Challenges

I’ve always been interested in herbs and spices, new ideas and locales. A few days or weeks in another state or country awakens the senses. No, I’m not eating vegetarian haggis, thanks for asking.

A new adventure may be afoot. We’ve enjoyed our short-term gigs in Scotland and the UK and Utah over the years. I’m stating Scotland specifically not only because the accommodations and people were terrific, we believe they deserve their nation back. The rest of the time was in the UK, London to be exact.

Our time in Utah was interesting, as we had to manufacture our own “corporate apartment” and I had no car, laptop or cell phone. We had to buy a phone card at the local market that made me dial a 30-digit number to call outside of 1,000 yards from the apartment. I couldn’t call my husband after 4:00 pm at that number because everyone but him had gone home and there were no extensions to dial to. One time they were working on a critical project until 5:00 a.m. and I thought he was dead on the highway because I couldn’t reach him.

I learned a lot more about remote locations in the UK deal. I now have my own laptop, cell phone, Skype, you name it I’m ready for a gig. If it’s three months, we keep our current abode and get corp housing and I know what we need to take along to make it livable (my knives, a few utensils and silverware, food processor, cutting board). If longer, we move our stuff. I don’t look forward to that, as we’ve had five years to amass furniture, books and paper and it’s a time to re-assess our priorities of what to keep, store, or toss out.

That’s more of a job than just moving. It’s stuff to go through and decide what to keep and what to toss. As you may know my mother died several months ago, but for our fifth anniversary she sent a wooden bowl in which she usually served nuts. Yes, it was the “wood” anniversary, I had to look it up.

Please stay with me and forgive lapses in posts. You’ve made this blog and when I can’t post you can imagine coyotes howling or snowy egrets or sheep with strange markings.

Or way too many goats. My m-i-l has had birthings a-plenty and this is either a real business … or not. That’s my urban spin on this, knowing only that when I go to the bathroom when sleeping in Jim’s old bedroom there are bull eyes looking at me from 20′ away. It’s not whether Jim’s folks know how to raise goats, as they’ve been in the beef business all their lives so significant livestock experience is there.

Goat meat has its market. Goat cheese is another. Learning about making goat cheese and helping to create something new would be a challenge I’d like to help Jim’s family meet.

We love our family around the world (literally) and in the U.S. I remember that my father’s great-uncle in Switzerland made him executor of his estate many years ago then reneged upon it because Dad moved too much! We did get a taste of the country and world, and educational and artistic endeavors, through his works here and abroad.

Is it luck to count the folks we’ve met as friends on international and US postings? Yes, I believe so. Great luck. I’ve met so many people throughout my career and life and keep in touch with a sizable but winnowing number. Over the past ten years we’ve lost many of our friends simply because they’re older and wiser and we loved them for those attributes.

Thanks for visiting and contributing. Tomorrow I have to make a lamb arm chop and I’ll either have to marinate it in lemon and rosemary and saute, or braise. Cheers, Dee