Baskets, Too

We'll end February with a final photo from the weekly market.  This child seems pretty intent on helping arrange the baskets so they are just so.  Didn't learn whether the baskets are made locally or what materials are used but I would guess they are a pretty popular item.

Coming up next - Machu Picchu!

Lots of Fresh Fruit

Some of the vendors had a lot more fruit than this photo indicates but I also wanted to show that the ladies' hands were busy even when they were sitting still.  Sometimes they were peeling fava beans.  I think this one was cutting strawberries.

Meat For Sale

And there were also animal pieces for sale.  It seemed like they used every part of a critter.  Refrigeration?  No so much.

As our guide often said of the Peruvian culture vs. ours: "It isn't better, it isn't worse; it's just different."  Well put.

Sheep For Sale

I mentioned that there were live animals for sale.  We saw guinea pigs, sheep, pigs and goats.  I don't recall any burros or cows but we saw them fairly often in the rural areas.  Horses, no.

The animals were loaded onto various vehicles for transport or we also saw them being walked.  Sometimes we saw vehicles with the animals on one layer and people on another, everyone going to or coming from the market.

Yum

It wasn't unusual to see children with the various vendors.  They seemed to be self-entertaining with simple things like rocks, sticks or, in this case, a chicken foot.  I understand there is a lot of flavor in those things but I always imagined them boiled as part of a soup.  Can't say I've ever tried a chicken foot either way.  I think I'll keep it that way.

Highlander

We met Rosaleo at the market, a friend of our guide.  Rosaleo is almost 100% Inca and is wearing traditional garb.  Our guide equated it to the wearing of a tuxedo.  He had a piece of bread in his hand that he was eating for his breakfast.  It was a pleasure to meet Rosaleo and he was kind to pose for photos.  (We paid him rather well.)  Thought we might see more of this type of garments as we got closer to Machu Picchu but we didn't.

Cheese!

The ladies like their hats and this variety of tall hands was pretty common in this area.  In some cases I wondered what kept them on their heads as they seemed to be perched right on top.

These ladies have cheese for sale.  Hard to see in the photo but it had a pretty pattern on the top which I assume came from some type of molding device.  I don't know what type of milk the cheese was made from.  I wasn't even tempted to buy although I love cheese.

Urubamba Market

We were able to wander through an open market where there was lots of color, people and activity.  This is a weekly market and shoppers come from miles away to get what they need.  They make use of the barter system quite a lot - "10 potatoes for a banana."  All sorts of things were for sale--fruit, live animals, soup, bread, meat, cheese.  We didn't make any purchases.

Construction

We saw very few pieces of big equipment in our travel through Peru.  What we did see was the use of a whole lot of MAN power.  In this case cement was mixed at ground level a small batch at a time and several men carried bucketsful up the "steps" to the higher level.  They worked hard and into the night to get it all done while the cement was wet.  It was the epidome of cooperation.  Watching the progress was easy because the activity was across the street from our hotel.  The next morning there were vases of flowers at various places on the upper level.  I assume that was part of a celebration or blessing.  But that's just a guess.

Ceramic Shop

A stop at a ceramic shop in Urubamba was another unscheduled stop on our afternoon tour.  We were right in the studio and got a lesson on making of pottery from grinding the clay to the final firing.  You an see some of the "in process" pieces in the photo.  One of the things that surprised me was the potter's use of a smooth stone to polish the pieces.  Clever to use what is readily available, though his stone has probably gotten even smoother with use.

It took me back to my pottery days in college.  But I never did get the hang of that pottery wheel.

Corn Beer

We heard quite a lot about corn beer while we traveled around Peru and our guide surprised us with a visit to a local bar in Urubamba so we could see it for ourselves.  But he cautioned us not to drink it due to the bacteria it contains that our systems are not used to.  The brew starts with sprouted corn and ends up in a big vat like you see here.  She scooped out a big glass as needed and it had quite a nice bit of head on it.  What you see is pink because that batch is flavored with strawberries.  Our guide reports that the beer has a low alcohol content but one can't drink very much because it causes bloating.  But the Peruvians seem to love that brew!

If you want to have some, just look for the red flag posted outside a shop.  That's a sure sign that they are serving.

View At Lunch

Because we were out of town at lunch time, we were given a generous box lunch.  We stopped at a complex that had a back deck with chairs and that's where we ate.  This was the view from where we sat.  Not at all shabby.

Agriculture Terraces

This terracing dates back to Inca times (15th century) and the circles seem to be perfect.  It's 98' from the top to the bottom and a difference of 27°.  The Incas took advantage of the temperature difference and were able to adapt 5 types of potatoes into 3800 varieties and 88 strains of corn to 1700 types.  The plants would be planted at one level and then moved to another level where they adapted to the change.  To give you a perspective of the size, there's a group of people in the upper left of center.  It was quite impressive.  And with the ability to grow food in more ecosystems they gained power.

Salt Ponds

And now back to Peru - From a very small but heavily salt-ladened stream in the mountain comes lots of salt thanks to these evaporative ponds.  The stream flows at the top of the ponds and flows down through all of the ponds.  All of the work is done in about three months after the spring rains and three types of salt are produced and harvested--tan, pink and white.  The ponds stay within a family and are passed from generation to generation.  Simple but amazing.

Happy Valentines Day!

I hope you have the sweetest day ever!

This card uses a technique by Jennifer McGuire -- faux intricate.  The heart is die cut and then other intricate die cuts are added behind it, cut and taped until it's full.  It's all popped up from the card front with fun foam (strategically placed under some of the leaves and flower centers as well as the body of the card).  I added pearls to the flowers and used some ribbon to soften the design a bit.

Tomorrow we'll head back to Peru.

Hearts Galore

Purple seemed to be my color of choice this year if you judge from my blog posts but actually I only did a few in purple and didn't limit myself to any color scheme this year.  This border die cut a whole lot of hearts all at one.  I used some that punched out--one on the big wooden heart and a smaller one popped up inside one of the border hearts.  It doesn't show well in the photo but I also added a few touches of glitz in some of the small dots and around the biggest heart.

Gray?

Yes, gray.  The patterned paper is from a 6" square pack by Doodlebug Design and I thought it was perfect for a masculine valentine.  The hearts and stripes are a die cut which made this a pretty simple and quick design.  I gotta say I'd rather make feminine valentines--ribbon, hearts, lace, flowers.  But they are all fun.

Tickled

My second exchange card for club also incorporated a wooden heart but with a smaller scale.  I put it on a zippered panel that has to be opened to reveal the text.  The stripe is stamped, the feather is die cut and I added some star confetti.  The outside edges were darkened with pan pastels.  I gotta get those out and use them more often.

Wooden Valentine

For our club card exchange this month we had to incorporate something "wood" into a valentine design.  My big heart was cut from bass wood and popped up over a die cut border.  Orange isn't a typical valentine color, but it complements wood I think.  The bow is satin ribbon, one of my favorite embellishments.

In Case You've Been Wondering

Yes, I'm still doing some Kumihimo braiding.  This little number has two shades of turquoise and a touch of red.  I got the focal bead at a bead store when I was in OR.

I have more necklaces in progress so you'll be seeing more designs in the future.  Seems there's always another design or color of bead that I want to try.  I haven't even gotten to square or flat braiding yet.

Birthday Easel

The Sixxiz die set makes this card design a pretty easy one.  I had a need for several birthday cards so chose to make them easel cards.  The background paper is from a digital scrapbook kit and I added some narrow satin ribbon.  The flowers and leaf are punched.

My birthday isn't too far off and I'm looking forward to getting lots of cards (hint, hint).

An Overview of Machu Picchu

This is an overview.  Just to the upper left of center is the "royal" section, built higher on the mountain with more attention to detail (and the first area to receive the water).  Just beyond that is the "sacred" section where religious ceremonies were held.  To the right and lower on the mountain was the area for the workers.  The stone terraces provided both an area for agriculture and stability of the soil.  It's simply amazing.

Machu Picchu Overview

This is an overview.  Just to the upper left of center is the "royal" section, built higher on the mountain with more attention to detail (and the first area to receive the water).  Just beyond that is the "sacred" section where religious ceremonies were held.  To the right and lower on the mountain was the area for the workers.  The stone terraces provided both an area for agriculture and stability of the soil.  It's simply amazing.

I Wrecked A Journal

This journal was a Christmas gift and my granddaughter also received one.  We aren't exactly doing them together but we compare and share our results.  It's rather outside my comfort zone to do some of the suggested "wrecking" such as showering with the book.  But I've ripped, and rubbed it with mud and dragged it while walking.  And while it's not overall an "artsy" journal, I've managed to include a few artsy pages.  The page I'm showing is a collection of "W's" and all of these came from one edition of a Sunday newspaper.

It's good to step out of our comfort zone on occasion and I still have a lot of wrecking to do.  I'll keep you posted.

And Females, Too

Obviously not all of the sheepherders are men.  This woman had a smaller herd but it also included the cow and a couple of burros.  She appeared to be staying on the road and was also headed in the direction of Urubamba.  I assume she may have been headed to the market to make some sales.  But that's just a guess.  Peruvians don't mind walking and they cover a lot of distance.

They Tend The Sheep

As we traveled in the country we came upon some sheepherders.  This fellow had quite a large herd but seemed to be able to manage them quite nicely by himself.  He carried what he needed in his pack and it appeared he had been out and about for a number of days.  He was moving in the direction of Urubamba.

Getting Around

These "three-wheelers" were all over town in Urubamba.  They were used for taxi services and there was quite a number of them.  Our hotel was on the outskirts of town and our guide said that was deliberate so we didn't have to listen to all these little vehicles running around.  Most held two people plus the driver and there was slightly different models of them.  It seemed quite practical and efficient.

Bulls On The Roof

We started seeing little bulls on the roofs of many of the buildings.  They are placed there for good luck, good crops and prosperity.  This custom dates back to the Inca era and is an example of the blending of the Christian and Inca cultures.  The bulls were sometimes alone but other times they had other items with them.  I don't know how people decided what to include but I thought it was novel and fun.

Back To Peru - Urubamba, To Be Exact

I'm taking you back to Peru to the area where we left off.  This is an overview of the town of Urubama.  As you can see it is nestled right next to the Andes Mountains which is a much wetter area than Lima.  And it's higher in elevation.  Our hotel was in Urubamba and we traveled outward in a couple directions to reach other destinations.  The community had a flavor all its own--quaint and everyone seemed busy.

Things To Be Happy About

homemade cronuts

inspiring authors

courageous leaders

7 Little Words game

postage stamps

candles

mechanical pencils

vellum paper

Christmas letters

lotion