Ranchin'

Ah, sweatpants-Thurday.  I have been looking forward to you.  Yes, that means I am staying in my house ALL day, and reading and writing and cleaning my tiny bedroom, which currently resembles the homeless man's camp in the lot next door.  Yesterday, I was feeling ambitious, and made a list!  Today, I have marked only five things off, two of which were 'soak beans' and 'check Ravelry account'.  Soon, I will scratch off 'blog'.  Anything that may involve 'enrollment' 'exercise' or 'graduation' will clearly be pushed onto tomorrow's list. 


Last weekend, my good friend, Gabi, invited Liz and I out to her family's 200 year old cattle ranch.  A group of vet students were all going out to help vaccinate, tag, and preg check, so we decided to join in.  Her grandmother made huge, very Italian meals everynight, with handmade pastas and slow cooked meats.  I was miserably fat for the entire extended weekend.  Behind the house, there was a beautiful orchard with oranges, lemons, limes, bergamots, figs, apples, peaches, avocados, carambolas!, kiwis!, pecans, pears, mangos, grapes, and others that I couldn't identify.  I came home with a feedsack full of bergamots and a mouth full of those tiny ulcers that only excessive amounts of citric acid are capable of causing. 

Francisco.

Squeeze chute. Made of wood. And really fancy.

Money shot.

Gremio and Inter played each other on Saturday.  They are the two futbol teams in my state and form the fifth most aggresive rivalry in the world.  I live with Leonardo, who is a purebred, steadfast Gremista, and because I value my hot showers, I also cheer flambouantly for blue.  Unless, I am staying with a red Inter family.  Shhhhhhh.......
Gabi's family is totally red and I witnessed her 74 year old Catholic, grieving widowed grandmother morph into a jumping, shreiking, horn-blowing dancer when International beat Gremio in Gremio's stadium on Saturday.  She blew off fireworks and got out her old CD player to blast Inter's victory anthem and made the only Gremista in the house dance with her while she sang all of the words.  Somebody has a picture of the woman wrapping me in a headlock.
I know what's up.  I cheered red, too. 

 

Vovo gave me a lot of warm handknitted things to wear. I'm going to replicate this one, I wore it all weekend.



Lemon Drops.

Homegrown kiwis!

View from my room.

Commencement of the churrasca saga.

Orchids everywhere.

Horseback exploration.

Oh, Aaaaaaaand...     While working cattle the last day, I got bit by a fly on the hand.  Leonardo told me last night he thinks I might have "a little worm" under my skin.   But no big deal, he says, when it is big enough, we will put sugar all over it and lure it to crawl out.  He tried to be reassuring, but I saw the single-second flash of hibby-jibbies betrayed in his face. Ha!