Destination: Moab, Utah

We finally got away from the farm after all of the lists and preparations, details after details, and extra training of our helpers who will be caring for our animals and home while we take a good long trip for the first time in ages! Our somewhat unreliable motor coach was finally fixed and we left the same day, anxious to start chewing away at the many miles we hoped to cover.

Munchie and Sushi, of course, got to come along! Some friends have expressed surprise that we would bring the pets with us (not the teens!), but after the third day I can attest that they are, um, a bit easier than the teens can sometimes be.... Spousal harmony has been tested to the max, too, as we have driven many hours a day and experienced the frustration of discovering things still not fixed on the coach as promised.A few rare minutes of sibling cooperation at a rest area near Vail, CO

Sometimes it does become about the destination, and we were all excited as we approached Moab, Utah and pulled into our lovely campsite to stay for at least 4 nights (a big improvement over the Walmart parking lots we parked at for free in Missouri and Kansas). Colorado was gorgeous as we drove through, but Moab is sooo different than anyplace we've ever experienced. We had a great Mexican dinner in town and all had a decent night's rest, finally.We set out today on our dirt bikes (and I on a Honda Reflex scooter), with the goal of getting acclimated and finding some petroglyphs which are in the immediate area. The first place we identified to look for a brochure was actually near a golf course in the back of a cool subdivision of desert adobe homes- not really where you'd expect to find an ancient archeological site. I had become intrigued by these ancient rock drawings while researching a felting commission earlier in the summer. I thought they were awesome!
This lizard wasn't especially impressed.We then rode up a road beside the town's McDonald's to find some more, and within just a mile or two this is what we began to see...We plan to go back to locate the petroglyphs, but for today the beauty of Moon Flower Canyon just kept beckoning us further, despite the heat. Moab has been on Paul's "bucket list" for a long time, and from what we experienced here on our first day it's been a very worthy destination! We still look forward to visiting Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park, which are only a few miles from here... it's gonna be a great trip.The kids climbing around on one of many water breaks- it's HOT, but so NOT humid!

Phenomenal Peru

If I could, I would simply post photos here that would tell the story of our adventures in Peru so far. Since I cannot and have limited time, I will have to post a few highlights here....

First few days were incredibly exhausting between the bumpy roads, high altitude (we have now been at close to 16,000 feet!), lack of sleep (1.5 hours on first travel night), but the adrenaline of helping so many people (over 1,500 patients seen to date) has kept us all going and we are all catching up slowly on rest and acclimating to the altitude and food.

The experience has been amazing for Mirian... she has seen so many special people from her past and celebrated her 14th birthday at the orphanage the evening we arrived in Macusani (after spending the entire afternoon at Accoyo).

I am writing from an internet cafe in Macusani, with the sounds and smells of town wafting in from outside and beckoning us back out to experience more. I will write more when we get to Cusco, but for now let me just say that God is so good, I have witnessed miracles this week and I cant wait to share more later. Just wanted to let everyone know that we are okay and having an unbelievable and fruitful trip with a fantastic team of people. More soon....

Halloween in our little town

Halloween just doesn't thrill me for some reason, but I have to say we had a great time trick-or-treating tonight in Frankfort. Country kids get rooked a little when it comes to trick or treat, but we always manage to find somewhere fun and safe to go.

It made me a little sad to think this will probably be the last time to take out one of our kids, and Mirian may have been on the older side this year. She begged and we compromised (I figured that she never had the opportunity while she was still in Peru) and decided she could go IF the majority of the candy goes along with us to Peru to be passed out to the children there.

It's always fun to see the decorations at the Governor's Mansion beside the Kentucky State Capitol. The jack-o-lanterns and other decorations (shown up top) are very neat.

Many in the diverse neighborhood of mostly older homes really get into the spirit of Halloween- I know that not everyone is into passing out candy, but you can tell that some of the older folks truly enjoy their young visitors in costume and many decorate to the hilt.

Robert had fun dressing up for school- check out his costume here. Happy Halloween! Our wait for the big Peru trip is almost over- we leave this Friday and couldn't be more excited!

A Perfectly Peachy Weekend

This was one of those five-star weekends when I feel so grateful to live in Kentucky, on a farm, with the country lifestyle that we are blessed to have. The kids were off school on Friday, and Mirian and her friend were happy to stay outdoors and enjoy the gorgeous weather. They decided to pick pears, an activity which set the stage for lots of kitchen time!

We have three century-old pear trees on the property, and despite their gnarly appearance they always produce a ton of fruit. This year we had such a good growing season and our renter fertilized the trees for the first time, resulting in a true bumper crop.

Our renters are so great, they truly appreciate their little home on our place and are very active in utilizing the resources at hand (as well as always sharing their garden)! I have enjoyed seeing their gourds hanging, and their wood stacked and ready for winter.On Saturday, we went on a trail ride at Cave Run Lake with the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Manager's Club. There were 33 riders and their horses (and mules) and the weather was stellar.It was good to see Paul on horseback for a change! (Normally, he likes to ride the two-wheeled sort!)

Sunday brought more great weather, but after picking yet more pears (about 60 pounds more!), Mirian and I spent most of the day processing them into pear sauce, pear butter, dried pears with the dehydrator, etc. I'm still looking for more interesting recipes!Then we got ready for the Blessing of the Pets at our church, since it was St. Francis day. This was the first time that Sushi had been dressed up in a while, and he took it all in stride.

He wasn't at all thrilled with the big dogs at the event, and I had to hold him as he struggled to get away from Mirian. It was a lot of fun to see the variety of pets! (No, we didn't take any alpacas along).

By the time the service was over, Sushi was pretty happy to be back in the car with Munchie!

The day was capped off by an impromptu dinner with some friends that had come out to shoot sporting clays with Paul. It was really nice... great conversation, good wine, a friend's daughter who's Robert's age, Mirian sharing some of her old Peru photos, etc. Guess what we had for dinner? Quiche (with eggs from our chickens) and potato-pear soup! You can find the recipe here. I think I'll try this chilled pear soup recipe next!

Maybe I should change the title of this post to a PEARfect weekend!

Happy, happy!

Well, our baby boy is now turning in to a young man and is nearly six feet tall and FIFTEEN!!!! Happy birthday, buddy. You are just an awesome kid and a joy in every way.
Robert has had a great start to school, and seems to be thrilled with being in high school. He competed this past weekend in a "trials bike" competition, his first, and won a 2nd and a 5th place (and more importantly he had a great time).

That's about all the gushing I'll do, can't pay too much attention to a teenager, ya know? (He'll probably be ticked that I put even this much about him on here!

I've been doing tons of felting, and will post some new projects in the next few days. I'll leave with just this one photo, as it seems appropos for the day....

Learning to do WHAT?

We've been learning to geocache!!! Geocaching is a popular hobby involving searching for or placing "caches" (a small treasure/find) in strategic locations to be found via GPS and additional clues. Paul and I have been intrigued by the idea for a while, so when I read that Life Adventure Center of the Bluegrass (LAC) was offering a family day camp for learning about questing and geocaching, I signed up the kids and myself. (Paul wanted to come, too, but he was in Frankfort helping to lobby for the horse industry yesterday).

It was so fun going to camp WITH the kids, and I don't think they were too intimidated by having Mom along. Robert quickly teamed up with another boy his age, and Mirian and I hung out with the other girls and moms.
The instructors at LAC are always first-rate, and Danielle was exceptional. First, she went through the basics of map and compass-reading (you can't always depend on technology, right?), then we followed clues to find "treasures" around the immediate area of camp. (These included items like stickers, caribiners, compasses, and other small trinkets).

We followed a map and several clues to find the old cemetery located thick in the woods of LAC- I have always loved old cemeteries, and this one was from the early 1800s, with a beautiful old stone wall surrounding it.... very cool.

Then we learned to use a GPS. I've had one in my car for some time now, but it was fun to finally figure out how to locate and mark places using coordinates. Each group set up a small "cache" with clues and coordinates for the other groups to follow. Then we ventured into the woods to locate five other strategically-located caches. (This was a particularly pretty box turtle we saw along the way).

Since it was such a hot day, we were all thankful for the final cache, which contained a cooler full of popsicles!

We are fortunate to have such a wonderful resource as Life Adventure Center of the Bluegrass nearby. As for information on geocaching, just check out http://www.geocaching.com/ for all of the information that you need to get started! Mirian and I are going to head out this morning to seek out a few caches which appear to be within just a few miles of our farm, and soon we may place one ourselves!

Fun Son and Darling Daughter!

Forgive my recent lack of blogging, I don't know where the time has been going lately!!! I'm in a completely different mode now that it's spring, a good mode, but really busy. Paul has been in China, which has meant lots of running/taxiing for me. We're all missing him and will be SOOO glad when he's back here at Seldom Scene.

I've enjoyed the extra car time I've had with Robert, who normally dashes in and out of the house during the week now that he has lacrosse after school. It's fun to rediscover how great your kids are from time to time, and he is a REALLY good one (very fun, too!) We stopped for ice cream at my favorite haunt, Wallace Station, the other day.

After that, he played a little bit of, "look at me, Mom, take my picture, Mom", while on his dirt bike. Motorcycles aren't something that I was raised around (my mom still abhors them to this day), but I think there's some benefit in it for young country boys, especially. (This is only about a 4 second video- take a look! I made it with my tiny Flip Mino video camera).

I've found a bit more time to sew, and my new hobby is coming right along! I made these purses (Lazy Girl Runaround Bag pattern), the pink and brown one for Mirian and the blue for myself. Rather proud of myself, I am!

The pocket on Mirian's ended up on the front rather than the back, but she likes it that way- sometimes mistakes happen for a reason, ya know? I even learned how to put in a zipper, a very easy skill which I wish I'd learned a long time ago! Wow, pretty and bright fabric, where have you been all my life?

(Fabric on the bottom of the left purse is from Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks line).
Even better, I got Mirian started on using our simple little sewing machine. Just showing her the basics was perfect, as she used her own imagination and crafted a tiny "purse" and a bootie for our cat, Sushi! She is one creative girl!

Time for Family and Felt

We had a super nice weekend visiting my parents, and I am always so grateful to have time with them. I think that grandparents can be a wonderful influence, and our kids are very fortunate to have three fantastic grandparents. We had such a fun little Valentine's party with homemade cookies and other goodies. We enjoyed going to a children's museum, and I had the bittersweet feeling that my kids were almost too old for it... it won't be long! (I can always count on Robert to be silly and have fun, though).
Felting hearts last week got me on a roll for making small felt pieces... here are some recent creations, felted flower pins. I'm trying to come up with more projects for my alpaca fiber that are not dependent upon cold weather. I'm having fun with the beading, too. I hope you're finding some time to do the things you enjoy as well!