Yes we are going to be greeted by many visitors this year. Old and dear friends, relatives and Barrack and Michelle might even join us. 8-) Whoopee! Dinners for all to cook, lots of wine to sample and hours and hours of chats and sightseeing in the verdant green outback of France called The Berry. Terrific! Ted is first, he's landing the day before we get there thanks to my errant scheduling attempt at www.Cheapoair.com. I have no idea of how long he'll be there but he can help with preping the little house for sale or rent and we'll have a ball with him too, he's open to anything and anyplace. The S & M (Steve and Michelle) come in early-mid summer for a couple of weeks more or less, then a past student of mine Andy and his girlfriend in early September followed by Kelly's sister in the middle of September! What a hoot! Meal planning extraordinaire! Gotta get to work on the guest room too...new cloth walls and paint, paint, paint. The courtyard will be a winters mess, the roses need work as does everything else. I'm about to become very busy. The huge and heavy iron gate needs hanging...great fun that. Steve has volunteered for that lil' set of tasks, drilling 3/4" holes in solid limestone is interesting, inserting the pintals into said holes and then hang the gate panels. It gets painted black too. So we will have a productive and rewarding good time in the French sunshine this year...weather permitting.
I'm always asked, as is Kelly, "what do we wear?" Well...that's a long read. The weather in France has proven itself to be quite variable. It can snow as late as late April, at least it has twice in the 7 years of our personal observations. Not enough to matter but not exactly T-Shirt weather then either. May and June are beautiful Spring weather mostly, clouds, rain in the afternoons, sunny mornings, just plain pretty. July can be a bit warmer, or not...the cloud cover this last year was extensive in July and July was cooler than I remember in the last few years...highs in the 70's mostly, umbrellas at the hand in the afternoon. August, the Vacation Month can be blistering hot like 2003 and 4 or like last year a copy of July, highs in the 70's and 80's with a rare day in the 90's thrown in for backyard fun around the barbecue. Beer weather for sure. September can be August-like but more variable and towards the latter part of the moth decidedly cooler at night.
So there it is, freezing to sweaty, that's France outside of Winter (cold to colder).
So wear layers, cotton or linen in the summer, warmer stuff in the Springtime thru June and otherwise T-shirts and shorts in July and August. Pack lightly! You'll love yourself for that as you can buy anything here and the prices are cheap to higher for any clothing items you might need, makes great souvenirs too! Bring camera, batteries, memory cards and two pair of comfortable shoes. To be picked up at your train station is easy as long as you choose the right train, get on it and make it to Verizon, take 2nd class non-smoking. You will leave Paris via the
Austerlitz station. When you land a Charles De Gualle (CDG) go to the taxi stand and take one to phonetically said as " Jay-Voo-Drey...Austerlitz See Voo Play" and sit quietly while you scream down the freeway some 15 miles to the very center of Paris. Cost...well about 50 Euros...they take credit cards but best to get an ATM at the airport and get cash. Don't do it in the US...they charge way over the exchange rate here...and currently it's about 1.28 dollars = 1 Euro. Better than last year by a mile (1.60 = 1 then!). Once you get to Austerlitz train station go to the mail hall and get in line at one of the windows. Be very polite and calmly say.
Duh bee-lay Duh klass aww Ver-eh_zone (Verizon) See-voo-play (2 tickets to Verizon Please)...once in your hand look at the scheduling board and see which track is the right track. There's a machine to insert your ticket into at the front of each track...you need to get your ticket time stamped therein. Watch others to do it easily. It works.
Then find a conductor nearby your train and show him your tickets and do as he indicates. Board your train...put your bags in the end of the car and find a seat either as assigned or anywhere. Rest, read, look out the window. About 2 hrs later you will arrive at Verizon station. You will need to call us from Austerlitz or cell phone...and we will pick you up in Verizon!!! Such a deal!
If you are driving...that's another matter entirely. I'll cover that issue in the next issue!
Showing posts with label Centre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Centre. Show all posts
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
#94 Sundai School in Chezal Benoit
#94
Not just ANY Sunday either! Chezal - Benoit (Che-sahl - Ben-Wha) was having it's annual Brocante (junk sale) and mental health summit. You see Chezal - Benoiy is the home of a Mental Hospital and the sellers occupy the town right up to it's gate. Too, many of the patients are present adding their own color and grunts to the event. L came to the Ruin at 9 am and while she made the huge green salad for the party we were attending afterwards at A&R's, Kelly and I scrambled to both wake up from the party the afternoon and early evening of Saturday (yes we do these things serially it seems) (where 5 of us drank 7 bottles of the finest below 2 Euros sparkling wine and wine). I made Spinach Canneloni and it was very, very good if I do say so myself. Followed some hours later by a Pasta Povera with garlic, capers. It always works, a very simple dish that I've described in my blog before. That was Saturday's food scene, Sunday afternoons at our friends A&R's was an Asian-styled food fest. A and R had preped vegies galore, carrots, radishes, green and red bell peppers, onions, lemons and had various bottled sauces and condiments. I was put in charge by the Master Chef herself who provided me with the valued kitchen support I needed to create an asian feast. It was great creative fun and there was more than enough food at the end for A&R to have leftovers for two meals at least! I came up with Oyster Sauce Beef, Musselman Curry, Vietnamese Lemon Pork, Red Pepper Chicken, Chop Suey (YES!), and a couple of other ad hoc dishes thrown in for good measure. All over rice, thai rice noodles. Much wine was drank, as usual. The French couple from up the road (Chicken Farm) chatted amiably with all of us, in French of course...but we seemed to rise to the occassion. I had a bit of trouble understanding which isn't unusual as the speed at which the French speak is, at times, intimidating. They also brought along their own product...goat cheeses from their heard of Goats, it was, without doubt, the FINEST goat cheese I have EVER enjoyed! The Ash coverred round loaf was spectacularly good. Wonderful light texture and a lemony aftertaste that just faded to the next bite. Anyway, we all enjoyed ourselves emmensly in A&R's sunroom under ever darkening skies and eventually the late afternoon pouring rains. Here's the link to the YouTube movie of the Brocante we enjoyed in the morning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT6Ztt_Iz1o
What a lovely day, rain or not. Great fun with great people, tons of chat and laughs galore, Life hardly could be better than this.
Not just ANY Sunday either! Chezal - Benoit (Che-sahl - Ben-Wha) was having it's annual Brocante (junk sale) and mental health summit. You see Chezal - Benoiy is the home of a Mental Hospital and the sellers occupy the town right up to it's gate. Too, many of the patients are present adding their own color and grunts to the event. L came to the Ruin at 9 am and while she made the huge green salad for the party we were attending afterwards at A&R's, Kelly and I scrambled to both wake up from the party the afternoon and early evening of Saturday (yes we do these things serially it seems) (where 5 of us drank 7 bottles of the finest below 2 Euros sparkling wine and wine). I made Spinach Canneloni and it was very, very good if I do say so myself. Followed some hours later by a Pasta Povera with garlic, capers. It always works, a very simple dish that I've described in my blog before. That was Saturday's food scene, Sunday afternoons at our friends A&R's was an Asian-styled food fest. A and R had preped vegies galore, carrots, radishes, green and red bell peppers, onions, lemons and had various bottled sauces and condiments. I was put in charge by the Master Chef herself who provided me with the valued kitchen support I needed to create an asian feast. It was great creative fun and there was more than enough food at the end for A&R to have leftovers for two meals at least! I came up with Oyster Sauce Beef, Musselman Curry, Vietnamese Lemon Pork, Red Pepper Chicken, Chop Suey (YES!), and a couple of other ad hoc dishes thrown in for good measure. All over rice, thai rice noodles. Much wine was drank, as usual. The French couple from up the road (Chicken Farm) chatted amiably with all of us, in French of course...but we seemed to rise to the occassion. I had a bit of trouble understanding which isn't unusual as the speed at which the French speak is, at times, intimidating. They also brought along their own product...goat cheeses from their heard of Goats, it was, without doubt, the FINEST goat cheese I have EVER enjoyed! The Ash coverred round loaf was spectacularly good. Wonderful light texture and a lemony aftertaste that just faded to the next bite. Anyway, we all enjoyed ourselves emmensly in A&R's sunroom under ever darkening skies and eventually the late afternoon pouring rains. Here's the link to the YouTube movie of the Brocante we enjoyed in the morning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT6Ztt_Iz1o
What a lovely day, rain or not. Great fun with great people, tons of chat and laughs galore, Life hardly could be better than this.
Friday, May 02, 2008
The Day We Got DSL!
It happened about 9:05 this morning, I was just up, barely awake past staggering stage but before coffee. Into the comp rm I went to check on the weather program...and much to my surprise (It HAS been 6 weeks you know) the Network Magic program popped up with a "Internet Connected" message! I looked at the LiveBox and saw the normal blinking lights, no joy, just another bity of noise to confound and confuse. The message faded then came on again a minute later, I looked again at the LiveBox and the DSL light was ON! Not Blinking...ON! Wowee! Then it went off...huh?
So I tried Internet Explorer and l'viola! There it was...Orange.fr! Hot shit! Got it! I walked into the bedroom to announce to Kelly the great news and back again it was still alive and well. I sat down to see every @#$$#@ application on my machine doing downloads to update the now seruiously out of date (5 weeks) software. Sooo cool this is, we are back online again! Upon examination we have a 20MB/sec ADSL-2connection, bloody quick compared to our old 8 MB one and the even slower 1.5 one in California.
___
We drove to Bourges and Mondail Tissues to get the required cloth for the entry hallway, it's curtains and the curtains for the waiting room. We chose three wonderful designs and got the required yardage for each and wandered off to the Carrefour store to fill my list of needed groceries for next week.
So I tried Internet Explorer and l'viola! There it was...Orange.fr! Hot shit! Got it! I walked into the bedroom to announce to Kelly the great news and back again it was still alive and well. I sat down to see every @#$$#@ application on my machine doing downloads to update the now seruiously out of date (5 weeks) software. Sooo cool this is, we are back online again! Upon examination we have a 20MB/sec ADSL-2connection, bloody quick compared to our old 8 MB one and the even slower 1.5 one in California.
___
We drove to Bourges and Mondail Tissues to get the required cloth for the entry hallway, it's curtains and the curtains for the waiting room. We chose three wonderful designs and got the required yardage for each and wandered off to the Carrefour store to fill my list of needed groceries for next week.
Covering the walls...
Blog Entry Wednesday 30 April, 2008
Rainy and cool, windy too...shit weather, mucky. There's a music event downtown at L'Halle this afternoon, we will go with an umbrella. It's the annual fete du Bain Douche (our event location in town about three blocks away), many musical acts that come from far and wide, well...not so wide I guess, France mainly and maybe they visited some other place before or might have even come from there for all I know but...you get the picture. Not pricey, generally under 20E a seat or less, always some freebee performances held at various locations about the village which always attract a crowd. It starts today and runs through the weekend. We have plans to attend all the free ones as we spent PLENTY at the Pretemps Du Bourges a couple of weeks ago.
This is my Lignieres_Weather Cam image just a few minutes ago, typical morning traffic as the commuters rush off to coffee...oops work. Looks out the TV/Computer Room window towards the
northwest. Ah Lunch hour is but 4 hrs from now then 2 hrs off to think about the rest of the day. Hmmm.
3 pm, still no DSL with the clock winding down on the France Telecom workday. Nothing ever is as promised with FT. What a way to run a business. It is now 9:58pm, many resets and attempts to configure the long lost DSL service brings nothing but the blinking INTERNET light. I saw an ad today in the old Connexion newspaper for an all English DSL service for 29 bucks a month, maybe I'll give them a call tomorrow.
We spent much of today working on the old waiting room, new fabric on the walls except for over the fireplace which we will do tomorrow. Then I begin the build of the bookcase.
Kats: Interlopers in the form of ferals, also known as terrorists, or insurrectionists are using the courtyard for secret meetings and attempts to enlist one or the other of or Kats in their own causes. So far Furry has been singled out for rough treatment as she fails to attend their meetings and doesn't supply food or drink to the cadre which now includes Long Tail, Sammy, Blackie and at least two others whose names we don't know. The Barn is their hideout at least we know that much. Their goal? The take over of all kibble supplies, both Kat and Dawg with the long term goal of trading the Dawg food for Kat food and cooperative Dawgs. That's all I know now, more to come.
Rainy and cool, windy too...shit weather, mucky. There's a music event downtown at L'Halle this afternoon, we will go with an umbrella. It's the annual fete du Bain Douche (our event location in town about three blocks away), many musical acts that come from far and wide, well...not so wide I guess, France mainly and maybe they visited some other place before or might have even come from there for all I know but...you get the picture. Not pricey, generally under 20E a seat or less, always some freebee performances held at various locations about the village which always attract a crowd. It starts today and runs through the weekend. We have plans to attend all the free ones as we spent PLENTY at the Pretemps Du Bourges a couple of weeks ago.
This is my Lignieres_Weather Cam image just a few minutes ago, typical morning traffic as the commuters rush off to coffee...oops work. Looks out the TV/Computer Room window towards the
northwest. Ah Lunch hour is but 4 hrs from now then 2 hrs off to think about the rest of the day. Hmmm.
3 pm, still no DSL with the clock winding down on the France Telecom workday. Nothing ever is as promised with FT. What a way to run a business. It is now 9:58pm, many resets and attempts to configure the long lost DSL service brings nothing but the blinking INTERNET light. I saw an ad today in the old Connexion newspaper for an all English DSL service for 29 bucks a month, maybe I'll give them a call tomorrow.
We spent much of today working on the old waiting room, new fabric on the walls except for over the fireplace which we will do tomorrow. Then I begin the build of the bookcase.
Kats: Interlopers in the form of ferals, also known as terrorists, or insurrectionists are using the courtyard for secret meetings and attempts to enlist one or the other of or Kats in their own causes. So far Furry has been singled out for rough treatment as she fails to attend their meetings and doesn't supply food or drink to the cadre which now includes Long Tail, Sammy, Blackie and at least two others whose names we don't know. The Barn is their hideout at least we know that much. Their goal? The take over of all kibble supplies, both Kat and Dawg with the long term goal of trading the Dawg food for Kat food and cooperative Dawgs. That's all I know now, more to come.
Lost In The Woods
Blog Entry 4/24/08 Thursday
One of my talking points has been abolished, at least for now...it was 81 degrees F here today. So much for the cold of Lignieres, the continuance of winter, the obnoxious clouds and rains, the river out of it's banks. So much for it all...we had a breath of summer today and it was wonderful. We sat in the sun this afternoon and drank rum and coke and talked to our wandering cat Furry as she explored her territories. Her nemesis Long Tail was no where to be seen so Furry was free to examine her domain without challenge today, tomorrow may not be so good for her. Such is the life of our cats.
Later in the afternoon we made a grocery run to Issoudun and then promptly I made a right turn a bit early and we found ourselves wandering thru new territory headed towards Chezel Benoit and our friends house there. Lost in the woods, we saw the managed forest cut here and there; the individual trees lined up against the dirt road for miles and miles. Finally we exited the forest and headed off in the right direction for an evenings visit, a few laughs and a bit of using their computer for our latest fix of email and news.
One of my talking points has been abolished, at least for now...it was 81 degrees F here today. So much for the cold of Lignieres, the continuance of winter, the obnoxious clouds and rains, the river out of it's banks. So much for it all...we had a breath of summer today and it was wonderful. We sat in the sun this afternoon and drank rum and coke and talked to our wandering cat Furry as she explored her territories. Her nemesis Long Tail was no where to be seen so Furry was free to examine her domain without challenge today, tomorrow may not be so good for her. Such is the life of our cats.
Later in the afternoon we made a grocery run to Issoudun and then promptly I made a right turn a bit early and we found ourselves wandering thru new territory headed towards Chezel Benoit and our friends house there. Lost in the woods, we saw the managed forest cut here and there; the individual trees lined up against the dirt road for miles and miles. Finally we exited the forest and headed off in the right direction for an evenings visit, a few laughs and a bit of using their computer for our latest fix of email and news.
Guilt
Blog Entry 04-16-08 A Wednesday w/o you know what...
Today I tackled the wall fittings for the curtains all 10 feet of them. Drill holes, then bigger ones follow, then install the retainers that hold the bronze curtain fittings, quite a job but done after about three hours. I hung the rods too after drilling them for the end fittings. Ladder going back and forth and me climbing up and down got the job done. Kelly worked to seam the curtains, cut and cuss at her chilly sitting job. She worked for hours to get the curtains ready for hanging. I lounged in the sun part of the time. Guilt.
The day was clear and sunny, cold but endurable. I worked at my kitchen cleaning things up and prepping for dinner. The kats wandered in and out watching carefully for the feral kat gang that has invaded the courtyard and displaced them. None found they still dove into the open door of the laundry room when the slightest breeze made any sound. Cowards.
So Kats and Duck and I sit and watch TV Francaise...”Nouvelle Star” chock full of “Stars” who aren't ...YET! But TALENT seems somewhat missing in this group. Tired Franck Sinatra covers and hip rock-like ballads just can't do much for this group in my mind. Yet I watch...hoping someone INTERESTING will appear with real TALENT instead of ego-centric posturing in each and every one contestant. Oh well.
Today I tackled the wall fittings for the curtains all 10 feet of them. Drill holes, then bigger ones follow, then install the retainers that hold the bronze curtain fittings, quite a job but done after about three hours. I hung the rods too after drilling them for the end fittings. Ladder going back and forth and me climbing up and down got the job done. Kelly worked to seam the curtains, cut and cuss at her chilly sitting job. She worked for hours to get the curtains ready for hanging. I lounged in the sun part of the time. Guilt.
The day was clear and sunny, cold but endurable. I worked at my kitchen cleaning things up and prepping for dinner. The kats wandered in and out watching carefully for the feral kat gang that has invaded the courtyard and displaced them. None found they still dove into the open door of the laundry room when the slightest breeze made any sound. Cowards.
So Kats and Duck and I sit and watch TV Francaise...”Nouvelle Star” chock full of “Stars” who aren't ...YET! But TALENT seems somewhat missing in this group. Tired Franck Sinatra covers and hip rock-like ballads just can't do much for this group in my mind. Yet I watch...hoping someone INTERESTING will appear with real TALENT instead of ego-centric posturing in each and every one contestant. Oh well.
Brrrrr still...
Blog Entry 04-15-08 A Tuesday without what you suspect...
Today was soooo cold, a high of 10 here...50 degrees and the promise tomorrow of more of the same, only colder, down to ZERO! That's 32 for all you Californians and this is APRIL! At least there isn't snow! Shit! The house project was put on hold as we sought refuge in the Toyota to keep us warm for the day, yes diesel is expensive but comfort is comfort and we needed a dose of it to keep our spirits up. So off we went to Leroy Merlin in Chateauroux to get wood for the wall clothing project and new aluminum tubes for the curtains in the dining room, they needed to be stiffer and in one piece. Leroy has LOTS of Quincallerie (hardware) and I found the bits (good English term) I need to repair and create the new rods. Off then to other stores to fulfill our needs for the rest of the afternoon, at least we were warm.
Back to Rue Ruin Americaine I undertook the job of replacing the existing computer with the one I brought from the US. Far more modern and capable of video it will do us for the next year or so. I am a computer conservative...I'm at least one generation behind the current and sometimes more...I am holding on the Windows XP as well in deference to Windows Vista until I hear something good about it and it's been almost 2 years since it was released. Where's Google when you need them?
Tomorrow the curtains will be made and installed in the Parlor with any luck at all. I bought the material needed to hang the curtain rod holders so all I need to do is fabricate the holders. A simple job, surely!
Today was soooo cold, a high of 10 here...50 degrees and the promise tomorrow of more of the same, only colder, down to ZERO! That's 32 for all you Californians and this is APRIL! At least there isn't snow! Shit! The house project was put on hold as we sought refuge in the Toyota to keep us warm for the day, yes diesel is expensive but comfort is comfort and we needed a dose of it to keep our spirits up. So off we went to Leroy Merlin in Chateauroux to get wood for the wall clothing project and new aluminum tubes for the curtains in the dining room, they needed to be stiffer and in one piece. Leroy has LOTS of Quincallerie (hardware) and I found the bits (good English term) I need to repair and create the new rods. Off then to other stores to fulfill our needs for the rest of the afternoon, at least we were warm.
Back to Rue Ruin Americaine I undertook the job of replacing the existing computer with the one I brought from the US. Far more modern and capable of video it will do us for the next year or so. I am a computer conservative...I'm at least one generation behind the current and sometimes more...I am holding on the Windows XP as well in deference to Windows Vista until I hear something good about it and it's been almost 2 years since it was released. Where's Google when you need them?
Tomorrow the curtains will be made and installed in the Parlor with any luck at all. I bought the material needed to hang the curtain rod holders so all I need to do is fabricate the holders. A simple job, surely!
Kats at War
Blog Entry Monday April 14, 08
Still no Internet, oops, I said I wouldn't bring the subject up. Sorry.
The Kats are officially at war. Every move makes the other suspicious and growling, slinking away to hide under a bed, couch or at the remotest corner of the house. What is up? I don't know, could be they are simply house-bound and determined that the other one caused this situation in some way. They sit and stare at the top of the stairs, at the half-opened doorway into the Tv room or dining room just waiting to throw a paw at the other one. Only the food bowl arena is apparently neutral territory. Many short skirmishes without many wounds or serious damage being done, yet they are definitely at war today.
Our friends D and S came by today with a huge bag of books for Kelly's perusal, mostly modern fiction that they share an interest in the authors. Kelly traded a few of hers to somewhat balance the books. They are headed across the little pond to the UK for about a month to tend to a rental and a paint job D landed to bring in a few precious Euros. I wish I could do something to make a few bucks but alas here that is neigh impossible for a nearly 65 year old man or woman for that matter especially two from the United States.
Still no Internet, oops, I said I wouldn't bring the subject up. Sorry.
The Kats are officially at war. Every move makes the other suspicious and growling, slinking away to hide under a bed, couch or at the remotest corner of the house. What is up? I don't know, could be they are simply house-bound and determined that the other one caused this situation in some way. They sit and stare at the top of the stairs, at the half-opened doorway into the Tv room or dining room just waiting to throw a paw at the other one. Only the food bowl arena is apparently neutral territory. Many short skirmishes without many wounds or serious damage being done, yet they are definitely at war today.
Our friends D and S came by today with a huge bag of books for Kelly's perusal, mostly modern fiction that they share an interest in the authors. Kelly traded a few of hers to somewhat balance the books. They are headed across the little pond to the UK for about a month to tend to a rental and a paint job D landed to bring in a few precious Euros. I wish I could do something to make a few bucks but alas here that is neigh impossible for a nearly 65 year old man or woman for that matter especially two from the United States.
Another Saturday - Oradour Sur Glane
Oradour Sur Glane
Blog Entry for Saturday 12 April, 08
Well, we still do not have internet service. Maybe not enough time has drifted by but we have it not in any case. This is just too bad. So it will remain as I can tell little from the France Telecom site since I do not yet have the required account name and password. I will no longer bore you with this aspect of our misery, the next time you hear anything about the i-net it will be that we have it and I have posted all the blog entries as history. So there.
Yesterday we drove south 2.5 hrs using Bonnie the Tom-Tom to the ill-fated village of Oradour Sur Glane. It is but a ruin of the day the Nazi's came to town, June 4th, 1944. They destroyed it and all inhabitants in a frenzy of tank shelling, machine gun fire, fires and explosions. The populace of some 642 persons was almost completely wiped out. Men, women and children shared the same awful fate. The place has been left en situ (as it has remained) since. It is a hauntingly and at the same time terrible reminder of the horrors of all wars. There were but 7 survivors of that day who lived to tell the tale. The Nazis partied until late into the night revelling in their “victory” over the residents, it was no victory in the normal sense as the residents were largely unarmed, surprised and cut down before anyone could respond. Horrible. The trials that speak of this war crime became a laughing stock as well when most of the soldiers and French civilians that were in charge of the operation were freed from their jail cells, some even had death sentences that had been overturned.
We drove the 2.5hr route home in the late afternoon with scattered clouds and spotty rains. The weather remains cold and wet day in and day out preventing my work outside in the garden and preventing the painting inside (too cold).
We had our dinner with 4 of our closest friends Thursday night, it was great fun and went on for hours and hours, 7 to be exact! Only 4 bottles of wine passed our lips as well, a new LOW record it was too!
We are usually good for several bottles more but somehow the atmosphere did not allow us that freedom this time. The Thai/Chinese/Vietnamese food came off OK, I was disappointed in my garlic/lemon grass soup, too dark, cloudy and in need of a kick of something, perhaps mint or basil...too late now. The red chicken thai curry was mildly hot and very tasty I thought but brought little comment good or bad, the oyster sauce beef was ok, but I thought it a bit confused, too many flavors (R thought the same), I'll rework it next time with fewer sweet peppers. The pork nems were good but the rice paper dissolved somewhat when frying, opening the interiors to the fry oil of ½ sesame and ½ grapeseed oil. My apple/ginger tart was ok, I would have liked the apples more cooked...er ah...softer but it was ok, also the pastry shell needed more time to pre-bake so the bottom would have been crisper. With the vanilla ice cream on top it was good though if not great. We finished up with tea and coffee and a bit of Floriovo liqueur and a nip of Scotch. Very nice beginning for our visit I thought, Now to plan the next one.
Blog Entry for Saturday 12 April, 08
Well, we still do not have internet service. Maybe not enough time has drifted by but we have it not in any case. This is just too bad. So it will remain as I can tell little from the France Telecom site since I do not yet have the required account name and password. I will no longer bore you with this aspect of our misery, the next time you hear anything about the i-net it will be that we have it and I have posted all the blog entries as history. So there.
Yesterday we drove south 2.5 hrs using Bonnie the Tom-Tom to the ill-fated village of Oradour Sur Glane. It is but a ruin of the day the Nazi's came to town, June 4th, 1944. They destroyed it and all inhabitants in a frenzy of tank shelling, machine gun fire, fires and explosions. The populace of some 642 persons was almost completely wiped out. Men, women and children shared the same awful fate. The place has been left en situ (as it has remained) since. It is a hauntingly and at the same time terrible reminder of the horrors of all wars. There were but 7 survivors of that day who lived to tell the tale. The Nazis partied until late into the night revelling in their “victory” over the residents, it was no victory in the normal sense as the residents were largely unarmed, surprised and cut down before anyone could respond. Horrible. The trials that speak of this war crime became a laughing stock as well when most of the soldiers and French civilians that were in charge of the operation were freed from their jail cells, some even had death sentences that had been overturned.
We drove the 2.5hr route home in the late afternoon with scattered clouds and spotty rains. The weather remains cold and wet day in and day out preventing my work outside in the garden and preventing the painting inside (too cold).
We had our dinner with 4 of our closest friends Thursday night, it was great fun and went on for hours and hours, 7 to be exact! Only 4 bottles of wine passed our lips as well, a new LOW record it was too!
We are usually good for several bottles more but somehow the atmosphere did not allow us that freedom this time. The Thai/Chinese/Vietnamese food came off OK, I was disappointed in my garlic/lemon grass soup, too dark, cloudy and in need of a kick of something, perhaps mint or basil...too late now. The red chicken thai curry was mildly hot and very tasty I thought but brought little comment good or bad, the oyster sauce beef was ok, but I thought it a bit confused, too many flavors (R thought the same), I'll rework it next time with fewer sweet peppers. The pork nems were good but the rice paper dissolved somewhat when frying, opening the interiors to the fry oil of ½ sesame and ½ grapeseed oil. My apple/ginger tart was ok, I would have liked the apples more cooked...er ah...softer but it was ok, also the pastry shell needed more time to pre-bake so the bottom would have been crisper. With the vanilla ice cream on top it was good though if not great. We finished up with tea and coffee and a bit of Floriovo liqueur and a nip of Scotch. Very nice beginning for our visit I thought, Now to plan the next one.
Tele Repaired! Whoopee!
Blog Entry_04-09-08
Well sure as heck France Telecom came and went today at about 9am as scheduled. They found a bad connection OUTSIDE on the side of the house...huh? How's that got anything to do with anything? Let me review this telephone problem as I have lived it.
1.Inet and Telephone worked fine on the day we arrived. That was the 21st of March as I remember.
2.10 days later it all went away. 4/1 came and all was inert, dead, mort, fini etc.
3.On the 4th we got a letter telling us they cut off our Inet and Telephone for non-payment.
4.We paid the balance in arrears and were told we would have our phone back last Wednesday or Thursday.
5.That didn't happen so we went to the Tourist Board, they called for us, found out that they had turned the tele back on and were surprised we had no phone and got a crew to come out today and check our connection.
6.They came, they fixed it.
7.Huh?
So now we have a telephone with the promise of an actual internet connection sometime in the next week. Good luck to us. Kelly called Jane.
The dining room is shaping up, we worked on it all bloody day, cloth is hung on all the walls and Kelly produced the curtains as well. A full day. I prepped the beef marinade for the oyster sauce beef dish and made the ice cream mix as well. Tomorrow will be a cooking day as well as cleanup of the dining room to make it ready for our guests, now all 4 of them.
Well sure as heck France Telecom came and went today at about 9am as scheduled. They found a bad connection OUTSIDE on the side of the house...huh? How's that got anything to do with anything? Let me review this telephone problem as I have lived it.
1.Inet and Telephone worked fine on the day we arrived. That was the 21st of March as I remember.
2.10 days later it all went away. 4/1 came and all was inert, dead, mort, fini etc.
3.On the 4th we got a letter telling us they cut off our Inet and Telephone for non-payment.
4.We paid the balance in arrears and were told we would have our phone back last Wednesday or Thursday.
5.That didn't happen so we went to the Tourist Board, they called for us, found out that they had turned the tele back on and were surprised we had no phone and got a crew to come out today and check our connection.
6.They came, they fixed it.
7.Huh?
So now we have a telephone with the promise of an actual internet connection sometime in the next week. Good luck to us. Kelly called Jane.
The dining room is shaping up, we worked on it all bloody day, cloth is hung on all the walls and Kelly produced the curtains as well. A full day. I prepped the beef marinade for the oyster sauce beef dish and made the ice cream mix as well. Tomorrow will be a cooking day as well as cleanup of the dining room to make it ready for our guests, now all 4 of them.
Incineration
Blog Entry 04-05-08 A Saturday Nite
Ha! What Internet? Tuesday they said Wednesday or Thursday, well those days are gone and here we are in Saturday evening with no sign of a telephone or the DSL service. I'm afraid this is going to take an in person visit to the St. Amand France Telecom office AGAIN, this time we are armed with our new telephone number for the dead line...maybe that will help. Maybe.
On other fronts, I've attacked the courtyard, pulling weeds, trimming and pruning overgrown bushes (now resembling trees) and burning in an incinerator the resultant twigs and sticks. Lots of smoke and this keeps Kelly out of the courtyard as her asthma doesn't stand this kind of pollution at all! So I cut and snip in the afternoon breeze between rays of rare sunshine and load the downfall into the incinerator and watch the billows of smoke rise into the cloudy afternoon. I finish (sort of) and go inside to shower in wonderfully hot water to rid my bod of smoke and dirt from the outside cleanup.
Once all cleaned up I'm called into service applying the wood strips for the cloth wall-covering application in the dining room. Kelly directs and I use the nail gun and glue to apply the strips top, sides and bottom. Tomorrow we will apply the 1/2” thick padding to the walls and after that begin hanging the cloth panels. Special...very special. It will be several days before this room is complete but the results will be well worth the effort.
Tonight we are having roast chicken, mashed garlic potatoes and fresh harricot verts (green beans).
Simple and just what is needed after today's day of work.
Ha! What Internet? Tuesday they said Wednesday or Thursday, well those days are gone and here we are in Saturday evening with no sign of a telephone or the DSL service. I'm afraid this is going to take an in person visit to the St. Amand France Telecom office AGAIN, this time we are armed with our new telephone number for the dead line...maybe that will help. Maybe.
On other fronts, I've attacked the courtyard, pulling weeds, trimming and pruning overgrown bushes (now resembling trees) and burning in an incinerator the resultant twigs and sticks. Lots of smoke and this keeps Kelly out of the courtyard as her asthma doesn't stand this kind of pollution at all! So I cut and snip in the afternoon breeze between rays of rare sunshine and load the downfall into the incinerator and watch the billows of smoke rise into the cloudy afternoon. I finish (sort of) and go inside to shower in wonderfully hot water to rid my bod of smoke and dirt from the outside cleanup.
Once all cleaned up I'm called into service applying the wood strips for the cloth wall-covering application in the dining room. Kelly directs and I use the nail gun and glue to apply the strips top, sides and bottom. Tomorrow we will apply the 1/2” thick padding to the walls and after that begin hanging the cloth panels. Special...very special. It will be several days before this room is complete but the results will be well worth the effort.
Tonight we are having roast chicken, mashed garlic potatoes and fresh harricot verts (green beans).
Simple and just what is needed after today's day of work.
A trip to Bourges (Boor-zha)
April Fools Blog April 1st, 2008
Much done today, MC not at the tourist board but E took up the challenge of contacting France Telecom re:the inert telephone and the equally dead internet DSL connection. After some negotiations she successfully established a new telephone number for us as the old one was now dead forever. One or two days was the verdict regarding when the beloved dial tone would miraculously be restored. Good, one down, one to go...what about the internet? Well...the internet will have to wait until the telephone is restored, then we can go to the France Telecom outlet in St. Amand Montrond to get it back in service once again. Why this cannot be accomplished at the end of THIS telephone call is not discussed. Shit. Gads what a screw-up this has been. Kelly keeps apologizing but it's really not her fault, it's the situation itself, 6000 miles from the bank and with so many players involved in getting bills paid in a timely manner as well as putting money in the account, grrrrrr. It's tough. That part accomplished, we thank E profusely and we were off to Bourges to get window glass for the 6 projects.
There are 2 picture frames containing prints, two windows with cracked or missing glass and the Louis 2nd hutch with the awful top crossed torches carving...Kelly pulled out the offending panels and those will be replaced with glass. It'll look a lot LIGHTER and reveal it's use as well as the holder of the wine glasses. Now the fun part...I look up the glass companies in the yellow pages, find 4 and select one, and put it into the Tom Tom GPS, takes about a minute. Then Bonnie, the disembodied voice of the great GPS in the sky takes over and about 45 minutes later we pull up outside of Mirroirs du Berry in Bourges. Terrific performance! Not that I didn't misunderstand her “bear right” and “Hard Right” commands and lead us off into god-knows-where but she kept at it, corrected my mistakes and l'viola!
The young woman at the front desk was very helpful, and no she spoke no English but eventually the message was received, notes dutifully taken as to quantity and size of the glass desired and then she smiled and said “Friday”! No English huh? She just didn't want to do “the struggle” as we were doing.
Oh well, more to come. We will see how well we did Friday.
So “Where to now” I ask. Kelly responds “Downtown Bourges, I just LOVE the place!” So do I so a left turn and follow our noses to the Bourges Cathedral and a few lefts down the medieval cobblestone streets and I park at the newly renovated car park adjacent to downtown Bourges and all it's wonders.
Much done today, MC not at the tourist board but E took up the challenge of contacting France Telecom re:the inert telephone and the equally dead internet DSL connection. After some negotiations she successfully established a new telephone number for us as the old one was now dead forever. One or two days was the verdict regarding when the beloved dial tone would miraculously be restored. Good, one down, one to go...what about the internet? Well...the internet will have to wait until the telephone is restored, then we can go to the France Telecom outlet in St. Amand Montrond to get it back in service once again. Why this cannot be accomplished at the end of THIS telephone call is not discussed. Shit. Gads what a screw-up this has been. Kelly keeps apologizing but it's really not her fault, it's the situation itself, 6000 miles from the bank and with so many players involved in getting bills paid in a timely manner as well as putting money in the account, grrrrrr. It's tough. That part accomplished, we thank E profusely and we were off to Bourges to get window glass for the 6 projects.
There are 2 picture frames containing prints, two windows with cracked or missing glass and the Louis 2nd hutch with the awful top crossed torches carving...Kelly pulled out the offending panels and those will be replaced with glass. It'll look a lot LIGHTER and reveal it's use as well as the holder of the wine glasses. Now the fun part...I look up the glass companies in the yellow pages, find 4 and select one, and put it into the Tom Tom GPS, takes about a minute. Then Bonnie, the disembodied voice of the great GPS in the sky takes over and about 45 minutes later we pull up outside of Mirroirs du Berry in Bourges. Terrific performance! Not that I didn't misunderstand her “bear right” and “Hard Right” commands and lead us off into god-knows-where but she kept at it, corrected my mistakes and l'viola!
The young woman at the front desk was very helpful, and no she spoke no English but eventually the message was received, notes dutifully taken as to quantity and size of the glass desired and then she smiled and said “Friday”! No English huh? She just didn't want to do “the struggle” as we were doing.
Oh well, more to come. We will see how well we did Friday.
So “Where to now” I ask. Kelly responds “Downtown Bourges, I just LOVE the place!” So do I so a left turn and follow our noses to the Bourges Cathedral and a few lefts down the medieval cobblestone streets and I park at the newly renovated car park adjacent to downtown Bourges and all it's wonders.
No Fun This...
Blog Monday 31 March, 2008
Bah humbug! Phone and DSL still down, some screw up huh? So off we go to Issodun to hunt down a few groceries and some potting soil so the seeds can be planted. The countryside is green, green, green. Chezel Benoit looks as sleepy as ever, no psych cases fill the street today as is usual in the summer, too cold I guess, have to smoke elsewhere. It's 10 degrees C, broken skies with clouds from horizon to horizon. Looks like Montana's “Big Sky Country”. In Leader Price we pick up a few groceries and look over each aisle for bargains as this place can deliver them now and again. Then we wander downtown and peer through a couple of shop windows full of old antiques. The shop is closed on Mondays so off we go to LeClerc to hunt down the potting soil. 2 – 50 liter sacks are but 3 Euros, 4.50USD, still a bargain. Then roam back to Lignieres to put it all away and discover the telephone SOUNDS have changed, alas NOT FOR THE BETTER...now Silent where there was a dial tone before, merde'! So Kelly plants the seeds in the new potting soil in her kitchen across the way while I get a beef stew prepped and cooked for tonight's repast. I used Ox tail as the marrow from the bones adds much to the stew, a depth of flavor that can come from few other meats. Here's my recipe:
Lute's Beef Stew:
1.1.5 – 2 lbs chuck roast cubed 1.5” or similar (That's the shanks I've used tonight sans bones)
2.2 medium onions, I like red ones for this dish, coarsely chopped
3.3 – 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut to 2” lengths
4.2 large white potatoes peeled and cut into 2” cubes or approx.
5.2 Tablespoons tomato paste
6.8 oz tomato puree
7.2 slices smoked bacon cut into 2” strips.
8.2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
9.1 Cup red wine.
Cut away the bones from the meat. Saute the bacon for 2 -3 minutes till it releases some of it's fat. Saute the bones separately and allow to cool. Add pieces of beef and brown on all sides. Add onion saute for an additional 2 minutes. Add tomato paste, saute for 2 min then add the tomato puree. Add the vegetable stock and simmer for one hour. Now push out the marrow from the bones into the stewing pot. Add the carrots, potatoes and wine.
Simmer for an additional 1 to 1.5 hrs until the potatoes and carrots are cooked thru and the meat isjust barely falling apart. Serve in bowls with buttered slices of french bread.
Bah humbug! Phone and DSL still down, some screw up huh? So off we go to Issodun to hunt down a few groceries and some potting soil so the seeds can be planted. The countryside is green, green, green. Chezel Benoit looks as sleepy as ever, no psych cases fill the street today as is usual in the summer, too cold I guess, have to smoke elsewhere. It's 10 degrees C, broken skies with clouds from horizon to horizon. Looks like Montana's “Big Sky Country”. In Leader Price we pick up a few groceries and look over each aisle for bargains as this place can deliver them now and again. Then we wander downtown and peer through a couple of shop windows full of old antiques. The shop is closed on Mondays so off we go to LeClerc to hunt down the potting soil. 2 – 50 liter sacks are but 3 Euros, 4.50USD, still a bargain. Then roam back to Lignieres to put it all away and discover the telephone SOUNDS have changed, alas NOT FOR THE BETTER...now Silent where there was a dial tone before, merde'! So Kelly plants the seeds in the new potting soil in her kitchen across the way while I get a beef stew prepped and cooked for tonight's repast. I used Ox tail as the marrow from the bones adds much to the stew, a depth of flavor that can come from few other meats. Here's my recipe:
Lute's Beef Stew:
1.1.5 – 2 lbs chuck roast cubed 1.5” or similar (That's the shanks I've used tonight sans bones)
2.2 medium onions, I like red ones for this dish, coarsely chopped
3.3 – 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut to 2” lengths
4.2 large white potatoes peeled and cut into 2” cubes or approx.
5.2 Tablespoons tomato paste
6.8 oz tomato puree
7.2 slices smoked bacon cut into 2” strips.
8.2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
9.1 Cup red wine.
Cut away the bones from the meat. Saute the bacon for 2 -3 minutes till it releases some of it's fat. Saute the bones separately and allow to cool. Add pieces of beef and brown on all sides. Add onion saute for an additional 2 minutes. Add tomato paste, saute for 2 min then add the tomato puree. Add the vegetable stock and simmer for one hour. Now push out the marrow from the bones into the stewing pot. Add the carrots, potatoes and wine.
Simmer for an additional 1 to 1.5 hrs until the potatoes and carrots are cooked thru and the meat isjust barely falling apart. Serve in bowls with buttered slices of french bread.
Our Lignieres Arrival
Blog entry 22 March, 2008.
Brrrr, the temp inside this room where we run the computer and watch TV (when it works) is now 52.8 degrees f! Outside of this room there are many other rooms including our bedroom in which we were nicely ensconced until we awoke from our jet-lagged stupor at about 6am, that room was 43.4 degrees f, as are the others. It IS a huge refrigerator at beer temperature and we float about like so many ice cubes looking for a bit of heat to melt the chills away. No luck. I have plugged in one of the little oil-filled convection heaters in this room to assist the shivers a bit and it has successfully raised the temp to it's present toasty 52.8 within the relatively short period of an hour. Hallelujah! More to come I hope. I carried the larger oil-filled heater upstairs last night and plugged it in in our bedroom, nice idea that, it blew the mains circuit breaker and crated a house-wide blackout. Unplugged the unit, went downstairs with my frozen flashlight in hand and reset the breaker. Brrrrr it sure is cold down there. Heat does rise. There's no heat down there though. Damn.
The United flight was fine, filled with a small group of happy adults taking a large group of sullen, mostly female 16 year olds to tour Paris' finest museums and sights. Oh joy. Good for them. The 7:55 flight itself was supposed to leave at 7:55AM to Dulles in Wash DC but for some reason, no pilots, no plane, no gas, no chance...we were routed onto a following flight into Chicago at 8:10...not much of a delay but a delay and oh, what about that nice tight Dulles 1.5 hr connection? Did they duplicate THAT at Chicago? Not a chance. That connection going on to Paris didn't happen until 6:30PM. That meant we had a thrilling 5+ hours on the ground in Chicagos O'Hare Airport as our flight crew knocked off 30 minutes of flight time, oh joy. At least the luggage was booked through...wasn't it?! YES, YES, it was. I had a nice little pizza and Kelly had some Chinese food from the purveyors on the mall-like strip in the C-Wing. We read, ate our food, had a cup of ice cream and people watched to while away the time. The weather outside was cool, in the 50's but sunny and the sun beams on us felt especially good as I now remember. Temp now at 7:20am Easter Sunday 53.6 and climbing! Whoopee!
About that luggage, the worst load we have ever hauled aboard a small car to take to an airport. The following items were carried. 2 Cat Carriers with Two Cats, one medium sized backpack, one small suitcase, one humongous cloth dufflebag with wheels, One huge Samsonite wheeled suitcase, one medium Samsonite wheeled suitcase and one 18” cube cardboard box stuffed with linens, computer parts to update this ancient beast, a Pfaff serger with all accessories and miscellaneous clothing items for summer wear. Let's talk about the box shall we? It weighed 77.5lbs. Yes, that's OVER the 50 lb no charge limit, further it weighed 7.5 lbs more than the $50 dollar charge for the over 50lb fellas...so I charged the 381 USD against my Visa card and thanked myself for that little oversight. They waived the 50USD charge for the 55.5lb large suitcase at least and only charged us 340USD for the two cats round trip. We were upgraded to Economy Plus however so we had nice knee room on which to lay our heads and cry. Temp at 7:40AM Easter Sunday in the room now = 54.3 degrees f.
Currently the DSL is dead as a doornail, it worked Friday night but Sat nite it was out and now it is similarly inert. Electrons probably frozen. We left sunny, warm (70 degrees f), dry California for this?! What the hell were we thinking? Coming thru the gate into the courtyard we parked the rental car (a dandy Toyota Corolla Verso 4 dr small diesel SUV) and proceeded to unpack from our 7 + Hr journey south from CDG Paris. Oh what traffic there was on the Periferique (ring road around Paris), trucks by the hundreds, cars, motorcycles, everybody going somewhere else for Easter weekend, lemmings! Grrrr. The ride took 7 hrs as we had to stop for breaks every half hour or so as we were so jet lagged, terrible! We'd cat nap with the cats for 15 – 20 minutes then startup and take another run at it. Gads, awful. I kept thinking of that extra 5 hours we spent in Chicago thanks to United's screwup, not nice United, not nice. At 7:47AM Easter Morning it is now 54.6 degrees! Terrific. It poured rain, sleet and snow here yesterday just after we arrived so I guess we aren't past the last freeze of the year yet are we?
Brrrr, the temp inside this room where we run the computer and watch TV (when it works) is now 52.8 degrees f! Outside of this room there are many other rooms including our bedroom in which we were nicely ensconced until we awoke from our jet-lagged stupor at about 6am, that room was 43.4 degrees f, as are the others. It IS a huge refrigerator at beer temperature and we float about like so many ice cubes looking for a bit of heat to melt the chills away. No luck. I have plugged in one of the little oil-filled convection heaters in this room to assist the shivers a bit and it has successfully raised the temp to it's present toasty 52.8 within the relatively short period of an hour. Hallelujah! More to come I hope. I carried the larger oil-filled heater upstairs last night and plugged it in in our bedroom, nice idea that, it blew the mains circuit breaker and crated a house-wide blackout. Unplugged the unit, went downstairs with my frozen flashlight in hand and reset the breaker. Brrrrr it sure is cold down there. Heat does rise. There's no heat down there though. Damn.
The United flight was fine, filled with a small group of happy adults taking a large group of sullen, mostly female 16 year olds to tour Paris' finest museums and sights. Oh joy. Good for them. The 7:55 flight itself was supposed to leave at 7:55AM to Dulles in Wash DC but for some reason, no pilots, no plane, no gas, no chance...we were routed onto a following flight into Chicago at 8:10...not much of a delay but a delay and oh, what about that nice tight Dulles 1.5 hr connection? Did they duplicate THAT at Chicago? Not a chance. That connection going on to Paris didn't happen until 6:30PM. That meant we had a thrilling 5+ hours on the ground in Chicagos O'Hare Airport as our flight crew knocked off 30 minutes of flight time, oh joy. At least the luggage was booked through...wasn't it?! YES, YES, it was. I had a nice little pizza and Kelly had some Chinese food from the purveyors on the mall-like strip in the C-Wing. We read, ate our food, had a cup of ice cream and people watched to while away the time. The weather outside was cool, in the 50's but sunny and the sun beams on us felt especially good as I now remember. Temp now at 7:20am Easter Sunday 53.6 and climbing! Whoopee!
About that luggage, the worst load we have ever hauled aboard a small car to take to an airport. The following items were carried. 2 Cat Carriers with Two Cats, one medium sized backpack, one small suitcase, one humongous cloth dufflebag with wheels, One huge Samsonite wheeled suitcase, one medium Samsonite wheeled suitcase and one 18” cube cardboard box stuffed with linens, computer parts to update this ancient beast, a Pfaff serger with all accessories and miscellaneous clothing items for summer wear. Let's talk about the box shall we? It weighed 77.5lbs. Yes, that's OVER the 50 lb no charge limit, further it weighed 7.5 lbs more than the $50 dollar charge for the over 50lb fellas...so I charged the 381 USD against my Visa card and thanked myself for that little oversight. They waived the 50USD charge for the 55.5lb large suitcase at least and only charged us 340USD for the two cats round trip. We were upgraded to Economy Plus however so we had nice knee room on which to lay our heads and cry. Temp at 7:40AM Easter Sunday in the room now = 54.3 degrees f.
Currently the DSL is dead as a doornail, it worked Friday night but Sat nite it was out and now it is similarly inert. Electrons probably frozen. We left sunny, warm (70 degrees f), dry California for this?! What the hell were we thinking? Coming thru the gate into the courtyard we parked the rental car (a dandy Toyota Corolla Verso 4 dr small diesel SUV) and proceeded to unpack from our 7 + Hr journey south from CDG Paris. Oh what traffic there was on the Periferique (ring road around Paris), trucks by the hundreds, cars, motorcycles, everybody going somewhere else for Easter weekend, lemmings! Grrrr. The ride took 7 hrs as we had to stop for breaks every half hour or so as we were so jet lagged, terrible! We'd cat nap with the cats for 15 – 20 minutes then startup and take another run at it. Gads, awful. I kept thinking of that extra 5 hours we spent in Chicago thanks to United's screwup, not nice United, not nice. At 7:47AM Easter Morning it is now 54.6 degrees! Terrific. It poured rain, sleet and snow here yesterday just after we arrived so I guess we aren't past the last freeze of the year yet are we?
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