We had a
delightful Christmas Eve dinner at La Teca.
Main courses
I was a bit under the weather for
Christmas day, but managed to cook our Christmas breakfast and dinner. I made
Bananas Foster French Toast that came out really good this year. I used slices
of the Christmas Egg Bread that were in such abundance this time of year and it
worked well. Greg helped and did the tons of dishes that cooking created.
Whatever little bug I caught hung on for about a week. (and recurred mildly for
another week)
Egg Bread
Best New
Year’s Eve EVER!
We opted not
to go to an organized party for New Year’s Eve. A few of us decided to meet up
on the roof and bring snacks and bubbly. We grabbed a couple of tables and
pulled some of the couches around and we had a dozen or more of us. There were
also several large groups of Panamanians up there as well. Fireworks all up and
down the beach and over the residential areas started around 6:30 and it went
well into the wee hours of the morning. Bonfires were set up on the beach and
people were setting off lighted lanterns and that drifted up and over the
ocean. Around 11:30 the fireworks really ramped up. Imagine the best fireworks
finale you have ever seen and multiply it times a gabillion. All up and down
the coast were huge displays that went on for hours. In front of our condo
building on the beach they lit the bonfire and tossed in some Judas dolls that
set off the firecrackers in it and there were other ones that were set on fire
on the beach. The fireworks were right in our faces as we stood at the rail and
watched it against the backdrop of the ocean. AMAZING! (good thing the breeze
was in the right direction) In every direction you looked there were fireworks
going off. Great night with newly found friends. A few commented that most of
that display would not have been legal in the States. One group on the roof had
party horns that sounded like they were slaughtering geese! 2 large parties
were playing opposing music on the roof and there was a band downstairs at the
social area near the beach. Most of our group stayed until 1:00 or so.
I still
heard fireworks or firecrackers around 7:30 this morning. We thought the beach
would be a mess this morning, but when we went for a walk it was remarkably
clean. We joked it probably was all taken out with the high tide….
Also down by the fishing village there were tons of people that probably camped on the beach all night and were still partying.
dead Barracuda on the beach
fishing boat
normally the beach is quiet.....
Iguanas on the beach
Not sure how
it got to be January 12 already. How do we fill our days? Seriously though, a
LOT of people that we meet that are considering making the move to Panama ask
if we are bored and how do we fill our days. Hard to answer, but we seem to be busy
all the time. We have a lot of interests. We always ask how do you fill your
time now?
Anyway,
besides our usual birding etc. we have looked at several condos to consider for
when our lease is up here. We ruled out the ones in the Rio Hato area as too
far from grocery stores/restaurants etc. We have looked at several other units
here at the Bay. We checked out a lovely unit at the Coronado Country Club (known
here as the Pink Towers), however it wasn’t for rent as they are only looking
to sell it. It had the most gorgeous views from every window. Huge corner unit
and nicely furnished. However it’s much larger than we are looking for and not
looking to buy. There is one that is smaller for rent there, but we are waiting
to hear back from the owners what the rent is and when can we go see it.
(actually our realtor is taking care of all that) We were to go look at some in
nearby Gorgona, but a dump truck overturned on the road to get to it and our
realtor rescheduled the visit as the road was going to be closed for quite a
while. We are considering one other one here, but most of these units are way “over
furnished”. We checked out a corner unit on the 15th floor, but the
view isn’t as nice as here and the master bath and closet are actually smaller.
Plus, the owners store personal stuff there and that left very little closet
space left. They had a second ugly huge couch crammed in the second bedroom and
there wasn’t room to move in there. Furniture was uncomfortable. The one we are
considering is a bit over furnished as well. There is no room for a dining room
table as they have 2 good sized couches in the living room and a big long
lounge chair. The table and chairs on the balcony take up the entire balcony.
We were told that one tenant moved it inside and used it for their dining room
table which crammed all the rest of the furniture even more into the space. They
also have a couch in the master bedroom. (not horrible) AND the bed in there is
really low. Almost on the ground and has a wooden frame that sticks out all the
way around. Sheesh! So, it seems that Goldilocks has not found anything that is
“just right”.
The Peregrine
Falcon IS still here. We thought it had moved on but just moved where he sits
on the building next door where we can’t see him unless we are walking in that
direction. We thought we found a new bird to add to our list, but we think it
is just a Grackle that was molting. Unlike the Barred Antshrike, the Grackle
should not look like this……
Male Barred Antshrike
Grackle
Rufous-Browed Peppershrike
The only new bird for our list is the Rufous-Browed Peppershrike that was very hard to get a decent picture of....
Can't get enough of the Brown-chinned Parakeet.....
I tried a
new hairdresser that lives right here in Coronado. She is very nice and I think
after one or two more times she will get the hang of my hair. One area in the
back she cut way shorter than the other…..I guess it will eventually grow out…LOL
My hair looks easy to cut, but it really isn’t…..
Dad will be
here in 2 days! I can’t wait. We have quite a few fun things planned mixed with
plenty of relaxation on the beach or at the pool.
Til next
time…….
