Homemade Ice Cream

Years and years ago I bought an old fashioned electric ice cream machine at a yard sale in California. I dragged it down here along with some rock salt. We have never used it. Jordan and Bob lobbied for ice cream so we dragged it out to see what we could do. The pictures below describe the process in action. We are in our outdoor room upstairs which we call the Rancho. Gitti is the blur on the right.

 

Mike is keeping track of the chilling time. It is supposed to take about 20 minutes.

Bob is smashing up ice. Mike is pulling the cord out whenever the ice jams around the edges because the chunks are too big. Jordan is loosening the jammed ice. Then Mike plugs it in again. Except for the ice smashing, the processing isn't too bad.

It took maybe 30 minutes in the end. We added cracked up chocolate chips and set the mixture into the freezer to harden. Yum. We still have half a bucket to eat today.

El CEN (The Center)

Gitti's grandaughter, Jordan, earned a grant for a community project in Costa Rica from MIT where she is a sophomore. Jordan went to grammar school here in the pueblo for a semester so she is well aware of the needs of the community. El CEN is The Centre, where children who need one are provided a free, nutritious meal at midday. Their amount of food they receive is based on their age and general condition. Some need more than others. Their stove was broken and in general the kitchen was no longer functioning. The local druggies break in and steal the kids food rations which makes it really hard for El Cen to accomplish it's mission. It is run by a board of 4 volunteers and is funded mainly by contributions. So, Jordan wrote a proposal to remodel El Cen and build them a security wall to keep out the bad guys. She lobbied the MIT student body for money at her student union with other students who had other proposals. Two would be chosen. She gained the most votes. Hurrah for Jordan!

So here she is posing in front of the CEN's new security wall. The wall is concrete block, topped with fencing and then razor wire on top of that. Let's hope that this along with the new Police Station next door is enough to discourage the culprits.

Mike is examining the new range while Jordan looks on.

 

Jordan, Rosa, the only full time employee, and another woman volunteer who worked for days to clean up.

Trip to Quepos

We made an excursion to the seat of our Canton (like a county) to pay our annual property tax and do a few chores. It is so wonderful that we can now get there in less than 30 minutes on a smooth fast road. We thought an actual paved road would never be available here.

In the Muni office I took a photo of this Portal. I was surprised to see it still in place now at the end of January. It is common to see these Portals (nativity scenes) in public places and private homes through the Christmas season. The Costa Ricans must leaves them up through January.  Some are really elaborate with secular objects, like a toy airplane, in addition to the standard religious character. This one is traditional.

Little Projects Settling In

 

 Before

 

 

And After

 

This project was reminiscent of canvas stretching but much easier. We have two little chairs like this. The bamboo seats are beginning to give way to Greg and Mike cut up some plywood when we were here last to give them new seats and we hope extend their life a bit. My contribution was covering them with vinyl to save us from getting splinters. Next I have a cushion to cover with pretty fabric and only then can we declare this project done. You will see these again that means in a future blog post. I'm just not in a mood to sew right now though. It is really hot here and we are busying ourselves with a lot of little projects that simply make our lives here a little nicer. Mike put up some new hooks for me for example. Not remarkable work and not too much exertion until we get used to the climate. It takes me about a week to accept the heat. We are starting our morning walks though and that is a good sign.

First Sunrise - Jan 19

We arrived in Costa Rica on Thursday afternoon and made our way by bus to San Isidro, arriving rather late and after dark. American Airlines AGAIN lost one of our bags. Miami American Airlines staff is now 2 for 2 and we vow never to fly via Miami again if it can be avoided. The good news is that they managed to get our bag to us by 10 am the next day. This is remarkable since the bag, like us, had to travel 3 hours by bus to get to us. We did our San Isidro chores and were off to Matapalo a little after noon to unpack and move into our house.

This picture is from the next morning sunrise. It was a cloudy day but there was still a little color. All was once again good with the world.

That is, it was good until Mike came down with food poisoning on Saturday that layed him low for a good 24 hours. He tried to blame my pasta bolognesa from Saturday but that didn't hold up since I ate the same thing and was perfectly well. So now he is thinking it was the fish restaurant where we ate on Friday night. Oh well, he is back to normal now.

It is unseasonably rainy here for mid January. No one knows what to make of it. Personally I think it is great since the rain means that it is cooler overall.

Also, Mike has not been able to get into our normal Roadrunner mail in the U.S. So we are moving to gmail I guess. If you want to communicate with me, I am at driftwoodtxartist.gmail.com.

Absolutely Beautiful Morning - Aug 2 & 3, 2012

This morning is the most gorgeous yet - sunny, warm breezes, lots of birds and butterflies, and quiet. It seemed as if we had more than the usual number of small birds: plus an eagle, the laughing hawk, several toucanes, at least 4 fiery billed aracari's, small and large parrots. It rained last night to this morning the air is fresh and drier.

The toucans are back making Mike happy. There were none, then just one, now we have a few but not as many as previous seasons. This one enjoys the fruits of the palm tree at our driveway entrance.

The pesote has not made an appearance since Greg left. Mike says we should have paid him for a longer contract.

We changed our mind about heading for Perez and decided to stay put. The day stayed beautiful until about 2 when the rains returned. By 4 a second storm rolled in with lots of wind. It looked as if the rain was erasing the world below our house.

Just before the storm rolled in the trucks started rolling up our road with materials for a wall Ron is building above. Truck number 3 loaded with cement block could not make it up our hill. And the hill above our house is even steeper. It never fails. Just as the roads are repaired they get ripped up.

This morning, Friday, we are getting organized to head out. I heard lots of monkeys this morning while I was drinking my coffee. They were in the direction of the valley and ridge below Las Nubes.

This and That - Aug 1, 2012

We tried this fruit at a local market, liked it, asked the name and then promptly forgot the answer. We brought some home and made a photo before eating them. Ricardo helped us out with the ID - "mangotan".

The fruit is white in side, soft tasting a bit like a white grape. The outside shell is really hard.
All things being equal, I'd rather have a pineapple.

Our real estate guy, Saul, stopped by yesterday with clients, a couple. Of course he did not call in advance so the house was as it was. That is, we had two ladders in the house poised for different projects. I don't think these two guys are our market but you never know. Saul actually called our neighbors, Karen and Frank, to tell them they would be stopping by for a look, but Karen and Frank are in San Jose. I think we were an afterthought. He saw our red truck, he stopped. It was also pouring rain, not the best time to see the view of the Osa Peninsula from our house.

Saul mentioned that the hot Zip Line is in the Osa. Greg, you might want to write that down for your next trip. Saul's assessment of the Hacienda Baru zip line was it was rather tame, but that you did see animals. It was PERFECT for me. I will not be going with Greg to the Osa Zip Line excursion.

Tomorrow is another holiday. This is a big religious holiday celebrating the Patron Saint of Costa Rica, La Virgin de los Angeles. Many Costa Ricans make a pilgrimmage to the cathedral in Cartago, and some make the last part of the journey on their knees. What is means for us is, "No Ricardo" in the morning. Who knows what we could get up to. :)