2014, a Recap, as I am a REALLY BAD PERSON and am totally remiss!

Yes, 2014 has come and nearly gone without a single post!  I have read so very many BAD blogs, that I didn't want to be grouped there, so ... NO, I haven't been updating!  Life is just that, life.  Nothing exotic, uber romantic or out of the unusual for life, but I promised, so here ya go, my winterbound friends!

Where to start?  I know ... January 2014!

• January - Paid annual property taxes/garbage bill at around US$125.  Gotta love that!  Work progresses on the new "bodega" (read guestroom).  Loving Spanish classes!  
  
• February - Work progresses as money ingresses.  Trip to Granada for a visa run, which is always fun ... they have *good* beef up there ... what the heck is up with that?
• March - Lots of runs to Ferreteria Los Angeles, as work progresses.  
• April - See above, en re Ferreteria!  Time for RITEVE, so, por supuesto, needed yet another catalytic converter for the car.  Passed it the first time though, thanks to our mechanic, Johnny, taking it in for us!
  
• May - see above, en re Ferreteria!  Time for another visa run!  Marco & Mari, Roy & I hop in their car, drive to Los Chiles, Costa Rica; take a boat to San Carlos, Nicaragua, have lunch, return & drink beer.  We've been trying to do a vacation or road trip with these guys since 2006!  Had a wonderful time and saw this:  
  
  
  
  

• June - Yes, Roy is still building! Money is tight, so we can only do what we can do!  So .... when we wait for $$ for building materials, Roy waits for nothing! He works on projects that don't require a lot of materials or $$!  Like this:  
  

• July - Same ol, same ol!
• August - Work on the guestroom progressing, my birthday (went to Los Trapiches with Steve & Brenda; this is the way they USED to make sugar), another visa run to Los Chiles/San Carlos.  

• September - Work progresses ... gee, where have you read THAT before?  Also, I attended the CR Independence Day Parade!  
  

• October - Where does the time go?
• 
  
• November - Yet another visa run, guestroom done, Mom not doing well, lots of phone calls; Thanksgiving with two turkeys in a wood fired oven and lots of friends 
  
•  ; Mom doing much better
  

  

  
  

  .... lots of phone calls, and we are (read Roy is) finally able to gut the house!

•   This is (more or less) where it is as I write, although there are MORE walls gone as of tonight and it is so bad late that I can't bring myself to take photos!   Will try to do better, but no promises!

 

• 

Nuestra nueva lavadora

Our first Christmas in Costa Rica was wonderful, spending time with friends & Tico family.  Tamales, turkey, roast pork ... the works!  It was 2 days of pretty much non-stop party.  But then, boxing day brought back reality.

You all may, or may not, remember the trauma of last February where we paid way too much for a load of laundry so went out and bought a washer.  Well, it WAS old, and of course had its problems, like bladder control (at least it lived outside).  It finally gave up the proverbial ghost the beginning of this week, so it was either wear dirty clothes, pay for some exhorbitantly priced laundry service or go out and find a washer.  Having already experienced the joys of a used washer, I, in my (sometimes less than) infinite wisdom, started pricing washers.  Check Craigslist ... nope, Check Encuentra24 ... nope, Check MercadoLibre ... nope.  Hummm ... trip to Grecia is in the offing, I see.

So, yesterday, I hop in the car with my buddy, Brenda, and off we go.  Hit 5 or 6 appliance stores to check pricing and any other perks that might be germane.  Sheesh ... I have to buy a new washer?  So, went to the repair shop, where they thought it might be the solenoid (at $50 + a $40 housecall), but it might not be.  Hummm ... out of desperation, paid $165 (too much) 10 months ago for a machine with a bent shaft ... do I want to put another $100 in it?  Nope!  Do we have the $$ for a new machine?  Not so much.  Just paid Marchamo (registration & insurance for the car for the year), have Property Taxes and Insurance coming up, annual garbage bill, not to mention that we just had not one, but two new motherboards put in our TVs due to lightning issues with cable!

Then I remembered the stash of 500 colones coins that I'd been working on for months (Thanks to Brenda for the idea) for something fun.  These coins are HUGE and weigh a ton, so better to stash them than to carry around in one's purse or pocket.  There were enough to pay for over 2/3 of a new washer.  What is more fun than clean clothes, I rationalize?  So thanks to Dickie, our friend from Chinook, WA who lives just below Grecia, for the transportation:

Instead of this:

We now have this:  

It works very well, is quiet and sorta cute!  Now I need to go find an old sheet to use as a cover to keep it nice and pretty!  Merry Christmas to us!  

The Twelve Days of Christmas (or Thirteen, depending on how you count)

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: 

12 motorcycles revving, 

11 more meters of flat space, 

10 empty 

wine bottles (to put in recycling, of course), 


9 Tractors chugging 

(very slowly up the mountain hauling coffee),

8 roosters crowing 

(at around 6, which is OK, because the coffee pickers were already 

partying down), 

7 doggies barking, 

6 coffee pickers picking (at

5:30 

am), 

5 .. trips .. to .. the .. lumberyard, 

4 conflicting parties, 

3 neighbors calling, 

2 happy kitties, 

1 almost finished guestroom and 

a flock of parrots in a banana tree!



OK, so it needs a little work!

Felíz Navidad!

Busy, busy, busy!

I have to begin by saying I.AM.TIRED.OF.DRIVING.TO.TOWN!  It seems to always be something ... food, wine, building materials, Marchamo (more on that later), wine, food, building materials ... something!   Needless to reiterate, but I will nonetheless; Busy, busy, busy!

Marchamo

This is the annual combination vehicle registration/insurance that must be paid each December. Basic insurance + registration (which theoretically includes "road maintenance") for around $127/year.  Obviously, this has yet to be "installed" on the windshield.  (Picture intentionally blurred)

"Easy" to pay ... unless you bought the car this year and the INS (federal insurance program) didn't bother to input the change in ownership, in which case you:

• Go to Banco XXXXXXXX (libal laws and all that)
• Go to the back area where they take care of Marchamo
• Go to the office marked "Marchamo Aqui"
• Get told to wait in the lobby and go to a different place to pay
• Wait in line to pay
• Get to the desk, only to be told that you will need to go to the office "last door on the right" to get the registration changed into your name (had the paperwork stamped by Registro National in hand)
• Give over said paperwork + passport for copies
• Be told to wait "5 minutes"
• Return to line in lobby and wait 15 minutes
• Go back to desk and wait a little more because, apparently, the computers don't talk to one another in the same language
• Pay & get receipt
• Return to original office marked "Marchamo Aqui"
• Watch clerk sort stubs numerically for about 10 minutes without acknowledging your existence.
• Hand over receipt
• Wait till 5 other certifications are printed out
• Get your certificate & sticker

I will, for sure, pay online next year.  Just print your own receipt, go to "office" and wait for the clerk to sort stubs for a while.  

TV & Thunderstorms

During the "rainy-season" (i.e. May - November) we get a LOT of electrical storms in Costa Rica.  The areas most prone are those up here in the mountains.  

We came knowing that, when electrical storms approach, you unplug EVERYTHING.  No brainer!  Also no problems ... till we got cable.  Duh!  Whodathunkit, but you also have to pull the cable or the electricity will still come ZAP your TV.  So, in one month, we went from 40" to 32" to 21" and back to 40" ... after huge repair bills on both the 40" & 32".  Both are back and we now know to be uber diligent about unplugging the cable too. Also, managed to lose the HDMI in my laptop, but we get by.

Christmas

Christmas is HUGE here.  Every house has some kind of decoration and most people seem to put their Christmas Trees on the front porch.  I like that!  Tamales everywhere (except our house, where we've eaten the whole batch already), shoppers in flip flops, lights up the palms, Poinsettias growing wild, hotels full, incredible sunsets, hardly any rain at all.  Most everything comes to a screeching halt around ... well ... today!  Businesses tend to close a bit early on the 23rd and Christmas Eve seems to be when the big celebrations happen.  Starting out partying in the afternoon, dinner near (or at) midnight, THEN kids and presents.  Not so much "Santa", but a little.  

The preparation of  "Goodies" for friends and neighbors is slightly problematic without an oven or an actual kitchen, but I managed.  

There be Rum balls, Rum-flavored balls (for the kiddies), no bake chocolate/oatmeal/peanut butter cookies & chocolate dipped pretzels in there.  

Fun, but a lot of work without a truly functional kitchen yet.  

Mas Christmas

Tomorrow, we will go to our friends Dickie & Ofelia's house for a fairly traditional CR Christmas.  Starting around 3 or so (don't forget to bring the swim suit) we will gather for an afternoon of fun & frolic, followed by a Turkey dinner, followed by ... followed by ... followed by.  Update after the event.

Un poco mas Christmas

On Christmas Morning, heading to Fraijanes to our family's "farm".  Can't wait to hang with Marco & Mari and whichever of their children/grandchildren/nieces/nephews/cousins, etc. make it up.  It is always a great time! Will also update on that one as well.

That's it for now, I guess.  Big couple of days of driving ahead ... not far, but long!  Felíz Navidad!

Me Amo,  Kathleen

It's been all too long (or "Ha pasado demasiado tiempo")

Life in a construction zone seems to get in the way of posting.  Flog 'mi con una hoja de plantain!'  (Use "TAH GOOGLES" if you don't know what an 'hoja de plantain' is).  Some updates, not necessarily in chronological order are:

  Building out the Carport

AND

Having Thanksgiving with friends and neighbors in our (almost finished) "Bodega", which will REALLY be the guest room.

AND

Making Mexican flavor Tamales, in the Tico Style.  (Have you ANY idea of how labor intensive this is?)

In a  Kitchen that looks like this, only worse:

AND

Taking Spanish Language classes

AND

Buying Pineapples, Wine, Pork Chops, Concrete, Tomatoes, Ciggies, Cucumbers, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Burger, Wine, Avocados, Steel & Wood, Wine, Chicken breasts, Tomatoes, Beer, GingerAle, Christmas stocking for the dog, Dog Treats, Cat Treats, paint, Screws, Rice, Wine, Ciggies, steel cutting blades, chips, black beans, red beans, white beans, cream cheese, Wine, paint, cement (not to be confused with concrete), ciggies, Cement, rock, gravel, Wine, (Just to name a FEW ...  I think you might get the picture.) As one of my favorite authors once said:  "And so it goes!"  (guess the author of that quote for a free week at "La casa de Noah/Thompson"  (No, we haven't come up with a catchy name, as of yet!)  (Some restrictions may apply)

AND 

Another Visa Run to Nicaragua

AND

Practically LIVING at Ferreteria Los Angeles.  

Yeah, yeah, nothing to do at all.  Can't wait till I win the Yaris tomorrow in the drawing @SuperRosville (my FAVE Supermarket!)  Shut up, Branda Luisa!

More Pics later, Love to you all!

Tenga Paz,

Kat

Happy Fourth of July, Wiley Update and Progress Report

We wish all of you in the states a happy holiday ... and our Expat friends here, too!  Today is just another day in CR, however.  There are a few celebrations, but we've got too much to do to participate.

Tuesday morning, Roy, Wiley & I hopped in the "bounce-zuki" and headed into Grecia for Wiley's check up and next round of shots.  Mr. Wiley is a VERY good dog in the car, laying on a pillow with his head between the seats, totally relaxed.  Got to the vet, he went in on his leash and into the exam room with no problems.  First, the weigh in ... he went from 3 kilos on June 11 to 6 kilos on July 2!  He is no more just all ribs and backbone.  Roy has him trained to sit with either voice or hand command and he LOVES his leash. He is afraid of balls at this point ... we are strongly suspecting that he has had things hurled at him in the past and hoping he gets over it.  For now, he is content to play with "ducky" ... inside, outside, on the lawn, in the dirt.  Wonder what will happen when I toss dirty ducky in the wash?  Guess we'll find out soon!

Wiley doesn't always look this sad ... he is sad because Ducky is here:

On another note, we're headed to Granada Nicaragua Monday morning.  Can't believe we are making our second visa run already!  Granada is a colonial city on the shores of Lake Nicaragua, with a population of over 100K, so it will be a very different trip from the one to San Juan del Sur.  There is a Coco Museum ... samples?  Got a room at a highly recommended small hotel with a pool for $34/night.  Will post photos upon our return.

Still waiting on the permit for the "bodega" ... due by today, but this IS Costa Rica.  I guess it was too much to hope for that it would come as quickly as the cochera permit!  Roy has a giant hole in the wall of the existing garage, in order to install a door into the cochera ... so we can finally get rid of the "carbuncle".

THIS: 

GOES HERE:

SO WE CAN GET RID OF THIS:

Our new septic system is pretty much ready to hook up and fill in

Got clothes on the line, another load in the washer, need to do dishes & mop the floors ... more later!

Tenga Paz,

Kathleen

Army Ants, Lazy Cats, Clean Dogs & Tico Bingo

Today was a little different ... Roy, fixing to work on the new septic system, calls to me "baby, you need to look at this" ... as you know, I hear this alot!  Slipped on some sandals and walked out back to see what.  ARMY ANTS!  They are known in these parts as "cleaner" ants, as they swarm over the property, consuming all the stuff we DON'T want around ... dead bugs, live bugs if they can catch them, bug eggs, scorpions, ect.  These photos don't really show how MANY of them there were because they also bite and I didn't want that to happen twice!  Suffice it to say that the back of the house was BLACK!

Not really wanting to stick around to see if they swarmed INSIDE, we grabbed the dog  ... more on him later ... hopped in the "jumpzuki" and headed to Steve & Brenda's house.  Got as far as Soda San Luis and remembered that we needed to be home for Ferreteria Los Angeles to deliver materials, so, sigh, turned around and went back home.  By this time, the ants were all.over.the.place ... but it didn't last long, thankfully.  

When the army moved on, Roy decided that he could do a little septic excavation, and then discovered that he needed a few more plumbing parts, so off to Ferreteria I went, bought parts and came back home to bathe the (rather) stinky dog.  It was a "two man job", so I don't have photos, but we, together, got 'er done.  Wiley smells sooooo much better now and behaved better than expected!

Kiki, however, was totally underwhelmed by the whole thing.

The other day, our new acquaintance, Hymie, stopped by to sell us tickets to the local church fundraiser bingo game.  Now, I am NOT a bingo person, but WTF, so Brenda & I decided to go (the guys were TOTALLY not going to go with).  Grabbed a quick, post dog bath shower and off to la iglesia for fun & games.  

Bingo is a little different here as:  a) you had better know your numbers in spanish and b) they don't EVER say "B - 12", just doce (12).  Then, of course, when it is "4 corners", or whatever and you don't understand ... still fun and we were the only gringos (gringas) there!  I hear there is a really HOT game in San Juan from time to time which we will probably hit when it next happens.  

So, that's life "en el campo" today ... exciting, no?

Tenga Paz,

K