This morning I Ubered back down to Grecia to do some more casita furnishing shopping. I got some more money out of an ATM  because why not — and just to be sure I still have some in my pocket after I pay two months’ rent tomorrow (one of them a security deposit) and for the days I’ll be staying there between now and October 1st when the lease officially begins.

 

On the way back from the bank as I walked toward my Uber drop off place in front of Cafe Delicias, I spotted a fabric shop and walked in to find a bath mat-thickness piece of material to cover the metal shelf Melaney gave me (see below) so I can devise a way for Charli to get up the ladder to the loft in her room safely. I found one, a maroon colored piece and had the customer service lady cut off a piece of the required length.

Metal shelf, before

H

Metal shelf, after…

 

Then I hit Mondo Magico again to see if they had two items I’ve been seeking (a microwave and an air fryer). I don’t think the rental has those.  MM didn’t have either of them, so I asked if they had zip ties. They didn’t have those either but they pointed down the street to a hardware store where they believed I might find them. They did have them, plus some other things on my list: a radio, flashlight and bungee cords (to finish the project you see above).

Next I returned to MM’s location and then hopped across the street to enter a labyrinth of tico shops that all reside under a single roof and appear to take up most of an entire block. In each stall were shop keepers offering fruits, meat, meals, hair color (finally found a shop that carries my hair color! Hurray!), toys, you name it. I got some sea anenome fruits again (I’m having a hard time remembering the actual name of this fruit) and some potatoes.

Then I hopped back across the street again to have desayuno at Cafe Delicias.  Here’s a picture of what I had:

 

The shopping spree weighed me down again so I called an Uber to come get me. I asked the driver if he would stop briefly at Mas por Menos to allow me to pick up two items mas rapido (toilet paper — yes, finally!! — and breakfast cereal).  He agreed to do that and then he drove me back to VE.  I gave him a nice tip — the largest one allowed by Uber down here (about $5, more than the cost of the entire trip itself).

 

When I got back, Melaney and Laurie were sitting in the community area so I stopped by, grinning like a Cheshire cat apparently, because Melaney mentioned that I was glowing with joy (paraphrasing here). They expressed how happy they are that everything fell into place for me, and I let them know how much I appreciated their hand in making that happen.

 

I walked back into my hotel room, pulled off my shirt (it was getting warm) and started packing my new stuff into shopping bags so they can be loaded quickly and easily tomorrow.

 

Not long after, I heard a knock at the door and bolted for my shirt to put it back on. Melaney announced through the door, “It’s just me!” so I opened the door while pulling my shirt into place. With a grin, she said, “I brought you a housewarming gift.”

 

I said, “You did?! Oh my gosh!”

 

She hauled in a cat tree that she bought for Fiskar at Amazon that he never  even looked twice at. (He probably loved the box it came in, though!)  It is gorgeous and truly appears to be brand new.

 

She said, “If I’d  known you were going to get a cat tree, I would have brought this sooner and saved you the expense.”

 

I said, “Charli can’t have too many cat trees!  Thank you soooo much!  I love it! Charli will, too.” Here is an image of it:

Of course, then I said, “Oh, my gosh. I don’t think all this is going to fit in Jon’s vehicle tomorrow. If it doesn’t, would you bring the shelf and this cat tree by to me sometime?”  She said, “Sure. But if you take the cat trees apart, I bet it will all fit.”

 

So, I got out the allen wrench and took both of the cat trees apart. I am now cautiously optimistic that it will all fit into Jon’s vehicle, even the padded shelf, but if it doesn’t, Melaney will bring the shelf by some time or I can Uber it over.

 

Someone Left Two Coconuts on the setee outside my hotel room here

 

No one has confessed, but I didn’t know what they were because these cocunuts don’t look like Hawaiian coconuts on the outside. They’re green and don’t look ripe

 

but the housekeeper assured me they are, and she cut one open with a sturdy knife (no easy task) and poured the coconut juice into a vaso (cup) for me to drink. It tasted mild and quite agreeable. So, now I have had my first experience with a Costa Rican coconut and I have an additional one to take to my casita tomorrow.  Salud!

 

I think that’s all for this time. Enjoy the rest of your day!