Even if the book is on my Kindle Fire! My favorite place to read: on terrace at table or in rocking chair. |
Maybe My 2 Most Frequent Visitors
Rufous-naped Wren Seen at breakfast from my terrace, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica |
See also my BIRDS Photo Gallery
The Missed Birds!
Many Pass Through this Dead Tree at end of my terrace. Yesterday I had no camera when two Keel-billed Toucans stopped momentarily & then up the hill! and a few days ago A Blue-crowned Motmot landed in this same tree, briefly! Links are to one of my photos of that same bird made elsewhere. |
I think the toucans were looking at my Cecropia Tree (Arbole Guarumo o Yagrumo) which is suppose to attract toucans. So far that is as close to the Cecropia as I have seen them yet. Eventually! Pura Vida!
The Cecropia or Guarumo o Yagrumo Tree beside my terrace (a deck in the states). And remember that I put Spanish words/names in red (when I remember). 🙂 Toucans love this tree, but mine is still young, so eventually it will get toucans. |
Chrysina Beetle
Chrysina Beetle On my terrace, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica |
Chrysina Beetle On my terrace, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica |
White-winged Dove in Cecropia Tree
New Flowerpots
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.
Triquitraque or Flamevine Finally Blooming
Finally my concrete wall made pretty! Triquitraque or Flamevine |
The triquitraque or flamevine I had planted 7 months ago started out with a burst of growth and then just quit and never bloomed much. So Jean-Luc suggested I feed them since the construction site soil was not particularly rich and I thus added a fertilizer, sort of a 12-12-12 from the La Coope Farm Store. Wow! what a difference it made! They grew and got greener and are now just starting to bloom. I think there will be more, but I’m sharing what I have now and I’m pleased! It kind of makes up for the Porterweed not blooming now. Both attract hummingbirds.
From above the flamevine contrasts nicely with the blue plumbago below. I love it when a plan comes together! 🙂 |
And just in time for the visit here by Reagan Frazier from Nashville. Photographed here on his camera on my terrace overlooking Atenas. |
Thanks to Reagan for snapping this photo of me at the San Jose Airport! I promise to give a warm welcome to anyone who comes to visit. Pura Vida! |
Reagan arrived yesterday afternoon and today we took it easy, walking around Atenas Central a little and eating a typical Tico lunch or “Casado.” Tomorrow we start with a Tico Breakfast with a beautiful view at Casita del Cafe and then drive to Poas Volcano and the La Paz waterfalls so he can feel like a real tourist! 🙂 Follow Reagan’s Blog for his view of the visit here!
New Terrace Table & Chairs
There are a lot of advantages to renting! New furniture is one! 🙂 |
It makes the terrace look larger! |
And looks good from inside too! I like it better than the old one! Fresh and airy! New and clean! I’m ready for Reagan now! |
Yellow Bells Keep Increasing!
Up close they are a very bright yellow trumpet-shaped flower |
The Yellow Bells are blooming earlier than I expected or remember from last year and do hope they are still around when Reagan arrives in February. They started with a few blooms on the high tips of limbs that get the most sun and are now spreading all over. They do attract hummingbirds!
From my lunch table today at about 1:30 facing NW. |
From the street today at 2:00 PM (bad time for photo) |
An even worse image at 2:00 PM but you can see that my terrace is surrounded! |
Bouquets on the terrace! |
And color below my horizon views! |
Plus they are already coloring the ground as blossoms drop! |
A tree in my neighbor’s yard. |
Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.~Luther Burbank
Simple Pleasure 4: “Mi Patio”
I do selective pruning to keep my garden art bird visible. It is so full now that a major pruning will be needed by Dec. or Jan. |
Coming in from the driveway. |
Front yard from my terrace. |
Terrace view of the Guarumo (Cecropia) Tree which has really grown! |
My yard is truly a constant “simple pleasure” that I enjoy all the time I’m at home. Living in the country or in a forest, next to a national park was always a temptation to be in true wildness all the time, but it would require a 4WD vehicle in most cases, be further from healthcare when needed, and shopping which I could handle the easiest, and further from people, especially those who speak English which I also would like in some ways when my Spanish is better, BUT . . . I think this is the best of both worlds and I am in a small country town. I just need this particular simple pleasure of a garden yard to have nature around me. And a very comfortable house! 🙂