Last week I was working hard to get out of town early for the weekend, and finally decided to skip sending an email so that I could leave.  My apologies to all of you who missed it, but I did have a lovely time.  Trace and I got away to Tahoe for a night, and then it was on to camping for the weekend with my amazing sister.  I say amazing because she had taken my two kids and her four since Wednesday, and I only came up on Saturday.  Thank you Katie!

	Cousins all in a row

The kids had such a great time camping, hiking, kayaking, and swinging off an awesome rope swing.  They slept in their hammocks and went swimming to cool off.  I know that the time I spent there was relaxing and splendid--there's nothing like getting outdoors. 

This week all six cousins have already spent two days at the fair.  They loved looking at the animals and exhibits, and then yesterday we had a ride day that must have been a lot of fun since they cheerfully stayed until past 10 pm!

Last week, the coffee I did not write about was our Fair Trade Organic Nicaraguan.  It is a fully washed bean from the mountains of northwest Nicaragua, grown on family farms.  The farmers come together to process their coffee at the Promotora de Desarrollo Cooperativo de Las Segovias--a co-op that also helps with increasing coffee quality.  There is a full roast analysis and description of the beans, along with more information about the co-op on the Royal Coffee blog here.

This week our featured coffee is a natural process, meaning that the beans are dried with the mucilage still intact.  This leads to a fruitier flavor, and you'll notice that even in the aroma of our Natural Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.  The coffee comes from the Kochere region of south-central Ethiopia, from indigenous heirloom cultivars.  Since coffee originated in Ethiopia (we wrote about the legend of Kaldi the goatherd here), this is coffee as it has been enjoyed for centuries.  You'll drink coffee history in this cup.