Pancakes and Flower Power - Our Life in Costa Rica Yr #3

I'm so happy that we have new neighbors that moved on our ridge a couple of months ago. AND, they are from the Bay Area. As a matter of fact they lived fairly close to where I lived for about 10 yrs. 

With many of the expats here, usually the biggest commonality is that we come from the US, but in this case it is even better because in addition to being from the same country, we are from the same local area and they live close enough for us to walk to their house (very important since we have no car). 

Anyway, yesterday they walked over to our house (which was an easy (?) 40 minute walk (for them) - we have not tried it yet) and we decided to go up to Isabel's (the restaurant where we have our Friday happy hour) and have breakfast. 

The place was full because there is another group of expats who go there for Sunday breakfast after their church service.

At any rate  -- we loved the breakfast!! The pancakes were the best I've had in Costa Rica and Isabel serves US style bacon (for any of you who still eat bacon). Costa Rican bacon (tocineta) is not the same, not sure why, and nothing against the local food, which we eat most of the time --

 but sometimes it's just nice to have food you are used to and also get to speak English 😁

enjoying a caramel latte @ Isabel's

After breakfast, we went back to their house (in the rental car my brother drove down from Tamarindo) and Kate gave us a tour of their garden. Gardens are quite the thing here since so many of us have lots of yard and beautiful views.

Her hubby is a coffee expert (they are also growing coffee on their land and roasting it themselves) He made espresso for us and we chatted on their patio for a while.

We had a beautiful Sunday!!

Kate picked some of her gorgeous hydrangeas and gave them to me to take home along with some yucca.

(I actually had enough for 3 separate flower arrangements) 

Thanks Kate because the hydrangeas in our yard are pretty pitiful - I must say!!

If you live in the cooler regions of Costa Rica you will see plenty of hydrangea flowers (Hydrangea macrophylla).

Originally from Japan, (the Spanish name is Hortencia). Hydrangea is common in the highlands of Costa Rica (we are at 4,200 ft). The shrubs are everywhere around our neighborhood with their large inflorescences of blue, pink or white flowers with coarse green leaves. If you look closely at the center of each flower, you will notice miniature flowers with petals, stamens and pistils. What looks like large showy petals of each flower are actually calyces (the sepals of a flower collectively, forming the outer floral envelope that protects the developing flower)

The root is considered a useful botanical tonic for the kidneys and bladder. However, the buds and young leaves are toxic.

In Costa Rica, hydrangea blossoms are most commonly blue, but interestingly enough, the blossoms change color depending on the soil. In acidic soils, the flowers are blue. In alkaline soils, they’re pink. White flowers indicate the soil is neutral. 

Pancakes & Flower Power from Devon on Vimeo.

What's that noise I hear? - Our Life in Costa Rica Yr #2

Uh huh, what did I tell you yesterday?
(email subscribers click link for video)

What's that noise I hear? from Devon on Vimeo.

Today in pictures - Our Life in Costa Rica Yr #2

We are nearing the end of the rainy season and the beginning of SUMMER in Costa Rica.
The days have been sunny and very pleasant up here on the ridge (it has been pretty hot in town)
The mornings sometime start with some fog over the mountains which usually clears by 7 or 8am.  Then sunny and warm all day!

The end of rainy season also means the beginning of the "windy" season. They call them the Xmas winds. So far it hasn't been that bad but if it's anything like last year - hold on to your hat!!

 Coffee is ripe all around us. I expect to see the pickers here any day now

Speaking of hats...I stored these in a plastic bag and put them in the closet in one of our bedrooms. That bedroom will be occupied shortly so I had to move them, but 1st I put them out on the line to air out and get rid of any signs of mold.

Houston I think we have papayas!!! We have the 2 trees that our housekeeper planted out back shortly after we arrived. According to research "Most healthy, established papaya trees (Carica papaya) bear fruit seven to 11 months after planting." Since we are going on 1 1/2 years here, it's pretty possible that these are papayas. 

Our 2nd tree shows no signs of fruit."Papayas express three different sexual forms: hermaphroditic, female and male. Female and hermaphroditic papayas are capable of bearing fruit, while male plants cannot. The flowers indicate which sex the plant is, although the differences are often subtle."

A Birthday at Mother's - Our Life in Costa Rica Y#2

Our friend and Spanish teacher, Shirley Murillo told us about a new restaurant that her family owns which opened just down the ridge from us in San Luis. She invited us to join her and her son Andrew last Sunday for his 16th birthday.

In reality the restaurant is probably only a little over a mile from our house but it takes about 15 minutes by car because part (about 1/2) of the road is unpaved and the ride is a bit "bumpy" (and I use that term loosely) LOL

Seriously though, the ride was not that bad but this is a good time to discuss "roads in Costa Rica".

I often get messages from people traveling here who want to go from point A to point B by car and because the distance looks short on the map they think that they can zip around quickly by "freeway" like they do back home in the states.

Usually NOT true! You must take into account the condition of the roads here and the weather.

Roads vary from well paved two-lane highways to pothole-ridden dirt roads with treacherous river crossings. Most of the roads in and around the capital of San Jose are nice and smooth, but once you get out of the city, conditions can change a lot. 

Costa Rica’s topography is extremely diverse, with everything from lofty mountains and low visibility cloud forest to flat plains and farm fields. While most areas are accessible without four-wheel drive, a few are not. Be sure to research in advance if a 4X4 is necessary to access the specific places you’ll be visiting.

You will find them on Facebook and more info on Que Pasa

Now back to Sunday. The "calles" off the main roads on our ridge (and probably on the other 4 ridges in Grecia) are often unpaved. So we were not surprised that the road to the restaurant was partially unpaved as well. We shot some video (included) of our ride to give you an idea of what it was like. The footage is raw so you will get to experience the bumps as we did (and the bumps interfere with the auto focus on the camera as well)

The big payoff, which is most often the case - at the end of the road - 
for us this time, was a quaint little restaurant perched high on the ridge with spectacular views, great food and service (they will prepare food for you "anyway you want it" - which is great for vegetarians and people with special diets) and a very friendly staff (all family members of Shirley's). 

Sunday is family day and the restaurant was packed! Many members of the Murillo family stopped in as well. The restaurant TVs carried a local futbol game between Grecia and La Liga (our rival in Alajuela).Unfortunately Grecia lost!😞

At one time the area was all coffee. The family's dream was to open a restaurant and so they did. Madre Tierra opened on June 29. 

The family still grows coffee which they serve in the restaurant (and is available for purchase). 

They are working to clear a hiking trail and soon to add a coffee tour.

That will be wonderful for our area.

We had a very good time! The restaurant goes on my recommended list!
If you come to town and want to experience a restaurant in Costa Rica away from the town center, be sure to check them out!

Now hang on for the ride and more scenes from the road and the restaurant!

A Birthday @ Madre’s from Devon on Vimeo.

Dirt by any other name - Our Life in Costa Rica

We decided to grow our own organic herbs.

This is Costa Rica  --  Everything is a process for us!

So first I needed to get some organic soil/fertilizer. I ordered it from Finca Organica (organic farm) which is located up the ridge from us. I ordered it on Friday and she brought it the following Friday for pick up at their stall in the feria.  She also brought me 4 types of herbs to plant.

Next she told me I needed dirt (a 60/40 split - dirt to the organic fertilizer). I have never really planted like this before so I assumed all I needed was what she brought me. Hmmm although we are surrounded by "dirt",  I wanted "clean" dirt.  Didn't want to use our dirt less it have pesticides from all the coffee plants growing around us.

So, I figured we would stop at our local vivero (nursery) and pick some up. How hard could that be?

Our taxi driver (and friend) Randall picked us up at our regular Friday pick up spot and I asked him to stop on the way home so I could get the dirt.

  He had given me the Spanish word for dirt (suciedad) but when we arrived, I was still a bit nervous about how to say it. He kindly volunteered to come in with me just so that the owner would understand exactly what I wanted.

When I told her I needed dirt, she looked at me with that puzzled look (which I recognize all too well by now, I think it means "crazy gringa" 😕)  as she quietly explained that I should get dirt from my yard. They don't really sell "dirt".

This was going to take some explaining.

After much discussion back and forth between she and Randall (he was trying to make my point about no pesticides). She went over to an area in the vivero and began shoveling soil.  She then went to another area and mixed it with a different kind of soil. In the end I had a big bag of organic soil. Randall tied it all up tight and lifted it to the top of the taxi for transport home.

Total cost $5

here's Randall trudging through all the dirt and helping as she shoveled it into a big bag for me. 

I will never get over the kindness of the people here who go out of their way to help you (with a smile) and once again I so appreciate Randall! I could NEVER have done this without his help 😘

Ta Da - here's my finished organic herb pot!!

Romero = Rosemary

Ruda = Rue

Tilo = Linden

Esdragon = Tarragon

Albahaca = Basil

Sabio = Sage

Unnamed herb - you make into tea for stomach issues (we bought it last yr)

 oh and BTW

this is

Costa Rica snow

the first signs of the coffee in bloom at our house

If you have not seen it before 

it's beautiful

and smells divine - just like jasmine

The Great American Coffee Swindle - The Café Exposé - Our Life in Costa Rica

The truth about the coffee you are drinking!

Below are 10 questions to test your knowledge of the coffee you buy and drink?

1. Should coffee be dark (i.e a cup of black coffee) or light like tea?

2. (a) Does the coffee you purchase at the store clearly state the type of beans used and/or the altitude in which the coffee was grown?  True/False 
(b) Is this information required by the FDA? True/False

3. Which are better small, wrinkled coffee beans or large, smooth coffee beans?

4. Which coffee beans are the best, MHB or SHB?

5. Nearly all commercial coffees sold pre-ground in cans or bags are blended? True/False

6. Is it good for a very light sheen of oils come to the surface after your coffee is roasted? True/False

7. Which is better coffee, Arabica or Robusta? 

8. Torrefacto refers to the process whereby sugar is added during the coffee bean roasting process? True/False

9. Americans pay among the highest prices in the world for coffee? True/False

10. Coffee is a $80 Billion dollar a year retail business.  Small coffee farmers usually end up with as little as, 4 cents a pound in profit? True/False

So who’s making all the dough and how are they pulling this off?  Let me tell you, it’s not just the farmers that are getting swindled. And that’s the story behind The Great Coffee Swindle.

This is an excellent, eye opening video. I found it to be extremely interesting and informative. If you are one of the 83% of Americans that drink coffee, you owe it to yourself to watch this. After, you should share this video with other friends and family.

It's time! - Our Life in Costa Rica

 Coffee season has arrived!

Each year coffee is harvested during the dry season when the coffee cherries are bright red, 
glossy and firm. 
They leave behind unripe, green beans to be harvested at a later time. 
Most coffee berries are handpicked from the plants. The berries are then taken to beneficios (processing plants), where they are washed and removed of pulp. The beans are then dried in the sun or by a machine. Afterwards, beans are sorted according to size and shape and sealed off in bags.

our coffee tour

Please click if you missed my post "Coffee Talk"  or the related video

Today as we walked to the bus, we could see the workers out picking the ripe, red coffee beans. It's a family affair including the pets.

coffee in our yard

These are the bags used to harvest the coffee beans

We have coffee in our backyard and Marcelo told us that the long rainy reason has caused problems for the coffee. I'm happy that they have started picking it.