Here’s the set up: One day, eight years ago, we moved into our house. To save a bundle of money we gutted the interior of a tear down and started over. After numerous delays we moved in – no kitchen, no carpet, one usable bathroom. It was a day from hell, working for a challenging…

Just a quick post. This has been a hellish week at work. I was talking to a co-worker who had recently signed up for Weight Watchers with her husband. At the first meeting he observed "Wow, this is a great place to meet motivated women." We chuckled at his idea for a pre-emptive strike. They’re…

Thank you for all your birthday wishes, It was quiet here. I doubt the men in my house believed I needed spoiling after my recent dream trip. I took care of myself, though, and booked a mini spa appointment as I am in serious withdrawal. Believe me, I’m not looking for sympathy. Back in Slovakia, this…

Beware the Ides of March. The 15th of March is an auspicious day in history. In the year 44BC Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in the senate by conspiritors led by Brutus and Longinus. In 1906, the Rolls Royce was introduced.The Godfather opened on March 15th, 1972. And in 1954 this blogger was born…

I’m sure some of you could use a break from the Slovakia coverage, besides I’m dying to show off Eyeleen’s Herringbone Rib scarf, cleverly wrapped around a pineapple. Who would have thought… great presentation. The scarf is drop dead gorgeous if you ask me, of course I’m biased. She did six pattern repeats, using a…

Another requirement for a decent vacation is a good book. I brought along "Eat, Pray and Love" an autobiographical account of one woman’s year of transformation; an excellent read by Elizabeth Gilbert. In one chapter she talks about declaring a major for your life. This trip I declared eating and knitting my majors with a…

If you’ve had high school age kids in recent years, you might remember their foreign language teacher’s warning about using Google Translate to complete assignments. One afternoon we were greeted by the hotel’s new fire warning system: "Ladies and Gentlemen, the technic defect was cared here. You shall must leave the building in peace, please.…

My traveling companions and I can now look a pig in the eye, secretly sharing the knowledge of its greatest pleasures. Having spent two weeks at a traditional European health spa, as opposed to a beauty spa, we ere exposed to all manner of piggy pleasures – mainly mud and copious amounts of food. Let…

Yesterday, it was time to put on our ruby slippers and return to our respective Kansases. Is that how you say Kansas in plural? How about Kansai, that’s the name of a local sushi place here in North Vancouver. Cousin Lene is back in Denmark, SIL Ellen in Minnesota, and after three flights and 15…

Well, I’m off to a spa in Slovakia, a dream that my SIL and I have shared for many years. Three Boesen women, two related by blood, one adopted through marriage, all knitters, off to the other side of the dream. To them, a thank you for being part of the dream. To you, a…