Routines settling in

Well the title of this posts says it all, really. We've been here a little over a year and although there's always some variety, there's also a certain amount of routine we've developed. For the past two months, every Monday morning, we've been fishing for trout, gutting and cleaning them and selling them to our friends, Roberto and Adriana. Roberto makes great cheese and he's now trying his hand at smoking trout. His cheese clients are jumping on the band wagon. It's nice that he already has a network set up. Yesterday, we delivered the last ten of our big trout. We've got none left to sell. We've emptied out the small pond. The 750 trout in the big pond won't be ready until November. We didn't think we'd get ourselves into selling trout, but it's proved to be a nice little business.

Then, as part of the routine, I teach English to my adult class every Tuesday and Thursday nights. Last week, the students were all tested and we divided them between basic and intermediate levels. Tonight was my first night with the intermediate group and things went so much smoother. Although I've given my notice and will be quitting in December, I think I'll enjoy the next two much a lot more. I'm quitting because, well, a year is enough and because when the B&B is busy, it's too stressful to host guests and prepare for my class. I gave it my best shot, considering I have no teaching experience. It's been incredibly rewarding, but it's time.

Every couple of weeks, I clean out the hen house, which I did today. Our Bettys are still molting and some days they lay 10 eggs and other days only seven, which is still pretty generous. They seem to be hanging in there, which we appreciate.

Another routine is that I drive my good friend, Catalina, who is the English teacher from Rio Blanco to Santa Maria every Monday and Friday. These rides give us a chance to catch up and have a nice chat.

Kevin wakes up early every morning and makes sure the gates to the ponds are open and the water is flowing properly. He cleans the grates and some days he cleans the sediment ponds.

So weaved in and out of a myriad of exciting projects, we also experience the comfort of daily rituals and routines. If nothing else, it helps us keep trace of what day it is.