May Changes

Afternoon of Heavy Rain

Now that the rainy season has started; which brings afternoon rains, we have stood amazed at the deluge of water a few hours of rain can bring down a mountain. We have never lived on a mountain before so this is all new to us.

The easiest way out of Serenity is crossing what has been a little river. But the deluge has seriously washed away the land bridge (tubes underneath to drain water) we normally drive over. Two afternoons of rain last week brought so much water down of what was a quiet stream, that the strong current washed away the road bed and left us with a difficult drive over it. And forget about driving over the stream during the deluge, the current is strong enough to wash a car down the river or at least cause serious damage. There is another way out going further up the mountain in Serenity and across the mountain top by the Community Center. But that road is VERY steep and washed out. It is supposed to be worked on this week to improve the drive up. Hopefully we won't have any emergencies and need to leave Serenity when it is raining hard because neither way out is safe right now in a heavy rain. We obviously need a bridge but not sure when that will happen. But no doubt, we need a new bridge before August when even heavier rains will come for 3 to 4 months.

 Before Picture--We can easily walk across the bridge, unto the rock and climb down to a little pool of water below the falls for swimming.

After Picture--This is what happens to the river after a few hours of hard rain.

  Look for the little bridge in lower left corner!  No swimming today!

This is the "lazy" stream crossing after a hard rain.

  You can't really get the feel for the torrent of water it has produced by looking at the picture. 
We couldn't drive across until the next morning.

House Update

The stairways are constructed in our new house so I got to go upstairs for the first time this past weekend. It is going to be a great area for guests. It is exciting to think about many of our family and friends visiting Costa Rica and us. Don’t make plans to come until after the holidays though unless you really like rain. The rainiest months are September, October and November. That leaves December as a month of transition into the dry season but really...do you want to travel at a time of heavy holiday traffic and high air-fares? Best to wait for January through April. I am liking this May weather also, it is cooler but you do have rainy afternoons.

 That whole upstairs area is for guests!  I had told John for me to be able to move to Costa Rica,

 I had to have a guest area.

All the "green" should be plastered or this week. The house will be stucco. 

Mangoes, Mangoes Everywhere!

This is the high season for mangoes in southern Costa Rica. They grow up and down our mountain road, really an exciting sight to see. The market has them pretty cheap too. I didn't know there are different types of mangoes. The smaller mangoes are the sweetest and less fibrous. What to do with all these mangoes...? Fruit smoothies, tomato salsa (a chopped mango adds a nice dimension), mango salsa for fish (delicious!), jam, salads and more. Never has my kitchen been so filled with tropical fruit. I also chopped and freeze all types of fruit for frozen fruit smoothies, makes it very much like sherbet.

Diane with a new friend, Jaden, one of our builder's daughters.

Water Apples

We have water apples galore on our property. There are so many falling to the ground that it smells like vinegar standing on the veranda! Water apples are very popular here, I will have to ask what they do with them. We really aren't fond of them eating them like an apple as they are soft in texture. They would be good in smoothies and would like to try making water apple preserves.

We had a green banana ceviche at a party. It was amazing. I really need to get the recipe for that! It reminded me of potato salad! I put Aldemar on the hunt for the recipe.

Relearning Nature

Trees down here behave very oddly to someone that hails from Michigan. The fruit trees often have 2 or more crops and some trees, like the mandarin lemons, bear year round. Leaves on some trees fall off only to be replaced the next week! We have seen orange trees with new blossoms that are also producing fruit of all stages, some of the fruit near maturity. There is so much to learn about nature in Costa Rica. Since we love nature, it is exciting for us to discover new things about it.