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Posts tagged ‘vacation’

Update on 2Beeks

Bob & I have “2Beeks” on our car’s license plate.
With the last name of Beekman, the nickname “Beek” is a natural.
Sometimes we catch people driving past us, looking strangely at us.
I imagine they are looking to see if we have particularly long noses!

I have a few new followers who joined JanBeek this month.
I think WordPress’s “Bloganuary” has brought them here.
Thank you!

If you are one of them, you may not have seen the post
where I showed our family a few evenings ago
sitting around the dinner table discussing our ancestry.

We gave Bob a bad time about his “honker” (beak by another name)
and we showed him how he inherited it from his great-grandfather!
Tonight we are giving Bob a bad time for another reason:
His honker is doing a lot of honking! He has RSV.

This respiratory virus put him in the hospital in Napa on January 1st.
What a way to start the new year, huh? RSV is nasty!
After spending the night there, he was dismissed Jan. 2nd
and we were able to travel back to our son’s to recuperate.

This is not the way we hoped to begin the new year.
But the good news is we had the option of coming
back to Placerville – it was a sunny CA day today.
The recuperation time is greatly appreciated!


Bob’s cough is getting better… and soon we will be
able to hit the road and return home to Montana.
It’s not what we intended, of course, for this “vacation.”
We wanted to visit friends in Pebble Beach –
and spend time with Bob’s brothers in the CA valley.

But, we are grateful that when this curve ball
was thrown at us, we had a beautiful alternative.
Thank God for loving family and friends, right?
God has a plan for why this has happened!

“And we know that for those who love God
all things work together for good,
for those who are called
according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:28

God knew we needed more rest and relaxation!
Our house isn’t ready to return there now anyway!

Our soft and marred fir floor’s being replaced with amazing old wood from a 1921 silo!

We hope your year has started off happily.
We pray you’re healthy and dong what you want to do.
We trust the Lord has us right where He wants us.
And we hope, dear friends, the same is true for you.

Happy New Year!

What’s an update on what’s happening in your life?
I’d love to know how your New Year began.
Thanks for visiting JanBeek.
See ya tomorrow (God willing)

Category:

Bible Lessons, blessings, Faith, Family, God, Gratitude, health, holidays, kindness, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Living in Harmony, Love, Poetry, prayer, relationships, Serving One Another, Travel

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Embrace Chalet Dreams

I have always loved Swiss chalets. How about you? I copied the picture of this one off the web at the time Bob & I were dreaming about the possibility of building a chalet of our own in California. (That was before we traveled to Montana, fell in love with the wide open spaces, the wild animals, and the Rocky Mountains – and bought our home here in Ennis).

As you know, we just returned from a trip to Switzerland because our daughter married a Swiss, has three of our grandsons there, and now has a Swiss chalet of her own! We needed to see her in her new setting.

DeAna remembers that when she was a child, we had a Swiss chalet music box. When you opened its lid, it played Edelweiss. Maybe she dreamed of one day having a real one. You think?

Ah, great it is to believe

by Edwin Markham

Ah, great it is to believe the dream
As we stand in youth by the starry stream;
But a greater thing is to fight life through
And say at the end, the dream came true!

Yes!! It is De & Andre’s chalet
Relais des Melezes Hotel and Restaurant

Here are some photos of chalets that we took on our trip to Switzerland this month. The first one of De & Andre’s! It has 4 hotel rooms above with the restaurant below. De & Andre’ live in one of those rooms and rent the other three. We stayed in one of them. Such fun!!

Which one would you dream of having for your vacation home? (I couldn’t afford to live there year-round… oh my, the cost of living is wonderful, but prohibitive unless you work there. The exchange rate for USA dollars to Swiss francs was – oh my!!)

You can see that we were very happy to be blessed to visit Switzerland, to see all those beautiful chalets and tour villages like Grimentz. W do not take this privilege for granted, believe me. God is good! We are living to see our dreams come true – and to witness our daughter’s dreams being fulfilled, too. What more can we ask?

He Had His Dream

He had his dream, and all through life,

Worked up to it through toil and strife.

Afloat fore’er before his eyes,

It colored for him all his skies:

The storm-cloud dark

Above his bark,

The calm and listless vault of blue

Took on its hopeful hue,

It tinctured every passing beam —

He had his dream.

by Paul Laurence Dunbar

How about making your dreams come true? Dreaming of a trip to Switzerland, too? Why not go stay in one of De & Andre’s rooms?

Trip Advisor says:

5.0Excellent10 reviews#1 of 2 B&Bs / Inns in Vissoie Family-owned & family-operated auberge/restaurant in the heart of the Val d’Anniviers close to the resort destinations of Grimentz, Zinal, St. Luc and Chandolin. Rooms and restaurant have recently been renovated. André and DeAna have created a cozy, warm, and friendly atmosphere to make your stay/meal in our corner of the world one to remember.

Check it out! Here’s what Booking.com has to say:

www.booking.com › hotel › chRelais des Mélèzes, Vissoie – Updated 2021 Prices

Located in Vissoie, Relais des Mélèzes has a bar, ski-to-door access, terrace, and free WiFi. This 3-star hotel offers a concierge service. The hotel features family rooms. At the hotel, the rooms are fitted with a desk, a flat-screen TV, a private bathroom, bed linen and towels. All rooms will provide guests with a wardrobe and a kettle.

We’re not prejudiced… We’re her parents!

Go have a cup of coffee with DeDe.
I’ll tell her to leave the light on.
You tell her we sent you!

Thanks for visiting JanBeek today.
I hope I fueled your chalet dreams!

See ya tomorrow (God willing)!

Category:

Family, flowers, Love, Memories, music, Poetry, relationships, Travel

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Back in the Routine

After 5 weeks of vacationing with friends and family in California, and two days of sorting through 5 weeks of piled-up mail, I am back in the routine (sort of). Missed my sanctuary time this morning… am headed up there now (as soon as I post this).

As you can see, looking beyond into the living room, my Christmas decorations still are up. That was today’s job – along with bill paying. Had to get right on it after breakfast cuz I had a friend coming over.

That’s only a portion of the mail we accumulated at the post office while we were gone. Most of it was junk. That went into another pile to be thrown away.

Bob’s busy sorting and responding to mail, too.

After lunch we took a break and I did some of my usual: checked at the P.O. for more mail, visited my “Senior Friend” who lives alone, and visited friends in the Manor Nursing Home. It was good to see them after all this time away.

As I was leaving the house, headed to the P.O. and Manor, our neighborhood “pets” greeted me. They were out in the field, and then crossed the driveway in front of me. They stopped in the sunshine over in the neighbor’s field and looked at me. “Welcome Home!” they seemed to say!

That’s the snow-peaked Madison Range beyond our valley over there. Big Sky Ski Resort is in those mountains. The sun shone brightly these last two days since we’ve been home, I told friends I brought it with me from California!

Not to be outdone, my friend, Jacquie, sent me a photo of her neighborhood “pets.” They were walking along her driveway… a mama moose and her youngin’ – so adorable!

Approaching my friend, Ray’s house, his neighborhood “pets” were lounging in his yard. Ah, it is so good to be back in the place where the deer and the antelope roam (and the moose too)!!

Back home, I helped my friend with the Christmas tree and other remnants of the holidays. They needed to be taken down and put away. And my house needed tidying. Thank God for Tracy. I couldn’t have done it without her!

Ah yes, January 30th… time to put the tree away for another year.

How did you spend your day?

No place like home! Blue skies, puffy clouds,…
We are grateful to God for this place.
We feel so blessed!

Thanks for dropping by.
Leave a comment for JanBeek, will ya?

I love hearing from you!
See ya tomorrow.

Category:

blessings, Christmas, friendship, Giving, God, Gratitude, happiness, holidays, Love, Montana, mountains, nature, pets, Serving One Another, Travel

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Walk with Me

Walk with me today;
Enjoy the clear, fresh, warm air.
It’s good for your soul.

The sky is blue-blue;
The flowers are lovely, too.
Let’s pick up our pace.

Let’s share the sidewalk
With the Canadians here;
They, too, took a break…

… A break from freezing
Temperatures in their homeland.
This feels awfully good!

Australian neighbors
Took a break from the fires.
Let’s all pray for rain.

We are blessed, we know,
To have our health and our strength.
We live gratefully.

Back in our condo,
Angel with accordion
Shows us we belong.

How’d the owner know
This accordionist with
Fake wings would appear?

Hah! It’s a God-thing!

My sense of humor
Is alive and well today;
Must be the fresh air …

… Or the effects of
The fresh fruit and the honey
I had for breakfast!

I wish you could be
Enjoying this vacation
With Bob and me here.

Thanks for joining us.
See ya tomorrow
with more Rancho Mirage sights.

What are your plans for the rest of today?

Category:

blessings, contentment, flowers, food, Gratitude, Haiku, happiness, health, Living in Harmony, Love, peace, Poetry, Travel

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V = Vacations

Day #22 of my A – Z series of “What Makes Me Happy?”

 

VACATIONS

Time off from routines

And a change of scenery

Are good for the soul

IMG_3450

lighthouse

Photo by Anand Dandekar on Pexels.com

And for the body!

sliced vegetable and cooked food on white ceramic plate

Photo by icon0.com on Pexels.com

A change of menu

Foods that taste and look different

Good for the spirit

New places to climb

To take routine off your mind

Are good for the heart

IMG_9339

Family and friends
Sharing stories and good wine
Make life much more fine

IMG_9414

Vacations mean fun
With our son and daughter, too
What is fun for you?

IMG_0349

I love my bloggers
Who take a break to come read
You encourage me

Madison Range between spruce

Vacations are great

They make me happy, and yet

There’s no place like home.

What’s the”V” word that makes you happy?

pexels-photo-1550342-1

(Victory for courageous women…. that was my hubby’s answer!)

Category:

blogging, Family, friendship, Haiku, holidays, Love, mental health, Montana, Sharing, Travel

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Retirement Vacation

IMG_1054

Retirement Vacation

A “Vacation” means to vacate

The work, the folks, the place –

To leave behind the stress and strain –

Get off the treadmill; leave the rat race.

But what if you’re retired

And you like the things you do?

What if you don’t have to work?

What’s a break from routine for you?

A “Staycation” means to stay put.

You don’t have to hop in a car.

You don’t need an RV or trailer.

You can take a break right where you are.

Stay in your retirement spot –

In the beautiful place where you give.

Continue to play with friends each day.

Your Staycation is the way that you live.

Gather your toys and relish your friends.

Invite family to come from afar.

You don’t have to vacate to live the good life.

You’re living it daily – right where you are.

Jan Beekman

7/21/17

Category:

Family, Gratitude, Life and Death, Living in Harmony, Love, pets, Travel

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Our Trip to Switzerland – Part Two

Our Grandsons

My husband, Bob, and I went to Switzerland June 27 through July 16 this year. It was our best Swiss vacation ever! One of the reasons it was so great is that our three grandsons, Mike, Nick, and Chris were such a joy to be around. Nick joined us for lunch our first day there. Tante (Aunt) Irene did, too. We ate at Le Rothorn, the restaurant (bar and grill) that our daughter and son-in-law own there in Sierre, the Sun City of Valais, Switzerland. Andre’, a master chef, prepared chicken in curry sauce over rice with veggies. His meat sauces are the best! The restaurant is a place people go for a cup of coffee and a place to read the newspaper in the morning. The plate of the day is a popular lunch time fare. Lunch is the main meal of the day. The menu includes typical Swiss dishes of cheese, chicken, pork, beef, cheval (horse), and pastas. The bar is the most popular part of Le Rothorn, in spite of Andre’s wonderful cooking skills. I wish more people came to enjoy his talents!

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Our youngest grandson, Chrissy, joined us up in the apartment after he finished work. De & Andre’ and the boys live in a three bedroom, one bath, no kitchen apartment above the restaurant. They allowed us to stay with them during the first four days of our visit. The boys all bunched up in Mike’s room on two beds and the floor so we could have Nick & Chris’s beds. We really appreciated it because staying with them gave us a chance to really have quality time with our grandsons who have grown from “boys” to young men since we saw them two and a half years ago.

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At age 17, Chris has quit regular school, lived for 7 weeks in Germany with a family (to try and learn to speak that language), and then returned to enter a nursing apprentice program. He works three days a week at the Nursing Home in Sierre and attends classes two days each week to get his vocational nursing certificate. Chris has a tender heart. He is a compassionate, thoughtful young man with a bright future ahead of him.  Bob and I enjoyed several long, insightful discussions with him during our three weeks together.

Nick, likewise, entered an apprentice program – but he finished his regular schooling near the top of his class and chose to go to work as an apprentice at SwissCom, the state owned telephone company, rather than going on to college at age 17. Now, as a 19 year old with two years of experience in the work world under his belt, he has his resume’ out and is looking for a job before going for a year to serve in the army. Army is mandatory for young men in Switzerland. After that year, Nick plans to go back to school to become a “mediamatician.” He plays a mean steel guitar, has a magnetic personality, and is the life of every party.

To complete the grandson picture, Mike (21) also is an apprentice. He worked last year as an assistant to a disabled 12 year old who was in a wheel chair and needed one-on-one help at school. Now, with the school year completed Mike is considering a computer programming apprenticeship. He has had an interview and is awaiting results. Meantime, he worked a week at a summer camp for handicapped teens. Isn’t it wonderful that our young grandsons have such a giving heart for service to others? I am so proud of them!

In the evening on our second day there, we took the three boys to dinner in Sierre. De and Andre’ had to work at their restaurant that night. We went back to Le Rothorn after dinner, had a “nightcap,”  and visited with friends before tucking in for a good night’s sleep.

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Stay tuned for Part Three – more “Family Time” and some scenes of Sierre, Switzerland 🙂

Category:

Family, Living in Harmony, Love, Serving One Another, Spiritual Gifts

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