Weather You Like It Or Not!

That's right - WEATHER!

You can't escape it.

It might be the sun and the wonderful breeze - or maybe a bolt of lightning, a crack of thunder and a tropical downpour.  Here, all of those things have greater relevance to what you do day-to-day, or when you do it.

So, the geekish person I am, I bought a weather station.  I know, if you want to know the weather, look outside - and I do that - in fact for the most part we live outside.  But I want to know - just how hot is it - just how much rain did we get yesterday - i was freezing last night, how low did the temperature go?

It is a great device - sits on a pole in the garden and measures temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction and rainfall.  It feeds it all to the internet where the history is stored.  AND, because I am a generous person, I can share it with everyone on Weather Underground.

So if you want to see what the weather is in Ojochal right now, take a peek at My Weather Station. Scroll down and you can see the history for the last week.

Or click on the Forecast for Osa link - it usually says the next 10 days are sunny and 33C!

The Weather is on OTTO-Pilot

That means RAIN.

We have been here a week and rain is the constant.  The humidity is at 95+% and we are in a cloud.

Hurricane Otto came and went.  With exception of two communities in the north part of the country, there was little damage.  The winds never materialized and the rain, while persistent, was no worse that typical rainy season.  With all the rain, the ground is soaked and a tree came down in the jungle in the middle of the night - always an unsettling noise to be awoken by.

We had hoped that with the move of the system off into the Pacific we might get a break, but no - early morning was clearer, but by mid morning back to the rain.

Oh well the sun will return soon enough - at least it isn't snow!

Storm of the Century?

Lisle is in Ojochal at the moment, and we were chatting last night around 5.  He said it was really getting dark and starting to rain - low heavy clouds.

He texted shortly after that the power was out and the winds were crazy.

Something really dramatic happen -

reports of a tornado in the village - trees down all over

People still without power after 24 hours.

Lisle just shared photos of our property.

Giant trees from the valley behind us have crashed onto the lower area of the lot!

We have had trees fall before and the noise is outrageous, but Lisle said the storm was so intense he heard nothing.  He didn't know anything was wrong until he was standing at the kitchen window and thought the treeline looked odd - he went to look and found the mess - - fortunately no damage to the house!

Time for a chainsaw!

Summer

The summer solstice passed on Sunday afternoon - this gives us daylight until about 6:30pm - about 13 hours.

Not that we noticed - Sunday was horrific - some of the worst rain in a long time.  Heavy downpour for almost the entire day.  Winds that came in spurts and would drive the rain 12' across the covered terrace and into the house - we had to close the patio doors to keep dry.  Lightning lit the sky and thunder struck with such force the house shuddered and windows rattled.  We didn't lose power for more that a few seconds at a time, but were without internet for several hours.

Monday dawned with clear skies, lots of sun and a renewed calm.  A beautiful way to start summer.  By afternoon, the temperature soared to 45C in the sun.

What better way to welcome summer than a pool - a floating papasan chair - a glass of pinot - Pura Vida!!

Even the end of the day was spectacular - an amazing sunset!

Back in Ojochal

Day 1 coming to a close - sun is setting and dinner needs to start soon

A busy day - unpacking and sorting - Lisle has been here 2 weeks so he has settled in and I am disrupting his organized chaos. Oh well, think everything is away.

The travel was uneventful - first time on Air Canada Rouge - albeit premium service - no complaints - really friendly, good food, very attentive staff, arrived safe and early!

Usually I dread travelling alone as the person next to you wants to chat - sure enough before  we were even away from the gate the conversation started.  Fortunately this guy was really interesting - serial entrepreneur - connected to Google and android phones - who is challenging the world to be a better place - kids learning through independent education - asking big questions and figuring out the answers by themselves - search Andrew Greig and Kids Got SOLE (www.kidsgotsole.com).  The most fascinating 5 hours I have spent in a very long time.

Today has been rainy for the most part - clouds in the lowland towards the ocean - stopped about 4 - and now the power is out - and it is getting dark fast (good thing the Surface has a long battery life - too bad the internet isnt on the battery backup!)

In the dark for 90 minutes - back to life and posting - candles and iPhone flashlight - our saviours!

In Case You Were Wondering . . .

Painting starts on Monday - if the weather cooperates, it should be a week - I suspect two is likely - guess that means they will be around for the rest of our stay.

New possibility for internet service - ICE is slow (about .5M, and unreliable (although not to bad this time).  $25/m for the stick - - NetsysCR is a new player in the residential market -  - offering 4M for $75/month - came to the house to check reception - need to put an antennae on the house - - no sure what technology it is but the guy went on and on about fibre optic to Uvita and Coronado and an IP land line for the house - Lisle is interested, so it is likely a go - - see what it brings - a new CR adventure!!

Hot sauce is done - - man is it hot!  1.75 pounds of peppers gave us enough for 6 small bottles of sauce - but I think it is almost too hot to use - cut it and expand the output!  Gee - sound like a drug lord!  have to figure it out - - the stuff is potent!

The company that did the landscaping is rebranding and doing new materials - so they were here for a photo shoot - the photographer is a Canadian who has been in CR many years and is well known for her work with resorts and properties - does great shots - really friendly - we sat and had coffee while she was waiting for the right light - - -too sunny or too cloudy was the general state of affairs - can't wait to see the shots - here is one that got sent ahead as a teaser!

Dinner out at Boca Coronada the other night - rainy evening by the river - Lisle got bitten - good food (ceviche mixto and pescado boca coronado - fish in seafood sauce).

Friday was strange weather - socked in - clouds everywhere - rain and wind - chilly!! Temperature mid-day dropped to 23C - - cleared later and  beautiful and sunny today!  32C right now - nice breeze - - PERFECT!!

What a Difference a Day Makes

Saturday could not have been more different than Friday - overcast from the start, but the rain started about 2pm and was good tropical rain - - constant - heavy at times - above all it was loud - so loud you could bearly hear the sound from the TV/Stereo.  TIP:  we were told that noise cancelling headphones are a necessity for the rainy season!  Guess that is coming in the luggage next trip.

Sunday was better - some sun in the morning - but the rain set in around dinner - - really neat watchign the valley disappear in the clouds before the rain begins.

Keith and Karen's daughter and her partner arrived from Toronto with the new baby (7 weeks old) for a quick visit (9 days) - such a sweetie - Liz walked over to see us (about 30 minutes up and down the hills) with baby Mila in the snugglie - - hiking at 7 weeks - - quite the adventurer and world traveler!

Cooking experiment - showed you the giant pepper bush before - just plucked 2 pounds of hot red peppers from it - - needed to do that before they just rotted - -  trying our hand at hot pepper sauce.  blend the peppers with a head of garlic and a bit of water, some salt and brown sugar - let sit 5 days - add vinegar and cook - strain and bottle.  I'll let you know how it turns out!

Breakfast is underway - fruit salad - papaya and banana - yum

OOOPPSS!  Bananas are too ripe - guess it it a banana, mango, pineapple smoothie with banana muffins - yum yum!  papaya for a salsa with the chicken for dinner!

Of Birds and Bugs and Other Things

so to start off with, the other morning there is this dead bird on the front patio - not the first we have had - they are stupid and fly into the window - but this one looked more like it had just hatched or been unswallowed by something - kind of gross

The next morning, Lisle say - a toad pooped in the door track - I went to clean it - not toad poop - it had legs and was wriggling.

And yesterday it was the visit from the Jesus Christ lizard - they walk on water!!  a rather large one

All of yesterday was spectacular - sunny from first thing in the morning - hot 35C - in the pool with a beer - a beautiful day for a beautiful sunset - of course not - but quite the light show - a storm moved on over the ocean the lightning fingers shot across the sky - wish I was a better photographer - but the sky was neat nonetheless.  a glimpse of the lightning in some of the shots

Then the rain came - good heavy tropical rain - - lasted much of the night -  - finally stopped about 6 this morning.

Rain, Sun, Fiesta

Not only did it rain all day Friday, but Saturday was even worse - sitting in a cloud for much of the day with barely a glimpse of the distant mountains or ocean.

But the sky cleared in the night - how do I know that?  Well I was outside scooping the frog fiesta from the pool.   What is it with these guys?  The second it is dark - croak - - croak croak - - - croak croak croak - - they don't actually sound like that but I am not sure how to type  ggrrruuupp.   1 nearby.  1 a little further away.  Another.  I sit and listen.  I say to Lisle - they are in the pool - What? - the frogs, they are in the pool - How do you know? - - I know, come with me . . . . Pool light on - patio light on - there they are - 4 little frog fellows frolicking - - skimmer rides for them all into the jungle - - an hour later - croak!  Sunday night - all over again - - let's see if we can train the little guys!

Sunday was beautiful btw.  Sunny - not too humid - - spent an hour lounging in the pool - - such is life!  And a sunset to boot!

So Today It Rained

Not continuously all day - but it was there.

When we got up at 6:30, there were the little concentric circles in the pool - spreading and connecting - a light morning rain - almost more of a mist - the sky bright but overcast.

The humidity grew, and the sun broke through, but showers came intermittently.  You would hear them coming through the trees.

The sky over the ocean was clear, but the mountains shrouded in mist and clouds - white and then grey and then black.

The gardeners came and it rained on them - plucking the 'weeds' from the various gardens - trimming - - then the sun again.

More humid - really need swim - in the rain - pool warm, rain about the same temperature - refreshing but almost decadent - who swims in the rain!

That feels way better - some reading - the rain comes and goes.

The sunsets - it just grows darker - and the rain comes - heavy - 15 minutes and it is gone - quiet - likely more to come - definitely - - - lightening and thunder - should be a show tonight.

All the while - - no water today - pipe burst and had to get it replaced - back now - - water here but not there

Ojochal - Summer Edition 2014

Well, here we are again - having arrived yesterday and spent today getting provisions and checking in with the neighbours.

When last I wrote, we were homeless - well that resolved itself and we moved in May to a great apartment at Bay and Wellesley - two blocks from my office and accessible to everything.

The house closed without incident, and so there really remain no 'ties that bind'.  My current retirement plan is July 1, 2016 as the redevelopment project concludes - we'll see if I can make it that long.

Lisle spent much of April diving - Fort Lauderdale and Little Cayman - and the past 3 weeks studying spanish in Guatamala.  He is quite the adventurer now that he is unemployed - I mean retired.

So, the house is great - the weather is unusually hot and humid.  Our pre-dinner swim turned into a shower as the sky darkened and the rain started - but who can complain!

Lots more soon - including photos

See!

Like I said - rainy days provide beautiful sunsets - - this one from the pool patio at El Castillo!

Another overcast day - can't really see the ocean - but no rain yet!

Silence

It is funny how when the rain stops it is so silent!

The rain is so loud - especially the heavy tropical rain like we just had - and yet suddenly it stops and all is silent - and very still.  The birds aren't chirping, and trees aren't moving, and there is none of the usual breeze.  Bits of cloud hang in the mountain valley barely moving.

Doesn't last long - 5, maybe 10 minutes - then the birds start - a call here and there - soon it is back to the normal chatter.

Today was a rainy one - was over cast when we woke up, started raining around 10 and just let up now - 1:15.  Good heavy rain - Lisle moved the car out of the carport so it could get the dust rinsed off!  Brighter over the ocean now - hopefully a better afternoon!

It has rained almost every night this week - mother nature seems to be fighting off the dry season - the rain isn't a bad thing - keeps everything green - but is keeps the humidity up as well.  The good thing about overnight rain is that the horizon starts to cloud over late in the afternoon - while you don't get to see the sun slip into the ocean, you do get spectacular sunsets.

It Stopped

Raining - that is!

It has been almost continuous since yesterday morning - - doesn't look like it has stopped everywhere, or that it will last!!

What a Spectacular Day

The sun is bright and hot (34C by the outdoor thermometer).  While there are some clouds over the mountain top, they are mostly bright, and the rest of the sky is blue streaked with white wisps.  The ocean is glistening in the sunlight and is still.  There is a breeze from the ocean that cools the intensity of the sun.  I have retreated from the patio sofa as the late afternoon sun has reached it and both the heat and the brightness make a continuation of my reading impossible.  A complete change from the mist, clouds and torrential rains for the past 3 days - a day that - except for the mountain clouds - is more like February than August.  The only such day since our arrival 5 weeks ago.

We are dog-sitting for David and Helene, and Deezle has found a cool, shady, breezy place on the patio tiles to sleep.

 This morning we visited our friend Judy.  She has lived here almost 12 years, having bought property across the valley with her partner (now back in the states due to illness).  She has a wonderful if modest house (much more like a Tico home than ours) on 6 acres of hillside with a stunning view of the ocean and the entire village of Ojochal.  She knows how to live with the locals and get things done - a treat to visit with.  We sipped ice tea and gossiped.

Great view of our house from her front patio!

Reading the new J.K. Rowling's mystery - interesting

An hour in the pool chatting as the sun loses its intensity readying to set.

A cocktail listening to the howlers in the distance

Sunset!!

 

Dinner of chicken breast and potatoes with a good glass of wine.

TV, wine, the sound of the frogs and crickets

A great day.

Cloudy with Chance of Meatballs

Seems like an apt headline for today - it has been raining on and off since this morning - very overcast - meanwhile the meatballs are in the fridge and the tomato sauce is simmering on the stove.

This has been a very wet couple of weeks - with the exception of a couple of very nice days, there has been substantial rain every day - early morning, stopping for a couple hours and starting again - overnight with a sunny morning but rain again by 9am (today) - unusually wet.

Yesterday was the rain that was coming down so fast it was slopping over the eaves!  This morning was almost that again, but now is a gentle but steady shower.

With the rain comes the clouds.  Sometimes you are right in them and can't see past the hedge 20' away.  Other times, like today, they are higher up.  Things are misty in the valley and the clouds dance on the tops of the mountains - sending swirls down along the ridges that suddenly disappear - all the while it is clear over the ocean.

Sunset has not been much of an event, but sometimes when the clouds are cooperating you get wonderful sights.