Friday May 25, 2012

Another busy week.  It started on Sunday with the eclipse.  Branwen's teacher sent out an email that she would be at a park nearby with a telescope for viewing.  Other teachers from the school brought devices that could be viewed by a larger group.  Lots of people were at the top of this park.  We were triple parked!  After the kids saw the sun with the bite out of it, they ran around in the field having a wonderful time with their friends.

I not only have cute demolistion guys, I have a cute contractor.  His name is Lee.

The kitchen ceiling is gone.  Good news - the underside of the roof is in really good shape and there were no signs of little critters.

Construction guys do weird things like draw things and make notes on the walls.  This was done by our former plumber.  He retired and moved to Oregon, but comes to visit.  He was giving his expertise on recirculating hot water.

The pile of rubble is gone.  Too bad if I decided that I wanted something.

 My garage will finally have a small entry door.

 The main bathroom is gone.  (Except for the toilet.  That still works, but they carry buckets of water in to flush it.  Everyone agrees that the toilet will stay as long as possible.  It is sooooo much nicer than the porta-potty.)

This is where the heater used to be.  I will now have central heat and air-conditioning!   Woo Woo!

Needless to say - I moved out when this whole thing started.  If Chuck was still here, we would have either gone away for a semester or moved into an apartment.  Since it is just me, I have become a gypsy moving from one house to another.  Practically everyone I know who goes on vacation this summer is having me as a housesitter.  Even those people who normally don't have anyone stay in their house.

My first abode was at my friend Marie's.  She and her husband Bill are in Paris right now.  Her youngest son  Matt is a chef.  He made duck confit with roasted potatoes and spinach for our dinner one night.  Très bien.  

This was a great first place.  I know where everything is; I have no responsibilities; and I am halfway between my house and Alec's house.

But now I have moved on.  Marie and Bill are returning home on Saturday and Matt was having dinner guests.  Patti, a friend from knitting, offered her house for 2 weeks.  She has an outside cat that needs to be fed and watered and lots and lots and lots and lots of plants.  Luckily she is very organized and has printed out a watering schedule.  I am harvesting blue berries and strawberries (both white and red.)

Branwen and Calder can't understand why I haven't moved in with them.  How to explain - house to myself : house filled with kids, bathroom to myself : shared bathroom, queen sized bed : bottom bunk.  I have assured them that I will be staying with them sometimes, just not ALL the time.

Sunday, 5/20/12

Things continue.  This is taken with me standing about at the fireplace.  You can see through the kitchen area to the back door.  The demolished wall in the foreground is my living room wall (which will have niches for Native American pottery)  The blue in the middle is across the middle of the dining room to protect the books and other cupboards from most of the dust.

I have 2 cute guys  hauling furniture and demolishing. They are Chris & Ted and they are both about 6'5". 

 Today was the awards ceremony and picnic for baseball.  Branwen did Tee Ball.

Calder did 5 Pitch and all of his team wore pirate patches today.  They said Aargh a lot.

Alec coached both of their teams.  Calder will be in another league next year, so it was a little bitter sweet for them.

Getting started again May 16, 2012

A lot has happened since my last post.  Calder turned 8.

Branwen turned 6.

And I stayed 39.  Whoops, that is how old Alec is!  We went to a Yale dinner party at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West for his present. 

But, the biggest news is:  WE ARE FINALLY REDOING MY HOUSE.  We have been talking about it for years and years and it is finally happening.

I have weeded out tons of the junk that we have accumulated in 37 years. 

 I made trips to Goodwill everyday.  I packed until I thought my back would break. 

 This weekend was very busy which took time away from my packing.  First we had Children's Day at the elementary school.  Branwen performed in her Japanese Dance and her Kindergarten dance routine.

 Calder was in his class' song and dance, the whole school playing instruments and Taiko drumming.

Then. Sunday was Mother's Day.  We went to a Mommy & Me Tea.  The ladies could choose hats.

We all had tea stuff, and then I went home to pack some more.

Monday was the day that the moving out started.   The POD is parked beside the house and the garage is taking the overflow. 

Notice that the contractor has set up a little office in the garage.  The guys sit around to eat their lunch.  It is very civilized.  On Monday almost everything had been carried out, but I still could have changed my mind.

 Tuesday was the beginning of DEMOLITION!  My bedroom was trashed.

The kitchen was started.

 There is no turning back.

Another old friend

I had two groups of friends in Geneva. The Anglican church craft group and mommies and toddlers that lived in the same apartment complex.
Gabi was the one that I stayed close with, so I really wanted to visit with her, too.

We walked along the little stream in our old village. (it is much bigger now!)


We sent notes to some of the other people from that time and best of all, heard back from them. So then we took some pictures to send
The two of us


Tim (15 1/2), Carolin (18 - she was two when we first met and I became Oma Joan), Nelly the dog and Gabi


Gabi teaches kindergarten in the German school. They are moving into a brand new space so we went to see it
The upper school


The upper level will be the reading nook. The underneath part is for playing house. It has the normal play stove and fridge, but also has a microwave and dishwasher


They have a nice room for playing inside in bad weather which they share with another room


The bathroom. They call this the kindergarten, but it is from 3 to 5 years


Gabi and I talked, drank tea and talked - just like old times.

I had a fabulous time visiting with all of my friends. The time was too short, but I am glad to be going home. It will be good to sleep in my own bed and be in my own house.

I will try to post some of the movies - especially from the wedding.

Visiting in Geneva

Chuck and I were supposed to visit Geneva this spring. Sadly, this was not to be. So I took this opportunity to visit with friends that I haven't seen in ten years.

Annemarie is still the head of the craft group. She and her husband, Alec picked me up at the airport and took me to their house. They gave a little party for the current members of the group that night. I still knew three of them and the rest had heard about me.
Annemarie


Louise


Joyce, Winifred and Maureen - Winifred is 92. Geneva is good for old ladies.


Annemarie made this tart with raspberries from their garden.


On Sunday we drove to Yvoire, a medieval town on the lake for lunch.


Alec with Jill, another member of the group.


Our table was right on the lake


We had fillet of lake perch, frites and salad and lots of good conversation.



That evening we were sitting in the garden after dinner and the hedgehog came for a visit.


This is what started my hedgehog collection (probably his ancestor). I was really glad to see him.

Leaving Barcelona

I put them in a cab at 7:30 and went down the street to buy a Starbucks latte. This was the only thing open. Took it back to the apartment and sat in blessed silence.

When the department store across the street opened, I visited the supermarket in the basement. Big signs in many languages saying "Don't touch the produce."



This ENTIRE display was white asparagus


The fish counter goes around the corner


Cured meats - or PIG PARTS as Alec would say


Would you like a whole cured ham?


Taxi to airport and off to Geneva.

Barcelona day 3

The kids are sleeping later and later. They are staying up late for dinner and also they are pretty tired by now. (I know I am.)

While Alec and the kids slept in, Jef and I cabbed over to the Sagrada Familia.


We brought back breakfast and started the day by walking down Las Ramblas, which is a very touristy street but lots of fun and interesting things to see. A store front


One of the many "statue people".



We toured the Palau Guell, which was the first Gaudi redo for a wealthy industrialist. It was a fabulous mixture of arte deco, craftsman and beginning Gaudi. The toilet


The ceiling


The chimneys on the roof


Branwen posing next to the snake motif on the gate


Jef chose someplace to go for lunch, but it only had pastries, but they recommended someplace a few blocks away that wasn't so touristy. We were really pleased with the place. We started with the tray of little sandwiches.


A platter of best cured pork in the world


Fried potatoes


And one order of paella which I forgot to photograph. We went back for dessert to the first place and then continued down the street to the harbor and the aquarium.


After a fine time, we headed over to the Font Magica. In the guide book, the dancing waters show was supposed to start at 8. They lied! It was 9. Too late for us. They had to get the cab for the airport at 7:30. We went bak to the apartment. Alec and I went back to the ham restaurant and bought "take away". The best ham again. This was Calder's favorite


Assorted other pig parts and bread


There was one more kind, but Branwen ate it all up before its photo op.

Really pleased with our last meal in Barcelona we packed up and went to bed.