I've not done much around the property the last couple of weeks. I've been taking advantage of the rainy season to finish my book, which I'm happy to report is done! Yay! Now, I'm rereading and editing, so it's not completely done. Once I feel satisfied, I will get an editor to review it to get a second, more objective, perspective. I can't wait to publish it on Kobo. It's all very exciting and a little scary, too, but I rarely let fear get in my way.
And while I've been writing, Kevin has been working on the garage door. He's adding barn wood doors to add some rustic flair to the place. It's looking awesome so far. At about 9 am, I go out to bring eggs to Clara, who is just getting ready to leave from her two-hour weeding job. Kevin notices a black and white cow on the hill where our avocado trees are. He and I pick up two walking sticks and mosey on over to usher her off the property. We've done this before: we tackle it like pros now. As we get closer we notice another cow, then another. There are five cows happily eating the lush, wet grass on the hill. Martin's not cut it for a while so the grass is long and from what we can see ... delicious. For a second, Kevin and I consider letting them graze, but think better of it. The earth is so soft, the cow's hooves are making huge indents and making a mess of things. Kevin, Clara and I manage to corner them in such a way that they leave the same way they came in ... through the trails by the river. Grr. We now know who the cows belong to and we know he doesn't own any land to put his cows on. What a strange set-up. Who buys cows without land? No wonder they roam around looking for fresh, green pastures. Who can blame them? Our property officially borders the road and river. A few months ago, Kevin and I were walking around doing an inventory of all the things we need to either fix or add to make the farm run more smoothly. One of the items on our list was to build a fence at the entrance to our trail, which starts close to the road, right beside the river. The river does not belong to us, so we cannot stop or block anyone (or anything) from walking through the river. We can, however, make it a little more difficult to walk through our private trail. It looks like building a fence to prevent unwanted guests from making their way onto our property has become a priority. We'll ask Martin to get started on that right away—not only to keep cows away, but also to deter people from meandering onto our property. We've had found people meandering onto our property, probably thinking it's a public area. To be fair, there are no signs to tell them otherwise. We don't really mind, as long as they keep the trail by the river clean and tidy. Unfortunately, some do ... some don't. So, we'll make it clear they are trespassing if they go beyond the fence. Mostly, we just want to keep the cows away. We'll see what happens.
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It appears after 14 months, life is simply ticking along. All the firsts (more or less) have taken place. Don't get me wrong, we've got plenty to keep ourselves busy... you should see our to-do list! However, there is definitely a natural ebb and flow to our days, our weeks and now our months. We've come full circle. When Kevin and I talk about projects that need to be done on the property or in the house, we associate a time of year to do it in because we know what to expect. Some months are more conducive to outside work other months definitely demand inside work, so we're careful to make the best of our time based on weather conditions.
It's very rainy in October, which means everything is wet and soggy and takes time to dry. It's not as wet in November, but it's a transition month so there's lots of cloudy days. December is sunny but oh so windy! So if any trees need to be felled, it's best to do it before then. January and February are gorgeous and still pretty breezy. The days can reach shorts and t-shirt temperatures, but the nights can dip into the 5°C/41°F range. March, I have to say is my favourite month, is just as hot as January and February, but the nights are not as chilly. And the night sky is full of fireflies. It's the most amazing sight. April and May are also very nice. It's supposed to be the beginning of the rainy season, but this past year was particularly dry, so we haven't really experienced a normal April or May, we've been told. These two months bring those harmless beetles at nighttime, but man, for two hours they pelt the window panes like machine gun bullets. June the rain comes on a pretty regular basis. July is our little summer and it does feel like late December/early January. Considering the slight weather shifts (nothing like harsh changes of our Canadian or English weather patterns), it's incredible how attune we become to the subtleties. August, this year, was definitely rainier than the summer months, but still considered pretty dry. There's a lot more overall cloud cover and although the temperatures don't very much from the summer months, there's more dampness in the air and I most certainly feel the chill in my bones. We seem to light a fire in the fireplace more often. September is a lot like August. We keep thinking it's more like October, but it really isn't. It rains maybe a little more than August, but a lot less than October. It's easy to get duped in thinking this is a great month to grow things in the garden, but although it doesn't constantly rain, it's damp. Our tomato and potato plants suffered from mould because of all moisture in the air. Even the plants under cover. We're now in mid-October and we're the pattern continues. The good news is we can plan with more foresight. We have a much better idea of what to expect and how to remain as productive as possible. It's also good to plan downtime. We don't have to rush a project if we know we will have good weather for a whole month, etc. During these very rainy October days, I've been inside pretty much every day, writing my book. I'm happy to report I'm finally done! Now the business of re-reading, editing and getting it to a point where I can send it to an editor for a second objective look. It's been a awesome project, but it's taken much longer than I had anticipated. I'll be very glad to see it published on Kobo in the next month or so (I guess it will depend how long it takes for my editor to get their portion done and how much rewriting is required). So, rainy months = good time for writing. Dry months = good time to be outside working in the gardens, hiking and tending to guests. We went on a field trip this morning with my English adult class. Roger organized for us to visit a large goat and sheep farm next to where he lives in Copey. The owner of the farm produces 1,000 litres of goat's milk every week with 70 or so goats. He has to milk them twice a day and he only has two other workers to help him out. There are some machines, but it's still pretty labour intensive. He sells the male goats for meat. There's always something new to learn around here! It was all very interesting (I understood almost everything the farmer said in Spanish). Female goats ready and waiting to be milked. A two-week old baby. While our Canadian family and friends are celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend, we had our own version. Our friends Maria and Tony (the mushroom farmer) came over for lunch. He brought over some of his delicious mushrooms and I stuffed and baked them with melted cheese. YUM! I also served cauliflower & broccoli soup sprinkled with croutons and cheddar cheese plus fresh homemade bread and butter. Kevin smoked some pork, too. It was so tender...and smokey! It wasn't exactly turkey with stuffing, but pretty darn close: it didn't take long before everyone gobbled it up! For dessert, my pineapple cake. Although we can't share this holiday with our family back home, which saddens us, we're ever so thankful to have good friends here to remind us that we have so much to be grateful for. We might be geographically distant from our loved ones, but we hold them very close always, not just on this special weekend. I've been inside the house writing my book the last few days, taking advantage of the rainy weather and not having any Internet to distract me. As I've been revisiting the past year, I'm remembering the highlights and I'm filled with mixed emotions. Some memories fill me with laughter and others with sadness. Going over the events in my mind is unearthing a visceral sensation, as though I'm reliving them at the same intensity as the first time. I guess that's called the creative process. I'm getting close to finishing my book, finally. I can't wait to get this project done. Of course, the whole idea is to put it out there (as vulnerable as that makes me feel) and let the world decide what they think of my ramblings. I sure hope it sells! That is the ultimate goal, isn't it? I've wanted to be a writer my whole life—not only to write in the safety of my room, but to share my thoughts and feelings and hope they resonate with someone out there...in the world.
I've notice a shift in my process since beginning this project. In the beginning, I wanted everything to be perfect, choosing just the right word, getting all the grammar correct. I can't tell you how many times I started then started again. As time has passed, I've let go of the need for perfection. I'm appreciating the notion of communicating simply...and simply communicating. It doesn't have to be complicated or lofty. It just needs to be honest and true to who I am. I don't need to be as good as (fill in the blank). Finding my own voice is enough. This is a very hard lesson for me, but I'm going with it. Live from Costa Rica, it's Wednesday night! It's amazing the things you take for granted. I feel I live my live with gratitude for all the blessings we receive, but I realize I do take the easy connectivity of high-speed Internet for granted sometimes. We live at 7,000 feet in elevation, in a remote, rural location, in a third-world country. We're lucky to have a phone, let alone Internet!
I can't say you've missed much in the last couple of days, however. We been busy with our normal chores. Kevin has been working like a mad man cleaning the ponds, getting them ready for next month when we open. Right now all the ponds, except for the large pond, are empty. It's easier to manage with all the rain. We don't have to worry about opening and shutting the water flow, etc. Martin's been so busy with the building of the new bridge, Kevin's been left on his own to clean the ponds. We've had a few mud slides, too. Nothing to worry about, but Kevin's had to clean up all the dirt and lug it back in the trailer on the back of the ATV. He's put all the dirt in the back of the hen house to level it. The Bettys welcomed all the bugs and bits of grass—they're happy, happy, happy. While Kevin's been working hard physically, I've been working hard mentally. I've been writing my book, which is coming along nicely and I've been going to my Spanish classes and teaching English. We're keeping busy. Martin just told us that due to the storm last night, the new overpass (bridge) that was built just last Thursday was blocked with rocks and the river water couldn't get through the cylinders. Martin, his son, Bryan, and neighbour Primo apparently were up most of the night clearing debris from the openings to allow the water to flow through. Martin's trout ponds depend heavily on this source of water so to have it blocked means his ponds could drain and thousands of fish could die. Not good, to say the least. After many hours of work, the men managed to fix the problem. Welcome to the unpredictable rainy season! It's not without its challenges at times.
The mornings are gorgeous...temperatures up to 30°C, but the air is thick with humidity and the afternoons greet us with hours of downpour. Yesterday, the heavens opened up like we'd never seen. I was in the office, writing, and the clap of thunder followed on seconds after the bright strobe of lightning. I heard a zap and saw a spark near the internet modem. I'm not entirely sure when the spark came from, it was just an instant from the corner of my eye. No more internet signal. We're not sure if something fried on our end or if this is affecting everyone in the region. This morning, we're still without internet, so we're back to using good ol' data card. This brings back memories of driving around the mountain, looking for a signal. Well, luckily, I'm able to get a signal in our house, now. Things have evolved since last year, which is a good thing. However, the data card is not optimal and depending on how long it takes to get it fixed, blog entries may be less frequent. Costa Rica, baby! It happens.
Kevin worked again on cleaning another pond. It's hard work. When he's done five or six hours later, he's completely exhausted. I pruned some bushes, which took about two hours. Then I wrote my book for the rest of the day...from 9:30 am until 8:30 pm. I could keep going—I'm on a roll—but it's time to stop my brain and relax before I go to bed. That's it. Nothing more to report.
I've been mostly hunkered down inside for the last two days writing my book. Kevin rode his mountain bike down and around the neighbourhood, just taking it out for a spin for the first time since we've been here. He came back and told me there's a new overpass where we used to drive through the river. What? Really? We had no idea this was happening. We drove down on the ATV to check it out. There was a guy in a big digger swinging the arm around like nobody's business. He's a pro. This overpass is still only temporary. We're waiting for a double-wide steel bridge to be installed, but for now, this overpass is a good substitute. It beats driving through the river, especially during the rainy season when the river is wild. |
EASY
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