A Listicle... Maybe

It looks like it's gonna be monthly this year, kids... At least that's the trend. Randomly, unless I get inspired. 

1. I continue to finish things; several badges instead of the MTI hats, for those protests that will happen when it's too hot to wear a hat. Started a pair of socks. I'm about on the toe, I think I've found a spiral toe (as opposed to a star toe?) that I can do. Nerdy Notes: US 1.5 DPNs (Zings, color-coded, really nice!) and a random Opal (my ball band is MIA). This is a Vanilla pattern, with an Eye of Partridge heel (flap & gusset) and honestly, one of the shortest gussets I've done!

2.  Things to be done: A's Chicken - that repair has to be from scratch. Not enough original yarn to fix it, and I have to find something similar. Trip to Betsey's to see what I can find... Mom's Sophie Hood in white - I have to figure out where I'm at in the pattern. ONE single sock - any ONE single sock; I just need to make a pair out of the singletons I have. And several other things - I have a list of WIPs. 

3. I have a wedding afghan to start. I know the groom's favorite color - green. Just need to know the bride's - so I can make that work. Then I have to figure out what I want to do - knitted takes less yarn, but more time. Crochet is just the opposite: I can crochet faster than I knit but it takes almost twice the yarn. 

4. I need to pick up that counted-cross stitch Pecadillo - I'm on the 2nd quadrant and I'd like to get it done for Xmas. And I have 2 more "trifles" that I want to do for ME. The Pecadillo is coming along nicely with the beads and the metallic floss. I'm still not certain how I'll finish the piece. It's part of a 3-some, but it doesn't have to be. So do I finish it as a singleton for the recipient, or do I do a 3-year-long Xmas project for them? I'm not inclined to do a bell-pull thing - the pieces are lovely squares, but too big for a bell-pull. I'm pretty sure that as the weather warms up, the counted cross-stitch will be my preferred project. Knitting, depending on the project, is too heavy for the summer. 

5. Rosaries: The Demented Doofus and the Drunk are ... taking on the Pope. Yeah, the guy who was raised on the southside of Chicago (cue Jim Croce here, if you're old enough, or Google him). Schooled in Philly. Ministered in Peru (the country, not the town in IL) for decades. And now lives in the Vatican. He (Pope Leo) has called for a national day of prayer and even us former RCs, the Jews, Muslims, Lutherans, etc. - we're all rallying around. I have (top to bottom) my paternal grandma's rosary (dad brought it back from Mexico when he was stationed in San Diego) - which is silver, and the beads are roses; an Anglican rosary (of course, muted...) which is a lovely warm wood one; and my maternal grandma's rosary from Our Lady of the Snows, where all good Catholic grannies made a pilgrimage at one point or another, which is crystal beads. Frankly, I can do a Catholic rosary in my sleep, so I'll probably do that. Prayer is prayer. 

6. I found The. Best. way to caramelize onions... Start them in the oven! You can use whatever Dutch Oven you have; I'm still holding out to find an old but still decent LeCruset at the thrift store, but I do have an old cast iron one. About 1 hour in the oven at 350 or so, with a stick of butter and a couple tablespoons of olive oil. I ended up finishing them in a big skillet, because the onions discharged so much water. But it was sooooooooooo much easier than standing there stirring onions in a saute pan till my arms fell off. Now I have to do a dish with those onions. I originally used them in a rustic loaf, topped with Asiago cheese, but I think I might want to do a savory bread pudding or something else. 

7.  Dinner - homemade pizza, hubby's crust, my sauce. And this is leftovers for lunch the next day. Is it me, or is my family the only one who does cold pizza for ANY meal? Hubby always thinks I'm nuts, but a quick poll at our last family gathering revealed that most of my nephews agree with me and so does my sibling... We usually make a very thin crust, and use plain Italian sausage (not the spicy one), with 1/4 c. of my sauce -- we've been making smaller sized ones, since it's just the 2 of us. Though I don't get "bored" of food, and I can eat the same thing for days... Anyway, we add shallots or leeks sometimes, and mushrooms when I can sneak them in. And then about 3 or 4 kinds of cheese. I would like to expand that basic recipe to add a few other things, like roasted garlic or fresh chopped herbs when we have them. Though I do use herbs we've frozen. 

8. Cat Loaf - at the barn a few weeks ago, we were "invaded" by Canada geese. With all the rain, we ended up with a small pond near the community garden and the birds just flew in. They got all snippy about our coming and going in and out of the barn. Barn cat Brownie was on "observation" and (smartly) decided to stay in the barn. Even the horses stopped eating because they heard the ruckus. One of the pair of geese was a little cheeky as I brought out two big buckets of crap... I threatened said goose with a dousing if he didn't back off. Hey - you use what you got, right? 

Random Picture: So over Easter, there was a tragedy. In our family, a few of us like a particular "relish" - my dad used to make it from scratch, and you could occasionally find it in the "ethnic" markets when I was a kid (particularly the Kosher markets). I had to google the correct spelling - my dad always called it "hren" with a strong rolled "r" -- so for years, that's what I thought it was. Actually, it's cvikla s chrenom -- seems that "chren" (imagine it with a rolled "r") is horseradish in Slovak. 

Anyway, I found it in big jars in our local Berkot's...until I didn't! According to the gal at the check-out, "All the Polish stuff has just been flying off the shelves." It's all in the same neighborhood, so I didn't bother to correct her. I ended up buying a jar of shredded beets, and since I always have horseradish at home, I made my own. Stick blender, about a cup of the beets, drained (they come with a vinegar base), and about a teaspoon of horseradish. You can adjust the heat! So let's see how long this lasts. 

And yes, I love beets. Roasted, in a salad, AS a salad, with goat cheese, in a relish or sauce... Bring 'em on! 

I guess I'll go back to finishing that sock. Hopefully, by the next time, I'll have made progress on Sock #2, and we can show off a few more WIPs. This is The Year of the Finished Projects, so I want to keep that streak going! 

 

More Chamonix - More Mountains - More Pics...

August 16, 2013 - More Chamonix


So we're on our way back to Chamonix. We were quite taken with the town, and we thought that, since we're on the back end of our trip (we leave on the 18th to go back home), it would be nice to putter around the town. 

Art in the Square

Hubby thought it would be a great idea to get a day-pass so that we could take in some of the mountains, perhaps ride the tramways and gondolas and generally get up in the air. For you wags and wits: The caption of the first picture is "Art in the Square" and NO, I don't think this man is not to my knowledge named Art...

1:15 p.m. -- I'm half-way up to the top of one of the highest peaks. I'm stopping and waiting for Hubby, who has decided to go higher. 

In true disclosure, I meant to get more fit for this trip. Really, I did. I lost a lot of weight, and that was good. But I didn't really exercise as much as I should have. Hubby tried to encourage me, but in all honesty: it didn't happen. My stamina wasn't where it should have been and it's my own darned fault. 

However, we're here. I just refuse to berate myself for it. It is what it is. I have to acknowledge that I didn't do what I thought I should have, and also -- I have to listen to my own body. I tell my yoga students that all the time: Honor what your body is telling you.

Square

And mine, today, was telling me to wait for Hubby; I have had some trouble with stairs and the thin air. It was just more comfortable for me to perch myself on the handy boulder next to the steps and acknowledge that my legs were shaking. I'm sitting here watching clouds float by my face. There's glacier training and crevasse training going on below me. This stop was our alternate because the lot at Aiguille du Midi was packed. This is approximately the spot from which Hubby did his Leap. 

Walking down the street

Interesting: the sun is quite bright, but the breeze is very chilly. I can see a peak where, at the very top, it's split into 3 borders. Will have to ask Hubby what it is; Caroline, his pilot, told him. I forgot what he told me.

These people are all over the glacier like ants! It's so bright that I don't even feel like I'm wearing my sunglasses. The snow reflects the light and the thinner air just makes it all feel more "crisp" and shiny. 

Head in the clouds...

BIG cloud passing through where I'm perched. Now, I suppose, I can say that "my head was in the clouds!" and mean it. I asked the person in one of the tourist info booths what our altitude was. He said we were about 10,800 feet up at this point. 

4:05 p.m. -- Hubby is higher up on Aiguille du Midi -- I'm about as far as I'm comfortable with. I'm at the mouth of a small tunnel which you can go through to grab yet another lift to the ultimate destination: Pointe Helbronner - and the Italian border is right there. Women are coming out of the gondola area in ballet flats and mini-skirts! I'm freezing. They're walking alongside climbers (or "Alpiners" as the guide calls them) who are bundled up like crazy. I got some video on my camera and we'll head back down to Chamonix and the long walk to Mildred at about 5:30 p.m. When you get up on this part of the mountain, they give you a ticket and you get called to come down to the departure area at a certain time. 

Aiguille du Midi

When we were in the staging area down on the ground, we ran into an entirely OBNOXIOUS family. The matriarch of this family asked us to move so that her family could all be in one place. Fine; no problem. But then a couple of the teenage boys were lagging. She kept giving us kind of a stink-eye and acting as if we were cutting in. No, we weren't. Then she got into a pretty loud confrontation with their tour guide. I have no idea what she was asking for, but apparently they solved their differences. But it was just uncomfortable because they were very pushy and I don't mean just verbally. Take a number, people. We all had to do the same thing.

So we are far above the clouds and I can see the tops of the thunderheads. My pen is either seizing up because of the altitude or freezing up because of the temperature! Hubby checks on his GPS app for our altitude and info. We went up even more steps, at this point, and I'm ensconced on a bench in the inevitable souvenir shop. Hubby went higher...  I am not afraid of heights, but I'm feeling wiped out and slightly dizzy. He says that's not uncommon. Good. I'm not a wimp.

4:40 p.m. -- Twenty more steps, Hubby convincing me to come sit in the cafe. Even HE is winded and feeling the altitude. Now, according to the information posted, we are at 12,605 FEET UP IN THE AIR. The air is so thin, I'm having trouble keeping my bearings. He was trying to text, and had a hard time hitting the right keys. I have my usual knitting with me, and I'm just staring at it. He asked me what was wrong, and I said, "I can't remember how to purl." Seriously... 

Busy street

We'll be going down to the cable area to catch the gondola back to the bottom. Frankly, I'm kind of happy we are BOTH feeling weird. There's a tight band around my head (not my hat) and my ears are plugged. I have finally managed to knit 2 rows of the scarf but it was like I was 7 years old and had only barely started to knit. 

7:05 p.m. -- Getting back off the mountain was a huge cattle-call. Some folks didn't have their tickets; there were Alpiners coming off the slope; people were ignoring the fact that the guy in charge was calling "Ticket 35" and were shoving and trying to get on the cars. I admire him - he didn't threaten to shove someone off the mountain! They were letting the Alpiners on the gondolas, but only a few at a time - the equipment they had, ice axes, etc. and the fact that they were packing the cars to their limit - it was a way to get everyone down safely. 

Hanging out at the take-off spot

We're back down in Chamonix and at Bar Brasserie Pizzeria -- not uncommon to see a dozen pizza places. Then we find Mildred and head to the hotel.

Totals for today: 6 lifts - 3 of them doubles. Three different mountains: Brevent (8,284 feet), Grand Montets (this one is at 10,700 feet) and the grand-daddy (aside from Mt. Blanc, but it's right next to it) Aiguille du Midi (at 12, 605 feet) -- and strangely, we tackled them "small, medium, large" in order. Rick Steves said that Midi should be the first, but truly, I'm glad we did it our own way. 

As we descended, we felt our brains getting back to normal. I wish I would have taken a picture of my water bottle! It was a little squished.

And our dog count rose by 2: a little rat terrier on Brevent who allowed me to scratch his head, and a Great Pyr as we got to the pizza place. 

Soooooooooo - pizza place was a dud. Our waitress must've been on her first day. I had a 4-cheese pizza and Hubby had a Hawaiian. Two tables who came later than we did got served before we did. My pizza sat in the window a good 10 minutes - she had to have the cook stick it under the broiler again... She also set down a Spaghetti Carbonara at the table next to us - and the person wasn't even seated. Spaghetti Carbonara is basically "eggs and bacon with spaghetti." Quite good, actually, and they serve the egg still in the shell, so you stir it directly into the (when you do it right) hot spaghetti. This sat. And sat. And sat. The guy finally showed up (it was a large group) and he just ate it. Ick. The egg wasn't going to scramble properly in nearly-cold pasta. I wouldn't have eaten it.

Chapel in Chamonix

At least 3 tables came, sat and then left when they weren't served. One of the servers was running her butt off, but ours? Not so much. 

Ok, so the pizza was pretty good, but we had to flag her down to get the check. She took our money, and disappeared. Hubby had to go find her. 

You know you've been in one place too long when you start recognizing the landmarks! We retrieved Mildred and started back.

Tomorrow will be a very laid-back day. We leave on Sunday, and honestly, while this has been a fantastic trip, I'll be glad to get back home. 

Tragedy of massive proportions... This morning, Hubby's laptop died. Well, it wouldn't re-start, but we figured he'd deal with it when we got back tonight. Dead. As. A. Doornail. 

Arches on the highway

I asked him if, please by the grace of God, he had kept all the pictures ON the memory cards! He said that he had "briefly" considered wiping them after each day, but remember - we brought lots of them. So he didn't clear any of them off, even though he downloaded them to the computer each day. Whew. Just -- WHEW. I'd have cried. 

We discussed our day and figured yeah, we probably could have gone on a few more lifts, but at the first stop (Brevent) we hung around and got lots of nice pictures of the paragliding folks and just took our time. 

As I'm finishing this up back in the hotel, I figure it was the altitude that got to my pen. I see by the ink marks, the ink is now flowing normally. There you go...

PARAGLIDING = when you're sitting in a harness. PARASAILING = when your legs are stretched back of you and the frame is more fixed. So we were actually GLIDING. 

Tomorrow, we decided, would be Annecy. It's close and the weather is still forecasted to be a little dicey.