Category: Atenas

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Neighborhood Pastoral

One of my favorite views when I walk through the neighborhood.

And of course it immediately reminds me of Psalm 50:10

. . . for every animal of the forest is Mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.

 Psalm 50:10, Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Today I went to church with a Tico friend and after church I went to a Tico restaurant with two Tico friends instead of going to the gringo restaurant with a bunch of gringos! I feel good! And my finger is healing very rapidly! Sufrexal is a miracle drug! It causes new skin to grow!

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New Graffiti on Skateboard Ramp

In the city recreation park in front of Central School Elementary is all kinds of recreation from soccer to volleyball that I’ve shown before. Well, the skateboard ramp just got a fresh coat of paint in the form of some new graffiti or public art that should please the skateboarders! Tuanis! Mae!  (Cool! Dude!)

Shot with my cell phone and cropped a little in the computer. I shared some graffiti a year ago that was not as interesting and the more distant shot of skateboard ramp is particularly less vivid! Most of the other graffiti shot last year is about the same with 2 or 3 small new additions on walls. 
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The Lehning’s Passed Through Today

Tim & Joan Lehning and all three kids passed through the San Jose International Airport today where I welcomed them and immediately said goodbye as they got on van transportation to the Pacific Coast beach town of Tamarindo where they will participate in a surfing school for the next four days. They return Tuesday afternoon for two nights in my tranquil little farming town of Atenas before returning to Nashville. They came here from Peru where they hiked up Machu Pichu as the first part of their Latin America trip. They’ve seen coffee farms before, about our only tourist attraction here, so I will just walk them through our little small town life and feed them well! And show off my little rent house and garden and visit! They are staying at Eden Atenas Tuesday & Wednesday nights.

More on Wednesday about their visit in Atenas.

And more things are happening on my CAJA application than I can explain now, but bureaucracy is hard at work in this government health insurance thing but my attorney is back in the middle of it. And I really need it! The Rx cream for my finger to help skin grow (Sufrexal) cost me about $48! 

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Why Atenas?

WHY ATENAS?
by Tina Newton
This blog post by a friend of mine (Tina Newton) is one of the best summaries of why so many of us choose to live in Atenas. Yes, she’s a realtor and thus some ulterior motives, but I think it is a heartfelt statement and certainly reflects the way I feel about Atenas. And I’ve not been able to put my feelings about this little town into words as well as Tina just did! (And her better photo of the church than I’ve made yet.) So I thank her and share it here with anyone interested.  FYI !
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New Flowerpots

I replaced the ugly yellow & orange pots with these more attractive ones.
And the little round one on left is new with assorted greenery & a peace lily.
The second pot is ornamental grass I cut back for the transplanting,
It grows back quick here! Behind post is a bougainvillea that was in plastic! 

The greenery by the rocking chairs
looks much better in new pot!

And the living room plant looks
better in the new pot also! I think.

My newest indoor plant is this palm in
my bedroom with philodendron ivy at base.

I may have told you that my artist friend Anthony has returned from 9 months of traveling in Spain and Morocco and has moved into the house next door that was occupied by Don & Lynda who moved back to Oregon. Before traveling, Anthony lived on the other side of me in someone else’s casita (a small house most big house owners have for guests or rental.). He is the one who made my garden art bird sculpture. He really decorates well with a lot of plants and that motivated me to spruce mine up a little.

We just had a really good, slow, steady rain this afternoon for an hour or so. Garden loves it!

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Rainy Season Starting!

I’m so happy that for three days straight we have had some rain! It is usually May before the first rain, so this is good if it will just continue and increase in quantity! Going 5+ months without rain makes you appreciate it more! 
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Atenas Oxcart Parade Today!

And this small child stole the show as she led her toy oxen in pulling a toy oxcart!

In fact there seemed to be more of an emphasis on the children this year in what has always been a family affair to celebrate and remember the important part boyeros (oxcart drivers) played in the history of Costa Rica as the first land shippers of coffee and bananas to the two big port cities for shipment to the U.S. and Europe.

The parade still had the colorful oxcarts! And the big oxen!
And most included the whole family as usual. A Family farm affair!
But many were led by children this year as the Oxcart Leader or Boyero.

And a few even had young oxen!

While others had their hands full!

But all accepted their responsibility with pride! 
Goat Carts were in parade this year for the first time, led by kids of course!
Pun intended! 

And there are more Women Boyeros each year! 

And the whole time the Central Park is filled with tents, entertainers, arts & crafts, food & drink vendors, a playground, and plenty to do if you get bored with the parade.

A Rooster on Stilts!
and . . .

. . . and another on foot, representing Gollo, a big furniture/appliance store.

Someone leading the children in games before the parade started.
And of course all the food, drink, balloons, etc. available to buy! 

The parade always starts with police and horses, one carrying the
Costa Rica Flag:

Red, white and blue patriotism!

I watched the parade with 3 friends, Anthony, Jean and Carolyn and then afterwards we went to La Finca for pizza and pasta. A fun day! And if you want to see photos of the bigger oxen being led by men and other views, see my photos from last year’s parade at:  2015 Oxcart Parade  on this blog.

Another happy day in Costa Rica!

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A Walk In the Garden!

Step into my main garden from the driveway or back door of house.
Surrounded by the trees and other flowers of neighbors.
You know you are in a tropical place!

Out my backdoor you are greeted by a pottery bird garden-art by Anthony.
Anthony Jeroski will soon be moving into the house across the driveway since
Don & Lynda just moved back to the states. Anthony & I have plans for
a garden-art bird nest made of wood & wire that will feature a glass egg
made by my Nashville friend Kevin Hunter. I think you will like it Kevin!

Here a garden is really your whole yard and terrace and that is true for me.
With watering during the dry season, my “front yard” jungle has grown,
especially the Cecropia or Guarumo tree, many palms & flowers on a slope.

One is a Nance Tree which by July will have little yellow fruits I can eat! 

Bougainvillea is blooming on my terrace and down below on the slope.
There was not one here when I came and I consider it the quintessential
tropical flower I got used to in Florida and The Gambia. I have two now! 

Once de Abril Planta or 11th of April Plant is what my gardener calls it.
It is becoming very tall and full shrub, adding to my privacy screen and
it blooms year around with seasonal yellow berries that birds eat quickly.
It is one of my favorite plants and was a surprise gift from my gardener.
The 11th of April is Juan Santamaria Day, our only war hero.
He was the drummer boy who stopped the American Walker from taking
over Costa Rica as his personal slave state.
DO YOU SEE THE BEE ON THE FLOWER?
Click image for larger view.

The largest of my 4 Heliconia plants.

The brightest of my Heliconia plants.

The smallest of my Heliconia plants.
And the most prolific of the 4 Heliconia plants.
It greets you at the driveway next to the Plumbago.
Red Ginger is all over my garden & prolific.

Lantanas are my border and called multiple things here. Grow fast!
I have to cut them back regularly or they become shrubs!
That is something like a Florida White Butterfly here today.

A type of Petunia that blooms abundantly every morning, then by
mid-afternoon the blooms have all dropped to the ground.
More the next morning! Year-around. 

Flame Vine in English or Triquitraque in Spanish which
literally means “firecracker” in Spanish
Flame Vine or Triquitraque
Plumbago is beautiful and my most prolific bloomer. My background plant.
But it grows so fast I have to cut it back every few months, losing some color.
But it blooms year-around and especially on the new growth after trimming.

“Crown of Thorns” is what Lynda called it.
I bought at Don & Lynda’s Moving Sale.

Aloe Vera – I’m always ready for burn! 🙂

Sorry I made so many photos this morning! And that is not all of my garden! 🙂  I love it!

And this is very near the end of the dry season, meaning we have had no rain since November. I water most everything every two days. It is work but worth it! I even have green grass which is rare here this time of year. And it has been especially hot this summer or dry season. So my garden has been a lot of work! That is what it takes to have a piece of paradise! As Rudyard Kipling says . . .

“Gardens are not made by singing ‘Oh, how beautiful!’ and sitting in the shade.” 
― Rudyard Kipling, Complete Verse