Tag Archives: overseas

Odds and Ends…

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So while I was trying to do something, ANYTHING, from working on my final research paper last night I decided to change the look over here… I have an idea in my head of how I would REALLY like it to look but I don’t know anything about web design and I really don’t want to put any money into what is really just an online scrapbook of my life. So for now my blog is trying on some new clothes and we’ll see how they fit.

My husband is begging me to buy sandwich bags. It’s pretty funny that this is even a conversation topic. I have become so anti-plastic that I don’t even know when the last time I bought ziploc bags was. Don’t get me wrong, we are no where near where we could be. Shit just has SO. MUCH. PACKAGING!

In other news my co-worker at the front desk is quitting. I don’t know what I am going to do. I am going to have to train her replacement and then my replacement. Ugh. Plus there is just SO much you have to be able to know how to do. We aren’t just answering phones up there! Hopefully they hire someone who is a fast learner! Plus I don’t know if I’ll be able to quit as early as I was going to. I am that crazy person who just can’t leave a mess behind at work. We’ll see about that because….

We STILL haven’t gotten our orders yet! I am getting more than a little bit stressed out because Lord knows PCSing isn’t stressful enough. Now we are down to3 months with no orders.  Honestly this wouldn’t be that big of a deal but we have to get the dog on the rotater (the military flight that flies back and forth every two weeks). Because he is a boxer he can’t fly commercial airlines in the summer time. The flights are full of dogs until June already and I reeeeeeeeeeeaaaaally don’t want to leave my baby behind!

Still haven’t started cleaning out our belongings or closets, I need to do that as well as pull the rest of the kids summer clothes out. I am hoping that when I start cleaning I will find my damn camcorder that I somehow placed somewhere stupid. I have a very bad habit of walking around with something in my hand and then setting it down. I once lost my coffee cup and couldn’t find it anywhere. Next day, I found it in the linen cabinet. Really?

Well now that I got that off my chest, have a wonderful Thursday!

 

El Bucarito! Our trip to the goat farm…

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(Prepare for pictures from ANOTHER class field trip!)

Yesterday we took a field trip to a cute little goat farm that is literally minutes from base. I am kicking myself for never visiting before.  The farm grown their own feed (organically) and uses the goat manure to fertilize the fields. Love that.  They also have a variety of other animals including donkeys, pigs (black Iberian pigs – the ones that get turned into famous jamon!), and birds of prey.  The owners live on site and they were super friendly and the entire staff was absolutely wonderful to our visiting group.

On to the photos!

The farm! The pig area is on the left, the goat fields are on the right.  The store is the building half cut off on the right. (Taken on a moving bus so not the best shot.)

Happy Bus Rider.

As soon as we walked by the pasture the goats all ran over to us. (Because I am a nerd I immediately thought of the Jurassic Park line: “They’re flocking”. Yeah. Just me.)

Prepare yourself, this is a goat picture heavy post. But they are just so dang cute!

Ha. He kept trying to eat my camera. Goats are dumb. But very photogenic.

O admiring the goats from a distance. They were a little nibbley. (Also I think the kids necklaces should read: “If found please return to the CDC” but no one agrees with me.)

Budding grape vine. The farm had some vineyards as well as a small orchard.

Our guide and I couldn’t figure out what this was. I thought cherry (cerise is cherry right?) She thought not. Fruit tree blossoms look so similar. It was probably peach or plum. Or apple or pear. Who knows. My mom probably.

We pose in doors a lot.

I want this bbq area please.

This is the owners patio. What we would call a courtyard. I love Spanish patios. Especially plain rocks turned into something awesome with a little crapload of time.

Also red geraniums in old pots or barrels. Swoon.

All the ladies getting milked. Of the 2,000 goats they have on the farm, 1,200 give milk. Twice a day. It’s no wonder it’s all automated!

One of the babies in the kid room… They were SO cute!

Feeding pigs! We had to warn the kids to keep fingers off the fence. Those pigs will bite!  These pigs are the famous Iberian black pigs. The males who look promising are moved and fed acorns to give the Iberian jamon the distinctive flavor that it is famous for. (For which it is famous. Whatever.)

Also. These pigs are hard core. Nose rings for all! This actually keeps them from rooting and tearing up the pasture or fence line, but I prefer to think that they have punk rock pigs.

I love mules. That is all.

This farm also breeds birds of prey, including owls. So we got to pet this tiny, bitty, sweet, fluffy baby owl. “IT’S SO FLUFFY” (name that movie, if you can’t we can’t be friends)

O meet owl.

Tiny!

Not quite so cute and adorable but a beautiful bird.

Falconry demonstration. Please someone tell me, what the heck is keeping these birds from flying away? They aren’t domesticated dogs, they are wild birds with unclipped wings. Why do they come back? Are they just really well fed? I wish my Spanish didn’t suck ass so I could have talked to the trainer.

The kids all loved this cheese, it was sweet and creamy and mild. So good!

These were more for the adults, strong, firm and pungent.  The rosemary one was really good.

And the chorizo. Made from those adorable pigs we saw earlier.  Think of salami but better. This was excellent and the kids couldn’t get enough. I will be back for this as well as some fresh goat cheese!

Ana one of the teachers and a friend, got to get up close and personal with one of the adult owls.

So did Val. All the cuddling was freaking me out. I kept telling them the owl was going to eat their eyes. Get the damn bird out of your face!

Hello gorgeous!

Goodbye, el Bucarito! We’ll be back!

Directions:

Go out the Spanish gate (back gate on base) take a left. You should see the farm on the right in about 5 minutes. It is off one of the perimeter roads. Store is open seven days a week. Tours are available for groups but you have to call ahead. If you have a small group you can see the cheese making process.

Thank you Missoula Children’s Theater!

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Missoula Children’s Theater is a wonderful group that travels around the world and putting together children’s performances.  We are lucky enough to have them come once a year, but were EXTRA lucky because even though they were just here in August, they stopped by again over Spring Break to have the kids put on ANOTHER show!

Auditions for the show (Red Riding Hood) were on Monday, parts assigned and rehearsals began the same day. The kids rehearsed every day that week and everyone who shows up gets a part, from kinder-gardeners up to sixth graders.

Friday night they were ready for their performance, the kids all did great (only a few mishaps but they were entertaining) the script itself was pretty corny but the kids thought it was hilarious.

M had the part of a shadow, she had been practicing all week the week before so she could get a major role but they pretty much all went to the 5th and 6th graders.

Acting like a 'shadow'

The four shadows (they were supposed to be the bad influences along the forest trail - MORAL AHEAD!)

Now they had to change from shadows into fire... cause if you play with fire you will get burned! (It was just so so corny)

The cast, good job guys!

Katie, one of the Missoula leaders. I don't know how these guys do it!

The four shadows/fire/bad plants! They were so excited they had costume changes!

My little star!

M and one of her good friends who was 'Sister Hood'

And then they packed everything up to fly out the next day to do it all over again. We gladly bought a tshirt to support them because they really do make the kids feel special and offer them a chance to be onstage.

For more info: Missoula Children’s Theater

(Sorry about the crappy auditorium pics, these are the best of them!)

Getting the dog ready(ish) for Hawaii…

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So, Hawaii is a rabies free island which is wonderful but it sure makes it hell to get your pets there.  To be fair they have seriously updated their policies and now offer direct release at the airport instead of having to stick them in quarantine for 120 days.

If we had to leave him in a kennel for that long we probably would rethink bringing him with us, I mean all the way from Spain to Hawaii just to then leave him in a cage? Poor thing!

Thankfully we’ve already got a couple of things done on the checklist, first rabies shot, check. Microchip, check. Now I need to take him back to our vet for a second rabies shot and paperwork.  Thankfully our vet is on the base so they have experience with this, also our vet receptionist moved here from Hawaii so she’s happy to answer any questions! I am just hoping he fits in the large kennel not the GIANT one!

Honestly we REALLY were going to wait until we moved back stateside to get a puppy, we tried to wait! We didn’t want to have to deal with shipping a dog back stateside, let alone to the Pacific!

Our cutie Bowser at 5 weeks

But really how could we resist that face! My husband went with a friend to look at a litter and I told him I wouldn’t be mad if he brought one home! It ended up for the best because we wouldn’t have gotten a dog in Hawaii if we had waited and my kids LOVE this dog.

Thankfully the Hawaii Department of Agriculture breaks it down step by step and explains what you need to get done and the timeline to get it done.  So as long as you follow each step EXACTLY you’ll be fine!

Here’s the Hawaii DoA page for direct release: http://hawaii.gov/hdoa/ai/aqs/aqsbrochure.pdf