Haiti~part 1

I promised to share a little about Ron's trip to Haiti and will do my best to give you an abbreviated version of what they experienced there along with a few of the many pictures they took. 

 Ron and our friend Frank have recently become involved as volunteers with Forward Edge International http://www.forwardedge.org/ in an effort to help with a sustainable business venture in Haiti. The goal is to start a profitable venture such as a chicken farm, tilapia farm, cement brick production, alternative charcoal for cooking, etc.  that would provide food and jobs for the Haitian people. FEI is working with Grace International http://giinc.org/Home.asp who is well established in Haiti. The purpose of this trip was to meet the parties involved, survey the property and surrounding area and get an understanding of the size and scope of the project so they can develop a plan. 

Before they left for Haiti they spent two days in New Orleans to attend a Tilapia Conference on raising Tilapia in Haiti. The conference was very informative and worthwhile. This was the first time Ron had been back to New Orleans since hurricane Katrina. 

Jackson Square, aka Place d'Armes, in the French quarter

Bourbon Street

They spent their first day in Haiti at YWAM (Youth With A Mission) http://www.ywamhaiti.org/ while they waited for the team from FEI to arrive. The YWAM campus is located in Saint Marc. The staff at YWAM took them on a tour of their projects and also the surrounding area, all of which was very interesting and helpful. 

YWAM~Haiti
The building in the distance is an old vacant school on the campus that they use for storage now. 

YWAM~Haiti
campus dining area, church and multi purpose building

These are students from YWAM making bricks by hand using molds as seen here. These bricks will be used to build houses. They do this to supplement the support they need to raise for DTS school.  

 The Grace International hospital dorms in Carrefour, just outside of Port au Prince, is where they stayed while in Haiti. Doctors without borders used part of the facility when they were there assisting the victims of the earthquake but the medical team was gone by the time Ron and Frank arrived. 

Grace International Hospital
Construction on the hospital is not complete although portions of the building are in use. 

Grace International Hospital

Grace International Hospital dorm
This is the room they stayed in along with the others that arrived later.

View of Grace Village from their window in hospital dorm room

View of Grace Village from their window in hospital dorm room. The building behind the tent village was damaged in the earthquake.

The pick-up trucks below are called "Tap~Tap's" which are similar to taxi's in that they are a private, pay-to-ride form of transportation. They are called tap~tap's because you tap the driver's assistant on the shoulder to signal you need a ride. He then collects the money and hops in the back until the next stop where he jumps out and waits for more taps on the shoulder. There are several benches in the bed of the truck to sit on and most of the trucks have covers over the top for shade. Everyone piles in back and travels at their own risk. Apparently they like to drive fast and are a bit heavy on the brakes. They also do a lot of honking but there is such gridlock in some areas that all it seems to do is relieve tension and make lots of noise rather than get traffic moving. 

Tap~Tap (taxi) and drivers assistant

This Tap~Tap (taxi) is completely full! 

Tap~Tap (taxi)

to be continued... Haiti~part 2 and Haiti~part 3

PDX~"Arrivals"

Getting ready to leave for the airport to pick up Ron, AKA "Haiti Hubby"!! I will share more about his trip to New Orleans and Haiti later this week. 

Maui Gold

Last night for a special treat we picked up this Maui Gold Pineapple to have with dinner and it reminded me of all you Pineapple and Maui lovers out there. You know who you are. This little Pineapple tickled my senses with its tropical look and feel, the fragrant, fruity island smell and the sweet, juicy flavor, all of which triggered memories of warm sandy beaches, amazing sunsets, tall swaying palm trees, beautiful and aromatic plumeria and tuberoses, whale watching, urchins, turtles and all things 

Hawaiian.   

Indulging in this hand picked tropical delight here at home may just have been the next best thing to being there, minus the tan. 

Mr. Wonderful checking out a Pineapple Farm.
Maui 2002

 Love this rainbow!
Maui 2002

By the way, our Maui Gold Pineapple was absolutely delicious! Sweet, succulent and full of mouthwatering flavor as always. Maui pineapples are the very best and by far our favorite. If you would like a little taste of paradise I recommend you pick up a Maui Gold the next time you see one at the market and experience a little tropical getaway right where you are.  

Aloha!!

Basket Case!

 These baskets are just way too much fun to make and as you can see I indulged myself in a sewing fest over the last couple days. After making the first one I couldn't help but think about the endless combinations and themes. So in spite of our busy weekend of mother/daughter shopping, attending an out of town high school girls state basketball playoff game, drop in visitors, a movie, church and phone calls from our college boys, I managed to find a minute here and there each day to coordinate fabric, cut squares, sew a few seams and unfortunately rip a few seams too. I was able to finish these three and have several others cut and ready to go but then I got sidetracked with 

a new thought: 

 To embellish or not to embellish??  

I love details so it was a no brainer. I switched from sewing to searching for trims and creating tags which now make these cuties ready to fill and give away.  

Happily Ever After

Shabby Chic

Childhood Memories

A tisket a tasket....

...a green and white basket!! 

This week I started thinking I needed a little something new to set out for St. Patricks Day. While that thought lingered in my head I happened to see the cute Fields of Clover Longaberger basket longaberger.com  which reminded me of these fun patchwork baskets I had been wanting to make and suddenly a project was born. I really liked the gold accents on the Longaberger basket so when choosing fabric from my stash I knew I wanted to include some gold fabric. Since I was a little short on gold I patched the bottom piece which worked out great. 

I think I'll fill it with gold coins!

You've got mail!

While I was working on another project this afternoon I found this wonderful envelope among a box full of old cards and letters that I have saved since I was a little girl. I enjoyed reading the old handwritten and typed letters that were sent to me at camp, on birthdays and holidays, at college and for our wedding and reminiscing about family, friends, places and events. A box of irreplaceable treasures. As I was reading some of the letters I kept thinking about that sweet, pink envelope. I had set it aside knowing I wanted to use it for something but didn't know what. Later, while I was working on another project I finally decided to try and recreate the envelope with fabric. This was my first attempt. 

The fabric envelope is on the left, the paper envelope is on the right.

Paper envelope on the left, fabric envelope on the right. 

Happy March!

It might be hard to believe that March has arrived if it weren't for the crocus, daffodils and tulips pushing up through the cold, wet soil and the buds on my daphne that get plumper with each passing day. The tease of blue sky peeking through puffy, white clouds after a day of rain or my bleeding hearts whose new, delicate leaves have emerged from the ground, clenched tightly like the tender hands of a new born baby. Yes, the lovely, hopeful signs of spring. She's waiting just around the corner. To prepare for her arrival it's time to fill the pots on the porch with flowers, trim the roses, set out some springtime decorations, bake some seasonal treats and start the spring cleaning. Spring is in the air, can you feel it? 

Welcome month of March.