Thursday, February 12, 2009

Fried Grasshoppers and Mushrooms


The rainstorms are starting to come again, bringing us much needed moisture and cool breezes. Mushrooms are sprouting, and tiny flowers abound. I think we have two flower seasons here, one in the spring with giant blossoms, and another now, late summer, with tiny orchids and bromeliads and itty bitty delights opening near the ground and in the trees.

Work is coming along fine, inbetween the rain, that is. But what else is new... this is a subtropical jungle after all.

The Yoga Platform is starting to take shape. We got it framed up, then roofed it, adding natural skylights.

Now we are putting the floor, which are boards cut from the fallen trees on the land. Multi-colored and gorgeous! Also, good energy for yoga and meditation.


And, of course, we are progressing with our Adobe Bricks... at least one day a week we devote ourselves to this rewarding task, which will one day make up the buildings we are dreaming.

Some like it dirty...

As for dreamed structures, we have started the foundation for the stone and adobe bathroom-shower house. We´ll keep working on this too...

Small creatures update... Suki, the calf, is growing bigger and stronger everyday. A beautiful, full-bellied heifer who is starting to taste grass and sniff curiously at the chickens... but she still doesn´t venture far from big mama Paloma.


Amaneeta is becoming quite a naughty, but oh-so-cute little kitty, hiding in backpacks and pockets, swatting at Lulu, demanding lap-naps, etc.

And Lulu... dear Lulu... eating gargantuan amounts of food, and always ready for more. She´s starting to grow into her belly, or rather, her belly is growing longer legs now. A good farm dog.. maybe?


So we had this invasion of grasshoppers, and one of our volunteers, in a moment of enlightenment, suggested that if the bugs are eating our food, then we should eat the bugs... so, we did. He fried us up some grasshoppers and garlic in a bit of oil... and to tell the whole truth, they were delicious. Not a regular menu item at Mama Roja, but not a bad treat for curiosity´s sake.

This one´s for the family... wanting proof that their other daughter is fairing well in the subtropics of the Southern Hemisphere. She is working hard, learning lots, and yes, we did feed her grasshoppers.


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