A New Life In Costa Rica

Summer clean-up

Yep, it's that time of year again. The winds have subsided, well not quite but there are days when we have less than others. Perfect for working in the yards. Each summer we do a clean up of all the weeds, vines and brush that grows during the rainy season in preparation for the next years crop.

Here's one part of the yard before Bill took the weed whacker to it. In previous years we hand picked the weeds and used the machete. Not any more.  We're slow learners and kept thinking if you got something out by the root it wouldn't come back. That may be true in Arizona but not in Costa Rica!

After.

Bill hates vines so he does get on hands and knees to pull those out by the root.

 

The work is taking much less time with the weed eater this year. I've agreed to let him whack away whatever gets in his way to make it easier. My flowers will grow back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sadly, the papaya tree he'd been nurturing accidently got whacked. He was so sad! The root is still in the ground so maybe it'll come back with the rains too. If not, I've got another baby tree in a different part of the yard he can transplant where this one was.

 

 

 

 

Be careful what you take

One of the benefits of living in Costa Rica is you can walk into a pharmacy, tell them your symptoms and purchase a pill. No need for a box of twenty when a single pill will do the trick, get you through the day.

Instead of going to the clinic recently to refill a prescription at their pharmacy, I walked into a corner drug store while in town and asked for a few of my pills to hold me over until I could get back into the clinic which is only open specific days. The pharmacy was out of the type of pill I usually take so I asked if they had anything similar. The pharmacist gave me what he said was a really good pill. Hmmm.

Really good for some maybe but not for one with high blood pressure.  I took the pill in the evening and went to bed. The problems started when I woke up. The bed was spinning. When I got up the world continued to spin. It was the strangest thing.

Thinking I could shake it off or rather walk it off, Bill and I started out on our daily walk. After one lap we both realized it wasn't a good idea. While he walked I went online to look up info on the pill I took. It wasn't meant for someone with high blood pressure.

The rest of that day was spent pretty much in bed waiting for the world to stop spinning. Later in the day I colored mandalas in an attempt to regain my focus. It helped. The following day I felt better but still not quite myself. It seems our yin yoga class two days later helped get the last of the pill out of my system. I won't be taking those again!

Bill, on the other hand has no blood pressure issues. The pills I'd bought were anti-inflamatory, pain relievers. After a day working with the weedeater cutting uphill he was hurting. Callista and I suggested he try one of the pills and see how he responded to them. For him, it was a miracle pill. Several days later he was still telling us how awesome it was to be pain free. He hadn't realized how many aches and pains he'd been experiencing. One pill and he was feeling no pain for a week.

Neither of us like taking pills. We do however realize in some cases it's necessary. For instance, I have to regulate my blood pressure with pills at this time. The bottom line is to be careful what you take. From this experience we learned it's best for me to stick to what my doctor prescribes. If I do purchase something different I'll look it up online before swallowing it. Hubby learned he doesn't have to endure the pain. Sometimes it's okay to take something to get relief.

 

Cal's contribution

My daughter is really getting into Mandala Monday with me. She is pointing them out constantly.  Last week at yoga she noticed our instructor had one on her t-shirt. The other day she spied this necklace in town and wanted to buy it. That is until she found out it's price, over $20.

There are mandalas in the food we eat.

 

And we can create them from things we eat.

 

Mandala Mondays have opened a whole new way to explore the things in our world. I'm excited to see where this study takes us as time goes on. The possibilities are endless.

Next week, the 1Mandala Project.

 

 

 

Creating new habits

That's what we've been doing, creating new habits and getting rid of old ones that no longer serve.

One of the most beneficial habits we're creating as a family is a regular yoga practice. We did somewhat of a trial last year and saw the benefits. Our yoga instructor took a sabbatical, well, she had a baby and spent a few months bonding before restarting classes just after the new year. We've been going twice a week this month and have every intention of continuing as long as our yoga guru, Anna continues to guide us. It would be nice to develop our own practice at home but there is something about going to class to practice with others that we don't get on our own.  

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In addition to the the regular yoga practice, Bill has joined me in taking morning walks. We walk a up and down a hill near the house. I started off doing five laps. It was a workout but doable. The second week I added a lap. That week I missed a day due to an early appointment at the local clinic. The following day I doubled my workout to make up for the day I missed. Finding this workout again, doable I continued with the double workout the following days. Bill had joined me a couple of times but when we found I'd doubled the workout he decided to do it regularly as well. If I could do it, so could he.

Thinking man that he is, he needed to know how far we were walking. He and Callista went out with a measuring tape to find out. We were walking almost a kilometer. After our walk the following day I realized counting off twelve laps was going to get old quick. Back down the trail we went with the tape measure to find out how far we had to go to make our walk a full kilometer and keep it at 6 laps. It would have been easy to add the flat part of the walk we don't usually count but we chose to go further down the hill which meant more of an incline on the return trip and a better work out.

We're seeing benefits from both our new habits in less than a month! 

Introducing Mandala Mondays

 

I've been attracted to mandalas of all types for quite some time now. At this time in my life the attraction or pull is incredibly strong. As I explore them and incorporate them into my daily life I thought I'd share some of my creations.

Here's the first Mandala Monday post, a creation using some shells from my collection. Initially I thought I'd make a permanent mandala, something I could display on a wall but it wasn't to be. Permanence was not part of the universal plan. 

Shells are something I have a strong attachment to. I often think of crafts to use them in but when it comes down to it, I don't. Mandala making is a perfect, temporary way to enjoy my shells.