El Campo

In November of '07 we were invited to a friends small ranch somewhere in the countryside. It was a gorgeous five, count em, 5 hour ride, at times we drove an hour between any road or driveway break at all.


We had a couple of great days riding and relaxing. There was a caretaker couple that cooked and kept the place up.


As cows are too big to be butchered often, we ate only lamb, sheep really, in everything. I don't really like lamb, but it was the only the only meat on the menu and there was no snacking. Like camp, the only food was at mealtime. So everybody built up quite an appetite. A very old refrigerator was able to keep butter and milk cool enough not to spoil, but everything else was farm to table. It was great. We made an asado with a kind of screen lean-to, gaucho style. It was simple and natural.



The best was the riding. It was new for our kids to ride wherever they pleased 'out on the range', but our friends were really familiar with the land. Their oldest son Pedro was a natural on a horse.
The horses were gentle for the most part. No one had put the one stallion in the pen, before the girls mounted up to ride and there was an incident. Janine's horse became the object of affection and there was a ruckus. I wasn't there, but Jani said she jumped from her horse to get out of the way, injuring herself a bit on the fence. That was all for her.
The men had better luck. I'm not any great rider, but was galloping like a cowboy. We went for hours, running when we wanted, passing through fields and fields. Lots of cattle, some windmills. It was amazing.
I snapped a few pictures. I can be conflicted about taking pictures. It's nice to have the image/ memories and of course handy when trying to share the experience, but stopping to capture an experience interupts it and sometimes spoils it.
It's a conundrum, no?
I hope we get the chance to go again sometime.





























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Morning Club starts well

The kids and I got off to any early start and they seem to like their club Defensor's other location and the indoor pool. Luca didn't partake in the swim lesson, but I think he'll be in before week's end.
Some color tests on the facade at San Salvador......It's so hard to decide on the accents.
A lot of visits to the job this week. I am happy to show off the house a little. Can't wait for the party when it's done.

First day of School Delayed

There was a meteorolgical alert or something that cancelled the first day of school Wednesday. It was nothing more than rain. Oops. Then we heard from a friend that the real storm is still coming on Thursday. It didn't and the kids went off. A day late but no less enthusiastic.
Everybody came home with rave revues and homework. Luca has kept the same classmates, but the two 4th grade classes needed to be mixed up a bit. Too many high energy chatty cathy's in one group is not good. Plus there's a new, young teacher for that grade. He'll need every break possible. They may devour him anyway.
Check out Janine making a pasqualina.
cheers

Carnival (week) is over. Thank God.

I worked this week, but a lot of folks didn't. A lot of stores were closed. I've got plenty to do.
Monday I go for my immigration appointment. I don't think I have anything to worry about. It should be mostly about getting the documentation started.
The kids are having a little strep throat just now. Vincent was with fever for 4 or 5 days. It's Luca's turn. He started antibiotics yesterday.
The first day of school is Wednesday and I'm hoping everyone can make it.
I started the finish on the cabinets for San Salvador. Looking good so far. Next week we work on the facade. Yeah.
Heavy rain here in Mvd. Seems to be getting more and more frequent. It's that time of year. Wow, the drought this summer was rough. Fruit and veggitebles will go through the roof. High food prices here and everywhere are tough to combat. What can we do, eat less? Shop smarter is all.
I spotted this Nash in some stage of restoration. Check the rag top system.
later.

Making progress

We are progressing on most fronts.

This past year, we have realized some of our original goals:
I have a workshop set up. We bought a house to renovate and sell and one to live in (the drab orange facade shown here). We have health care. I did manage to have some surgery that went alright, the long wait aside and we have a car. All in all, not too shabby.
The kids are doing great with school and their 'club' afterwards. Here they are getting dropped off at "Defensor Sporting".

They play lots of futbal, swim. To see them in action, you wouldn't know they weren't born here.

My Spanish is still pretty weak. I am petrified to speak much.This year I'm committed to making some major advances. Let's see.

The house renovation project is at around 10 months.

It's an old gem and it's getting a total restoration. The front, shown here, is getting cleaned and painted next week.
There have been delays. A hernia slowed me down a bit. Plus it's quite hard to find any help, let alone competent help. While some weeks had 4 or 5 workers, it's been mostly me and a friend. He's a capable painter and helps me with almost everything, including a lot of translating. I don't know how this would have gone with out him.
I am cramming now to finish the kitchen and get it out of the shop. I have negotiated ending my lease there a bit early (a major accomplishment) and I'd like to be out by the end of March. More savings, yeah.

Next for us is our long awaited coffee shop. How exactly we can fuse our dream of a coffee bar with what will work here, isn't completely clear just yet. We have a lot of ideas and we've been watching the market closely. Some of it depends on the location we can secure. Where it is (what kind of traffic?) and how much space we have to work with.

Right now, we are working on getting my immigration worked out. After that is squared away, I'll get a cedula (the main ID here) and will have legal residency status.

We are having a great summer so far. the photos below are from our vacation last month. We went to Rocha for a couple of weeks. I managed only a week, but that's me.
Happy and safe, things are looking good. All we have to do is lock in some consistent way to earn a living and then it's, well, I don't know, downhill like everyone else I guess.

peace.