Thursday, June 25, 2015

Another Fallen Pilgrim



A French pilgrim (age 35) died of a heart attack on Saturday 
in the municipality of Vega de Valcarce 
as he walked the stretch of La Faba and Herrerias 
on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.

His brother, age 21, was also doing the Camino de Santiago, 
and has identified his body. 

A call alerted the emergency service 
of a man fainted in the middle of the road up to La Faba. 
Arriving services 112 certified his death.

I do not have the pilgrim's name yet, 
but our condolences and prayers are offered to the family.

Rest in Peace, Peregrino.
May this, your final Camino,
 be sweet.


Wednesday, June 24, 2015

The Finish Line! Santiago with Joe 2015

Joe and the girls made it fine to Santiago on June 1.

I haven't heard back from them yet,
but Joe said they had a fine trip!

Here are a couple of photos.
As you can see, they are still working on the Cathedral.



The next morning, 
they rented a taxi that too them
to Finisterre and Muxia for 2 hours each place,
with lunch in Muxia
for €160.
This is a great deal!

Joe took off the next day for the Netherlands.
He loves spending time at the Ritman Museum,
and this year, also visited Groningen,
Alkmaar, and Heemskerk.

He made it home very late Thursday night.

I've had a fun summer so far.
My chickens are doing great and my biggest Barred Rock hen
decided she would go broody,
so I bought some fertile eggs to stick under her.
She's a very happy girl:

She's sitting on a dozen eggs.
I bought 6 Black Copper Marans eggs,
2 Americauna eggs,
2 Mille Fleur eggs
and 2 Olive Egger eggs.


I'm excited to see how many hens I get
and what breeds.
I'll know in another 19 days!

Otherwise, I've been working on a variety of projects.
I have the Camino May 2016 planned and posted.
I'll blog about that in a separate posting.

I turned in a DNA test to ancestry.com 
and got the results today.
DNA has proven to be quite interesting.
I submitted my mother's DNA a few months ago,
and as a result, 
I have 2 new cousins who were given up for adoption,
and 2 more we're working with,
trying to figure out where they belong.
It's shaken some skeletons out of the family closet,
to say the least!

My ankle is still slowly healing.
I have walked occasionally
with no problem,
though last week, 
it acted up again.
As a result, I've put on about 20 unwanted pounds.
I've started a weight-lifting program to try to 
beat back the fat.
It's not easy at my age!
And of course, much of the issue is genetics.
My grandmothers were all fairly "portly" at my age,
and they worked hard on the farm!

I've been enjoying the hot HOT weather
and my grandchildren!
Trying to stay away from the computer
as much as possible.

My doll business has slowed to a slow drizzle.
I'm told the summer months are always slow for Etsy.
For those who don't know what I"m doing,
you can see my dolls at
www.frecklefarmdolls.etsy.com
and my doll blog at www.frecklefarmdolls.blogspot.com
I take "hootchie-mama" Bratz dolls
and give them back their innocence.



What else?

Mom is doing much better.
We have decided to have a memorial service 
for my brother, Mike, when I return to California
in November.

I guess that's about it.

I hope you all are having a wonderful summer,
and for those in Spain,
take care!
I hear they're having a heat wave!
Stay hydrated,
take lots of rests, 
and
Buen Camino!