Year: 2011

  • No Easter Egg Dye? No problem.

    Here in Africa dying Easter eggs is… well, not all the rage. Which means that there are no egg dying supplies to choose from. Over the years we have had to get creative about dying eggs, using food coloring or just decorating them with markers (I know, probably toxic!) or just blending in with our South African friends and well, not doing the dying thing (and rather eating chocolate eggs instead, not a bad trade actually!).

    Recently I ran across this blog post about how to make natural Easter egg dyes. I think it’s great for those of us in other parts of the world who want to keep their own childhood traditions alive, but I am sure it’s also a much healthier option to the dyes bought in the store. Plus, I think the colors are very pretty. I love the muted tones the natural dyes leave behind.

    So, if you haven’t already dyed your eggs this year, check out Boulder Locavore’s natural dye recipes and give it a whirl. You won’t believe that red cabbage makes a blue egg coloring! I can’t wait to try this out. Better HOP to it, not much time left!

    Love,

    Kristy

    image Boulder Locavore

  • The Beginning

    Ben began his journey in to help the farmers of Burundi produce better coffee this week. He’s also on the hunt for the best beans Burundi has to offer, so that he can get them into the hands of coffee shops who want to buy directly from farmers.

    Ben’s trip to Burundi this week did not yield a house, but the beginnings of his work with the farmers was a great success.

    What do you think of those roads? Egh? Pretty intense!

    Long Miles Coffee Project from longmilescoffee on Vimeo.

    .

  • Today.

    Today I want to stop time from moving so fast

    from eating up my precious little left.

    Today I want to take back

    what I said last night

    with a heart full of

    fear.

    Today I want to pretend we are

    a family

    not moving.

    Today I want to live like

    this house is ours forever

    life here is ours

    as long as we wish

    we aren’t going anywhere.

    Today I’m scared

    to be challenged

    to leave my friends

    to make new ones

    to learn a new language

    to learn a new city

    to say I’m sorry

    to trust God.

    To admit

    that it’s happening.

    Luv,

    Kristy

     

     

  • You can add to it.

    I am an unashamed Cesar Millan fan. Truth is, I try to apply his techniques not only to our family pooch, but also to myself and my kids. In an episode I saw recently, Cesar was introducing a couple and their Great Danes (can I get a “hip hip” for Great Danes) to a dog park. He turned to the couple, stopped, and said something like (ok the following is a “from Kristy’s memory” paraphrase), “Never underestimate the energy around you when you enter a new place. You can add to it.” How often do we really believe…

    I add.

    I am a great contribution.

    I’m awesome.

    I’ll tell you what, I sure need to be reminded of those truths, every.single.day. Above are some moments with dear friends. These are women who ADD and CONTRIBUTE and BREATHE LIFE into me. Thank you, dear souls. Thank you as well to those not in the fancy dancy pictures above, you know who you are. Thank you for journeying with me.

    Love,

    Kristy

     

  • Why Not You?

    I’m enjoying the TRUTH from this post today. Let’s all go out and LIVE the life we long to have. Go be inspired!

    Love,

    Kristy

    image MTH2011

    p.s. Ben will be on the National Burundian Radio station tomorrow for an hour. Any of you wanna tune in? Ha, just kidding.

    p.p.s. The house hunt continues. Ben has just a few days left to find us a place to live, and to visit all the local coffee farmers.

  • Why Go.

    This little ditty was made because we want you to travel on this adventure with us. We need all the moral support and prayers we can get, we really truly do. And we want you to know why we are making this risk, why we believe it’s worth it.

    Long Miles Coffee Project from Cooked in Africa on Vimeo.

    The guys over at Cooked reworked this little vid for us and we think that’s just great. It was great before, but whew… now it’s a stunner. Shelly of Make My Day Pictures shot all the footage (except the Burundi bits) and became our friend in the process.

  • On my way to Burundi with 30kgs

    It’s creeping up on 9 p.m. and I haven’t started packing yet. I need to get on that. My flight to Burundi leaves in 12 hours. But what does one pack to take to Burundi?

    Here’s the hard bit. 30 kgs is all I get on the ever reliable Air Rwanda. Kristy is determined to pack a whole bedroom linen set-up for us and the boys. Add to that the medicine arsenal sent by friends from the USA. For good measure, I might just try and squeeze in a couple changes of clothes for my week in Burundi.

    But really, I’m planning to adios anything that gets in the way of the freshly roasted coffee, travel french press and Hario hand grinder that I’m packing. Hard to believe I’m going for a week, leaving Kristy and the Adventure Boys behind.

    I’ve got a mountain to climb when I reach Bujumbura (literally and figuratively). There’s a business to set-up. I need to interview someone to assist me (I’m admin challenged). Connect with government officials to ok my visa. Get to the lawyer. Hunt for a house. Look for a school. Meet with four washing station managers (climb the hills to get to them). Find import permits for a car, a cupping lab and a Great Dane (yes she’s coming). A videographer to update. And relationships to build. What did I forget?

    I’m sure I’ll remember.

    On the flight.

    Watch for my tweets from Burundi…. oh yeah, must also get a Burundi sim for my cell.

    Coffee Guy

  • Hanging Out.

    Neo reallly loves following his brother Myles around, much to the dismay of Myles! Here’s what I think goes on in Neo’s head…

    So I’ve been thinking, don’t you just love hanging out? I think you are the coolest big brother ever and I think we should spend all day together… just like this.

    undefinedIsn’t this fun? Good times, good times!

    undefinedDon’t you worry, because I know you are worried, but I’ll be back in a minute.

    undefinedHi mom. Could I get some more of those crackers you make? Thanks.

    Hi! It’s me again! Did you miss me? What’s going on? What are we doing now?

     

    undefinedI don’t get it. Why isn’t he playing?

     

    undefinedHey you? Why aren’t you playing with me? Want me to help you with that? What if I just grab that thing you are playing with? That might be fun!

    undefinedHey, where are you going?

    undefinedI don’t get it. What just happened? OHH… he wants to play hide and seek! Now I get it!

    undefinedFound you!

    undefinedWhat are we doin’ next? Have I told you I really like hanging out?

    undefined

    Luv,

    The Boys

  • Packing for Burundi

    I can’t say this has been an exceptional week.  I was on the phone with Wesley from Cooked in Africa Films and he could pick it up over the phone.  “You don’t sound your positive self Ben.”  And I haven’t.  It’s not so much the sheer mountain of logistics and details to organize, though the little things like visa’s for the five country-11 day road trip to Burundi do add up.  It’s an all-round atmosphere thing.

    Tension in the house with so many big decisions on our shoulders, and no more time to procrastinate has put the pressure on.  Four year old Boy Adventurer picks up on this and cranks up the whining to level 7.5.  Then teething Boy Biter adds in with non-stop whimpering and crying as four teeth try to break through his poor little gums all at once.  Ending nearly a decade of life in Durban South Africa seems to be filled with frustration and a time-bomb of anxiety and pressure dangling just above our heads.

    With all this boiling over frustration the best thing for me to do is go to Burundi, and leave Camera Girl with our two little darling boys and all the packing (hoping this blog post go’s unread by Kristy).  Reality is that I need to set up our business in Burundi and open a bank account so that we can get a work visa to live in the country.  Good news is that the ex-prime minister of the country and I have been talking and met a couple of times and he has his best lawyer working on this for us.  Then I need to travel into the hills to make initial contact with all the washing stations, convincing them to send me daily samples of their parchment coffee and find a person who can help me start to collect these samples, label them and make sure the washing stations follow through on any agreements we make.  Oh, yes, and the only other non-Burundian doing this just got death threats against him (don’t tell grandma).  To add to the legal stuff there is the “find a house” issue.  I don’t say issue lightly.  Burundi is a country with no real-estate agents or websites with video walk through tours and emails inquiry buttons to find out more details.  It’s a “drive around at night looking for dark windows because those are the houses no-one is living in and might be rentable” sort of place.  I’m going to be doing a lot of night driving next week.

    On the lighter side…. I do get to fly with a suitcase full of the first things we can leave in Bujumbura next week.  And with that added pressure/joy, the packing for Burundi begins.

    Coffee Guy

     

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