Phil with my daily ration of yucca.

Today the men are harvesting Yucca and Malanga. How many interesting ways do you know how to prepare Yucca? Please send me your recipes, I need them. This week I look forward to making stuffed yucca, I will let you know how that goes.

Yucca fries are good, if you haven’t had them find your way to Pollo Tropical in the US and place an order. We made pumpkin fries this week using part of the giant pumpkin, they were very tasty. Erika mixed spices with corn starch and shook everything together in a baggie, then into the hot oil they went. Oh so good…I could eat these as a meal with a dab of ketchup. You can also make zucchini and eggplant into interesting fries.

The remainder of my pumpkin has been cooked, bagged and frozen for use in pumpkin bread. I don’t have a refrigerator, so I store my frozen foods at Erika’s house. Not convenient, I should can stuff like this, I need canning jars, have not found them yet. It is always something.

I love the music of Ricardo Arjona, and today I found this article about him. I photographed it for you to read. You can hear his music video from a concert on the website of La Nacion, www.nacion.com You can also google his name to learn more about him. He is very famous. Who knew?

There are so many great performers and recording artists that I had never heard of before coming to Costa Rica, and I originally thought to myself, this person is good, he or she is going to make it. Then I google their name, and find out they have been famous for a very long tome, I just never heard of them on US radio. Too bad for us/you, because there are some really fantastic songwriter/singer artists in this world, and we are not hearing them. You do not need to speak Spanish to enjoy their music. In fact, there are songs that are recorded in both English and Spanish or Italian, that are so much better in their native language. Andreas Bocelli and Laura Pausini have a duet and the English version just does not have the same sensitivity and drama, the foreign version is magnificent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StYR-DYUBkw

Ricky Martin (yeah, he is still famous, more so than ever, and making music) and Eros Ramazotti have a duet that I love. This duet is how I discovered Eros Ramazotti (his real name). I thought, this is good, really good, as I watched it 50 times in a row, he must be somebody or Ricky would not be making a duet with him. Then I googled him, he has been a giant star for many years, the Russians and Europeans love him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_8cE8WbxF0 He has done duets with many US known artists such as Tina Turner, Anastacia (I love this video, their voices are as if they were one) and Joe Cocker. You can find his videos in concert on you-tube. Anastacia is American, but you don’t hear her on your radio. You may remember her name, she had a hit, then cancer, we forgot her, Europe did not. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTdm-ip8wa8

It is my observation, that Ricky Martin is loved and respected by the latin world for who he is, and what he does as a human being. It is not just for his music, Ricky did not forget where he came from, and that is where he gives his time and money, to the children of Puerto Rico. Good for him!

I could write pages about artists that you never heard of, Canny Garcia, is another of those artists that you should google and learn more about.

The beautiful volcano as seen from our farm.

Yes, that is smoke coming out of the volcano. Blue sky, a backdrop of the beautiful volcano, horses, and a pretty chica. This is perfect!

What do beautiful horses need? Great riders, an excellent trainer and a beautiful, skilled Chica horsewoman of course. Our young woman is the trainers daughter, Laura. The male rider is our friend and neighbor, Johnny.

Today was horseshoeing and training day. The trainer and his daughter came this morning and started training our young pinto, Tina Turner. Tina is highly opinionated and spirited, but she came a long way today. Next was Phil’s little girl, Amorsita, and she was wonderful. A little training, and then came the pad, saddle, a male rider and then the trainers daughter. Amorsita took it in stride, no problems.

We gave the horses a bath, while they were fitted for shoes. I was combing out one of the horses tails, and Felipe told Erika to close a gate which then spooked the horse. I ended up sitting in a pile of fresh, warm, oozing horse poop which cradled my fall on my well cushioned backside. Time for a shower and clothing change, yuck. Actually, I like the earthy smell of farm animals, it does not bother me at all. I probably should not be sitting in fresh piles and being knocked down is not good for my bones. Tomorrow morning I will feel as stiff as the tin man. Nonetheless, it was a good day in paradise.

Marcos is wearing the white pointed hat.

Our lead man Marcos, most likely has gallstones, he was previously tested and diagnosed, they gave him some tums or milk of magnesia and sent him home. Neither of those “medications” are appropriate for gallstones. Today Phil took Marcos to the caja because his pain is so severe. The caja is the government clinic that accepts his insurance. They sent him to several other places, including the hospital to have more testing done. Costa Ricans are big on paper work, testing and rubber stamps. Marcos had already been tested, which is how we know he has gallstones. The hospital set Marcos up with an appointment to be tested all over again, on May 20th, 2010. Can you believe it, May of 2010. Marcos said, “I’ll be dead by then.” Phil told him that was their plan, they could save money by only seeing those who survive.

Lucky for Marcos, he has me, or unlucky for Marcos depending on who is drinking my concoction. Today we start my all natural gallstone elimination treatment, I read it in a book. It will end by tomorrow morning and he will either be cured, or not. I don’t offer guarantees, you don’t need to wait until May of 2010, and I don’t charge. Often, I even have success. I don’t however diagnose, you need to know what ails you, and I have my limitations as I have no credentials whatsoever, other than I can read, and I have books. Does that count? No, I didn’t think so. But, when you live on the end of the road to nowhere, and the hospital gives you an appointment a year from now, I am, what you get.

Update 6-21-09:

It took until 11:30pm for Marcos to finish drinking the gallstone elimination concoction. He feels much better this morning.

I have given orders; no more fried food, margarine, fat, coffee, sugar. Chamomile or other herbal tea such as fresh ginger or mint will replace the coffee He can eat unlimited fresh fruit, lots of bananas and papaya, poached fish, and I sent over some hard boiled eggs for today’s protein but he could eat rice and beans if they leave out the oil or grease. Costa Ricans are big on oil, grease and margarine. They believe margarine is good for you. 75% of his diet should now be raw vegetables and salads with lemon juice and olive oil for dressing. This is going to be a difficult adjustment for both him and his wife. Zennia will need to learn another way to prepare their meals in a more healthy way that will benefit the entire family.

A spoonful of olive oil and a spoonful of lemon juice first thing in the morning, as a preventative measure should keep Marcos gallstone free. In 6 weeks, he will repeat last night’s treatment to make sure all of the stone have been eliminated.


Update, 6-25-09:

Marcos is taking one big spoonful of both olive oil and fresh lemon juice every morning on an empty stomach. He misses his coffee. I believe he is still eating fried foods, as he brought over a plate of fried fish because he was feeling so much better. It is hard to change cooking and eating habits. He still has occasional discomfort, probably still has some stones, but he is not in pain. We will do the second treatment as planned and I will continue to try and teach them healthier eating choices. This is difficult because they are resistant to change for many reasons.

Thank you for helping this beautiful 13 year old Cabecar child. Your gifts put shoes on her feet and gave her warmth and love.

Our farm is in a rainforest and a cloud forest, it is always green and lush.

Feeding cows is hard work, our man Carlos is an expert.

First thing in the morning the men cut grass and bring breakfast to the cows. This morning I drove the Rhino pulling the trailer and photographed the event.

I love clouds and their magic. So I will share the clouds in my life today.

Yesterday my friend Dan and I found shoes to fit these Cabecar indigenous children from the reservation.

Dana visited and brought clothing, shoes, and backpacks. Thanks Dana.

I also want to thank all of you who have donated, and I have no idea who you are. Thank you so much.

My daughter Erika riding at the farm.

Yesterday I spotted this big beefy lizard with a sail, sunning himself by the coffee mill. He was every bit of 18 inches long.

Bat in the House

Two nights ago we found a bat of about 5 inches from wing tip to wing tip, flying in the house. Come morning we were unable to locate him. How did he get in? He probably just flew in when we were loading packages from the car to the house in the evening after a day of shopping.

Last night just after dinner (we eat and live by candlelight), our bat was flying fast in the twilighted room with the grace of a butterfly. He zoomed through the rooms and doorways buzzing us as he went by. After several failed attempts to seal off our living area (too many openings) we opened the kitchen door and the French doors. Our bat circled a few more times and gracefully exited through the French doors.

The wildlife here is amazing, I really enjoy learning about the many different varieties of bats that we have including fruit bats and vampire bats. They hang together, but their actions are very different. The vampire bats can walk on their elbows in the pasture where they wait for an animal such as our cows. They prefer wild animals, but a cow will do. When the animal walks by they spring up and scratch it leaving an anticoagulant so the animal continues to dribble blood. The blood gets on the bat and when they go back to their bat cave, they lick each other. Fruit bats do not lick, only the vampires lick and lick blood. If you put a vampicide cream on your cows, the vampire bats will return to the cave with the vampicide on them. Then the licking begins amongst the vampires, while the fruit bats hang and safely go to sleep.

You can catch the vampire bats in nets, I am not sure what you do with them then, but the nets have not been available to us so far.

Bats are very interesting and necessary for many reasons. If you have interest, you should google bats and find out more.

Wednesday April 15th, 09

I wrote the above piece this morning. This evening we sat down to an Italian feast from the garden, and lit the customary candles for dinner light. We were immediately buzzed by Bat Boy. I don’t think it was the same one, this one seemed smaller. I opened the French doors and have not seen him again this evening. Hmmm, where are they getting in? They can enter through a space no larger than the width of your little finger. When we find bats on the floor, we pick them up and launch them. These are always the fruit bats as the vampires do not need our help, they can jump up and launch themselves. In our previous house, we found them often. This is the first time we have had them in the new house. Wow, what a life we have here…

The volcano is smoking and it is another wonderful day.

Weiner and Bule going to dinner.

Some 30 years ago, a previous owner of our farm had the idea of making money by planting a monoculture pine plantation where a natural forest once stood. Monocultures are never the right way to go, and pine is not indigenous to our area.

We made the decision to remove the pine and use the proceeds to rehab the land back to the diversified forest it originally and potentially would have been. A forest of mixed species is what is right for the regional wildlife and for the forest. Monocultures are easily infested or plagued and pine is simply not supposed to be here. These pines had a borer and it was their time to go before they deteriorated.

Our farm has a 14 acre pine forest with about 500 trees, that have reached maturity. We explored harvesting the pines ourselves but this was a job for professionals due to the steep terrain, mud, weather, permits required, equipment, tractor, transport and the difficulty of removing such large trees without someone dying.

We spoke with a number of loggers, received quotes, and decided that the lumber mill we frequent, was the most honest and qualified for this job. We are happy with their work, their diligence and timeliness (they show up, lets not forget that this is the land of manana and quince dias).

This morning when they had loaded the tractor trailer, they came down on the very rugged goat trail of a road, crossed our big river (no bridge) with the tractor trailer loaded, and when they arrived at our house, I took these photos. The road going up is so difficult, their 4 wheel drive tractor helps to pull them up and over the very rough spots. The experienced driver is able to make the hairpin turns like the pro he is.

The cow babies were hanging out after lunch today and Bulle Boy, their dad was resting nearby with his girls. What a life. The herd is fed like royalty, their food is cut, chopped and brought to them. They do have to swallow, all by themselves. Their poop is later collected, put into the biodigester and methane gas is produced. The byproduct is perfect fertilizer for the crops. No, we do not eat the cows, but you can feed them and pet them. The cows are not that friendly, but the bull is docile. Vida Esperanza!!!

I am so thankful that I live high in the mountains, have cool temperatures and pure water, because down below, it is hot, hot, hot!!! I drove to La Suiza to run errands and the heat was stifling, I could not wait to head back up. Even on one of our hot, sunny days, the air is cool, and when you go in the shade the air can be cold. I wear flannel or a sweatshirt everyday for at least part of the day and I sleep in sweats with a quilt. It is in the 60’s at night except for when it is in the upper 50’s. I love these temperatures on the farm.

For non electric entertainment, Phil reads novels or stories to us. This week he is reading a novel by Jane Hamilton the author of The Book of Ruth. The Short History of a Prince, is very funny, Jane Hamilton really has a way with words.

We get comfy in our big bed after dinner is finished and put away, my daughter Erika joins us, all bundled up in sweats with a pillow and blanket, and Phil reads in the dark wearing a headlamp. He is an interesting reader and I look forward to this time of night. Fortunately he came up with our latest read, we are out of books worth reading and always look forward to Vanity Fair magazine articles which we can now by at the Maxi Bodega. When there is no new reading material I suffer through riveting scientific farm articles like the miracle of bokashi compost, or sustainable black water systems. Please bring good books when you visit, old, used and paperback are just fine.