My soccer field has been scalped!

I did it! I finished all the colored painting so what's left is the white and I haven't decided for sure if I am going to do it. It has kind of a distressed look and I kind of like it with all the fresh color. I did get the throw all laid out in the party room. I pulled two tables together and covered them with a sheet and laid the strips out. This way I could change them around and I have come up with a final layout I like. I added a border which frames it. It uses up every speck of gray sweater fabric I have. Now I am sewing strips together. I have sewn 6 so far. 

I left Saturday at 12:15pm for Cartago and only waited a few minutes in front of the church for Ziomara to pick me up. She and Maria Jose and I stopped for lunch at a really good Mexican restaurant near the Basilica and then headed for Pequeno Mundo. I bought so much stuff I knew there was no way I would be able to carry it all on the bus. I have plates, silverware for 36, little plates, napkins and the candles for the centerpiece. I also got navy drapes for the bedroom and a couple rugs and more cupcake pans and some kitchen utensils and a bunch of other things. This week I want to go to WalMart and see what I can pick up there. 

We headed to Ziomara's parents house when we finished and had coffee and bread. I sorted thru everything I bought and packed what I could in my red bag and left the rest with Ziomara for when I come back. We also talked about going to Price Mart next time. It was about 7:00 by the time I got back to Orosi. I stopped at the pizza shop, which was very busy and showed Rosa the crochet hooks I happened to have with me. She loved them and bought one of each.

I saw Gerardo when I got back and asked to make sure nothing was planned in the party room and it was OK to leave the throw laid out there. He said no problem and that he would be mowing the soccer field at 7:00am. Now I am used to the idea of mornings starting early here but the look on my face must have changed his mind because he didn't start until I was out on the porch, about 8:30. He was using some type of heavy duty weed wacker on the whole thing. It is cut very short which is great. His outfit made him look like a Sherpa. He even took the time to rake and remove all the cuttings.

I have to ooh and aah over the sunflowers. Ok so the corn didn't make it. But the sunflowers! They are just so gorgeous with multiple flowers on a stock. And, not to be outdone, the hollyhock must be 8 feet tall and has several flowers.

I headed for Katherine's about 10:00am and we talked for over an hour. The more I talk the more I cough so I was really hacking away by the time I came home. We had a really good session and came up with lots of ideas. One of hers for a half day is to go horseback riding around Orosi and then have a massage with Otto. Now doesn't that just sound like the best! We are trying our best to create packages that would also include other locals. And, we want to also offer things like Meet the Locals. These of course wouldn't be of interest to Ticos but they would be to tourists.  Maybe coffee and bread at Dora's house! Something like that. Or for a group lunch at La Quinta with the family. Our brains are working!

On the way home I stopped at the Swiss Shop and asked her if she takes things on consignment and explained about my crochet ladies. She said yes and that it all depends on price. We are going to talk again this week.

I sent a message to Jose that I wasn't going to make it to the party. I was coughing a lot and knew that an afternoon of talking would only make it worse. I told him I had a gift for his son when he is in my area. I put some colones inside a children's book that is in English. I also have a bag of cookies. I spent the afternoon working on the throw and doing some gardening. The banana trees are trimmed - I do hate dead things on plants. We plan to use greenery down the center of the tables for Thanksgiving so I am not trimming anything in my planters so we have lots to use. I figure we can add some of the herbs and lavender to add a good smell. The candles I got are apple cinnamon and maple sugar.

The big trap is on top of my roof with an avocado and a banana in it to try and get whatever is eating the fruit but it is still empty this morning. I did see a squirrel running along the roof of the next building so he may be the culprit.

Today is the throw and putting my bedroom back together and maybe some baking for tomorrow. Courtney has been asking to come to my house so tomorrow or Wednesday morning they are going to come. I have the crochet ladies Tuesday afternoon and I must make some homemade things.

Happy Halloween. It isn't celebrated much here but they do have the national day of the masquerade. On Saturday, in Paraiso, there were detours for the parades and tons of people. Traffic was a mess.

See, I'm not killing things. Look at the cucumbers! If you look real close along the bottom, there are 3 black plastic bags. Those are the mango. Still have some open spots to plant more.

If you aren't interested in flowers, better leave now.

Not very tall but look at the blossoms.

Papaya are still there!

This is one impressive hollyhock.

Dora gave me a pot of this and Gerardo divided it into 5 and planted it. It has taken a while but it is doing great and flowering.

I don't have any blooms right now but my hydrangea are growing like mad.

My scalped soccer field.

Just call me Farmer Gayle!

It has been a lovely week and it will be a busy weekend. And I haven't even spent anytime painting. I do plan to get back to that today but who knows. I'm retired you know! My schedule is very flexible. 

As you know I ran out of propane and it took me until Tuesday afternoon to get a new tank. My fault. The crochet ladies were here on Tuesday.  I set up in the party room. Between the smell and the mess in my house it worked better there. I put a circle of comfortable chairs. Everything for coffee was from the bakery. I will have to make up for that next week. They all know now about my idea to sell things and my Thanksgiving dinner. Ligia brought a bunch of things she had crocheted to show us. One was a complete miniature tea set. I brought them over to see my painting and they teased me about a big bed and no hombre. I think I am going to have a bedroom party when everything is finished. I am thinking of accenting in navy blue. I think it will make a good combination. And, I haven't given up the idea of painting in other rooms but we will see how I feel after I finish this room.

The mess also caused me to move my massage to the front porch. In the treasures Heather has found at Dig and Save is a long piece of eggplant colored sheer curtain fabric. I attached it to the poles on the porch to cut the view if anyone went by. I put the couch across the other end facing the courtyard and set up a mattress on the floor. It was great and we are going to do that again. Otto says most of his training was techniques intended to be used with the person on the floor. He is able to use more of his strength. I sprinkled the area with lavender oil to keep the bugs away. It was great.

I baked cookies to take to the craft ladies and they were so excited to see me - and my roller bag full of things I brought from the United States. They couldn't wait to see that and decide who gets to buy what. Some of the things I could have sold 10 times as much. They were very happy with the crochet hooks and now want me to get the tiny ones also. I took them 5 more hats for the cancer ladies and donated towards the dress for the young cancer patient for her prom or graduation or whatever it is. Iliana also finished a very cute hat with a flower to give to Anita. I have asked for pictures in return so I can show my ladies.

Months ago I tried saving mango seeds but nothing happened. Recently I had some really good mangos so I tried again. You pry open the outer shell and get the seed inside. You wrap it in wet paper towel and put it in a plastic bag and hope it sprouts. This morning I showed Gerardo and Ana and all 3 had sprouts so they had me plant them in my good dirt in the plastic bags used here for planting seeds. I put them by my concrete planter so they will get plenty of rain. I really hope they keep growing. We will have to plant them someplace in the ground but for now it will work where they are. The sunflowers and the cucumbers are doing great. The hollyhock has several flowers. Jose is bringing me more dirt. I am down to about a quarter of a bag. 

I have been working on the cashmere throw in the evenings and have all the pieces I need made into strips. Now I need to sew the strips together. It isn't like a fabric quilt where you are careful that the corners and pieces match. Each sweater piece stretches differently and the pieces are all different sizes. We will see if this is my one and only or if I am starting something. If you look them up, they are very expensive to buy.

Tomorrow I am going to Cartago to meet up with Ziomara. I haven't been there since I got back. One of the things we are going to do is go to Pequeno Mundo for shopping. I need to start on Thanksgiving things.

I haven't told you about my new project. Katherine has a hotel, has created a map of Costa Rica, handles real estate, takes care of a home and 2 kids and has been asked for tours here and to the US. You think I am busy! Anyway, she knows I spent a lot of time in the travel industry and has asked me to help her put tours together. Well, that is right up my alley! We want to create things no one else has to offer to give her an edge, make her stand out. Can't wait. We are meeting Sunday morning for a brainstorming session. Then Sunday afternoon I have been invited to a First Communion party for Jose's son. I love it. All the people I am involved with and who have made me part of their lives.

The guayaba are slowing down and now there are Mandarinas on the tree. Not many cas either. The orange tree near me that Jon and Debbie loved has tons of fruit. I see a lot of mora and the limon dulce are plentiful.

Turrialba has been acting up and earthquakes have been more frequent.

I may have another resident in La Quinta for December and January. Angela, who was here when Jon and Debbie were here is planning on coming back for 2 months. She would be upstairs most of the time and in the little apartment when Heather and Kent are here, or off touring.

I think that is it. Noting else exciting going on. My bronchitis is better. My ant bites are better. My mosquito bites are better. Haven't seen any cockroaches or spiders lately. Life is good!

My latest cookies. They are very good but only 34 in a double batch. People love them and the cocoa cuts the sweetness of the candy.

My massage salon.

One of my beautiful sunflowers.

Gorgeous or what!

I love the assortment of colors I have.

Lots more buds.

Don't even have to use a picker.

Hate isn't too strong a word.

I decided to go ahead and start painting two of the walls in my bedroom today. Remember this is the acetate paint, where you use paint thinner and not water. You even put paint thinner in the paint. I asked the young man in the paint dept. how much thinner to how much paint. His answer was like it doesn't matter. Now that doesn't do it for me so I went online - Google of course - and it said 4 parts paint to one part thinner. But it wasn't any thicker than other paint to start with. So, I poured out about a quart and added about 1/2 a cup and stirred and all that seemed to happen was I did a lot more dripping than normal, so a lot more clean up. Now these walls are wood, not paneling so there are grooves between the raised areas, some more than others. I could go over the large areas with the roller but I had to use the brush in the grooves. It would then mess up the roller area and I would have to do that again.

And, my get up! This paint stinks and I didn't think inhaling it would do my bronchial problem any good so I figured I should cover my nose and mouth, and my hair of course, and my hands with yellow rubber gloves. I sent Emilio a picture and he said I looked like a middle eastern shooter. Well it didn't take long and my face cover was all wet - it's warm here. Then my glasses fogged up. I decided I just better give up and breathe the stuff.

When I needed more paint I didn't put thinner in it so it will probably all fall off the walls tomorrow. The whole time I was painting I was thinking up terrible things I can do to Gerardo for making me use this paint. I was thinking of painting the bathroom and then the kitchen but I have decided to offer chocolate or cookies or money or even sexual favors to anyone who will do my painting.

Yes, I have pictures. I will start with where I finished today because I don't want the picture of me in my sniper get up on Facebook.

The front boards will be white, if I ever paint again.

I wanted it a little lighter than the end wall. I like the color. It will be a very happy room if it ever gets used again.

I did pull the red one down to cover all my hair.

I think God was getting me for working so hard on Sunday.

I still have more to do tomorrow -and get propane- unless some kind soul turns up to help. We will see how much they like the Orosi Cookie Lady. 

I have popped back - well kinda.

I guess what I needed was 2 long nights and a day of sleep. I spent most of yesterday on the couch on the porch with Ana bringing me snacks. Today was much better with lots more energy. I got the laundry done and the 2nd coat of paint on the wall. I moved all the furniture away from 2 other walls and headed for the hardware store. I picked a lighter version of the end wall and got everything I need to do the next step. I got white paint also for the trim and cupboard but I am not so sure I am going to paint the Windows. Each one has 16 square panes. I think I will just wash them off good and hide them behind sheers and curtains. 

I taped the trim on two walls and took everything off the walls. Now I have to remove all the bug parts. Daddy long legs squished. I am all ready to get started tomorrow or Monday.

I even made cookies. Little chocolate cookies that you press a candy corn into when they come out of the oven. In the middle of the second batch I ran out of propane so I will have to take care of that tomorrow. I took some to the pizza shop but I discovered the more I tried to talk the more I coughed. I don't get a cold very often, but when I do it goes bronchial, and that is what happened this time.

I moved into my guest bedroom and I will stay there until my bedroom is all finished. I can't wait. I think it will look so nice. I will have to be really careful as this is acetate paint and won't come off easily like the acrylic. And it smells strong so I will cover my nose and mouth. 

I did check the cucumber plants today and I have flowers all over them. This is the farthest I have gotten and still had the plants look healthy. No evidence of melon plants and the one pea isn't doing so well. I tend to hide seeds all over when I come here and Ziomara sent me a message that she found some inside a bag I gave her. She is keeping them for when I come visit. 

Back to work cutting up cashmere strips.

It is tea this morning.

I am sure I have seen a rule that you can't have a cold in Paradise but I have broken the rule. I have a doozy. Last night I took cold medicine and went to bed at 6:30. I was up a bit at 9:30 to message with Emilio about the decorations at Thanksgiving. I wondered why he was still up in the middle of the night and then realized it was only 9:30. He was probably only on his way home from school. I am up, but barely. I am having a muffin and Rooibos tea. It is a beautiful morning, the sun is shining and the only noise is me coughing.

Gerardo hasn't been around to see my painting job. It looks good but another coat won't hurt. I have nothing actually planned until Tuesday afternoon so I should have plenty of time to finish, as soon as I feel better. 

Did I tell you I am up to 35 for my dinner? 

And this is how a Gringa Tica does it!

When I showed Ana my roller and paint chip her first question was Gerardo. I said yes. Then she asked me if Emilio was coming to help. I said no, I was doing it myself. She seemed amazed so I guess it isn't listed as a woman's job here. Now I may not be the neatest painter but I do know what to do. My friend Judi could paint an entire house and not spill a drop. Not so much me. I covered my bed even though it was 4 feet away. I covered the chair I would have to stand on. I covered my hair and grabbed a bunch of rags. It was all taped so I started with edging and then switched to the roller. I love it. It is such a happy color.

Ligia came - Janet had to send me a message she was at the gate. The hat is done and I have sent Ana a message. She took a couple more skeins of yarn and I told her about being able to make anything we want for the yarn shop. Turns out the girl wants a kerchief so we will have the hat to send to the yarn shop. 

Mayra is coming this afternoon to get the crochet thread I brought her and I can get back to cutting out cashmere strips as soon as I clean up my paint things. I still have the better part of a quart left and I may add a second coat but I want to give this coat plenty of time to dry. It's raining already this morning. No ants in the planter though!

What it looked like when I started.

When I finished.

Don't look too close or you will see the painter is speckled with paint.

The latest hat.

I have paint!

At least for the end, concrete wall. I headed out this morning  on my errands which included a stop at the Super to add minutes to my phone. Yesterday Janet went to use my phone to call Ligia because hers was out of minutes. So was mine. When I have it set on cellular when I don't have wifi, it takes a lot of minutes. When I got back to San Jose I turned it on and it was on cellular and there were 175 messages on the craft ladies what's ap site. I think that is what used them up. Next time I will have to try and wait until I am here and have wifi. I am all set now.

Next was the bank but no debit card. My bank has cancelled it and there haven't been any transactions so hopefully I am good.

I decided to take my blanket with me for the color and headed to the hardware store. I picked out 2 paint sheets. Gerardo wasn't there so I headed to the appliance store and up to his office. I think I crashed the line waiting to talk with him. He pulled out his phone and  showed me what he picked. It was a little too blue - that was my concern. He approved one of the colors on my sheet and explained I need two quarts and it was just for the end wall. We would get the paint for the other walls later. Apparently they are different paints as the end wall is concrete and the others are wood. I will also need some white but he may have that. He said he had brushes but I got one and a roller and pan. I tried for blue tape but had to settle for masking tape. Now I can start anytime. Probably Friday. My bedroom will finally look like a girls!

These are my bed coverings and I was going for the lighter color.

Here are my papaya. I didn't say they were big, just that I had some.

I can't take credit for these chilies. They are all Ana's. She has a bunch planted in my old garden but they aren't doing well.

These also are Ana's in the same area as the chilies. The broken planter came from Tia tripping on it. I love the look and the big rose succulents.

I have shoes on so I think I will go wandering in the garden area before I go bake something for the craft ladies tomorrow.

I know I have been writing a lot and often. I may run out of things to say soon.

I forgot

It has been a while since I mentioned them. The only thing that has grown in my original garden area is 2 papaya trees. I didn't plant them so the seeds must have been in the dirt I bought fron Jose. They are big - over 7 feet tall. And I have little fruit! Well, the trees do. I hope they mature.

Today was crochet ladies and sewing ladies but only Janet and Ligia Sanches came. And Dora. I don't always get things right. When Dora showed me a crocheted afghan I thought she made it. That was why I invited her to join us. Turns out she doesn't know how but she would like to learn. Ligia was great about teaching her and Dora took a little yarn with her to practice.

I showed both Janet and Ligia my idea of making hats to sell and they were both very agreeable. I will talk to Ziomara about other things besides hats also.

I showed them the picture of the girl in the long dress and Ligia is making a hat we think might go with it. She crochets very fast and will bring it to me Thursday by 2:00pm so I can take it with me to Paraiso. They loved the new yarns and I explained there would be lots more coming in December with Heather.

I made sandwiches with French bread. They had cheese, seasoned tomato slices, avocado and refrigerator pickles. I also had the muffins and some crisps I got at the bakery. Dora had to leave early so I sent her off with a to go bag and the other ladies took some with them also. I was expecting 7 and there were only 3 so I had plenty.

I also told them about the Thanksgiving dinner and invited them and the sewing ladies. Janet was at last year's dinner so she knows about it and can explain to the others.

I did explain to Janet that there would be no more sewing. One of the machines will be going to Ziomara and the other one I will use.

If you live in Costa Rica, or know someone who does, and they need a hat because of hair loss, we have hats.

We are having Thanksgiving on Saturday!

Last year everyone was kind enough to come to my house on Thursday, even though it wasn't a holiday for them. This year I decided to make it a little easier and moved it to noon on Saturday, November 26. Those who work will have less trouble coming on Saturday. I told Gerardo this morning and reminded him and Ana that this year everyone is bringing something - pot luck. I heard him say arroz con leche so I know what he will bring. We are going to end up with quite a group this year. Gerardo, Ana, Dora, Marta, Flors, Tia, Johanna and her family, Ziomara and her family, Jose and his family, Rosa and Emilio, the crochet ladies, the sewing ladies, some of the craft ladies, maybe Katherine and the girls. Oh my! They will each get one piece of turkey and I will have to get it started at 3:00am to have it ready by noon, well at least before 1:00pm. I will have to start gathering things. This year it will be good quality paper plates! I can't wait! Now I have to work out the stove situation for the biggest turkey you ever saw. Between Price Mart and WalMart I should be able to get everything I need. I have 18 glasses and the decorated tin cups from last year. If I don't find what I want for paper plates, maybe I can borrow all the wicker plate holders I brought Ziomara from Oregon - thanks to Sandy and Donna. 

At least this year I am a little better supplied with kitchen things than I was last year. I have lots of bowls but the Costa Rican way is to dish up plates so we will have to see how we work things out. Whether buffet will work. Last year I gathered all the silverware in all the apartments here. This year I may have to expand that to the pizza shop. No plastic! 

I told Gerardo I would like to paint my bedroom as it is kinda mustard gold and the cement wall on the end needs attention. The rest of the walls are paneling. What I told him was I wanted to paint that one wall. When I showed him the light Aqua I want he said we would need to paint the whole room so I said ok. We will see if it turns out to be me or a crew. It will look so pretty and brighten it up. 

It's off to the store for what I need for coffee this afternoon. One of the ladies likes Fresca and I think I may get more Coke for another ant pile. I have 2 kinds of muffins and I want to do French bread sections with cheese and tomato and refrigerator pickles. That should do it. Tomorrow I will make things to take to the craft ladies on Thursday. I am really anxious to try the recipe for peppermint patties. I brought peppermint extract back with me. I just noticed, I think I have an open flower on my hollyhocks. I need to go look closer.

My first hollyhock blossom.

It is at least 7 feet tall. They are usually very hardy. I can remember my mother trying to kill them in Minnesota and they would keep coming back.

This is the young girl we gave hats to and the dress she choose for prom. If I understand right, the craft ladies are buying it for her. Maybe we will get to make a special hat to go with it.

A day of good, bad, ugly and food, food, food.

Let's go back to Saturday. I stopped at the ATM before I went to the bus. There were people waiting after me so I just shoved everything in my purse. Throughout the day I had packages in and out of my purse and red bag. Yesterday I went hunting for my debit card and it was nowhere to be found. I sent a message to my bank to block my account till they heard from me again. Today is a holiday so the bank here is closed. I did ask at the Super this morning but nothing was turned in. I sent a second message to my bank to cancel the card and send a new one to Heather's address. Still no answer. I have worked with one of the officers so I sent a message direct to her and within 15 minutes she responded the card had been cancelled and a new one ordered. Heather will bring it in December. I do have an account and debit card at another bank so I will use that till she comes.  I did cancel with the ladies today so I could take care of this. I will have to do a ladies day to the mountain another time.

When I went out this morning to give Ana and Gerardo a plate of muffins, he showed me what he had caught in the trap. It was smaller than a Zorro and if possible uglier than a zorro. Ana laughed and said sopa - soup - and I said no, no, no. I headed to the Super and by the time I got back there was no evidence of whatever it was.

About 11:30 Ana brought me a plate with an ear of corn, hot. I added butter. I will say it was definitely not Minnesota sweet corn. It wasn't field corn, but not great. Just a few minutes ago she brought me a dish of arroz con leche with higos and let me know Gerardo made it. It has been a long time since he has given me any. It was great and is all gone.

Update on the planter with ants. The soapy water and vinegar didn't work but yesterday afternoon I poured a whole 2 liter bottle of Coke and today I dug around in the dirt and there was no evidence of bugs. I will still have to wait and see if the plants survive. I am going to try and move it in case it is sitting on top of an ant hill. It is one of the big tire planters with no bottom. I still need to plant my new flowers. It has been raining off and on all day so instead of gardening I have been sitting on the porch attaching rings to the hearts for the hats.

I will have a full house tomorrow with the crochet ladies including Dora and the sewing ladies. It is my intention it will be the last day for the sewing ladies. I will explain I don't have more fabric and I must start working on Heather's cashmere throw. I also plan to take one of the machines to Ziomara's so I can teach anyone there who wants to learn. I will explain to the ladies my idea about having hats for those who need them and also selling hats. We will see what they think. Ziomara wants to carry them in the shop. If it works we can look for other places to offer them. 

I am not sure but I think the craft ladies are buying a prom dress for the girl we gave hats to. I am going to show Ligia the picture and see if we can make a brimmed hat by Thursday to take to the craft ladies to go with it. I'll see if I have the right color yarn in the tub.

I was having trouble sleeping last night so I spent a couple hours cutting up fabric to take to the craft ladies on Thursday. I had gotten several pieces in California that will be great for appliqué or quilt squares and other pieces I cut into 1/2 yard pieces. I have some at 500, 1000, 2000, 3000 and 6000 colones. The 6000 is 2 yard pieces. I also have crochet thread for one of the ladies. I have a lot of small encased tape measures I will give as Christmas gifts. 

Emilio loves to try things that can't be bought here so I bring him an assortment. This time it was 3 flavors of Kind type bars, Junior Mints, York Peppermint patties, Cinnamon Roll flavored Oreos and Hershey's nuggets. The York patties were a repeat. I brought them from Oregon also. I asked him today how he liked the Junior Mints and he said they were so good but he only had one and the rest disappeared. I think other people in that household also like them. I should have brought bigger boxes.   I have a little box hid in my freezer to share with him.

I think that is about it. Back to work on the hearts.

My first healthy looking cucumbers.

The black spots aren't ants - it's pepper. I forgot to take a picture of the rice before I ate it all.

I have been invited

Last night I took the gifts I brought for Emilio's mother and father and they invited me to breakfast this morning since I said I was meeting Emilio at the feria. His father said 8:00am and I said no, I would take the 8:15am bus. Emilio met me at the feria but there was nothing I had to have and since I was going to breakfast I didn't dare also have empanadas. We did stop at the dairy store so I could get butter and cheese. The butter is good enough to eliminate bringing it from the states. Emilio also got a bottle of milk that they boiled to make the cream rise to the top. We used the milk in chai tea. It was great. We had tortillas, Gallo pinto, fried eggs. Very yummy.

Emilio came back to Orosi and we stopped first to pick up a ream of paper for my new printer. He helped me drown the ants in one of my planters. I put dish soap all over it and he used the hose on it. I also emptied a bunch of vinegar on it. I have no idea if the plants will live but as long as I get rid of the ants I can always start over with the planter. I was pulling weeds when I discovered the ants and I didn't have gloves on. I don't know if all the bites are from them. Hopefully they will clear up soon.

Emilio says we can get to Price Mart on the bus so Rosa and I have agreed to split a membership. It runs about 30,000 colones a year. I haven't been there yet but I am hoping I can get big bags of chocolate chips and eliminate another item from the U.S.. 

Rosa and 13 friends are going to Johanna's mountain home on Monday and I have been invited to go along. I must be in front of the church in Paraiso by 9:00am. Tomorrow I will bake something to take with me. It could be an interesting day as I am not sure of the amount of English they speak.

Ziomara got tied up at the yarn shop so she and her daughter didn't get here until 2:00pm. Maria Jose had eaten and Ziomara brought lasagna and rice for us. After lunch we started going thru what I brought as I had said I would give her first choice for the yarn shop. We took a break and played bingo with Maria Jose - she won and then we went to see Katherine and check out the yarn her friend had brought. Ziomara did find several skeins to buy for the yarn shop. There were some lovely speciality yarns.  I was able to give Katherine the book for Courtney's birthday tomorrow.. A stop at the pizza shop to say hello and a stop at the Super and back to my house to finish sorting and get it packed up. It was almost 7:00pm when they headed back to Cartago.

While I was waiting for them to come, a man came in the gate and was explaining he had organic plants for my garden. I went out and a truck pulled up. The back had lots of plants and since I hadn't bought any at the feria I bought 4 lovely flowers. Can't wait to get them planted. 

Gerardo stopped while Ziomara was here and told us about another place he has and showed us pictures. He said next time she comes he will take us there. It sounds like work is also being done on the place by the cemetery. He is always busy with something.

Life is getting back to normal.

My refrigerator and cupboards are full. I had my coffee con leche and a wonderful mango for breakfast. The sun is shining and I have been out picking weeds. Tonight I will stop in the pizza shop to take Emilio and his father the goodies I got for them. Next thing to do is bake something. I have some orchid cactus slips from Heather to plant in a pot and tons more weeding to do. I have one hollyhock in my original flower patch. It is over 6 feet tall and very healthy looking. Lots of buds but no flowers yet. Should be quite impressive when it finally blooms.

I think I will head for the feria tomorrow morning. It has been a long time since I had a good empanada and I want to go to the butter store and look over the plants at the feria. I have some holes in the planter I haven't filled.  Ziomara will be here at 1:00 as she is working in the yarn shop in the morning.

Life is back to normal with lots to do.

Ok, here I go.

Otto has been here and the massage is over. Laundry is done, even though it may take days to dry with all the rain. When I am finished with a bite to eat and this I must go to the store for food and drink. I have been eating the hamburger buns I had in the freezer and Ana brought me a wonderful fish lunch yesterday so I am not starving but I miss my big cup of coffee as I have no milk. But, back to the beginning.

Jose was to pick me up at 5:00am so a little before I took my suitcases of white powder and opened the door to wait for him. A man I knew I knew came around the corner and waited with me and chatted. I understood he was saying the next two weeks I would be a gringa, then I would be a Tica again. When Jose came he said Mario was coming with us. No wonder I was sure I knew him - he is one of Gerardo's brothers and lives across the street from Dora. He does woodworking and builds furniture. He did the table in the little apt. We dropped him off along the highway to the airport and Jose would pick him up on the other side on the way back. Traffic was terrible and it took a full 2 hours. No problem with check in so I still had plenty of time for my 9:00am flight. I got TSA Precheck on all of my flights both ways but they don't offer it in San Jose and in Chicago the line was so long for Precheck and the regular area was empty so I went thru there. When I checked in my suitcases there were TSA inspection slips in both of them but no questions or problems.

The first few days were shopping and packing at Heather's and then I flew to Santa Maria, Ca to see friends. Well, that was where I was headed but got to the gate 5 minutes after they closed the door and had to spend the night in San Francisco. Flight was to leave at 10:40 the next morning but it was 2 hours late so my visit was shortened quite a bit. I left Tuesday afternoon which was the last day United Express operated into Santa Maria. Again a run thru San Francisco airport but this time I made the connection. I have had some late arrivals into Madison and some early departures and Kent has been so great about picking me up and dropping me off. There was talk of taking me to the bus shelter the night before and letting me spend the night with the homeless man who sleeps there but instead he got up really early.

One day to catch my breath and off on my Minnesota adventure. And an adventure it was. I packed some food and drink and left at 7:45am and drove non-stop to Brainerd where I would get my birth certificate and get my other two documents notarized. Birth certificate yes. Notarization no. They have to watch a person sign to notarize. The social security form didn't even have a signature and the Hutchinson police form had a signature but they didn't see her do it. So, my running started. They gave me directions to the social security office in Brainerd. I explained the situation, they did a new form and 2 people signed it, but they don't have a notary. They suggested the State Farm office nearby. Yes, they had a notary there but she was the only agent and couldn't leave. They were open till 5:00 and social security was open till 4:00. I went back to ask the man if he could stop at State Farm at 4:00 but he said the door locks at 4:00 but he works till 5:30. He said if I brought her to the back door he would open it and show her his id. I went back to State Farm but she said she had to leave right at 5:00 to get her kids at daycare. I gave up on Brainerd and now I had to try and do everything on Friday.

A 5 minute stop with my cousin and on to Little Falls to stay with Sandy and see what I could work out for tomorrow. She doesn't have wifi at her house so we went to Perkins to eat and see what I could figure out. I messaged Lee from the St. Cloud Bursch Travel office to check if they had a notary. I contacted Hutchinson Police but it would have to be during the day for a notary.

Friday morning about 7:30 I took off for the St. Cloud Bursch office to talk with Jess. She offered to meet me at the Social Security office if they didn't have a notary. I was at social security when they opened at 9:00 and the room was full. I let Jess know I would need her  and would call her to come when it got closer to my number. I wasn't sure how I was going to figure that out as they were calling A numbers and mine was a V number. When I called her to explain she said she was coming over. A minute later I was called and I took plenty of time to explain my story and in she walked. We got our business done and I was on my way to Hutchinson by 10:00am.

Into Hutchinson at 10:50 and driving out of town at 11:00am. Next is the Secretary of State and I have no idea what they do or how long it will take. I did make one stop since I was now coming from Hutchinson and it was a very short detour to the U of M Apple market. I picked up 20 pounds of honey crisp apples for Heather.

Arrived at the Secretary of State and took a number. Only about 10 people sitting around. When I was called I handed them everything and they said they would call me when they were completed. It was only 20-30 minuted. I have never seen an explaination of what apostille is. Now I know. All they do is document the notary information.

On my way and I can finally stop and eat. After that I head for Janice and Jack's and spend the night. I have Heather's car and want to get it back to her as quickly as possible so I leave at 8:00am. I had called her about a symbol light on her car. It looks like brackets with an ! in the center and a wavy line underneath. She said it was tire pressure so when I hit Woodbury I stopped at a Kwik Trip and the nicest young man came out and took care of all my tires. I tried to pay him but he refused so I said I would give it to the poor people. He said that was a good idea.

We had dinner Sunday evening at an Indian restaurant with Kent's mother and Monday evening Heather and I thought Taco John's would be such a great idea. We both really like their Potato Oles. Well, traffic was terrible and it took forever to get there. And, the food was terrible, including the Potato Oles!

My baggage handler at the airport was great, Jose was out front, we dropped off the paperwork for my residency and I got home about 11:00pm. Jose invited me to the party for his youngest son's first communion on October 30. 

That's it. Now if the sun would shine more for my corn. I have already seen Ana, Tia, Gerardo, Dora and Marta. Tons of guayaba still. And lots of avocado. 

My first healthy cucumbers.

Things are looking good.

See, I have evidence of corn.

The sunflowers are getting really big.

I know, I know, I know

It is time I give you all an update on the last couple weeks. And I will. As soon as I catch up on my sleep. I am back home, I have unpacked everything and I have had a visit from Tia.  She was happy to have me back. Otto will be here tomorrow morning so maybe tomorrow afternoon I will let you know what all I did and how everything went. It is raining more than normal so there haven't been a lot of sunny dàys for the corn. I do have corn. The sunflowers are really big and the cucumbers are doing great. Not so much the melons but the one pea plant looks good. 

In case Linda and Roz hear I was in Hutchinson, I was, but only for 10 minutes. I was on a mission and I will tell you about it tomorrow.