Ravelympics are over, and these were my events!

I was right down to the wire with the Cables & Bits for Sunni! (The Lime & Lemon one) I had made Ginger's Cables & Bits (Orange & Lemon), last month. I do not do well in competitions, and on time lines, with Knitting. I am a process Knitter, and do it for the shear 'JOY' of knitting. I like to really relax and will take out any little mistake and even larger ones, numerous times, until I get it right. So having a died line just killed me. But at least I know now, not to over-commit with a challenge in Knitting. I did the Monkey pattern Socks also, and I loved them. The pattern was fun, and I love the effect the color combo had when they were finished too. Merino wool is my favorite yarn to knit socks from, and they feel so nice on too.



Our Knitting S&B is going so well! We usually have 6 to 10 ladies each week now, and some just come to visit while we stitch. Everyone brings whatever they are stitching that week, and we have such fun, oooowwwing and ahhhhhing over each others work. Some gals are 'regulars', and some come when they can, as well as the ones who are not 'officially' living here yet. They come for a few weeks, and then we will see them again when they return for their next visit. And we share tips and information about living in Costa Rica, as well as what we want from the states when the next person visits. What a wonderful group of friends to share our lives with!

August has been absolutely beautiful! We have had such clear, crisp mornings, sunshine all day, and the rain seems to fall later in the evenings now. This was my favorite month last year too. The temperature has been perfect, 70's-80's in the day, and high 60's at night. Perfect sleeping weather too. As we move into September, we know the rain will increase, and so I am enjoying the sun each day. It is great sitting out on the patio, and breathing in the fresh, gorgeous days. My pups soak up the sun, and nap away, while I knit. The B&B is slow now, so I am enjoying the rest, before it starts to pick up again. The hens are laying more and more eggs, 17 yesterday, and I am cooking with with the freshest eggs. NavCafe is carrying my cakes now, and I hope to be able to put them in the souvenir shop near here soon too. It gives me something fun to do, and gets me out with new people also.

Sundays at NavCafe are always great too. Joe's Jazz band is most enjoyable, listening and visiting with friends, and having a great salad lunch, what more could I ask for. If you have not come out for the mid-day Jazz session, do join us. The Jazz band had been in San Ramon for several months now, but will be moving over to Palmares, Sunday, August 31st. Daniel will not longer be servicing the NavCafe in San Ramon, though it will still be open, under a different manager, so Daniel asked Joe's band to move over to the NavCafe in Palmares. I'm sure it will be just as great there, and many have started coming from the Heredia are now too, so this will make it a little closer for them also. Only a couple miles farther east for the regulars from here to go.

Last week, I had the pleasure of hosting a film crew at the B&B, and they were such a delight. They shot the B&B, and a coffee farm located in Berlin, near here. They were with the online women's travel magazine, Galavanting! They filmed a group of us, women living in Costa Rica. It was a fun interview, and after checking out the website, I was very impressed with the quality and vast concept of this new venture. The gals are young, vivacious entrepreneurs with a desire to see the world through a 'women's perspicuous'. The website has so much to offer, from tips, to blogs, to a community forum. If you have not checked out the site, you will be pleasantly surprised at the information available.

Summer is Here!

The days are so beautiful, warm and breezy now. And I love it. Has helped a bunch to get rid of the holiday blues. I think it being my first year here, and not many friends that I feel are family yet, had a lot to do with the blues. With it so bright from 5:30 a.m. on, it would be hard not to smile and be happy. I hang out my laundry and enjoy not having to run the dryer because the wind has them dry in no time. The humidity is much lower, and the temperature is very comfortable. I guess the only down side would be having to chance the dirt out each day, but a little dirt never hurt anyone.

I have been emailing and re-connecting with friends from the past, many years ago, when we were in school together. I spend several hours each day at the computer, and I have found so many sites I never had time to search before, or never knew existed. It has been fun getting caught up with their lives as well. Retirement can be a time for re-connecting again. When we were younger, seemed there were so many things needing our attention, our children, our careers, our communities, schools, and if we had a minute left over, we could soak in a bubble bath. No, I don't remember having time for that either. Now, I do pretty much what I want to, and other than paying my bills, I don't have many time lines that must be met.

Ines, a neighbor girl, has been teaching me to speak Spanish, and in return I have been helping her with English. Her family are wonderful people, and I have grown to love their friendship. We recently went to the parade in Palmares, and you might say I connected with nature again. I don't even remember seeing so many horses all in one place, even in my childhood, and I grew up in Montana. Something else that I did not know was that horses can dance to music. We were standing near the stage where the music was being blasted from. I say blasted, because I could feel it pounding in my chest. Even when the horses were standing in one place, they were picking up their feet to the beat. It was pretty cool. The part that amazed me was the massive number of people, and I hear that a local paper estimated 800,000 people were there for the parade. I can't even imagine how many horses were there, I can only guess, perhaps 300 to 500... And it is only a guess. I took pictures, and not the normal way either. I had to put the camera over my head as far as I could reach and shoot. People were body to body, and the streets were packed. There were 5 to 8 horses abreast across the street for the entire 2 hours it took for the last horse to pass. The red coats signaled The End. And horse shit, oh my Gosh! Being shoved by the crowd one direction and then back again, the whole time trying to not get my feet stepped on, or kicked by a anxious horse, were only part of the problem. The parking attendant, upon seeing I was a gringa, double charged me $10 to park. It reminded me of some of the October Fests in Missouri, when open containers were not against the law. Bottles were being passed to the riders, some had clearly had enough already. Many, young and old, were drinking heavily. We were standing on the street at a T in the roads by the park, and I think every policeman was standing right at the point also. I think there are perhaps, no rules to this game, and only if something very tragic happened, would there have been any intervention, IF, they could have even reached the place. I know they have these festivals each year, this one lasts 10 days. Most towns have numerous festivals, but I have not seen the number of people as there were at this one. It is a cultural thing, and one that... I went, I saw, and I probably will not go again. I'm sure there were days in which there were less people, and it was less crowded, I will choose to attend on one of those days, next time, instead of the horse parade day. People watching was very interesting, they have all kinds here too. These are just some of the pictures I shot. As you will see, there was not a spot of street, sidewalk, or grass that did not have feet standing on it. And yes, the horses were that close to us, I did not zoom in on any picture.

Guisel and Ines

The white horse was beautiful!

Dancing and yes, drinking

Yes, they were that close to us! And look at how many abreast. They shine because they are Hot!

Men in Black, the police...vest and I bet they were warm too.

Every spot up through this street is a person! I could not believe it.

Mostly cowboys, but look at the man with the ear ring...in his ear, not on it. The skin is around the 2+ inch circle.

Men in Red...signal The End!

Thanksgiving Week

Early in the week, I drove to Orosi to visit with a friend. What a drive it was! I was okay with the directions (3 pages of them) going down, except for one wrong turn, taking me 30 minutes to get back where I needed to be. But coming back home was something else! I spent 1 1/2 hours in San Jose, because I missed my first left turn. I drove quite aways north, then quite aways south again...asking questions several times. As my Spanish is still 'not very good', at best, I saw a lot more of the San Jose area than I had ever seen before! Finally, I asked a traffic policeman, and was able to understand that I needed to go north again. And when I finally saw a sign for the airport, I knew I was going to be okay.

While I was in Orosi, we took a drive to my friends new 'finca', farm for those of you who don't understand Spanish either. They recently bought a finca with about 6 acres. There is a family working the land for them, clearing, planting, and it is looking pretty nice. The valley is somewhat tighter than where I live, but so beautiful too. Sometimes, I have a hard time deciding if I like places better, the more I see. I am very happy where I am, but understand why they felt like they were home when they saw this piece of property. In so many ways, it is different, yet similar in ways too. The 'river runs through it' takes on a vivid meaning there. The rock and slopes are huge, and there are nearly 400 fruit trees as well as the natural growth. I took 20 some pictures and am posting a couple here. To see others, click on my Flickr display on the side display.

If you look, deep in the mountain is a waterfall, 3 when it is raining. Photo to the left.

Charlotte and I stopped to eat at a small, typical 'soda' (restaurant) near the river after hiking all over their property. While we were waiting for our meal to come, a truck started across the bridge just outside the soda, and as happens frequently, stalled out right as it got on it. I had to take pictures of this event also. It provided our 'dining entertainment', and more diesel fumes than I ever wanted to inhale. Over the course of an hour, cars came and some went, as they changed their minds and turned around and chose, perhaps, a different route, or not. The traffic that stayed, some came in the soda for lunch or at least a dish of ice cream. Just as I was taking pictures, the truck became mobile again, and the traffic jam moved on. We saw the truck, again having trouble about 1/2 a mile from the bridge, beside the road. Many of the trucks here are held together with chewing gum, honey, and/or a prayer. Reminds me of a few cars we use to have when I was a kid... Dad could fix anything.

The house my friend is renting during the interim, until they build, is very beautiful, and the yard is a wonderful garden, but the STAIRS...Oh, My Gosh...every room is up or down! They get their exercise daily, without leaving home. No wonder she was always 20 steps ahead of me and waiting...when we were walking her property.

Thanksgiving day was wonderful too. I came home in time to go to a friends' for turkey and all the fixin's. It was a great meal, but turkey is hard to come by here, and to the tune of $75.00 for the bird. I am surprised there are not more 'turkey farms' here, instead of all the 'chicken farms'. I would have to say that my ambrosia salad and chocolate cake were the hit of the party, even surpassing the bird. Turkey is way over rated...don't you think.

The days are beautiful again, and rain is an occasional thing again. I have to show you a sunset, and a rainbow I caught, just a few days ago, well, maybe a week or so ago. And I will only mention the days now, yes, days I have been cleaning mold. You know the saying "less is more", well here, "less is less"...work I mean. I am going to do some 'down-sizing', or I guess they call it 'right-sizing' now. Right-sizing for here is getting rid of anything you don't use on a daily basis. Loose it or clean it, during the rainy season! And lest I incur the wrath of someone yelling "dehumidifier", yes, I know...but short of one in every room and closet, well, you get the picture. Next rainy season, the doors are coming off the closets! And they may not go back up. For now, lamps are burning.

It's a Beautiful Morning....sunshine.... (or something like that, the song)

It is so nice to see the sun shine in the mornings again, after the 6 days of constant rain. I think everyone feels better now. The sun gives me hope, and makes me want to do things that I just don't find the energy for when it is raining. I am sure it is giving the road crews time to get out and do some repairs to the roads which have collapsed during this last rainy spell. I'm glad I do not live to the west of San Ramon where the roads under perfect conditions are not the greatest, and with all the rain, landslides and heavy traffic, some are not even able to go home.

Romie and Rob are able to stay in their home tonight, and how happy they are! It has been nice having them "camp in" here, and we enjoyed many DVD movies during the rain storms. I made notes and posted the DVDs on the side display. Amazon.com had some cool displays for movie rentals, DVDs, music and books for personal web pages now.

Now, when I miss seeing them, I only have to drive over the hill, and I'll be at their house. The cleaning, polishing and putting things away were accomplished today, so they can feel they are home now. Happy Days!

This was written on Oct 10th, so the count now is 6 days of constant rain...

Three Days of Constant Rain Closes Three Roads, Costa Rica and the Central Valley for the most part, has woken up to the third consecutive day of rain, causing mudslides responsible for the closure of three major roads according to the Minsterio de Obras Pública y Transportes (MO{T).A portion of the road connecting San José to Pérez Zeledón in the southern zone is blocked. The road connecting Tabarca, south of San José, with Rio Conejo permits only restricted movement, allowing only vehicles narrower than 2 metres (6.5) to pass through.And mud and rocks converting the better part of a lane on the Inter-American highway along the Cerro de La Muerte has restricted traffic through the area.The Conesjo Vial (Conevi) says that it has mobilized heavy equipment to clear the roads and restore full transit through the affected areas, though they could not give a definite timetable for when the work will be completed.

October is the worst month of the rainy season for rain falling on most of the country except for the Caribbean coast, which gets theirs in January.The reason for the constant rain is being blamed by a low pressure system stalled over the Central Valley and the northern region.

Typically during the rainy season, the mornings are filled with sunshine, clouding over and heavy rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon. However, during the past three days, there has been little of any sunshine and then only for short periods in the afternoon, as the constant rain has continue to fall during the night and well into the day.The Instituto Meteriologico Nacional (IMN) - national weatherman - is predicting that the rainy season will extend into November. Typically the season ends by the end of October.

Another News Clipping about the Flooding

10 Dead, 5 Missing in Avalanche
by Rod Hughes
UPDATE: As of 8 p.m. Friday, eight more bodies have been uncovered by rescue workers, bringing the confirmed death toll of the avalanche to 10 with at least five more persons missing.
Atenas–An avalanche of rock and mud buried seven homes in Bajo Cacao in the San Isidro district of this town northwest of the capital during the early morning hours yesterday. As of this writing, two persons are known dead and 13 are missing as rescue crews and neighbors dig frantically through the accumulation of debris that once was part of a hillside.
Heavy rains signalling the end of the rainy season–wetter than normal–also flooded homes throughout the Central Valley this week, as rivers left their beds and flowed into surrounding neighborhoods. But this morning, the attention of the country is focused on the rescue attempt.
Shortly after 1:50 a.m. yesterday, a neighbor gave the alarm that “a tragedy of great proportions” had occurred. Other neighbors heard the thunder of the slide and struggled through a torrential cloudburst to the scene in pitch blackness. One of them, Freddy Artavia, told the newspaper La Nacion, “The rocks and trees didn’t let us pass. It was very dark and we couldn’t see a thing. It was raining a lot.”
By 9:05 yesterday morning, the first victim’s body was found, that of 25-year-old Jeffry Aguero. By 1:10 in the afternoon, Red Cross workers found Arquimides Aviles, 40, an employee of a nearby chicken ranch. Red Cross rescue crewman Randal Viquez of nearby Atenas arrived shortly after 2 a.m. and described utter confusion and screaming.
One of the first things Aguero did was to rescue a child of about seven whose feet were trapped by the slide. He was immediately taken to an improvised medical facility in the Fatima community center.
As often happens during disasters, there were miraculous escapes. Isabel Sandi was carried 100 yards by the slide but managed to extricate herself from the ruins with only a glass cut on her hand. “My husband had more injuries than I. It was dark and we didn’t know where we were,” she said.
The avalanche, 200 yards wide, left a path of devastation 400 yards long down the hillside, reaching the bank of the Cacao River before it stopped with parts of three autos showing through the debris. But the seven missing homes were not the only casualties. The Red Cross felt it prudent to evacuate 22 other homes in stricken Bajo Cacao as well as 40 more in the La Mandarina housing development.
Meanwhile, more than 785 homes have been damaged by flooding on the Pacific slope and 235 persons are in emergency shelters. Especially hard hit was the Puntarenas province town of Parrita.
And, if that were not enough, the national Weather Institute says the torrential downpours may not be nearly over, with a low pressure area in the Caribbean moving in Costa Rica’s direction. The country’s topography is so narrow that a low pressure zone close in on the east inevitably sucks in wet air from the Pacific, bringing rains.

Saturday October 13th, no rain yet today. Hopefully, things will dry out some to prevent more mudslides. A portion of the Auto Pista (major road), between San Ramon and Puntarenas collapsed yesterday also. Don't know if it is open yet. A friend was going to meet us for lunch, yesterday, but was not able to get on the highway.