Bob & I went wine tasting with our son, Ty & daughter-in-law, Monika.
Winderotter Winery in Plymouth, Amador County, California has a wonderful selection of wines.
We tasted both reds and whites ended up taking some of each home with us.
Our visit to Runquist Winery, in that same area, was a delight, too.
Later, we returned to Placerville and had dinner at a delicious Thai Restaurant. Our grandson, Jordan, joined us.
If you’re ever fortunate enough to visit Amador County, I hope you will make it a point to visit those two wineries and enjoy a meal at the Tasty Thai. I know you’ll be as delighted as we were.
Now, I gotta get off my computer and join the fun. My family gives me a bad time when I am on the internet instead of interfacing with them!!
Happy Day after Thanksgiving! It’s a heat wave – we’re finally above freezing! The icicles are melting.
Time to “cool it” and let the turkey and stuffing settle while making turkey soup with the leftovers.
Our dear friends, the Humphreys, invited us to share the Thanksgiving feast with them. Such a lot of food! God bless them; they sent half the leftovers home with us. We are enjoying them a lot!!
Bob and I tried not to overstuff ourselves. Not easy!!
Kathy set a really pretty table.
Meantime, in Maryland, our friend Laina is recuperating from surgery, so her daughter, Katy, came over and created a phenomenal meal. Take a look at that turkey. Isn’t it beautiful? Katy’s sister and her fiance’ joined them. Thank God for our technology, we are able to share photos and greetings with one another.
In California, our son, Ty, and his wife, Monika celebrated Thanksgiving with his in-laws, two of his kids and two grandkids at a time-share in Napa. Here is a wreath they made with expressions of their gratitude. Don’t you love it?
On Thanksgiving Day, Ty and his son (our grandson,Jordan) plus his daughter (our granddaughter, Faith) and her husband participated in a “Turkey Trot.” Good for them, huh?
I have a wonderful picture of the whole family, but with my two great-granddaughters in the photo, I can’t post it. You’ll just have to imagine it!
I hope your Thanksgiving weekend is filled with more family and friends gathering to celebrate your blessings with you.
Dig deep in your brain Remember November now It’s gratitude month
In Novembers past Remember who you shared with Then count your blessings
Time has changed a lot Large gatherings here are gone I hope they’ll return
Family is so precious!
Family: the people you choose to love
Remember the yummy spread of food?
Photo by Anna Tukhfatullina Food Photographer/Stylist on Pexels.com
Remember the days When decorations were seen All around the house?
Will we still create A festive mood this season Without the big crowd?
Don’t cry for me! We won’t gather round this table this year for our Thanksgiving celebration… but we will be with dear friends – and our son will be with family in a lovely California destination.
My heart goes out to family and friends who will experience The Empty Chair this year.
Several of our friends Relate to the empty chair Missing who was there
If you’re only two And the group is not around Be grateful for two
Thank the Lord you have One another and rejoice Then join friends of choice
Have a Memorable and Blessed November!
God bless You! Lotsa Love, JanBeek
God Bless My “friend of choice!” I’m so grateful to have him here… (That was our 60th anniversary photo!)
The last two days of our marvelous three week trip to Switzerland were a bustling, busy, blessed time. Our daughter, DeDe, and her hubby, André, treated us royally with a trip to Chamonix, France on Monday and then a tour of the Gruyère Cheese Factory in Gruyère, Switzerland on Tuesday.
Up, up, up and over!
That’s the Rhone River Valley below. We were headed through Switzerland to France. It was a surprise gift for us plus De’s best buddy, Laina (our daughter#2), and her daughter, Katy.
Wow! Look at this chalet next to ours. We stayed in one named “Soli.” (That’s De’s hubby’s nickname) Enjoy the views out of every window!
See the snow covered peaks up there? We took a cog train up to that glacier!!
After settling into our beautiful chalet, we walked to the place where the cog train (tram) took us up to the top of the high peaks where the glacier is. With climate change, it is melting fast!
Here are Laina, DeDe & Katy – taking the tram up to the glacier that you could see from that first window view.
Bob with Laina & Katy at the glacier.
Here’s a live view of that trip up in the tram to the glacier…
That night we were treated to a phenomenal dinner. My choice was veal with mushroom sauce. Mmmmm! Thank you, De & Andrê.
We’re so grateful for their love of us and one another … and their generosity!
Tuesday morning we drove back up and over the mountains into Switzerland to another surprise destination: the town of Gruyere. Gruyere is our favorite cheese. How fun to see the place where it is made!
Wow! Look at the gruyere cellar where the rounds are aging!
De is showing us how heavy a round of gruyere is!
Tuesday night we returned to De & Andre’s chalet in Vissoie. We packed, and prepared to go to Geneva to fly home. Wednesday was supposed to be a smooth set of flights home. However, with the Queen’s Procession, our flight to London was delayed, so we missed our connecting flight from Denver and had to spend the night there. This morning we finally made the flight to Bozeman where our kind neighbor, Gary, met us and drove us home. It’s a gray, dull, cool day … not like the warm, blue sky days of Switzerland. We’re spoiled! But our hearts are filled with the beauty and warmth of our fabulous trip.
The rolling hills and milk-producing cows of the Gruyere area.
Here’s the fun of cheese fondue and having our grandson, Nick, join us. Our 3 grandsons & their sweethearts were with us for so many fun and delicious occasions. What a joyous three weeks we had!
Goodbye, France and Switzerland… thanks for the memories!
Thanks so much for traveling with us. Back to reality in Montana now. (Not a bad place to return to – just a little smokey and cool right now)
Seeing the falls he named in honor of his queen, David Livingstone wrote in his journal, “Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight.”
Waterfalls and all God’s natural beauty affect me the same way. This country of Switzerland is so full of those “scenes so lovely.”
Waterfalls and bridges in Switzerland amaze me!Chalets with lovely flowers aboundThis was on the way to Zinal yesterday But De & André’s is the best!
As we venture out, the lovely scenes are amazing in every season here.
Tania at Hotel Weisshorn – photo by Mike Solioz – taken last autumnWay back when … we climbed waaay up with DeDe.
Scenes so lovely!
Flowers are abundant in private gardens and public places. André’s croûtes au fromage (potato or bread w cheese, etc.) is a Valaisan specialty. It’s a “scene so lovely” too!
André and De are so generous as they share their chalet, meals, transportation and their love with us and with De’s best buddy (our daughter #2 Laina) and her daughter Katy. What a grand reunion we had with them here yesterday!
Katy, Laina, me, Bob & DeDe
Hebrews 13:16 “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
Last night Mike & Tania joined us for a fun evening of raclette & karaoke. Chris & Nick and their girlfriends came, too. Ah, we are so blessed with this wonderful Swiss family!
Thanks for joining me and sharing these “Scenes so Lovely” today. Wish you were here in person! Come back tomorrow, okay? See ya then (God willing).
Yesterday our daughter, DeAna, drove us down into the Rhône River Valley, through Sierre, and up into the Alps on the other side to an area called Crans-Montana. It is where she & André lived 30 years ago when they first moved here. On the hillside e hind the restaurant André managed way back then are a few chalets. One of them, built in 1772, is owned by ZuZu & Célia. They invited us to spend the day there with them.
ZuZu (Christian Zufferey) was our AFS son in 1980-81. He is André’s first cousin. He and Célia prepared an amazing meal for us! The first plate was an outstanding eggplant quiche. The second plate was lamb (my favorite) and a ratatouille. All the vegetables they grew in their gardens here in this gorgeous high Alpine place.
The opportunity to be together again with ZuZu was so very special. After the meal we shared various liqueurs – also made by them using various fruits, etc. that they grew.
After our time there, De took us back down into Sierre where we had a nice visit with our friend, Christiane Rielle.
Then (as if day was not already blessed enough), we were treated by our DeDe and our grandson, Nick, to a wonderful dinner at Capri Restaurant in Sierre before returning to Vissoie for the night.
Then today we went on a guided tour of Sierre. Our grandson, Mike’s new bride, Tania, provided the tour. At the Sierre Tourisma Office, my buddy Terry found a hat for a souvenir… and I found a terrific pair of funky glasses that I could not resist!
Now you can see why I didn’t bring a pair of sunglasses with me on this trip. I needed THIS pair!!
Bob, Jim & Terry Groshong, our MT/CA best friends, learned all about the history of Sierre. There is the town hall behind the 4 of us. If you saw my post about Mike & Tania’s civil ceremony, it’s the same place where they were married last weekend.
Then Tania guided us to an old (1700s) chalet. Look at they key Jim is holding. It opened the cellar door where we did some wine tasting.
Next Tania drove us to Chateau Mercier where she explained the history and we tasted more fine Swiss wines.
Lovely Chateau Mercier has beautiful gardens, too. We walked around and admired them before going to Chateau Villa for Raclette dinner. Mike joined us there.
Mike & Tania’s church ceremony is Sept. 20, so we have another couple weeks here to enjoy the hills alive with family. Stay tuned!
Jim & Terry will leave tomorrow – so you can say farewell to them for now nit’s been wonderful to have them with us this week!
I can never tire of these beautiful Swiss Alpine views! Come back tomorrow. We’re going to take the bus down to stay with André’s mom. I’ll share those views with you, too..
Thanks for traveling vicariously with us! Bee 🐝 well, dear friends! See you tomorrow (God willing).
Yesterday and today we woke to the magical sound of children across the road from our bedroom here in Vissoie, Switzerland. What a joy!
Yesterday evening we were treated to an Alphorn concert. Nine dear people (one being our grandson, Mike) played this age-old instrument. I became acquainted with it when I was a child. My Uncle Hans was my mom’s oldest sister’s husband. He was a young German-Swiss cheese maker when he moved from Switzerland to Washington back in the 1930’s. He & Aunt Evelyn had 3 children. He taught them all to yodel and he taught his son, my cousin, Hanslie, to play the alpenhorn.
Mike is on the left.
My mom would be so proud to know her great-grandson is following in the musical tradition of her family! I get sentimental and cry when I hear these instruments and think of how mom & my aunt and uncle would have adored hearing this!
Today our friends, Jim & Terry, are here to enjoy a few days with us in this marvelous place. Last night they were able to meet Mike & Tania and we all celebrated Jim’s 75th and DeDe’s 55th together. André fixed an incredible dinner of ribs with a medley of vegetables. Yum!!
Here is yesterday’s delicious roast beef lunch.
Last night’s ribs
It is so wonderful to have my forever friend, dear Terry here to share these experiences with us.
This is Vissoie’s Main Street
Later this morning we’ll walk down that street and get a few groceries at the store. Wish you were here to go walking with us!
See ya later! Thanks for traveling vicariously with me. Hugs, JanBeek
This is “Lucille.” Yesterday we joined 12 friends and went on a trail ride into the Gravelly Range above Antelope Basin.
Lucille is our ATV (all terrain vehicle). Because she’s a redhead on whom we have a ball, we named her after the actress/comedian, Lucille Ball.
Are you old enough to remember her?
Anyway, we met at Antelope Basin about 50 miles south-west of Ennis, and took the trails through the Gravelly Range to our destination of Hidden Lake.
It was a blue-sky-perfect day with temperatures not rising above 80 degrees. We had not been up to this site for over a year. In the meantime forest fires had ravaged the trees and changed the landscape.
This tree was lush and green last time we were here.
We stopped and chatted with our friends awhile before taking a lunch break.
Good buds: Sherry Riggs and Penny Hocking
TazE was quite interested in what Rex & Penny Hocking were getting from Linda Schott. Mmm … fresh and yummy Flathead cherries!
TazE was interested in Bob’s Cheetos, too!
After lunch we traveled on up to the lookout above Henry’s Lake.
The wildflowers were prettier than I have ever seen them this late in the summer. We had quite a wet spring and that helped!
Traveling back down, we could see our Madison Valley in the distance.
We gathered to take a group photo of our ATV friends. And then some couples and quartets, too.
Top left: Kris & Bob (CG’s cousin) with CG & Caroline Bottom left: Penny & Rex Right: Sue & Bob Welna
Here are our five ATV’s. You can see that Lucille stands out among all those earth tones!
Most of the way to and fro the trail was a road also traveled by cowboys in their pickups, tending the the cattle up in the verdant fields.
Some of the trail was rocky, steep and pretty hairy. But, we managed just fine… and I am so grateful that Bob and I both had enough stamina to enjoy the trip.
We Thank the Lord for our neighbors/friends (the Welnas and Hockings) who came to help Bob prepare Lucille for the trip, and then returned this morning to help him put her back away. God bless them!!
Maybe you’ll come join us one of these days for a Montana trail ride. Ya think?
I’d be tickled to see you!
Just give me a call and let me know when you’re coming. We’d love to see you and treat you to a Montana trail ride!
Thanks for visiting JanBeek See ya tomorrow (God willing)
Click on the link below if you’d like to enjoy Dale Evans & Roy Rogers (my favorite cowboy) singing “Happy Trails to You.”
Enjoying Sunday Remembering Saturday And Fish on Friday
Sunday began with this prayer-filled good morning photo from my friend Lisa in North Carolina
After church, Sunday continues with our TazE needing attention and us trying to just relax!
Saturday memories include a wonderful evening shared with Bob and dozens of friends at the Madison Valley Ranchland’s annual “Noxious Weed Dinner and Auction.”
Check out Bonny Morningstar Guzzo on Facebook to see her wonderful pictures of that highly successful event.
Friday memories include our walk along the Madison River in Lion’s Club Park where this beautiful painted fish sculpture greets us.
The painting on the fish inspires the Haiku poet in me.
“Father, please teach me I want to learn how to fish To fish like you, Dad“
Back home, the clouds keep the day cooler as the sun plays peek-a-boo The trees provide welcomed shade And the birds serenade you
The breeze causes the wind chimes To sing a lullaby Reminding me of my sis, Sally She’d love this place as much as I
The deer come quietly to rest Beneath the shade of verdant trees They promise not to nibble But who can trust deer like these?
Time to think about a meal Don’t know what I’d like to cook Need to go check out the fridge Maybe left-overs -Have a look!
Mmmm… I can see shrimp Waiting for the coconut Time to make the sauce
Hope all is well with you. Thanks for sharing my weekend memories vicariously with me.
Now it is your turn What are your best memories Of this great weekend?
JanBeek 