A Visit from Risa and Laird

On Friday, September 26, David's brother Laird and Laird's wife Risa --

-- visited us at our RV campground near Schroon Lake.  We were long overdue for this get-together, which was only the most recent in a continuing exchange program.  This year, we visited them in Albany when we passed near them and stayed in the Berkshires.  This time, they drove up the Northway to see us in the Adirondacks.

...and, as to fall foliage, the timing was perfect!  We have a separate blog entry about all the colors exploding around us here, so we won't repeat ourselves.  But the four of us relaxed outside in the beautiful warm September weather and caught up on everything from important to silly.

We learned about Laird's most recent book, "China's Cosmological Prehistory," his forthcoming book, "Point of Origin," and yet another book he is finishing, but which will not be named!  He and Risa chatted about their recent trip to visit family and friends, and their upcoming trips for Laird's speaking engagements.

We got the upshot on the downlow about their son Isaac's latest dramatic productions as director and actor.  He looks quite debonair in his latest role:

And, last but not least, we learned all about their Southern Hemispheric daughter Hannah and her partner David, who run Tostaduria Bisetti --

-- and their related coffee shops, Cafe Arabica Miraflores --

-- and Cafe Arabica Larcomar --

-- all of which have been featured in magazines, newspapers and other media in the Lima, Peru area.

Risa and Laird offered us a taste of two of the latest offerings of coffee selected, roasted and packaged by Tostaduria Bisetti:

PROYETO CURIBAMBA: It has a fragrance and aroma that is fruity, with notes of almonds and honey.  Its flavor and aftertaste associate with pears, vanilla notes and residual of fleshy fruits.  It is grown by Proyeto Cafe Curibamba and is processed by washing, then drying in solar tents.

FINCA MATAPALO:  It has a fragrance and aroma that is herbal, with notes of lemon verbena and mint.  Its flavor and aftertaste associate with green grapefruit and raisins.  It is grown by Finca Matapalo and is processed by drying in rotary kilns (40 hours).

As part of their efforts with the coffee roastery and cafes, Hannah is in charge of a very skilled and artistic bakery organization, which daily produces the most scrumptious variety of pastries and other dishes, many of which she describes on her Facebook page.

You can get a YouTube video tour of Tostaduria Bisetti here.

No visit with Risa and Laird is complete without a game of ChuckLuck, and this round didn't disappoint. We finished the game just as Katie arrived with Maggie Puppy, in time for dinner. Maggie helped with the campfire:

After dinner, we waved a sad but fond goodbye to the Albanians, looking forward to our next get-together sometime in the coming months.