking lots of oranges both sour and sweet.  We give the sour away because I'm not motivated to squeeze them, add sugar (lots) and water to make fresca.  People here seem to love them and make fresca (fruit drink) out of everything.  We actually prefer eating the wonderful fruit!

I'm going to end this post with a video of one of our spectacular sunsets which are the norm not the exception!  Pura Vida!!

Visitors from North Carolina, Yahoo!

Steve and Jennifer came for a quick visit one afternoon while vacationing in Costa Rica.  They had been exploring areas nearer the Pacific as possible places for retirement and stopped by Berlin on their way back to San Jose and the airport.

Jennifer and Steve are pretty good at keeping up with our blog and after all the experience we've had with making and eating tamales we decided to make them a Costa Rican lunch including tamales, choyote (not sure of the spelling), coffee, of course, and papaya for desert!

After eating lots of local fare we headed to the finca to introduce them to coffee farming.  We started with the view about where our house is to be built!

Then we headed for the coffee and lots of discussion and tasting and just looking around.  The visit was way too short and before we knew it, it was time for Steve and Jennifer to head to the airport and back to the states.  We loved having them visit if only for a short while and hope they come back when we have a place for them to stay and more time to chat.  l