Learned new things today.

I took the bus to Paraiso and walked up the street and around the corner to the CAJA Clinic. At my doctor appointment in April I was given a slip with all kinds of lab work to be done since I am just starting with them and told I had to go to Paraiso to have it done. The form said M M J 12-2, which means Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday (martes, miércoles or jueves) between 12 noon and 2:00pm. One of my tests is a hemoglobin A1C and you aren’t supposed to eat so I thought that was a little late but since no one told me not to eat, I did.

Now I know not to expect a lot of English so I went to the first window inside and said. Es primero tiempo which I hoped meant it is my first time and then I said yo no se nada which I hoped they would understand as I don’t know anything. She pointed off to the left so I went to another window and said it all again. She pointed up the hallway to the line of people so I got in line. When I got to the window I said my two lines again and gave her my card and my form. She asked me a question and it took a couple tries but I understood she wanted to know when my next doctor appointment is. I took out my appointment card so she could see it is 7/18. Well, it turned out nothing is being done today but I have a slip to come back 7/4 between 6:00 and 8:00am to the same window.

That done, I got the bus back to Orosi and headed to the clinic here for my meds. I was given slips for 3 months but they only fill one month at a time. Two of the pills replace one of the meds from Dr. Mora. When I got it from him they were having a special. If you buy 3 you get 1 free. I got it so my meds lasted longer than just the month. With insulin, I still have the pens and I use that when I am away from home so the insulin lasts longer too. My appointment in April was the 20th so I was due in about June 19. Since I am so many days late she said she would fill it but not for the full month, just for 20 days which will take me to my next appointment. It was something I had never run into before.  While I was there I asked about the container for the 24 hour urine test and she said I would have to go to the pharmacy and buy it. I have to learn what they do and don’t cover. They order a test but don’t have the container needed for it. So I went to the pharmacy and got that and then headed to Dora’s. They had mentioned a lady in Paraiso who has cancer and no hair and I brought 2 hats. Ana’s daughter in law has a shop by Dr. Mora’s office which is very near Gerardo’s appliance store. Ana was outside and Dora was inside so it saved me a walk and I gave them the hats.

There is a new chicken place in front of the school and I decided to try it. Two pieces of chicken, small container of fries and 2 tortillas for 1900 colones. Today that is $3.35. I headed to Katherine’s and she and the girls were eating so I sat down to share and eat. The girls were very happy to eat some of mine. It was very good. It is a barbecue chicken place but the barbecue sauce is separate in a little container and I didn’t get any. The chicken was very nice and crispy. The fries here are never served crispy. I need to learn how to say cook the fries longer.

Tomorrow I head back to town for my 20 days of meds and since I didn’t go to Cartago last Saturday I will try this Saturday. Hopefully it won’t be raining already in the morning. Next week I think Emilio is off school and is coming out here to see if the basket man can weave him a backpack. If he can, Heather wants one too. When I was walking by the other day he brought out one that I bought on my way home. He does lovely work.

I just realized I forgot to tell you about my coffee at Dora’s house.  Dora, Ana Rosa and Flors were there. I brought some clippings for Dora and we talked about the maraquija Jeanette brought me. After coffee, Dora took me to the back to show me it is covered with maraquija. I asked for a clipping but instead she gave me a bag of seeds to plant and some pods from one of her trees in the front. I have enough seeds to cover the country.

Everything on the right is maraquija 

Not quite ripe

A little riper, they get yellow.

They get along quite well.

The one Heather wants.

 

My newest basket.  

Such a day!

Emilio and I made plans to go shopping today. We agreed to start at PriceSmart and then see where we needed to go from there. My main items were a pop up canopy tent, a folding table and cocoa for cookies. Now have you ever gone to Costco and only bought a couple things? We ended up needing a flatbed cart because the canopy tent box was so big. Plus the table and a big container of cat litter and they had bacon and lots of other things which are now in my house.

While we were having lunch there, Emilio kept trying to call for Uber X which is bigger vehicles.  No luck and we knew what we had wouldn’t fit in a regular car. So, who else would I turn to but Jose. I called and asked if he was available and sure enough he came to my rescue. He and Gloriana picked us up and we got everything loaded and then asked if we could stop at Pequeño Mundo for 5 minutes. He said no but I knew he was teasing. We weren’t there much more than 5 minutes getting the few things we each wanted.

When we left we started talking about plants and nurseries and I told Emilio about the one I love. When we got to that street Jose turned in and I knew we would have to find more room in the car. Emilio even bought a Gardenia, I bought a bunch more white flowers for my white garden and a wonderful big petal bluish-purple hydrangea. When we left, Emilio was as excited about the place as I was. They have a wide variety and good prices.

We dropped Emilio in Paraiso and stopped at the ATM in Orosi before coming home. I had Jose take the canopy tent with him so he can figure out how it goes together. He will be the one to take us to the feria very early Saturday mornings in July. August 15 is Mother’s Day here so we will concentrate on mother’s day gift items. Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, Jelly, Microwave Bowl potholders from me and crochet and macrame items from Jeanette and Ligia. Ziomara is making  candles to sell at our stand too. I will have to psych myself up to get going by 4:00am.

Tomorrow I go to Orosi to get my jelly jars from Dora and Saturday is back to Cartago to meet up with Ziomara. I want to stop at Mayca for bags too. I didn’t want to take the time to do it today. I need them for 5 cookies with a Chicas Buenas sticker and larger ones for other merchandise. So much to think about.

I knew the day would come

But I didn’t know it would be quite so soon. And I didn’t know one would be even worse than the other. He had been watching her but didn’t make any attempt to follow.....until he did. Getting up didn’t seem to be a major problem. I have this nice pile of suitcases in the spare bedroom. Getting down is more complicated for him and he doesn’t seem to be as sure footed as her.  She always jumped from the top of my wardrobe to the bed. He does that once in a while but looks for other ways also. He is more interested in the netting along the outside walls than the dream catchers.

I did get my staple gun and something to stand on and reattached what they had torn loose. It would also explain the increase in bugs in here.

Life is not boring in La Cabaña.

Had a lovely afternoon

It was about noon when Ziomara and María José arrived. Lunch was all ready and that was where we started. I had chicken pieces, hamburger with taco seasoning, avocado, lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, sweet peppers, cheese, sour cream, salsa and corn tortillas for chalupas. It was very good. Later we had breads and cookies with coffee. It was all a bit boring for María José although she did play with the kittens but Ziomara and I got a lot done. She came for me to help her make a mandala and she finished what she wanted to do. Now she needs to make a frame and attach it. She knows basic crochet and I did my best to explain and show her what to do as each row is different. She worked really hard and completed 9 rows which is how big she wants it.

It had been a nice day, weather wise until shortly before they left when it started raining like mad including thunder and lightning.

Thursday Emilio and I are going on a shopping trip. Who knows where we will end up. Wednesday is his birthday - 24. I don’t even remember being that young!

The finished product.

Figuring out the colors.

New adventures today.

I had an interesting day today.
I headed for Cartago late this morning to go to the yarn shop that has really pretty cotton yarn. I haven’t been there in quite a while. Ligia is working on matching hats and purses for little girls and coin purses, or as Kaye uses them, credit card purses. I have yarn here, but not for those projects so I  felt a trip was in order. I was looking for pabilo in a bunch of colors, little zippers and nylon yarn if I could find it. I also wanted some of the nice cotton yarn they carry.

My route takes me right by the craft shop I used to stop in and wouldn’t you know I found lots of  goodies. This bag full fit in my red bag if I took my purse out and away I went. First stop was at the bank to get more cash and then to the yarn shop. They remembered me! They said it has been a year since I was there. I don’t think it was quite that long but it has been quite a while. I made sure I let them all know I am now a resident! This time the bag wouldn’t fit in my red bag so I put my purse back in there and had the red bag over one shoulder and the big white bag in my other hand. I had to switch now and then and decided I would stop at Rosti Pollo for lunch. It is kinda on my way back to the bus and I figured I could handle the bus to WalMart and then taxi home. I haven’t been grocery shopping in a while and Ziomara and María José are coming here Saturday. I am making chalupas and helping her with the mandala pattern. So, after I was settled at a table and ordered I noticed the  couple at the next table had been watching and listening. He turned to me and said my Spanish was very good. I couldn’t believe it.

I haven’t told you there is a new WalMart in Cartago. It is out of the way for me, towards San Jose. The taxis are lined up by Rosti Pollo so I decided to take one and check out the new WalMart. When we got there I said I would be about an hour and if he was interested and gave me his name and number I would call him to take me home. He said yes, his name is Oscar and he gave me his  number. I showed it to him to make sure I had it right.

As I was wandering up and down the aisles, a man came hurrying towards me. It was Oscar! He had given me the wrong number and had written everything down for me to call him. I can’t believe someone going to all that trouble. I thanked him and gave him my name and called him when I was checked out. Although this WalMart is newer and fresher, it doesn’t seem to be as big or have as  many choices.

He said he was in Orosi last December but it was after dark so could I please direct him. I had him do a little detour in Paraiso so I could get butter and we made a misturn to get back on the main highway so I was surprised he trusted me to direct him to Rio Macho.  We did just fine but I really should learn right and left instead of hand signals. I had him stay on the upper road instead of driving to the door because of all the rain and he willingly helped unload everything. So now I have Luis and  Eduardo and Edwin and Oscar.

It was raining so hard last night and seemed to drive all the bugs in the house. I have netting up and I don’t know where they are sneaking in but there were tons. Hope that doesn’t keep happening. My cats were not very effective at catching and killing.

My mandala is almost finished and I have another pattern for the next one.

Almost done.

Ligia gave me a shoot. It looked dead when I showed her. She sprinkled the seeds on the ground and now I have this. It is doing just fine.

Just in case

you are concerned that I am being lazy and doing nothing in my little corner of paradise, here is my latest project.

It got started because Ziomara sent me a picture saying “I want to learn how to make one.” The one  happened to be a mandala, crocheted. It was in a hoop, kinda like a dream catcher. The hoops are usually hula hoops so pretty good size. The picture she sent me didn’t have a pattern with it so I went hunting. Here is the one we both liked, but we will be doing it in different colors and I am thinking of  putting mine on the back of the couch rather than in a hoop. I am halfway on mine and so far only 1 difficult row.

My other project is a stand - a frame for a stand for the feria. Last Saturday I went to the feria in Tejar, to check it out and Natalie and Rebecca joined me there. It is a nice feria but outside so each stand needs a cover against rain and sun. I have a bunch of pieces of colored nylon fabric and I think if I make 2 layers it would work and be bright colored. Jose was here yesterday so we could talk about the frame. He has a friend and is going to get me an estimate. It has to be easy to transport and not expensive or we will be holding umbrellas over our heads. I think we will have a good assortment. Ziomara is making candles, I have jelly, we have crocheted and macrame items. I could even do cookies. We might be a big hit!

I have little things coming up wherever we planted but it is too early to tell what is vegetables and what is weeds. I do also have some wonderful flowers. Can’t wait for the fruit to start again for more jelly. I brought 20 more jars back with me in May.

Cat report. I changed the new cat’s name. I really like Domingo and even though it means Sunday,   that is his name. He and Dally are getting along very well. They wrestle and he squeals and she stops. They cuddle and sleep together and don’t bite me. She is so much better since he came. They go outside during the day but they stay close and keep an eye on where I am. They are usually pretty close. In July they will both be fixed. No kittens here!

Last Friday me and my suitcase, in a taxi, took the sewing machine and a starter kit including fabric to the senior center. They were very pleased and I said I would give them more fabric when they are ready and need it. It is a Singer Basic and works good. Heather’s $5.00 deal from the Digs. Hopefully they will get some good use out of it. Several of the women said they know how to sew with a machine and they had a woman there to help them. I have another one at Heather’s but we still need to get a pedal.

Jeanette gave me a beautiful table runner she made. The stitching here is wonderful. I still haven’t finished my Christmas chicken scratch hanging.

Gerardo’s sisters, Dora and Marta and Ana Rosa and Ana’s daughter in law and granddaughter came to visit. It was so fun to have them here. They brought me some plants for my gardens and I gave them jelly. Remember Marta was my teacher when I first started making it.

  

The original pattern we are using. 

  

I am halfway. 

  

So far only 1. I hope for lots more 

 

Aren’t they beautiful! I want to move a few to my white garden.

 

Something must be what they planted. 

 

The Tejar feria. 

The feria. One stand had wonderful plants. I may end up spending anything I make there. 

 

The kids taking a nap. 

One of my hydrangeas. I got a bunch from Jose 

Jeanette’s table runner.