February 1st already!!

Oh my, how time flies (such a cliché, but so true nonetheless). We had a great time with my mum, but I can't believe how quickly those two weeks went by even though we didn't do a great deal, the daily pace was rather relaxing. My mum continued with her walking routine (she created a route on our property) every single morning. She did her stretching exercises while we were busy tending to the animals or greenhouse. I took her to visit two sets of friends who have spectacular gardens and she was impressed with both. And one day she helped us by catching our dinner. Look how beautiful she is... what a pro! That's my mama!

One day, we had to take Bobbie in to get spayed ($20 U.S.) We were expecting to pick her up with a plastic cone on her head to prevent her from licking and tugging at her stitches. When Kevin arrived at the vet's office, he inquired as to whether they would be putting one on. They said it wasn't necessary. I guess they don't do that here. Bobbie was too groggy at first to meddle with her stitches, but it didn't take long for her to perk up and lick incessantly. We were worried that she would rip her stitches open and get an infection so Kevin tried to make a cone out of cardboard... that didn't work. Then he made a little denim jacket from an old pair of jeans. He cut out holes for her legs and made sure her belly was sufficiently covered so she couldn't reach her stitches. It worked for about two days... then we'd find the jacket lying on the ground somewhere... she learned to wiggle out of it. Too clever for her own good, that one.

I drove Mum back to the airport last Wednesday. We woke up to rain and fog that day. The river was dirty and since we just bought baby trout, Kevin elected to stay behind and take care of the aqueduct system to make sure the water coming into their tank was as clean as possible. It was a miserable day and he had to check on them every half hour.

Mum and I drove into San Jose without incident and by the time we arrived into the city the skies were clear blue. When we got to the airport, there were security guards at every door. No one was allowed in except travellers. I had to say goodbye to Mum outside the airport doors and let her cope inside on her own. I felt so bad. My mum is very capable and it's not her first time flying alone, but still, I wanted to make sure there were no other hiccups (she had received an email notice on the Monday saying her flight had been cancelled and Kevin spent that day on the phone trying to secure another flight, and was able to book her on a later flight).

I waited by the sliding doors for about 20 minutes and explained that I was worried that my mother might be having trouble communicating with the check-in clerk. The security guard let me go through reluctantly. I ran down the hallway to the check-in counter where I saw Mum finishing up. She had paid the exit tax, filled out the customs form, and checked her luggage. I waved and she was surprised, but pleased, to see me. I led her to the security area and said one last goodbye. As I walked through the sliding door to leave the airport, I thanked the security guard again and asked if this was a new rule. She told me – in Spanish – that the President was landing and security was heightened for that reason. This was not typical nor was it a new rule.

I didn't waste any time to get back home. By the time I was on the edge of the city moving closer to the mountains, the sky got more and more grey: it rained all the way home from there.

The next day, I heard (from our friend Roberto) that same stretch of road (at the bottom of the mountain outside Cartago) had washed away. About 100 metres (110 yards) worth of road. It will be closed for repairs for the next month or so. I'm thanking my lucky stars we were there the day before.

And now, we have lovely B&B guests from England staying with us. They booked for two nights but have decided to stay a third night. We're happy we have availability... we're pretty much booked for most of February. It's going to be a busy month for us. Someone phoned last week from Costa Rica and wanted to book our guesthouse for two weeks in February: unfortunately, we couldn't accommodate them. We found out that this person called our worker, Martin, to ask if he knew of any other place he could book... apparently the whole Los Santos region is fully booked. Looks like tourism is in full force. Nice!