Cheers, Daddy!
(Liam doesn't look to sure about his green apple juice.)
Lunch on the piazza
At the wishing well
Taking a break
Town exterior
Thursday, May 9, 2013
European Vacation--San Gimignano
For our first day trip in Tuscany, we opted for the medieval fortified city of San Gimignano (which was close enough to our home base that we could see it in the distance from the sunset viewing spot). Liam was excited to tour a "castle," and we all enjoyed walking on those old stone streets. We saw several towers, piazzas, an old church, enjoyed some lunch and pigeon chasing (well, that last one was only Liam), and came home with some fine cheese, wine, and a couple of olive wood serving pieces as mementos. We thoroughly enjoyed our day there.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
European Vacation, our home base
Once we drove off the ferry, we began our 4 hour trek to the heart of Tuscany, to Casale di Villore near the town of Poggibonsi. We stopped twice, once to get gas and to drug a carsick little boy (Mommy's bad for forgetting to do it that morning), and the next stop was to get some groceries for our home away from home for the week.
It is a lovely place--the buildings have been lovingly renovated into apartments, the grounds are well maintained, and the views could not be beaten! (See for yourselves!) Our little place used to house the olive press for making the olive oil produced on the estate. In fact, that's what the name of our house "Frantoio" means "machine for pressing olives" in Italian. We enjoyed our time here immensely!
It is a lovely place--the buildings have been lovingly renovated into apartments, the grounds are well maintained, and the views could not be beaten! (See for yourselves!) Our little place used to house the olive press for making the olive oil produced on the estate. In fact, that's what the name of our house "Frantoio" means "machine for pressing olives" in Italian. We enjoyed our time here immensely!
Our first snack in Tuscany, overlooking the vines
Our little home
One view from our place
Another view from our place
The view from the prime sunset watching spot on the grounds
My guys
Cool stairs to the pool
The infinity pool--still a bit cold for us to use, but beautiful nonetheless
Sunday, April 28, 2013
European Vacation, days 1-2, Split/Ancona
Geoff, Liam, and I decided to drive to Tuscany for our first "R&R" since arriving nearly a year ago. Yes, you read that correctly. We decided to drive to Italy. Instead of going up and around the Adriatic, we took the overnight ferry from Split, Croatia to Ancona, Italy. Before taking the ferry though, we decided to take advantage of Split. It's a beautiful city on the water with some nice beaches and historic buildings.
We stayed at a lovely hotel a little bit outside of the city. Liam loved the rocks and boats, as well as swimming in the indoor pool with Daddy. After a restful, relaxing night, we headed into Split for lunch and a bit of touring the old city. We saw some really cool things--the ruins of Diocletian's Palace (old Roman emperor who had thoughts of retiring in Split) and a lovely waterside "board"walk. Liam got a bit tired, so we headed back to the car for a quick catnap in the shade before lining up for our ferry boarding.
Once we flashed our passports and gave the men our tickets, we drove onto the boat and headed up to find our cabin. We pulled out of port at 8:30 p.m. and arrived at 7:30 in the morning. It was a pretty easy trip, all things considering. We slept pretty well, had a decent breakfast, and enjoyed a sunrise photo op on the deck before getting back in our car for the four hour drive to our Tuscan destination.
We stayed at a lovely hotel a little bit outside of the city. Liam loved the rocks and boats, as well as swimming in the indoor pool with Daddy. After a restful, relaxing night, we headed into Split for lunch and a bit of touring the old city. We saw some really cool things--the ruins of Diocletian's Palace (old Roman emperor who had thoughts of retiring in Split) and a lovely waterside "board"walk. Liam got a bit tired, so we headed back to the car for a quick catnap in the shade before lining up for our ferry boarding.
Once we flashed our passports and gave the men our tickets, we drove onto the boat and headed up to find our cabin. We pulled out of port at 8:30 p.m. and arrived at 7:30 in the morning. It was a pretty easy trip, all things considering. We slept pretty well, had a decent breakfast, and enjoyed a sunrise photo op on the deck before getting back in our car for the four hour drive to our Tuscan destination.
Outside of our hotel
Lovely yachts
And an even more lovely beach
Chunking rocks
The "board"walk in Split
Old Roman ruin
Guess who passed this way long, long ago?
Geoff and Liam in front of something very old
Our first morning in Italy!
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
(VERY EARLY) Spring in Sarajevo
News of the extended winter back home gives me an odd comfort on days like today when it seems spring will never come. Although I've seen some signs--daffodils blooming, doves nesting, trees budding--it is still pretty chilly AND GRAY. The clouds are relentless. Nonetheless, we've had some fun.
My guys helped me celebrate my 35th birthday.
Geoff and Matt cooked tapas style dishes (complete with wine pairings) for a cocktail party at the Blevins' house. What a fabulous evening! That's my best bud, Anna.
And we took advantage of the surprising and rare sunny afternoon to go outside and blow some bubbles, kick a futbol (soccer ball to us Americans), and run to our hearts' content!
Sunday, April 7, 2013
My Memaw
Three years ago, my family lost Memaw...my grandmother on my mom's side. Mary Viola Brown Watson was 82 when she passed away after several weeks in Hospice care at home. And although I get sad sometimes thinking her not being with us anymore, most days I can look back, remember, and smile.
My Memaw was an amazing woman with a bright, contagious laugh. She was a wonderful Southern cook--her green beans are still the best I have EVER eaten. I can't seem to ever do mine as well, no matter how many times I try. She was a superior hostess--from fancy holiday meals to the usual Sunday afternoon lunch--everything was done on time and presented impeccably. She could have been a professional floral artist. Her arrangements for her own table as well at the altar at church still make me jealous when my own attempts can't rival hers! She was a great (and competitive) golfer. It took something extremely serious for her to miss her tee times with her ladies. She LOVED college football and would NOT sit down when watching her Crimson Tide play. And although I chose to attend "the other school" (according to her), I am pretty sure that my love of college football and my inability to sit still during games is hereditary. She was extremely kind. I was blessed to be able to grow up right next door to my grandparents, and so I got to do more with her than the average granddaughter would be able. I remember visits to the Love Pantry--a goodwill food store in my hometown where she would volunteer once a week. I remember her hugging me close and for a long time when I was crying at my other grandmother's funeral (Mama Jewel) when I was in 2nd grade. I remember sick days on her couch watching the noon Jeopardy together and her ready supply of 7-up for such times. I remember when I would come home from Auburn on the weekends, always going next door to say good-bye before heading back down to campus, and when she'd hug me, she'd usually press a 10 or 20 dollar bill into my hand and simply say, "Pizza money." I remember her sitting next to me at my Alabama baby shower and helping me open gifts. And I remember coming home to see her one last time and to introduce her to her great-grandson Liam, who was a little over 6 months old at the time. It was the last week of her life, and she was not very present most of the time. But when I brought Liam into the room, her face lit up and she KNEW immediately who he was. He even started banging his hand on her medical bed, and she found the strength to say, "Don't let him hurt his little hand." It is a precious last memory.
She was a lovely woman, and I miss her. But I am grateful to be able to carry on some of her traditions (remember her deviled Easter eggs from a couple of posts ago?) and think back on these happy memories as well as those last bittersweet ones. I am grateful to have had the chance to know her, love her, and to say good-bye to her. I love and miss you, Memaw!
My Memaw was an amazing woman with a bright, contagious laugh. She was a wonderful Southern cook--her green beans are still the best I have EVER eaten. I can't seem to ever do mine as well, no matter how many times I try. She was a superior hostess--from fancy holiday meals to the usual Sunday afternoon lunch--everything was done on time and presented impeccably. She could have been a professional floral artist. Her arrangements for her own table as well at the altar at church still make me jealous when my own attempts can't rival hers! She was a great (and competitive) golfer. It took something extremely serious for her to miss her tee times with her ladies. She LOVED college football and would NOT sit down when watching her Crimson Tide play. And although I chose to attend "the other school" (according to her), I am pretty sure that my love of college football and my inability to sit still during games is hereditary. She was extremely kind. I was blessed to be able to grow up right next door to my grandparents, and so I got to do more with her than the average granddaughter would be able. I remember visits to the Love Pantry--a goodwill food store in my hometown where she would volunteer once a week. I remember her hugging me close and for a long time when I was crying at my other grandmother's funeral (Mama Jewel) when I was in 2nd grade. I remember sick days on her couch watching the noon Jeopardy together and her ready supply of 7-up for such times. I remember when I would come home from Auburn on the weekends, always going next door to say good-bye before heading back down to campus, and when she'd hug me, she'd usually press a 10 or 20 dollar bill into my hand and simply say, "Pizza money." I remember her sitting next to me at my Alabama baby shower and helping me open gifts. And I remember coming home to see her one last time and to introduce her to her great-grandson Liam, who was a little over 6 months old at the time. It was the last week of her life, and she was not very present most of the time. But when I brought Liam into the room, her face lit up and she KNEW immediately who he was. He even started banging his hand on her medical bed, and she found the strength to say, "Don't let him hurt his little hand." It is a precious last memory.
She was a lovely woman, and I miss her. But I am grateful to be able to carry on some of her traditions (remember her deviled Easter eggs from a couple of posts ago?) and think back on these happy memories as well as those last bittersweet ones. I am grateful to have had the chance to know her, love her, and to say good-bye to her. I love and miss you, Memaw!
This is the last time we were all together (minus my cousin Mary and my 2nd cousin Wes).
It was June of 2009, and we were celebrating Memaw's 82nd birthday.
Friday, April 5, 2013
The Siege
Today dawned gray and rainy... only fitting for the 21st anniversary of the start of the siege of Sarajevo. Where were you 21 years ago today? What were your concerns? I was most likely at Duran Jr. High School in Pell City, AL, worrying about my troublesome hair and if I would ever have a boyfriend. 21 years ago, the residents of Sarajevo began to fear for the lives every single day for 44 months. That's longer than Liam has been alive! 44 months of terror. I cannot begin to imagine. But I can empathize. One of my traits is that I am a VERY empathetic person. My bleeding heart aches over every sad news story, I cry during all those abused pet commercials, and I cannot watch replays of injuries during sports events because it makes me hurt too. This empathy is why I have been unable to write about the war until now. I was simply unable to do so without collapsing into despair.
It is almost incomprehensible that this siege happened in my lifetime. And while other events have too--the Gulf War, and now our fights in Afghanistan and Iraq...those seem different to me. An innocent party was attacked, and there were/are two armed sides battling each other. I can understand those military ventures. The siege falls into its own category. An army surrounded a city and laid siege to innocent, mainly unarmed CIVILIANS. Everyday, average, normal people...NOT ANOTHER ARMY. I simply cannot understand. 11,541 citizens of Sarajevo died, including over 1,500 children. 1,500 kids died at the hands of a sniper or during a mortar attack. I cry now thinking of those sweet young things. There is no sense in such acts.
"Luckily" for Sarajevo, NATO and the UN began to get involved in 1994, and the siege ended almost 2 years later, at the end of February in 1996. I know it can be politically messy to intervene in civil wars, but I am appalled at some of the stories I've heard....the expired rations the UN sent to the citizens in their time of need (the dogs wouldn't even eat the canned meat), the massacre at Srebenica which was a UN PROTECTED ZONE, the rape camps in Grbavica (the neighborhood we live above and where I now do my marketing)...what took so long? ESPECIALLY when this war was all over the news! I remember the images of the people running between buildings trying to avoid the snipers, some of whom were probably camped out on the very hill my house now sits upon. How could the rest of us just let this happen? I will never know and probably never stop being upset by the inaction of the world and the merciless random violence of the siege.
I may not be able to rid myself of my anger and sadness, but what I can do is tell the story. I can write about the siege so people can learn about and remember what happened. I can photograph the still present evidence so people can see. I can honor the victims in this way so that they are never forgotten. Please pray for those 11, 541 souls, and pray for Sarajevo and Bosnia i Herzegovina. There is still a lot of healing to be done.
It is almost incomprehensible that this siege happened in my lifetime. And while other events have too--the Gulf War, and now our fights in Afghanistan and Iraq...those seem different to me. An innocent party was attacked, and there were/are two armed sides battling each other. I can understand those military ventures. The siege falls into its own category. An army surrounded a city and laid siege to innocent, mainly unarmed CIVILIANS. Everyday, average, normal people...NOT ANOTHER ARMY. I simply cannot understand. 11,541 citizens of Sarajevo died, including over 1,500 children. 1,500 kids died at the hands of a sniper or during a mortar attack. I cry now thinking of those sweet young things. There is no sense in such acts.
"Luckily" for Sarajevo, NATO and the UN began to get involved in 1994, and the siege ended almost 2 years later, at the end of February in 1996. I know it can be politically messy to intervene in civil wars, but I am appalled at some of the stories I've heard....the expired rations the UN sent to the citizens in their time of need (the dogs wouldn't even eat the canned meat), the massacre at Srebenica which was a UN PROTECTED ZONE, the rape camps in Grbavica (the neighborhood we live above and where I now do my marketing)...what took so long? ESPECIALLY when this war was all over the news! I remember the images of the people running between buildings trying to avoid the snipers, some of whom were probably camped out on the very hill my house now sits upon. How could the rest of us just let this happen? I will never know and probably never stop being upset by the inaction of the world and the merciless random violence of the siege.
I may not be able to rid myself of my anger and sadness, but what I can do is tell the story. I can write about the siege so people can learn about and remember what happened. I can photograph the still present evidence so people can see. I can honor the victims in this way so that they are never forgotten. Please pray for those 11, 541 souls, and pray for Sarajevo and Bosnia i Herzegovina. There is still a lot of healing to be done.
Can you see the three cemeteries in this one photo from the bottom of our driveway?
People couldn't even bury their dead in peace.
Parks became graveyards, and funerals were held at dawn or dusk
so that snipers would have a harder time visually.
so that snipers would have a harder time visually.
Bullet holes
Bombed out house right next to a nicely rebuilt home
The memorial to the first two victims of the siege--Suada and Olga--
2 women who were attending a PEACE RALLY when snipers opened fire.
Geoff walks across this bridge to work.
(There is almost always a bouquet of flowers placed here.)
2 women who were attending a PEACE RALLY when snipers opened fire.
Geoff walks across this bridge to work.
(There is almost always a bouquet of flowers placed here.)
More bullet holes
A mortar impact
This video is under three minutes in length. I love the juxtaposition in this piece.
There are only one or two graphic images, but watch at your own discretion.
There are only one or two graphic images, but watch at your own discretion.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Easter Sunday
Easter began bright and early with Liam waking us up so we could tread downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny brought. Geoff was very excited about this.
The Easter Bunny was very thoughtful; Liam got a book, some Legos, a ball that lights up, some stickers, a small car and small airplane, and some candy.
After the excitement wore off, we ate a little breakfast and got busy preparing for the dinner we were hosting later that day. I baked lemon cupcakes and prepared some of my Memaw's deviled Easter eggs. I even got to use her deviled egg serving tray! I wasn't able to procure pickled peaches to put in the middle, but I made do.
After our morning prep work, we headed to the English service at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in the old city. The sun was shining on our walk to the church, and there were lots of people out and about. Once inside the church, we were awed by the beautiful, light-filled interior, and there was even a lady singing in English during times when typically the congregation would sing a hymn. There were a few disruptions, however. Tourists kept coming inside to take pictures during the service, and several children were obsessed with the echoing effects of the acoustics. Liam was an angel and was even seemingly embarrassed when one of his friends from school tried to get his attention! Anyway, it was nice to have an option for church, even though there wasn't any wine at communion.
After church, we hurried home to scarf down a snack lunch before getting ready for our company. Our guests began arriving at 4...just in time for the rain to cancel our egg hunt for the kids. They didn't seem to mind and played inside before dinner began around 5...ham, scalloped potatoes, broccoli salad, roasted ginger carrots, deviled eggs, homemade biscuits, and fresh fruit! It was DELICIOUS, and we barely had any leftovers. After dinner, a couple of guests headed home, and Liam and Lane snuggled on the couch for a bit. Guess they were a bit pooped after such a great day.
It was a very nice Easter, and we hope yours was as enjoyable as ours. Our love to all!
The Easter Bunny was very thoughtful; Liam got a book, some Legos, a ball that lights up, some stickers, a small car and small airplane, and some candy.
Reading First the Egg, by Laura Vaccaro Seeger.
After the excitement wore off, we ate a little breakfast and got busy preparing for the dinner we were hosting later that day. I baked lemon cupcakes and prepared some of my Memaw's deviled Easter eggs. I even got to use her deviled egg serving tray! I wasn't able to procure pickled peaches to put in the middle, but I made do.
After our morning prep work, we headed to the English service at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in the old city. The sun was shining on our walk to the church, and there were lots of people out and about. Once inside the church, we were awed by the beautiful, light-filled interior, and there was even a lady singing in English during times when typically the congregation would sing a hymn. There were a few disruptions, however. Tourists kept coming inside to take pictures during the service, and several children were obsessed with the echoing effects of the acoustics. Liam was an angel and was even seemingly embarrassed when one of his friends from school tried to get his attention! Anyway, it was nice to have an option for church, even though there wasn't any wine at communion.
After church, we hurried home to scarf down a snack lunch before getting ready for our company. Our guests began arriving at 4...just in time for the rain to cancel our egg hunt for the kids. They didn't seem to mind and played inside before dinner began around 5...ham, scalloped potatoes, broccoli salad, roasted ginger carrots, deviled eggs, homemade biscuits, and fresh fruit! It was DELICIOUS, and we barely had any leftovers. After dinner, a couple of guests headed home, and Liam and Lane snuggled on the couch for a bit. Guess they were a bit pooped after such a great day.
Three little bunnies: Liam, Lane, and Ayanna
Worn out!
It was a very nice Easter, and we hope yours was as enjoyable as ours. Our love to all!
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