Christmas in Costa Rica - 2020

This is our ninth Christmas spent in Costa Rica and our second Christmas at our house in Grecia. We our now experiencing the dry season with nice strong trade winds, mostly blue skies and nice warm temperatures in the afternoons. Nighttimes are cool (61F!) so easy sleeping.

Because of Covid-19, most public seasonal activities have been cancelled. The Grecia park has been reopened and decorated for the holidays, so people can enjoy that - following protocols of course. The park and the cathedral are the heart of Grecia and this is true of all Costa Rican towns.

The municipality has created a Santa convoy and they have been driving around the different neighbourhoods all week, throwing candy out to the kids. Today we ended up at the tail end of one of them while out and about.

We don’t put up a Christmas tree or decorations but every year we have our driftwood tree with lights (made by our friend Pete) and a little lighted polar bear (came with our house) outside. Some of our neighbours put on elaborate displays. 

It seems to be orchid flowering season, as least for some of my orchids. My epidendrum stamfordianum produced an amazing display this year.

And a couple of other different species have put out inflorescences (flower stalks) so I look forward to enjoying their flowers.

Mature coffee beans (aka red cherries) are presently being harvested through to about March. And the sugar cane is flowering now. The flowers are a beautiful pale pink mauve shade and the undulating, waving fields of sugar cane are beautiful.

Flor Maria, our housekeeper once every two weeks, created this gorgeous flower display for us this week. She used flowers that grow all around our house. She has a florist’s eye and this was a lovely surprise for us. 

To all my friends/readers of my blog - we wish you the very best for this holiday season. 2020 has been a tough year for so many. Please - wear your masks and wash your hands. Keep your distance. I believe that 2021 will be much better.

Here’s a little painting I did of a Christmas Brahman calf. Thanks to Beeche Brahmans, Costa Rica, for letting me use their photo as a reference.

(Click on photos to enlarge).

The Craziness! How to Cope At Times in Costa Rica!

In my last post, I talked about our Subaru breaking down on us and being hauled off to our mechanic, Carlos.

So we don’t have a vehicle right now. And tomorrow, Wednesday, is going to be so busy. Our housekeeper, Flor Maria, doesn’t live far from us. Normally, she walks to our front gates and phones me and I drive down to pick her up. Then I drive her home when she is finished work.

Well, I can’t do that tomorrow so I texted her and asked her if she could take a taxi to and from our house and we would reimburse her for that cost. No problem. One down.

Number two: our side by side refrigerator broke down the other day. Our landlord, Rodrigo, arranged for a repairman to come to our house on Wednesday afternoon (or so I thought). Tonight, Tuesday, I get a phone call from Rodrigo saying “open the gate” (we can open and close the gates with our phones). I thought, Rodrigo what are you doing here at this time of night? He lives in San Jose.

He was in San Jose, phoning me and asking me to open the gate for the refrigerator repairman. The repairman looked at everything, asked me to unplug the refrigerator in the morning to defrost the freezer. And he would return at 10:00 am tomorrow. Okay, so now the repairman and our housekeeper will have to figure out how to work around each other.

Number three: I have an appointment at our EBAIS tomorrow at 1:00 pm for a routine ECG. I will have to arrange for a taxi to get me there and back. No problem - I have taxi connections. EBAIS is our assigned medical clinic. There are similar clinics all over Costa Rica.

Number four: We need some groceries... I can do an online order with Compre Bien but I don’t know when they will arrive with the order. Also I don’t know what to order until the refrigerator is fixed. No point in buying perishables if the cooling unit doesn’t work.

Today was quite wacky .. we only have one egg left for breakfast tomorrow!

The Kindness of Costa Ricans

Like the proverbial stubborn mule, our Subaru refused to move another step as we were driving home from grocery shopping yesterday.

Here is where she decided that enough was enough:

 Waze put us as being stranded on Invu 3, Rincón de Arias - not far from Carlos, our mechanic.

Lance was able to reach Carlos who arranged for a tow truck (flatbed truck here) to bring our reluctant vehicle to his shop. The only issue was how long that might take. It turned out to be quite a while.We were stranded in a nice area, with houses on the left of the street and sugar cane fields on the right. Lance had guided the car to a space under a large tree so we were in shade.

Not much to do but hang around the car and wait. A fellow walking along the sidewalk stopped and asked us if we needed help and what our problem was. He indicated he lived not far down the road and if we needed anything to just ask. We told him help was on the way but we didn’t know exactly when.

About half an hour later, he returned - concerned about where our tow truck was. Not long after that, another fellow turned up on a bicycle. According to Jorge (that was our Good Samaritan’s name), this person worked on vehicle air conditioning systems. Then, another mechanic who lived on this street appeared. They all disappeared under the hood of our car.

Men doing man stuff:

The tow truck arrives:

More men looking into the engine area. This is our vehicle parked near our mechanic’s shop. They later pushed it across the street and into the garage.

Jorge said he would drive us to Carlo’s shop and he did. He said the next time we were driving on this road to stop by his house and have a coffee. In previous posts on my blog, I have related how Costa Ricas have stepped up to help us when we are having problems. This has happened time and time again and they never ask for anything from us.

We’re going to go to the feria this weekend and buy a big bunch of nice flowers for Mrs. Jorge. It’s a way to say thanks without making anyone feel awkward. This was Lance’s idea and it’s a good one.

(Click on photos to enlarge).

Clouds, Bananas, Lunch and Another Spider - Costa Rica

This past week, we had lunch in Atenas with our friends Diane and John. We met them at El Fogon Campesino restaurant and, as usual, the food was excellent. The portions are very large. El Fogon has safe Covid-19 practices in place so we feel comfortable there. It’s open air so we are not enclosed inside.

My shrimp salad.

Lance’s chicken dish.

My favourite bananas are the very sweet so called “finger bananas”. They are small and the perfect size for a snack. I read somewhere that if the cut end of a banana is wrapped in plastic wrap or foil paper, they will keep from going too brown too soon. I don’t know if this really works, but I am trying it out with the last bananas we bought.

Lance found a YouTube video of the condominium complex we live in. You can see our house at about the 51 second mark in the lower right hand corner of your screen. It goes by quite fast - it has a large brown shingle roof, which is rare in Costa Rica. The architecture of many of the houses in this complex may be of interest to some viewers. In many cases, the design is somewhat free form. This is because in the area where we live there is no need to worry about artificial cooling or artificial heating.

Living in the tropics as we do, one gets used to the various forms of insect life that we share our house and planet with. This beauty was on one of our commodes - I just went and used another bathroom.

We saw a beautiful cloud formation over our house yesterday (Saturday):

I made some gallo pinto:

And that was how our week went. Other then going to Atenas for lunch and shopping at stores we feel are very safe, we keep to ourselves. Remember - keep your distance and wear your masks!

(Click on any of the photos to enlarge).

Orchids and Spiders - Costa Rica

When we still lived in Cloverdale, British Columbia, Canada - I had a small orchid collection. When we decided to move to Costa Rica, the collection went to a new home.

It was very easy to start a new collection here because Costa Rica is home to about 1,400 orchid species, 20% of which are endemic (they live nowhere else on this planet). In fact, the national flower of Costa Rica is the orchid guaria morada (Cattleya skinneri). I have several of these.

Some of my orchids were purchased at orchid shows, others I confiscated from friends who were having trouble looking after them. They never saw them again of course. So now my collection numbers twenty-six orchids. They are not all different species and some I have not been able to identify. I have three vandas with different coloured blooms.

Our current house came with some orchids and I’ve been able to take some divisions for my own collection. It’s so easy keeping these gorgeous plants in a tropical climate - they live outdoors all year around.

Most of my orchids are hanging from the atrium outside our bedroom. Some I keep closer - the ones that need a bit of TLC - so I can keep an eye on them. I walked around the other day and took photos of my colección de orquídeas. Nothing is blooming at the moment.

Click on the photos to enlarge.

The other day, Lance spied a spider that we have never seen before. I took a photo and my friend Claudia, who is (amongst many other things) a protozoologist and she identified it for me. Behold, here is the spiny-backed orb weaver, or Gasteracantha cancriformis, Araneidae:

Although you cannot see it here, it also has an iridescent sheen to it. 

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - October 2020

 During October, visits to this blog were received from the following region and 21 countries:

For all years, the total number of identified countries from which visits have been received remains unchanged.

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The following is a summary of the weather for the month in the area where we live:

After September's results, I surmised that we could look forward to increased rainfall in October. This supposition turned out to be correct. Not only did we get more rainfall than in September but we also got more rainfall than in any other month this year or for that matter the last two years. With two months to go (November and December), the total rainfall this year has now exceeded that for all of both 2018 and 2019.

Out and About in Grecia, Costa Rica - Recent Ramblings

Our mechanic, Carlos, had our Subaru Forester for a few days recently to do the front brakes. In order to go into Grecia, we needed a taxi and our friend, Minor, helped us with that. This time he sent a taxi driver whose nickname was Pipo. Pipo had a good laugh when we called him that. I’m not sure what it means.

Before getting out of his taxi, I asked him for his phone number and he wrote it on the 1,000 colon note he gave us as change for the fare. You can just see the number on the upper left. The bill is very worn. Lance put it in his pocket. Click on photos to enlarge.

Walking along the street, we came up to an elderly lady selling small goods on the sidewalk. Lance didn’t buy anything but put the 1,000 mil note (about two dollars) in the dish she used for donations. I said, Wait! what? you gave her Pipo’s phone number and we want to call him to take us home! What to do? Take the bill away from her?

So what Lance did was show her another 1,000 note and then pointed out the phone number on the first bill and indicated he would do a trade. She thought that was so funny and we all had a good laugh.

Further along the street, we came upon a fellow selling Covid-19 face masks in all kinds of interesting patterns. I asked him how much - precio? A wag leaning against a building yelled out “one thousand dollars” - more laughs. I bought a mask with a nice pattern for 1,000 colones, not dollars.

We bought some groceries at Peri Mercado (a grocery store) and waited on the sidewalk until Pipo arrived. Grecia on a Saturday can be very busy with people and cars everywhere - lots of noise and activity. It’s very vibrant. I took a couple of photos. The lady sitting down in the first picture was selling juicy red tomatoes. You can see the twin spires of the cathedral in the distance. A landmark for people like me who have no sense of direction.

The second photo is of one of the entrances into the Mercado Municipal de Grecia, or the central market. It’s huge inside with many, many shops selling just about everything.

I found a YouTube video featuring the indoor market:

Once we had our vehicle back from Carlos, we decided the next day to drive into Grecia and have breakfast at Arte Latte. I think they have the best breakfasts around and certainly one of the best locations - across from the park and the cathedral. Great spot for people watching. They are under new management and have a new menu.

Lance ordered the carga de energia, or energy plate. I opted for the saludable, or heathy option. The portions are generous and include good coffee and an orange juice. My choice included tropical fruit with yoghurt, egg whites scrambled, slice of ham and, for some unfathomable reason, potato chips scattered over the top.

Lance’s plate included a corn tortilla, gallo pinto, fried queso, shredded beef, ham slice and the best sweet plantains I’ve ever had. The shredded beef, or carne mechada, was so good that I looked up a recipe on line so that I can make it at home. 

There were bags of coffee for sale and I bought one - Don Cayito. It has won three awards of excellence, well deserved. The bag has a little hole at the top where the wonderful aroma wafts out.

Even with Covid-19, we can still go out and about by carefully choosing where we go, always wearing a mask and frequently washing our hands.

Call For Entry - Art Show - International Andalusian & Lusitano Horse Association (IALHA)

 I recently saw a call for entry from the IALHA - you can see it here - and I decided to submit a painting.

For my model, I chose a photographic image of the PRE horse Eclipse XLII, owned by Ganadera AG/Andre Garnier, Costa Rica. I obtained permission from the photographer, Juan Sanchez, to use his photo as my reference. Juan also lives in Costa Rica.

So just what is a PRE horse, an Andalusian horse and a Lusitano? This article by eHorses Magazine explains it all.

One of the requirements for entry was to submit up to four high resolution images (500 kb or larger) of my painting. For this, I needed a professional photographer. Enter Walt “Stryke” Clayton - a photographer par excellence who lives in the Grecia area. A USA citizen, he was raised in Argentina and has done film work for National Geographic. Read his web page - it’s really interesting.

So this famous person came to our house for a photo shoot. Here he is setting up all his gear in the room where I keep my paintings and art supplies. Click to enlarge any of the photos on this page.

My photos had to include one of me with the painting, the painting itself and I decided on two closeups of my work.

Deadline is October, 31, 2020 and I got my entry in on time. The IALHA board will be choosing three entries from all the ones received, and then one final winner.

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - September 2020

During September, visits to this blog were received from the following 20 countries:

For all years, the total number of countries from which visits have been received remains at 130.

_____________________________________________

The following is a summary of the weather for the month in the area where we live:

September was marked by a bit more rain and more rainy days than any previous month this year. The high, low and average temperatures were rather unremarkable. Though not a given, we can look forward to increased rainfall in October.

Click HERE to see our location relative to the Pacific Ocean, Caribbean Sea and capital city of San José in more detail. In good driving conditions on the fastest routes, we are about 1 hour and 15 minutes from the Pacific, 5 hours from the Caribbean and 50 minutes from San José. Generally, our temperatures year round are much more moderate than on either coast and tend to be marginally warmer than San José.

Note: Previously, I have expressed the amount of rainfall in any given month in both inches and centimeters (“CM”). The convention appears to be to express such amounts in both inches and millimetres (“MM”).

Breakfast with Garlic - Costa Rica

Yesterday, Saturday, September 26, 2020, we decided to go out for breakfast. The week had been sort of busy - Lance had a dentist appointment on Monday, his birthday was on Wednesday and our gardener Jaime was here that day also. On Tuesday we went to Ekono to buy Lance some new clothes. Came away with two shirts 70% off! 

I ordered Lance two pairs of Lee jeans online  Sometimes it is easier to shop this way then to drive around looking for the right shop and then never finding the correct size. I have an account with Aeropost in Miami. I have my orders shipped there, pre-alert them as to what will be arriving, and they calculate the shipping costs from Miami to our Aeropost counter in Grecia plus the duty and taxes for Costa Rica. When our order is ready to be picked up in Grecia, I’m notified by e-mail.

So we had breakfast at Restaurante La Casona del Maiz  in La Garita on ruta 3, not a very long drive from our house in Grecia. We have eaten there on more then one occasion and their breakfasts are always good. It’s an open air restaurant, they follow Covid-19 protocols very well, and everyone was wearing a mask. They had a table full of local products for sale - tomatoes, baked goods, and a big bag of garlic for one mil (1,000 colones, about $2.50 Canadian). I decided to buy one of the garlic bags.

Back at our vehicle, I checked our bill and saw that the garlic was not included. I went back inside with a one mil note to pay for them. Turns out that the bag of garlic was included with our meal!

I counted the heads of garlic - there appears to be twenty! I don’t believe this is garlic from China. The bulbs aren’t dried out, they have red line patterns and they look different then the Chinese imported ones.

Lance’s birthday dinner was the one he always asks for - his mother’s macaroni and cheese! It’s really good. I bought a small tres leches cake for dessert.

Our cat, named Cat, absolutely hates dogs. Yesterday, a neighbour dog got out of its yard and started to come up our laneway. Our Cat fluffed up his fur, arched his back and literally charged right down to the dog - by the way, it was a miniature Doberman Pinscher. Cat stood on his hind legs, his front legs open wide and launched a full attack on that dog’s face. The dog yipped, yelped, cried and went running home. We didn’t have time to grab Cat before all this took place. It’s the third time he has attacked dogs. In Atenas, he took on three dogs in our yard, taught two of them a good lesson and the third one wisely ran off before he was next. I wish he wouldn’t do this. One day he will meet his match.

As everyone knows, Costa Rican coffee is excellent. I’m always trying the different brand names. We like a darker roast. My recent purchase was this one:

We drink our coffee black and Volio brand has a deep, dark taste.

Around Our House Today

Like everyone else, because of Covid-19, we are still mostly staying home, not physically socializing and wearing our masks when we do go out. We’ve been to restaurants twice for breakfast so that was a nice break. The grocery stores we patronize follow strict protocols so we have no hesitation shopping in them. Twice I ordered groceries on line and they were delivered to our house. Many restaurants are also offering this service - here it is called “express”. We also feel comfortable in our dentist and medical clinic offices.

So it seems like we have become really boring but today we had a bit of excitement! A turkey buzzard landed on our internet cable connection pole and I managed to make a small video. It’s a bit jerky because I was trying to walk down our sloping laneway, holding my iPad and trying to zoom in at the same time. If this is not a turkey buzzard, please let me know.

Still on the theme of birds, we have parrots visiting our backyard coco tree and I made a video of them also.

I walked around our house today and took plant photos.

This is a peperomia, aka watermelon plant. The leaves do resemble watermelons. Our housekeeper Flor Maria gave me one small leaf cutting several months ago and look at it now - it’s flowering!

This one is called Dutchman’s pipe - it’s growing on the tall retaining wall between our house and the vacant lot next door. If this is not Dutchman’s pipe, please let me know.

Ginger flower.

We have lots of cocos this year.

Our mandarina trees are fruiting for the second time this year. These ones are unripe.

I have too many easels!

And one final foto - this is the rainy or green season. And when it rains in the late afternoon, our Cat likes to climb up onto the top of our vehicle and watch the world go by under shelter of our carport. Here he is early this evening - we are fogged in.