Travel With Me Tuesday: A Much Better Day or Two in Piemonte

After our not-so-great day which was mainly made up of resolving our car issue after putting the wrong kind of diesel in a diesel car, the next day was rather quiet. It was, for me, the crash after the worry of the prior day.

Two days later, we made an attempt to go north once again, maybe to see snow?  If not, no problem. I had really seen enough unexpected snow in the 2013-14 winter.  My whole reason for this trip had ended that winter but we were already booked and still planned to go.


It's not often I do a two page spread but once in a while is a good change of pace.

After lunch, yes, I finally saw that snow IN the Alps. We never got as far as we'd hoped as a storm was coming in and we decided to be safe rather than sorry.

But before heading home I had to throw a snowball. It's a tradition and totally required on any of our trips involving snow. A totally successful day.

Travel With Me Tuesday: We Drive to the Med

While in Turin, we also decided to take a trip to the Mediterranean. You know, warm weather, sun, but we were wise enough to know there wouldn't be warm water unless you think the Pacific is warm.

The morning started off with a lot of noise, early noise, which turned out to be the movers in the apartment above. Thing go out the window and are lowered by an amazing contraption. However, it's an extremely noisy contraption. Thus, once again, we had a late start.

It's a very rare occasion when I will even consider eating fast food but there is one thing about a lot of places in Europe that serve real food. These places adhere to specific hours and so a late start means that almost as soon as we arrive in a place, we have to think about lunch or miss it. We ate just under the wire on this day. Other than having the option of rather sorry looking sandwiches and pastries in bars, we were fortunate to have found lunch after our espresso/bathroom stop.

Travel With Me Tuesday: Cars & More in Turin

Certainly not on my bucket list, the auto museum made Dick very happy and I joked that it was because he was as ancient as many of the cars! Actually, that's only half an exaggeration.  Me? I've never had any interest in old cars but I do like seeing other parts of a city so it all balanced.

AAM Monday: Holiday Excursion

We really haven't done much or gone anywhere this holiday season and that has been fine with me. I didn't do my traditional December Daily pages but I suspect I will next year. Or maybe next year will find us in London or somewhere in Italy...who knows!

But a few years back we went to DC to see the poinsettias at the Botanical Gardens. It was a sunny brisk day and we had a great time. We made a whole day of it and also had lunch in DC. This trip was a bit simpler on an overcast day after Christmas. The conservatory IS just gorgeous. It must have been something back in its day but today it's in a not so great part of town and looks a bit forlorn
 

Now DC had poinsettias up the gazoo but Baltimore does its best without the benefit of federal tax dollars that DC has. There was a $5 contribution per person which I semi-reluctantly gave but gave in to the spirit of generosity.

The orchid room was bathed in a hazy blue light but did show the difference that light makes for the same plants. The tree of poinsettias looked a lot bluer than those back in the hallway. Both however, were Orion plants. Yes, an overexposed shot but you get the point.

Afterwards, we wandered around Hampden, had an espresso (which I regretted at Midnight...), checked out some vintage shops and had great ice creams at The Creamery. By then it really was drizzling and we decided to drive down to and across 34th Street. Most of the holiday crowds were either not coming or it was just too early. Fine with me, as I jumped out of the car, took a few snaps and then it was home in time to settle in for a bit before the PBS Call the Midwife special and the Downton Abbey review. Please God, do no force me to watch Bernadette Peters for that long ever again.  Is she paralyzed or is it a full body Botox? And really PBS....did we need that may previews?

Well say goodbye to the 34th street lights for this year. Make sure to do a Baltimore run in 2015!

Five on Friday: December 26, 2014

Happy Boxing Day to all! don't know what that holiday is? check it out. As for me and mine, we are just having a quiet day chez nous.

1. Yesterday we had a giant bowl of fish chowder and invited people to come when the felt like it for a cup and a cheese scone. I knew those giant mugs from Starbucks would come in handy some day.

2. As we did very little decorating for Christmas, there is little to do for the dismantling. However, the one missing plastic bin of Christmas things has yet to appear. "I" suspect it is in plain sight up in the attic which is also "his" office. While I avoid going up there, I plan to do a thorough search mid January. But I still wonder...

3. At some point this holiday,  I'm wondering if we can still get ourselves up to Baltimore's 34th Street. It's been a few years since we ooohed and ahhed over this kitchy bit of Hampden fun. A narrow street of row houses with lights going across the street in addition to all the houses blinged out!

2003 - me and my daughter and his daughter

4. I'm have had a good time reading again, and am finishing up The Orphan Train. Definitely a part of American History I didn't know. I recommend it.

5. The Knee Saga continues. On Christmas eve, I had my 'final' checkup with my knee surgeon.  Everything is A-ok, my progress is excellent and I feel very good. No more PT, but continue with exercises at home. Yea!!!

Now you go and have a great weekend...maybe sale shopping or maybe just chill out before a back to work for many.  Holiday Blessings to all.

It's Christmas!

May you have a happy and blessed day.

Worded Wednesday: December 24, 2014

Some Wednesdays it just seems like it's time for a few wise words.  Holiday meltdown coming? Ponder this...

seen here

Travel With Me Tuesday: Day 3 Lunch in Turin

My dh and I were certainly not on the same wavelength regarding food on this trip. I think he would have picked pizza for every meal outside of breakfast. I was more inclined to have pasta and/or raw or dried meats. As we were so close to the Alps and Switzerland, the dried meat I love was plentiful and affordable.  I wanted local specialties not endless variations on pizza and certainly not so many carbs daily.

I also think that he could not translate the menu fast enough and make a decision fast enough when the waiter was standing there, pencil in hand. Had I felt better, I might have had more patience translating the menu for him. Meals were becoming an issue and I just didn't have the energy for it.

 

AAM Monday: Cheese on Toast

Back in my years of living in England, one of my favorite home lunches or suppers was cheese on toast and/or mushrooms on toast. Growing up, or even when I was first married and living in Texas, I almost never used a broiler. The broiler was usually on the bottom of the oven, so it was just about on the floor. You'd put whatever was to be broiled on the slotted pan, shut the door and then have to guess how long it might take or when to open the door. Leaning down and peering in was no fun, but even worse was cleaning the large broiler pan which was always a mess.  Then came the days of aluminum foil and covering the tray seemed, to us, to be a wasteful thing as the foil was usually thrown away even if the idea of washing it was occasionally considered.

But there in 1968 England, I had a 'cooker' rather than a range and the broiler pan was now called a 'grill pan' and it was up at eye level. A totally separate bit of cooking equipment. I loved it. Of course, cheese was a big staple in England and back in the late 60s the idea of cholesterol was fortunately not a worry for people. The cheeses we ate were natural and came from 'contented cows', often from a farm not far away.  My favorite was Wensleydale which melted beautifully and on a thick slice of real bread, possibly baked that day at a local bakery, cheese on toast was wonderful. Just add a dollop of Branston Pickle and ah....pure comfort food.

Yesterday, I did my best to recreate this on short notice at home. We had just made a loaf of English Muffin bread and I had slices of swiss cheese as well as some fresh mushrooms.  A thick slice of bread, a layer of sliced mushrooms, a slice of swiss, another layer of sliced mushrooms and another slice of swiss cheese. Into the toaster over, and 5 minutes or so and the broiler there did its job. No way as good as those meals in England but somedays you just have to take what you can get. It filled the tummy on a December day and that was the point.

Wordless Wednesday: December 19, 2014

eta: Obviously, I have not been very aware of what day it's been.  Oh well...

found here & modified

Travel With Me Tuesday: Trudging Round Turin Day 3

I decided to make these pages as full photos and then a long journaler to tell the story. I like to do that once in a while and not worry about where on the page to put my journaling. A lot of this morning involved trying to find the Apple store and me also trying to find a place to sit down. My knee knew that this trip was not the best idea.

AAM Monday: Legal but not Moral

Some years ago, when I went back to college to finish my B.A. after a divorce, I took several Ethics classes as part of my requirements.  I was at a Catholic college, College of Notre Dame in Baltimore, and one class I really enjoyed was Legal Ethics. I had spent a decade in government/politics and saw the ways the law affected people for good and not so good. Many of the students were planning to go to law school and that was an idea I was considering also. fwiw, I am not a practicing Catholic and rarely even identify myself as Christian. Spiritual yes, religious no.

However, the part of the class I recall most clearly was when our professor asked how far each of us would go to get that 'win' for our client.  Would you do this? would you do that? would you totally annihilate a witness to convince the jury?  When we got into details, I was shocked that so many of my fellow students were very clear that they would do 'anything' to win. Anything. Our prof asked us if we considered that, above a legal standard, there might be a higher moral standard to observe. Many said that would have no bearing on their behavior. As long as the law did not forbid something it was acceptable. (Today, think of the treatment afforded to so so many in recent rape trials.)

Now do note that this was at a Catholic college, and our professor was a Jewish chaplain at Shock Trauma. He was truly a good man but I've often wondered how often he had classes with students who saw no moral principles higher than what the law allowed or at least didn't forbid. Did these students have no internal principles or values or was it just do whatever you could get away with? for the almighty $.   I used to wonder what were the views of students in a secular college? Did ethics and moral values even come into play if these students who chose a religious school didn't seem to incorporate them into future work behavior?

Why am I remembering this now? Well Facebook is riddled with people who seem to think the same way.  WWJD appears to be replaced by "... I don't give a shit how we gathered information from terrorists.' Is this what we have become? We stoop to the lowest level that we rightly condemn in others?

 If so, God help us.

Torture "The world’s governments did not negotiate a treaty banning it under all circumstances because it’s ineffective. They did so because it is immoral, inhumane and unacceptable — even if it works." David Cole, a professor at Georgetown Law

Five on Friday: December 12, 2014

There is a bit of Christmas showing round our house. Not a lot but enough to make it feel a bit festive. We have our skinny old kitchen tree and one band of lights do not work.  But hey, it's a tree and it's up and the cookie cutters are on it so...

Now it's time to get rid of the clutter on the dining room table. Some stuff goes to charity and some stuff goes back upstairs until the reverse decoration process starts.

1. Speaking of that tree, my dh usually is not very enthused about a tree at all. However before my surgery (Nov 11) he asked if he should bring the tree up then! Uh no....and I wasn't even sure I really cared if one went up at all.  Now he believes the tree should have 'more color' meaning MORE real ornaments.  I am not enthused.

2. I am trying to figure out how to back up one folder on an EHD  with my Time Machine. Usually my dh knows some of these odd things but this time he just can't understand why I don't just back up the whole EHD with Time Machine. Mainly because my Time Machine is a 2T and the folder in question is on a 3T. 

3. So far there has been no baking chez moi. I feel a bit obliged to bake something but I am just as happy to miss those calories. Bake something and not eat it? That's not quite in my realm of doable just yet. Maybe these since I don't care for peppermint. Well I tolerate it. Oh who am I kidding. I'd scarf one or two or..

recipe here

4. We got a sweet note from one of the granddaughters. It was addressed as from Mommy and Me but inside the paper was folded into a small square to let me know she was sending me a present.  I suppose she wanted to be sure no one else read it! LOL

5. Fleece! ok, Polartec fleece. I have had a great time getting a couple of vests and pullovers with the daily sales at Lands End.  Now I'd be happy with just one more pair of warm sweats or fleece pants to get me through February.  Moving less than normal still makes me feel the cold more.

Well, that's all from me today. Going out for a bit with a friend and then a German dinner tonight! Hope your weekend is full of good things and that the necessary things get done easily. Ciao!

Wordless Wednesday: December 10, 2014

yes, the floor is that old and scratched

Travel With Me Tuesday: Day 2 Turin, His View

AAM Monday December 8, 2014

Today is a busy day with PT and then his going out to lunch with old workmates, the cleaning ladies bi-weekly session, and then the visit of a friend for an exchange of my frozen Hatch chiles for one of her sour cherry cobblers.  I hope in between some of these things to get a nap and/or some good icing of my knee.

Yesterday was a relatively early morning out with friends and the cold air really felt good. I can't say I'd be able to stay out in it for a long time but it gets my brain cleared quickly and I need it, especially in the morning.

Saturday was a 1st post surgery - I started and let dh finish up and mix a meatloaf for dinner. I usually use a jarred sofrito or just a medium salsa for the 'liquid' but when he bought the salsa, he bought one with habaneros, which didn't surprise me. However it did make the meatloaf spicier than even I usually make it for him.  Mrs. Renfro's may be a go-to for us now.

the basic recipe I use for meatloaf

In any case, I didn't have or want any meatloaf but had been craving some shrimp. As Saturday was a serious rain day, I figured the Thai carryout in the next block would suffice and I had a shrimp with various veggies. Not my usual red curry with coconut milk but still very good. I have been rather neglectful of the whole photo taking process lately and hope to get back into my groove. Maybe that will be a week 5 goal.

Anyhow that's some of what's happening round here. Nothing major and that's just fine with me!

Five on Friday: December 5, 2014

Life continues, still a bit slowly, round here. Each day sees more knee recovery but only if I notice things.  My mood has improved greatly after a serious melt down of very depressed feelings on Monday. Just talking it out with my dh seemed to resolve it.  Blessings abound!

1. Grilled cheese....this is something I could still eat most every day, but don't. Such a strange craving except it sure is comfort food, isn't it.

2. My appetite has not come back in full force which I don't mind as I hope to lose a bit more weight while this is the case. However, the Trader Joe's Christmas goodies flyer had me tempted a bit. Not much but a bit. I think a lot of the feeling was good memories of some tasty but oh-so-not-necessary treats in the past. And Porchetta? Oh this one really calls to me as I know I don't have the energy to do one myself any time soon and porchtta is sooooo good.

3.One of the things they don't tell you pre-surgery is about the serious mood swings and unexplained periods of unexpected tears and feelings that nothing is of interest or worthwhile. I call this depression or sadness but it took me totally by surprise. However it's normal and fades.

4. Today I had two excursions out - my thrice weekly PT session and then, while I could just as happily stayed home for the rest of the day, a trip to Best Buy to get a new printer. Oh Epson you have sorely let me down with my still new 'old' one. Neither I nor dh could get it to work right and not suck down ink at the same time. Boo hiss.  I will offer it to others freely but with a big caveat.  I now have a Canon MG 7520. It's a pretty white (very Mac like) and it printed a lovely recipe as my first test.  Time will tell though as I print some real photos.

5. December Daily? or any of the variations going round? I am sorry not to be doing it this year but I haven't finished up my 30 Days of Thankful and really don't have the get up and go to find things so far this December to document. Me sleeping in various parts of the house? I think not. However, that hasn't stopped me from buying the occasional new digital Christmas supply. You never know when you might need a glossy Santa!

Have a great weekend everyone and I hope to get more back into the blogging swing next week.

Five on Friday: November 28, 2014

Where did November go? well, for me it was spent in the hospital and rehab so that I could come home today with a brand new, mostly functional knee! For the most part, it's been an easy journey with, while I hesitate to say it, almost no pain or narcotics. I know that isn't everyone's experience but it has been mine and I am truly GRATEFUL. Now on to ....more and more Physical Therapy and practice getting comfortable with a new body part! Oh yeah, and lots of rest. Many friends have said that doing 1 thing a day is about the most they could do for a while. So far, I've found that to be pretty much on the mark.

1. In one day I learned that Vicodin and I are not friends.  I felt as if my brain was outside of my head, which I guess pretty much sums up being 'out of one's mind'. Extra strength Tylenol and I have a good relationship.

2. After the daily sessions of physical and occupational therapy, I have been pretty content to ice my knee with the the trusty AirCast machine. I love the ease of this little beauty.

3. Other than a quick glance at the BBC and WashingtonPost headlines on my phone, I have been content to mostly ignore the news. I believe the world had gone on its not so merry way without my attention. My body is the better for that.

4. There has been a lot of time to think and reflect on  my life these past two weeks. I feel that in some way it's been like being on a semi silent retreat. I have a private room and other than the nurses and PTs I really don't have to talk to anyone if I don't want to. I have been willing to listen to others and hear their stories. As I recently read, sometimes all that is necessary is to say "Me too."

5. What, if anything, do I miss? this view from my window from dawn to dusk. Watching the leaves fall, the wind shaking the limbs, the snow quickly turning to rain and back and forth as Mother Nature played her games with us. The view calmed my soul and reminds me I need to be outside some time each day.

November has been good to me, and I hope it has been the same for you. May we all have a December filled with love and peace.

Until I'm Back

30 Days of Thankful CatchUP

Trying to get a bunch of loose ends caught up here today and then pack my hospital suitcase. The only thing I am not looking forward to is being awakened every four hours to have blood work done while in hospital. I'm not good with that at the best of times! Hopefully, the drugs will make me a bit less squeamish.

See you on the other side!