Travel With Me Tuesday: Durnstein Austria

Back to the River Cruise we took in autumn of 2012. Sometimes, you just have to let the story settle and do it when you feel like doing it. I decided I'd do blog posts to remember as much as I could and then go back and do the layouts from those. That method has worked for me in the past even though my dh often says...but you didn't mention x, y or z.  So I say, Would you like to write your memories of the trip for me?   He then goes back to his reading...

This day started with a slow cruise from Germany into Austria through the Wachau Valley. It was a foggy morning with glimpses of buildings on both shores. From dawn we had this kind of view from our cabin. Overcast and gray and with a bit of rain early in the day.

There were, of course, the endless locks which took time to clear. Some of us found them fascinating; I had learned enough after seeing a couple of locks.

But eventually we arrived in Durnstein after a morning demonstration of strudel making. I didn't bother to take photos as I never intend to try and make a strudel. A wonderful dessert (but preferably with any fruit other than apple for me) that I happily leave to the pastry chefs.

Our reason for stopping at Durnstein was to have a walking tour, a wine tasting and then an organ concert. As non-drinkers, we passed on the wine tasting and continued to wander round the town. As it was mid-November, there were very few people about but it was a lovely little town and I could certainly imagine it as a special place to come to in nicer weather for the people of Vienna.

Our guide put his sign on his coat so he didn't have to carry it all the time. I thought that was a pretty clever idea. Yes, we were the orange group. While the sun never really came out, the day was foggy and misty but not real rain. That's November!

Since our house # is 12 we try to find buildings on our trips with the same #.  So this would be my home if I lived in Durnstein.  More later!

AAM Monday: PL Week 10

While I am not far behind in doing these pages, I hope that this week  I can finish up March and with it the idea of winter. Spring may have arrived officially but we had snow flurries a couple of times on Saturday. That's go back to bed and hide under the covers or sit by the fire with a good book. I chose the latter but darn, yesterday started out at 27º. brrrr brrr brrrr

However earlier in the month, Week 10, we really did have snow. Snow and ice. Serious yuck.

TBT: 1980 Fishing Man

Don't blame me for the beard and the outfit. I didn't know my current husband back then. Actually the beard looks a bit like the ones that are currently, and appallingly, fashionable.  imho... The shirt? well that was the end of the 70s and into the early 80s when fashion went to hell in a handbasket but we didn't really know it until we looked back a bit.

True to his engineer nature he still tends to have a pen in his pocket and we have the stained shirts to prove it. No more plastic pocket protectors - do they even make them anymore? These days he sticks to halibut and salmon fishing in Alaska as opposed to the bluefish of the Chesapeake Bay. These were once plentiful but now have been overfished.

Wordless Wednesday: Making Cooking Fun

click to see more

Reading & Watching, Another Way to Travel

I have not started another travel scrapping project but have one or two in mind. I have to visualize how I see the trip and what feel I want for the pages before I start. In my mind, I call it percolating time.  The bubbles are rising but the pot isn't ready to take off the stove yet

Lately, a lot of my free time has been taken up with 'in home travel' by either reading or watching tv series. I seem to vacillate and I've realized it depends on how cold it is. Really cold out and put me in front of the tv, next to the fire and nestled under a down throw. Warm and semi drowsy.  Thus, reading has taken quite a back seat in the recent week.

A new-to-me one I've started watching is Orphan Black, on BBC America.

I'm only in the beginning of season 1 and apparently season THREE is starting in April.  I wonder where I'll find season 2 - for free! 

Another BBC one (found on Netflix) I thoroughly enjoyed was The Honourable Woman, 8 episodes and I gobbled them up! Seriously, watch this one of you like current and tense political shows with all the Byzantine ways of the Arab/Israeli situation.

Broadchurch, Season Two, is ok but perhaps after watching my sweetie David Tennant in the not-so-great American version of B1, Gracepoint,  after watching the British original, I'm now a bit tired of his gaunt, exhausted look. Yes, the series was always dour but this has been just wearying.  You sort of wonder if there's something in the water out Broadchurch way... I'll continue on with it but not with a happy anticipation.

But I did find this one video to show a bit of a happier outcome in Broadchurch Season 3?

Maybe next week I should read more.

AAM Monday: Project Life Week 9

Another week where the predominate subject was the weather. Hopefully this is changing but seeing is believing. I was here in Maryland, by choice, and he was out in Boulder CO because of work. Snow in both areas. I have had some days where I've met my 3k step goal and other days where I really did well - for me. Progress is the name of the game.

Five on Friday: March 20, 2015

1. The last couple of times I've accompanied my dh into Starbucks, I was seduced by the stainless steel straws in the stainless drink containers. I don't know what you call them as they're not mugs and yet they're not glasses. You know what I mean though, don't you? In any case, I didn't want to spend $20 for a container I didn't want (too heavy) but I did want that straw! After seeing that duo a couple of times, I checked on Amazon, and got 4 straws AND the teensiest 'straw' brush for under $8.  With my old plastic glass and my new straw, I bet I was the trendiest water drinker at the gym! Well, I was in my own mind and it made drinking water almost special. It takes what it takes...

2. Did you know today is Nowruz? That's the Persian/Iranian New Year which happens just as the vernal equinox happens tonight. Spring starts and life is born anew.  Some dishes you might enjoy, I know I would and did, can be found at the bottom of this post.  No one does rice like the Iranians. Yum...

3. This neat article Spending Time Alone came from the blog of MaryAnn Moss. I could relate to a lot of these points. How bout you?

4. This week I got an email telling me that another one of my high school classmates died. The obit stressed how loving and caring she was and yet the last time we saw her at a reunion, she was in a foul mood, didn't speak to most of us and someone told me that some very unpleasant things were going on in her life. I suspect both parts of her life were true but it's a reminder of how little we really know of others.

5. After many many days of snow and cold in 2015, I was finally able to get my tootsies out of boots and socks and get a pedicure! The idea of walking back to my car with bare skin was too horrible to think of these past few months. Since it was the day before St. Patrick's Day, I went all out and got green.  I believe it will not be anywhere as long before the next time in the salon! Though you never know, I may get attached to the green.

Btw, I love these new white sandals from Target.  They are now my pedicure sandals so the polish doesn't get smeared when I'm all done. Not quite the weather for them here yet, but they were what I needed this week.

Have yourself a great weekend even if it does have to include clean up yard work. See you on Monday!

TBT: An English "Knitter" 1972

While his sister in later years paid no attention to her knitting lessons, firstborn son was his grandmother's first grandchild. He did pay attention on her 1972 visit to England. I had just had son #2 in January and my mother and I were going off to do the Tulip time in Holland. My mother was an avid gardener and the tulip fields as well as Keukenhoff left her breathless.

My Nana ( my mother's mother) was still there in England, having arrived before Christmas 1971. The wise British felt that a husband was not enough help for a new mother and wanted another person (preferably female) to be in the home with the new baby and mother, especially if there were other little ones. My mother convinced Nana to stay until her May visit and they could return to the US together. Poor Nana had been ready to go home earlier but we bribed her with weekly bingo trips and one week she even won the jackpot. However, she missed her regular games in Maryland and her bingo buddies. I suspect she was also ready to give up being a 'mother's helper.'

May in England...look at the lad, socks with his sandals, overalls and a long sleeved shirt. Yep, that was late spring attire.  Who knows if Dad (on the right) was impressed with the knitting. However, I'm still reminded of how darn comfortable that couch was.

Wordless Wednesday: SERIOUS Organized Crime

now you know

Travel With Me Tuesday: Goodbye Big Apple

My last day in New York and I definitely accomplished two of the things that I had planned for this trip. In fact when discussing the trip with a few friends, one said that she would loan me her MOMA card to see the Matisse cut out work exhibit. I had hoped to have breakfast at Cafe Sbarsky also but as my hotel included breakfast, I decided I didn't need that extra meal. I also found that the bus going north from 53rd Street to 86th Street was a lovely ride but a slow one. 

Too late for brunch and too early for lunch, so a pastry and a melange filled the bill as I wrote postcards. Not my normal activity but I thought a few friends and children would enjoy getting a card. I had even bought stamps down in Chelsea the day before. Planning!

I made the big screen and also managed to get my phone out and snap the shot. That doesn't always happen. The image of Georgia O'Keefe in MOMA reminded me very much of the woman who told me about the bus to NY. It's all connected...energywise.

AAM Monday: Project Life Week 8

This has been some of the slow season, the time when we're done with winter but winter doesn't know it. I can say that because I looked at what was going on last year at this time. Deja vu all over!

Grousing/Whinging in 2014

At least some of the  snow was while I had a short dogsitting gig with the company of my two teenage granddaughters. No school for them the entire time. That put a whole different spin on my time over in Virginia. Basically, I almost never left the house, while they had 'play dates' with friends whose families have SUVs. Worked for me!

Five on Friday: March 11, 2015

1. Sometimes while I wait during that 'let it simmer' stage of cooking, I sit down with my iPad and play in Pinterest. Yesterday while chile and meatballs were simmering away,

I decided to look through my "Food Glorious Food'' board. A few things I want to try Right Now and a few Pins that were duplicated or on the wrong board got cleaned out. I saw a few soups that were mentally put on the to-do list and I found a few cooking blogs I'd like to follow for a while. 

2. The other day I decided to check out that box at the top left of the Blogger page, which says "Next Blog".  Let's see what the rest of the world is saying/doing/thinking/making.  A teenage Asian girl who eats a lot of sushi, a LOT; a few artists; a retiree who has a quirky sense of humor and then it pops up. That warning. Content that may be unsuitable etc.  Hey, I'm 70 for chrissakes, I can take it. So what do I see?

A male artist in Salt Lake City. Somehow I wondered just what might be "unsuitable" in SLC but he seemed like the run of the mill punk kinda guy with long shorts and those big ear plugs, gauges, in the earlobe. Paintings that were colorful. In other words, he looked like he could work in an Apple store.

3.  This gave me a great laugh on a wretched 'isn't winter over, yet?' day.

4. The weather has become almost balmy, well by comparison to what we've recently had. What I see, unfortunately, is a lot of garden clean up. Somehow it just never gets done in the fall.

5. There is a computer 'hand me down' time in our house as my dh has finally got his longed for MacBookAir. No, not the newest one, but the older model, a refurbished one. I get his old MBP and my daughter gets my white Macbook. No Mac ever dies in our family! It's just the clean up and clean out that takes time as that is the least fun part of the exchange.

That's all for me today, so have a great weekend. We're meeting up with friends for a morning meal and maybe there will be a trip for me too. Depends on my mood and energy. I may have gone from winter tired to spring fever!

TBT: The Non-Knitter circa 1978

My mother was a superb knitter as well as a seamstress. My grandmother could crochet anything as well as sew. I, however, had little interest in knitting or crocheting as I foolishly considered them old fashioned pursuits.  Now, of course, I wish I could do either.  I did learn to sew and used to do a lot of it. Then I lived where I had dressmakers so...that skill fell by the wayside.

It appears my 5 year old daughter was following in my foolish footsteps as I recall she paid no attention to the instructions her Grandma was trying to give her. It was not a good session.

Now, I have my needles, I have my yarn and yet I still don't know how to knit! Ah, we all have to learn the hard way it seems! But being happy with grey/white hair I don't have to worry about those roots like my mother did.

Wordy Wednesday: Seriously, Don't YOU Do This?

Travel With Me Tuesday: Another Bite of the Big Apple

After my day spent at Ground Zero, I was ready for more walking. One thing I have wanted to do since I heard about it was walk the High Line. There above the city, walking south along the Hudson River, it sounded wonderful. It was!

Brisk weather all day long, but not so cold that it hurt.  A proper cold day that allows you to walk without wondering if you could take a layer off. Of course you rarely can because that just means you have to carry another thing. These things have to be thought out carefully when you are not at home and have limited clothing options. All in all I've learned, less is more in packing.

As the big card says above, it was another day of 18,000+ steps. You'd think I'd lose 10 lbs, wouldn't you. I didn't. It may have been that scone...

AAM Monday: What I'm Watching

For the longest time I was not a tv watcher. Then came a new husband who is not a tv watcher At All but I thought we could watch movies. Fail. He fell asleep 90% of the time.

As I am too cheap to go to the movies and not in a hurry to see the latest & 'greatest' films, I got myself Netflix. Then for my 60th birthday, he got me a big screen 40" tv. Seriously, people, that was the big one 10 years ago! Netflix + on Demand, and I've got it all. Oh yeah, an Apple tv box too.

Lately, especially since I had a lot of time sitting and icing my new knee, I've binge watched some times (Brothers and Sisters & a few other oldies) but rationed out many more series.

These have been my current faves, usually enough to have one hour of tv per night with the occasional 2 hrs.

Sunday night has been sacred for my friends at Downton. Year after year.

But now that we have a hiatus from Downton, I have become glued to these women.

I love any show set in DC's political world.

Then there's the intrigue and wonderful snark with this crowd of lawyers.

Another DC set that I hope will be renewed involves the CIA & the White House. Perfecto.

More on the fluff side and set in LA are the folks in this one.  Again, not the caliber of others but good interaction amongst the cast.

Then there's this one. The sub heading says it all. Finally, finally, growing up.

Can you understand why I really haven't taken the time to start watching the most recent season of these guys? Bad, so very bad. Breaking Bad bad and so deliciously bad. Evil with the southern drawl. "Democracy is so overrated." Frank and Claire. Just plain bad.

What are you watching these days?

TBT: England 1973

This is a very blurry shot but it brings back wonderful memories of my in laws visiting us in England. They came to babysit us while my xh and I went on a camping trip on the Continent. That is a whole other story and one which doesn't have any photos that I can find.

But back to this image. My eldest son is sitting on his paternal grandfather's arm. It is late afternoon as the sun is coming in from the west.  In his leopard pajamas, made by his maternal great grandmother, my son is holding what appears to be a stuffed animal. As it is not blue, is is not his beloved Teddy.

What strikes me in this image is how so many beloved items stick in our memory, only to reappear in later years without conscious thought. I, too, now have a pair of leopard flannel jammies! The walls in our bedroom are painted the same dark green. I still have some of that Ethan Allen furniture in our living room. But what I really have is the memory of two people I love/d, together for a short time.

Wordless Wednesday: February 2012

my son's photo

Travel With Me Tuesday: Day 1 in New York City

This was pretty much fun to scrap, once I got started. Boy is it difficult some times to just Do it!

I'm ready to go back but not in the weather we're having. In any case, Boston is next on the agenda and I hope I don't have snow. More likely to have rain.

Boy those fries were good! and I even ate them for another day or two in the hotel room microwave. I definitely got my money's worth out of them and probably most of the calories too!

AAM Monday: PL Week 7

This was the week that ended with Valentine's Day and a lunch we were both looking forward to. The food was a disappointment with such a limited menu but I've realized that just being together was what really mattered. Almost 14 years now and that's an achievement for two hard headed people!