Sunflowers turn their faces
To the bright October sun
A new month is upon us
A time to have some fun
Too much wine (TMW)
Gives way to NEW
Never enough wine
For the likes of me & you!
We enjoy our time with friends
Weāre looking forward to
October and all its trends
A time for trick or treaters
But weāll be off to Switzerland
No tricks and for sure no cheaters!
What are your October plans?
Love, JanBeek
What āYumā have you experienced recently? Tell me about it!
Live, Love, and Enjoy all the mmmm you can!
Hugs,
JanBeek
Our son, Ty in CA, and our daughter, De in Switzerland , combined forces and bought us a gift certificate for Motherās Day to one of our favorite Bozeman, Montana restaurants: Daveās Sushi. Today we used it with great delight!
Who do you think enjoyed theirs more??
Cheers! My Bliss roll was magnificent! But we both equally enjoyed the house red ā¦ a delightful blend.
Look at those sushi rolls again.
And we had enough left on our gift certificate to give Thomas , our terrific waiter, a nice tip.
Thank you, Thomas. Thank you, kids! Weāre so glad you made me a mother!!
Now tomorrow weāre headed to Chattanooga. Stay tuned, my blogging friends. Iāll let you travel along vicariously.
Weāre praying for warmer weather in Tennessee. Itās been a crazy May here in Montana. Today we had gray breezes, restless puffy clouds, snow, rain, and then bright sunny skiesā¦. All within 5 hours in Bozeman. Crazy!!!
Hugs,
JanBeek
February Love
Lasts the entire month through
Hugs and kisses too
Happy Valentines
Anniversary
Sixty-four years of kisses
Feeling very blessed
Love, JanBeek
Think back on your most memorable road trip.
I donāt have to think back
My most memorable road trip was in January this year 2024 ā¦ but now in Nov. 2024 is hard to beat!
Back in January, our son and daughter-in-law
loaned us their car for this trip.
We were so happy to be in
sunny California instead of home
In Montana right then ā¦ and the same is true now! We are happy to be in Switzerland on this Election Day ā24 in the USA. It is so contentious there!
Back in January:
It was -23 and felt even colder with the windchill factor back home today. We were in Paso Robles, CA then with the sunny skies that were perfect for enjoyable wine tasting opportunities. The same is true now. Time with friends is what made that and this road trip so memorable, so special, so much fun!!
Wish you could have joined us!
Sculpterra Winery
was filled with amazing sculptures.
You would have oogled and ogled
just as I did!!
Bruce, our wine guide,
poured some delicious tastings for us.
This was one of my favorites.
As a retired beekeeper,
Bob was especially interested
in their display of honeybee products.
Meantime, back in Montana,
the cold spell continues ā¦
and weāre grateful our road trip
doesnāt involve driving there right now.
If youāre in the pattern
of this Arctic storm
with its sun-zero temps,
Escape now!!
Come join us!
We didnāt mind the 80ās plus folksā¦
And weāre loving the 70ās weather here in Switzerland šØš
Weāre young at heart!!
Love,
JanBeek
New word! I love it!!
You are an optimizer
Can you count the ways?
You make things perfect
You make things more effective
Increase their function
You keep places neat
And make them more beautiful
Optimize your space
How do I do that?
Make a positive impact?
Read this fine scripture:
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers,
Yes, JUST DO IT!!
whatever is true,
whatever is honorable,
whatever is just,
whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,
whatever is commendable,
if there is any excellence,
if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.
Today’s prompt was this:
“What things will improve with age?”
I do! And fine wine!
Do you optimize
The world that is around you?
Make it more lovely?
An Optimizer
Smiles and laughs and spreads sheer joy
You do that daily!
I thank you for visiting JanBeek today.
May I ask a favor of you?
My blood pressure was through the roof this week
and we can’t figure out why! 204/84 … “Stroke City!”
Please pray with me that we (the doctors and I)
figure out what’s causing it, OK?
We’ve optimized by blood pressure medicine…
Dear Lord, help it to “improve with age” – OK?
Amen!
What fun we had yesterday!
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 youāre 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 youāll 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!!
Enjoy the moment!
Have a very Merry Christmas!
Love,
JanBeek
Have you missed me? Weāve had a whirlwind four days here in Switzerland. Each day from eye opening early mornings to collapsing in bed at night has been phenomenal. If youāve been following me, you know it was the weekend of my oldest grandsonās wedding.
Let me take you to the church and two fairytale receptions. Sit back and enjoy!
The wedding was full of music, fun, smiles, tears, promises, family & friends. A choir sang, our daughter, De, and Chrissy (our youngest grandson) sang a duet with Nick ( the middle brother) accompanying on guitar. I even had a role by reading a message ( in English, thank God) that they prepared for me – a message if forever love and devotion. Then we all headed to the outdoor reception nearby where wine, hors dāoeuvres and music flowed. Mike played in his alpenhorn group.
Look carefully! Iām holding Mikeās hand. The group just played āAmazing Graceā and dedicated it to me!!!!
The second reception was a sit-down dinner after more wine, beer, and socializing in this gorgeous outdoor setting:
We woke this morning back in Vissoie. Ready to go on another adventure. See ya later! Thanks for sharing and visiting with me.
Love , JanBeek
The hills are alive with the sounds of family!
Yesterday our daughter, DeAna, drove us down into the RhƓne River Valley, through Sierre, and up into the Alps on the other side to an area called Crans-Montana. It is where she & AndrƩ lived 30 years ago when they first moved here. On the hillside e hind the restaurant AndrƩ managed way back then are a few chalets. One of them, built in 1772, is owned by ZuZu & CƩlia. They invited us to spend the day there with them.
ZuZu (Christian Zufferey) was our AFS son in 1980-81. He is AndrĆ©ās first cousin. He and CĆ©lia 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, Mikeās new bride, Tania, provided the tour. At the Sierre Tourisma Office, my buddy Terry found a hat for a souvenirā¦ and I found a terrific pair of funky glasses that I could not resist!
Now you can see why I didnāt 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 & Taniaās civil ceremony, itās 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.
Jim & Terry will leave tomorrow – so you can say farewell to them for now nitās been wonderful to have them with us this week!
I can never tire of these beautiful Swiss Alpine views! Come back tomorrow. Weāre going to take the bus down to stay with AndrĆ©ās mom. Iāll share those views with you, too..
Thanks for traveling vicariously with us! Bee š well, dear friends! See you tomorrow (God willing).
Love, JanBeek (and Bob)
By the way, I love that photo of Bob back in his beekeeper days when he permed his hair. Don’t you? It was taken in our house in Modesto, CA with our Boston, Jacques. He had funny buck teeth (the dog, not Bob).
Do you know why Bob curled his hair? He hates to wear hats. As a beekeeper with naturally oily hair, bees loved to buzz in there and sting his scalp. The curls lifted the hair off the scalp and dried out the oiliness. The bees left his head alone. Interesting, huh?
I hope you enjoy the collection of photos I put on the Bloganuary site today.
Tell me, can you choose a favorite photo that you have taken?
Thanks for visiting JanBeek.
See ya tomorrow (God willing)
Hugs to You !!
Inspire to Love
Let the SonShine!
You inspire me to respond
Learning to Live; Living to Learn; Learning to Love; Living in Love
