Wordless Wednesday, the one with the friendship heart

Welcome to the 5th Edition of Wordless Wednesday!

Wordless Wednesday is a great day to post an awesome picture that “speaks” for itself, no words needed!!

My daughter and her friend posed for and took this picture last Sunday! I love it!
 

Meet me on Monday is back

Happy Monday everybody, and as I said on FB last week:

Welcome to Monday.

Please secure your seat belt,

keep your arms and legs in at all times,

and enjoy the ride.

Java's is back with her Monday meme and new questions. You can find her here. I like to participate in this and similiar memes because I get to know a lot of new bloggers this way and people can find out important stuff more about me!

Her questions of the day:

1. Do you sleep with a night light on?



No, but just outside my door, in the hallway a nightlight is on to help the kiddies find their way to the bathroom at night.
 
 

2. What do you drink with dinner?



When in season, then we allways drink grapefruit juice with our lunch (which is the main meal of the day here), otherwise just water. (By the way, the picture below is one of our own grapefruits picked fresh everyday from our orchard. Picniked by me.)



3. Do you play the lottery? If so, how often?

Never

4. How often do you go to the grocery store?

I go into town once or twice a week, and do my grocery shopping then. We live in a village about 15 km away from the nearest store.
 

5. Would you rather travel back in time 500 years or travel forward 500 years?

Just thinking about the plumbing and health issues from 500 years ago, I'd rather go into future and be surprised what it looks like!
 


 
I hope you all have a good week. I'd like to catch up on cleaning and sewing.
 
And tomorrow I'm hosting our bible study at my house.
 
What would you serve a bunch of lovely ladies? I'm open to suggestions:)

P.S. I'm thinking of hosting a giveaway to celebrate 100 wonderful people following my blog. (It's at 97 right now) So, check in again this week to see if I get the 100th friend this week. (I agree with my friend, that the word follower is not quite right, I like to call you all friends!)

What I miss about Halloween

To understand this post, you must know that I was born in Canada and lived there until I turned 10 years old. A lot of things that happened in my childhood are rosier in my mind than in real live. I remember going camping, going shopping in great big stores, eating out at McDonald's, racing down the slopes at Paskapoo in little racecar-like sleds, traveling to my grandparents house from Calgary to Winnipeg in a truck (my Dad had a roof on the top of the truck bed, I think it's illegal to transport people like that now:), and I remember Halloween.

Here in Paraguay, we don't celebrate Halloween. I've noticed that in the capital they are starting to catch on with the whole scary decorating thing and with wierd dress-up parties. But here in my beloved boonies, only people that have been in North America know the whole trick-or-treating custom.

What I miss about Halloween:

1. Candy

2. Costumes

and thats it.

I hate all the hype about cobwebs, witches, ghosts, skeletons, zombies, vampires, etc.....

But I loved to go trick-or-treating in the safety of my 3 sisters company, with pillowcases as goody bags, walking up and down familiar streets, our breath turning to fog in the cold October air, checking out who has the best hobo costume this year, and comparing our loot at home.

I remember my oldest sister, D, would always save one red lollipop till the next  Halloween. We would see who had the most chocolate, and be disapointed with the apples we got. (My Mom wouldn't let us eat them, because we heard that sometimes evil people stuck razor blades in them). The greatest prize was always when we got McDonald's coupons!

So, I'm tired of all the crafts, costumes and decorating Halloween style that the internet spews at me everyday, just send me some candy and I'll be ok.

That reminds me, I got a package in the mail today, and I nearly cried. My fellow Chaco-blogger Betty was in Pedro Juan Caballero (a Paraguayan city on the border to Brazil) last week and blogged about getting her beloved Salt-and-Vinegar Chips there. I made a comment about grabbing them from her. Turns out I didn't need to threaten her. She sent me a Pringles can of S&V chips! Thanks, Betty!

So now you know my feelings about Halloween, I can go and hide in my sewing room and snack on some chips! :)

I'm invited to a barn party

You read that right! I'm invited to a barn party over at Patrice's barn this week. I love this idea, she's celebrating her 4 month-blogversary. I met Patrice for the first time over at Java's: Meet me on Monday. And have been reading every single one of her posts since then. Because we both live on farms and both have daughters, I feel connected to her:)


So, let the party begin.

I can't get the blog button to link to her blogpost, so click on here to visit her.


The rules say to follow her. You know I do, Patrice!


Then we should answer 5 questions and post them on our blog. Here goes:


1. Who would you bring with you?



I would bring my 3 sisters, D from Winnipeg, Manitoba, C from town (we both live in Paraguay), and A from Langley, B.C. (just in case you’re wondering: yes, our names start with A,B,C,D just in reverse order, and yes, that was our parents idea:)


2. What will you wear to the party?


It sounds chilly, so I’d wear jeans and boots, a long-sleeved T with a cardigan I knit myself.


3. What would you most like to see on my farm?


The orchards I’ve been drooling over and of course your kitchen. I hear a lot of good things come out of your kitchen!


4. What dish would you bring since it's pot luck.


Crispy fried chicken and my favorite rice and bean salad.

You can find the recipe here.



5. What game or activity would you like to do during our get together?


I’d like to hear from each lady (or man?) attending, where they are from, what they do, and stuff like that.


I also like to play silly party games, with a camera close by, to catch the silliness.


Oh, and I would like to grease one of your pigs and let volunteers try to catch it. Always a fun party game, when you’re just watching someone else make a fool of herself:)

Come and join the fun.

Patrice will be having a few giveaways in the coming week to celebrate her 4 months of blogging.

Everyone have a great weekend, ok?

Some crafts I made

I just got back from a ladies night out at a restaurant in town that just re-opened today. The food was delicious, but the waiter was very nervous, as it was his first day on the job.

So now I'll show you some crafts I've finished in the last few weeks.

First would be this bag. It's crocheted from a pattern I found on Ravelry, and I sewed some wooden beads on around the ruffle. I'm not sure what I'll do with this bag yet, but it would be the perfect size for one of my daughters to take her bible along to sunday school:)

Second is this embroidered journal cover. I made some similar ones last year for my 2 best friends, and just finished mine last week. The embroidery is done with all six strands and is easy and fun to do.

This is the inside of the "padfolio".

Next is this crocheted duster/vest. I hate the way I'm posing for this picture, but I didn't have anyone close by to take my picture so I set the camera on timer. But you're supposed to look at the vest anyways:) It took me about a month of drinking maté with Marvin until this project was done.

This was a totally new project for me. I found the idea in a Country Woman magazine. Marvin helped me cut the barbed wire and I put together the dried/artificial flowers. We gave it to friends of ours who were celebrating their 10 th wedding anniversary this weekend.

One of the things I love to do while reading blogs, is enter blog-giveaways. The other day, Quilting Ranny send me a message that I had won a pillow in her giveaway. She even wanted to personalize it:) YAY! I love quilting too, but haven't done a lot of it in a while. Here I am opening my package:

Here is the pillow! Thank you again, Quilting Ranny! I really love it and I will always think of you when I see this pillow. I wish you a lot of happiness and wisdom in raising your grandchildren!

On the same day I received another package in the mail, all the way from France!!! I joined a web-group called Swap-bot. You can pick in which swap you would like to participate, and they asign you partners. Then you send something to them, and someone else sends something to you.

And this is what I got in my first ever swap. Two keychains, a pair of earrings and a nice card. I'd like to say: Merci and thank you to "City700" of France.

 



Thank you to all of you, who took the time to read my blog today. I appreciate the comments I get from around the world and love to visit your blogs in return!

Meet me on Monday turns 18!

Welcome to the 18th edition of  "Meet Me On Monday!"

I'll quote Java's introduction to this meme here today:

Blogging is a funny thing...we tell our most intimate thoughts for all to read and yet most of the time I find myself sitting and wondering, "who is this person!?" I know them...but yet I don't know them! I want to know who the person is behind all those words so I thought of a great way for all of us to "meet" each other!


Every Sunday I will post five get to know you questions that you can copy and paste into your own Monday post and we can all learn a little more about each and every one of us!!


"Its a great way to to meet new friends and for others to get to know me better....one Monday at a time!!!"....as quoted by the Chacogirl!! (That's ME!:)
I will make this SIMPLE and FUN!!!

Questions:

1. Do your pants get hung on a hangar or folded?

I fold my pants. (And for whoever doesn't know how to, look at the diagram below:)

2. If you are stranded on an Island, what 3 things would you need to have with you (not including humans or electronic devices)?


My bible, handcream and chapstick.

3. Where is the farthest you have ever traveled to?


Canada to Paraguay both ways when I was about 4 or 5, and Canada to Paraguay, one way, when I was 10.

4. Do you live in a house, trailer or apartment, etc.?


We live in a house, which we built 6 years ago. We lived on the same farm but in an older house for 10 years before that.



New house




Old house, it was built by one of the first prople to live in this village. About 80 years old. (And very small:)

  5. What is your most hated household chore?

Ever since I've had back pain (4 - 5 years ago), I've feared and hated washing my floors. I had back surgery for two herniated discs almost 3 years ago, and since then a lady comes once a week to wash my floors.:)



There, I hope I've answered some of your burning questions:) I really like to participate in this meme, because I notice a lot of differences of living in Paraguay, compared to Canada or the U.S.

I hope you all have a good week, tomorrow I'll be posting some pictures of some crafts I've done in the last few weeks. See ya!

Wordless Wednesday, where my kitty sleeps

Linking to Java's Wordless Wednesday

Meet me on Monday, 17th edition

Do you want to know a bunch of facts about fellow bloggers? Come over to Java's and link up to her meme: Meet me on Monday. This is a great way to tell others about yourself and get to know others, one Monday at a time.

Questions:

1. What is the best dish you can make?

Sweet and sour spareribs and most recently: Spaetzle

 

 2. How often do you change your sheets?

Every two weeks.

 3. What is the longest car trip you have ever taken?

Car trip is probably when I was 9, we drove from Calgary, Alberta to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 14 hours, I think. With bus, when I was 22, we drove to a youth retreat from Filadelfia, Paraguay to Curitiba, Brazil in 20 hours.

 4. What is your favorite fruit?

Mandarines!

5. Would you rather have breakfast for dinner or dinner for breakfast?


Breakfast for dinner! Vice versa is just too wierd.

I'm glad this weekend is over. Whoever is familiar with Paraguay knows that this past weekend was the biggest motorsports event of the year: The Transchaco Rallye.

Ever since our cousin is driving in this race, we try to take part as good as we can. For three years Marvin was working as a cook to Tommy (his cousin) and Tommy's racing team. Which can easily come to 60 people a day. They would stay at the base camp in Mariscal Estigarribia for 4 days and start making "milanesa" at 5:00 am and stop at 11:00 pm, when the last of the team comes in. This is the first year that we could follow the race as a family, as Marvin decided to skip a year as a cook.

On the second day of the race I got up at 3:30 am and at 4:00 am we were on the road to Est. Mbuturetá. We got there at about 7:00, just in time to set up our chairs and cheer on the first race car coming through the "picada" ( a picada is a roughly cut road through the prickly brush of the Chaco). Tommy was the 8 th, and he kept that position until the next day when the race ended. (8th of 90 is ok, isn't it?)

We had a good time with famliy and friends, Tommy ended the race without an accident, that's what is the most important to me thoughout the race.



This commercial for Personal Internet started showing this weekend. Last year Thomas (Tommy) won the Transchaco Rallye with his co-pilot Carlos (Carlucho) Fillipi, and Hector (El Negro) Risso is the only race driver that has driven all of the Rallyes since they began in 1971. I showed the commercial to Tommy's mom yesterday, she was so proud of him:)

I hope this week is less crazy than last week was!

Have a happy Monday!

Transchaco 2010