K's Café: The 30 Second Blog

Thankfulness in the face of a bunch of interesting simultaneous phenomena

- Thankful for our electric kettle - because we have no hot water coming out of the pipes, and the kettle makes it a lot easier to wash the dinner dishes properly.

- Thankful for my kind husband - because though I let our oil tanks run completely out of oil, he didn't get mad at me.

- Thankful for a big sink in my laundry room - because my washing machine broke (an hour before we found out we had no oil left either). The sink means I don't have to go find a river with a big rock by it.

- Thankful for my dryer which IS working - because washing a whole load of laundry by hand in the sink leaves the clothes super-duper wet.

- Thankful for a nice dry cleaner's lady 2 minutes from my house, who can get red wine stains out of a beige carpet.

- Thankful for sleep - because my daughter wasn't feeling well and went to sleep before dinner and that means her head & stomach aren't hurting anymore.

- Thankful for bug bites - because they aren't a contagious skin virus and will go away on their own.

- Thankful for a mild sore throat and headache - because they went away after a day and were not the beginnings of Scarlet Fever.

- Thankful for empty heating oil tanks - because it means we have a house in which to live (and thankful we can afford to fill them again when the company opens their office again on Monday).

- Thankful my son is across the ocean for all but 6 weeks of a consecutive 12-month period - because I have a son, and we love each other, and he's healthy and learning and growing.

Though the washing machine refuses to turn 
   and there is no oil in the heating tank, 
though the hot water fails 
   and my son is across the ocean, 
though there are bug bites that itch 
   and minor illnesses, 
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the LORD, 
   I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Habakkuk 3:17-18 à la Katherine today

That's all. Good night.

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Spring Break in Portugal

Our first Spring Break since 1998 as only three travellers. We missed Jason! At least he got to spend his spring break with his grandparents.

Also our first time visiting Portugal. The air was soft and gentle, delivering enchanting spring fragrances. The food was delicious, including the traditional custard tarts, pastéis de nata (that's the pural; singular is pastel de nata). We walked our legs off touring Lisbon, then enjoyed some real downtime in the Algarve (southern coast). Here are a few photo impressions, mostly taken by my husband.

Rossio Square pavement patterns, Lisbon

 

Church of Sao Roque, Lisbon

 

Regal Cat inside St. George's Castle, Lisbon

 

Peacocks inside St. George's Castle, Lisbon

 

St. Jeronimo's Monastery Cloister, Lisbon

 

On the way to the Tower of Belém, Lisbon

 

Tower of Belém, Lisbon

 

Wisteria in Botanic Garden, Lisbon

 

The Algarve

 

Beach find in the Algarve

 

Mermaid feet

 

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One-letter URLs

Do you get any useful websites showing up when you type only one letter into your web browser URL box? I use Chrome (free download for Mac, PC, Linux...), and below are some useful things that come up automatically after I type only the first character (because I have been to these websites a lot and I guess Chrome now knows what I'm looking for):

A --> amazon.com

B --> biblegateway.com (so helpful for searching the Bible for anything)

C --> constantcontact.com (our church uses this to organize the directory of people's contact details)

D --> docs.google.com (easy-to-share-and-edit-and-keep-safe-offsite documents)

E --> ego4u.com/en/dictionary (German-English dictionary, fantastic)

F --> facebook.com

I --> images.google.com (pictures of just about anything!)

J --> jacquielawson.com (lovely, quality, artistically created, animated e-card company focusing on cute dogs and cats and beautiful flowers and such)

K --> klove.com (Christian pop music streaming online)

L --> livingbyfaithblog.com (thoughtful, practical, encouraging web log of our former pastor in California)

O --> opensong.org (free software our church uses to project song lyrics on Sundays)

P --> plus.google.com (but I use Facebook way more still, due to everyone else using it and the notification it sends me which prompt me to go look)

S --> swissenglishchurch.com (our church website)

T --> treasureinthebible.com (my site about Bible reading and memorization)

U --> ubs.com/1/e/online.html (our Swiss bank)

W --> worshipplanning.com (what our church uses to schedule the worship team and send out reminders of who is on which instrument which week)

X --> xkcd.com (possibly my husband and son's favorite techie/cerebral comic strip)

Y --> youtube.com

3 --> 30seconds.blogs.com (huh, my blog - no other numbers come up with anything)

What comes up in your browser with just one letter?

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Update of Christmas Stamp Collage - 19th Edition

For the background on this project of mine that has been 19 years in the making and still has nine years to go, see my updates for Christmas 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006 and 2005. Those posts have links to close-ups of all the other years' editions.

This year required the letter R, completing the 5th word of the sentence, but leaving one quite definitely hanging:

Here's the most recent word:

And the whole project so far. I know you're not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition - don't worry, there are two more words coming, scheduled for completion by the year 2020.

The question is, what will I do after 2020? Maybe extend the sentence with, "and everything else." 

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Skiing in Colorado, New Year's 2011-2012

New Year's saw us with both sets of grandparents in Colorado, at our usual stomping grounds in Snowmass. What an unusual occurrence in life, that both sets of grandparents are similar enough, pleasant enough and flexible enough to spend holidays together a week at a time, on a repeated basis. Thank you to four amazing and generous-spirited people who love us. (Readers, do you know any other families who do this? Where both sets of in-laws spend holidays living together in the same house for 5 days and get along well?)

We love Colorado. Another gorgeous, stunning place God made.

The scenery was, as always, nourishing to the soul.

 

We can't say as much for the snow. This is the trail we take to get to the main slopes. It was officially closed (no-brainer), but open to those of us accessing the resort from that direction. Not much fun. Bushes, ice, dirt, and a few downed trees from a wind storm (higher up the slope). The regular slopes had more rocks than we've ever seen, but as long as we stuck to the recently groomed slopes, there was enough artificially-made snow to make it worth it.

 

 

Thankful to Grandma, still skiing at 67, that she could take this family photo of us, skiing together again after Jason's first semester of college.

 

 

Jason tried out snowboarding for the first time - he really liked it and ended up doing 4 days on the board, and only 3 days on skis. You can see the Maroon Bells in the background as he buckles in at the top of the Elk Camp area.

 

 

Below are three generations of skiers - my mom, my husband, and my son. I'm there, too, just behind the camera :-) We also got some good shots of the three generations of directly-descended girls skiing together: my mom, me, my daughter (Facebook only). Fun.

 

It's been so very lovely to have all this time with Jason, 5 weeks off after 4 months away. He goes back January 23rd. I'm enjoying each day. There - now the blog is caught up, no longer stuck forever at October 2011! I've brought it into 2012! This year will mark 8 years of extremely variable (but existent) blogging habits!

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Rappahannock Beach

It's really so beautiful there on the Rappahannock River in Virginia. My mom finds it hard to leave and go anywhere else.

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Christmas 2011 in Virginia - Beach Walks, Canoeing, Grandparents

What a pleasure and privilege to be with Grandma and Grandpa William for Christmas, with walks on the river beach and mother-son canoeing on the tidal creek out to the tidal river of the Rappahannock, with grandparents supervising and dad taking the sunset action photos.

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Escalade Marmite Ceremony 2011

We got home from our road trip with our safely-carted chocolate marmite for Escalade, and then actually celebrated on the right day - December 11th. The battle took place on the night of the 11th to the 12th of December, 1602. So you could go with either day - but why wait? We were only missing Jason (for the first time), but he wasn't going to be back in Switzerland until January 6th, so there was no chance of him joining us for this. Sigh. So we sent him a picture and got on with it.

Notice the piece of chocolate in the air in the 3rd photo, and the still-intact Genevois shield at the end, unbroken after the battle... all so symbolic. "Struck down, but not destroyed." (2 Cor 4:9).

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Cathédrale St. Nicolas in the town of Fribourg, Switzerland

Ever since it was featured on a Migros domino (they came free with groceries at one point in the promotional cycle), I had wanted to visit the Cathédrale St. Nicolas in the town of Fribourg, Switzerland. I hadn't heard of it and was intrigued by what could sit alongside the Jet d'Eau and the Matterhorn in national importance. We had driven through the canton of Fribourg, but never stopped in the canton's capital city of the same name. My precious husband agreed we could stop by it on the way home from our Geneva road trip on December 10th. Finally my curiosity was quenched.

It's a Gothic cathedral from the 12-1400s. We got there in the darkening tendrils of evening. I prayed it would be open so we could go inside, even though it was past the opening hours I had spotted on my phone. Lo and behold, there were some kind of preparations going on for a special event, and we gained access through the open door. Thank You, our Provider.

At the altar, it was interesting to see a crucifix with four of the six francophone cantons' flags underneath, prominently displayed. Pour Your covering blood over our cantons to forgive us our sins and redeem us for Yourself, it says to me. But why Fribourg, Neuchâtel, Vaud and Geneva, and not the other two francophone cantons? I suppose Valais and Jura are the outliers to the south and north, but then Geneva is the outlier to the west. Also, Valais is bilingual with German, and Jura was the last canton to be added, as late as 1979. Potential reasons for their exclusion.

It seems that every impressive church we visit has something new to offer that we haven't seen before. I liked the distinctive black and gold motif on all the pillars (last photo).

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Escalade Weekend in Geneva, Dec 9-10, 2011

I continued my tradition of getting myself a Genevan Escalade marmite by hook or by crook every year since whenever it was back in California that I remembered how much I love them. 

So great that now instead of paying astronomical shipping prices, I can now pop down there myself and enjoy the host of other benefits of a visit to Geneva. 

Like seeing old friends from high school (meeting their newest baby) and my sister-in-law. And watching an Escalade parade in period costume, visiting the Salle de L'Alabama where the Geneva Conventions were signed (a room only open once a year to the public), eating a chocolate-banana crêpe cooked at a street stall, and taking Emily and David for their first trip through the Passage de Monetier - a very narrow passageway in the old town, also only open once a year on Escalade weekend. It was only my second time myself. Fun. The exit to the passageway (definitely one-way only) is in the last photo between the tan building and the white wall.

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Then the MAIN ATTRACTION: Seeing Jason after 6.5 weeks apart

We did so many wonderful and fun things on our October break adventure, including seeing my brother and his new home, meeting David's step-sister for the first time, visiting with Emily's school friend who had moved away back to NYC this summer, getting a little fall clothes shopping done, getting Emily's hair cut, introducing Emily to NYC for the first time (and seeing where David works when he travels to NYC), and admiring New England fall foliage, but hands-down the very best part was the main goal of the trip - being reunited with our son after his first 45 days away at college! Phew, I made it (through those many weeks and that run-on sentence). 

We really enjoyed:

- meeting a bunch of Jason's new friends

- joining in with the ballroom dance club to learn some salsa and foxtrot (Jason is jumping into competitive dancing and loving it)

- having some good Mexican and Indian food together

- being shown around some of Jason's frequent haunts

- witnessing new befuddling card tricks Jason has learned

- church together Sunday morning (a challenge to have soft hearts, which both encourage and result from obedience)

- early birthday shopping for Jason

- a trip to Ben & Jerry's (see below)

The view from Jason's dorm room window.

 

 So this is a Vermonster BEFORE:

Ingredients:

- 20 scoops of ice cream (you get to choose 5 flavors)

- 4 bananas

- 4 ladles of hot fudge sauce

- 3 chocolate chip cookies

- 1 chocolate fudge brownie

- 10 scoops of walnuts

- 2 scoops each of your 4 favorite toppings (we chose Reese's Pieces, oreos, marshmallows and chocolate chips)

- topped with lots of freshly made whipped cream

 "It contains 14,000 calories, and 500 grams of fat." Bring it on! Yum. I thought the scoop shop guy was just kidding when he threw out the 14K number. But no, I find it here on wikipedia, too.

 

So we skipped dinner and did our best...

 

But by the time four hungry ice-cream-lovers are getting really full, it's starting not to look so appetizing anyway...

But it was very tasty and fun. Must be done with several close friends who are healthy and very comfortable with each other. Must skip a meal to be tackled. Must focus on the healthy bananas and walnuts and other fruit (cocoa and coconut being fruits) and beans (vanilla being a bean).

 

 Did you know that "Ben & Jerry's was the first brand-name ice cream to be taken into space aboard the Space Shuttle"?

We will remember the Vermonster together, but the best part was the hugs from Jason all weekend, the face-to-face update, now knowing more ways to pray for him, and being able to picture him about his business in his new environment. Thanks for showing us your new life, Jason.

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New England fall foliage - and my late grandmother's aubergine house

At David's newly acquired step-sister's house (his mother married her father in 2010 - a wonderful match, and a wonderful sister) - some beautiful foliage welcomed us. 

We squeezed in five minutes to stop by and gaze at the house my mother grew up in from age 12...and where I visited my grandmother every summer as a child. The new owners appear to have painted it "aubergine" (my mother tells me it's not referred to as purple). It looks gray in this photo, but I tell you, it's that color between red and blue).

 

 

But they left the sign out front that names the house, "The Enchanted Cottage." It's partially hidden by the dogwood tree.

 

We got some sandwiches in the town before moving on:

 

 

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New York City - Emily's first visit

In combination with our visit to Jason at college for Family Weekend (which coincided with Emily's October Break, hurrah!!!), and a business trip for David to NYC, we were able to show Emily a few of New York City's sights for the first time. We took the Staten Island Ferry (isn't it amazing that it's FREE to ride that back and forth to/from Manhattan as much as you like???) which goes right by the Statue of Liberty. Emily likes boats (so do I). The lady's still holding her torch out. Always makes me think of the Rich Mullins song, "Land of my Sojourn."

 

 

And the lady in the harbor she still holds her torch 

Out to those huddled masses who are yearning for freedom that still eludes them 

The immigant's children see their brightest dreams shattered 

Here on the New Jersey shoreline in the greed and the glitter of those 

High-tech casinos, but some mendicants wander off into a cathedral 

And they stoop in the silence and there their prayers are still whispered 

And I'll sing their song, and I'll sing their song 

In the land of my sojourn 

Nobody tells you when you get born here 

How much you'll come to love it 

And how you'll never belong here so I'll 

Call you my country and I'll be lonely for my home 

And I wish that I could take you there with me

(rest of lyrics here)

 

 

 

New York on the right, New Jersey on the left.

 

 

I think my favorite thing was the view of the city at dusk from the "Top of the Rock" - 70 floors up on the GE Building roof, at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. It's better than going up the Empire State Building, because, well, you can SEE the Empire State Building from there :-) And, well, I had already been up the ESB (or else I would probably have wanted to do that anyway). I like views and being high up and pretty lights. And my husband's tech skills that can get a camera to take pictures in any light. Go, David (I lack this skill).

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Paris, Part 4: Versailles Palace & Gardens

We spent our 2nd Parisian day at Versailles. It definitely takes all day. First you have to get out there on the train, then wait in line to get in (a lot of people are interested), then tour the first half of the palace, have some lunch, and tour the rest of the palace, then just a part of the immense gardens, before getting back on the train again to get back into Paris. Well worth it.

This is the queen's bedroom. Flowery and golden, as opposed to just golden in the king's bedroom.

 We found a painting of the Battle of Zurich, which was interesting since we live in Zurich and have seen some monuments to battles involving the French.

 

Outside, the fountains were running on a limited schedule due to drought, but we arrived just in time as they turned on, along with booming classical music emanating from the bushes as we strolled around the majestic grounds, which seemed neverending. We were only able to visit a small portion. We should have brought a tent and made a week-long trip of just the gardens.

 

 

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Paris, Part 3: Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame

You can see the typical photos of the Arc de Triomphe & Notre Dame Cathedral anywhere, so I'll let you google image those if you like, and just show you what it looks like when you look up from underneath the arch, and one of the lovely stained glass windows inside the cathedral.

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Paris, Part 2: Les Tuileries and L'Orangerie - Monet's Waterlilies

We walked through Les Tuileries park, with the gold-tipped obelisk at the Place de la Concorde in front of us, towards L'Orangerie, a museum new to us.

 

L'Orangerie has two rooms designed specifically to showcase 8 huge Monet waterlily paintings. The rooms are oval and lit by huge skylights, so you can walk round and round in natural light, admiring the 4 long, dreamy works in each room.

 

 

There were other rooms, too. I liked this Renoir of a bowl of peaches:

 

And also Renoir's "Young Girls at the Piano"

 

 

The Louvre Museum in Paris, the first weekend of Emily's October Break from 8th Grade

Napoleon crowning Josephine, by Jacques-Louis David. We discovered there is replica of this painting in Versailles (which we saw the next day), where this original hung from 1807 to 1889 before being transferred to the Louvre.

 

Winged Victory of Samothrace. No arms, which she has in common with the Venus de Milo - whom we saw in another room. I sort of got them confused until Emily pointed out the obvious - the Venus has a head & face, which Victory lacks; and no wings, which Victory sports majestically.

 

I've loved Caryatids ever since we saw the Erechtheion in Athens, and I learned the name for them.

 

 And just what would you name this creature, a man-horse-sea-serpent? A Mahorserpent? A Horserpentman? A Centaurpent? A Serpentaur?

 

 I liked this mural in the apartments of Napoleon III in another wing of the Louvre. The impression of being outside.

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Flums, Flumserberg, and the Walensee

This weekend, before everyone but me got sick with a cold (seriously, there were reports around my family, both in my house and other households in my family, on the same weekend, of 4 different people sick, with sore throats, sniffles, headache, coughing, fever, bronchitis, sinusitis...it really hit - I am thankful I've been fine so far), David and Emily and I enjoyed a beautiful day in the Swiss Alps near Flums, an hour from our house.

First we saw and HEARD the end of a cow festival of some kind (likely the Désalpage/Alpabfahrt, i.e. when the cows come down from the mountain heights for the winter). We missed the parade (we have yet to see one) but heard the jangling of scores of huge cow bells as they milled around in a small field with flowers on their heads. SO LOUD. CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG ad nauseam. 

Then up the mountain to Flumserberg, where we had lunch, observed some really cute cats playing in the meadow below the restaurant terrace, and rode the Floomzer, an awesomely long and fast summer toboggan (that last link is to a video someone took of riding it - what I wish I had figured out how to do; their ride looks slow compared to how it felt when I finally took Emily's advice not to brake AT ALL the WHOLE way...after the supervising guy agreed it was impossible to fall off and that the "Bremsen" signs were to be ignored). It's 2 kilometres (1.25 miles) of downhill through the alpine beauty.

Then home again with a couple of stops to enjoy the Walensee, one of the loveliest lakes in the world, with cliffs climbing up from it. Thank You so much, Lord, for letting me live in Switzerland twice, and being able to see Your creativity and beauty all around so clearly. And thank You for my precious family.

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The City Walls and Towers of Luzern - and the llamas with power

Not wanting our August marriage getaway to end quite yet, we stopped in Luzern on our way home, and climbed a few of the city walls' towers, for our first time. 

Please note that the llamas of Luzern have solar panels for their electrical needs. What do you think they use the solar power for? Under-floor heating? Warm water for their showers? Their answering machine? Or maybe a mosquito zapper? (see last photo)

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Marriage Getaway

Contrary to what one would think, I have found it "harder" to leave the kids behind and get away as a couple overnight (or longer) as they have entered their teens. Why? Several reasons come to mind right away, these three the top ones:

1. They are more interesting as people now, fun to be with, good conversationalists, and I enjoy them a lot (compared to when they couldn't talk, couldn't help, had so many physical needs, etc. Don't get me wrong, they were always precious and always had lots of good traits, but a break was more obviously needed when they were babies/toddlers and so all-consuming and not responsible for their own emotions).

2. I can/could see the end coming...and now of course has come, with Jason off to college this fall. I wanted to enjoy every last minute and not give it away.

3. I didn't want the kids to miss stuff, so if we were going somewhere interesting, I wanted them to come and experience it too, as something they would remember (as opposed to visiting a place when you are four - you don't remember much).

Nonetheless, it's important to get away when one can, in an effort to preserve and protect one's marriage for the long haul until death, kids or no kids. We managed to have a lovely overnight retreat just the two of us last month. I surprised David, who didn't know we were going anywhere, never mind out to dinner, or overnight. I packed his bag and had it hiding in the trunk. Last year he was the one who planned a wonderful surprise itinerary for me in August, to Einsiedeln (ornate abbey), Brunnen (lakeside town where Winston Churchill spent his honeymoon, apparently), the Rütliwiese (legendary birthplace of Switzerland) and Mt. Pilatus (all of which apparently I didn't blog - only posted once in August last year, oh well).

This year I chose a little hotel overlooking Lake Luzern on the other side of the lake from Brunnen, in Emmetten: the Seeblick Hotel (= Lakeview in German), recommended by a friend. It was very nice, and has a Christian bookstore attached, with some lovely postcards & things (all in German of course). The name of the hotel was quite appropriate - even our car in the parking lot had a great view overnight:

 

The next day we went on a little hike (little because I forgot to bring good hiking shoes for David; shall have to remember that next time). Saw two funny signs -  

 (Above sign means "Watch out for bears - don't feed them - please deposit your candy here")

 

Then I thought the photos on this next sign were funny, as it is talking about hikers and bikers getting along with each other:

 

 

Later, we drove down the peninsula and found ourselves quite unexpectedly at a breathtaking cliff:

 

 

It turned out to be overlooking the Rütliwiese - the meadow to which we had taken a boat to on last year's date weekend. See the little green grassy patch on this side of the lake in the photo below? That's where the guys from the three territories of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden (now Obwalden and Nidwalden) agreed to watch each other's backs in August 1291 - the beginnings of what would become the Swiss Confederacy. So fun to stumble upon this historic site and view it from another perspective. You can only get there by boat or by hiking down the cliff.

 

 

I like the Swiss flag painted on the mountainside along Lake Luzern. Can you spot it?

 

 David, I love you! I cherish sharing our deepest secrets only with each other until we die.

So far so good with our 18.5 years. But here are Six things  learned in six years of marriage: a great post on important things to remember in marriage, by my cousin on the other side of the sea.

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