Rainy Season is here!

I think it started sometime last week because ever since then we have been averaging about an inch of rain each day. Today it’s really coming down. Our rain gauge is reading 1½ inches already in just the last half hour!

Patrick says that the weather men are predicting more than the usual number of hurricanes to hit this summer so we are sure to have lots more rain to come (Costa Rica never actually gets hit by hurricanes but we get the effects of the rain). Patrick made sure he went down into the trench and removed all the fallen tress from last season’s storms. He also did some more trenching around our house and cleaned the gutters a few times. Hopefully we’re prepared…

**Note:

I wrote this post on Friday but due to internet connection problems couldn't post it until today. We ended up with 2 1/2 inches of rain on Friday and both Saturday and Sunday we received about the same amount. "They" blame tropical storms...

The photo shows the run off from our gutters into a barrel to help slow the erosion.

First movie in Costa Rica

We attended our first movie in Costa Rica yesterday! We met some of Azure’s friends and their parents in Escazu to see the new Narnia movie –Prince Caspian. We were lucky enough that Cinemark was showing the movie both subtitled and dubbed since the Flores mall only had the dubbed version. The movie was busier than we expected and we didn’t get the best of seats but we all enjoyed the movie very much and I’m sure we’ll do it again.

I liked seeing the Spanish subtitles –it actually helped me understand the movie more since I’m slightly hard of hearing. The best part had to be ticket prices. At approximately $3.40 we can’t stay away anymore.

New "toy"

Patrick finally bought himself a machete yesterday. He’s been jealous of the men in town that walk around proud to have a machete slung around their shoulder or hanging from their waist. Of course, we went the cheap route and Patrick didn’t get the scabbard…

As soon as we arrived home from the store, Patrick was outside wailing on the dead banana trees (after they produce fruit, the tree dies and a new one springs up in it’s place). To his delight, the blade was too dull to use. I watched him a few minutes later sparks flying everywhere as he used an electric grinding stone to sharpen the blade. I didn’t even realize he had brought my Grandfather’s grinding stone but I know he was loving every minute of it. Then he really went to town on the trees.

Now we need to mulch some of the trees and we’ll have some great fertilizer. Then hope some of the new trees grow quickly to fill in some gaps (the trees mature after only one year!).

Anyone need a haircut?

Fire at Paseo de las Flores Mall

Yesterday we needed to make a school payment so we drove to our bank (which happens to be in the local mall). When we arrived around 3pm, we noticed several fire trucks. Then we saw that many store employees were gathered outside the mall. Next we were unable to even enter the mall parking lot because the gates were closed and chained.

Unsure what had happened but sensing it not a huge emergency due to the laid back attitude of the fire dept., we parked outside the gates waiting to get in. Eventually (about 30 minutes later), a security guard told us that the mall would not be opening until the next day so left to pick Azure up from soccer practice still unsure what had happened at the mall.

When we arrived home, we didn’t have any water. We did the usual troubleshooting by checking the guest house and the meters but found no water available and the meters on. We waited to make dinner until 6pm and with still no water finally decided on simple peanut butter sandwiches. We still didn’t have any water when we went to bed to read at 9pm but fortunately about 9:30 we heard a faucet that Azure had left on dribbling. Yeah! We had water again! I quickly took advantage and filled an empty pitcher and the coffee pot with water just in case the water was off again in the morning. But luckily we had water when we woke up this morning.

I still don’t know why we didn’t have water last night, but I was able to find out about the mall online. One of the local papers, La Nacion, posted an article about a fire at the mall that started at 12:20pm yesterday. Apparently the fire started in a storage area and burned out 3 stores. No one was hurt and the fire dept is investigating the cause of the fire.

We still need to make our school payment so hopefully the bank is open today. At least I feel better knowing what happened at the mall since normally I feel in the dark about the things happening around me.

(photo from La Nacion)

Baby Robin

We've had a lot of baby Robins in our yard lately. Ilike watching the Mom and Dad feed the babies.

This morning I heard a thump in the kitchen window. I found a baby Robin just sitting there staring at me. I think he was stunned but he flew away soon after I shot this picture.

Poas Volcano

It's been a while since we traveled around Costa Rica but I would finally like to post some pictures from our trip to Poas Volcano. We went in January with my Mom and brother. Although we didn't see any wildlife other than some squirrels and a few birds, I really loved it and will definitely take more visitors there to view the active volcano.

The chilly breeze made beautiful ripples on the lake!

My Mom and Azure were happy to have warm clothes for our hike that day.

Spiders in and around our house

This post is dedicated to my cousin, Heather. I know you hate spiders but that shouldn't stop you from visiting us!

They are so cute!