Working Too Hard!

Roberto and Don have been spraying the coffee for a fungus.  The insecticide is mixed with water and "Molasses" for nourishment.

Can you find then working in the coffee with the bumbas on their backs?

Skeeter likes to help but not being able to wear a protective mask we don't allow him too close to the spraying.

They are still there working!

Finally the day is over and we all get to go home after a very long and difficult 8 hour day!

As many of you know, Don thinks he is still 29!  However after a very long day working at the finca, even a hard tile floor doesn't stop his taking a little siesta!

Sweet dreams!

Knitting Costa Rica Style!

Last week I was invited to a Workshop at Marcella's (the lady whose house we are renting) parents house to learn how to knit.  The pretty lady sitting in the white chair is the instructor, Jennifer.  Behind her and to the left is Roselin, Marcella's Mother.  The little boy in the photo is adorable and quite entertaining.

More knitters.

We used an oblong board with a hole in the middle surrounded by small nails.  It was very similar to they spool knitting I used to do when I was a child.

As you can see here, the Scarf comes out the bottom through the hole in the center in the board.  Not only was it fun to learn a new craft but I also had a pedicure from the Mother of the little boy.  Cost:  $2.00.

Sometimes what we see outside our window doesn't even look real!!

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!