Skiing!

Big smiles! Ben and I have just returned from a weekend in the mountains! Living just beside the Vosges hills, the recent low temperatures and snowy days have made me yearn for the slopes. When I was younger I went skiing all the time with my family and so winter has become connected with the desire to drink hot chocolate while talking about the latest run and snow conditions :-) Listening to my heart, Ben booked us into the 'Auberge du Lac Blanc' on Friday night. The only thing was, as soon as we arrived we knew we wanted to stay longer... and so quickly reserved for Saturday night as well. Which meant, after a great day's skiing on Saturday we came off the piste and then had the luxury of reheating at the hotel- (hot chocolate for me and coffee for Ben) . Which in turn meant that we could go for a snowy walk and enjoy the evening and all before dinner! Really, it was just ideal and only and hour and a bit's drive from the house. Hopefully, this'll mark the first of many weekends :-)

Returning home today we found a parcel from Sam containing... freshly caught.. wonderfully vegetarian... haggis! So tomorrow night - with neeps and tatties - we'll enjoy a feast fit for Scottish poets :-) Thanks girl!

my sweater

Hello,

A big thanks to Mum, Annette, and Juliette for helping me with not only this sweater but also with the couple of scarfs I've knitted/am in the process of knitting. Heaven knows I wasn't born a natural knitter, but that just makes me all the happier to have finished my first sweater. Next task? a woolen poncho! Here goes.....

ps/for those interested (Jane, Mary, Alena, Melanie etc) you can see my rather cluttered writing space behind - filled with photos and memories and, of course, empty cups of tea.

Oh brother!

Much to my delight, my brother Graham and I spent ages talking on the phone last night!! He's travelling around New Zealand at the moment and his phonecalls are fun because they go rather like this:

G: You know its 7.45am NZ time and I'm standing in a wee village.
R: Where?
G: Rotura.
R: (typing Roturainto google) http://www.tourism.net.nz/new-zealand/about-new-zealand/regions/rotorua.html Oh, Rotura, that's in the North island.
G: Yes, close to hobbiton.
R: What?
G: You know where the Hobbit village was filmed.
R: (typing hobbiton)http://www.hobbitontours.com/ That looks funny.
G: Yep, but I'm not going there as people say its a bit naff.
R: So, what are you doing today?
G: I'm going zorbing.
R: What? (typing 'zorbing NZ' into google.)
G: You know the hamster ball thing.
R: Oh: http://www.tourism.net.nz/new-zealand/attractions/adventure/zorbing/rotorua/
G: Only I don't know whether to do the dry run or the one with the bucket of water inside.
R: (reading the webpage) They say the dry run makes you feel less sick.
G: Well, I'll probably do the wet run then.
R: Yep, that sounds better. So, what have you been doing for the last few days?
G. Hiking my way through a national park, watching hawks dive on possum that have become roadkill, and listening to Kiwis scuffle about in the dark.
R: What does a Kiwi look like?
G: I was too cosy in my tent to go and look.
R:(typing Kiwi into google) Well, they say the Kiwi is 'The kiwi is canny, strong and stroppy, but it's vanishing from New Zealand at a rate of 5.8 percent every year. '
G: Yep, its a kind a silly, flightless bird.
R: yep, but you shouldn't mess with it because 'Despite its awkward appearance, a kiwi can actually outrun a human and have managed to survive because of their alertness and their sharp, three-toed feet, which enable them to kick and slash an enemy.'
G: Glad I stayed in my tent, then!

And so on and so on!!!

:-)

Cheers Graham, and watch out for those canny strong and stroppy Kiwis (as they sound awfully female to me!).

love,
Robynx

Molsheim

Here's a picture of Molsheim from the quite, quite, frozen vineyards!
(If you see the blog for October, you'll see quite a different picture of Molsheim!)

Snowy Walks

My friend Jane who has recently moved to the Ukraine just posted some snowy pictures on her blog. Not to be outdone, I thought I'd do the same!

As the temperature gauges read -5°C, I donned my thick socks and woolly scarf for a wintry walk through the local vineyards.

As the snow crunched underfoot, a kestrel circled overheaded and the distant sounds of children playing with their dog echoed all around. It was really lovely, as all the trees had frozen into place and so any colour or movement became really bright and important.

All the same, the nicest thing of all was to come back home and to settle down with some warm milk and a slice of Ben's homemade ham and nut bread!

Happy New Year!

Hello,

It's been a while since I last said 'hello' - so I hope alls well at your side and that you're enjoying the beginnings of the new year.

For my part, mum and dad came across for Christmas and so we visited the Christmas market in Strasbourg, Haut Keonigsbourg, and generally relaxed and enjoyed ourselves.

Then, for New Year, Ben and I drove down through Switzerland and Italy to Nice (where we used to live and where his parents currently live). Once there we caught up with some old friends and spent time with Jean Claude and Annette. On the first day of the New Year we donned our new roller blades and went for a skate and a skitter along the Cagnes promenade next to the sea!

The, phew, for Epiphany we went through to visit Juliette and Regis in Germany - where the girls knitted and the boys played 'Age of Empires 3'! It was all very enjoyable as we chilled out and had time for a wintry walk around the town.

Now, Ben and I are back in Molsheim and we - very importantly - have nothing planned for this weekend, except catching up with unfinished jobs around the house and contacting old friends.

So, here's hoping that you are well and that life continues at this happy and relaxed pace :-)

love n hugs,
Robyn