Nov 29, 2007

catching up

We're back home again, and the apartment had a little of that "nobody's home" smell to it. A little bit stale, windows shut for an extended period of time, and a little bit lonely smell. But now, we're home again and with a bit of sweeping and mopping, the lonely odor has flown out the window. I'm glad to be back home - it was great spending time with my family and friends, but it was definitely time to get back to my own life.

While I was there, I swooped into Walmart and found some great new books to read. I love a good mystery or suspense novel and I happened upon some really great ones! Yeay! All my favorite authors had books out: Robert Ludlum, Dan Brown, John Le Carrè - I'll be engrossed in books for some time to come...I even found one of my all time favorite stories, "The Mistress of Spices". From the Wooly Works, my sister lent me some great material for my English classes, too. I even brought a puppet to help me in my classes - O almost split a gut when the little guy smoothed his hair back and then sneezed it back into his face...Bethy knows what I'm talking about. I can't wait to introduce him to my students! I already have two classroom characters who help me with grammar, Lulu and Eggworthy. I haven't got a name for this little fellow...Bethy! What's his name?

So! It's good to be back and I'll post some photos as soon as I get time. I have a lot of catching up to do around here!

Nov 9, 2007

life goes on at the Woolly Works

I'm here at the Woolly Works, playing with the dogs and talking with Pansy. Hermes is of course his magnificent self, and the driveway into the yard is awash with Eau D' Hermes cologne when the wind is just right. Luckily, it's autumn and the wind doesn't often blow toward the drive. He'd love a good scratch between his horns and behind the ears, but at the moment, his aftershave is so overpowering that touching any part of his body leaves me with a strong and lingering scent of big black buck. Sunny is here and escorts me back and forth between the houses and the animals pens, as any middle-aged gentleman should. He'll be 6 years old in January, and is beginning to show a little white in his whiskers.

I've been working on a sweater since I've been here; hopefully it will be complete by show time. The standard $35 sweater is a staple for us and is a good seller. We make them in a variety of colors and often with adventurous buttons - warm and a little wild, people seem to enjoy them. And, we have capes and shawls and vests of various designs and, of course, the skirts!

We did ultrasounds on the alpaca gals and all but two are pregnant. That's good news! We can look forward to babies next year!

Nov 4, 2007

Time off

I'm off for my vacation in the US! The next time I post, I'll be writing with multi-colored fingers, from dyeing yarn at the Wooly Works! I'll be glad to see Sunny and Pansy once again, and talk with everyone there. I'll keep you updated with my doings, and of course Wooly works will be continuing full speed ahead. Celeste will also be taking a vacation, perhaps to Trujillo to stay with her grandma, or maybe to stay with her favorite kids at Lili's house.

See you in a few days!

Nov 3, 2007

Life in the Big City

It's Saturday afternoon and we are all whupped. We spent the long weekend (Thursday through Saturday) playing in the park and camping at Ceande. Celeste got to play with lot of other dogs and kids, and we took her for long walks...so she's now in the living room, snoring the rest of the afternoon away. O is crashed in bed and here I am, almost ready to do the same. Tomorrow, I have a midnight flight to Denver, and am kind of looking forward to that, but I hope to have classes again in December!

After the last class of the month of October, I went to Miraflores with friends for lunch. We ate at Pardo's Chicken, a nice restaurant with great chicken, cooked over a wood fire. They also have nice steaks, but they don't do rare meat. That's a pity, but I still enjoyed the steak. I can't say that the meat is on a par with the Texas Roadhouse, but it's still good. The chicken, though, is their specialty, and it's the best. So if you happen to go there, get the chicken.

The restaurant is on the beach in a place called Larcomar. Larcomar is a trendy, upscale place, focused mainly on tourism. The view from several restaurants there that overlook the ocean is wonderful. You can often see hang gliders floating on the wind currents over the beach and the ocean...and they're closer than you might think! It's a nice place to visit on occasion, but shopping there is a little too expensive for my wallet.

All in all, I'm enjoying living in Lima. I'm getting around the city now without much difficulty, and either the bus drivers are getting used to my American accent, or I'm improving my pronunciation. Now they rarely ask me to repeat myself when I tell them were I want to go. Every once in a while, I go a little farther than the last time. I like exploring new places and seeing what's out there. And I like feeling independent. Sometimes I miss being able to just jump into the car and take off to wherever I want to go, but even if I had my car here, I wouldn't want to drive it much in the city. They drive a little too differently here for me, and the taxi drivers are aggressive on the road. I prefer to walk. As long as I have two good feet to carry me, I'm happy. I really feel blessed to be able to walk wherever I want to and that my legs can carry me with ease. I know there are people who don't have that ability. I see many of them here in Lima. The only time I take a bus or taxi now is if I'm on a timetable and don't have the time to make the walk.

Nov 1, 2007

circles and beads

This year seems to have been all about playing with circles. I've been fascinated with the circular vests and have a round gray shawl in the works right now. I'm not sure why I'm so interested in circles, but hmmm...there it is. The shawl looks like a table cloth, so maybe it will be one of those garments with more than one use - when it's not being worn, it can just be thrown over a round table for afternoon tea! I hope to have all my current projects finished by Sunday.

I've also gotten into beading more this year than ever before. I understand the technique of beading crocheted pieces better and things don't look so clumsy now.