It is a bit strange to be thinking Christmas when you step outside here.
This is what you see when you walk down the street in December. I love seeing the familiar plants here, reminding me of home and the garden I tried to have there. Not having a good yard made it a bit tough, but still I tried.
The bush in the bottom picture is a mandarin bush, so there will be plenty coming if the amount of flowers is an indication. It smells beautiful too, kind of reminds me of jasmine or something like that. Incredible!!!
I think this is a type of orchid, it’s really beautiful, so I may have to try drawing it one day. I am looking forward to having the time to draw once again, which I can begin to focus on once we have moved into the house and I have put together the package to present to agents.
This is the garden across the street from where I will be living soon, owned by the people who own Pakarinka and the house I am moving into. It is a lovely garden…. There is a nice garden started at the house as well, but the yard was messed up with all the renovations being done so it will take a bit of work to get it back into good shape. I am looking forward to having a garden, the first real garden in many, many years for me. I already have fruit trees established, and some flowers, but I will be happy to add more. We will put some vines in front of the metal door and gate to the yard to climb up like a trellis, giving us more privacy in the yard. It will be a nice project!!!
This is where I am living now, we each have a room upstairs on the balcony level. It’s a little drafty up there, but I do love to sit up there and watch the life around me. 
I will miss the quiet serenity of this place, but I am hoping that the mosquitos are not so bad once we get off the mountain. They are nasty little buggers, the bite burns for many days after and it has taken weeks to get rid of the scars from the bites. I don’t use chemical sprays, so I have had some pretty nasty bites, especially at the beginning. For something so small (much smaller than the mosquitos at home) it sure leaves a big welt!! A person needs to wear long pants, long sleeves and socks here no matter how warm it gets to avoid getting bit. I learned that the hard way the first day I went out with bare feet, capri’s and a sleeveless shirt. At home, the mosquitos are generally not present during the heat of the day, but at night time they come out in droves. Here they are out during the heat of the day, but at night you can walk without worry.
It was a month before I stopped itching, my feet swollen from the sheer number of bites in a small area. It was pretty painful actually. But this is the single bad thing about this place, so I just cover up :). A small price to pay in such a magical place…..
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