The Things I See...

We purchase milk in one liter plastic bags which are called, sachets, This morning my husband arranged three of the milks in a cake pan and informed us he had made a Torta Tres Leches, one of our favorite cakes.

GROAN~ I know, this is his Three Milk Cake.

What it is all about!

Christmas Eve ~ Vernoy kids~ Beaufort, SC ~ Dec. 24, 2007

Don't mess with me and my chocolate!

My daughter, Jewel, takes on her brother and cousins in defense of her chocolate.
(3 years ago)

The Night Before Christmas ~ In Paraguay ~ Written by BOB BOSTON

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the barrio
Not a person was calm, not even old Mario.
The stockings were hung by the kitchen with care,
In hopes that Papa Noel soon would be there.





The children were running around through the house,
Fireworks exploding, scaring even the mouse.
And Doña in her tank top, and I in my cap ,
Gave up on the idea of a long summers nap



When out on the cobblestone, there arose with a clatter,
I sprang from the hammock to see whats the matter.
Away to my rejas I flew like a flash,
With my windows open, smelly gunpowder made me gasp


The moon on the breast of the new-fallen dust
Gave the luster of grey to the objects at dusk.
When, what to my watering eyes should appear,
Through the dust, the gun smoke, and the sparklers veneer.
But a miniature sleigh, and eight exhausted reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than car window washers they came,
He whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!


As fireworks lit with a candle they fly
when they met an obstacle, go to the sky.
So up to the flat top houses they flew,
the sleigh with few toys, as everyone knew





Cracking the tiles, I heard on my roof
the landing of rockets, and thrown sparklers too.
As I ducked flying objects, and was turning around,
down the kitchen extractor came St. Nick with a bound.




His eyes-how they twinkled! His nose red like a beet!
Fireworks and explosions, he´d braved to my street.
His droll little mouth was smiling at me,
At midnight, with a heat of one hundred and three.




He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a shout,
Having used up the fireworks, it was safe to go out.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight.
“Feliz Navidad, and to all a good night”

.

The Things I See...

 I am pretty sure that a hobbit lives here!

 I would like to knock on the door and ask for,

 "Mr. Baggins, please!"

Hobbit Holes

After the storm!

Leaks... 4 am and my hall was turning into a river...

These were taken after the rain had stopped.

.

We woke up to find water flowing out of the chimney and leaking from the roof onto the mantle. The Flat Screen TV was dripping. The Wii was being baptised. My laptop was sitting under the dripping water in a puddle on the mantle.
Our fireplace resembled the Iguazu Falls not too far from our home...

Maybe we should open up a water park in our house?

A thought for today

"We're not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be."
C.S. Lewis"

Sweep away the Flaws

This broom was photographed by my oldest daughter and it does indeed serve it's intended purpose. It is mainly used as an outdoor broom to clean patios and yards. I have noticed that Paraguayans tend to keep a very neat yard even when they live in a humble home.

While mentioning this to my neighbor, she shared a Guarani 'wives tale' with me. It seems that the mothers and grand mothers are always telling the young girls to do a thorough sweeping of the yard, porch, and house.

This sweeping needs to be done in a methodical, meticulous manner because it will effect the future of the young lady. A girl needs to be extremely cautious while sweeping so as not to leave behind any litter or dust bunnies because each one left behind represents a flaw in her future husband.

So a lazy, careless girl will undoubtedly end up married to a man with many character flaws, where as a diligent girl will find herself betrothed to a nearly flawless man.

No wonder my neighbor's daughter gets up early and sweeps the yard almost every day. Even the sidewalk! Her husband will certainly be a saint! Personally, I am not so sure I would enjoy being married to a perfect man. I would probably leave a few dust bunnies just to make sure my future husband had a little 'rascal' left in him!