I think it MIGHT be the "rainy season"!

Just sayin, if I had a fireplace, I would be curled up in front of it with my kitties and my Kindle!  Not cold, but damp.  Not that it rains all the time, mind you ... but almost every day, we get some of what looks like this:

See that river between our driveway and the road?  That is a LOT of water!  Sure keeps things clean though:-)

Work on the "cochera" continues.  Nice that there is a roof, so Roy can weld when it is raining and stay dry!  Here is a shot of the (not yet completed) gate and the stem wall that Roy has already accomplished today:

It started raining early (like 11:30) today, so he covered his fresh stem wall with a couple of pieces of tin roofing ... THAT works!

I can't really plant any sort of garden or landscaping yet, given that the property is a construction zone, but I haven't been able to help myself.  So, small containers are what it has to be for now.

Our new garden consists of, left to right:  An unidentified plant that we saved from the cochera excavation ... might be a baby plantain, might be a weed ... who knows yet;  a Lily that a neighbor dropped by with the other night ... bloomed right away;  a Tomato plant that was also rescued from the excavation, which has quadrupled in size and has blooms after only a week & 1/2;  a pot of Chives ... only a couple showing so far; a pot of Marjoram and one of Rosemary, neither of which have popped up yet;  a pot of little bulbs from the same neighbor, which have pretty pink flowers when they are in bloom;  yerba buena (aka Mint) that I started in water from some I bought at Feria;  Basil, from the same source;  a starter tray of garlic ... why buy it?;  a tray of Sweet Peas, couldn't resist;  and a pot of Cilantro, which isn't doing so well, I think it may have root rot because I planted whole plant, not seeds.  Not pictured are the Hydrangea starts that the same neighbor gave us.  They are along the hedge.  Not starts exactly, just sticks ... but just about anything you stick in the ground will grow here.  

Roy put up that wire fencing for the Sweet Peas to climb and almost immediately, we got a new pet!!

I had never seen a stick bug before!  Roy stuck his (really large) hand up for scale.  It stuck around for about a day and a half and then, sadly, it was gone.  Sigh ... I guess we'll just stick with kitties!

A few weeks ago (back when Roy actually got to leave the property occasionally, before I chained him to the cochera), we were shopping and he found some of these (we think).

Bigger than a pinto, but smaller than a baby lima; here they call them Frijoles Cubanó ... I tried researching them with that name and got nothing, but Bolita Beans are the closest I could come.  Anyway, cooked 'em up with some smoked pork chops, onion, garlic, etc.  and YUM!  Smoked pork chops are the closest thing you can get to a fresh ham around these parts, so they just have to do.  Should have taken a photo of the finished product before we devoured them all!  I will post the "recipe" on that page.

Today is Black Bean Soup ... sensing a trend here?  Beans & Rice are the staples of the Costa Rican diet, so in an attempt to fit in (and save money), I have been trying to use them both ... a lot!  Wish I had my oven functional so I could make cornbread or drop biscuits, but oh well!  Will try to remember to snap a shot of the BBS with Avocado & Sour Cream before it gets inhaled tonight!

You may remember the saga of the 11K colones + that I was double charged by a grocer months ago.  Got a call from Banco National yesterday saying my money was finally back in my account!  Gee, only 2 months later, but $22 bucks is $22 bucks!  Still, I don't plan to shop there anymore, at least not with my debit card.

More later,  Katalina

I know, I know ... It has been a while

I just realized that it has been a full two months since I updated y'all!  Highly unlike me to be quiet, huh?  Anyway, here is a quick update on the past two months.

Our "stuff" finally arrived on Wednesday, March 27 at nearly dark.  Bear in mind, that is in the middle of Semana Santa ... Easter Week.  Hardly anyone works, everyone is on vacation!  Everything is closed on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, so while we were told that it was coming, we held little hope.  BUT, the truck arrives w/a driver & two guys to unload.  It was fast and furious, even with Roy helping.  We just tried to get garage stuff in the garage and house stuff in the house ... not entirely successfully, I might add.  Everything arrived, but damage to china and glassware won't be determined until we are ready to unpack such things.

The next two weeks (mas o menos) were spent shuffling boxes, unpacking the bare minimum and wondering why we brought so much "stuff".  If you remember the original photos of the three bedrooms all in a row, well, there are now only two, Roy having removed one wall and moved another.  So, there is now a bedroom and a "storage" room ... for the time being.

Oh, yeah, so Easter Sunday was the third birthday of our friend, Alberto's son.  Took a road trip to Frijanies to participate.  So much fun to hang with Marco, Mari & Family!!

In the middle of all this, we had to make our first "visa run" to Nicaragua.  Ill timed, but necessary.  Took "Tica Bus" and they took care of getting us into Nicaragua (and out again), although it is a bit disconcerting to hand over your passport to someone you don't know.  San Juan del Sur is a really quaint town ... muy barata, tambien!

We love how when the concrete sidewalks need repair, the people take things into their own hands and take care of the problem.  Just a couple of examples, but there are MANY more!  So much fun to explore.  Looks like we might have to return there before our trip back to the states for paperwork in August!

On the way home from San Juan del Sur, we had a couple of hours to kill, waiting for the bus in Rivas, so we took a pedi-cab to el Parque Central ... quite lovely.  Hot, but lovely!

Tica Bus is the only way to travel, even though there was a bit of a misunderstanding (gee, can you say language barrier?) about getting off on the Autopista in Grecia (we didn't even come CLOSE to Grecia on the way back) ... ended up going all the way into San Jose and taking a bus to Grecia, then a cab to our friends' house to pick up our car ... didn't know if we would even make the last bus, but we did.

Building in Costa Rica 

In talking with vecinos (neighbors) up here on the "hill", we decided that we could build the carport (cochera) without a permit ... NOT!  Well, that opens up yet another can of bureaucratic worms for Katalina!  So, someone ratted us out and we got a visit from the local building inspector ... OK, easier to ask forgiveness than permission, right?  He was VERY nice and told me to go to Municipalidad to get a permit ... this is on a Thursday afternoon ... late.  I went to town on Friday to take care of it all ... hah!  

Found out that a)  there is a stamp that needs to be on our original Plat map, called Visado, before any permits can be issued.  b) to GET Visado stamp you have to have all sorts of weird shit, like a "note" from the water department stating that you have potable water there ... duh ... a paid water bill won't do it?  Nope!  

Every time I went back to Municipalidad, thinking I had all the "boxes checked off" ... hah!  Nope, you have to go to Seguro Social to get a "note" saying you don't owe them money, and, you have to go to the Officina de Correos (Post Office) and pay a bunch of colones to get a CERTIFIED copy of the paper you already have ... sigh.  OH, yes, and you HAVE to have an architect signed plan of the carport!  (Side note ... you should SEE some of the "carports" in this neighborhood" ... just sayin!)  OK, fine, I can do this.   After seeking the assistance of a young neighbor, Michael ( who speaks both English & Spanish incredibly well and without whose help I would have jumped off a ridge), I found an Architect, Luis Nuñez (who, by the way, rocks) and let him do up the "plans" for the 3/4 built cochera ... he charged us (mas o menos) $100.  Had plans in hand early Tuesday morning, did all the requisite "running around getting other paperwork" and turned in the completed package Tuesday "noon-ish" ... OK, so Roy can't work, it is going to take 6 months (from all the horror stories we've heard).  

On Thursday at 3:00 PM local time, got a call from Geoffery (my English speaking buddy at Municipalidad), saying that my Permit is READY!  What?  Two days?  Really?  !!!!!  Went to town the next morning, picked up permit, brought it home, taped that sucker to the wall and we are LEGAL!  

My TWO new homes

So, yes, we have a new home:  1 km Norte de la Escuela San Luis.  I, however have yet another new home:  Ferreteria Los Angeles.  It is about 15 minutes from here, on the way down to Grecia and I am there so often I can't even begin to say!  My new friend, Jonathan, is pretty much the only guy there who speaks any English, so he is totally mi amigo (cute young thing, too!)  Anyway, I am there at LEAST every other day ... sometimes every day.  Square steel tubing, redi-mix, screws, roofing, blades, paint, rebar, steel studs, hinges, wheels for the gate (also the track for same) etc., AND I have most of the words in Spanish!!  

Due to my trips to FLA (as I so fondly refer to the lumber yard), and Roy's HARD work, we have this to show, so far (Please forgive laundry on the line, but at least it isn't DIRTY laundry :-) )

See the rebar running there?  That is for the stem wall for the cochera and the new "bodega" that is coming next ... it isn't REALLY going to be a bodega, but the guest quarters for y'all so you can come visit!  Also for us to live in when we tear into the house.  

Kitties are well ... I know that is what you REALLY want to know!  

When Roy reads this, I am SURE he will have additional information that I have omitted for whatever reason ... age, too much stuff going on, etc.  So, expect an update/edit soon.  I will try to do better in the future ... been so busy!  

Pura Vida, Katalina!