Saturday, August 14, 2010

Saturday Afternoon

















I was just wrapping up a conversation with my mom this afternoon, when I heard Stanley talking to Pancho, the man who brings the horse manure for our compost. I went out to say hello and discovered he had a young man with him. Well, come to find out, this young man was part of a group of 15 that Pancho was taking on a horseback tour. They were all soaking wet from the rain, but they all had smiles.


The group consisted of Katrina Troitsky, a Russian woman,
a Venezuelan man (both professors at the University of Mexico, Saltillo) a couple of Miss Saltillo finalists, an agronomist who had just returned from three years in China, and assorted other Mexicans (both genders, all ages) - most of whom could speak some English, a few could speak a lot. Several of these people are affiliated with the US Peace Corp although the link was never really clear to me.
They were enchanted with the cherry tomatoes and watermelons. Stanley, Mr. Generosity, went to the house for bags and bagged up about 3 pounds of tomatoes for them. They are going to make pasta with cherry tomatoes, garlic and basil for the group dinner tonight. I have no idea what was on the menu before arriving at the Ashmore Market.







Then Stanley decided we needed to cut a watermelon. It was probably the best one yet.

Pancho was wanting to get them back before it started raining again, but he had a hard time getting them organized. They all wanted one more picture, one more hug, one more kiss. This one old lady must have kissed Stanley a half dozen times, assuring me each time that it was with "todo respeto." Yeah, right!

A few days later, Katrina sent pictures with the following note:

Dear Dona,
It was so unexpected and wonderful to meet you and Stanley. What a beautiful place you have. Pure God blessings!
Thank you for your hospitality! Your watermelon is the best I ever ate.
For the dinner that night we had spaghetti with the sauce made from your cherry tomatoes. It was delicious. Thank you again from all of us.
Here are the pictures.
Hugs, best wishes,
Katerina