Tag: terrace

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Cloudy Without Rain

Cloudy Without Rain Currently in Atenas, Costa Rica  – Well, by 3:30 rain was here!  🙂
As seen from my terrace. 

THIS WEEK’S TRIP
Estoy muy ocupada ahora. “I am very busy right now” getting ready for the longest trip yet since moving to Costa Rica, nine days with travel! And as usual when busy, I forgot something important: to pay my CAJA (CR Medicare) by the deadline Friday and will pay Monday and find out if there is a penalty for being late. It and my rent are the only two regular payment I have been unable to secure “auto-debit” for. After class Monday morning I will spend time in the bank (longer lines on Monday) paying that bill and securing U.S Dollars which is what they want at the border and pretty much everywhere in Panama, as their default currency.

I’ve made two bus trips to Alajuela for internet order pickups for the trip. I got a second camera body so I will not have to remove one from the 600mm lens which I will use most, but sometimes will need one of my 3 other lenses. And I finally replaced my camera backpack which was stolen in Puntarenas a couple of years ago. And still dealing with computer people on the change of my website to WordPress and basically starting all over rebuilding the site. After the trip I will try to move my blog from Blogger to WordPress as part of my website, but the Panama trip photos will be shared on Blogger. 
Tuesday afternoon I go to a free night (Hilton Honors points) at the Hampton Inn Airport, since the Caribe Fun tour bus will pick me up at 5 am at any San Jose hotel the next morning. Then all day Wednesday by bus to Bocas del Toro, Panama with a lunch stop at one of my favorite hotels, Banana Azul in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. I get there late afternoon with only the border crossing uncertain about time. The last leg of trip is by boat to an island for my ecolodge, Tranquilo Bay. 7 nights there and then all day the following Wednesday to return home by way of the airport, though not all night on return. It will be a new kind of adventure both on the water and on the van.

¡Pura Vida!
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A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book

Even if the book is on my Kindle Fire!
My favorite place to read: on terrace at table or in rocking chair.

And for my friends on “Goodreads” note that they usually only show 2 books being read at a time and I almost always have more in process as my interests change, plus one is a daily devotional book which will take a year. My biggest escape right now is another re-read of another Harry Potter book, then I’ll go back to another mystery unless I find an adventure book that appeals to me. I have television only because it comes with the best price for internet which I must have. I seldom watch television. I’m mostly a “doing person” who is now “doing” things with my photography or simply making more photos! And of course the doing the essentials of life that can take a good bit of one’s time! But in my reading I think I am expanding some the types of books I read, though at my stage of life the most important is reading for fun! Which I do!  🙂 And I no longer feel guilty starting a book and not finishing it. That’s okay!  
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Maybe My 2 Most Frequent Visitors

These two I see from my terrace every day and possibly more often than any other birds.

Rufous-naped Wren
Seen at breakfast from my terrace, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
White-ringed Flycatcher
Seen at breakfast from my terrace, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
Similar to the very common
Social Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee & Boat-billed Flycatcher.
But white on head makes a complete ring around his head
and Kiskadee & Boat-billed are noticeably larger with larger bills.

See also my BIRDS Photo Gallery

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The Missed Birds!

Many Pass Through this Dead Tree at end of my terrace.
Yesterday I had no camera when
two Keel-billed Toucans stopped momentarily & then up the hill!
and a few days ago
A Blue-crowned Motmot landed in this same tree, briefly!
Links are to one of my photos of that same bird made elsewhere.

I think the toucans were looking at my Cecropia Tree (Arbole Guarumo o Yagrumo) which is suppose to attract toucans. So far that is as close to the Cecropia as I have seen them yet. Eventually! Pura Vida!

The dead tree is soon to be cut down, so maybe that will make the Cecropia more appealing! 🙂
The Cecropia or Guarumo o Yagrumo Tree beside my terrace (a deck in the states).
And remember that I put Spanish words/names in red (when I remember).  🙂
Toucans love this tree, but mine is still young, so eventually it will get toucans.
And for the birds I did get photos of, see my BIRDS PHOTO GALLERY
Or maybe you would like more trees in my FLORA & FORESTS GALLERY

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Chrysina Beetle

Chrysina Beetle
On my terrace, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

Chrysina Beetle
On my terrace, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

The identification is not certain but the closest name I could find for this guy who was dead for my morning sweep of the terrace. He appears to be one of the Scarab Beetles and the closest match photo online was a Chrysina. They also get upside-down or on their back when they are alive and it is funny to watch them try so hard to turn over. Sometimes they never make it. If I have the porch light on very long I get a lot of these and other beetles and other kinds of bugs. Beetles are the most numerous category of insects in Costa Rica.  
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New Flowerpots

I replaced the ugly yellow & orange pots with these more attractive ones.
And the little round one on left is new with assorted greenery & a peace lily.
The second pot is ornamental grass I cut back for the transplanting,
It grows back quick here! Behind post is a bougainvillea that was in plastic! 

The greenery by the rocking chairs
looks much better in new pot!

And the living room plant looks
better in the new pot also! I think.

My newest indoor plant is this palm in
my bedroom with philodendron ivy at base.

I may have told you that my artist friend Anthony has returned from 9 months of traveling in Spain and Morocco and has moved into the house next door that was occupied by Don & Lynda who moved back to Oregon. Before traveling, Anthony lived on the other side of me in someone else’s casita (a small house most big house owners have for guests or rental.). He is the one who made my garden art bird sculpture. He really decorates well with a lot of plants and that motivated me to spruce mine up a little.

We just had a really good, slow, steady rain this afternoon for an hour or so. Garden loves it!

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Triquitraque or Flamevine Finally Blooming

Finally my concrete wall made pretty! Triquitraque or Flamevine

The triquitraque or flamevine I had planted 7 months ago started out with a burst of growth and then just quit and never bloomed much. So Jean-Luc suggested I feed them since the construction site soil was not particularly rich and I thus added a fertilizer, sort of a 12-12-12 from the La Coope Farm Store. Wow! what a difference it made! They grew and got greener and are now just starting to bloom. I think there will be more, but I’m sharing what I have now and I’m pleased! It kind of makes up for the Porterweed not blooming now. Both attract hummingbirds.

From above the flamevine contrasts nicely with the blue plumbago below.
I love it when a plan comes together!   🙂
And just in time for the visit here by Reagan Frazier from Nashville.
Photographed here on his camera on my terrace overlooking Atenas.
Thanks to Reagan for snapping this photo of me at the San Jose Airport!
I promise to give a warm welcome to anyone who comes to visit. Pura Vida!

Reagan arrived yesterday afternoon and today we took it easy, walking around Atenas Central a little and eating a typical Tico lunch or “Casado.” Tomorrow we start with a Tico Breakfast with a beautiful view at Casita del Cafe and then drive to Poas Volcano and the La Paz waterfalls so he can feel like a real tourist!  🙂   Follow Reagan’s Blog for his view of the visit here!

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New Terrace Table & Chairs

I asked my landlord if I could have new cushions or cushion covers for the 4 large, clunky chairs with the large glass-topped table where I eat most meals. He agreed that they were very worn, dirty and some with broken zipper and Velcro tabs. So he said he would get one of his workers to find a seamstress to make new ones! (That’s the Tico way!) I go on the healthcare tour for 3 days and return to find a brand new table and chairs! I suspect it was cheaper to get this smaller, lighter-weight set than get new cushions if even available. So I have something brand new and fresh for my guest coming a week from Tuesday! And I like it! Even the smaller size!

There are a lot of advantages to renting! New furniture is one!  🙂
It makes the terrace look larger!
And looks good from inside too! I like it better than the old one!
Fresh and airy! New and clean!
I’m ready for Reagan now!
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Yellow Bells Keep Increasing!

 

Up close they are a very bright yellow trumpet-shaped flower

The Yellow Bells are blooming earlier than I expected or remember from last year and do hope they are still around when Reagan arrives in February. They started with a few blooms on the high tips of limbs that get the most sun and are now spreading all over. They do attract hummingbirds!

From my lunch table today at about 1:30 facing NW.

 

From the street today at 2:00 PM (bad time for photo)
An even worse image at 2:00 PM but you can see that my terrace is surrounded!

 

Bouquets on the terrace!

 

 

And color below my horizon views!

 

Plus they are already coloring the ground as blossoms drop!
A tree in my neighbor’s yard.

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.~Luther Burbank

And I’ve added most of the new birds to my Costa Rica Birds photo gallery. It’s growing!
Pura Vida!