Monthly Archives: August 2005

Family, Friends, Spinning, Travel

Finally… France Finale

Posted on by Jean
Msm_1

France: The only disappointment of the whole trip is that I didn’t get to see Mont St. Michel.  Well, okay… I got to see the the silhouette of it from the auto route for about 30 seconds.  I yelled, “Look boys!  There it is!”  By the time they looked it was gone behind the bushes and we didn’t get another glimpse.  It would have cost us about another hour and a half to go see it and it was already about 6pm.  We still had another couple of hours until we got to Nilda’s (Waltzing Natilda) in Brittany.

We had an interesting arrival.  I’d been trying to call Nilda for about an hour or so before we arrived.  Yea.  Helps if you write the number down correctly.  Funny what trouble being off just one little number can cause.  Luckily, I knew what the place looked like where we were staying.  The town takes about five min. to walk from one end to the other.  Needless to say we saw our “hotel” (really, two rooms in a cottage) within a minute of our arrival in town.  We were starving.  Where do we choose to eat?  At the Armenian drug guy’s pizza place that Nilda has talked about on her blog! lol.  It was two boys and the Pizza sign that made us do it.  That and it was right next to our room and had a table for us.  We didn’t realize it was because no one else in town would eat there.  No wonder the guy was so damn happy to see us. I have mentioned that my husband is a federal law enforcement agent, haven’t I?  You’d think he’d have a nose for that stuff.  Thanks, Dan.   We could have been killed in the crossfire. 😉  Nilda and I had a great guffaw over it the next day.

So we knew Nilda had a dinner to attend that night. The owner of the room we were staying in gave me the correct phone number.  We left a message with the babysitter that we had arrived and were in our room.  After a while the long day had caught up with us so we went to bed.  I’m just about off in dreamland and I think I hear, “Jean!  Jean!”  I open my eyes and Daniel’s face is about two inches from mine, “Mom, I think someone is calling you outside”.  lol.  I look out the big window and down into the road and I see a flashlight.  “Nilda?”  Yep.  Nilda.  All dolled up for her dinner engagement.  She looks up and loudly whispers, “I have a key and a walkie-talkie for you!”  lol.  I go let her in.  She comes up and meets Dan while I throw some jeans on.  Daniel and I go with her up through the gate to the Chateau grounds.  We get to meet her girls and make arrangements to turn the walkie talkies on at 9am to get the party started.

This is our cottage where we stayed on the top floor:

Gate_1

That’s Daniel looking down from one of the ramparts.  Ours was the one with the green shutters.   The window in the roof right above them is the one Nilda was calling through.  That road used to be the moat for the Chateau.  Wild, huh? 

Right on the other side of the street from our door is the gate Nilda gave us the key to.

We arrived Saturday night and Sunday just happened to be the day the town had their procession of a statue of Mary.  We processed through the town to a chapel at the beginning of a small wood.   The one thing that never ceases to amaze me is that no matter where you go on this planet, Catholic Mass is always the same.  Except for understanding the homily, you can follow right along.  The setting was absolutely beautiful.

The town square.  Beautiful, right? Right out of Beauty and the Beast.

And finally a little fiber-related news.  Remember I told you about my little treasure?  Nilda took me to one of the local Antique dealers.  What did I buy? 

Obviously, this tin isn’t antique but it’s pretty dang cute, ain’t it?  It also makes a great container for my little treasure.  Okay… okay… here it is:

Isn’t it beautiful?!  The dealer says it’s about 100 years old and from that area of Brittany.  I swear I did a little happy dance when he brought it out to us.   Nilda had seen him at the reception after the church procession and let him know we’d be coming by.  He had a beautiful old wheel also.  If I could have figured out how it worked, I probably would have bought it too.  Of course, it would have had to ride on top of our Jeep all the way back to Germany.

I’m perfectly content with my little spindle.   She’s a tiny little thing.  Only about 8 1/2″ from tip to tip.  Good thing Nilda was there or I wouldn’t have been able to figure out how to anchor a leader onto it.   You make a half-hitch on the bottom and then on the top and spin away.

I love holding it in my hand and thinking of the women that must have used it in all the years since it was lovingly hand carved.  Thank you, Nilda.  I would never have gotten it without you.

And so, our journey was a quick one but we had SO much fun.  I totally plan on returning next year.   Hopefully Dan will be home on his R&R from Afghanistan by then so he can join us.  The boys loved it there.  They got along great with Nilda’s girls.  We knew they would.  The girls are an absolute delight and Nilda, I was only half kidding about the pre-arranged marriage idea.  Think of how well dressed our grandchildren would be!!  😉  We left a couple of days early because we felt totally guilty with them trying to pack up to leave for the States.  We said our farewells and headed back to Germany where we spent a couple of nights with old friends to break up the trip.

Thank you, Nilda and family (even the girls for the readings and dancing!).  We had a FABulous time.  Note the sweater Nilda is wearing… she designed it. Trust me.  It’s stunning in person.

Family, Travel

France – Part Deux

Posted on by Jean

So where did we leave off?  Ahh, yes.  We slept the night away at the Holiday Inn Republique.  Well, the boys and I did.  Dan had a rough night.  That chicken that I told him not to eat caught up with him.  He felt almost back to normal the next morning and was ready for breakfast.   Good thing because it was awesome.   Again, I’m telling you, great place to stay.  It’s worth the breakfast alone.  The room was large (by European standards), clean, staff was very courteous and the breakfast was to die for.  We ate our fill and then hit the road.  Another major plus about this hotel is a secure parking garage right behind it.  It was about $30 US, but handy.

Mappy.com gave us a road that we never found.  Imagine our surprise when we found ourselves driving down the Champs-Elysées towards  the Arch!  If you had told me we would be doing this I’d have been a nervous wreck.  Two things were on our side.  It was Saturday morning and it’s August.  Most Parisians are on vacation and most tourists don’t drive there.  As you can see from the shot through the windshield, there was no traffic.  Yeah for us!!!  Now Dan has bragging rights that he drove around the Arch de Triomphe.

It was only about 2 1/2 hours to Bayeux in Normandy.  We stopped to visit the tourist office and then headed out to Omaha Beach where my grandfather landed 61 years ago.

That handsome bloke on the far left is my dear Gramps.  Here’s a picture I took of Roy and Jean (I love being named after my grandmother) a couple of years ago up on their mountain in New Hampshire:

How cute are they?  I can’t wait to get to Ft. Drum so I can spend more time with them. 

But I digress….  So… we’re headed to Omaha Beach.  Words cannot begin to describe the feeling I had being on this beach where so many fell.  Here’s Daniel and Joe exploring the bunkers the Germans used.  They line the coastline all the way around France.

As much emotion as I felt as I looked out towards the British Channel, it couldn’t begin to prepare me for what I felt when we walked into the American Memorial Cemetery.  As luck would have it, we walked in only 45 minutes before they were closing.  Dan was asked to help lower the flag.  What an honor. 

As he was helping to lower it, a woman that works there came up to me.  She said it was their honor that a soldier was helping to lower and fold the American flag.  I assured her it was the other way around.  If she knew how patriotic my husband is she’d have understood totally. She asked what brought us to Normandy.   I explained that my grandfather had been there and I thought it was important for the boys to see it and that I’d promised him I’d take pictures for him so he can see it in peace.  She turned to me and looked me directly in the eyes.  With all sincerity she said, “Give your grandfather a message from me, indeed, all of France and really, all of Europe should be on their knees thanking him and all those that liberated us”  I could barely reply because I was so choked up.  I promised her that I’d relay the message.

In the next post I’ll tell you about the journey around Brittany and our visit with Nilda and family.  I leave you with my favorite picture from the trip:

Family, Travel

Let’s try this again

Posted on by Jean

There’s no feeling like it in the world.  You know what I mean.  Just as your car door clicks and you remember the keys are inside.  Same thing when you hit the back button on your browser and lose your post that you’ve been working on for an hour.   This only happens with picture-filled, link-loaded, really, really good posts.  Argh!  So.  Here we go again, but I think I’m going to go bit by bit.  I’ll do Paris first and then I’ll tell you about Normandy and Brittany and my visit with my pal, Nilda (Waltzing Natilda).

But first I have pictures to share.  Back to school here in Germany at the Dept. of Defense schools.  The boys really like their teachers and are looking forward to learning lots!  Joe’s looking a little ornery, doncha think?  His poor, poor teacher.

So… the trip.  I had plans for all that riding/knitting time.  Wonderful plans.  Too bad I’m a complete dork and didn’t copy the part of the pattern I’d need to make that happen.  I figure I wasted about 20 hours of fine knitting time.  I was supposed to be working on the Pacific Grove Pullover from Just One More Row.  I got the gauge swatch done and when I looked at what to do next…. nothing.  I missed the center two pages of the pattern when I was copying it for the trip.  Argh.  I know you can completely understand how frustrating that was.  Nilda’s lucky I didn’t have any sock needles on me (which is unusual) or I’d have broken into the sock yarn I brought her.

The trip from here to Paris is only 6 1/2 hours.  I have to say I actually enjoyed Paris this time.  Ha.  Go figure.  We did the four-hour quick tour.  We checked into the hotel (I highly recommend the Holiday Inn Republique.  I found out about it through tripadvisor.com.  Make sure you get the breakfast included in your rate!  WONDERFUL!  Omelets/eggs made to order, fresh pancakes, fruits, meats… you name it.  This could easily serve as brunch for the budget traveler) and then made way to one of the several nearby Metro stations.  We headed towards the Arch de Triomphe: 

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They don’t look very happy, do they? lol.  It gets better (well, not for Dan.  He was dog sick that night in the hotel).  We’d just walked about a mile down the Champs Elysees and the boys weren’t very thrilled about it.  So we hopped back on the Metro and headed to the Eiffel Tower.

The boys loved it.  The lines were massive, it was cold, windy and a storm was coming so we opted for one of the glass covered boat rides on the Seine instead of going up the tower.  Let me tell you, this is an awesome way of seeing a lot of Paris in a short time.  The boys are all about boats and trains (read: not walking) so this worked out well. 

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We rode it and took in the sites all the way to Notre Dame.  From Notre Dame it was only a 25 min walk (with two boys) back to the hotel.  I wish we’d known that when we first left because we’d had saved about $15 in Metro tickets because the Batobus (boat) is one price for all day.  Oh well.  Live and learn.

So that sums up our ultra-quick tour of Paris.

Another note about the hotel if you ever stay there… right across the street was a great place to get mussels and fries.  It was called Leon de Bruxelles.  However… if you have an upset stomach, the fish soup is not a good choice.  Dan found that out a little later.  He also will now believe me from now on when I say I think a chicken has been in our fridge a day or two too long….

In our next post we’ll go to Normandy and, the highlight of the trip, Brittany.  But for now…. tha tha tha that’s all folks.

Travel

Parle vous francais??

Posted on by Jean

Eight short hours until we get into the car and start driving west.  Paris tomorrow, Normandy on Saturday and, finally, Brittany on Saturday night where we’ll stay for four days.  Here we come, Nilda (Waltzing Natilda), ready or not!!

I’ll be back next Friday with plenty of pictures.  Yes, Bets, I’ll remember to take a picture of the Breton cows for you!  Only for you, my friend!

Knitting

NEXT!

Posted on by Jean

  I’ve joined the Hopeful Knit-a-long hosted by Jessica at Rose-Kim Knits.

The pattern is by Jenna Adorno and all proceeds plus a dollar go to the Susan Love Research Foundation.  How cool is that?  I love the shape of it.

I have one little problem.  After all the complaining about all the yarn in my stash… I don’t have yarn for this.   I have plenty of DK weight, but nothing that will work for this.  I have a gift certificate for Elann so I ordered their Sock It To Me Esprit in Soft Periwinkle.  It’s a little finer that the required yarn, but I think I can make it work.  It’s hard to find a cotton yarn with a little spring in it.  I just can’t see me wearing it if it’s in wool.  If I’m wearing short sleeves, then I want cotton. 

While I’m waiting to start the Hopeful here’s what I’m working on:

Its a sweater for Bailey from Dogs In Knits.  I love fair isle but haven’t done it in quite a while.  This is all leftover scraps from other sweaters I’ve done.  I bought all of the yarn when we went to Shetland in ’97.  Some of the colors are so close it’s hard to see what I’m doing so I’m not working on it much at night.  I just cast on the steeks for the legs. 

It’s funny because Bailey actually looks a lot like the dog on the cover.  Check out her picture at the end of the post here.

I’m such a twit.  I totally forgot to share with you a gift I received from Ali (Float and Purl) a couple of weeks ago.  It’s been on my shelf in the kitchen so I don’t think about it when I’m in here on the computer.  It’s the most beautiful pottery mug:

She sent me this along with a bar of Lush soap (the name is Honey I washed the kids – lol – beautiful honey scent) as a thank you because I sent her a few packs of Kool Aid.  Kool Aid, I tell ya!  Ali, I’ll send you as many packs as you need.  Just holler!!  😉  Thanks for such a beautiful gift, Ali.  It will be my constant companion once the chilly weather gets here… okay… it’s been chilly here for a while… I meant when Fall and Winter get here.

Family, Knitting

Yes, we have no tea cosies today…

Posted on by Jean

Sorry for the crummy picture.  Dan had to leave at o’dark thirty for his flight to El Paso, Texas.  I finished the raglan (note “damn” is not in the title any more) in the nick of time.  It hasn’t been blocked yet but, as you can see, it’s DONE!!!  It took me longer to knit that simple sweater than it has to knit Dale of Norways.

I think the threat of being felted into tea cosies is what did the trick.  Even the zipper went in on the first try and that **never** happens to me.

Dan is going to be one tuckered out dude.  He was just in the States a little over a week ago.  Back again today to testify in one of his cases from the last tour in Afghanistan.  He gets home on Thursday afternoon and on Friday morning we leave for France.  Guess who’ll be doing most of the driving.  He may have to leave for Ft. Bliss again the day after we get back from France and then he has at least one more trip over the Atlantic in September.  Can you say frequent flyer miles?!  Problem is they’ll probably all be on different carriers knowing our luck.

Ooh.  Did I slip France in there?  Yep.  Going to visit my buddy, Nilda (Waltzing Natilda) in Brittany at the end of the week!  Check out the beautiful little town of Rochefort-en-terre! When she started her blog I told you all she had to be one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met.  Besides that she’s a lot of fun.   We met in Scotland at the knitting/spinning retreat on the island of Mull.  So much fun.

Neither Dan nor I particularly care for Paris, but we want the boys to see the high points so since we’re driving through we’re going to stop for the night and see the sites.  We’ll take off the next morning for Normandy.  My Gramps landed on Omaha Beach one fateful morning in June of 1944.  I promised him photos and video of his great-grandsons there.  We’ll get to Nilda’s in time for dinner on Saturday and stay until Thursday.  Can’t wait, Nilda.

If you’ve never read any of the Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich you are missing out.  They are hilarious.  I just finished the tenth installment.  I like to wait for the paperback, but I don’t think I can wait a whole year for #11.  She’s a Jersey girl who ends up as a Bounty Hunter for her cousin’s bail bonds business and gets into all kinds of trouble.  Her grandmother’s character doesn’t start coming out until a couple of books into the series but she’s my favorite.  I bust out laughing so hard I think I’m going to wake Dan up.  Seriously, if you need a good laugh, read number One.  You’ll be hooked.

While I’m talking about books, I just started “Waiting Wives” last night.  Maybe it’s because I grew up a military brat or have been a “waiting wife” or that I love history… but I can’t put this book down.  Usually reading is how I get to sleep at night.  A couple of paragraphs and I’m out. I was up until 2am reading this one.  I had to force myself to put it on the nightstand and turn off the light.  It’s the story of Schilling Manor.  An old Air Force base in Kansas that they closed down and reopened as housing for families of soldiers sent to Viet Nam.

Knitting

Damn Raglan Strikes Again

Posted on by Jean

I should have known.  Some projects are just… well, damned from the start.  Know what I mean?  Look here.  Note the title of the post is Grrrr.  And, gee, what’s the subject of the post?  Yep.  The beginnings of the raglan. That was way back in April, folks. Actually, look at the post before that one.  I had problems with it before I even cast on! There must be three more posts after that complaining about the saga of the “damn raglan”.  Is it any wonder that’s what I called it?  So now here we are.  I’m in the home stretch.  Since showing you the photo in the last post of Dan wearing the “damn raglan” I’ve frogged it back a few rows twice more.  Now I’m at the point where I start the neckband.  Don’t remember what it looks like?  Look here.  Look past the success of the Must Have Cardigan.  Look at the bottom of the post.  Here’s a perfect example of when I should listen to my own intuition.  I KNEW that sweater was weird before I even cast it on!

At any rate, as I was saying, I’m at the neckband.  I got two rows into the ribbing and had Dan try it on again.  There’s a BUMP where the front neckline decreases stop!!  It’s hard to see but trust me, it’s there:

ARGH!!!  Excuse me for a moment…. &%&%&$&$##$%…… Okay.  Deep breath.  I.will.finish.this.sweater.today.  I think I have it figured out…. yeah, yeah… where have we heard that before?  I’ve changed almost every single pattern I’ve done in the past with no trouble.  I just don’t get it.  Dan better wear the life out of this sweater.  Then again…. I do like this wool felted…..  Mmmmwwwwaaaahhahaha…. Keep it up raglan… keep it up.


For the spinners out there… take a gander at this old postcard.

The wheel is sideways!  It makes perfect sense.  She’s able to take the flax straight from the distaff to the orifice this way.  I’ve never seen this before.  Way cool.

What I want to know is what’s the guy doing?  Reading instructions to her or wooing her away from the wheel with poetry?!

So… back to the damn raglan.  By the time you readers in the States wake up I should have the bump problem solved and be well on the way to the end of the ribbing.

With any luck I’ll be posting a picture of a finished sweater tomorrow.  Either that or a lot of felted tea cosies.  😉

Family, Knitting

Okay… I lied

Posted on by Jean

I tried to finish Dan’s “damn raglan” this weekend but as you can see from the picture… it didn’t happen.  Almost there though.  Should be able to finish this evening but I’m not promising.

I did work on this square to send to Annie (Knitty Gritty) for Kerstin’s (Craisy Daisy) afghan.

It’s hand spun and hand dyed.  The picture doesn’t do it justice.  The pattern is the gull wing pattern from the baby sweater in Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitter’s Almanac.

Last winter we went sledding with some friends.  They named Joseph “Rocket Boy” because of how fast and fearless he was on the sled.  I’m just overjoyed to report that “Rocket Boy” has abandoned the training wheels and I will never be able to relax again knowing he’s outside riding on his bike:

Today is Jeremy’s 23rd birthday.  Happy Birthday, Jeremy! We love and miss you!   This picture is of me, Jonathan and Jeremy (in that order).  It was taken Christmas 1987:

Speaking of Jeremy, if you were reading back in October 2004, you’ll realize he’ll be on his way back to the States from Mosul, Iraq in less than a month!  YEAH!!!

Knitting

Unprogress Report

Posted on by Jean

Things were going swimmingly on the “damn raglan” until I realized they weren’t. 

I had to rip out 12 rounds (400+ stitches per each round) down to where the sleeves attach to the body.  Grrr.  I consider myself an experienced knitter.   This should be a very simple sweater for me.   What the heck?! 

Okay.  I’m calm now.  I think I have things figured out now.  I’ll keep you posted but if everything goes right this sweater will be done by the end of the weekend.   I’m determined.  Don’t hold your breath.  Just wanted to let you know I hadn’t fallen off the face of the earth….. yet……