Another goodbye

It's always so hard to say goodbye, especially when it's been such a short visit. Kevin's mum, Mary, and his sister, Karen, were great company for the past week. We went on a few hikes and ATV rides. We went to San Gerardo and went on a coffee processing plant tour. Mary taught me the names of some of the garden flowers, which I've forgotten already. I'm hopeless when it comes to flower names, just hopeless, but I appreciated her sharing the knowledge she's gained over the years. And Karen gave us a hand on Tuesday, helping me gather all the wood chips left by the chainsaw when the men were chopping our trees. While I was gathering all the dry chips on the river bank, Karen was standing precariously on slick rocks and shovelling wet chips into bags. Dry chips are light. Wet chips are heavy.... and, well, wet! But Karen is a trooper. She's always ready to get her hands dirty and never complains and won't stop till the job is done. She's incredibly strong, too. Then we carried the large bags over our shoulder to higher ground, where Kevin would later take them away in the ATV's trailer. We did work hard that one morning, but we also had lots of time to relax and enjoy each other's company throughout the week, which was really nice. I know Kevin was very happy to have the opportunity to spend time with them both.

No time to wallow, however, as we have guests arriving tomorrow afternoon. The show must go on.

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