M and I are celebrating our 5th Christmas and New Year's Eve here. Christmas Day saw the return of the Christmas community beach BBQ organized by our friends Mike and Liz. It was wonderful to celebrate the day with friends both Tico and Gringo by sharing great food, conversation, and party games. The adults loved the piñata as much as the kids.

It seems unreal that 4 years have passed so quickly with our days lazily puttering around the property. Since 2016, all of M's work with the help of our friend Lilo in planting of hibiscus, bougainvillea, plumeria, madera negra, coconut palms, citrus trees, mamon chino trees, guanabana trees, guava, pineapples, heliconia and more has transformed the expanse of land from this...

to this...

To keep the exuberant growth at bay, M heads out with a machete to do some "choppin' and droppin'. Just after the break of day when Pinta lets us know that she's ready for her first walk until dusk when Pinta lets us know that it's her dinnertime, we keep busy with our projects that mostly have to do with growing, harvesting, preserving and eating food. The variety of tastes and textures of all the exotic fruits and plants add a richness to our life. I'm still surprise myself that I've become quite the whiz in the kitchen. Who would have thought?