Dad had a birthday!! I don’t have a lot of pix of Daudy- here he is with his 3 grandsons- that’s from the Daudy J Father’s Day deal last year.
Here he is holding 2 of Gina’s girls- Madi and JennaMae. This was taken this spring.
Happy Birthday Daudy! We love you!! xo
These first ones are all from mid July.
Apples (green- Ukrainians love green, not ripe apples, for some reason) sliced and left out to dry. I was wondering how they keep the flies off- but they don’t try. They’ll use these things for baking (or they’ll be boiled) so they don’t even worry about whether they’re clean or not!
These next shots are all of a barn at the same place where the apples were. It’s a mud brick structure covered with something like cement. It was fascinating. The back room- apples drying on the floor, net bags of onions and general storage (someone’s old doll!).
more storage on the wall of the back room
there are also clothes drying lines in the back room.
the front room, which is where a lot of their food is stored. There’s a root cellar underneath this room.
The underside of the ceiling inside- which is wooden beams widely spaced, then thatched and mudded- this is the catch-all storage space for a myriad of tools and instruments! I love it!
a typical ‘get-up’ in that same village.
These next ones are some more from Spain, taken mid-August
Space in the house was limited (although we did have beds there) so, since it’s nice and warm there, three of us slept on the balcony! It was great! That’s my (messy) bed in the foreground. There was wireless internet, so we really had it made!
at a cafe on Montjuic, Barcelona. We had some pretty good coffee there! (and another link)
another shot from Spain, can’t quite remember where from, actually. An old city courtyard of some kind!
we saw several of these ‘wind farms’ between Barcelona and Madrid. The road went over the mountains; elevation was quite high at times and a great place to set these wind wheels spinning!
somewhere along the road between B’lona and Madrid- very dry, almost desert, but majestic none-the-less
Hello Joneses! I guess it be time to stop in and say hi! Hope all’s well for you all these days… I’ve been in Spain since Aug 4; it’s great to be back here. Has been super to see old friends and make some new ones. There were several people I had no idea I’d be seeing, so that’s been extra special. I love to run into people unexpectedly! 
Last week we were over in the suburbs of Barcelona- it’s a beautiful area, in the mountains (or really tall hills!) and incredibly picturesque. Weds we came to Madrid. The elevation here is a lot higher and the climate is dry so it’s quite cool at night and can be hot during the day… hasn’t been too hot yet, though!
I have some pix, will be getting more from a couple friends. I’ll just post a few interesting ones now.
Welcome to Spain! Sign by the home I was at.
The Mr at that home making bread. He made 17 loaves at a time in his outdoor wood-fired bread oven. It was fantastically good and very interesting to watch!
Staircase from the lower patio to the upstairs part. Actually, the old folks live in the bottom and their dau and son-in-law built a house on top of theirs and live there (entrance is at the top of the stairs and to the left; go straight at the top of the stairs and exit onto the street. It’s a beautiful home.
View from their home, just outside of Barcelona. Very pretty area.
The old fortress in Barcelona, right on the seashore. Port is just below it.
view of the Barcelona port (pic taken mit my cell phone)
Sent the following for my part of the family letter, but it must not have gone through or something (??) since well, obviously it wasn’t in the letter! So, I’m just going to paste it in here; I’ve not updated in wayyyyyyyy too long anyway. (And I’ve sometimes wondered if my emails sometimes don’t send when it says that they have…)
Take care you all! xo
Good evening! Wonder how everyone is? Sounds like the most recent play went off well- Mom wrote a bit about it. Now it’s back to life as usual, eh? J
We’ve had a busy summer here. In fact, I’ve hardly been aware of the date on the calendar, it’s zipped by so fast. We had several annual gatherings here the past month. Before that, we spent 3 weeks at 2 of the places getting ready for the gatherings. Did lots and LOTS of cleaning, scrubbing, painting and sorting of blankets, towels, sheets and linen in general. Even did a bit of weeding in some flower beds (that’s what I went to do when I’d had it with the cleaning!)… Now, in a week’s time, 2 of us fly to Spain for annual gatherings there, first in Barcelona and then in Madrid. I was there several years ago for the month of Jan, met lots of people and fell in love with Spain. It’ll be good to be back! Unfortunately, that is the hottest time of the year there. We’ll see how we cope with that kind of heat!
Tonight, I’m with a young couple, soon to celebrate their first anniversary. It’s been fun to have a bit of time with them. They’ve both spent time in the States and have excellent English. I watched part of the video of their wedding; interesting to see some of the Ukr’n traditions. Ukr’n weddings can be very elaborate, traditionally lasting from sometime in the morning until well into the night (2 am or later); in some villages, it is a 2 (or more) day affair. So, this wedding was quite simple, in comparison. There is a wedding hall owned by the city where all couples have to register; they can also choose to do a ceremony there, which these 2 did. Many would go on to an Orthodox church from there (and this can get very formal) and then on to a reception area- which is where the party goes all night. A few years ago, I was visiting some friends in a village where they still have 2-day weddings; I got to see part of Day 2, where the bride and groom switch clothes and parade around town for all to see. That was amusing!
Tomorrow, I hope to catch a bus out to some other friends and do some sewing. I lost a bunch of weight the past several months (yay!) and need to do some altering of my clothes! Either that or buy new! It’s hard to find good stuff here, though, so I opted to try and alter since mine are still pretty good.
Sat, a young man from Latvia arrives; I don’t know him but do know his girlfriend, so will go meet him and take him up to another city. You know how if you’re the Big Sister or Big Brother- you sort of feel like you want to make sure the little kids are choosing wisely? Well, this is my chance to meet The Boy and make sure he’s good enough for my little friend! (I’m sure she’d be soooo impressed!) J
We’ve had heaps of rain here the last weeks- heaps and heaps. Many roads and bridges have been closed. I spent all afternoon one day last week out in it running errands- unreal. It was sort of like wading across a vast sea for hours. In the end, I quit trying to avoid the puddles and simply splashed through. Too bad I didn’t have any little people along- it was puddle heaven!
Take care and hope you’re having a great summer! Hugs! Anita
finelinehobbit 