The Gallant Family in Costa Rica

Dad and Grandma Gallant come for a visit

2009-04-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

On a last minute charter deal, my dad and his sister, Marie came for a quick week long visit. This was my dad's first time here and Grandma Gallant's second. With most of our construction projects finished we could all take time to enjoy their visit. They joined us for our Cafe con Leche coffee group and we joined some friends for a pizza night. We took them down to meet friends at Samara beach where we learned how to play Mexican train dominoes. John took my Dad for a quad ride.

We went cashew picking and then learned how to process the cashews. Once you see those pictures you'll understand why they're so expensive! We picked the fruit at Josue's house where we met his father, Victor, wife Cecilia and little boy George. Josue climbed the tree to pick us some Zapote fruit as well. We picked a couple of mangos but the mango crop has not been good this year due to the high winds we experienced in early March. There goes my mango margaritas!

With the cashews, here's how the process goes: The fruit is squeezed for the juice and then the squished fruit can be stewed with brown sugar and brandy for a lovely dessert (especially over ice cream). The cashew nut needs to be roasted over a fire allowing the toxic resin inside to sizzle and steam away until the entire nut is charred. Then quickly douse the flames to stop the roasting process. Next use a hammer to hit the end of the nut to crack it and then pry out your nut. Viola, you have cashews. See our little pile' emphasis on little. It took quite awhile to get a dessert bowl full but they were delicious and we had quite the time learning how to roast them. Our friend Gretchen and her son, Nahim, showed us. See my dad cracking the cashews.

We also went up to our condo lot for a look around and Dad and the boys rode in the back which Dad thought was terrific as he could see everything better. Pretty good for 79 years old I think. The boys had a ball with him. We had the neighbours over for a cocktail party to meet both of them and we went to the Shepherd's for a visit one day too. Before we knew it the week was over and back to the airport we went. Short but definitely very sweet.

Wallace and Laurie visit from Drumheller

2009-04-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

March saw our friends from Drumheller visit. They stayed for a few days before taking a tour in southern Costa Rica. Wallace helped us make a corral for all the puppies as they were starting to escape from the bathroom shower. We went to Barragones beach one day and spent a day in our pool. Unfortunately, both guests were sunburned; Laurie the worst. We also took them on a quad tour which was great fun.

Debbie and Randy visit from Canada

2009-04-04T09:35:00.000-07:00

John's sister Debbie and her husband Randy came for a visit in January. They stayed a week in Samara and a week with us at the house. We took them on a quad trip to San Miguel including riding on two beaches and crossing two rivers. We went to Barragones beach and we hosted a party for them which also happened to be a friend's birthday.

Rescuing the Tourists

2009-04-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

January 6th saw us rescuing a pair of tourists who had driven their small rental car down a side road that was too steep for them to get back up. They hiked about 3 km. back up before they came to our house for help. This is how we met Dan and Flora. We were able to get them out the next day and in turn Dan helped us with the wiring for our security system and our rancho. Here's a few pictures of us as we hike through the mango orchard with them.

Puppies

2009-04-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

In January, a stray dog was laying on our pool deck near death. Austin and Andrew gave her some water and something to eat but she just didn't have the strength anymore. In the morning we gave her a bit more and then Austin and I proceeded to clean her up. The poor thing was so malnourished that we could see every bone. She was covered in ticks, fleas and lice. After picking everything off and spraying her down we showered her and let her rest. Within about 3 days she was much improved and I named her Diamond. After all, a dog is a man's best friend and diamonds are a girls best friend; so it made sense to me!

As her health and weight improved I suppose it was no surprise that we found she was pregnant and so 3 weeks later she delivered 8 puppies. She delivered the night of Frida, February 13th and luckily she chose our pool shower which was just the right size for her and easy to clean. Surprisingly, they were healthy and didn't look at all malnourished and Diamond was holding her own. With such a large litter to feed, we lost the runt a week later but all 7 others are alive and well. Diamond did develop eclampsia and I had to race to Nicoya to get her some calcium which helped her completely. She is now gaining weight and weaning her puppies as they are 7 weeks old now. Two of them will be delivered to their new homes tomorrow and we are keeping one; Austin named her Lucy. She's the black one in the pictures. The others will be off to their new homes soon we hope! We've really gone to the dogs - who would have guessed that we'd have 9 dogs and a cat????

December tales

2008-12-23T08:31:00.000-08:00

December has been a really busy month so far and we still have Christmas and the New Year to go.

After the Papagayo winds finished, John and Josue were able to fix the roof tiles that had leaked during the rainy season and get the yard tidied up from all the leaves, branches, etc. We had a small tremor one night and that "shook loose" a huge spider (see picture). Apparently earthquake tremors bring out spiders - who knew??

Josue and John took the boys on a fantastic hike through the mango orchard and up to the top of a huge hill where they took some great view shots.

I was fortunate enough to meet an artist, from the U.S., who is in Samara for a year's sabbatical, whom I hired to paint a jungle mural on the cone of our rancho. It turned out just fantastic and we even had him add our cat, Shadow, to the mix.

Meanwhile, John hired two welders to complete the railings and so other than electric, we are finished that project. This was very timely as we were preparing for our annual Christmas party and we certainly needed a railing before inviting a horde of people.

Austin helped me with our usual round of baking as we make at least 10 different cookies, squares and tarts for the festive season.

Our friends, Fred and Mary kicked off the Christmas season with a wonderful party on the 13th which saw us staying out until midnight. We could hardly believe it ourselves! We hosted a huge Christmas party with our next door neighours on December 20th with over 50 guests in attendance. When you're all ex-pats it just seems natural for all of us to get together, hence the large numbers for a party. Everyone brings something special so we had a wonderful assortment of dishes and desserts.

Meanwhile, school has been hectic, plus the shopping and we've acquired a dog. First the dog story and then a shopping tale.

A beautiful tiger stripped dog (part pointer) showed up one day and just stayed. We weren't sure what to do with him but he is really well trained and has such a gentle disposition. He must have been someone's dog but he didn't leave so we bought some dog food and a dish and he seems very happy to be here. Even I like the dog and that's saying quite a bit for those who know me. We've named him Buddy but I think he's been called Tigre (tiger in Spanish) as he seems to perk up when we call that name. Anyway, he only barks when vehicles go by or people on foot so he's a terrific watch dog and everyone in the neighbourhood thinks he's top notch. Anyway, I wonder if he "just shows up" then perhaps one day "he'll just disappear" but of course we hope not as we want to keep him. He seems well cared for and doesn't have ticks and fleas, etc. John has talked to the vet about him so he'll be looked at to prevent future troubles as a tropical climate can be hard on dogs. We think he's our Christmas present.

Now the shopping adventure. We were in the very newest store in Nicoya, shopping for a turkey (always a challenge here in the tropics) and the store clerk who was helping me gave a startled cry and I jerked back my shopping cart only to find that I had run over a snake! Now that move didn't make it very happy. I've gotten a lot better about not fearing "things" and so I only gave a small shriek while calling Andrew and John. Andrew came over and because he's always fully clothed in jeans and socks and runners he started playing with the snake and it was all twined around his foot. Meanwhile all the ticos were gathering in the store looking at the snake but making no moves to remove it from the store. It was only a small "garter" type snake but in the end, John had to grab it behind the head and take it out of the store. The security guards with all their uniforms and guns were no help at all. Anyway, I'll never say I've seen it all as we never know what we're going to run in to; literally apparently!

We're off to Nicoya again because we've been invited to a tica wedding on the 27th and I must find a wedding gift. I think this is quite an honor and I'll post some pictures and write about a Costa Rican wedding in my next post. The fellow who was lead construction foreman of our rancho project and his wife have just had a baby so we need a baby gift and our weekly worker has invited us to their place next Sunday.

John and I are hosting Christmas dinner for 14; neighbours and friends who all help out with the dinner so that's the next big event on the calendar and I'm glad to report that we did get a turkey despite the snake incident!

Our next exciting news is that John's sister Debbie and husband Randy are coming for a visit on the 10th of January and I'm hopeful that my sister, Polly, can get a flight for January as well.

So, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all from the Gallant's.

Preparation for the Winds of Change

2008-11-26T14:37:00.000-08:00

In Costa Rica, we experience the Papagayo winds each November which mark the change from the wet season to the dry season. It is a unique experience for prairie folk such as ourselves as suddenly the gale force winds begin and last anywhere from 3 to 10 days. Unfortunately for us we got the 10 day version this year beginning the night of November 17 and ending on the 27th. I would argue that we still had moderate winds today and we don't know how tonight will go but I can say with assurance that we've had enough already!

The picture of Josue trimming back our palm tree is in preparation for those winds. By making the tree much narrower it survives the onslaught much better. You can see the boys carrying up the fronds to the street level for burning. They're great helpers but they sure weren't keen on all the leaf clean up after the winds. These winds dry the leaves right off many of the trees so they can enter their dormant state; some of which will flower later in the dry season.

There's a picture of Andrew holding one of the flower pods that come off the palm tree that has dried and he has burned our names into using a magnifying glass and the rays of the sun. Ingenious, isn't he?? He made a "ship" for us and each of our neighbours. He's holding the S.S. Gallant and the S.S. Orofino. Austin is peaking out from behind.

My bougainvilleas are starting to bloom again and some other periennial type plants have died off as the season changes. We no longer have to run our dehumidifiers and there are considerably less "biting" bugs although other types seem to take their place but are mostly annoying not itchy!

We still have very cloudy weather but no more rain and we're hoping that the sun will join us full time soon. To all our American friends - Happy Thanksgiving and we'll be thinking of you as we join our American friends for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow evening.

Halloween 2008

2008-11-26T14:15:00.000-08:00

Well you can't have Halloween without at least a couple of decorations and a cake and some cookies to mark the celebration. Technically Costa Rica does not celebrate Halloween but rather All Saints Day on November 1st. The Spanish name for Halloween is "la vispera de todos los santos " which literally translates to the day before all saints day.

Austin had seen a picture of a giant pumpkin shaped cake in a magazine and we attempted to make it. Well, it didn't quite turn out the same but not a bad effect for a first try. We got the color pretty good though. The top layer was orange chocolate swirl and the bottom cake was rum pound cake. We didn't hear any complaints at the cookie/cake party we hosted Halloween afternoon so it was a success in the end.

Along with my three garden decorations you can't leave out our Halloween cat, Shadow, so her picture graces our site as well in honor of her holiday. She seems rather unaffected by it all...

Summer/Fall in Canada 2008

2008-10-26T10:01:00.001-07:00

Summer in Canada was action packed with the roving Gallant's traversing the province north and south. John and I attended Big Valley Jamboree and from there we stopped in Sylvan Lake to visit the Jackson's. The pictures of us around a campfire are from our visit to Sylvan Lake. The boys along with their son, Joel, went to the waterslides one day as we were having a heat wave!

From there we went onto Drumheller to visit the Holmen's and then onto Pincher Creek where the boys went to summer camp. We saw Deb and Randy (John's sister and husband) and some of their family and even took Grandma Gallant down for a visit to view their spectacular new home. On one of our many trips to Pincher Creek we stopped in Airdrie to visit my second cousin Anne Marie Wood who is 91 and charming as ever.

While the boys were at camp, John and I zipped to Kelowna to visit Brian and Sharon and my friend Deanna. The wineries were terrific as usual and our stay was great fun and wonderful weather.

When in Camrose we stayed with Grandma G. and when in St. Albert we stay with our friend's the Henderson's. See Andrew playing Rockband with their son Glen and a picture of Polly and I. The boys enjoyed Rockband so much we bought them one for Christmas and it made it home safe and sound!

In late August, I spent a week with my sister Polly which allowed me time to have coffee with my previous boss, lunch with the ladies I used to work with and dinner with some HIM colleagues plus some shopping of course. At the end of this week, Polly and I joined my long time friends and colleagues for a summer BBQ at my friend Chris Houston's house.

We visited my Dad and Pat in Bawlf along with my niece Amanda and newphew Brian and his wife Amanda (see picture of Dad, niece Amanda and Brian's wife Amanda). See the picture of their little boys sitting outside at Dad's - very difficult for them to sit still but they tried. After all, they said they were shooting coyotes - lucky break for all of us that they were on the case! Pictured left to right is Marcus, Xander and Josh. Josh and Marcus are Brian and Amanda's two boys and Xander is niece Amanda's little boy.

September saw less traveling around the province but tons of activities. Early in September I got the bug to call my high school classmates and see if we could get together later that month. It all came together and 16 out of 30 met at the ageless Chateau Alice in Camrose for a fun night of tales, drinks and laughs. (Group photo shows the ageless class of '77)

Meanwhile they boys worked for a bit with their uncle Bill on the family farm and John helped with harvest. See the picture of nephew Curtis testing the grain for dryness and a picture of John, the boys, Curtis and sister Debbie out by the barn.

I attended my annual Nait class dinner at the Creperie in Edmonton and although we have tried various other restaurants over the years, we love the Creperie the best.

My sister, Polly, hosted a ladies lunch and graciously invited me as a guest which was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon and just in time to be picked up for our evening's festivities at Darren and Shantel's house. Angela was there too which was wonderful as I worked in the past with both Shantel and Angela.

Mid September, John and I attended Rhonda's surprise birthday party on the train to Stettler which was something on my "do do" list. It was a murder mystery, dinner at the hall in Big Valley and train ride to Big Valley and back to Stettler. It was terrific and I'd recommend it to anyone who hasn't done it before. We had the most spectacular day - 25 degrees C and such gorgeous fall colors. We couldn't have picked a better day.

One of the Sunday's we attended Body World's at the Science center in Edmonton which was absolutely fascinating but understandably not everyone's cup of tea. It was certainly a unique way to have an anatomy lesson though.

We had a wonderful dinner at my friend's Donna and Robert Sired's house along with their two daughters Jennifer and Taylor and surprise guest Wayne.

September also saw the start of school for the boys and we were pleased to learn that Robin Moffatt would be our liason teacher this year so smiles all around the Gallant household.

Before we knew it, it was time to pack those 8 suitcases all right on the 50 pound mark and head on out. The check in personnel were most impressed with my "dead on" suitcase weights. Me too!

We thank everyone who hosted us, fed us sumptuous dinners and general hospitality as we had a myriad of wonderful dinners and visits with friends and family throughout our 10 week stay.

Birthday Bash at Carillo Beach

2008-10-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

On July 19, we celebrated Andrew and Austin's 15 and 13th birthdays respectively on Carillo beach. Austin shares his day with Captain Rob so there were dual parties making for a large party. The boys enjoyed their day; playing badminton, boce ball (see the boys with Larry G and George S) and visiting. Everybody brought something to eat and drink and of course we had cake; lots of cake! Captain Rob's cake was especially festive displaying his sport fishing occupation. John, Majic and Mark enjoy the festivities too.

Our friends, Majic, Anna and Daniella, from San Jose joined us for the weekend and gave the boys new shirts. The boys display their new shirts in one of the photos.

Canada Day at Carrillo Beach

2008-07-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

Here we are with friends, both Canadian and American, celebrating Canada Day. It was a terrific afternoon with no rain until it got dark, which was perfect timing. Everyone brought a nibbly and drinks plus Larry G. brought his boce ball set and large Canadian flag.

John, dressed in Canadian red and white is with our American neighbour, George Stone and next to George is Bill, from Calgary. Joe, wearing the Canadian umbrella hat and his wife Betsy (Canadian kerchief around her neck) are standing with our latest Canadian additions to the community; Colin and Kathy from BC.

Austin is playing boce ball with the guys (Larry G, Shannon and James) on the beach and both boys are posing with Joe and Betsy and Carol (another Canadian).

Most of us Canadians are in the picture with the flag for a group shot.

Happy Canada Day to all!

Boys Go Deep Sea Fishing with Jack

2008-07-07T14:35:00.000-07:00

When our friend Jack Lischka, from Alberta, visited us in June, the boys and John went fishing for a day. Here they are on the open seas in all their fishing splendor (and their catches too)!

Lisbon

2008-06-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

We spent the last two days in Lisbon but stayed in a hotel just outside in a small suburb called Loures. The hotel property was filled with citrus trees and we ate our fill of oranges and greatly admired the lemons. We dined in a Chinese restaurant both nights before our departure which was a pleasant change.

On Thursday, we drove into Lisbon and I conducted a walking tour of the Monastery of Jeronimos and the Ajuda Palace. In the Monastery are the graves of Vasco da Gama and Prince Henry, the Navigator. The palace was once the royal palace and now houses the Ajuda library. We didn't know how far the palace was but the hike kept us warm and it was down hill all the way back so much easier going.

We had a picnic lunch in the park where we met a Canadian soldier who was backpacking through Europe. Right across was the River Tejo and the Monument to the Discoveries which was designed to commemorate the Age of Discoveries; the central figure is Prince Henry the Navigator, who founded the Sagres School and was the pioneer of the great discoveries made by Portugal.

Although it was a nice day, 20 degrees Celsius with sun, cloud and rain, we just never warmed up and were first in line the next morning to drop off our rental car and get on that plane home.

Antonio Pinto's house

2008-06-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of John's friend, Antonio Pinto's, house where we stayed. Adelie and Chico hosted a BBQ for us and a bunch of their friends. In one of the pictures, you'll see the local padre has stopped in to say hello to us. Another photo shows the wine vines strung up over the driveway. Unfortunately they are looking poorly due to all the rain. They make their own red and white wine and last years wine was just fine so we're in good shape for tasting.

A picture of the beautiful creek shows the rushing water that is just below their house.

North to Amarante

2008-06-24T12:12:00.000-07:00

We spent 3 days in Amarante visiting friends and touring the city. The weather here was quite miserable; cold and raining however the city was lit up beautifully at night and our walks through town kept us from freezing. Look at our large group that walked through town one evening to see the lights. Adeli, Chico and their daughter Bia have a large number of friends and on most evenings, after their dinner, walk together for a couple of hours or so. Ambitious bunch.

Hanging out at the Club

2008-06-24T11:51:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots of the boys with their friends; us visiting Brian and Sharon, Fred and Mary at their apartment; a view of the large pool from their balcony; and Andrew with staff member, Bruno. It actually looks sunny in a few of these pictures. This will be a fond memory as we move to the cooler north.

Brazilian Night

2008-06-24T11:27:00.000-07:00

We all had a fun evening watching the Brazilian dancers and because our table of 8 was right next to them, many of us were seconded to dance as well. Look at that hair fly!

Hiking the cliffs to old town Albufeira

2008-06-24T10:27:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of us hiking the hills to Albufeira from our club. It's always fun to climb and the boys remembered this from years past.

One of the pictures is a look back towards our club. The cactus and other lovely flowers are in bloom along the way.

Boys in the Pool , Gardens and sea at CPO

2008-06-24T09:22:00.001-07:00

From the lobby in the club you can view folks in the swimming pool; well, mainly their legs. However, I asked the boys to swim down so I could recreate a few of the pictures we did 4 years ago. They also posed for me with their friends and the children's statue.

Portugal in May

2008-06-17T14:47:00.000-07:00

Well, the Gallant family vacationed in Portugal for the month of May. We spent three weeks at our timeshare in Albufeira at Clube Praira da Oura in the Algarve. The last picture is a view from our apartment out to the sea.

The word Algarve is derived from the Arabic Al-Gharb, meaning West. This is Portugal's southern most province. For a period of two weeks we were joined by our friends Brian and Sharon, from Kelowna, and Fred and Mary, from Calgary/Costa Rica. Although the weather did not cooperate - one of the worst springs on record - we did manage to have a good time.

Here are a few pictures of us touring out to the west coast to see the furthest tip Cape de San Vicente and then some pictures of our tour east to Faro where we visited one of the old cathedrals (where the storks nest) and the surrounding old palace full of orange trees. Look at the one shrine done in skeletons. There is also a chapel of bones (Carmo Church) which we did not visit. The purple flowering trees were really spectacular which the pictures don't really do justice to.

We visited Silves which is a very old town formerly the capital of the Algarve. Here there is a wonderful old cathedral (Se) and Moorish Castle with a huge cistern. Much of it is being reconstructed (interior) so basically you just walk on the inner ramparts and take in the surrounding views. Eventually they will have reconstructed some of the inner spaces and of course a "coffee" house for tourists to dispose of a few more euros!

For our last week, we ventured to northern Portugal, to a town called Amarante where we visited some friends. There was no heat in the house here and it was a mere 9 degrees celsius when we arrived. Considering we have little to no warm clothing I, particularly, was a frozen popsicle! The incessant rain has ruined their cherry crops and the wine vines don't look too healthy either! This is more serious in my opinion. As always we consoled ourselves with the national green wine (vinho verde), port wine, pate and delicious varieties of cheese. You can never go wrong here.

I made the boys go in the pool at the club because four years ago when we were there we lost our camera on the way home and have no pictures; therefore I made them recreate many of the scenarios from before. I just love the one of them holding hands with the children statue. They were most cooperative for their mother!

Our routing took us on a night flight from San Jose to Madrid with a small layover and then a short flight of one hour to Lisbon. Here we rented a car and drove down to the Algarve. The highways are a dream especially coming straight from Costa Rica however they are toll highways and we spent half the amount on tolls as gas.

We had various adventures this month including an incident with the Manager of the Club; the Portugal police and our sons in regards to a wrongful accusation of theft from the video arcade. The boys were out of their minds with worry that day considering it was the only day we left them by themselves and we were not around for all this excitement. John had offered, or I seconded him - can't remember which, to drive the ladies around to shop for pottery. Needless to say when we arrived home and the boys were full of tales about theft and the police; we were invited to visit the manager. What fun! Anyway, it was all a big mistake and along with their apologies we and our entire group were invited to a lovely theme evening - Brasilian night. Wait till you see those pictures!

The next excitement was that I lost my watch - not serious but annoying and last but not least we discovered my VISA number had been compromised. Keep in mind, I still had the card but the happy thief was busy charging up delights such as i pod tunes, development software, yahoo voice and of course, an escort service. Charming! Luckily, John's number was not compromised and they were able to reinstate his number so it was easier to finish the trip without a lot of hassle going to banks, etc. So, these adventures along with my chattering teeth ensured I was the first one to the boarding gate to go home.

When we landed in San Jose, the sun was shining and of course we were so warm and then our friends told us how we had just missed 8 days of solid rain and the worst tropical storm (Alma) in 120 years. Real sorry we missed that! We got in on the clean up at home so didn't get out of it entirely.

Anyway, we are back home catching up on "stuff" and will be back to Canada July 27th.

Austin Pepper Seed Strikes Again

2008-04-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

Austin is starting a whole new crop of peppers in preparation for the rainy reason. If a seed doesn't grow, he takes it out and puts it in water so it will sprout first. He never gives up! He has his Auntie Cynthia shopping for more varieties. He also insists that I use them in all my cooking! Anyway, he quite enjoys his gardening; me - I'll stick to roses!

Here are a couple of shots of his new crop. We use the washed out milk containers for his nursery which works very well.

Visit to Tamarindo Beach

2008-04-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

Our friend, Pat, was visiting Costa Rica and one of her stops was Tamarindo beach which is about 2 hours north from us. We went to her hotel for the day to visit and collect our "Canada package" of goodies. One of the items were jeans for John which to all concerned was a quite a relief as he was resembled either a vagabond or a rock star, depending on how you viewed his jeans (or what was left of them!)

Here are some photos of Austin doing his back flip into the pool and Pat and her friends. I think you can see Andrew in the pool in the background in one of the shots.

Sun patio is complete

2008-03-24T13:06:00.000-07:00

We finally received our wrought iron table for the sun patio and it was definitely worth the wait.

The chairs were stock but we had to design the table to match the space. The company in San Jose did a fabulous job and we just love entertaining on that level.

John set up our huge umbrella which can swing directly over the table for shade but it wasn't set up when I took this picture. My bougainvilleas are still in bloom although not as full as they were in December. They just took your breath away then but they still add some color at the end of the dry season.

Rancho Construction

2008-02-20T09:24:00.000-08:00

This is what we've been waiting for! The Rancho; our covered patio that we can enjoy the view to the sea during the rainy season. The rancho will connect our coffee patio to our garage. In the first picture you can see our little patio and the space over to the garage that will be filled in.

Ourarchitect, Celso, designed the rancho and obtained some of the permits in the fall. John obtained the remainder of the permits in our municipal town of Hojancha and ground was broken on January 21st. The artchitect was on hand for consultation and our lead guy, Randall provided the materials list.

The crew technically started on the 23rd I think, but John had already started digging out the wall and area for the columns. This is the fastest crew around and on day 20 we are already at the roof stage. Amazing for here; simply amazing!

You can see from my look standing on the roof that I'm nervous but the view was fabulous!

Well, a bit more progress has occurred. I'm updating this on March 24 and you can see that we've been working on the bottom level; digging out the earth and finishing the columns. The cone roof is now finished and the new front entrance has started. We can already cross over to the garage from the house and it's just so convenient. The fun for me will be picking out the new furniture -speaking of which I will post a picture of our new table on the sun patio. It's beautiful if I do say so myself!

Here is a picture of the broken tile floor being laid out. We will have a large star in the center of the columns and a smaller one behind it near the front entrance. A small alf sun is planned for the back door entrance. The view from below is quite spectacular and should blend quite seamlessly once the painting is complete. The photo of Josue shows the last of the old tile floor being removed from the old coffee patio.

The tile floor is now complete and the new front entrance as well.

Polly and Donna's Escape from the Frozen North

2008-02-11T07:22:00.000-08:00

What a great surprise! In late January, my sister, Polly and one of my best friends, Donna hopped on a cheap charter and came for a week long visit to CR.

Our itinerary was very full and the week just flew by. They arrived on a Monday night to Liberia airport which is about an hour and a half from our house.

Here's a couple of pictures from Tuesday evening when we had sunset celebrations at our Samara lot. We then went onto a lovely dinner at our friends, the Shepherd's who live very close to our Samara lot.

On Wednesday we had girls day at Barragones beach. No sighting of Mel; it was an extremely quiet, private day on the beach.

Donna and I went shopping on the Thursday to Nicoya while Auntie Polly was the substitute gym teacher for the boys that day. This evening we joined our friends Mary and Fred and a host of other folks for a cocktail party at Las Palmeras. By now, the girls' heads are spinning from all the people they have met and their names!

On Friday, both Donna and Polly took the Wingnuts Canopy tour - see them getting ready to be harnessed up with their cute tour guide John. That evening we had friends over for cocktails and then had dinner at Shake Joe's on the beach; compliments of Donna.

John took Donna on the Saturday to Isla de Pajaros in Palo Verde National Park where she saw many species of birds. As they are migratory in nature, many of them will be gone by March so it was a great opportunity to see them. Our family went in December so here are a couple of pictures from that tour. Polly and I had ladies lunch with Sherry on Saturday and that evening we all went to Rancharlo's for dinner and to hear our friend, Franz play his saxophone.

Sunday, Donna and I went down to Carrillo beach for the morning and that evening we all went to our neighbours for the Superbowl party.

Monday morning was pack up time (you should have seen all of Donna's shopping - she's a real asset to our economy here!) and then off to the airport.

The week went by too fast but it was so terrific to see both of them even for a short while.