Nicaragua 2016 ~ LEON

We traveled by school bus to a church/school in a small village outside Leon to set up a medical clinic.

Horse drawn carts and herds of cows in the street were common along the way.

Pigs and hogs could be seen tied up or roaming near the houses and shanty’s. 

Most houses had cement wash tubs outside and clothes hung to dry on barbed wire fences. 

The children were very excited when our bus arrived.

Some wanted their pictures taken, others wanted to play soccer and some helped pump water for the school.

The girls gathered around Miss E and pointed at her braids. It didn’t take long to figure out they wanted their hair braided just like hers.

It also did not take long for a line to form so we all started braiding the girls hair. 

Before we knew it the girls were taking their braids out and getting back in line to have it done all over again. 

A thunder storm arrived suddenly with lots of wind and rain which flooded the playground and the roads almost instantly. 

Then just as quickly the sun returned and the massive puddles disappeared. 

This is the kitchen and food is prepared over an open fire in the little brick room.

The medical team set up their clinic/pharmacy in the school and set up 4 classrooms for the doctors to use as examining rooms to see patients privately.

The clinic saw 107 patients that day and an 82 year old man had to be taken to the hospital.

The freeway is shared with the farmers and their livestock so travel can be slow however we made it back to the Villa Esperanza in time for a wonderful meal prepared by the school staff. 

Happy Saturday!

Gâteau Fondant Aux Poires ~ French Pear Cake

We have a bumper crop of pears this year and they are

ripe and ready for picking! 

Since the pears are extra large and so heavy they are beginning to drop off the tree which causes a lot of bruising. The good news is there are still plenty on the tree to pick for baking and drying, however time is of the essence.  

One of my favorite fall desserts is pear pie which I made last week. YUM. Unfortunately, not everyone in the family likes it so I have been searching for a new dessert, made with pears, that everyone would enjoy and I believe I have found just the thing. 

I recently came across this easy recipe for an amazing

 French Pear Cake that seemed to fit the bill.

I made it over the weekend and served it for breakfast

{ since I couldn't wait until dinner }.

It was wonderful!

Have a beautiful Monday!

Happy August, Happy Saturday!

Boy, it's hard to believe the dog days of summer are behind us and now only a couple more weeks left in August. In a blink of an eye summer has come and { almost } gone leaving behind many completed summer projects { yay! } as well as projects still in the works and others on the waiting list, fun times with family and friends and a very special trip. As always I have taken many pictures of all of these things during the summer and I am in the process of organizing and editing so that I can begin posting them. 

As always, I am enjoying our dahlia's. I was taking pictures of our fence replacement/tree removal project the last couple weeks and got distracted by the pretty flowers. 

One of my recent projects was putting up apples. The gravenstein apples are on now and my parents picked a huge box full for me. Last weekend I prepared them for the freezer and also made 16 apple dumplings { 12 regular and 4 gluten free } for Sunday Supper. We all agree they make the best apple dumplings and pies. 

Have a fun in the sun Saturday!

Villa Esperanza :: Village of Hope

We recently returned from a Medical Mission Trip to Nicaragua with a group of our friends. Our facilitator who is also a friend and works with Forward Edge lead our team. Two of our friends on the team are doctors and the rest of the team was support staff in one way or another. Once we arrived in Managua we were transported by school bus to the compound where we were staying which is home to at-risk girls.

A dirt road leads to the entrance of the Villa Esperanza,

The neighbor’s live in Shanty’s along the road.

The compound is surrounded by cement walls and an iron gate. Armed guards opened the gate to let our bus enter. 

Inside the gates is a beautifully laid out facility with well kept landscaped grounds and nice basic housing for the girls as well as the teams. 

We stayed in nice dorms with bunk beds and a bathroom with a nice walk~in shower however there is no hot water on campus so that took some getting use to. Men and Women were assigned separate buildings, no exceptions. 

The girls who live on campus are assigned to houses in groups.

Their houses surround a playground and soccer field.

The grounds are patrolled 24/7 by armed guards and 3 guard dogs. 

I was in charge of craft time with the girls and prepared and pre~packaged the supplies for the projects before our trip. Our last evening was craft night for the girls at the Villa. 

We met in the large open room next to the kitchen where we ate and had meetings. We all sang songs, danced, played games and taught the girls a couple crafts.

We decorated water bottles and made felt bookmarks. It was easy, fun and worked well for the the varied ages of the girls. 

Everyone on our team helped out, even the guys, which was nice. It was a fun farewell with our new friends. 

Blessings,

Nicaragua 2016 ~ craft night

Popping in to share my upcoming mission trip craft projects and supplies. We are heading to Nicaragua as part of a Medical Team through Forward Edge. We have two doctors, some nurses and a support team and that will be setting up Medical Clinics as well as a pharmacy in villages outside of town and will assist local doctors. We will be staying on a campus for at~risk girls and will be eating and doing activities with them when we get back from the clinics each day. 

I was asked to provide craft projects for the girls to work on the last night we are there so I have been preparing kits and supplies to take.

It all needs to fit in my suit case and carry on and needs to be suitable for a range of ages so it puts some limits on what we can do however I think I have come up with a couple fun things that will work.

We will make some Bedazzled Water Bottles and some cute Felt Bookmarks and if time allows I will have an bonus project ready. Check back soon for more details on our Mission Trip and an update on the craft projects. 

Have a Great Day!

4th of July ~ CUPCAKES

Happy {belated } 4th of July!

I don't know where the time has gone. June was such a busy month, as usual, and now July is already here. YIKES.

Since I haven't posted for a few weeks I have a lot to share but thought I would start with the cupcakes I made Monday for our annual 4th of July neighborhood BBQ.  This year even numbered houses were assigned dessert so I decided to make some festive cupcakes. I started by making 24 chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and sprinkles. For a little added decoration on top I made some edible "firecrackers" out of marshmallows dipped in red candy melts with little licorice wicks and put those on half and for the other half I cut out red and blue stars to use as toppers.

I also happened to have some very ripe bananas that I thought would be perfect for making a double batch of banana cupcakes with vanilla butter cream frosting so I made those as well and added chocolate ganache, sprinkles, sweetened whip cream and a cherry on top for Banana Split Cupcakes. For the other half I simply stuck a vanilla wafer on top for those that prefer something more simple.

So there you have it, two varieties of cupcakes decorated four different ways, bringing the grand total to 48 cupcakes in all! A very fun and productive baking day!

Happy Father's Day!