Betsy's blog

The first day of our visit to Julie’s & Chip’s new house was spent at home, touring their new house and exploring the neighborhood.  The house is in the Como Park neighborhood of St. Paul, MN, an older neighborhood, convenient to both the airport and Chip’s new job at the University of St. Paul and within walking distance of Como Park / Zoo and the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.  The houses are older, the Small house being built in 1905, and the neighbors are mostly long-time residents.

Pretty kitchen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Logan decided to sneak off and have an apple snack while we were touring. 

Can’t say I blame him.  They were yummy apples.

Down to the basement

 

 

Down, down….

Nice play area

Thought I had more pics of the basement, but maybe they are on my phone.     The basement is a very comfortable family living area.   That’s where they toys are, and the tv, too.  (We watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics after the kids went to bed Friday night.)  There’s a nice tiled bath with a shower.  John and I slept on the futon, and felt like we had a private suite.

The back yard is built for kids.  A playset with two swings, monkey bars, a slide and a club house resides across the back, next to the garage and its basketball hoop.  The driveway area just outside the garage provides a nice space for riding toys, bikes and sidewalk chalk.

I thin we've got a ball player

He's really pretty good.

Thursday morning we’ll be heading out to Minnesota.  Will see Julie, Chip, Henry and Logan in their new house.  I am so excited that I just couldn’t wait until Thursday to share. I’m not sure what we are going to do this trip…I think a block party is on the schedule, so we’ll get to meet all of the new neighbors.  I’m pretty sure we’ll be having take out too, according to Chip’s blog (http://roseville.patch.com/blog_posts/keeping-cool-in-a-sweltering-summer?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001) although if coolness is the goal, maybe eating in the restaurant is a good idea?  Whatever – good food, good company, count me in.   So….one more day of work…then off we go….

New house - - - John's favorite attribute (yes, he's a UNC fan!!!)

Well, I’ll have to say once again, how glad I am we visited Sonoma last fall, and how glad I am we joined the Sonoma Wine Shop Wine Club.  We signed up to have 4 bottles shipped 3 times per year – 3 reds and 1 white in each shipment.  So far we’ve tried 3 of the 4 from our spring 2012 shipment.

First  we tried the Seabiscuit Ranch Chardonnay.  I’m sure it’s a good quality wine, but FAR too “oaky” for me.  I actually didn’t know what the term “oaky” meant until I tasted this stuff.  It defines oak flavor.  Nothing BUT oak.  In fact, I think I’d have to consider this the IPA of Chardonnays.  Not on my list of favorites.

Next we tried the Wild Hog Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon  It was good.  Not stellar, but good.  I have a fairly high bar when it comes to cabs, though, and I will guess most people would like this wine.

Haywood Estate Zinfandel.  My oh my.  It reminds me of why I love red wine, and makes me wonder why I’m not alcoholic.  So smooth, so rich, I just want to keep rolling it around in my mouth until I realize that if I swallow I can do it all over again.  John might have to take me down if he’s thinking about having that last two tablespoons left in the bottle.

Coming up… Sparrow Hawk Pinot Noir 2009.  The SWS does a great job at selecting wines for the club, so my hopes are high for this one.  I’ll keep you updated.

Last Wednesday, April 11, I packed up my brand new Toyota Highlander, and headed to da Burg.

 
Enjoyed some quality time with my sister. Pizza, shopping, Bingo, more pizza. That’s the life!

 
Morning coffee in the sunshine at the picnic table with neighbors.

Frank, Rocket and Diane

Nice time at Sue’s house with all of the old gang. We look so sober and serious, don’t we? What good acting!

Left to right: Mary Lou, Barb, Betsy, Mary Kay, Sue, Germaine, Cindy - In front: Liz and Cathy (oh, and Stella is in Betsy's lap)

Late night with lots to eat and drink, games to play, catching up and lots of talking.  After just a little sleep, we had a lovely breakfast then headed to downtown Pittsburgh to see Ruthless, the musical, at Pittsburgh CLO.

A few additions to the party folks: Germaine, Cathy, Cindy Mary Kay, Mary Lou, Liz, Betsy, Barb, Sue, Carol

Received a phone call from my brother in law, Tom, while at the play.  Surprised to find out my sister was in the hospital having an emergency appendectomy.  She’s pretty good at hiding symptoms!  Fortunately, the appendix did not rupture, and they were able to perform laparoscopic surgery, and her recovery has been pretty quick.

Tom and I visited Althea Saturday night and Sunday morning, then took some time Sunday afternoon to visit my cousin Kenny Tejchman and his family – wife Joan and son little Adam – north of Butler, PA.  Although I haven’t seen Kenny in something like 40 years, I was happy to find the same old Kenny that I just adored when I was a child.  He acts loud and gruff to hide the gentleness inside.  It  was good to meet Joan and Adam.  I liked Joan a lot, and think we could be friends if we lived a little closer.  Adam is taking after his dad – farming is in his blood.  I LOVED the farm – -  -and am really regretting I didn’t take pictures of the baby cows.  Two weeks old.  They try to suck your fingers.  Lots of cats, a turkey, chickens, guineas, dogs and cows – - – and crops to support the livestock.  I had a fantastic tour all around the farm, and got to see all of the vehicles and equipment (although I’m ashamed to admit I can’t really relate anything about it here.  My memory isn’t what it used to be.)  Take a look at the views from the porch.

My cousin Barb – Kenny’s older sister – joined us for the lovely dinner Joan prepared.  Chicken parmesan with salad and Italian bread, followed by home made carrot cake.  Oh, yum!  Kenny’s daughter, Amber, dropped by for a few moments too.  Amber is a lovely girl, studying to be a nurse.

Joan, Betsy, Kenny, Tom, and little Adam in front

Joan, Betsy, Kenny, Tom

Barb, Betsy, Ken

Me & my cuz

The Higher Education Users’ Group (HEUG) was held in Nashville in 2012 at the Gaylord Grand Old Opry Resort.

Inside the Gaylord Grand Old Opry Hotel

Mallard outside my window

More hotel

Dukies out on the town: Cathy, Kathleen, Val, Tom and Ben.

Inside BB King's

Back at the hotel. Isn't this glass sculpture in the lobby oh-so-pretty?

Back at the hotel. Isn’t this glass sculpture in the lobby oh-so-pretty?

Friday we went to the Forest Learning Center.  It is a very cool place.  We hiked along a trail down to the bottom of a gully, and crossed railroad tracks to get an up close view of the fast moving Missouri River.

Kathleen and Fred Buffett Forest Learning Center

Henry, Logan, Zach and Seth on the buffalo bench at the entrance to the Fontanelle forest.

Off we go, down the trail.

Zach is our scout.

Which way do we go?

Logan

Zach & Seth

The banks of the Missouri

More Missouri R.

Hiker Poover

Neemeister

Cousin buddies.

This time it is all women and kids.  Leah is on spring break, in her second semester of the Physician Assistant program at University of Nebraska Medical Center.  Julie and I decided to help her relax over her break. 

Thursday brought a fun trip to the Omaha Zoo.

Logan

Henry and Aunt Leah watching the tigers.

Zach's smile goes grown-up.

Zach, Logan and Seth in front, with Aunt Julie, Aunt Leah, and Henry in back.

Beautiful tiger

The peacock put on quite a show for us. Zach was captivated.

Watching the baby goats - Zach, Seth, Logan and Henry.

Flew to MSP from RDU absolutely painlessly.  Direct flight, arrived EARLY.  Met by my beautiful girl and her beautiful boys on a beautiful spring day.  Who could ask for more?  We spent some time playing hide n’ seek, riding bikes, and lots of outdoor fun.

It’s a race!!

On Wednesday, we made a big, long drive to Aunt Leah’s house.  The kind of drive that’s so long you get to watch DVDs in the back seat.

We saw windmills in Iowa.  LOTS of windmills in Iowa.  And not much else. 

The next wine is from our most recent Sonoma Wine Shop wine club shipment. Hard to believe it was also the least expensive, because it was SO YUMMY!  Very smooth, and the flavor was just perfect.

The next one brings memories of an interesting evening.  Our friends, Bubba and Vicky, (are you beginning to notice that Bubba and Vicky and us and wine usually all go together?) were supposed to come over for dinner, but were delayed by BREAKING NEWS.  Bubba is the owner of the Carrboro Citizen newspaper, and (while buying the Auka Malbec?) just happened to stumble upon the Occupy Carrboro movement had to stop to take video and tweet the event.  Big excitement for a sleepy town like Carrboro, but when the Citizen staff reporters arrived, Bubba left coverage in their capable hands and brought the news (and the Malbec) to our place.

I’ve taken pictures had hoped to log all the lovely wines I taste, so I can remember the names and recognize the labels later on.  As I browsed back through all the pictures I found that most had some sort of memory or story associated with them, so here is the story of my wines…or the beginning of the story, at least.

Kelley & Young Sauvignon Blanc

We visited Sonoma Wine Shop in September 2011 while visiting the San Francisco area on vacation. This stop on our trip proved to be especially enjoyable. Our host for a wine tasting was a fellow who lived for a while in Asheville, NC, and we immediately bonded with him. He was very chatty, and made sure each wine passed his taste test before we tasted it too. By the end of the tasting, we’d purchased only one bottle of wine, due to luggage limitations, enrolled in the SWS wine club, and left a host who surely must have been even more tipsy than we were. This fine Kelley & Young sauvignon blanc was part of our first wine club shipment. We saved it for Sarah’s and George’s visit at Christmas time, and we all enjoyed it very much. It’s perhaps one of the best white wines I’ve had.

Chateau de Luc Corbieres

This Corbieres (red) came from the Weaver Street Market in Carrboro, via our good friends Bubba and Vicky. It was part of the “Six for Sixty” gift for John’s 60th birthday in November 2010. Not knowing much about French wine, and really liking the look of the bottle in our wine rack, we didn’t pop the cork until about a year later. What a wonderful surprise! Very smooth, with a pleasing flavor. I wish I had a gift for describing the nuances of what a wine tastes like, but unfortunately I cannot. I just know what I like.

Should I be separating reds from whites?