Sometimes you have to be flexible.

As you know I was scheduled to leave at 4:00am today. And I have mentioned Jose's concern because of road work and road closings and what we might encounter. He called me about 1:00pm to say I really think you should consider going today because the alternate route is also closed at night and doesn't open until 6:00am.
Well, I started scrambling. Thank heavens I was pretty organized. I had moved all the potted plants to where they woul d get rain and I was pretty much packed. Just the last minute things. I was waiting for a gift from Joanna for Heather and the crochet ladies were coming.
I told him I would look for a hotel near the airport and let him know. First I checked the Hampton Inn but their rates were over $200. The Holiday Inn Express was full. I came across the City Express, in the same general area for $69.00. How bad could it be! I let Jose know I would be ready by 6:00pm.
When the ladies arrived I told them I had a problem and about leaving and they got busy picking out yarn for projects for the next couple weeks. I brought out all the perishable food and the containers I used for the Christmas packs and they took care of dividing everything and even cleaning up and doing dishes. I let Ana know I was leaving and let Jose know I would be ready early. Johanna delivered the gift and I got it packed. Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything. I called Jose again about 3:45 to let him know I was ready.
About an hour later he arrived, tried the fudge, and decided he definitely wanted it, and off we went. It usually takes about 1 1/2 to 2 hours at the most. It took just over 3 hours, just to avoid a short stretch of bridge. They have been working on it and trying to improve this bridge for like 8 years so this is just another attempt. They could have built a brand new one for what it has cost.
The City Express was a kind of IKEA looking place. Simple but very clean and the front desk people were very nice. Breakfast was included and they offered lots. Gallo Pinto, scrambled eggs, fruit, cereal, breads, juice. Lots to pick from.
The shuttle to the uirport is not free but you can schedule a time and it is operated by their van.
No problems, no complaints. I had two alarms set since I don't usually get up at 5:30am.
I am now ready to board and head for Houston and then on to Chicago, a bit of a wait and then the bus to Madison.

Yeah, the laundry is dry!

or most of it so I can put it away or stick it in my suitcase to bring with me. I don't bring much as I have clothes, especially winter clothes, at Heather's. I told her to bring coat and hat and scarf and gloves and snow pants and boots when they come to get me. I was joking of course. I will wear my big cotton sweater and my rain coat so I should be fine for the little bit of time I am outside. I have to hunt in my drawers. I may even have gloves. My suitcase is full of Heather's Christmas gifts she didn't have room for and some jelly.
The beach has been drained - my porch got a good washing - and plants in pots moved to where they will get rain. I have started cleaning out the refrigerator but the crochet ladies tomorrow may have to settle for leftovers. I will probably have things for them to take home with them.
So far today it is a bright, sunny day. Hopefully it will stick around.
Last night Emilio messaged me that he was craving pancakes so I made up a batch and traded them for a pizza. I had one plain, some chocolate chip, some white chocolate chip, some coconut, some blueberry and some sugared cranberry. I wasn't sure about the cranberry. I knew he loved them and he said they were good. Not sweet like jelly but good.  I also brought butter, peanut butter and dark Karo syrup.  To go with it I cooked some bacon. Yes, I shared my bacon. Remember Heather brought me 2 package along with he ham. He and his parents really enjoyed everything and I came home with a tomato pepperoni pizza.
That's it kids. I may manage to post some pictures of Heather's house once we get things in place.

I promised a report

The fiesta is over and it was a big hit. Even with 10 stockpots full of boiling water, the pool cooled off to fast to make the water comfortable so we just looked at it and listened to the ocean sounds I had on the iPad. It really was quite cool and rainy out. It is taking longer than predicted for nice weather. It was supposed to be Thursday. Although la playa didn't work, the swimsuits were a big hit. I ended up giving one to Ligia Sanchez and one to Janet. The older ones that were too big for me or didn't work because my legs are so skinny. I had to hold on tight to the blue and the black ones or they would have walked out the door too. I had gone from someone who hadn't had a swimsuit from the time they were about 21 to having four of them. Way more than I needed. It turns out Janet is going to the beach in Punteranes on Sunday with her family so she was very excited to have a suit.

Otto was a big hit and he gave each lady a back massage and told tales of Costa Rica. He left about 7:30 and we got down to cooking lessons. They wanted to learn how to make cream puffs so I made a batch and Janet wrote everything down. When they were cooled I added cream and in some I added some guayaba jelly and sprinkled them with powdered sugar. The others I drizzled with either chocolate or salted caramel. We didn't do the cinnamon cream cheese roll ups because they had already tried them at home. I explained how to make the salmon spread but didn't make any.

Next was empanadas. Janet had brought the ingredients for the dough and had me mix it. It is kinda like my mother's French pancake recipe - a little of this, a little more of that. Put the flour in the bowl add a big pinch of salt. Add some water, add more water, add more water.  Make balls and flatten them out on plastic. Put the filling in and use the plastic to fold in half. Seal and fry. We did cheese, chicken, beans, beans with salsa, chicken and cheese and chicken and cheese and salsa. They were very good and crispy, the way I like them.
There was some drinking - they loved the sangria with peach and tangerine and blueberries and lemon and limon dulce slices. Janet brought all the ingredients for rompope and we added some of my mixture of rum and brandy. It was very good and she left me the package mix for another batch.
I had a big tray with chips, tortillas and crispy bread along with refried beans, shredded chicken, shredded cheese, mango salsa, guacamole and salsa that everyone snacked on all evening.
We are old ladies so the party broke up about 10:30, and no, there are no pictures to post. We had a good time but I am sure they will be happy when they say something and there isn't just a questioning look on my face so hey have to try other words till I understand something. I did learn Ligia and Paty each have husbands and 5 sons. If I understood right, Ligia's all live in her house. There are grandchildren so wives also. My goodness, what a houseful.

Now that the party is over I will have to drain the pool, a bucket at a time, and get ready to leave early Wednesday morning. Jose will be here at 4:00am.  Heather has decided I get to sleep in the new house since the furniture is all moved out of the old one and there is no internet. Thank heavens! How would I live without my internet.

My ladies have been busy.

Hopefully the people who say the weather will start getting better tomorrow are right. It is still cool and raining. I did finally bring all my clothes in from the lines. I had some overripe bananas so I made mini banana monkey bread for coffee. We also had a guest who made the afternoon even crazier. Emilio joined us so he could help me with some translating. I wanted to know what Janet was talking about last time and what I needed to have on hand for the empanadas. We had a bit of a discussion because they were going to make something else. I explained how much I like empanadas so they said they would bring the dough and I should have cheese. I asked how was I going to learn how to make them if they brought the dough all made. I think they understood and will bring the ingredients and make them here. As far as Janet, she was saying she has been married since 15 and was a widow at 39 and she wants to go to the beach and go out with people but now she is 50 and getting too old and no one asks her. I can understand even though it is a life totally different from mine. Ligia Sanchez brought a lovely long white scarf and many flowers and leaves and Ligia brought a lovely hat from Paty that goes well with the scarf and one from herself. Janet brought 2 hats. I gave them the yarn I bought in Cartago and they are all working on scarves. We went to some new patterns, more lacy than for winter, and Ligia Sanchez taught the others. Emilio was too busy talking to learn to crochet. Ligia Sanchez picked out some yarn and wanted to make him a hat. It really was a fun afternoon. Now I must get ready for Friday evening.

I lied

Remember I told you about our wonderful weather? Well I lied. Saturday was beautiful and all my clothes were nicely drying on the lines. Thank heavens they are in covered areas. It started raining before I went to bed Saturday evening and right now - Monday morning - is the first break since then. I wouldn't say the sun is shining but at least there are a couple light spots in the sky. Also, it is cooler than normal. I wouldn't go so far as to say cold, but cooler. I have a sweater on with my shorts. When I woke up this morning there was no internet and no electricity. You see which I put first! Ana says today and tomorrow and Wednesday more rain. Starting Thursday no rain. We will see how good a weatherman she is. I did bring some of the clothes in today but the rest are still hanging, trying to dry. Turrialba has been acting up a lot also, spewing lots of ash. Flights have been affected and delayed or cancelled. Clean up seems to be needed everyday for those in the path. Thank heavens we aren't. Adriana wishes she could be here for the party Friday evening. She had me send her a recipe for one of the things I am teaching the ladies and she is going to wear pajamas and make it Friday evening and think of us. I told her to get set up so she can call us. Yesterday morning Katherine messaged me asking if I could watch the girls while they worked on a project. It involved dirty rocks and they didn't want the girls getting into them. They came about 9:30 and were here for 3 hours. One accident. Lexi was running in and out and banged into the side of the door frame. Lump on the forehead. We made some pancakes that Courtney helped by stirring stirring stirring. We put chocolate chips and coconut and strawberries and blueberries in them. I sent all the extras home with them. Lexi loves all the little things from the Judi tree and I have a box of extras she plays with. Courtney loves all the stuffed animals. I brought out a big blanket and covered one of the couches like a tent. She played under there for the longest time. That's it. Back to work, or not. No light in the sky. It is raining again.

I forget

Especially towards the end of the rainy season just how beautiful it can be here and how nice the weather can be. During the rainy season you know you better get started early because about noon it will start raining. Sometimes it rains in the morning or all night. It rains a lot. My Oregon family are used to that. When dry season starts it is a different story. We are fortunate in this area and still get rain but not everyday. I even have to water my plants. The humidity is lower and the air is more comfortable. We have been blessed with several beautiful days this week, including today. The laundry will dry quickly, the sun is shining but it isn't so hot a person is miserable. Perfect. Yesterday afternoon Johanna and her daughter came to get the hat I made for Johanna. She works hard at English and she looked in the mirror and said "now I am beautiful". I told her she was beautiful with or without the hat. After they left I headed out and went to the pharmacy to pick up what I had ordered, went to the farthest Chinese market and got what I needed, stopped at the fruit and meat market and got my mangoes and meat and then stopped in the pizza shop. Emilio and I were talking and a customer came in so I stepped aside and sat down. When he finished I said "that doesn't sound like Costa Rican English". He laughed and responded no and we sat and talked for the longest time. He lives here 6 months of the year and in the US, one of the Carolinas, the other 6 months. I have mentioned before I rarely run into other people from the US around Orosi. One of his first questions was why here and not the beach and I said the beach is too hot and he agreed. So, that's life in Orosi for this Minnesota gypsy. The

Let's try again

It took hours yesterday to transfer my pictures to Google Photos so now I will try posting the ones I wanted to post yesterday. I had a fun visit from Katherine and the girls this morning. They had not yet seen all the toys Heather brought. Courtney fell in love with a stuffed dinosaur so it went to live at her house for a couple weeks. They are so fun. These are shots I took from the Lookout towards Orosi and Cachi

Here goes for the 439th time

I have mentioned I have been having trouble with this which is a shame because I have been having so much fun and have so much to tell you about the last few days and what is coming up next week. At this point I am hitting save every line so if the program closes, not everything I have written disappears. I thought things were going better last night until just that happened. I even went so far as to delete the program from my ipad. At this point I am working direct in Google Blogger, not in anything downloaded. So far so good. So, back to Tuesday and the crochet ladies. They brought me or finished here an assortment of hats. It was one time I really wished I understood more Spanish because Janet was mumbling and grumbling and they we're saying something about 50. So my guess is she isn't enjoying being 50 but you know I make things up. They tried really hard to explain things to me but it just wasn't happening. We did laugh a lot. I was well prepared with treats and they loved everything, but especially the cinnamon cream cheese roll ups. They couldn't get over the fact it was slices of bread. I had also made cream puffs and filled some with the cream filling I got at Mayca and some with a salmon mixture. The last thing was frosted cranberry bars. They asked when I would give them a cooking lesson. So, we are all set for a combination pajama party with cooking lesson and lots to drink starting at 6:00pm on Friday the 13th. I also said that if I taught them how to make these things, they must teach me how to make empanadas. Today when Otto came for my massage I asked him about coming that evening and giving the ladies massages and he said yes. We had said no hombres but I think they will be happy I invited this one. It will be a shortened version. Otherwise it would take half the night. I can't promise pictures but there will be a report - maybe censored a bit. I expect it to be lots of fun. We have sangria and margaritas and Bailey's and rum and brandy. Now I need to find something other than water glasses. We will turn the music up and probably do lots of laughing and dancing. Poor Otto! Yesterday was a really fun day. The weather has been beautiful the last couple days and Emilio and I haven't been on an adventure in a long time. He was busy with school and I was busy with Thanksgiving and Christmas. I left here at 10:15 and told the bus driver Mirador which is the Lookout. I had a little time to myself before he showed up and he had his friend, Francila, with him. I probably have her name wrong. I had him spell it for me but then I forgot. She is a student in English translation and also teaches English. He has been wanting us to meet so she can speak with someone who has English as their first language. Also, as slow as I talk it makes it easier for others to understand me. Mirador is a beautiful place just off the highway between here and Paraiso. Lots of grounds and areas to walk and picnic tables and wonderful views to Orosi and Cachi and the mountains. Otto explained today this is not part of the Central Valley connected to San Jose but the seperate Orosi Valley. We sat at a picnic table and I spread out the cloth I brought - in my red bag of course. I brought snacks also. Cranberry bars, chocolate balls that Heather brought and candy canes. Absolutely nothing healthy. When we decided it was time to head for lunch we decided on Cartago. We got to the road and here comes the bus so no wait. I said I would love to find the Mexican restaurant near the Basilica that Ziomara took me to so we got off at the Basilica stop, walked around the corner and about 10 steps and there it was. So easy for me to find now. Emilio ordered an appetizer that was crispy chips and tortillas cut in half. There were bowls of guacamole and refried beans and picadillo and hot cheese-very stringy. It was so good I could have just eaten that but I did have a chicken burrito and Emilio had beefsteak with onions and she had fish. It was all great and I know I will go back. We decided we needed to walk and headed for the yarn shop. Johanna has been very sick with dengue fever and this is the first time I have seen her in quite a while. I also greeted her mother next door and wished them Happy New Year. We kept walking, with stops for shopping, so I could show them the other yarn shop but they had moved a few blocks away. The new shop is larger but it was quite a mess as they aren't unpacked yet and aren't set up for credit card yet. Thank heavens I stopped at an ATM and had cash. Don't tell Heather. She already thinks I have bought all the yarn in the US. The ladies have been making hats to build up our supply. They will love to use what I bought for scarves. Speaking of hats, the one I made for Kathy is too small. Heather and I both tried it on before I sent it but no luck. She is sending it back to Heather and I will work on a new one while I am there. I may use a different pattern and get some measurements from her so I know what to do. So, we split up outside the yarn shop and we headed for the bus to Paraiso so I could get some butter. They had 2 so I was very happy. When we came out we met his mother and sister. He went to take his things home and change and I sat with them in the park. Once we got to Orosi I got off at the square so I could go to the pharmacy and bakery and fruit store. They didn't have any mangoes so I will have to check around. It was about 5:00 by the time I got home. A long, full day but a really enjoyable one. I can't wait to get a report later. Emilio was taking the bus this morning with some friends to Irazu Volcano and he planned on walking back. When I googled it I saw it takes 52 minutes by car and 6 hours and 50 minutes to walk. Now I don't know if that is going up or down. Anyway you look at it, it is a long, long way. That's about it for now. I hope I am not pushing my luck trying to attach pictures. I guess it was but I will figure a way.

My ham is gone

And I have enjoyed every last speck of it. I have eaten it cold and with scrambled eggs and now in a sandwich. There was a restaurant in Fargo, I think called Embers. It was next to the Best Western. They served the best sandwich with grilled ham and onions and barbecue sauce. That is how I just made mine. Thank you again to Heather and Kent. It has been a very quiet week for me since everyone left. The Christmas decorations are down and the flowers have been moved outside. I have been working on the hat for Johanna. The crochet ladies will be here tomorrow and I need to make something good for coffee. I think coconut lemon bread and cinnamon cream cheese roll ups. All the Christmas goodies are gone. I don't know yet if the craft ladies will be meeting on Thursday or not. I have fabric and crochet thread for them. Next thing you know I will be heading for Heather's. They have a busy week ahead because she says the movers are coming on Friday for the heavy furniture. They will be in the new house when I get there but there is talk of making me sleep in the old house so she can't hear me snore. Just no respect!

The bells are packed and so is everything else I am supposed to be bringing. Considering they travel with only carry ons when they aren't carting suitcases for me, Heather managed to take most of her gifts  and purchases back with her. I am sure coming back I will be loaded with yarn. I am trying a new route this time. Avianca via San Salvador and I get 2 free bags but only a total weight of 70 pounds, not the 100 pounds Southwest gives.

My great ham sandwich 

Johanna's hat so far. I just started the brim.

I have been having some trouble with this program and my photos so I may not do much posting till I have Heather and Kent figure out what I did.