Saturday, July 12, 2008

All good things......

... sigh. Well, I was forced out of my resort. My sister arrived from DC Thursday night and we swept our way inland from blissful hammock moments to yard deconstruction in semi-humid heat.

Some last images of paradise --

Want to have breakfast with me on the guest house porch?
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Or how about joining me on the guest house swing?
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I learned many things house sitting. For instance:
I learned how to handle the clutter of grandchildren's toys:
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Yup, that's the shower stall all the toys are kept in. For the record, the DVDs and video tapes are in the same bathroom's drawers.

I learned that the best place to keep your frogs is....
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on your wall paper! lol

I learned that a raccoon with talent can do interesting things to an orange
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Yup, that's still hanging on the tree.

I learned that the reason we (the family) rarely made the famed family recipe for "mock chicken almond" was that we never had enough freezer space. One recipe makes:
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I learned that I might need to get the next layer of cable -- I need the Science Channel and the Travel Channel. Damn!

And most importantly,
I learned that I really want them to want me back!

The final accomplishments of my time in paradise are
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That's one of Isa Vautier's freebies in Vicki Clayton silks over one.

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Now just bits and background for my little flightless friend. The canvas is from Gimmies. The stitch is a modified, slated cashmere (I think) and the threads are Lola rayon (pain in the assets) and Fyre Werks Soft Sheen.

There's been no stitching since Shangri-La, just cleaning and catching up. Tonight was dinner with my aunt and cousin --
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That's the sis, the cousin, and the aunt. It's not a flattering picture of any of them, but the choice was an unflattering pic of all of them or flattering pictures of two of them and a hideous one of the other. I decided this was the best route. They are gathered around my sister's slide who of her recent trip to Bhutan. One important thing to know about Bhutan -- life's way better for the rooster than the hen.-- You see, as Buddhists, the Bhutanese eschew all carnivoristic tendencies. When Bhutanese go trading near the border with India and encounter Indian traders selling chickens (and roosters) they trade for the roosters and bring them back home and leave them at a temple with the monks to take care of. They are called "rescue roosters." They only rescue the roosters because it wouldn't be fair for there to be boy and girl poultry living with celibate monks. lol

13 comments:

mainely stitching said...

Interestingly enough, I recently came across reference to a monastary that only had male livestock for a similar reason. As you can't get eggs or milk from male animals, I have to admit that the point of it sort of escaped me!

So sorry your time in paradise is at an end. I do hope they will ask you back, soon! I believe we will now add an extra bathroom to our house rather than a playroom. I had no idea one could fit so much into a bathroom! LOL!!!

Charlie P said...

Hi Ruth!

Sorry for the late reply- I've hardly been at home this week! Thank you very much for visiting the pigeon loft and for the pigeon love :)
It must have been great growing up raising pigeons - do you still do it? I imagine it's a lot harder to raise a real pigeon than a crocheted one...and a lot messier!

Charlie x

p.s. the mock chicken almond looks very tasty :)

Kendra said...

That's a lot of mock chicken almond! I hope you like it a whole lot.

In the picture where everyone's looking at the laptop...my parents have those same green basketweave-looking glasses. I will always equate them with tea, as my mom always drinks her tall glass of iced tea out of her green basketweave-looking glasses. :-)

Cyn said...

Hi Ruth,

I've enjoyed your posts of your vacation, especially the animals! What a fun place to visit and I bet you are going to miss the swing and the hamock! :-)

It would have been fun watching the racoon demolish the orange! LOL!!!

The "Joyeus Noel" ornament is just beautiful!

The penguin is very cute and you are almost done!

Now I'm hungry after seeing your dinner. Sigh...

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

Mylene said...

I've enjoyed reading your post while on housesitting, sorry it came to an end.
Just love your recent heart finish.

Dani - tkdchick said...

Sorry you have to leave your little slice of heaven! Love your little freebie finish! Thanks for the link.

Kate said...

I hope you said goodbye to all the critters! That swing and hammock looked wonderful to relax in.

I like that idea for the gradkid's toys!

Michele said...

I would love to come have breakfast with you and sit on the porch swing! What lovely stay you've had!

Your chicken dinner looks great! Did you invite the Russian army over for dinner? lol :) My mom used to say that when she cooked too much!

Karen said...

Sorry you have to leave your beautiful retreat, I've enjoyed reading your housesitting posts.

Your freebie finish is lovely!

Kathy A. said...

Lovely finish. Sorry you have to leave Shangri-La for the real world! Maybe again one day. My goodness - that much almond chicken - I hope you plan on spreading it around.

Sally said...

I am way behind on blogging so sorry to hear your time in paradise is at an end.

Love your Isa V finish. I just downloaded this one recently.

staci said...

Great pics!!! So sorry that your "holiday" has ended, looks like you got lots of good stitching done though!

monique said...

wow, that's a lot of mock chicken! I love the bathroom toy storage idea LOL (didn't she kill you for posting that?!)