Misbehaving horses

It seems that horses like bananas. Friday, the horses figured out Celio's barbed wire protected entry path and followed Serge and I after we walked up the El Recreo stream that runs down as the north border to our land. Returning, we discovered them happily grazing in the upper coffee pasture. We weren't quite sure if this was allowed, so we left them.  Turns out, it's not.

Wasn't the end of the world because all the coffee plants there are a few years old so the horses don't trample them, but their weight compacts the soil so rain runs off instead of soaking in. Watching Celio chase them out was exciting as instead of going out the way they came in, they detoured via the citrus grove (fortunately there was laundry hanging out, or they they could have cut themselves up on the clothesline) and through Marcia's flower garden!

After that, they all lined up under a tree near our reading rock as if doing penance! Hah! They were probably just snoozing. Or plotting.

Saturday morning was planting day. Serge and Celio went out to plant Guaba in the south coffee field and I wandered over later to take pictures.

Sometime in the past someone had planted orange and Mandarin trees at the bottom of the field, which are very useful if you happen to get thirsty! When I wandered back up to the gate, the three amigos had just come through the open gate (Pinto had gone shopping with Marcia). I knew what to do this time, so I chased them back into their grazing pasture. They then stood there looking miffed.

As soon as I had turned my back, the white one snuck back in because she had her eye on a fallen bunch of bananas. Well! I tried everything to budge her, yelling, flapping, slapping her backside, even enticing her with other bananas. Nope. Not moving.

Hadn't thought to bring a machete, or I would have lugged the whole bunch of bananas out to their field, but as it was, I couldn't move them. Finally, I thought to chase the other two far enough that they kept moving further away. That did the trick. Horses prefer to stay with their herd, so finally she followed them out and I shut the gate behind them. She is still giving me the side eye, and sighing heavily, every time she sees me though!

The afternoon was relaxed domesticity.

Serge did laundry, supervised by the ducks, Celio and his brother were fiddling with his motorbike, the dogs were all sleeping and the hens were nesting

That evening I made something that actually managed to resemble chili, at any rate Serge and I liked it, and Marcia and Celio liked it so much that Marcia asked for the recipe! Well, that was a tricky question as this particular chili was a whole series of guesses! Fortunately, she doesn't use cookbooks so I just wrote out an ingredient list, and a list of spices she should look for. The spice part might cause some difficulties, not because they can't get them, (everything grows here) but because they tend not to use them. Even if they are all considered Latin America, Ecuador and Mexico are very different! 

But we all like chili, so maybe there's hope!