One day, when Tom and I were wandering through Nueva Helvecia, the former Swiss colony near our farm, we spied this promising-looking espresso machine.  COFFEE!  We were thrilled.

We went in and ordered a cup each.  Of course, the coffee machine was just a tease, an antique simply adding a touch of class to a very basic storefront restaurant serving chivito and other typical Uruguayan fare.   We had our sad little cup of bland Uruguayan coffee, sighed, and left.

But don’t feel too bad for me.  Tom and I are spending a few days in Buenos Aires this week, and I am back to my twice-daily cafe habit.

I expect to have one hell of a headache when I get back to the farm, but it’s so worth it.

For those who prefer a still shot to the video of the tarantula I nearly stepped on in our backyard recently, I offer this photo.   This was taken before we put the camera on the grass and let him crawl over it to show everyone how big he is.

I hope I never see him again.  I am now very, very careful when I walk outside with an armload of laundry to hang on the line.

This is Pigface.  He is the lone bull in a sea of Holstein cows that sometimes graze in the lifeless field next door to ours.  Usually, they get to stand in shoulder-high corn and munch happily all day, but sometimes, they get stuck in the dead zone, and come to the fence to get the greener grass on our side.

Pigface terrorizes the poor cows.  He’s really quite amorous, sometimes sending a desperate cow crashing into our fence just to get away from him.   When I scold him, he just glares at me.  He gives me the creeps.

This is where we spend most of our time when we’re not outside.  We picked up the couch and two chairs for $75 from Julio, the guy in Nueva Helvecia who sells old furniture from his garage.  We’ve been waiting for the remate (auction) season to start–that’s where people buy furniture here in Uruguay.  Our first local auction is this weekend.  In the meantime, we make do.  Note the backseat of the Mehari put to use as a coffee table.  The House Hunters International people would have been truly horrified.

I have no idea what kind of truck this is or how old it is.  It passed us while we were walking in Nueva Helvecia (the old Swiss colony) and when we saw it parked a couple of blocks away, Tom had to take a picture of it.  Sterling example of the kind of daily drivers you see on the roads in Uruguay.  They make things last a long, long time here.

This is one of the frogs that lives on our dining room window sill.  Tom has taken to swatting flies in the morning and feeding them to the frogs. Part of our morning entertainment. This one posed nicely before devouring the fly gift.

The little rural school down the road from us is still on summer break, but the horses are keeping the playground and soccer field mowed–and fertilized.

On Sundays, the owner of the local country gas station rests while his family members visit.  He lets his kids take turns pumping gas for the infrequent customers.  This is Agustina.  She’s ten.

After a Saturday afternoon with friends drinking wine and gazing at thunderclouds, the sky turned a brilliant orange and pink and a double rainbow arced over the horizon.  Okay, so the photo doesn’t do it justice.  It was stunning.

Our internet connection is strongest early in the morning.  We’ve started listening to NPR while watching the sunrise.  It’s our only news, other than what we read in Spanish.  Surprisingly satisfying.