Westward, ho!

By the time many of you read this, I’ll be in my van on the road to Wyoming.  So it’s the start of a three-week blogging break for me.  Our internet connection at 7,000′ is quite slow, which is fine, as I’ll be spending my time riding, reading, hiking, and relaxing.  My parents will also be visiting for about a week, although unfortunately, my husband can’t make it. But I imagine I’ll be popping in to Instagram from time to time.  In the meantime, have a wonderful time wherever you are and whatever you’re doing.  When I get back, I’ll have lots of information and photos for posts, although I haven’t finished with France yet.  Isn’t travel grand?  Blessings to all of you and I’ll be back soon.

Headed toward this view…

Silent Sunday…Cheers to my French vacation

Leavin’ on a jet plane

It’s that time of year again, time for a trip to France and, because of that, time for a cyber break.  But you know I’ll be taking hundreds of photos that I’ll share with you when I get home, so in the meantime, those of you in my hemisphere, have a glorious spring.  For those of you in the southern half of the world, may fall be colorful.  See you in June.

An unusual talent

I grew up for the most part in a small house in Omaha, Nebraska.  There were two bedrooms with the bathroom between them.  My mom made a beautiful third room out of the unfinished attic, all on her own.  My dad says he helped by staying out of the way.  🙂   That was my room, which was great.  But to get to the bathroom, I had to go through either my parents’ room or risk my life trying to get through my brother’s messy room.

The bathroom had white, hexagonal tiles on the floor, just like these I saw in a Philadelphia bathroom recently.  I’ve seen them other places as well.  When I had occasion to sit for a time in the bathroom staring at these tiles,  I discovered an unusual talent.

Stereoscopic photography, something we used in college geology class, is basically what Viewmasters do.  Two identical photos are placed a small distance apart and when viewed through a viewer, you see them one atop the other, creating a 3-D effect.  I could do that with my eyes, counting how many tiles I could get to overlap.

My geography professor didn’t believe me until I described a photo to him.  My eyes don’t cross, either.  I’m not sure how useful that talent is, but it’s fun and can be done other places than bathrooms.

Did you have tiles like these in your bathroom?  Can you see in 3-D?  Do you have an unusual/weird talent?

Let’s make pasta.

We were all kneading our pasta dough.  One after another, people began getting ready to make whatever type of pasta we were making.  I was frustrated.  My dough still wasn’t ready.  Loretta Paganini, of the eponymous cooking school in Chesterland, Ohio, saw my frustration.  She said she was told she should be a pastry chef, as her hands were always cold.  Cold is good for pastry, not as good for pasta.

Although it takes a bit of time, pasta isn’t difficult to make.  Filled shapes take more time than those just cut, such as linguine.  Although little Italian grandmothers may roll the dough out with a rolling pin, it’s much easier to use a pasta machine.  And by the way, noodles are a type of pasta, not pasta itself.  Here’s the recipe I’ve been using since I learned to make ravioli, along with some photos from my ravioli-making day and the link to Loretta’s Italian grandmother’s walnut sauce.

Share Your World, April 10, 2017

“Share Your World” is one of a number of challenges hosted by Cee.  She posts questions and we reveal our inner, sometimes bizarre, selves.  🙂  This week’s questions are as follows:

Have you ever participated in a distance walking, swimming, running, or biking event? Tell your story.

I’m a fast-twitch muscle person, which means I’m a sprinter.  Therefore anything over about 200 meters is a distance to me.  🙂  I have biked 18-20 miles with my husband, though.  My sprinting story is that some years ago while visiting my parents in Arizona, I went with them to a Senior Olympics event.  They’ve both participated, but my mom throws the javelin (and has set numerous US records for her age group) and discus.  These days, my dad just goes and helps.

Dad persuaded me to enter the 100, even though I hadn’t been running at all.  I just had my athletic shoes and no starting blocks (which many don’t use.)  As there weren’t many women running, I ran with a mixed-age group.  When the starter’s gun went off, I flew down the track as fast as I could.  As I neared the finish line, I could hear my dad yelling, “Run, run!!”  When I finished, with no idea how I’d done, except that I’d finished first, people were swarming around, congratulating me.  One man asked if I knew how I’d done.  All I knew by then was that I was slower than in college.  🙂  Turns out I was, at least for at time, the fifth fastest women in my age group and had one man try to get me to move to Utah to run with their track team, even saying he could help my husband find a job!  Ha!

Senior Olympics is one of those things that if you live long enough and are even moderately mobile, you can win everything!!  🙂

Name one thing not many people know about you.

I spent almost a year in Europe in the mid-seventies between my junior and senior years in college, backpacking, using Student Rail passes, working over the winter in Grindelwald, Switzerland, and having the experience of a lifetime.

What is your favorite flower?

Whatever flower is blooming!  I love lavender especially,  as well as poppies.

Things I want to have in my home (paintings, hot tubs, book cases, big screen tv etc)

In March of 2012, I did a post called “The House of My Heart“, which covers these very things.  But in short: a room for a library, a clothesline, large windows, and enormous kitchen as the heart of the house, etc.  I’d love hardwood floors and could easily live in a log cabin.  To know all the details, read the post.  It doesn’t take long.

Optional Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

I’m grateful for the arrival of spring, that books by two of my favorite authors arrived at the library for me, and that the Chicago Blackhawks won their division and are in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

This is Holy Week, so I’m looking forward to Easter, having one of my s-i-l’s coming up for the weekend, spending Easter with friends and making homemade ravioli for the occasion.  At least I’m looking forward to eating the ravioli and making them is never as bad as it sounds, although it does take time.  It’s worth it in the end, though.  🙂

Weekly Photo Challenge: Security…the One

It’s hard to believe that a week ago, I was enjoying my last day in Southern California, taking photos, having the most amazing mocha of my life, and visiting Descanso Gardens (photos will appear on the blog soon.)  The thing I most dislike about a vacation (at least a good one), is how quickly on returning home, it seems as if I’d never been gone.   😦

But here I am in rainy, grey NE Illinois, lasagne/a ingredients ready to assemble later, ready for the photo challenge theme, which today is “Security.”   I’m going to get very personal here.  Although there are obvious things that might make me feel secure, as a Christian, there’s one Person who makes me feel secure and that’s God.  As even my elementary French can tell, this is the verse that says, “For me to live is Christ.”  That’s my security. And the photo reminds me that there’s a funny story about getting to see this church that I haven’t told in the 2 1/2 years since I took the photo.  Upcoming post subject!

Happy Wednesday!