From Tina, Saturday May 15ish
Hi All! Well, Micah says I must log in and say something or everyone will think I no longer exist. I hope I have figured out to do this!
Things on the farm are coming along. We are building, or at least mounting up materials to put it all together. Looks like my first project is fixing up the downstairs room of the upstairs house. New windows, finish the walls (after 20 years), make some design on the ceiling and put in a new flat floor. I hope to get some cement out there next week and mix it up and begin. I wanted a maestro, someone who knows what they are doing but no luck. So we try it ourselves! I found a place with a bunch of broken tile and it is going home next week- gonna try to mosaic it into the floor. I have seen beautiful and functional examples of this- Hope we do as well!
The gardens are dying down a bit, but still look pretty good. The water is being hooked back up from the quebrada for sprinklers, the irrigation ditch is opena nd running. And I got a hot water heater! Hot water in the shower as soon as I figure out the plumbing. We got a new stove, also. I love the big adobe oven but sometimes baking a cake or brownies in the afternoon heat its a bitch to fire the thing up! So we have a new six burner big stove with a spacious oven (actually its nt new, I got it used and had it fixed, 130. with transport, altho the carry from the car to the house did suck a little). I made baked chicken immediately (with a spicy orange sauce and baked potatoes in the same sauce for the vegetarians- everyone ate the chicken) and plan to use it a lot to dry seeds and bake chamotes, sweet potatoes, which are coming in NOW. Also next week is the big orange marmelade scene with Molly, and some neighbors say they are coming for the minga. I want to press 200 oranges and make it with panela and few sour oranges, might be really wonderful. Anyone got a recipe? hans winemaking is coming along great. The panela wine is very sweet but gets ya high as a kite perhaps too fast. But he is beginning to age the wine now, so he says when it is transparent it will be better still. I want him to try orange wine. Or beer. We need more stuff to make beer I guess. Oh well. Sigh. I like wine more anyway, sorry you beer drinkers.
Selling oranges in plenty, $4. for 100. What with hauling them out we do not make much, but it pays for Patricios transportation to english classes, which he is taking daily in Vilcabamba. He is doing great says hisinstructor, but I haveyet to hear one word of english pass his lips. He will start driving school with Andres may 29, so both of them will be licensed to get us all around, and this offers them future job oppurtunities when I run out of money (about the same time as the classes finish I figure). Carlos has come back to us but is leaving almost as fast. Michele from Sacapo, another organic farm near us, has a daily school for little kids. This week we realized that Carlos cannot even sign his name, he has no education at all (its a long story but he was born and raised in our valley, due to a slight hearing loss, and other causes, he was assumed retarded and never sent to school or anywhere). He will work with the school in the mornings and then in the organic farm in the tarde. He is actually really excited about doing someting new. He can only go as I promised to check on Mom and Abuela daily, so I am now responsible for a 44 yr old retarded woman and her 80 yr old mother, who has bad knees right now and cannot help me much milking her cows- those of you who have been here know of Senora Soyla. Nice having milk tho! I am making great soft cheeses and plan to branch into aged cheeses as soon as I have a bit more help. The school is very alternative and Michele seems determined that Carlos will read. A true project that one, but I have hope he suceeds. Anyone coming to visit is strongly encouraged to help Carlos with his spanish alphabet and numbers. I think one weekend soon we will make a sun dial so Carlos can learn the watch reading thing. He cant help but pick up some things working with the kids. he is so good with animals that kids should come second nature. IhopeIhopeIhope! The english teacher from the high school in Quinara also put in a wish that people who come to stay for more than two weeks can come to the high school and help the senoirs with thier pronunciation. Lots to do all the time!
Hans is doing great in the new house that we are getting with the new land. Odie, his little salchicha dog, is chasing off other dogs and some days is madly in love with Barbie, who likes him enough not to bite him in half. They are both great friends of Mago Marlon the cat who thinks he is a dog. Marlon is still nursing off the dog. The pups have ben gone since Feb. 1 but how do you wean the cat off the dog? He is a really big cat and gets all of our rats. He is still quite a personality.
We are eatting well, as you know we eat what is in season. Good salads, lots of squash and so on. I have a hard time cooking for one, so come visit so I can fat again.
I will end now to see if this actually registers on the page. I am going to Quito today to meet my daughter Molly, who arrives Wed, her first trip to Ecuador where I have been these 8 years. I hope she likes it. A couple of new wwoofers are on thier way from Argentina and Cuenca, but we have been empty for two weeks. First time noone has been on the farm but me since October.
I miss all of your comapny and laughter, I hope some of ya come home for the Christmas Holiday. We can raft the river! Oh- a raft guide fromMontana came and we began rafting again. Andres has good potential to guide, he may go north soon to Baños to study guiding with a buddy of mine? We shall see. The car is running (today). And the road is open (today). So life has been kind of good. Please write, blog here instead of writing me, unless you have something personal to pass on. I look forward to having a big long journal here. I hope to begin responding to emails here instead from my email. So I do not have to repeat myself so often! I hope I got this blogging thing right! If so, more from Quito! More when can, in Peace and with Love, Tina
Hey, anyone with pictures let me know, maybe we can get them all together in one place for everyone to laugh and admire!
Things on the farm are coming along. We are building, or at least mounting up materials to put it all together. Looks like my first project is fixing up the downstairs room of the upstairs house. New windows, finish the walls (after 20 years), make some design on the ceiling and put in a new flat floor. I hope to get some cement out there next week and mix it up and begin. I wanted a maestro, someone who knows what they are doing but no luck. So we try it ourselves! I found a place with a bunch of broken tile and it is going home next week- gonna try to mosaic it into the floor. I have seen beautiful and functional examples of this- Hope we do as well!
The gardens are dying down a bit, but still look pretty good. The water is being hooked back up from the quebrada for sprinklers, the irrigation ditch is opena nd running. And I got a hot water heater! Hot water in the shower as soon as I figure out the plumbing. We got a new stove, also. I love the big adobe oven but sometimes baking a cake or brownies in the afternoon heat its a bitch to fire the thing up! So we have a new six burner big stove with a spacious oven (actually its nt new, I got it used and had it fixed, 130. with transport, altho the carry from the car to the house did suck a little). I made baked chicken immediately (with a spicy orange sauce and baked potatoes in the same sauce for the vegetarians- everyone ate the chicken) and plan to use it a lot to dry seeds and bake chamotes, sweet potatoes, which are coming in NOW. Also next week is the big orange marmelade scene with Molly, and some neighbors say they are coming for the minga. I want to press 200 oranges and make it with panela and few sour oranges, might be really wonderful. Anyone got a recipe? hans winemaking is coming along great. The panela wine is very sweet but gets ya high as a kite perhaps too fast. But he is beginning to age the wine now, so he says when it is transparent it will be better still. I want him to try orange wine. Or beer. We need more stuff to make beer I guess. Oh well. Sigh. I like wine more anyway, sorry you beer drinkers.
Selling oranges in plenty, $4. for 100. What with hauling them out we do not make much, but it pays for Patricios transportation to english classes, which he is taking daily in Vilcabamba. He is doing great says hisinstructor, but I haveyet to hear one word of english pass his lips. He will start driving school with Andres may 29, so both of them will be licensed to get us all around, and this offers them future job oppurtunities when I run out of money (about the same time as the classes finish I figure). Carlos has come back to us but is leaving almost as fast. Michele from Sacapo, another organic farm near us, has a daily school for little kids. This week we realized that Carlos cannot even sign his name, he has no education at all (its a long story but he was born and raised in our valley, due to a slight hearing loss, and other causes, he was assumed retarded and never sent to school or anywhere). He will work with the school in the mornings and then in the organic farm in the tarde. He is actually really excited about doing someting new. He can only go as I promised to check on Mom and Abuela daily, so I am now responsible for a 44 yr old retarded woman and her 80 yr old mother, who has bad knees right now and cannot help me much milking her cows- those of you who have been here know of Senora Soyla. Nice having milk tho! I am making great soft cheeses and plan to branch into aged cheeses as soon as I have a bit more help. The school is very alternative and Michele seems determined that Carlos will read. A true project that one, but I have hope he suceeds. Anyone coming to visit is strongly encouraged to help Carlos with his spanish alphabet and numbers. I think one weekend soon we will make a sun dial so Carlos can learn the watch reading thing. He cant help but pick up some things working with the kids. he is so good with animals that kids should come second nature. IhopeIhopeIhope! The english teacher from the high school in Quinara also put in a wish that people who come to stay for more than two weeks can come to the high school and help the senoirs with thier pronunciation. Lots to do all the time!
Hans is doing great in the new house that we are getting with the new land. Odie, his little salchicha dog, is chasing off other dogs and some days is madly in love with Barbie, who likes him enough not to bite him in half. They are both great friends of Mago Marlon the cat who thinks he is a dog. Marlon is still nursing off the dog. The pups have ben gone since Feb. 1 but how do you wean the cat off the dog? He is a really big cat and gets all of our rats. He is still quite a personality.
We are eatting well, as you know we eat what is in season. Good salads, lots of squash and so on. I have a hard time cooking for one, so come visit so I can fat again.
I will end now to see if this actually registers on the page. I am going to Quito today to meet my daughter Molly, who arrives Wed, her first trip to Ecuador where I have been these 8 years. I hope she likes it. A couple of new wwoofers are on thier way from Argentina and Cuenca, but we have been empty for two weeks. First time noone has been on the farm but me since October.
I miss all of your comapny and laughter, I hope some of ya come home for the Christmas Holiday. We can raft the river! Oh- a raft guide fromMontana came and we began rafting again. Andres has good potential to guide, he may go north soon to Baños to study guiding with a buddy of mine? We shall see. The car is running (today). And the road is open (today). So life has been kind of good. Please write, blog here instead of writing me, unless you have something personal to pass on. I look forward to having a big long journal here. I hope to begin responding to emails here instead from my email. So I do not have to repeat myself so often! I hope I got this blogging thing right! If so, more from Quito! More when can, in Peace and with Love, Tina
Hey, anyone with pictures let me know, maybe we can get them all together in one place for everyone to laugh and admire!
