Hello!  I’ve been walking a lot lately.   In my first year here, I fell into the idea of guides – don’t go where you don’t know – but in the last month, I’ve been having wonderful adventures with Eva van der Marel, who has taught me the freedom of exploring with a map and a compass.  This is a picture of the view from Qafa e Ndroqes, on the way to Curraj i Eperm (the “Lost Village” of the Malesi).  We got there by following our noses, walking hard, and being intelligent – if you call it intelligent to sit out a hailstorm in the old stans you can see in the foreground, while waiting for the lightning to calm down enough to permit a bolt over the pass.

I’m SO sorry for not writing more . . . it turned into the summer of the hedgehogs, when the afore-mentioned h.hog gave birth — but it was touch and go for a long time — always is, when you love animals, I think, but . . .. the babies are full-fledged individuals now, after 3 months.  Mama h.hog went back to the wild 2 months ago, shaking the dust of motherhood off her lovely black feet.  Fatty and Baby have moved in, and even when I try to put them out in the wild, they just come back to the office.  More soon, or at any rate in winter . . . . .But all is well and thank you for asking.

This is in response to the lovely “comment” from Louise Nazeraj on the Hedgehog question.   This thing is called here “Rrush-qeni” or Dog Grapes.  In fall they make many black berries.  I think maybe they’re elderberries?  I hope so, because I want to make that cordial!!!  Louise:  I would have just answered your email, but I can’t put pictures that way.  Everyone here says that they do NOT eat these or do anything with them.  But as also many herbs – thyme, mint etc — grow here in profusion and yet we do not normally put them in the food, I am wondering if this is a great un-tapped resource?!

In other news, the Hedgehog is very well.  Just this evening I was working after dark in the new office (where she lives) and she was wuffling around my ankles and sticking her nose in my socks.  I picked her up and put her on my lap, where she promptly burrowed into my sweater.  Super-sweet!

Greetings, Amateur Philosphers!  Here is the question for today.  ”Do you tell Alfred when you have unthinkingly lodged a Very Large Hedgehog underneath the refrigerator in his newly refurbished restaurant?”  Mitigating factors to consider:  Alfred is, at the time, in bed with an extremely swollen face from a bad tooth.  On the other hand, the last time someone spotted a Hedgehog, and Catherine (I) rushed out and failed to catch said Hedgehog (possibly the Hedgehog of the first part), Alfred greeted her (my) Hedge-hog-less return with a distinct air of derision.  To quote:  ”You didn’t cotched it?” Further factors:  Once extricated from the refrigerator (achieved at time of writing, never fear), Hedgehog can clearly be lodged in new office which has been built by Alfred for Catherine.  Ancillary query:  Does anyone know what Hedgehogs like to eat?  She seems fond of sausages and eggs.  Possibly she is a British Hedgehog.

I don’t even know what to say about this.

Only it occurs to me . . . . Have I possibly not introduced you to our pet bunny “Shoq”?

Having introduced her here now, I have a deep suspicion she’ll take over this website as quickly as she took over Rilindja.  Hmph.

(BunnyBunnyBunny!)

Scott may have been first to the South Pole, and Cook to the North (Peary was such a Poop) . . . . But CATHERINE was the first to stand on Our New Stairs.  Well, half of them anyhow.  Those of you who know us will remember the Old Stairs.  One of my favorite memories from last year was of the overheard conversation of two hikers :  ”We just walked from Thethi to Valbona, but the scariest thing I saw today was THESE STAIRS.”  To be fair, they were fairly normal Alpine stairs, but they did take some getting used to.  You will note here in the background that it started to snow today.  Nutty. Stay tuned for the slide show, as we tear the front off the hotel to build a luxurious New Room.  Oh. Alfred wants me to say that actually He and Brahim (our wonderful genius builder) were the first.  But can they prove it?  Hah.

This is Alfred’s Mother Sose, spinning Lesh (wool).  I would just like to take this moment to officially express my gratitude and love, in case I haven’t been clear about it before.  People here in Valbona are amazing.  I arrived as a visitor one summer and simply refused to go away.  Their response?  They have taken me in, given me a home and a family, as far as I can tell, with no hesitation or doubts.  Their generosity and kindness is without bounds.

“Faleminderit Shume!” to the people who write to say kind things about what I’m doing here – but (ooh, I’m getting teary) I just wanted to say that for me, the heroes are the People of Valbona.  Uh oh.  I have to stop or I will cry!

Much love,

Catherine

Okay – I swear to Zot i madh – really there are lots and lots of wonderful long boring peaceful days, when nothing at all happens and I just bake bread and read books and go for walks.  But I haven’t mastered the art of taking good pictures of that yet!  It’s this stuff that I for some weird reason find really funny . . . . or do I mean amusing?  We were off to Kosovo yesterday to run some errands, and on the far side of Bajram Curri, nearing the Kosovar border, we were rounding a bend when Alfred said with a tone of mild disgust “The road’s blocked.”  Huh?  I looked up from my (endless) knitting “What do you mean the . . . . Oh.”  See that bit of raw hillside to the right?  That part just broke loose and . . . fell into the road.  What I think is funny is how my American brain just can’t really process it.  While Alfred turned the car to go the long way ’round, I kept staring at the rocks thinking – there MUST be a way around it.  But, as you can see from the photo, nope.   I should add that I’ve yet to hear of anyone being hurt by this sort of thing.  I mean, anything like recently.  It’s just more as if  the mountains were playing some bizarre game with us.  Last year we ran into our friend Alfred Metalia who was driving around with a small boulder in the back of his truck.  Turns out it had fallen off the mountain, missing his car by only a few meters.  So: He got out of his car to take a look at it, stood over it thinking, and then (presumably figuring it had his name on it) picked it up and put it in the back of his truck.  For all I know, he’s still driving around with it.  Come to think of it, I think I should stop telling these stories . . . . stay tuned tomorrow for something less like gargantuan cat and mouse.