And we’re back! Update on the House in Jaguey: We’ve been busy!
Holiday: International Mountain Day (who knew?!) - go on then, head out and enjoy those mountains!
Welcome back to my blog! I was SO sure I’d write the entire time I was “home” in Ohio…that I’d be in the studio painting, writing/blogging once a week, and rocking it out on the homestead business. Quick update on the aforementioned: I didn’t. Not that either. I DID raise 100 chickens, three cows and two steers (processed out the steers), six hens, two goats, one goose, and 14 turkeys, BUT the garden was mostly a bust. You’ll have that. Most of the past nine months has been spent establishing a new normal (more on that in a future post, maybe). We homeschooled from March to May 2025, and then we were busy busy with animals and fighting weeds in the garden. When the new school year started in August, we were busy with soccer, running club, Kindergarten/4th grade/Freshman Year and processing/marketing homestead animals and products. My husband Jhan has been working like a maniac, and he’s been long-distance managing a major stair/planter project in Jaguey. We pretty much have had Sundays as family days. For sanity’s sake, I had to take a wee blog break.
At the moment the kids, my father Jorge, and I, are back in Perú, and Jhan will be here in one week. We’re once again adjusting, but it’s weird — good weird. Being back here, I almost feel like I never left. I know I did…there are some differences, of course, but it’s been pleasantly surreal arriving this go around. We’ve easily slipped back into the routines we’ve kept for the past couple of years.
I know I promised a Jaguey house and homestead update the last time I was on here, and I have very exciting news to share! On our first full day back, Papá Miguel took Papi Jorge and me to the house in Jaguey to check out all the progress on the very involved stair project. I hope you’ll understand why I call it “very involved” once you get a look at these photos. Now that we’re back and hoping to get fruit trees in the ground, I will try to get at least a brief blog post up each week. I’m hoping to write prior to Thursday and have it up live each Thursday by the evening. If you don’t see a post, help a gal out by being an accountability buddy — aka, please pester me to save me from my procrastinating, perfectionistic self!!! I’m getting better about it, but I so value you all, my community!!! Let me know what you want to see — please send me your questions!
Hope you enjoy!
In the studio:
I did finally make it back “into the studio.” Hilariously I’m working on the painting I started here last year, took to the States assuming I’d work on it and finish it, and then schlepped back to Perú. I am delighted to report after my first hour back at the easel, we are solidly in the ugly middle. I couldn’t be happier!
Thanks for stopping by. Again, please let me know what you’d like to see. Do you have any specific questions about Peru? About the house in Jaguey? About the homestead project in Jaguey? I’d love any and all ideas for topics. Have a great week!
