



It is Christmas Eve.
At noon today I got the best Christmas gift ever – from me to me – by way of two very hard workers, my Tico neighbors Oscar and Alonzo – and Oscar’s son, David. The rancho studio was completed last summer and now it was time to finish the dream – an outdoor kitchen and partial wall with an open view to the valley below. My workers speak only Spanish and have never before attempted many of the things I asked them to do. I’d sketch it out and describe it in words and gestures – and Oscar invariably responded with a big smile and a hearty, ‘no problema, Jan!’ So now my guests in the cabinas can walk down to this open air kitchen and cook, make coffee, look out over the city and just enjoy! And Frank and I will be enjoying it too!
So here it is! Pretty much exactly what I envisioned! And the piece de resistance will be the planter wedged above the tile backsplash against the rock retaining wall containing fresh herbs. Si!