There are more pictures of the house and views of the land surrounding us this week, and pictures or two of our new neighbors. No, we don’t own all the land (actually just a thumb’s worth compared to the area in general) but I feel we do “own” the stunning views from our property! This was a good week overall. The workers finished making the patio and laying the sod in the front and side yards. I love instant grass by the way. Why seed when someone else can grow the grass for you!? So, all we have left now is [View Full Entry]

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Yes, another blog entry. The pictures for this entry are pretty random, but basically were taken this week while our workers were putting in our new patio and grass. So, why another blog update so soon? Well, because I am sitting in an office near the San Jose airport, waiting for over an hour to meet the inspector who will go over Beth and my goods that finally arrived from the U.S. I was on time at 2pm as requested, but the inspector was late of course. This is the part of moving to a foreign country that I hate—form, waiting, [View Full Entry]

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Today, I took a trip down to one of the many “farmacias” or pharmacies in town to get a refill on a prescription that I had filled originally in the U.S. The thing about it, though, is you don’t need a prescription in most cases. Just tell them what you want, and you’ll get it. Usually, I’ve found it is best to bring in the old pill bottle or box and just show it to them and they’ll give you exactly the same thing or a generic version. While, as I’ve said, there are many farmacias in San Ramon, I like [View Full Entry]

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The week started off nicely on Sunday with a full house of guests brought by George Lundquist, (www.costaricaretireonss.com) one of the people here who do “retirement tours” for people—mostly North Americans—considering spending their latter years (or not so latter years) in this beautiful country. It’s a nice tour and I’m glad he comes to stay with us every month at Angel Valley Farm B&B. He gives a great “insiders” view of Costa Rica and shows his clients property for sale throughout the Central Valley. I am still amazed at the prices here for which one can buy a nice piece of [View Full Entry]

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Mr. Green Thumb Gets to Work In Beth’s absence this week in addition to the copious amount of marketing work I got done, I also did some gardening, believe it or not! Yes, many of you know my gardening skills. I took Carol, our cleaning lady and her son (see picture with her son “Brianaire”) to La Garita one afternoon, a beautiful town just south of here where there are many garden shops with a variety of plants and flowers. Until my Spanish improves, I thought it important to bring a Spanish speaker and she has a good eye for this [View Full Entry]

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My good friend Andrew L. suggested that I update my blog more often, even if I have less to say, rather than letting a long time go between updates. He believes that people want more frequent updates. I agree. I also think I need to balance frequent updates with good “content,” as they say in the business (it’s not personal, “it’s only business”). I don’t want my readers to get bored! So, I need to have at least mildly interesting things to say. I am surprised no one has commented yet on my last blog entry given it was 7 weeks [View Full Entry]

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There is so much to write, and so little time, but I’ll guess I’ll put off what I need to do until manana. Why not? Everyone else does here! Yes, it has been about 7.5 weeks since I last updated my blog, so this could be a lengthy one! I did not purposely avoid writing my blog however. As some of you know, I had some surgery in the states and was not allowed to fly for one month. So, I knew I’d be in the states for about that time. However, what I didn’t know then is that I’d develop [View Full Entry]

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While I was told this by many people before arriving in Costa Rica, you have to experience it to know it and, that is this: Living in a foreign country is much different than being a tourist in one. Sounds obvious, but until you do it, you just don’t know what is in store for you. So, today’s blog entry is devoted to some of the routine things one does in a foreign country to get things done. First, several of you have asked about our adopted dog, Jack. Well, despite our best efforts, Jack is a roamer. He left over [View Full Entry]

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[I have not updated my blog in about 10 days for a variety of reasons which you’ll read about. Also, PLEASE NOTE: Some of this week’s entry is rated “P.G.” (not so bad really—but you are forewarned!] I took a short break from Angel Valley Farm B&B for five days to do a Pacific Coast road trip. I traveled with new friends Joe and Jen (not quite married yet), and Jen’s Uncle Ed. Joe and Jen started on July 4, managing “Vida Tropical,” our sister B&B in Alajuela, near the airport. Jen’s Uncle Ed is considering retiring here. There are some [View Full Entry]

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My friend Randy asked in an email recently how I was dealing with communication issues here. In other words, how are we getting along given Beth and I don’t speak much Spanish (that’s a huge understatement!). Well, so far we have been getting by okay. What I try to do, right or wrong, is to listen for key words I understand like “trabajo” (work) or “precio” (price) or “bano” (bathroom!) and then haphazardly put together what a Tico is trying to explain to me. This method seems to work for me but it certainly isn’t enough to be a full time [View Full Entry]

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