La Rose en Vie avec Lucile Melier

 Lucile spent 3 weeks with us.  She is a lovely, happy, easy going but hardworking girl of 20.

She is on a quest to find her joyful place after determining that Law School was not a good fit.
She is traveling and exploring. We were lucky to be one of her stops.  She took good care of the horses grooming, massaging, and riding.  She milked the goats and saved the day when we moved them to be bred and they broke out of the trailer.  She quickly rounded them up by their horns, avoiding a possible disaster.

She made wonderful sweet and savory wheat free Crepes.

She and Turkey were inseparable.  She carried him on her shoulder while she worked and he read books over her shoulder in her on her time off.

She attended a Bunko party, a Wedding, and  won over $23 thousand Derby Bucks at the Kentucky Derby Party, looking great in her feathered hat (below with Karina and Elena).

K

inseprable

She patiently taught me the lyrics to  Edith Piaf's Le Rose en Vie which we sang it together for Allen and at every opportunity.

She attended a lovely Tea Party/Goodbye Brunch at Vicki Riddle's beautiful home before Vicki jumped into her car  and sped off to meet President  Obama on Air Force One.

We then left for Aptos where she spent one night with me,  and traveled to Ikea.  I left her with a friend from Gleanings in Capitola near the Ocean.

Hope she is still having great adventures and finds what she is seeking.

rehabbing Cabbie

With Veronika

W/Allen & Elena

Dancing @Leela's Wedding

Veronika Frankel

riding with Lucile

I don't usually take short term visitors but something about Veronika made me say YES!

A ski patrol professional in winter and landscaper in summer, she was between the seasons looking for some California sunshine.  She emigrated from Russia when she was six and shared two of her grandmother's recipes for delicious meals.  Koteleti is a savory beef dish and Olivier is a delicious Russian style potato salad similar to the one made by Sasha last summer.  It had dill, carrots, ham, pickles cucumber, peas and eggs tossed in a dijon dressing.  So good.

Veronika was skilled with the horses and put her landscaping skills to use improving the front lawn and garden area as well as harvesting goat food.  One of a few who was able to milk the goats on her first try.  We wish her a safe and happy trip back to Colorado and hope to see her again.

Patricia et Jon

Patricia and Jon stand under the Rose Arch they repaired.

Although we started with misunderstandings re: date of arrival, length of stay, and time work begins,
I was very happy to host the beautiful couple from Barcelona, Patricia and Jon, for 2 days.

Jon is a Police Officer and Patricia a recent grad.

They are both cheerful hard workers who got a lot done in a short time, hauling and chopping the Poplar that blew down in the windstorm and creatively rebuildng the Rose Arch that was also blown over.

We wish them well on their continued discovery of California.