We hope everyone enjoyed a lovely Christmas with family and friends. We also hope you have had the opportunity to experience both serving... as well as being served. We all need a bit of balance, right? We were fortunate to host a wonderful couple from San Francisco, Jing and Matt, earlier this week. Jing left her job last February to follow her tug to learn to become a chef (we love stories about people following their tug!). And Matt works in computer graphics on big Hollywood movies (so we sort of had a celebrity in our midst... well, perhaps a few degrees of separation, but it still counts!). We had a great time getting to know them. If you're interested in reading their guestbook comment, click here. In other news... Kevin spotted the Blue Heron on the bank near the bottom pond (where there is no trout). He took the picture from quite a distance and we don't have a zoom lens so when I enlarged it, I lost the definition, but you can still see it in the pictures below. The heron still comes around, but the good news is the wire we've put around each pond with trout seems to be a great deterrent. It's not often I see our three original bulls all together, but this week they've been grazing nearby in the pasture where we can easily see them from our back terrace. Kevin went up and took this picture of Redford (on the far left), Newman (in the middle... he used to be just as blonde as Redford when we first got him, now look how dark he is) and Jackson (far right). They were our first three bulls and they are now nearly 15 months old. When I think of how we almost lost Redford (three times!) and how Kevin nursed him back to life, it's amazing to see how big and strong he's grown to be. Redford is still a bit smaller than Newman and Jackson, but this particular perspective creates the opposite illusion. They are all still docile and affectionate. They love getting their necks rubbed, and they especially love to see Kevin. Kevin was very productive with some spring cleaning this week... he repaired the cracks between the tiles on the outdoor oven with new mortar. He did a great job and the oven looks great! He also power washed the plastic surrounding the hatchery greenhouse. Another great job!! And I've been watering my seedlings and gardens in hopes that the flower seeds I sowed last week will germinate. You know it's officially summertime here when we have to get the water hoses out. Christmas day was gorgeous. Sunny, warm, high of 24.5C/76F, and nothing but blue skies. We went to Martin and Clara's rustic restaurant for our traditional Christmas trout lunch (we've gone there four years in a row, so it's now considered tradition). And we spent much of the day on Skype, catching up with our children, our parents, and our sisters. God bless the internet!! Now we are getting ready for guests who arrive tomorrow for a couple of days, then more guests after them... and more guests after them... basically until mid-February. The usual trend is that once Christmas holidays are all done, we'll get more bookings for the rest of February, March and April. We anticipate a hopping 2016 season.
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Kevin and I spent most of the week outside working in the gardens. We filled all the flower beds with gorgeous, rich forest humus, added some lime (calcium carbonate), and topped them up with my organic bakashi (fertilizer). I sowed a variety of flower seeds and we'll see what comes up. I love being surprised.
Yesterday, I picked up some vegetable seedlings from our friend, Tony, and planted them as well. The rain is subsiding now, so the conditions should be perfect for healthy growth in outside garden beds. Fingers crossed. And of course, the Christmas season is creeping up on us, where our family in Canada and England, and friends sprinkled all over the world, are getting ready to celebrate the season. As for us, we're getting ready to host guests who arrive today for a couple of days and then from December 26th, we're pretty much booked solid until mid February! And we keep receiving emails every day. Business is building momentum and going strong. As life keeps ticking along for us in paradise, Kevin and I would like to take a minute to wish all our readers a wonderful holiday season, however you celebrate. And may 2016 see all your dreams come true. I would also like to thank you all for your continued support and interest in this blog. I am always amazed to know you are still enjoying our adventure! It's a pleasure and privilege to share it with you all. What a week!! My daughter, Phoenix, and her friend, Kaila, were here for a fabulous visit. They landed last Sunday and we kept busy. On Monday, Kevin and Martin drained the pond and caught our first batch of fish of the season! Woot! Then Kevin used his new weighing station... And, I got to use our cleaning station for the first time, too... and it works perfectly! After getting our chores done, I took Phoenix and Kaila to Santa Maria to meet our dear friends, Cindy and Larry. We had a beverage and enjoyed exchanging stories. Phoenix hadn't met them on her other two visits to Costa Rica, so they really wanted to meet her this time around. Then, on Tuesday, the girls and I drove down to a lovely little organic market and from there we drove down to the Pacific coast to hang out on Dominicalito beach for the rest of the day. It was almost deserted... we pretty much had the beach to ourselves. On Wednesday, the girls went horseback riding for a couple of hours with our neighbour, Abel. They had great fun. On Thursday morning, Phoenix and Kaila treated me to an amazing photoshoot... they pampered me and made me feel like a super model. It was so much fun. Then later in the afternoon, we went to visit our friends, Rafa and Minor, to see their gorgeous Japanese garden. Friday came around way too fast for my liking, but all good things come to an end. I drove the girls back to the airport.
In the meantime, Kevin was busy working on the farm while we girls were galavanting. He created a metal guard for the lawnmower so that stones and rocks don't get spit out and hit us in the chins. Another clever invention... We've had a productive week. I started a new batch of bokashi (natural fertilizer made of rich forest soil, manure, dry grass, molasses, ash, a type of rice flour, some natural bacteria/fungus). I mixed it all up and let it 'cook'. And boy, does it ever cook. I have to turn it over twice a day for four days, then once a day for a week while spreading the pile in lower and lower heaps. Eventually, it stops cooking and the mixture is ready to use. As of today, it's looking very good. I'll be adding it to our vegetable and flower beds to add some much needed nutrients. The last time I did it, the evidence was quick to see and we had great results. Meanwhile, Kevin, Martin and Jairo divided the big fish in the big pond and put half in the pond across from the guesthouse. It's so much easier to drain that pond every Monday to catch fish for Roberto. We start selling fish tomorrow. Due to the increase in the amount of trout we'll be selling, we need to have two people cleaning and gutting the fish to be as efficient.as possible. So, Kevin built two outdoor working stations for Martin and I to use. It's brilliant!! The shelves sit over the canal under the house. Kevin installed a water pipe directly over the large blue and green buckets and then drilled out three holes at the bottom so the water can drain into the canal. We dump about 20 fish in the big buckets at one time to speed up the process, hence the size. The white bucket is where we dispose of the guts (we'll throw them into the river directly so they don't flow into the ponds). Then, we'll put a large cooler between Martin and I so store the clean fish. Kevin added some lights, too, because it's a bit dark under there. Now, it's nice and bright. It's perfect! I can't wait to try it out tomorrow! Kevin goes up and down the property on the ATV (quad) to bring the large bags of trout food up to the hatchery. And when Frankie hears the engine start up, she runs outside and begs for a ride. She LOVES riding on the ATV, which I find really amusing. She's not a fan of the car, however. So, she's picky when it comes to her vehicle preferences. She's a spoiled little girl, that one. We also hosted lovely guests from Lyon, France. I got to practice speaking French again, which is always great. Here are Diane and Adrien catching their dinner... Now, you'll have to excuse me, I have to get ready... why you ask? My daughter, Phoenix, and her best friend, Kaila, are arriving TODAY!! I'm so excited. They'll be here until Friday, and we'll be having fun introducing them so our friends, I'll take them down to the Pacific coast for a day so they can experience the beach, they will be going horseback riding and we'll be adventuring to our favourite waterfall in Providencia. Not a lot of time, but we'll be packing the fun in. I'm sure I'll have lots to share next week. The picture below was taken at the airport this morning... looks like they're excited, too! (Kaila on the left, my baby girl on the right)
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