Tuesdays of Texture | Week 17 of 2016

Tuesdays of Texture is a super cool weekly feature.  You can read about it over here; but the short version is I want to see a bit of your world so link up your post in the comments!

The only security on this farm gate is that rope.  And it leads to a milk farm.  If you so wished, you could open it and hang out with the milk cows right there.  Like, RIGHT.  THERE.

I’m sure the area must be on camera 24/7 because otherwise, given the fact that thieves will manage to steal full grown cows – dozens at a time- that is completely crazy.

The paradox of the Hardcore Country Life.   People seem scare to meet the world – travel, study, interest themselves in other cultures- but they will protect their only income with a piece of rope.

Hats off to last week’s cool  participations:

ladyleemanila

klara

Debbie at Travel With Intent

jesh at St. Germain’s blog

Una Vista di San Ferno

Have a great day!  And do remember to share a bit of it with me!

Tuesdays of Texture | Week 7 of 2016

Tuesdays of Texture is a super cool weekly feature.  You can read about it over here; but the short version is I want to see a bit of your world so link up your post in the comments!

 

Remember hunt season?  I do.  I remember most of the times I was out and about and heard a riffle shot and ran for coverage – even though manfriend insisted it was completely unnecessary.

And then there was that time when someone (a visitor) was outside the balcony talking and an empty shell fell on his back.   I walked up to manfriend and, with the most boricua hands I’ve ever done, told him to re-evaluate how unnecessary it was to find coverage during shooting.   And also to SHUT UP.

I’m from the coast.  If I hear a gun shot, I don’t care how many kilometres away it was shot, I’m going to cover my head because SURVIVING.

So, the other day I’m walking around and see these things propped in a tree.  Someone found an empty shell and hung it as a souvenir.   Baby J asked what they were and I mumbled something about hunters, which inevitably ended up bringing up Bambi and well, that’s the Hardcore Country Life for you.

Last week’s cool people:

jesh

Joan

Thanks for sharing!

I wish you a peaceful Tuesday!  Do remember to share a bit of it with me!

Tuesdays of Texture | Week 5 of 2016

Tuesdays of Texture is a super cool weekly feature.  You can read about it over here; but the short version is I want to see a bit of your world so link up your post in the comments!

We went to the celebration of Fiestas Patronales close by, saw this and couldn’t resist sharing it as my first Tuesdays of Texture in video form!

Toasting peanuts. #Texture #TuesdaysofTexture

A video posted by @naramilee on Jan 25, 2016 at 7:53pm PST

Manfriend had seen it before because it’s something typical of the Hardcore Country Life but I had never seen peanuts being toasted!  Nor had I ever seen them being sold in a Fiesta Patronal.   It was super vintage-cool.  And very warm to stand close to!

Toasty.

A photo posted by @naramilee on Jan 25, 2016 at 7:55pm PST

I thought the peanuts would taste much better being freshly toasted and everything, but was quite  disappointed to find they just tasted like regular, non-vintage-cool toasted peanuts.

I have been keeping up with the news because I have an order pending from a supplier right in the middle of the snow storm (Our conversations during the past four days:  can you send the order now? No.  How about now?  No.  And now?  No.  Maybe now?  No.) and I’m sharing this warm, smokey post to warm you in case you are in or close to that disaster.

Last week’s cool people:

klara

black body

musing on maine

jesh

May you have a toasty-cozy day.  And do share a bit with me!

 

 

 

Tuesdays of Texture. | Week 1of 2016

Tuesdays of Texture is a super cool weekly feature.  You can read about it over here; but the short version is I want to see a bit of your world so link up your post in the comments!

This is going to be brief because the Holidays left us with SO MUCH WORK, are we the only ones with a pile of work waiting to be ignored tackled?  Wait, manfriend had no Holiday time so actually I’m the only one with a pile of work laughing at me. 

Anyway.  The weird things I see in the Hardcore Country Life.

«_«

A photo posted by @naramilee on Jan 4, 2016 at 6:31pm PST

Last week’s cool people:
Ladyleemanila
Jesh
Marie
Maggie

Have a great day, and please share a bit of it with me!

Looking up and Looking Down

I have two views recorded at Plaza Las Americas on our visit to Santa.

We saw the dancing lights:

The dancing lights. #ChristmasTree #ChristmasMusic

A video posted by @naramilee on Dec 16, 2015 at 3:34pm PST

(And I was very disappointed that they played our typical music last and in such short time.)

And the fake snow:

Fake snow. #ChristmasMusic

A video posted by @naramilee on Dec 16, 2015 at 3:36pm PST

All the kids went crazy about this “snow” while Baby J analysed it doing various tests.  I discovered her results when she came back to the Hardcore Country Life (there’s a thorn in my heart that won’t let me call it home.  I’m trying to heal it, although it looks pretty hopeless at the moment) and her father asked her what was the snow like.  She immediately answered:  foam.

My genes are so in there.

I thought about the contrast of perspectives in this post and I’ll invite you to try and change your perspective on something today.  Look at a situation, place, someone, a task, anything, differently.  It’s so much about how you perceive it and not about what or how it actually is.

I’ll try to find one embracing thing about this Hardcore Country Life for example.  One good thing.  I often can’t deal with the whole Hardcore Country Life picture, so I just pick one thing each day.  I’ll try to find it’s positive side today.

This might require lots of syrup or wine.

Have a great perspectively positive day!

This kind of walk

Walked longer then we usually do yesterday and found this view atop the never ending hill.

I started to like it and then remembered that this is the same place that does this to people.  Ran back down immediately.

Have a great weekend!

In this Hardcore Country Life: A Micky Mouse Visit

So this happened.

Just when I think the Hardcore Country Life is giving me a few easy days of mercy I find mice poop on the stove. Of course. #CountryLife

— Lee (@naramilee) November 24, 2015

 

I mean, talk about a way to declare the war.  Fine Hardcore Country Life, if that’s the way you want to have it;  you have officially entered the list of people off my kingdom.  No one comes back from out there, just so you know. 

That day was spent cleaning everything in the kitchen and freaking out about every single surface touched by anyone.  By anyone, I mostly mean Baby J.  And just generally freaking out.

I must mention that all the cleaning was done on a sprained back that had me wincing in pain at my every move.  Every single one.

So, lets just establish that it was a horrible day.

Well, the next day was worst.  Because it turns out that actually finding the mouse is much more of a commotion.

Manfriend unleashed his most primeval instincts when he found the mouse’s hiding place and locked himself in the room with it.   

Have you seen the movie Faster?  (Recommended!)  When The Rock finds one of the murderers inside a bathroom and locks himself inside with him telling him that only one of them is going to get out of there alive?   That was manfriend.  He was going to kill that thing if it was the last thing he did.

As much as I want to brag on how he used all his hunting knowledge and extremely good aim, I have to give all the credit to Fita, who went absolutely crazy when she smelled that thing and did not rest until she caught it and then killed it at least seven different times.

That dog is amazing.

After the body of the deceased was taken outside, the day was spent cleaning the rest of the house.  And just generally freaking out.   And yes, my back only got worst from there and I don’t feel any better yet because housework NEVER STOPS.

So yeah.  The next time someone asks me why I call it the Hardcore Country Life this is definitely coming up.

 

 

 

Tuesdays of Texture | Week 49 of 2015

If you have an image with texture please share it!  You can read more on how to share your images over here.  

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The Hardcore Country Life.

“Not by human dwellings–not in crowded cities alone, are the sights and sounds of life. The wildest places of the earth are full of them.”
― Solomon Northup

This is going to be the preamble for tomorrow’s post where I’m going to share more about the Hardcore Country Life’s critters.  Because if you think a dead snake is something wait until I use the word MOUSE.

Yeah.  I shivered too.

Please check out last weeks participations:

I’m going to begin with klara’s participation because she is sharing with us even though her part of the world (Brussels) is under high terrorist alert.  I love that she shared an image of an elephant, the biggest mammal on earth.  Please send good vibes and prayers to the European side.

ladyleemanila has a collection of images taken inside a museum.  CLOTHING!

jesh shared a beautiful collection, my favorite is the third one, a macro of a flower.

Marie shared a collection of images and I find the last one particularly cheery because PRE-CHRISTMAS!

Land of Images shared a perfect shot of frosty leaves.  Was Jack Frost there?  I’m sure he was.

Norm shared a walk in the woods and it includes very pretty fluffy stuff.  

Have a great day, and share a bit with me!

 

 

Hardcore Country Life: Green Lizard Edition

The Hardcore Country Life can sometimes be filled with something of a dream-like scenery.  A mood taken out of a country life movie where the horses eat the grass peacefully on a hill, the cows graze the meadows and the skies are always clear blue.

Like a few weeks ago when a local TV program came to interview manfriend on his pioneering business enterprise —oh.  I haven’t written anything about that yet, I know.  I’m sorry I’m bringing it up without writing about it first, but honestly I have so many mixed feelings about the experience that I can’t get the right words out yet.  (That happens to me often.  I really have to digest things to spit them out correctly.)

I feel exhilarated, sad, exited, frustrated and destroyed by that event.  All of it at the same time and writing those feelings will come out like a crazy, wild ride that you might not be ready for.  Maybe you don’t read this blog to live that kind of gut wrenching emotions.  Maybe you just want to read about the awesome chayote salad I tried the other day.  It was awesome, I’ll share the recipe later.

Anyway, a crew of three people came to record a segment for a local TV program (on morning prime time.  Because that’s how we roll.) and when the producer got out of the car he basically lost his head with the views.  The first shots he arranged where ones with the hills and the horses and the pine trees in the blowing wind.  It was a camera jack pot.

But then that only happens what, like once every ten years?  Maybe five?  The rest of the time it’s filled with moments like the other day where I’m left with a punch to my nerves that will probably last me a lifetime.

I was with Baby J under a poinciana tree telling her to stop trying to climb it’s roots because I’m not Hardcore Country Life born and doing so looks like a very bad idea.  She’s ignoring my pleas as she sometimes does when she’s outside (she knows that outside play is where I let her go to town) when I felt something behind her.  I didn’t even saw it, I just felt it’s gaze.

This.

Can you see it?  Let’s try again.

Zoomed in.

Yeah.  That mofo was RIGHT THERE.   I don’t even know what that is.  I’m a biologist not trained in Hardcore Country Life.

I called manfriend’s mother because she was closer but immediately regretted my choice because she’s… well, Hardcore Country Life raised.  You just never know what she’s gonna come up with.  Ever.

This time she started screaming and pulling her hair like the world was going to end while I raised my left eyebrow until it got lost in my hairline.

Apparently those lime green lizards jump?  Or fly?  Or probably eat people?   That’s what people in the Hardcore Country Life think.  I doubted this very much but still picked Baby J up and walked away a few safe paces to be on the sure side.  Manfriend on the other hand came very exited handling a broomstick to usher the lizard away (and also see if it indeed could fly) and take pictures.

I’m sharing this in the Look Up, Look Down Challenge.

And for the record, the poor lizard didn’t flew.  It had enchanting eyes though.

Have a great day!

Tuesdays of Texture | Week 31 of 2015

Every Tuesday I post an image of a texture or the use of a texture and invite you to join in the fun of sharing a detail of your part of the world by linking your own post to this one.  (If your blog is hosted on WordPress and you link to this post your links will automatically appear as a pingback.)

You can also @ naramilee in twitter or instagram if you want to share an image from either platform. 

You don’t have to make an exclusive Tuesdays of Texture post, you can find an image during the week and join any day you want and this event is ‘theme free’.   

I share contributions on twitter and mention each one the next week.   Hope to see your part of the world! 

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I used to have reinitas nests inside our marquee and I loved to see the chicks growing and getting fed (that link goes to a video of the reinitas getting fed).

I don’t have that anymore, but some days ago I discovered this:

God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest.
Josiah Gilbert Holland

That’s one bold reinita because that bush is right in front of the place where I park my car and is also very close to the balcony.  Whenever she fed the chicks we could hear them all the way into the house.   Cute.

Please check out last week’s participations;

klara shared a magical garden!  It made me think of The Secret Garden 🙂

ladyleemanila shared a collection of varied textures, my favorite is the one of the humongous shoe thingy.

land of images shared a flawless macro shot of a purple orchid.

Have a great Tuesday!