Thursday, November 30, 2006

Why haven't I been posting lately?

I promise, I will show you very soon... I am working on the photos. ;)

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

OK - you wanted to see!

Sorry for the delay - the photo delay has been due to C taking forever to put his digital signature on them (and he refused to let me post them without it). The posting delay has been due to me furiously knitting socks in a panic-stricken state. I am hoping to finish one tonight and cast on for another either tonight or tomorrow. I have to, at a minimum, complete 3 1/3 more socks before Christmas. To add to the excitement, 2 of the pairs I am still working on need to be shipped. My blood pressure was up at the doctor yesterday. Luckily, the nurse understood when I explained :)

OK, on to the photos!


Random street in Venice - I just loved Venice in general. There weren't as many big famous things to look at, but I loved the city. One of my favorite places I have ever been.


View of the Grand Canal in Venice off the Accademia bridge, which was right near our hotel. You can see what gorgeous weather we were having out there.


Maybe THIS was why I loved Venice so much - this was the only yarn shop I saw on our travels. I didn't buy anything, but had to have a photo. (Note the edge of the bridge right next to it, there are over 400 bridges in Venice going over the various canals.)


C and me at our stop in Umbria. Isn't that gorgeous behind us? Unfortunately this one doesn't seem to be looking so good at this size...I think it's a little better if you click on it.


Wonderful pasta in Umbria. And vino! I think I drank about a whole bottle of wine at this lunch. By the time we got to Rome I was feeling hung over!


One of my favorite things about Italy - gelato! I think the flavors here were tiramisu and peanut butter. It's probably a good thing we can't get gelato here (we even had it for dinner one night) or I would be the size of a house. But I miss it.


Me in front of the Trevi fountain, just minutes after two Italian guys got into a fight and ended up IN the fountain, and then were carted off by the cops.


Fun pastry I picked up while wandering Rome. I have no idea what it was called or what was in it, but it was yummy!

I'll do more photos another time, but at least I finally got some up!

Back to the sock frenzy!!!

Monday, November 13, 2006

Clearly we are in demand.

So I went to the post office this morning to pick up the mail that was held while we were gone, and this is what they gave me:


Wow. It took me 20 minutes just to sort that into piles for me, C, and the recycle bin! I'm actually keeping a fair amount of catalogs because I prefer to do my holiday shopping that way (and everyone gets the hint and I get an increasing number of catalogs every year).

Anyway, I am quite jet lagged...it hits in the evenings. Last night I was asleep by 8 pm, and I'm thinking it may not be much later than that tonight.

But! I will mention some of the good meals I had on my vacation (this was one of the big reasons I even went)!
- Gnocchi with scallops and mushrooms, roast duck, and chocolate souffle (Venice)
- Farro and white bean soup, beef with peas, and vanilla bean panna cotta (Florence)
- Fresh spaghetti with tomatoes and lamb, organic pork sausage and chicken (farm in Umbria)
- Big slabs of pizza ordered from a takeout counter, piping hot and wrapped to eat while walking (Rome)

And the gelato! It's nothing, nothing like ice cream here. After my first taste, I ate as much gelato as I could get my hands on, even though it was quite cold in Italy, especially at night. My favorite flavors were tiramisu and coconut, but also had some good dark chocolate, peanut butter, nutella, and chocolate chip. Yum!

Oh, I even had good food in London - though it's not what most people think of as a culinary destination. I had a fabulous lunch of mussels steamed in broth and wine with onions and celery, and fries with vinegar. Mmmm.

C is still working on the vacation photos. I am off to work on a heel flap before going to sleep.

Quick Note

I'm back! (Actually, I'm going into work today too.)

I have lots of stories and tons of pics that will make their way here eventually.

And - because I know you were all wondering, I got one sock completely done while I was gone, and two more are close to halfway. On to the home stretch of Christmas knitting!