beauty in the cemetary...

earth day parade in the neighborhood....

we were on our walk and heard the drums of a marching band... so we hunted it down. lo and behold, it was a parade!
with caballeros on hobby horses...
and gorgeously decorated costa rican oxcarts...
oooo! ahhhhh!
pulling girls in traditional costa rican costumes...
wow! wow! wow! the detail just blew me away...
and there were drummers drumming fancy marching rhythms on all sizes of drums. just getting to see a parade made me happy! it was even short enough that dale would have enjoyed it (dale's a parade grinch...).
the hydrangias here are gorgeous! and the flower heads are as large as a person's head!!!
and of course the exotic bird of paradise...
i loved the fancy shapes and curves of the roof of this house.
and lastly...the guard spider in the yard. scary, no? he's actually only about and inch and a half across, but very ferocious-looking.
now that was just a fun walk! we walked through a coffee field and past a beautiful cemetary, which i'll post later. take time for a walk and see what's out there... God certainly is having fun creating beauty for our pleasure! don't miss it! love you all...

on a walkabout in the neighborhood...

morning visit and coffee... in the sunshine. (dale and jerry chilcote)
nick (oldest son of wisdoms) got up at 5:30 and it was chilly...it had rained hard all night. so he built a cozy fire in their beautiful fireplace in the kitchen. it was a nice place to sit and drink coffee first thing in the morning...
while it was still sunny, we went out for a walk around the neighborhood renee, carol, jerry and i.
past banana trees and coffee fields...
and beautiful wrought iron decorations on the gates and houses...
this house caught my attention...the tiled, gazebo-like roofs. and on the blue round roof, a clear bubble skylight...
this house was beautiful brickwork and of course the little second-story porch caught my eye!! ... i liked this one a lot.
and flashy beauty in every yard and garden. a lovely walk, with a few hills thrown in for exercise.
we had clothes out on the line drying. it's a gamble...you never know if it will stay sunny for long enough in the morning to actually dry anything. it had clouded up after our walk and i asked renee: when was the cue to bring the clothes in before the rain started. she said: anytime...it's not going to clear off and they probably won't get any dryer. we had just brought them in when the downpour began. makes things a little muddy but it keeps it cool too.
all our love to each and every one of you!! we are really enjoying ourselves. but the spanish lessons.... please keep praying for us!! our old brains certainly aren't sponges anymore!!!
HUGS!!!!

a day's project...

project for the day: extract the small black trailer from the inside of the big white trailer in which it traveled the road through mexico and latin america... this pic shows you how it was inside the bigger trailer but it came out without the wheels and fenders on it.
here is the crew using their muscles to slide the trailer out.
carol inside the trailer manning the jack...
jerry installing screws...
dale finishing up the fenders...
the adorable little 2 yr. old who rules the roost here: chloe wisdom
katie playing tag with chloe...
after playing phonics games with the preschool set (russell and sasha), we went outside for art class... chalk art on the sidewalk. my vw bug.
our cinderella coach and castle...
russell's door instructions, in case anyone was confused about it...
practicing a word from our phonics game, with illustrations...
their sidewalk chalk set came with these 3D glasses which when you looked at the chalk pictures made some of the colors pop out from the rest. our drawbridge over our moat in front of our castle really did look like it was out over the water! coooool!!! (this is sasha, one of the artists)
this russell, one of the other artists.
this flowering bush beside the kitchen door just amazes me everyday with these fabulous blooms! what a treat!
having a blast! hope you are too! remember, if it's pouring down rain at your house, like it is here... that Jesus is the living water, refreshing us and nourishing us and giving us life anew each day. all our love to you all...

shopping at the market...

"okay everyone, here are your assignments. here is your shopping list with the spanish names and the english names of the fruits and vegies you need to get." it was kind of like a scavenger hunt!
dale, ready with his shopping cart...
sasha helping carol and katie
jerry returning from the hunt, bags in hand...behind him is krystal, keeping an eye out for anyone needing help.



and don't get forget the fresh flowers!!! yes...it was on our lists!
beautiful weather, helpful vendors, street musicians, shoppers shooting odd looks at all the gringos trying to pronounce spanish words and chattering in english. the only mishap was when the watermelons went rolling down the street after the cart wheel broke off...
yes, it was a fun day in costa rica! we're looking forward to many more. love you all!