Merry Christmas

Steve is in Thailand busy getting a shipment packed to send off to Canada.

 

 

Collecting up all the orders as they are finished and bagging and labelling it all is keeping him busy.
As well he and Sook (we call her our Thai daughter) have opened a store in Chiang Mai, so that is another project to keep them on the run. So far the new store is going well.
On top of all this Sook is getting married on 29th Dec, and Steve is helping to walk her down the aisle. All very exciting.
I am in New Zealand doing a few Christmas markets.
Here the weather is warm and the New Zealand Christmas tree- the pohutukawa tree is looking stunning covered in its red flowers.

I hope wherever you are and whatever the weather, you all have a wonderful Christmas and  a fabulous New Year.

 

Coffee roasting

Now that the weather is cool it is a perfect time to get onto the coffee roasting.
The smell of it roasting is divine, though it probably isn't for everyone.

 I love the whole process of it. The measuring, checking and double checking the times and temperatures.

 

Then finally at the exact second the roast is done releasing it into the cooling pan, and the release of the wonderful aroma of freshly roasted coffee.

 

 

In a few days we can start bagging the coffee. Then the next step is to send it on it's way to our stores in Canada.

 

 

 

In between doing our own roasting we went up into the mountains to a Karen village we know. They grow their own coffee and roast it and have a tasting station set up in the village.

This is a fairly unsophisticated setup. Their roasters don't have temperature gauges or controls and up until recently they roasted coffee over a bamboo fire under a drum that was rotated by a guy peddling a bicycle.
They don't have an espresso machine. They boil the water over a wood fire, and use a cloth filter to brew it with. The coffee never the less tastes great.

 

 

 

 

We were in a new café in ChiangMai a while back. They said that they would make me a special latte. Those of you that know me will recognise me in this portrait they did of me in foam. It was a great cup of coffee!

Christmas box

Today is the kings birthday in Thailand. It was 30 years ago today that we first arrived in Bangkok, and started calling Thailand our second home.
We are back in Thailand again and the weather has cooled down. The air is clean and sweet and the sky is a clear blue. Finally it seems the cool season has kicked in here in the north and we are enjoying pleasant cool days and cold nights. They are even having frost on some of the highest mountains, which is a real tourist draw. I know most of you won't be impressed, but for the Thais it's a real experience.
Janice says that the Christmas box we sent from Nepal has been well received, and she was selling stuff out of it before it was unpacked.
Here are a few pics of what we sent.

 

Lots of cozy scarves in fabulous colours.

 

Very cute dresses that look great over leggings or worn on their own.

 

Lots and lots of very cute felt purses and phone pouches.

Wool hand warmers and hats. It sounds like the weather is cold enough to warrant these.

 

Hand made paper books and calendars will make great stocking stuffers.

 

Magic hats in various lengths and lots of great colours to help keep your ears warm this winter, and lots of other things as well.

Tomorrow we are planning to start roasting coffee again. We ran out in our stores this summer, so it is time to get  more coffee happening.