Dumpster Puppies

No. More. Puppies. No. More. Puppies. I chant our house-rule like a mantra. The dog that lives in the dumpster outside of our house has given birth to a whole pack of milk-gremlins. It's adorable. But we can't have any. Because it's a rule. No more puppies.

When the cat's away...

Sam's in Yerevan this weekend, so I'm stuck cooking for myself. I'm an abysmal cook, but not a bad baker, so I did what anyone in my situation would do. I made myself a sponge cake with strawberry whipped cream frosting for breakfast.

May Flowers Pt 5

May Flowers Pt 4

Quince blossoms in the garden...

May Flowers Pt 3

And now the town is covered in lilac. Seemingly overnight, all of Sisian has been bathed in the warm, comforting scent of lilac.

May Flowers Pt2

Wildflower season is really starting to kick in here, so I'm ramping up my May Flowers series. I wish I knew the names of these...

Happy May Day

May is here, and so in true Bryn Mawr fashion, I'm celebrating with strawberries and cream. It's a little early for strawberries, but we were able to find some in Yerevan, along with the cream (which you can't get here in Sisian). I'll admit that it's not the most decadent May Day Feast I've ever done, but it'll due for now. 

Our Garden

This is the area we're hoping to transform into a firepit and outdoor hang out area. For now, it's just an overgrown patch of garden. 

The Lizards Are Back!!

Well, I'm back in Sisian- and look who's come out to greet me:

These little lizards are harbingers of the summer to come, and I'm really looking forward to it. 

Our Tiny House

One last minute stop before I head back to Armenia to check on out tiny house, which is waiting for us to come back in September. Truthfully, I can't wait to get back home and finish it.

Scuppers

I'm really happy to be spending time with my dog- but all she wants is her tennis ball. 

Back in the USA

So- why am I back in America? Two days ago, both of my grandmothers died. How bizarre is that? I heard the news on Wednesday evening, and on Thursday morning, I left Sisian on my way back home for a few weeks to go to the funerals. I arrived yesterday afternoon. While this entire trip is bound to be both sad and stressful, there is one really great part: getting to hang out with my dog Scuppers. (Sorry Mom & Dad, you guys are awesome too, but, well, it's just not the same). And it turns out my girl's got game: 

Can't handle my emotions.

Okay. I'm exhausted- physically and mentally drained. But I'm absolutely thrilled to be cuddling with my pupster Scuppers back in the US. Details to follow. For now: sleep. 

Stairway to Work

In a continuing series of "things I see on my way to work", here we have the stairway I take to get to School #4 from my house. It's less of a deathtrap than it appears in the picture, but I'll admit to avoiding it at night or when there's snow accumulation. 

Morning commuters

It's been cold and gray out for the past few weeks, conditions which haven't really inspired me to take a ton of photos. But, today, I was walking into work and saw our neighbor Harutyun taking his sheep out to the open land beyond down. As I was walking up on this shepherd and his flock, it struck me that I might have become a little bit blind to the things here which are worthy of photographing. Walking to work along a dirt road past sheep is pretty much exactly what I was hoping to experience when I applied to the Peace Corps, and here I was right in the middle of that experience, thinking that I didn't really have anything to photograph here these days. Anyway. Here are the morning commuters with whom I share the road. 

Spring Is Coming

Dogs in Down

It's hard to work with the dogs when the weather's so cold out. We only allow them into the front hallway of the house, and space is a little tight in there. But we spent some time working on training them in basic obedience commands today. Here there demonstrating that, contrary to what you might guess upon meeting them, they *are* capable of laying down and not bothering any body at least 1 minute at a time. 

European Goldfinch

Well, now that we've fixed all of our frozen pipes, it's finally starting to feel a little bit like spring here in Sisian, and that means that the songbirds are coming back. Today we saw this brightly colored little fellow, and this is the best picture of him that I could get. Looking at our bird identification book I think that the red cap, bright white cheek band, and distinct yellow patch on the wings identifies this guys as a male European Goldfinch. I wonder if we'll be seeing more of them around town in the weeks to come...

Ice Crystals

With all the water that's been spraying around from our pipes-in-progress over the past few days, some really stellar ice crystals have formed in our yard. The ones from yesterday were cool enough to prompt me to get my macro lens out, take off my gloves (a rare thing these days), and snap a few images. The last one shows my thumb for scale. 

#IMarchFor

Technically, it's still January 20th back home, just a few hours after President-Elect Donald Trump was sworn into office, but in anticipation of the hundreds of women who will take to the streets today in protest of the new President's message of misogyny, bigotry, and xenophobia, I hosted my own little Women's March in Sisian. It was really just me, walking with my sign through the center of town, but still, I was proud to take part in this moment in history.