European Vacation, Part 6--My homeland

Post-war housing, with flowers!

Roundabout at the entrance to town

Wednesday, May 11–We leave early in the morning to seek out the village in Alsace-Lorraine that Nicholas Farmerie left in 1824 to come to Pittsburgh–he’s my great-great-great grandfather. As borders changed, Behrens-les-Forbach and the surrounding was sometimes French (present day) and sometimes German (in 1824) and is now a suburb of Forbach. We did not stop at the Mayoral office to look for records because it became evident to us that the area had been heavily bombed (leveled to the ground) during WWII. Both France and Germany wanted this coal-rich area to support their industrial return. We found only a few graves in the cemetary that predated the war, and the vast majority of names were neither French nor German, but seemed to belong to the influx of Slavic and Italian workers who came to work the mines after the war. Nevertheless, it was interesting to me to see how the village was still surrounded by fields. I wonder where Nicholas lived, and what he’d say if he could see the town now?

St. Blaise church, 1945 awards ceremony

St. Blaise church, rebuilt in 1959

Thursday, May 12–We decided that our last day of vacation should be a relaxing one, so we drove into town and sat on a bench on the river. I knitted on a lace curtain I’d started during the trip–it was so comforting to see all the lace curtains in the Belgian windows, I felt a connection to the Old World. Skip read a book, we watched ducks (one young lady duck had at least 10 suitors swimming around behind her–I guess it was her smile that attracted them), we lunched at a tiny place owned by a friend of our hostess. I have to admit that my last lunch in Belgium was a huge bowl of local ice cream with Belgian chocolate sauce, and a cup of milk coffee.

Bouillon, as seen from the castle

Godfrey's castle, from the town bridge

The view upriver

The view downriver

The beginning of my lace curtain

Jacque, these are for you, my good friend

Dear Lady,
Those of us who knew you wish you Godspeed and hope there's sheep where you are.

We interrupt your regularly-scheduled travelog.....

....for this important harvest message.
I'm having a squeefest here! This is the third year I've planted a garden and the first year I've had any kind of yield--because the groundhog and the birds wiped me out every year. The groundhog found at least five different ways to dig into/climb over the fencing despite our changing the fencing twice and he/she leveled all the plants, including the raspberries; the birds attacked the blueberries and left us with 8 berries to ourselves last year, and pulled up and ate a lot of the seedlings. We now have a 10' fence around the garden that extends 4' underground, and 100 yds of bird netting over the berries and sprouts. I HAVE BERRIES AND LETTUCE AND PEAS! THE KOHLRABI AND CABBAGE AND CARROTS ARE GROWING MADLY!

Blueberries, black raspberries and snap peas picked this morning

Black raspberries from Monday

Rutabega sprouts

Catnip startings--I must be crazy to think the neighborhood cats will leave these alone

 Having started my seeds indoors in late February every year, it's disheartening (to say the least) to have the wildlife consume my work in a matter of hours in June every year. I have tried different fencing systems, I've run outside uncountable times to shoo them, I've used a paintball gun to shoot over their heads and eventually to shoot at them (paintball guns are notoriously difficult to aim, so hitting anything smaller than a human was impossible--but so very satisfying to see purple paintballs splat on the ground where the animal had been). I've finally beaten them! Yee-haw!

I also washed the newest yarn I've made. Not sure if these will go out for sale or stay with me. I really like the three white/blue/green skeins as they will make a marled knit fabric and there may be enough for a vest for me, the yellow/green and red/blue/lime/white skeins will be enough for scarves for abused women who have gone to a shelter for assistance--it's a charity close to my heart.

Belated apology

I also wanted to apologize for my 3-week absence. We've had a family member in the hospital and we've been running around like crazy people. Hopefully, I can go back to weekly posts in a week or so when things are more settled.

European vacation, Part 5--Beer and chocolate!

Monday, May 9–Before setting out for the day, we stopped at the Belgian postoffice in town to mail the flax back home. No one there spoke English, we do not speak French. The best we could do was husband’s smattering of high school Spanish, which is at least similar to French. What an interesting 30 minutes THAT was!
We set off for Trier, Germany by way of Luxembourg. I knew that the Romans had expanded their empire through Europe but was unaware of just how much major construction they did. The Black Gate and ampitheater in Trier were humbling, especially to the engineer. We tend to think construction techniques were invented recently, but the Romans, Egyptians and Greeks were the experts!

Trier center and part of Black Gate

We followed the Our River north from Trier because Skip wanted to see Vianden, Luxembourg. What an incredible little town, perched on the sides of a steep valley with the castle looming overhead! We had dinner and local beer in the hotel situated on a hairpin turn near the top of the valley, where we could see down the valley and upwards to the town wall and tower defenses. I found it interesting that the towers were only half-round, protruding outwards from the wall and being flat on the inside of the wall.  

Vianden Castle

The half-tower on the city wall

  
Tuesday, May 10–This time, we decided to stay closer to home and visit Our Lady of Avioth Basilica. Built in the 13th century, the basilica is a little marvel of Gothic architecture with unique gargoyles and lacy stonework.

  From there, we drove over to Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval to tour the ruins from the fire of 1252 and taste the famous Trappist beer, which they’ve brewed since at least 1628. As the beer is not sold at the monastery, we decided on a late lunch of salad, cheese and beer in Florenville. Interestingly, we were turned out of the first restaurant because food was no longer being served–the lunch period was considered to be finished at 1:30! So we wandered across the street, where the owner was quite happy to converse with us in English and serve us plates of salad and cheese. One last stop down the street at Les Chocolats d'Edouard, considered to be one of the top ten chocolateries in the world. I had no trouble buying chocolate even though no one spoke English!
Last but not least, a few views of the countryside:

Next: I find one of my ancestral homes

European vacation, Part 4--Chateaus, castles and puppies

Saturday, May 7–I love the Saturday markets in Europe. They’re usually held in the town center square and have everything you could want–the fresh fruits, vegetables, bread, cheese, fish–just wonderful to see and smell! On the advice of our hostess, we drove to Sedan, FR for the market. Unfortunately it was a disappointment. Apparently you needed to arrive before dawn to find a parking spot, and the stalls we saw from a distance were not selling anything we were interested in or could easily transport back home in our luggage. However, we DID find the local chateau high on the hill behind town. So we found a parking space and took a walk around the chateau as it was not open for viewing.










Then we drove back to Bouillon for lunch (Skip found the steamed mussels to be delightful, while I had a veggie pizza). We walked back across the bridge (most town centers are closed to cars on Saturdays so people can enjoy shopping and lunch without having to dodge cars) and drove up the hill to the ‘castle’. This isn’t really a castle but more of a military outpost to defend the town, but it belonged to Godfrey, Lord of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine, and leader of the First Crusade. He sold his castle and all his lands to finance himself and others in the quest for the Holy Grail/Holy Land. Once the Crusaders took control of Jerusalem, Godfrey became the first ruler, eschewing the title ‘king’. It’s an amazing military outpost, and I don’t believe there was any way to approach the castle or surrounding lands without being spotted by the watchers high on the hill. (photos coming soon, they're still on husbeast's computer)

Sunday, May 8–After all the driving, visiting, and walking around the past week, we decided to spend the day in the garden, listening to birds (cuckoos!), reading (Skip), knitting (me) and playing with the dogs. Honcho (2 years old) loves to chase things and play; Einstein (7 years old) just sits back, lets the silly youngster chase things, and insists on being petted/rubbed/scratched as soon as Honcho leaves to chase the ball. Honcho, on the other hand, reinvents the game of chase every time–if you try to retrieve the ball from him, he moves it back in his mouth so you can’t get it; it you teach him to drop the ball, he’ll chase and retrieve it but only return halfway across the garden. He wants YOU to go after HIM for the ball! We ended up playing with them for a bit every night after dinner, and they looked for our car to return to the parking lot every day. I miss those two rascals.

Honcho taking a rest

Einstein--don't ya just love that face?

On the drive to Sedan, France

Farm field on the drive to Sedan, France

Next: Two more countries, chocolate and beer!

European vacation, Part 3--In which I buy yarn and acquire fiber!!!

Thursday, May 5–We drove to Hauwert to see Annie and Jan. Annie was sure I’d get lost as it’s difficult to remember exactly which left turn to make after passing “Whoville” (a housing development that looks exactly like something Dr. Suess would think up. Where WERE the architects brains that day?). We were only 2 minutes late! Annie treated us to fresh coffee and cake, a walk through Medemblijk with a stop for lunch (brie on crusty bread, sparkling iced tea). When I mentioned that I couldn’t find stroopwafels in the supermarket where we used to shop in 2007, they stopped at the local Deen supermarket where I cleaned out the shelves. I am the Stroopwafel Blackmarket Maven! Then we drove over to Hoorn to see our friend Wilbert who owns Shouten Handwerken–you’ll have to check Annie’s blog for pix. Somehow, 2 skeins of sock yarn jumped into my hands and went home with me? The purple/pink Trekking Handart sock was started in Belgium--I looove it.

Friday, May 6–While we were getting ready to leave Akersloot, the front desk called to say my friend was waiting out front for me. She had about 3 kilo of Belgian flax for me stuffed in her bicycle saddlebags! Since it's considered an agricultural product, we could not take it in our suitcase (and it's just too much to fit in there without leaving clothes behind). On Monday morning, we stopped at the Belgian post office and mailed the flax home after much hand-waving and sad attempts at saying "Customs declaration" with a French accent. It cost 25 Euro (about $36) to mail home and it arrived quickly, although the side of the box was completely destroyed by US Customs and then taped back up with 2 (ONLY TWO!) strips of tape.

flax fibers against a black Prismatic pencil to show fine-ness

We hopped in the car about 9:30am and drove south through the Netherlands, heading for Belgium via Maastricht. Arriving around 4 at the Hostellerie du Cerf, we unpacked, washed up and had a lovely gourmet dinner accompanied by a local white wine. This dinner was just the beginning of a week of yummy delights cooked up by our host/chef.

The garden, 'our' chairs

The back of the establishment

Next: piles of rocks, we are adopted by dogs

European vacation, Part 2--Bloemendags and tulip fields

Tuesday, May 3–On recommendation from both our Dutch friends, we drove over to Limmen to see the displays for Bloemendag ("flower day"). The residents use just the blooms from hyacinth and other spring flowers, pin them to backgrounds to make pictures, and leave them up for the week. Everyone rides/walks around to see the displays, which are sometimes political, sometimes sports related, sometimes whimsical.

Afterwards we drove over to Volendam for lunch at the St. Catherein where I love to sip beer and watch the ships, bought some tulip bulbs which we are assured don’t need a certificate because there’s less than 50 bulbs and they are clean, bought a couple of scarves because I just can’t resist them, and Skip bought a piece of painted porcelain HE couldn’t resist. Then we returned to the hotel to nap in the late afternoon because we were still suffering the effects of jumping ahead 6 hours, had dinner at the hotel, and spent the evening on the patio, knitting and watching the sunset.
 
Wednesday, May 4–Skip and I chose these dates for our vacation because we wanted to see the tulip fields. 

Two different pink tulips here

SO RED it hurts our eyes!

We also drove over to Anna Palowna for their Bloemendag displays and stopped at a little restaurant/deli on the corner for lunch.

In celebration of Mothers Day on May 8

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Gre’s again to have dinner with them. We thought, Fons wouldn’t be able to join us for a take-out Chinese dinner because the church choir was singing at the war memorial in Akersloot–May 4 is the Netherlands’ Remembrance of the Dead, the day they honor armed forces members and civilians who died in wars or in peace-keeping missions since the outbreak of WWII.Between this and the Queens Birthday on April 30, the entire country was swimming in orange!  However, the ceremony finished early and Fons was able to enjoy yummy hot Chinese food and good conversation with us again.

European vacation, Part 1--Wijk an Zee and Akersloot

Sunday, May 1–We landed at Schiphol Airport, picked up our rental car (an Opal Corsa) and drove to Wijk an Zee for a walk on the beach. While we were living in Heemskerk we used to drive over to the shore on nice days to enjoy the breezes and watch the inhabitants out flying kites and playing with their dogs.

I'd always wanted to stop in a little hotel just near the beach but they were closed for the season when we were living there. This time they were open and we had a lovely brunch. I just love the European habit of serving a biscuit (cookie) with coffee!

We drove the short distance to the Akersloot Valk hotel where they allowed us to check in early (I made sad eyes at the reception desk and told them we were sooo tired from the flight). We took a nap and decided to just sit in the evening sun and drink beer for a while before dinner and bed. There’s something about the Dutch love of the outdoors and sunshine! I called our friends to let them know we’d arrived safely and to set up get-togethers.

Monday, May 2–We drove over to Akersloot (just a few minutes drive but we’re lazy Americans who would rather drive than bike–actually, bike rental was too expensive for just the short trip) to visit with Gre and Fons. I consider Gre to be my "Dutch sister" because we have so much in common and just chatter like two magpies when we're together. I wish we could see each other more often--maybe I'll win the lottery and be able to buy a small house in North Holland?

We spent the day walking in the bird preserve which borders the Alkmaardermeer and were almost run down by the local artist artist on his bicycle, who then proceeded to talk our ears off. What an interesting man.

It was lovely to spend some some with our friends' grandson who we hadn't seen in 3 years and to meet their third daughter when she joined us for dinner (we'd met their other daughters on our previous visits) We had wonderful macaroni and cheese with sausage and homemade banana ice cream for dessert.

Next up--Bloemendags and tulip fields

Trip down south, new toy

I had a lovely time last weekend in Charlotte, NC. On Friday I drove a bit south to Pineville to visit the yarn/fiber shop. What a lovely well-stocked place. And their spinning teacher, Linda, is a delight. Having an appreciable stash at home, there's not usually much that I find I need to buy. However, they carry Mountain Colors dyed top and I just love the colors. So 2 bundles of Crazy Woman colorway followed me to my car. I plan to ply this with purple and knit myself a jacket--perhaps a sideways jacket to take advantage of the color changes. And on the way to the car, 2 skeins of sock yarn jumped off the shelf and asked to be adopted because their colors were so enticing. (Yes, yarn and fiber talk to me. Ask any fiberholic, it's a common occurance.)



On Saturday we headed for the mountains to see Blowing Rock and Grandfather Mountain. Knowing that the weather would change later in the day, we spent too much time wandering around near Blowing Rock, having a delicious lunch and hiking to Linville Falls. By the time we got to Grandfather Mountain the rain and lightening had arrived with us. The top of the mountain was closed as it's not smart to stand on a mountaintop when lightening is striking. So we headed down to dinner. Found Countryside BBQ in Marion, NC--OMG, what good bbq it was! Highly recommended!

View from Blowing Rock:

Linville Falls:


Before I leave, I'd like to introduce you to my newish toy.
I actually bought it a year ago, fooled around with it, stumbled on a class taught by the vendor (Eileen Hallman of New World Textiles) in January and I'm now having a blast spinning on my charka. It's got a 65:1 ratio so spinning cotton and other short staple fibers goes lightening-fast. And it makes this nice buzzing sound that I find quite relaxing.


L-to-R: Class skein playing with different tpi, class skein just getting accustomed to the wheel, 2-ply tricolor cotton top/recycled jeans. I'm still playing with different ways to handle the singles cotton before plying, and ways to ply efficiently (if you've spun high-twist fibers, you know how snarled they can become in the blink of an eye). And once I conquer cotton, there's always yak and cashmere to spin. Yep, the charka will require a LOT of spinning time!

I'm off adventuring again!

No posts this week other than to let folks know that I'm heading out on another adventure. And I'm hoping to visit a yarn/fiber shop during my travels so will take photos of interesting things to show you. Off to pack the last bits and try to fit all my less-than-three-ounce toiletries in a quart plastic bag, which is really the most difficult part of packing for a trip--knitting project was packed yesterday, of course.

Hat Contest Winner!!

Remember this hat and my mental block naming it? We have a hat name--Sea Anemones Hat! I think it's very appropriate. The little depressions are surrounded with bumps formed by purl stitches and they look exactly like a colony of sea anemones on a coral reef. Jennifer Green of Desert Garden Farms came up with the name and I'll be crediting her on the pattern. The pattern is out for test-knitting at the moment but should be up on Ravelry and my Etsy shop in the next month or so. Jennifer will also receive 20% off her purchase in my shop. This was such great fun, I should think about letting my peeps name ALL my patterns for me!

It's snowing sideways here but not sticking on the ground. Last storm of the season, I hope. But it's nice for drinking coffee, watching chick flicks and working on another hat pattern. I seem to be obsessed with hats this past year and have about 6 designs in the works. Hopefully, I'll be able to get them finished in time for cold weather/holiday knitting. I love spinning some yarn, playing with color and stitches and ending up with a garment--it seems like magic every time!