Little summer?

We have a lull in the rains for a few days, so we've been enjoying dry lawns and paths. For those of you who know my infamous "garden" plot (which only grew weeds), here's a bunch of marigolds that are thriving in it. Julie gathers them up, along with other stuff around the place, to decorate the house.

This lovely vine, shown below, is called "Conde Amor" (roughly, "love that sprouts"). It has a bright red, five-pointed star, flower and thrives in the rainy season. The seeds stay in the soil until the rains start and they sprout right away and climb everything. Here they've run out of fence to climb!

Here they're climbing over David and Gianni's wedding arch (which we left in the yard after the wedding two years ago).

We dragged this old log (incredibly hard wood!) into the yard to serve as a decorative piece, and then planted orchids in it.