Snow Day Three….Bread

Just a quickie…made bread this morning.  One loaf for the yarn store gals and one for my family while I am working at the store.  The house smells so good and Henry and the girls are excited.  They love my bread, but I have been on a bread making hiatus since before Christmas!

Second Great Snow Day!

I am entirely too tired to write some long descriptive post.  So, you will have to deal with photos only.  I am starting a shawl with some local alpaca because I get to go with Lori to the Alpaca convention here.  She has several students who have placed well in their fashion design contest and I get to be her date for the tea!  Oh, forgot to mention….it is at the farm where I bought the alpaca I am making the shawl with.  It is a blend of 5 of their black alpacas.

Snow Days

Yes, folks…we have had a couple of real snow days.  By real, I mean we got about 5 inches of snow.  Now, I know for those friends of mine still in Iowa and now in MN, 5 inches is laughable……but in TN, 5 inches of snow makes the city stop, grown men and women turn into children and causes the grocery stores to run out of milk, bread AND toilet paper!

On Thursday evening, our school system called off school for Friday.  I got up Friday morning to find the streets barely damp.  We were very disappointed, but not surprised as this is par for the course in Nashville.  At 9am it started snowing in a manner that seemed promising.  It was not bad and I had to go to my Nanny’s because she had an ice maker line fail and I (being the busy body, ex-claims adjuster I am) had to make sure things were going as they should.  I wound up spending about 2 and a half hours there calling insurance companies, condo association, er services, etc.  By the time I was ready to leave, we had about an inch and a half.  No problem, I learned a lot about snow in Iowa.  While this is true, I failed to take into account that not everyone in Nashville went to Iowa with me.  I got on Briley Parkway only to find it at a stand still because there were 4 accidents all within 1 mile of each other!

I finally made it home and spent the rest of the day watching the snow accumulate, doing science experiments with the girls, cooking and seeming up a baby sweater while the girls painted a bird house next to me in their craft/toy room.  It was so cozy and lovely.  We had a great time.

We did not go sledding yesterday as I really wanted the snow to get to the point that it was deep enough to sled nicely.  So, this morning we got up ready for some serious sledding.  I planned to drive down to the park a mile from the house, but could not get the car out of the drive because I closed the gate last night and the gate must be dug out before we can open it.  So, we sledded our street, then the green at Waverly-Belmont and then at the park.  Henry and I pulled the girls most of the way there and back.  We did not have sleds because we lost them in the Iowa flood, so I bought inner tubes.  They worked pretty good after getting out technique down.  On the way back home we stopped at the Frothy Monkeys for hot chocolate and a late lunch.  It was a great time.  Now we are in, warm and fed.  I plan to do some knitting and bake some bread.  The girls are enjoying taking it easy after playing so hard and Henry is playing WOW.

I LOVE snow days!

Here’s some pics of our two snow days.

Christmas and New Years

Christmas was easy this year.  Easy is good….especially since Henry and I were not up to speed.  David, Lori and the twins came up the Thursday night before Christmas for the Solstice Party that Lori always hosts.  Since they are living in GA now, Doc and Cathy are kind enough to open their home for the party so that the tradition can be kept alive.  I miss all of the Murfreesboro folk and especially our supper clubs that we carried on for several years.  The Solstice party lets us relive those times at least once a year.  Anyway, we had the party on the Saturday evening before Christmas.  All was well and everyone had a great time.

Then, DUN_DUN_DA_DUNNNNNNN.  Disaster struck Monday.  I had to work at the yarn store and went in feeling ok.  But, Henry woke up feeling not so well.  At some point that day David started feeling bad.  Lori started downhill and I called Henry to bring me my headache medicine because I thought I was getting a migraine due to my upset tummy and headache.  He came in to drop off the medicine and looked awful.  I called right before I went home at 6:30 only to find out it had started.  David and Henry were throwing up and sick, sick, sick.  Lori was so nauseated she could not stand and I think she had a fever.  I ran to Walgreens for 7-up, ginger-ale and chicken soup.  I made it long enough to get everything set up for the sick house and then I was down (or up sick) all night.  Three of the four girls remained well and Mycah, the one who got sick, got a very mild case.  Needless to say, by Thursday evening, Henry and I were a bit better, but not really excited about Christmas.  Henry’s tummy recovered much better than mine and he was able to eat on Christmas…..I was still picking the day after Christmas.

Thank goodness most everything was done before the illness struck and our family had made a joint decision to focus on spending time with one another rather than going over the top with things.  It worked out wonderfully.  The girls opened presents and played Christmas morning.  Then we went to the Ladd Christmas (dad’s) at my cousin’s new house.  They were great hosts and we had a good time.  me and Henry made gingerbread houses with  the little kids while the adults played White Elephant.  Then, best of all, was the day after Christmas.  We went to Mom’s.  She had decided to do Christmas the day after so that we could all be there and not be rushed.  We would up staying most of the day.  We ate, knitted, chatted and the kids played.  Of course, there were presents.  Mycah’s favorite toy this year happened to be from Meme.  She got a full child sized drum set.  She has had the best time jamming on the drums.

After we all got better and all Christmas activities were over, Henry, the girls and I went to GA to spend New Years with David, Lori and the twins.  There was a full moon on New Years Eve, so Henry went scouting for the local fairy cows.  He successfully found them and was able to convince them to give him enough Fairy Milk for all four girls.  They have now had fairy milk at the farm in Christiana, Meme’s, our Iowa City apartment, our new house and now, GA.  It’s a good thing Poppa knows how to talk to the local fairies and he must have developed a good reputation with them, so that all seem pretty willing to help him out with an emergency fairy milk run.

On New Year’s Day, the big girls introduced the little ones to the rip stick, snappers and confetti poppers.  Fun was had by all.

My favorite moment of the whole couple of weeks was the one where Mycah crawled into my arms for an afternoon nap.  She is in perpetual motion at all times, so the slow down was wlecome adn so, so sweet.

Whew…..glad I got that off my chest!!!!!

Agde..the Mediterranian a’la Christophe

Here is yet another (and much belated) installment on the France trip.  Unfortunately, I cannot figure out how to copy the photos from Flickr to my desktop so that I can then put them in my blog.  There is a back story here.  I lost my camera the second day I was in France.  We went mushrooming at the ass-crack of sawn in the mountains.  I was trudging around the woods with my camera in my pocket and it fell out!  I did not know until we got back to the car and there was no way to back track when we had been zigzagging across the side of a forested hill looking for mushrooms and not paying attention to any particular landmarks (like the thousands of pines that all look alike).  So, I used Becca’s camera and downloaded them to Flickr every night.  This was not really an issue until today.  I had to replace my computer because it is on its last leg.  I decided to go over to the dark side and we bought a MAC.  Now, I have to say I am in love….but there is no “right-click” which means I can’t steal my own photos back from Flickr.  AGHHHHH.

So, here is the link for those of you who are really curious.   http://www.flickr.com/photos/slippingthroughmyfingers/page12/

Agde is the largest resort town in the south of France and a destination for French wanting to escape the cities and frolic on the beach.  It is beautiful.  The beaches are very rocky….even the sand is black from the pulverized rocks and shells.  The contrast of the black against the heartbreakingly beautiful blue of the sea and the sky is stunning.  Of course, it was pretty cool when we were there, about 60 and not many were swimming, but many were walking the beaches.  Remi and Alex got a bit wet, but even they decided it was too cool for much of a dip.   The town is full of stores on a boardwalk kind of area.  Many of the stores were closed for the season, but there was still plenty to be had, should we have had the need for questionable beachwear or some moonwalk stilts!   The boardwalk area is right on the sea.  The docks are on one side of the walk and the shops and building on the other.  I found a boat named “diane” at the dock and I asked Becca if the name Dianne was popular in France.  She snickered and asked if I really wanted to know.  Of course, I did….she said that men name their best hunting dogs “Diane” after the goddess of the hunt.  Christophe said she was correct and he even owned a dog named Diane at one point and she was an excellent hunting dog.  Oh well, at least they reserve my name for the BEST dogs!  There are pictures in Flickr of my boat.

One of the most interesting things I saw in Agde was the monument hill to the Americans who fell fighting for France’s freedom in WWII.  It was a beautiful hill and looked out to the clear sea.  I took many photos of it, both detail and overall, but I know I was unable to capture the full effect….but I am certain there is no way I can write about the place.  It was moving and eerie and odd to find something dedicated to Americans in France.  Common myth is that the French don’t care for Americans and never have and never will.  I think things are a lot more complicated than that and this monument is tangible evidence that in some way, our country has made a positive impression on the French.

Christophe and Becca both told me many different times how great the area is that they live in and I think I have to agree.  In a weeks’ time Christophe took us to the beach, to the farm, to the mountains and to the city all within an hour from their house.  Christophe said the region of Caux was the best for him and I think it is the best for the kids and Becca as well.  There is so much to do and see, the people are kind and generous and the air feels squeaky clean.  It was amazing.  Browse through my pictures….I think you’ll agree.

No real post today

Kidney stones suck….that’s all I have to say.

French Socks

On my way to France I chose to work on my second sock of the Nutkin socks by Beth LaPensee.  I had finished the first one over a month ago and just couldn’t make any real progress on the second one.  I had managed to cast on and make the fold down top, but that is all.  I am seriously wondering if I will ever be a sock knitter, as the pair took over 4 months to complete and Wendy is on her third pair of socks after we started together.  Anyway, I knit through a good portion of our flight to France and some on the TGV.  By the time I got to Becca’s I was ready to turn the heel.  I finished the socks after three days of being in France.  I would have finished them sooner…but Christophe was busy making sure I did not miss anything of interest in the south of France.

The pattern is easy to remember and very intuitive, so I did not have t lug out the pattern when I knit.  I only needed it to remind me of the number of repeats.  I did change the heal to an eye of partridge as I had done the short row heel as suggested on the first sock and found it to be thin.  I had to rip that out.  I did not want a sock that I spent so much time on to crap out on the heel. I also did a standard toe rather than her toe.  I like the look better.  Of course, my Kitchener is less than spectacular, so the toe on the pattern would probably have looked better.  I used ShibuiKnits Sock.  Unfortunately I don’t remember the colorway.  The bright sun in the south of France make the variegation really stand out.  In person, the difference in the purples is much more subtle and not so distracting from the lace pattern.  I have not washed these yet, but my girlfriend made her first pair with the same yarn in a different colorway and they faded terribly.  The socks started out as vibrant as mine and after the first cold water handwash looked very dull.  I hope that will not be the case with mine.

Here is the Ravelry link for those of you on Ravelry.   http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Slipping/nutkin

Here are the photos that Becca took in her back yard….doesn’t it look like I’m at a resort!

I wore my socks on the plane coming home.  They are very, very warm!  I had to take them off for the last flight as I was about to pass out.  If I stick with knitting socks, I may have to find a lighter weight yarn!!!

 

France, part 2

On Thursday or Friday (not sure which) my brother-in-law, Christophe, took us to a cave.  No, that is not cave, but /cav/.  Yes, short a.  Anyway.  A cave is a place where grapes are processed into wine.  Christophe is in the Languedoc region of France.  He is part of a different co-op than the one he took us to.  This cave was the largest in the region.  It is the Pomeroles Cave.  Here is a photo.

We were able to taste several wines (before noon).  They were really good.  The tasting is inside the warehouse where the wine is fermented and stored.  It was so cool.  There was the coolest thing, too.  There were spigots where you could bring a jug and fill it with one of three types of wine.  this wine is what the older locals drink.  It is not aged, but Christophe says it is perfectly good table wine and it is cheaper than gas!  That’s right, a liter for a 1.2 euro or so.  Here’s a picture of that.

Here’s the price list.

Here are a group of photos from the inner workings of the cave.  You can see some of the fermenting and purifying tanks.  I don’t know what every thing is because Christophe’s English is marginally better than my French.  Let me promise, we were both at a disadvantage, but somehow managed to get along.  Notice my dad…he had already sampled a few wines.  They were NOT skimpy with the samples, either.   It was so funny…I was every intimidated by the idea of going to a real French wine producer and tasting the wine, but the people there just acted like it was another day on the job and so did Christophe.  Super.fun.

On the way back from the cave, Christophe took us to see his vineyard.  All I can say about that is WOW! He has a lot of land and a lot of grapes.  He grows two varieties.  One is picpoul.  The other is a red.  The picpoul is a grape that is protected.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piquepoul   Only the growers in his region can grow it.  In addition to all fo the grape vines, there are almond trees.  Christophe pulled and cracked fresh almonds for us.  He also showed us wild rosemary and thyme…not to mention many other herbs that I did not recognize and could not get the jest of through translation.  There are also tons of markers on his land.  The markers tell the story of the area using cartoon Roman soldiers who appear to be less than smart.  Here si a gallery of the vineyard and the signs.  I also tried to get a couple fo horizon shots. Remember, they are 25 miles from the Sea and about the same from the mountains.  They really have it all in this area.

Tomorrow I will continue my France posts with pics from the coast.

France, part 1

I am planning on posting about France in several parts as I do not have the ability to sit here linking photos and blathering on for hours at a time.   I get bored and frustrated when a post gets to long.  (Oh, on  side note…I cannot tell you how relieved I am to be typing on an English language keyboard.)

Caux is a little town in the south of France.  It’s population is about 2500 according to Wikipedia (I’m pretty sure that’s close).  The village used to be a fort as you can see in one of the photos.  French cities are so different from American cities.  The town centers are packed together buildings with winding stairs leading to open courtyards, crooked halls leading to a front door or nowhere and buildings that belie the interior lives.  The buildings are so closed that it looks as if no one lives in the town until someone appears from nowhere or a window may be open two floors above the street.  I really don’t know how to describe it.  It was so beautiful.  I have to say tha it was a little creepy in that with everything always closed and the streets so twisty and little enclaves so hidden, that I felt someone could jump out at any time!  Of course, i wouldn’t happen…it was just eerie and I was out of my comfort zone.

The center of town loosens into free-standing structures as you move out-of-town toward Becca’s house.  The houses are fairly close, much like the area where I live.  The have small lots that they use to maximum advantage.  Most yards had at least a couple of fig, nut or olive trees; many had swimming pools; and many herb or vegetable gardens.  All houses also have shoulder-high walls around them.  The architecture is very Mediterranean as they are just 30 minutes from the Mediterranean Sea.  The houses are stuccoed with clay tile roofs in washed out colors that are usually of a warm tone.  The place is so safe that the kids can walk the 5 minutes into town together…without needing an adult.

I have to say the overall impression I got of the town was that of a fairy tale. It was so quite, relaxed, peaceful.  I really liked it and would recommend the area to anyone.

Trains, Planes and Automobiles

I am posting from the train for my November second post as it appears I won’t have another chance today. I generally love the train but we have not been very successful this trip with France’s TGV. I have been on the TGV before but it was more than 10 years ago and was not this hard. The train is overbooked so the controller sais we may loose our seats at any time. I don’t mind standing but it is three more hours to Charles deGaul and I feel like shit.