25 Things I Learned in Costa Rica

1) Even though it happens everyday, it's still nice to watch the sun rise.
2) How to milk goats (pinch the top of the teat shut and squeeze harder than you think you should).
3) How to make lemonade (squeeze lemons, add water and sugar).
4) What it takes to clean out a pig pen.
5) The amount of poo a single horse can produce (a lot).
6) That plantains are ready to pick when the flower at the end of their stalk has fallen away.
7) Putting your hand somewhere you can't see isn't a good idea.
8) That cooking for large groups of people isn't as scary as it may seem.
9) The basics of horse riding are pretty simple to pick up.
10) Billy goats pee on their faces to make themselves more attractive to the ladies.
11) Cockerels will crow before sunrise.
12) If water stops coming out of the tap, you gotta be ready to be thirsty for a while.
13) Some lizards can walk on water.
14) What it's like to be bitten by a dog.
15) How to make a hot compost pile.
16) How to sterilise potting soil.
17) That loofahs grow on vines.
18) Cat skin is really tough, enough to bend a syringe needle.
19) Bot fly larvae do not want to be squeezed out of goats.
20) Germans can have a sense of humour.
21) Power tools have not ceased to be fun.
22) You can embarrass a goose by picking it up.
23) Guava wood is really bendy.
24) Baby goats have legs that look about one joint too long.
25) Toucan beaks feel like plastic.

Costa Rica animals!

A long time since I've written anything but long lines for the internet, a slow connection and lots of other things occupying my time has meant that this is the first I've been able to throw online. Hopefully more to follow.

 Scorpion discovered while taking apart the old goat house to build the new one.

 Speedy, the one-eyed pirate kitty. We're not sure how he lost his eye, but we're glad he survived the ordeal.

 A duck.

 A troupe of toucans, eating the papayas. That one got a little too stuck in and soon dropped it.

 A chick, hatched by a duck, that was laying in a toilet.

 The only duckling to survive from a pretty bad duck mum.

 Toulouse, the toucan rescued as a chick who likes to play with anyone in pecking distance.

 A small Tico horse.

A big Tico horse.

 Rhombus, the lovable boxer.

 Three week old Giant Schnauzer puppy.

 Lucy, the very anxious Weimarianar (sp?).

 Minutes old billy kid.

Younger brother to above goat.