I’m at Posada Mimosa again today (Jon and Francisco’s home) dog-sitting Alice and Thio.  I arrived bearing bribes (aka treats) and almost immediately took up residence on “their” couch while Jon and Francisco finished eating their breakfast.

 

After breakfast, Jon harnessed and leashed the dogs so he and I could walk them around the acreage, which also helped cement the fact that I “belong” here today and am in charge while the men take Chris to the beach to celebrate his birthday.

 

They left for the beach about 20 minutes ago and all I’m hearing out of Alice and Thio are plaintive wailings, as if they’re asking, “Why did they go away and leave us behind?”  That’s worlds better than barking and snarling, which is what happened the first time I stayed here to watch over them.

 

Francisco cut up a papaya and put it in the bird feeder in the hope that the toucan (and other elusive native birds) will stop by while I’m here so I can see a wild one for the first time ever. I hope it works! I’m seated here at the table, where I can see the feeder at all times.  (Update: No luck this time!)

 

10:10 a.m.

 

I just walked to mini mart Los Molinos (up the hill from where I am) to get something for lunch. I brought soda crackers and a banana for breakfast, but that won’t carry me to 2:30 when Marianela returns to pick me up, so I left the dogs for fifteen minutes. They welcomed me back without any issues but they managed to shred part of the eensy weensy screen off the front door while I was away.  The much sturdier, larger screen remains, but there are tears and gaps in the tiny screen that overlaid it.  I hope Jon and Francisco have replacement screen for it.

 

11:00

 

First pee/poop opportunity accepted and accomplished. I let the dogs out separately so they don’t go running off together.  Even so, they both ran up the hill at first, before eliminating, probably to see if Jon and Francisco were arriving.  But no, they weren’t, so they came back and did their business.

 

After that, I took some pictures because the place has changed since I was here last. The Reina de la Noche plants have shed their blossoms, while other plants are in their blossoming season and blooming beautifully.

 

 

JUST ONE BIRD SIGHTING SO FAR

 

I’ve seen one bird at the bird/butterfly feeder, but if I move to get its picture, it flies away. It’s super alert, the size of a robin, and  ocher brown. It’s a species I’ve never seen in the U.S. in any of the places I lived.

 

I believe it is a clay-colored thrush, aka brown robin. If so, it is the national bird of Costa Rica.

 

I’ve seen some hummingbirds here today too but they’re so busy flitting around that I can’t get any of them in an image, unfortunately.

 

The fan is on in here; it’s warmer here (lower in altitide) than El Cajon, but not by any means hot; just humid.

 

Marianela

 

On the way to Posada Mimosa this morning, I reported to Marianela (in halting Spanish, but she understood!) that Jon and I are going to be volunteering to speak English with advanced and beginner English speakers on two different afternoons later this month. Marianela wants to learn more English and she has met and interacted with Jon and Francisco recently. In fact, Francisco (who has been taking English classes) let her know when the next class starts when we met for lunch last week at the Futbol Club (which is sometime in January) and Marianela is going to see about attending it.

 

But when I told her about the November dates, she lit up and said in Spanish that she wanted to go!  So I asked Jon about it and he said he will ask the person who invited him/us if it would be okay for her to audit the beginner’s class to get a feel for what it’s all about.  If so, that would be sooooo cool!  Although I’m getting better in Spanish, she’s feeling sub-par as an English speaker and wants to get better. As a driver and professionally trained masseus, knowing English would significantly bolster her ability to get more work from gringos and other visitors who visit this area of Costa Rica. So, I hope whoever invited us will allow her to audit the beginner’s class on the afternoon that Jon and I will be there. She does have a trip to la playa (the beach) scheduled around that time, but if it doesn’t conflict with our date and time, she really does want to go. I hope she gets to.

 

1:30 p.m.

 

Third pee/poop session completed.  I’ll let them out again at 2 to be as sure as I can that they’re “empty” because they peed this time but haven’t pooped in a couple of hours. Alice got antsy and started whining so I figured maybe they had to go out again.  They didn’t really.  I had to talk them into peeing. They were far more interested in sniffing and contemplating running up the driveway again. I think they’re anticipating Francisco’s and Jon’s return again but unless they know something I don’t (and dogs frequently do when it comes to their people), they are still hours away.

 

Took close up pix of Francisco’s amazing craftsmanship

 

I took pictures of Francisco’s amazing craftsmanship. He collects small pieces of driftwood and other materials and turns them into one-of-a-kind sculptures that just blow me away. He is also a fine artist. I will see if he will send me a few examples of his artwork so you can see it, too.

 

Made using driftwood!

This one, too!

Using trashed/recycled materials…

 

The Dogs Have Held a Couple of Barking Sessions Today

 

I think that’s because I have (inadvertently) been rewarding them for getting noisy.  I told them to hush up the first and second time, and that didn’t work, so I gave them both a treat. That shut them up.

 

So, now they think they only need to bark to get additional treats, so the last time they started up, I told them “no” in a stern, no nonsense lower voice and told them to go lay down and be quiet. They obeyed.

 

They’re training me how to train them

 

I do adore them.  They’re good dogs.

 

“Where are my dads?!”  – Pensive Alice

Thio

And they come to “Venga!” far more readily than they do to “Come here!”.  I tried that and they were quicker to obey. Which makes total sense. They’re Costa Rican perros!

 

Guess I’ll button this up for now and get ready to head for home.  Marianela will be here in about 30 minutes.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRIS!!!