Pretty weather today, for a while

We're taking it easy today.  All we did was take a walk around the valley here, and while it was really pretty out, the sun ended up being pretty hot, especially on the uphill parts of our walk.  Before we took off on our walk though, Eva was enjoying sitting out on the patio.

A quick shot of Eva and Fernando as we were starting on our walk, with the volcano in the background.

It was a very nice morning to be taking a walk, but at around this point, after climbing up and down on a few little hills, we were getting quite hot!  So, we took a little break.

We're heading back at this point, it was just a little too hot!

Then, after stopping off back at the house to cool off and rest a little, we had lunch at this nice outdoor area which is right on a stream.  You can see the stream to the lower left of center.  This was just an hour or so after we were out walking in the heat, but as you can see now, jackets are on.  It rained while we ate here, which made things feel a lot cooler!

Fernando and Eva are here in Panama!

Guillermo and I got up early this morning which is always so much easier to do knowing that the day is bringing wonderful things!  We walked into town to the car rental place and picked up the car that we had reserved for a week, and then drove towards David.  Fernando and Eva weren't due to arrive until about 1pm, and since it was only 11am, we decided to stop at the store and then pick up a sandwich from Subway before going to the airport.  We got to the airport about an hour before their plane was due to come in, but that was ok because we  wanted to check about flights to Costa Rica, and also talk to some car rental places.  Once we were done with all of that, we had about 45 minutes to wait for their plane.

It is so nice to be waiting for them to arrive, knowing that all our days with them are still ahead of us!  We heard the plane come in, and we knew that it takes FOREVER to be processed into Panama, but still, it seemed an eternity until we could see them on the other side of the door, going through the last minute check of their luggage.  Our best Christmas present of the season was when they finally stepped through that door and we were finally able to hug both of them!

They were hungry, and tired, so we stopped in at that Subway again (since we knew EXACTLY where it was) and they had some sandwiches before we drove back to Boquete.

What can I say?  It's just so nice having them here!  For supper, we fixed Guillermo's famous chicken/rice dish and had that with bread, green beans, salad, wine, and a slice of Cranberry/Apple pie for dessert.  It was a great meal.  After that nice meal, we exchanged Christmas presents and that officially marked the end of Christmas Day 2010 for us.  It is still the Christmas holidays, though, and we look forward to the next few days with them!

The rainy weather continues

We were a little dismayed to wake up this morning and see how wet it was outside, and to see that it was still drizzling.  We wanted it to be dry because we HAD to walk into town today.  We wanted to pick up some bread, and we had ordered a pie that needed to be picked up today.  We wish we could have waited for another day, but the bakery we usually go to was going to close at noon, and they aren't reopening until the second week of January, so today was our last chance to get something from them.

The wind really whipped the rain around on our walk into town - wetting the arms of our jackets and our pant legs.  After picking up the bread and pie (tucking that bread into the safest part of our backpack and having to hold the pie straight in its bag) we walked to the grocery store, which wasn't easy with the wind and rain.  After we got everything done, we considered taking a taxi back to the house, but decided to walk anyway and that turned out to be a good decision because the wind wasn't as bad then, and the rain was a little lighter.

Wow, we just can't believe the change in the weather here!  It's like it's trying in some minor way to match what's going on on the east coast!  Last night, the wind whipped for most of the night and today the wind was no less strong.  It wasn't raining anymore, but there was still a fine mist in the air.  But no matter, we were going in to town today - cold wind, mist and all.

We actually set out with our jackets on!  And if there is anything good about this little "cold spell", it's that I'm getting to use the jacket Guillermo gave me for Christmas!!  I wore it pretty much all day yesterday, and most of the day today.  Anyway, we kept our jackets on until we got to town where it seemed the buildings there blocked a lot of the wind.  The usual routine downtown - check one store, get a few things; go to another, get some more things; and so on until we've gotten all we think we need.  The sun was out all morning but even with the wind, the walk back still got a little hot - especially there at the end with that hill.  Later in the afternoon, the clouds started coming in again and the rest of the day felt really cool.  We could hear the wind whipping outside, with several VERY strong gusts.  We wore our jackets again for a lot of the evening.

Oh, and yesterday, I had just finished taking my shower when the power went out!!!  The VERY reason why I keep a candle lit in the bathroom each time I take a shower because the power seems to go out for about 2 minutes every evening!!  So, finally, it came to good use!

Summer nowhere in sight today

When we woke up this morning, we could tell it had rained during the night and there was still that mist falling.  It was our plan to go into town in the morning, but with the wet weather we thought we'd wait for it to clear up a little.  Well, it never did, and as a matter of fact, it got worse.  The mist got heavier and was on and off all day, at times being whipped sideways by the strong winds.  Several times we just stood at the window and watched the sheets of light rain flow past.  I'm writing this in the evening, and it is actually bordering on cold outside!  We can hear from the window a gushing sound outside but we're not sure if it's coming from the stream down below that maybe is running a little higher, or if it's just the wind.  We'd love to go check out the stream, but it is dark and windy and quite cool, so nah, we'll just stay inside.
Here's a picture that Guillermo took yesterday:

Sheri's Tanager

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

I'll start with Christmas Eve -
All day long yesterday that fine mist called the Bajareque kept falling.  I love opening one of those huge windows we have in the front - glass, screen and all - and sticking my head out and just watching the mist pass by.  It's interesting, yesterday there were times when the mist was moving across the valley in the distance from west to east, yet closer to the house, it looked like the mist was gliding by from east to west.  It looked neat!!  Then, we watched as one of them slowly changed directions, and they both started flowing the same direction.

In the early evening, we got ready to go out for a Christmas Eve dinner.  We had checked with several restaurants in town, compared their prices and menus and made a reservation at one called "The Rock".   At around 5:45, we started walking downtown and too BAD we didn't take our camera with us.  We should have thought it was a possibility because usually when there's that fine mist, and the sun is out, there has to be a rainbow somewhere.  As we rounded a corner in the valley on our walk into town, we saw the most beautiful rainbow over the mountains.  Finally, we see a rainbow here, which we hear is a very common occurrence.  It's just that we never go out and LOOK for them!  But yesterday we WERE out, and the sight was just beautiful.

Once in town, we caught a taxi to get the rest of the way to the restaurant.  We made a good choice to eat at The Rock for our Christmas Eve dinner.  It was buffet style, and we had, among other things, salmon bites, shrimp cocktail, turkey, ham, Corvina on a stick, rice, noodles and dessert.  After dinner we sat by the fire and talked with some people we had run into before, but before we knew it our taxi was there to take us back into town.  And still the fine mist was falling!  We stopped in a little grocery to pick up a newspaper, and like everywhere else, the place was full of last minute shoppers!

Back home, we watched "It's a Wonderful Life" on TV (believe it or not - for the first time).  The power went out again in the whole area, and we stuck our heads out the window to look at the totally dark valley.  At midnight a whole lot of fireworks went off.   The sound of the fireworks ricocheting off the mountains was quite different!  It was pretty impressive!!!

Today - Christmas Day
Guillermo and I exchanged our present to each other - I was glad to get a nice windbreaker from him, and he was glad to get a new set of headphones for computer phone calls.  Then we made a few phone calls (at first it looked like Guillermo's new headphones didn't work but eventually they did) and later talked with both Rebeca and Fernando.  :-)  For lunch we decided, since it was Christmas Day, to walk to the little restaurant close by and we had a good lunch out by the stream.  All in all, a very nice Christmas Day!

Snowflakes on our "tree"

Mom's Christmas card finally came yesterday and inside the card was a paper snowflake and a colored cross.  I promptly placed the snowflake and the cross on our Christmas tree and those two things just added a special "something" to the tree.  So, that inspired me to make the snowflakes that I usually make every year.  Not having any plain white paper with which to make them, when we went into town today, we bought 3 sheets of papers at an office supply store.  So now, in addition to the original snowflake and the cross, we now have an additional 8 snowflakes on the the reed tree and wow, what a difference that makes.  The tree looks even better now and I just love the look.  So, thanks Mom, for putting that snowflake and cross in with the card.  I just loved it!

Can you see the snowflake you sent us, Mom?  It's there kind of in the middle.

By the way, it took 15 days for Mom's Christmas card to get to us!

Yesterday, I updated the blog and just seconds after I posted it, the power went out again in the whole area.  Guillermo was talking with Rebeca over gmail at that time also, and lost contact with her.  The power stayed off for at least 2 minutes - just long enough for us to get some candles lit - and then it was back on again.  That doesn't happen all that often, but we have experienced the lights blink off momentarily almost everyday.  It is for that reason that I always light a candle when I take a shower.  You never know!!!

We haven't had rain here in about a week now, and everyday dawns with a clear blue sky.  The clouds come later in the day, but they are few and far between so the dry season has begun - what they call "summer" here.   We walked into town in the morning and caught a taxi to a place called "Mi Jardin es su Jardin".  That means my garden is your garden.  Some landowner has his beautiful gardens open for the public to view for free.  Here are some pictures of those gardens:

The entrance into the gardens.

There's a little tower on the grounds to kind of get a view of the gardens from above.  The next two pictures are taken from that tower.

They had cute little items of whimsy all over the place

And lots of water ponds and streams

When we left the gardens we walked back into town.  It wasn't too far, and it was all downhill, so no problem.  We stopped along the way at several places that we had seen when we had a car - it's easier to stop in when we're walking and not out on the street with some other car careening up behind wondering WHY is this person going so slow?!?!?  When we got back into town, we had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, then picked up a few groceries and started the now hot journey back to the house.  This picture shows the road that we walk on almost everyday, but today we had some guests along the road.  Just HAD to get a picture.  When you click on the picture, it's easier to tell that is Guillermo standing there in the background.

The air always feels a little cooler when we pass over this stream.

Took a picture of a sign along the road, which we thought was funny!

Guillermo is in heaven right now, glued to the couch watching a Spurs game.  He's in heaven because this is the 2nd Spurs game to be televised THIS WEEK!!!  That's rare for over here.  Most games he has to stare at his laptop and watch the numbers flip over on a chart as scores are made.  Well, it's better than nothing.  But it's even better today than usual because ESPN is broadcasting the game, instead of some Panama station.  Which means that he gets to see most EVERYTHING.  The Panama station, when the teams aren't actually playing, cuts right away to a statistics screen with absolutely horrid music.  At least now, during time-outs, there is either commentary/analysis of the game or commercials to watch, which is way better than that music.  

We saw the eclipse!

We somehow managed to get up during the night to see if we could get outside to see the lunar eclipse.  When we walked out the door, we were dismayed to see how bright the lights were on the house across the street.  They were almost blinding!  We had never noticed them before, and we knew we had to get away from that bright glare to see the moon at its best.  So we walked along the street to the back of our house, which blocked those terrible bright lights.  The sky was absolutely clear - no clouds anywhere and the moon was right overhead.  When we saw it, it looked very red and we could see just a sliver on the right side where the moon was starting to appear again.  And the stars were just magnificent!  We could see them very well, and the milky way, too

So, we're glad we made the effort to get up and get outside.  It was well worth it to see the moon look so red.

New lights

Yesterday, when I went to plug in the Christmas lights on our "sticks", I saw that one of the prongs had come out of the plug (when I unplugged them yesterday) and was still stuck in the powerstrip!!  So, no Christmas lights on the reeds yesterday.

Today we walked into town for a few groceries and to pick up more Christmas lights.  It was HOT today - when we got to the steep hill by our house, the sun was shining down full force!!  But no matter, we have new Christmas lights!!!  The new setup now is much better than it was and now there are more lights on the reeds than before.  And different lights on the desk.  Hmmm, this should have happened a long time ago!!  :-)

I wish the picture could be less blurry.....

I like these new lights much better!

Here are a few pictures we took this afternoon, when we took a walk:

Standing by some coffee plants

An interesting little section along the walk.

It doesn't look that bad here, but this is that steep hill JUST before we get to our house.  You can see the top of the house peeking out from the top of the hill.

Tons of banana plants close to the house.

Now some pictures of the birds that have been coming to the feeder that Guillermo puts out every morning.

Yellow-throated Euphonia

Female Red-legged Honey Creeper

 Flame Colored Tanager

 Rufous Collared Sparrow

This is the feeder that Guillermo sets up every morning on some stones.  On the tray are Palm Tanager, Blue-Gray Tanagers, Yellow-Throated Euphonia, Silver-Throated Tanager.  Bottom left is a Honey Creeper, and we're not sure what the one in the upper left is.

33 years!

Today, 33 years ago, Guillermo and I started our adventure together.   :-)  33 years ago today, after a wonderful wedding day, we headed to Del Rio that evening.  WHOA - Del Rio as a destination for a honeymoon?!?!?!?  But it was late, and staying there gave us a good head start the next day for our planned destination of Big Bend National Park.  Now THAT was a great place for a honeymoon and we love the memory of that time.

Well really, we started our adventure together 34 and a half years ago, but today is the day we sealed it.  To celebrate that very happy day for us so many years ago, we walked into town this evening and had dinner at Machu Pichu.  That's one of our favorite restaurants here.   Our food was excellent - I had fish stuffed with langostinos and Guillermo had shrimp in garlic sauce and we both had a Pisco Sour - which is a really good Peruvian mixed drink.  Afterwards we walked to the center of town just to see what it looked like at night and it was nice - the Christmas tree was all lit up and the plaza was decorated in lights.  We were almost to the valley where we live when all the lights in the whole area went out.  It was kind of nice - the only light was the light of the moon.  It didn't last long, though, but at least we got to walk for a little while in the moonlight.

The dryer let us know

Yesterday our gas ran out here at the house!

Most of the homes here use gas for the stove, for the hot water heater, for the dryer, etc.  Well, we knew when we moved in that the tank that was connected to those appliances was about half full.  I guess they last quite a long time, because we used that half filled tank for one month and one week.  And we got pretty decent notice that the tank had gone dry - we weren't in the middle of a shower or cooking or anything like that.  What brought it to our attention was I went to get the clothes out of the dryer and they weren't hot at all.  And they were still damp after about 45 minutes!  So we knew - the gas tank is empty!  Guillermo went outside, unhooked the empty tank and hooked up the full tank and we should be ok now until we leave in about 3 weeks!!!

Also, yesterday we felt the house here rumble a little bit during the evening and we figure that must have been some little tremor of the earthquake kind.  It's the second time I have felt that here, and Guillermo noticed the one yesterday, too.  It felt like how I remember the house shake a little when a big bus or truck would pass on the street by the house.

Time to catch up

So, this is what has been going on since last Monday - a week ago!  My how time flies, it was one week ago already that Fernando and Eva gave us the exciting news.

Actually not too much has been going on.  Just the usual.  Last Tuesday was market day, so of course we walked into town to pick up the things we've come to like from that market - like tamales, soup and bread.  We've also gotten to know some of the vendors there and we usually spend a little time chatting with them.  On the days we don't walk into town, we usually do a walk around in the valley here.

There hasn't been much rain lately, but there still is that little mist quite often during the day called the Bajareque. We've even made a verb out of the word, saying things like, "It's really bajareque-ing!"  On Friday Guillermo got his hair cut at a barbershop downtown and he said it was like stepping back in time with the barber using a straight edge to put the finishing touches on his cut.  When he got out, he looked like he had just joined some branch of the military, his hair was so short!!!  It's not that obvious in this picture, but doesn't he look all nice and trim anyway??

Here are some pictures of our "christmas tree" and where we've put some lights around the desk where my laptop is.

This picture is a little blurry, but I've tried several times and this is as good as it gets.  There could be TONS more lights all over those reeds, but half the strand doesn't work.....

Yet another picture that could be better, but I just love all those lights blinking around the computer.

And here's an update on how the bananas are progressing.  They are all starting to make the turn upward.

We've also been going into town almost everyday for one thing or the other.  We're expecting a card or two that has been sent to us, so we check with the post office periodically to see if anything has arrived for us.  As of today, nothing has come in.  We've also been trying to figure out how we can send a deposit to the next place we're going to stay, which is in Costa Rica.  We need to reserve our place there, and have gone into town like 3 times, going from bank to bank, checking with the post office and finally Western Union.  Western Union seemed the most promising and on Friday we went back to send a wire, but their system was down.  We checked again on Saturday and their system was still down, so we knew we were going to have to go to a bigger town to get this done.

So, that's what we did today!!  We walked into town, checked with the Western Union place, JUST in case their system was up again, but it wasn't.  So, we knew we had to go to David, which is not too far from Boquete and we went to David on the bus.  An old school bus!   When the bus took off, the weather was nice and sunny.  The ride to David went quickly, it probably took about 45 minutes.  The bus dropped us off in David right where we needed to be, by a little mall that is right on the road to Boquete.  So it was very convenient.  The first thing we did was get in the line for Western Union at the nice big supermarket.  That took quite a while, because there were many people in line.  BUT, we got it done!!!  Then we went on to fun things, like looking around in the nice stores around there, getting a few things, eating lunch at Subway, then picking up a few things at that nice supermarket before going back out to wait for the bus for the ride back.  The ride back to Boquete wasn't quite as comfortable, because the bus was full so we had to stand for a little while, until people got off and seats became available.  It was hot and sunny in David, but as we climbed back into Boquete, the weather got cooler, and in Boquete itself it was drizzling!  So, we had to walk back home in a drizzle, but it wasn't bad, and at least it was nice and cool.

Tomorrow is market day again!  Yeah!

Fernando and Eva are engaged!!!!!

Guillermo and I are so excited and so happy to announce that Fernando and Eva are engaged.  It was a BIG surprise for us, and we will never ever forget that video chat.

That Monday evening, December 6th, we contacted Fernando over chat, wanting to ask him yet again about possible places to stay in Costa Rica.  He answered back that they were cooking dinner and that maybe we could do a video chat later?  We said ok, but really, we should have known that something was up then, because when has Fernando ever ASKED for a video chat?!?  But we just thought that he was thinking it'd be easier to talk that way about places to stay in Costa Rica, since we've already been chatting about that quite a bit.

When they were ready for the video chat, Fernando let us know and we talked with Fernando for a few seconds when to our surprise we see Eva come into the picture, too.  Now, again, we should have thought something was up, but all we thought was, "How nice, Eva is going to chat with us, too!"  From the time Eva showed up on the screen to when she put her hand up to the camera to show us the ring - that is all a blur, but what stands out very vividly in our minds is Eva putting her hand up to the screen and our absolute surprise when we saw the ring on her finger!  We don't even remember what they said prior to that, they said something, we know, but we just don't remember what.

You just can't imagine how we felt when we saw that!  I actually got tears in my eyes, it was such an emotional moment.  We were overcome with the surprise of it all and with such happiness for what we were seeing.  Fortunately Guillermo had enough presence of mind to insist I take a picture!  Anyway, our minds were spinning after that.  We just couldn't believe it!  That was actually all the Christmas present we need right there.   Eva is very special to us and we love her like our own daughter, so we just couldn't be happier about this news.

Bananas growing

It's been interesting watching the bananas take shape on the banana tree right outside our patio.  Here's what they look like right now.

They were all pretty tightly together like those towards the bottom, but it looks like they are separating now and are going to make a turn upwards.

It's another clear sunny day.  With these clear sunny days there has also been a LOT of wind.  So, when we are out walking in the sun, it helps to have that wind to keep us cool!

Not much new

Not much going on around here right now.  The last two days have started out bright and sunny, not a cloud in the sky.  This morning is the same way - a perfectly blue sky.  Although by the afternoon there are usually some clouds around, the only moisture in the air has been that little mist that comes off the surrounding mountains, where it looks like there ARE rain clouds.  It was very windy yesterday, so we're thinking maybe the rainy season is winding down.  Who knows, though, because we read in the paper yesterday that meteorologists are claiming the rainy season will go into March this year.  We'll see.
We bought two strands of Christmas lights (one which it turns out only half the strand works) and strung them up around the house here.  One on a basket of reeds (which will be our Christmas tree) and one around a quite fake looking garland that is draped around the desk where one of our laptops is.  The lights look so pretty in the evening.  So, those two things combined with a real pointsettia on our dining room table, and about 3 other little Christmas decorative pieces, it's starting to look A LITTLE bit like Christmas around here.
Last evening we walked to a nearby restaurant to give it a try.  Many of the tables are outside in a beautiful setting by a rushing stream and we sat out there even though it was quite cool!  Ehhhh, don't think we'll be going back to that restaurant - Guillermo did NOT like his salmon ravioli and really - Lasagna without any noodles?????  We had a nice short walk back to our house.

Wow - yesterday...

So, my last post yesterday was at 11:30pm, and even though we went to bed at that time, it was a little hard to sleep with all the rain falling.  For me, anyway.  Not that there's anything to worry about, but I kind of wanted to see how long this was going to go on!  I got up at 1:15am and it was still raining, but at 2:40am I noticed that it wasn't raining anymore.  So, must have fallen asleep in there somewhere, so not sure when it quit.  But if it quit at say, 1:30am, that was 14 hours of practically non-stop rain!

We didn't hear any rock slides during the night, although there are some decent sized rocks on the road where the old landslide happened.  It wasn't a major slide like the last time, but there are enough rocks of a good size to make it impossible for a car to pass through there.

It has been cloudy all day, but the radar looks ok, so we decided to go to the little restaurant here for lunch.  As we walked to the restaurant, which is less than a quarter of a mile away, we both realized we forgot to bring our umbrellas!  Now that's risky around here!  We had a good lunch and then, since the weather seemed to be holding out, we decided to walk along the stream to see if we could see the Dipper again, so that Guillermo can say he's seen it.  Success!!  As we walked along, we saw a little bird that looked just like the one I had seen several weeks ago.  It dipped up and down as it went along the rocks and would hang precariously along the edge of the rocks to peer into the water.  I was so happy that Guillermo finally got to see the resident Dipper!

Now it only made itself available to see because we didn't have binoculars or a camera with us!!  ;-)

Amazing amount of rain today

Starting with yesterday - Tuesday.
Tuesday is market day here so Guillermo and I walked into town early, checked out the market (got some good soups there to take home!) and as we were leaving the market it was sprinkling a little, so we figured we were in for it on our way home.  BUT, we had to stop at the grocery store first.  We were surprised to see that it wasn't raining when we got out of the store and made it all the way home with no rain!  But I'd say about 20 minutes after we got home, it started raining and it rained on and off for the rest of the afternoon.  So, we were glad we went in to town early and were safe at home before the rains hit.

Keeping in mind how things went yesterday, we again walked into town early.  We walked to the little European bakery and were so disappointed to see a sign on their door saying they'll be closed for the next 3 days!!  So, on to the grocery store again to get what we didn't get yesterday.  As we headed home, we could tell that it was about to rain, but we stayed ahead of the rain and got home with just a slight mist falling.  Again, though, about 20 minutes after we got home, it started raining.  We had thought we might go have lunch in the little restaurant here in the valley, but decided to stay in and have soup, because even though the rain had let up, we weren't sure if it was going to start up again.  Good decision, because it started raining HARD about an hour after we would have left and it rained non-stop for almost 3 hours!!  It is still raining 3 hours later, but it isn't falling as hard.  This rainy season is not over yet!!!

Update:  The rain got a little lighter in the late afternoon, but only for a little while.   It rained all afternoon.  It is now 8:30 at night, and it  has been raining all evening - as I write this - it has been absolutely POURING for the last 30 minutes.  There has GOT to be some serious flooding going on somewhere around here.  Fortunately, where we are there is no danger of flooding.
Update to the update:  it is now 10:00 at night and it is still raining as hard as ever.  It has been raining since 11:30 this morning.
I just keep thinking about a little house that is on the road to this valley.  It is pieced together with sheets of tin and boards and tarps.  When we walked by that little house this morning, at around 11am, they had about 4 lines full of clothing strung up to dry.  If they brought all those clothes in before the rain started, it is inside their little house with no chance of drying.  Hopefully they themselves are staying dry inside their house.

It is 11:10 at night, and still raining hard.
It is 11:30 at night, and it is raining even harder!!