My Quilt Class

I started a small quilting group...would you believe in Spanish. I took this great picture of everyone working in my small converted bedroom. I am amazeed at their progress and they are pleased with their results.

Guess What's For Dinner?

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family !!

Serg went fishing today and caught himself a BIG ONE...and this in the small river behind the house. It absolutely made his day.

My sister in law was here this past week for a short visit. We worked the Farmer's Market together and then stayed in town for a beach party. We had a great time.

I have been very busy working on all my sewing projects. I had to buy a new iron this week as my old one finally gave out. It did not owe my anything as I have racked up many miles on it.

Have a great day....Fish anyone?

MY HOW FAST THEY GROW

Gosh it has been a long time since I have updated my blog. The girls have grown into full fledge trouble makers and I have been very busy with all my sewing projects.

It has been a very dry winter here, with very little rain. I hope we don't pay for it when the summer months arrive.

I have also been busy with a small quilting class on Wednesday nights. One of the 4 women speaks English so I try my best to talk in Spanish. We completed a small project that was a Christmas Tree Quilt Block 12 x 12 and have now started a larger 30 x 30 sampler quilt. My dining room is no longer for eating. I have a complete workroom set up there.

Sergio keeps himself busy with all the landscaping and grounds work, with a little local fishing thrown in.

I hope that someday soon I can get high speed Internet at home. In the meantime...I am wishing you all good health!!

APOLOGIES FOR ALL THE TYPOS!

Somehow I haven't quite figured out how the spell check works on this blog site. After I think I have corrected my errors and post my blog, the misspells are still there. Have patience.

NOT QUITE RIPE YET

This is a photo of our Mango Tree behind the house. As you can see we have several large mangos in the making. Hopefully the will turn ripe and sweet before the birds didscover them, especially the larger birds, like toucans.

Sometime we take things for granted...In the tropics fruit is plentiful. But for all my "cold weather" friends...I will savor every mouthful.

Have you ever had mango pie?...It is delicous...just follow your apple pie recipe but add a liitle extra flour to the fruit as the mangos are particularly juicy.

FYI Costa Ricans also eat mangos while they are still green. They slice them up like apples and sprinkle them with salt. You will find vendors selling green mango slices at soccer games and on the highways.

Coconuts Anyone?

Every day is another adventure with these puppies. Today they managed to crack open a coconut and eat out the pulpy flesh. I caught a picture of Nelly at the end of the coconut. It takes alot of work to get to the bottom of the shell!

Today we had a beautiful rainstorm. It felt so good after such a long, hot summer. Soon the grass and everything will be green again. We are looking forward to that.

MY DOGGIE BAG

As I write this, my three baby girls are at the vet being neutered..is that the correct term for girl dogs? I am a very anxious mother....

The ride to the vet was very traumatic. Barfing and pooping from the bouncy car ride. And now no food for 24 hours. Hopefully all will go well.

This weekend a group is sponsoring a booth at the local fair to raise money for rescued dogs. They asked if I would like to make a donation for their raffle. So I sewed up this cute suede totebag. I like it!

"HONEY, WHAT'S FOR DINNER?"

Sergio got to do some real fishing the other day,and oh boy what a catch. He loves to fish but is usually happy to just get the line in the water. The other day he and 2 neighbors drove down to the coast and fished in a manly river.

Today is Easter Sunday and several people are coming over for a fish dinner. We wrapped the fish in banana leaves with butter, garlic, and herbs. The wrapped again in aluminum foil. Twenty minutes on the grill and they will be delicious.

I recently met a female artist from Canada who resides in Costa Rica half of the year. Her specialty is sculpture but she has recently been excited about textile arts. She has done some great pieces. She is a "free thinker" and just loves to mix fabrics with the unexpected. Last week we got together and tried some fabric dying. We dyed fabric with rusty nails, wires and old horseshoes. We printed with rubber stamps and fabric dyes. We just had a great time. She is helping me get "out of the box". My designs are always to rigid and symmetrical. It is great to have a new friend with similar interest...and the "all English" is great too!

Happy Easter to all of you.

WHAT'S THAT IN THE MANGO TREE?

Sorry that I have been a little lax in updating my blog. It just seems that with 4 dogs there is always something going on..like feeding...and feeding..and feeding...They eat everything..bananas, coconuts, guyabas, melon rinds, and even an occasional horse poop...YUKE! They are growing so quickly it is hard to believe that they are only 4 months old. You can see in the photo that they are almost twice the size of Snoopy by now.

Sorry that this is not a great photo of me but it is hard to get all 4 dogs in the same photo. The first 2 shots were x/rated as my blouse came unbuttoned in all the commotion.

The other day, much to my surprise, I found Snoopy up a Mango tree trying to get to a squirrel...who knew dogs could climb trees?

We are in the peak of the summer season so everything is hot, dry and brown. We are looking forward to the winter rains in May when everything will turn green again.

The other night the dogs were barking like crazy. Finally I got up off the sofa to see what was concerning them. We had about 12 cows that wandered into our yard to eat the grass. Good thing I got up to check.

That's all the news for now. Have a great day!

GROWING PUPPIES

My girls are growing up so fast. They each have their own personalities.

Mattie on the left is the largest in all her features. Her ears flop like an elephants when she runs, and then they get stuck inside out. I am thinking of having her ears pierced so that I could add some decorative weights. ((kidding!). Her face is square with a prominent jaw line, and her feet….oh my god, I am so glad that I do not have to buy shoes. Mattie’s personality is quiet and observant. She cocks her head left to right when you talk to her.

Nellie is in the middle. She is the lover of the group. She will put her paws on your lap, get nose to nose, and look you straight in the eye when you talk to her. She likes to cuddle and except for ruff-housing with her sisters she has a likeable personality.

Last, but not least, is Sasha on the right. She is the “diabla” of the group. She can’t sit still, doesn’t like to be picked up, refuses to come when called and instigates most of the trouble. She insists on bathing in their water bowl and continually makes a mess on the patio. But we love her as the others.

Snoopy has become much more accepting of the girls, but as they grow he starts to look older, shorter and chunkier. He is a big help to me when we all go for a walk. He knows the way and follows my commands. Snoopy plays the alpha dog and leads the pack.

Who knew that one day I would lay claim to be the caretaker to dogs, chickens, roosters, goats, and cows!! You never know where this life will lead you.

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM A FRIEND

First - Sorry the picture is sideways. Can't figure out how to flip it.

With the addition of the third puppy we built a larger kennel. The kennel is about 2.5’ x 4.5’ and 36” high with screens on the front, back, and top. The front screen is a locking door for easy access. The two sides walls have paneling with a 3.75” opening for additional ventilation.

About 5.30 AM today I heard the dogs scratching in their kennel. The local roosters tend to wake them up early. Our normal routine is to get up around 6.00 AM, let them loose, and feed them. But this morning, something did not sound quite right. I could hear a food bowl being kicked around the patio.

I came downstairs to find Nellie outside the kennel!! Obviously she had managed to escape, and the only possibility was through the side window. She must have stood on one of her sisters in order to scoot up and out.

Looks like I need to add screens to the windows!

Dog Emergency

All was quiet this morning. Breakfast consisted of the usual Purina variety for the young, growing canines, and eggs and toast for the middle aged homosapiens.

I stuck my head out the door for the routine head count and noticed that I was short one dog. I whistled and called for Sasha who I recognized was missing. In seconds she scampered around the corner towards me. At first I thought it was Mattie and that I was mistaken as to who was missing. But the cinnamon color of her fur indicated that I was correct on my first assumption. I looked closer, her eyes were swollen almost to the point of closing and her previously slender nose was now enlarged to the point of boxer like.

I immediately yelled to Sergio, “We have a dog problem…we have to get to the vet!” My concern was that she was having some kind of reaction, like a bee sting, and we needed to get her to the vet before she went into anaphylactic shock.

With Sasha in my arms, we corralled the other dogs into the kennel, locked the house and took off down the road to town. As you know, we have about 4 miles of dirt road. So the ride only compounded the problem. Now I had vomiting in addition to swelling.

Dr. Diana came to our immediate assistance. Sasha received an injection and we waited. One hour later the swelling was down somewhat. The speculation is that she was bit about the face and eyes by ants.

As I write this Sasha is back to her normal self and all four dogs are playing tug of war.

A happy ending to a long day.

With Three You Get Eggrolls

Yes, we adopted the third puppy, Sasha

Now we really have our hands full.

Snoopy has taken a liking to Sasha and so everyone is starting to get along better.

Just look at this photo.How could you not love them?

Cacti Anyone?

These new puppies will chew on anything. I have a small cactus garden and the spiny plants did not deter these chow hounds. In this picture they are munching on the top of a pineapple that they found in the yard. I guess pineapples are better than chewing on my shoes.

Snoopy is still adjusting to having two sisters. He has been on a hunger strike. Since we have to keep on eye on everyone, the new puppies are a little more work than I expected. But they are happy and sleeping through the night. Mothers of the world...."God love you!"

New Puppies

The girls arrived yesterday afternoon. And they are sooo cute. Nellie is on the left and Mattie on the right. But Snoopy wants nothing to do with them. He has been cowering in his dog house, avoiding their playful advances. I am sure that in time they will all be friends. Fortunately for the puppies they have a BIG yard in which to play.

Perhaps you heard the news about the earthquake in Costa Rica. Fortunately just a minor rumble here where we live,but about 4 hours north of here,lots of damage and lives lost. My brother in law suffered structural damage to hos business/residence. So they are all still a little shaky.

Sofia

Here are two pictures of Sofia. Isn't sge the cutest? When she got her dollhouse she wanted to know "Where is the bathroom, and carport?" Out of the mouth of babes.

Speaking of babes,Snoopy is going to have two twin "sisters" by the end of the week. The pups are 2 months old. So stay tuned for pictures of the new family members.

Handbags For Sale!

As many of you know I have been making handbags/totebags to keep me busy (a break from my quilting projects.) Serg and I thought that we would try to sell them at the local Farmer's Market.

Unfortunately Costa Rica does not have Craft Shows like in the USA. This is me setting up shop. Serg built me this great rack that takes up very little space and I can set up and breakdown easily.

I have only sold a few bags through this venue, but Serg LOVES spending the day talking to people. That is worth the price of admission.

We pack a lunch and spend the day. I am just trying to earn enough to support my fabric buying addiction!! WILL WORK FOR FABRIC.