Yesterday, we had a big Lucca adventure in the second half of the day. Alan took Sarah and I to Vivisports to get shorts and I also got some sneakers and then we walked into Lucca, while Alan headed home to get Marianne and Bess to take them into town. Once we reconnoitered in St. Martin's Square, Bess and I rented bikes to ride the embarkment around the city, which was a ton of fun. Hardly any tourists, all Luccans, walking, riding, sitting, on a beautiful walkway around the central city. Lovely trees and picnic grounds have taken the place of the traditional fortifications. It is wonderful civic space.
After we turned our bikes in to the very friendly shop owner, we went next door to the wine shop to order that nights vintages. We got a white wine Marianne has been liking, a trebbiano from a local winery, and a sangiovese-merlot blend since we were having filette of beef (which is not the same as filet -- more a slice of beef, pan fried). Then, she and I got a cab back to the Casele, barely making it for the 7:30pm appointed time of dinner.
In the meantime, Alan met up with Marianne and Sarah on the Via Fillungo, the main shopping drag. Marianne was in scouting mode and constrained herself to some jewelry, postcards, three shirts for Alan, and a hat for herself. More to come, I am sure.
Today was a lazy day. We hung around the house, playing in the pool with Bess and Sarah and reading poolside. Alan headed over to Pisa to the airport to track down our bags and, as luck would have it, mine had just arrived. Apparently, because of the strike, no Air France flights had come in to Pisa since Saturday. Alan's bag is still awol, however, and, worryingly, has no record in the system. It has lots of identification, though, so we can hope it will show up at home. I was pleased to get the clothes I had bought for the trip but I will say it was disconcerting to look in the closet and see two options for white shirts -- it seems like an embarassment of riches after living on two shirts and a pair of pants.
Tonight, Bess and Sarah took us to dinner at a lovely restaurant on the north side of Lucca, in the hills over looking the city. Locanda Vigna Ilaria serves locally grown food and espouses the values of the slow food movement. We all enjoyed our meals, particularly the insalata mista of fresh local greens and the pasta. Excellent deserts as well.
As the clock ticks 11pm here in Lucca, we are turning in, readying ourselves for a trip to the sea in the morning before putting Sarah and Bess on a train back to Florence and eventually the US.
ilaria vigna
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Italy Day Four
I just turned on mobile templates for this blog, so check it out mobile users.
Day four here in Vorney, Italia, and still no luggage. We have no idea where the bags could be or whether we'll ever see their contents again. There are a few special items in my bag -- some jewelry and a scarf from a friend -- but unfortunately, there was also a lot of new clothing I had purchased for the trip. So far, I am making do with the t-shirts that Air France provided, along with some new underwear purchased at the supermarket. But, Alan was in worse shape, so yesterday we got him new sneakers and socks and today he found a sporting goods store to buy shorts and a shirt.
Sunday we headed into Lucca to have a look around and have lunch. Found our way easily enough and just squeaked in before a cafe closed at 3pm for some antipasto. I will say that it was almost too hot to eat, with temperatures hovering near 100. After lunch, we decided to take a driving tour of the town. It immediately became apparent that Lucca was a walking city, with narrow streets and abrupt turns, as well as cryptic signage. We twisted and turned and twisted and turned and then found ourselves on a narrow street where we were the only car and there were tons of pedestrians. I said to Alan, "I don't think you're supposed to be driving on this street." He said, "Fair enough, but how do I get off?!" Finally, we dead-ended into the middle of a street fair, and with no choice, Alan had to back up a block through the crowds of people. I didn't look and he did a great job. After that, we just wanted to get out of there and back to Casale Sodini.
Dinner Sunday night at Bimbotto was okay but very rich. At this point, we were all a little tired of restaurant fare.
Monday, we braved EsseLuongo, which turned out to be a nice supermarket, and an easy drive from the house. Bought fixings for lunch of prosciutto, dried beef, salami, salad, bread, and cheese. Very nice to be in control of what was ingested. Later that afternoon, Marianne's friend Sarah and her daughter Bess, were scheduled to arrive, so while Marianne waited for them, Alan and I headed back to Lucca to try to get some wine for dinner and some clothes. We were very successful in getting regional wines and Alan was successful in getting a shirt and some sneakers, which he wore out of the store. Lucca is a walker's paradise, with new sights around every corner, and we started to get the lay of the land.
Back at Casele Sodini, we had to shake off our Lucca sweat with a swim in the fabulous pool. It is truly the best thing about this place -- large, great temperature, and on top of a hill, so there are nice breezes. Lemon trees next to the pool provide excellent balls or grenades, depending on the application. Dinner Monday night was salmon on the grill plus salad and carrots. We ate on the back porch with views of the neighboring hills.
Tuesday morning dawned hot and hazier than the day before. We took an extended morning swim and read some by the pool before enjoying lunch on the back porch. Later today, we're headed back to Lucca and then Annie the chef is coming to fix dinner.
Day four here in Vorney, Italia, and still no luggage. We have no idea where the bags could be or whether we'll ever see their contents again. There are a few special items in my bag -- some jewelry and a scarf from a friend -- but unfortunately, there was also a lot of new clothing I had purchased for the trip. So far, I am making do with the t-shirts that Air France provided, along with some new underwear purchased at the supermarket. But, Alan was in worse shape, so yesterday we got him new sneakers and socks and today he found a sporting goods store to buy shorts and a shirt.
Sunday we headed into Lucca to have a look around and have lunch. Found our way easily enough and just squeaked in before a cafe closed at 3pm for some antipasto. I will say that it was almost too hot to eat, with temperatures hovering near 100. After lunch, we decided to take a driving tour of the town. It immediately became apparent that Lucca was a walking city, with narrow streets and abrupt turns, as well as cryptic signage. We twisted and turned and twisted and turned and then found ourselves on a narrow street where we were the only car and there were tons of pedestrians. I said to Alan, "I don't think you're supposed to be driving on this street." He said, "Fair enough, but how do I get off?!" Finally, we dead-ended into the middle of a street fair, and with no choice, Alan had to back up a block through the crowds of people. I didn't look and he did a great job. After that, we just wanted to get out of there and back to Casale Sodini.
Dinner Sunday night at Bimbotto was okay but very rich. At this point, we were all a little tired of restaurant fare.
Monday, we braved EsseLuongo, which turned out to be a nice supermarket, and an easy drive from the house. Bought fixings for lunch of prosciutto, dried beef, salami, salad, bread, and cheese. Very nice to be in control of what was ingested. Later that afternoon, Marianne's friend Sarah and her daughter Bess, were scheduled to arrive, so while Marianne waited for them, Alan and I headed back to Lucca to try to get some wine for dinner and some clothes. We were very successful in getting regional wines and Alan was successful in getting a shirt and some sneakers, which he wore out of the store. Lucca is a walker's paradise, with new sights around every corner, and we started to get the lay of the land.
Back at Casele Sodini, we had to shake off our Lucca sweat with a swim in the fabulous pool. It is truly the best thing about this place -- large, great temperature, and on top of a hill, so there are nice breezes. Lemon trees next to the pool provide excellent balls or grenades, depending on the application. Dinner Monday night was salmon on the grill plus salad and carrots. We ate on the back porch with views of the neighboring hills.
Tuesday morning dawned hot and hazier than the day before. We took an extended morning swim and read some by the pool before enjoying lunch on the back porch. Later today, we're headed back to Lucca and then Annie the chef is coming to fix dinner.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Casele Sodini
Woke up this morning in Vorno, Italy! The birds are chirping and the owl hooting. A sweet cocker spaniel and a kitty cat on property and we are right at home.
But it was an adventure to get here, to put it mildly. We left Atlanta on Friday as planned (thanks, Barb, for the airport ride) and made our flight to Miami with no problem. Once we got there, however, it became rapidly apparent that our plans were going to run amuck as our flight from Miami to JFK was already two hours late, meaning we would miss our connection in New York, where we were supposed to join up with Marianne for the flight to Pisa. Over a late lunch, we pondered our alternatives and finally arrived at a plan to take the 5:50pm flight from Miami to Charles de Gaulle and then a flight to Pisa later Saturday afternoon. There was an earlier flight from CDG to Pisa but we were assured that it was full and we wouldn't make it.
Aboard the 747, we had an uneventful trip to Paris. I will say, though, that we both found the Delta experience to be superior to the Air France experience, where we were hard pressed to even get water. Food was good but service less so. In any event, we landed in Paris Saturday morning around 8:30am. Checked in with the Air France service desk and, again, were advised that we could try for the 9:55am to Pisa but would likely not get on. Intrepid as ever, Alan said, "we're trying anyways." Passport control, long walk, shuttle bus, another security checkpoint, and we were at the Pisa gate -- along with a whole host of other people. No way we were making it on, but we stuck around anyways, until everyone had boarded and the gate agent said, "what are you doing?" We said, "stand by?" and she said, "come on!". So, there we were, on the plane to Pisa, landing about the same time as originally planned.
Arriving in Pisa, we were just about positive that we would have been separated from our luggage -- and we were. It still hasn't shown up. Filed the claim and headed out into the utter madness of the Pisa airport to await Marianne. Her flight was an hour late, so it was awhile, but finally she emerged from the baggage area, with an attendant pushing her wheelchair while pulling two bags. Her driver was waiting to whisk her away and we were, shall we say, superfluous. :-)
In any event -- onward ho to the Avis counter where after a somewhat longish wait Italian style, we were given not the car we had reserved but at least an automatic. But without the GPS that Alan had ordered. Hmmm. We, of course, had no paper maps. He had downloaded the full Italian map system onto his phone but it was completely dead. So, off we went courtesy of Google maps on my phone. We did very well until the end when the G failed us entirely with our endpoint. It had us up a truly vertical, narrow, rocky dirt road where we ended up in someone's front yard. Small front yard, I might add. And keep in mind that we are jet lagged and in a foreign land. I have to say we handled it admirably. I got out of the car, directed the turn around, and Alan headed back down the twisty turny road.
Back in the town of Vorno, we poked around in multiple ways, to no avail. We got out Alan's iphone, newly charged, and it gave us a new set of directions, which we attempted to follow. Nothing was seeming to work but we also thought we were close (or, at least, the phone thought we were), so we finally pulled the car over, prepared to walk. No sooner had Alan had turned down a road than he said, "there it is!" Indeed, Casele Sodini, at last.
Marianne was waiting for us and after a brief chat, we headed for a little nap. Dinner at a local restaurant, La Bettola, completed a very pleasant evening. Highlights of the meal -- fantastic cantelope with prosciutto, ravioli with sage and ricotta, and lemon sorbet.
This morning Alan and Marianne are sleeping and I'm the one wide awake. How odd is that?
But it was an adventure to get here, to put it mildly. We left Atlanta on Friday as planned (thanks, Barb, for the airport ride) and made our flight to Miami with no problem. Once we got there, however, it became rapidly apparent that our plans were going to run amuck as our flight from Miami to JFK was already two hours late, meaning we would miss our connection in New York, where we were supposed to join up with Marianne for the flight to Pisa. Over a late lunch, we pondered our alternatives and finally arrived at a plan to take the 5:50pm flight from Miami to Charles de Gaulle and then a flight to Pisa later Saturday afternoon. There was an earlier flight from CDG to Pisa but we were assured that it was full and we wouldn't make it.
Aboard the 747, we had an uneventful trip to Paris. I will say, though, that we both found the Delta experience to be superior to the Air France experience, where we were hard pressed to even get water. Food was good but service less so. In any event, we landed in Paris Saturday morning around 8:30am. Checked in with the Air France service desk and, again, were advised that we could try for the 9:55am to Pisa but would likely not get on. Intrepid as ever, Alan said, "we're trying anyways." Passport control, long walk, shuttle bus, another security checkpoint, and we were at the Pisa gate -- along with a whole host of other people. No way we were making it on, but we stuck around anyways, until everyone had boarded and the gate agent said, "what are you doing?" We said, "stand by?" and she said, "come on!". So, there we were, on the plane to Pisa, landing about the same time as originally planned.
Arriving in Pisa, we were just about positive that we would have been separated from our luggage -- and we were. It still hasn't shown up. Filed the claim and headed out into the utter madness of the Pisa airport to await Marianne. Her flight was an hour late, so it was awhile, but finally she emerged from the baggage area, with an attendant pushing her wheelchair while pulling two bags. Her driver was waiting to whisk her away and we were, shall we say, superfluous. :-)
In any event -- onward ho to the Avis counter where after a somewhat longish wait Italian style, we were given not the car we had reserved but at least an automatic. But without the GPS that Alan had ordered. Hmmm. We, of course, had no paper maps. He had downloaded the full Italian map system onto his phone but it was completely dead. So, off we went courtesy of Google maps on my phone. We did very well until the end when the G failed us entirely with our endpoint. It had us up a truly vertical, narrow, rocky dirt road where we ended up in someone's front yard. Small front yard, I might add. And keep in mind that we are jet lagged and in a foreign land. I have to say we handled it admirably. I got out of the car, directed the turn around, and Alan headed back down the twisty turny road.
Back in the town of Vorno, we poked around in multiple ways, to no avail. We got out Alan's iphone, newly charged, and it gave us a new set of directions, which we attempted to follow. Nothing was seeming to work but we also thought we were close (or, at least, the phone thought we were), so we finally pulled the car over, prepared to walk. No sooner had Alan had turned down a road than he said, "there it is!" Indeed, Casele Sodini, at last.
Marianne was waiting for us and after a brief chat, we headed for a little nap. Dinner at a local restaurant, La Bettola, completed a very pleasant evening. Highlights of the meal -- fantastic cantelope with prosciutto, ravioli with sage and ricotta, and lemon sorbet.
This morning Alan and Marianne are sleeping and I'm the one wide awake. How odd is that?
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Holiday winding down
Happy New Year! Time to write "2011" in the date field. Wow. This year, Alan and I will have been married ten years and I will turn 45. Yikes. Of course, Alan turned 47 yesterday, so we are all getting older.
The first week of this year's holiday season was *busy* with both sides of the family. We spent Sunday through Christmas morning on Long Island. Decorated the Christmas tree -- which was gorgeous -- ran errands for Mom and spent lots of time with the kids. On Wednesday, we took Trevor, Pierce, and Avery on a long walk around Planting Fields before heading back to their house to exchange presents with Henri's family. Our gift to the kids -- a tabletop slot hockey game -- was a huge hit and proved to be a very fun game indeed. Alan clearly has played many, many hours! Suz and Jim hosted us for dinner at Suzy's Christmas Cottage and that was a lot of fun and very tasty!
Then Thursday we took the kids into the city for the Angler's Club Family luncheon. Henri couldn't attend because of his knee, so piled them into the Prius, and headed into the city to meet Jacques, Jenn, Adele, and Suzy for a delicious lunch of pheasant pot pie, venison meatloaf, and chicken fingers. All the kids got an ornament that was a glass ball with a dry or wet fly in it. After lunch, we joined the rest of Manhattan heading out of the city -- what had been a 20 minute ride heading in was more like a 2.5 hour trip going out. To pass the time, we sang Christmas Carols that we then posted to Facebook for Henri's viewing pleasure. Thursday night dinner was a quiet one at the club with Mom and Aunt Mary.
Friday was our last day on LI. Lots of errands, including mailing the Quimby Country Christmas cards that I finished Thursday night. Pizza lunch with Jacques and Henri and the kids and then I headed over to Jenn and Jacques' house to help them get ready to host Christmas eve. They have a very cute rental house on the former estate of one of the Marshall Fields family members. In a curious twist, the current owners gutted the estate mansion, selling off all of the interior materials and fixtures, to pay for the property. Dinner was lamb chops, mashed potatoes, salad, with lemon mousse for dessert. Quite yummy.
Christmas morning, we got up early and stopped in at Henri's to see the kids in their pajamas and to say goodbye. It was then time to hit to road for Philly. As you might expect, there was no traffic Christmas morning and we drove through Manhattan in about ten minutes. Kind of eery, actually. Pulled up at Steve's just shy of the 11am brunch event. Presents had been finished since about 7:30am and were even put away! The kids got video games for presents and they were very interested in them, although we did talk Clay into trying out his new bike outside. Mid-afternoon we headed over to Nancy's where we were spending the night.
In the past two days, the news had been full of the weather -- and specifically, the storm approaching the Northeast. Our first hint of its effect on us happened when I went to check our flight out on Sunday afternoon to find it had been cancelled. The automatic booking option on the site was already overworked and calls to Delta were not encouraging. They thought they could get us out....Wednesday. Oh well, dinner was ready -- we'll figure it out later.
Sunday morning dawned and, as the morning progressed, it became more and more evident that the storm was really going to be a problem -- for awhile. After much back and forth, we decided the best option was to drive back. Only issue was that the shortest route down I-95 was directly in the storm's path, so we would have to take a longer, more western route via Harrisburg and down I-81. The roads were fine although there were flurries and periodic times when visibility wasn't optimal. One of those grey, soft winter days. Just how you want to spend the day after Christmas!
Once we hit Virginia, we decided to call Frank and Sue to see if they were at their ski house which wasn't all that far off of our path. We reached Frank who told us they had been at the house -- last night -- but now were back home and why didn't we come stay with them for the night? It would mean backtracking east and a longer trip but a night with friends at their lovely farmhouse sounded worth it, so at Staunton we headed east on I-26 towards Charlottesville. This leg was by far the worst of the trip -- it was dark, we were tired, and we were gaining elevation and heading towards the snow. A long hour and a half later, we pulled into their driveway on fumes. Never has a house looked so welcome and we eagerly entered for dinner and then bed. I think I fell asleep in about 15 seconds.
The next morning the sun was up and shining and we were on our way by 9am. The roads were full of holiday travelers and truck traffic, so while we made good time, it wasn't easy driving, especially as we approached Atlanta and the sun was setting in the west. But we finally made it. Home -- it felt very good. And, looking at the news reports, we made the right choice. Those airports looked awful.
A quiet week culminated with a peaceful birthday dinner last night that was also Christmas because we never got around to it! No, with the hoppin john on the stove, and the Winter Classic to come tonight, the holiday is winding down. January here we come.
The first week of this year's holiday season was *busy* with both sides of the family. We spent Sunday through Christmas morning on Long Island. Decorated the Christmas tree -- which was gorgeous -- ran errands for Mom and spent lots of time with the kids. On Wednesday, we took Trevor, Pierce, and Avery on a long walk around Planting Fields before heading back to their house to exchange presents with Henri's family. Our gift to the kids -- a tabletop slot hockey game -- was a huge hit and proved to be a very fun game indeed. Alan clearly has played many, many hours! Suz and Jim hosted us for dinner at Suzy's Christmas Cottage and that was a lot of fun and very tasty!
Then Thursday we took the kids into the city for the Angler's Club Family luncheon. Henri couldn't attend because of his knee, so piled them into the Prius, and headed into the city to meet Jacques, Jenn, Adele, and Suzy for a delicious lunch of pheasant pot pie, venison meatloaf, and chicken fingers. All the kids got an ornament that was a glass ball with a dry or wet fly in it. After lunch, we joined the rest of Manhattan heading out of the city -- what had been a 20 minute ride heading in was more like a 2.5 hour trip going out. To pass the time, we sang Christmas Carols that we then posted to Facebook for Henri's viewing pleasure. Thursday night dinner was a quiet one at the club with Mom and Aunt Mary.
Friday was our last day on LI. Lots of errands, including mailing the Quimby Country Christmas cards that I finished Thursday night. Pizza lunch with Jacques and Henri and the kids and then I headed over to Jenn and Jacques' house to help them get ready to host Christmas eve. They have a very cute rental house on the former estate of one of the Marshall Fields family members. In a curious twist, the current owners gutted the estate mansion, selling off all of the interior materials and fixtures, to pay for the property. Dinner was lamb chops, mashed potatoes, salad, with lemon mousse for dessert. Quite yummy.
Christmas morning, we got up early and stopped in at Henri's to see the kids in their pajamas and to say goodbye. It was then time to hit to road for Philly. As you might expect, there was no traffic Christmas morning and we drove through Manhattan in about ten minutes. Kind of eery, actually. Pulled up at Steve's just shy of the 11am brunch event. Presents had been finished since about 7:30am and were even put away! The kids got video games for presents and they were very interested in them, although we did talk Clay into trying out his new bike outside. Mid-afternoon we headed over to Nancy's where we were spending the night.
In the past two days, the news had been full of the weather -- and specifically, the storm approaching the Northeast. Our first hint of its effect on us happened when I went to check our flight out on Sunday afternoon to find it had been cancelled. The automatic booking option on the site was already overworked and calls to Delta were not encouraging. They thought they could get us out....Wednesday. Oh well, dinner was ready -- we'll figure it out later.
Sunday morning dawned and, as the morning progressed, it became more and more evident that the storm was really going to be a problem -- for awhile. After much back and forth, we decided the best option was to drive back. Only issue was that the shortest route down I-95 was directly in the storm's path, so we would have to take a longer, more western route via Harrisburg and down I-81. The roads were fine although there were flurries and periodic times when visibility wasn't optimal. One of those grey, soft winter days. Just how you want to spend the day after Christmas!
Once we hit Virginia, we decided to call Frank and Sue to see if they were at their ski house which wasn't all that far off of our path. We reached Frank who told us they had been at the house -- last night -- but now were back home and why didn't we come stay with them for the night? It would mean backtracking east and a longer trip but a night with friends at their lovely farmhouse sounded worth it, so at Staunton we headed east on I-26 towards Charlottesville. This leg was by far the worst of the trip -- it was dark, we were tired, and we were gaining elevation and heading towards the snow. A long hour and a half later, we pulled into their driveway on fumes. Never has a house looked so welcome and we eagerly entered for dinner and then bed. I think I fell asleep in about 15 seconds.
The next morning the sun was up and shining and we were on our way by 9am. The roads were full of holiday travelers and truck traffic, so while we made good time, it wasn't easy driving, especially as we approached Atlanta and the sun was setting in the west. But we finally made it. Home -- it felt very good. And, looking at the news reports, we made the right choice. Those airports looked awful.
A quiet week culminated with a peaceful birthday dinner last night that was also Christmas because we never got around to it! No, with the hoppin john on the stove, and the Winter Classic to come tonight, the holiday is winding down. January here we come.
Monday, December 20, 2010
One Tree, Two Saws, Three Stands, Four People
This year Alan decided to purchase a tree for his Mom's house from Weir Tree Farms, where we've been buying our trees for years. It's ultra convenient -- you choose the size and type of tree you want and they deliver it FedEx to your doorstep. It's a comparable price to Big John's, plus you get a fresher tree, and you benefit the economy of the North Woods. We typically get a 5 foot tree for our 50s ranch home. Mrs C. has 10' ceilings, so Alan ordered her an 8' tree and it arrived fine and was stored until our arrival on the 18th. So far, so good.
A quick look at the tree Sunday morning revealed that it would never fit into the old plastic stand at hand, so Alan, Jacques, Bandit and I headed over to Home Depot to pick one up. At the store, Alan was intrigued by a plastic stand that promised to "self adjust" by stepping on a lever. I had my doubts but held my tongue.
Back at the house, we convened for a yummy lunch of chicken, ribs, and salad with the whole gang (Mom, Suz, Henri, Trevor, and Pierce). Afterwards, the boys headed outside to take care of the tree. Sproing! Within about two minutes, the saw broke, clearly not the right tool for the job. Back to Home Depot. On their return, the tree was successfully sawed down -- excellent, progress being made. Now, time for the stand. Tree in, screws tightening and -- crack -- the plastic holding one screw shattered.....Sigh. You guess it, back to Home Depot for a metal stand. Did I mention that Home Depot was 25 minutes away?
Metal tree stand in hand, the boys were really determined to get this taken care of and Mrs. C and I retired to the kitchen to get out of their way. This stand was definitely an improvement over the plastic one but the tree was enormous -- and heavy. They managed to get the tree and stand in the house and, after some adjustments with magazines and all, it was more or less upright. Whether it was steady enough for government work was a question left for another day. We all could agree, though, that it was a magnificent tree!
Monday afternoon Alan and I decided to test the tree's steadiness -- which turned out to not exist. Simply touching the stand made the tree list to one side. And the stand appeared to be strangely bent -- the weight of the tree had simply warped it. It was clear the tree had to come back outside. Only problem? There was water in the stand. After a moment of reflection, I took a turkey baster and sucked out most of the water, then we pulled back the carpets and heaved the tree outside. Did I mention the tree was really heavy? However, our methodology resulted in relatively little water on the floor, so that was good.
After taking Mrs C to get her car from the shop, he headed over to M&A where Lisa had said we might get a heavy tree stand. Once there, owner Jimmy showed us two options -- one metal which looked like it would be easier to put up and one plastic that had a large reservoir but which didn't look as easy. We went for option one -- Santa's Solution, Too -- and also picked up a nice wreath for the garage. We were on our way!
Back the house, we attached the round stabilizing base to the tree with two wood screws. That round base was designed to fit exactly into the cylinder that houses the water. Support arms are inserted in four spots around the circumference, eyebolts threaded through the support arms, and then plastic pads affixed onto the eye bolt to distribute support and keep the bolts from drilling into the tree trunk. Sounds simple, right? Well, if you do this every day like Jimmy, I am sure it is. For we mere amateurs, it took several false attempts and a couple of capsizes to get it right. For next year, here is the approved method:
1. Affix round stabilizing base with wood screws.
2. With tree on side and elevated with a recycle bin, place reservoir over base and get base as flush as possible with the reservoir floor.
3. Insert support arms, rotating tree as needed to minimize the need to lop of tree limbs.
4. Once support arms are all in, loosely rotate eyebolts through and place green plastic pads on eyebolt ends.
5. Lift tree and place stand squarely on floor, so that the stabilizing base falls to reservoir floor evenly. While one person holds tree straight, screw in eyebolts to support the tree. Voila! A stable and straight tree!
And that is the story of One Tree, Two Saws, Three Stands, and Four People.
A quick look at the tree Sunday morning revealed that it would never fit into the old plastic stand at hand, so Alan, Jacques, Bandit and I headed over to Home Depot to pick one up. At the store, Alan was intrigued by a plastic stand that promised to "self adjust" by stepping on a lever. I had my doubts but held my tongue.
Back at the house, we convened for a yummy lunch of chicken, ribs, and salad with the whole gang (Mom, Suz, Henri, Trevor, and Pierce). Afterwards, the boys headed outside to take care of the tree. Sproing! Within about two minutes, the saw broke, clearly not the right tool for the job. Back to Home Depot. On their return, the tree was successfully sawed down -- excellent, progress being made. Now, time for the stand. Tree in, screws tightening and -- crack -- the plastic holding one screw shattered.....Sigh. You guess it, back to Home Depot for a metal stand. Did I mention that Home Depot was 25 minutes away?
Metal tree stand in hand, the boys were really determined to get this taken care of and Mrs. C and I retired to the kitchen to get out of their way. This stand was definitely an improvement over the plastic one but the tree was enormous -- and heavy. They managed to get the tree and stand in the house and, after some adjustments with magazines and all, it was more or less upright. Whether it was steady enough for government work was a question left for another day. We all could agree, though, that it was a magnificent tree!
Monday afternoon Alan and I decided to test the tree's steadiness -- which turned out to not exist. Simply touching the stand made the tree list to one side. And the stand appeared to be strangely bent -- the weight of the tree had simply warped it. It was clear the tree had to come back outside. Only problem? There was water in the stand. After a moment of reflection, I took a turkey baster and sucked out most of the water, then we pulled back the carpets and heaved the tree outside. Did I mention the tree was really heavy? However, our methodology resulted in relatively little water on the floor, so that was good.
After taking Mrs C to get her car from the shop, he headed over to M&A where Lisa had said we might get a heavy tree stand. Once there, owner Jimmy showed us two options -- one metal which looked like it would be easier to put up and one plastic that had a large reservoir but which didn't look as easy. We went for option one -- Santa's Solution, Too -- and also picked up a nice wreath for the garage. We were on our way!
Back the house, we attached the round stabilizing base to the tree with two wood screws. That round base was designed to fit exactly into the cylinder that houses the water. Support arms are inserted in four spots around the circumference, eyebolts threaded through the support arms, and then plastic pads affixed onto the eye bolt to distribute support and keep the bolts from drilling into the tree trunk. Sounds simple, right? Well, if you do this every day like Jimmy, I am sure it is. For we mere amateurs, it took several false attempts and a couple of capsizes to get it right. For next year, here is the approved method:
1. Affix round stabilizing base with wood screws.
2. With tree on side and elevated with a recycle bin, place reservoir over base and get base as flush as possible with the reservoir floor.
3. Insert support arms, rotating tree as needed to minimize the need to lop of tree limbs.
4. Once support arms are all in, loosely rotate eyebolts through and place green plastic pads on eyebolt ends.
5. Lift tree and place stand squarely on floor, so that the stabilizing base falls to reservoir floor evenly. While one person holds tree straight, screw in eyebolts to support the tree. Voila! A stable and straight tree!
And that is the story of One Tree, Two Saws, Three Stands, and Four People.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Quiet fall day in Averill
The day dawned cold, gray, and wet. I took the option of a sleep-in which only broke when Alan came in with an open-faced egg, ham 'n cheese sandwich to tempt me into the kitchen. It still being cold and gray, I then got back under the covers! Read until noon when I was shamed into emerging from the bedroom. To be fair, I was completing a really good novel -- Black Cherry Blues by James Lee Burke. I have read later novels in the series but this one is early and very engrossing. So far this trip, I have read four books and one New Yorker cover-to-cover.
After we got back from fishing yesterday, I made a yellow-split-pea soup with onions and carrots from Hans' garden plus garlic, summer savory, salt and pepper. It turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. We had it last night for dinner and then again today at lunch (it was that kind of day). Afterwards, we dropped by Quimby's and had a nice chat with Kevin. Rain continued on and off, pretty much eliminating hiking as an option, so we decided to take a drive over to Lewis Pond.
After Gaudette Rd ended, the road was in poor condition with some stretches verging on a complete washout. Suffice it to say that the heavy recent rains have not been kind to dirt roads. But we made it through to the Vermont section of the Silvio Conte Wildlife National Fish and Wildlife Refuge and the roads got better. It was cold at Lewis Pond -- 8 degrees celsius -- with a brisk wind. Even brisker up on the overlook. Clouds were passing a high speeds, the sun periodically peeking out, and distant mountains encased in mist. rom the overlook, you really get the sense that you are in the Nulhegan basin, in a watershed. It's a great viewpoint.
As we left, though, the day was waning and we were eager to get out of the forest before twilight. Heading south we passed some large logging operations on the way to Rte 105 and the rain started again, making the dirt roads slippery. We made it safely, though, and on Rte 116 heading to Norton we saw perhaps the best rainbow of either of our lives. It was perfect, it was clear, and it was an entire arch. Too big to capture with the camera. And it went away in a flash -- sun went behind a cloud and it was gone. One minute there, the next gone.
Beautiful sunset finished the day and we headed home for a fire and supper. And the first NHL game of the season.
After we got back from fishing yesterday, I made a yellow-split-pea soup with onions and carrots from Hans' garden plus garlic, summer savory, salt and pepper. It turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. We had it last night for dinner and then again today at lunch (it was that kind of day). Afterwards, we dropped by Quimby's and had a nice chat with Kevin. Rain continued on and off, pretty much eliminating hiking as an option, so we decided to take a drive over to Lewis Pond.
After Gaudette Rd ended, the road was in poor condition with some stretches verging on a complete washout. Suffice it to say that the heavy recent rains have not been kind to dirt roads. But we made it through to the Vermont section of the Silvio Conte Wildlife National Fish and Wildlife Refuge and the roads got better. It was cold at Lewis Pond -- 8 degrees celsius -- with a brisk wind. Even brisker up on the overlook. Clouds were passing a high speeds, the sun periodically peeking out, and distant mountains encased in mist. rom the overlook, you really get the sense that you are in the Nulhegan basin, in a watershed. It's a great viewpoint.
As we left, though, the day was waning and we were eager to get out of the forest before twilight. Heading south we passed some large logging operations on the way to Rte 105 and the rain started again, making the dirt roads slippery. We made it safely, though, and on Rte 116 heading to Norton we saw perhaps the best rainbow of either of our lives. It was perfect, it was clear, and it was an entire arch. Too big to capture with the camera. And it went away in a flash -- sun went behind a cloud and it was gone. One minute there, the next gone.
Beautiful sunset finished the day and we headed home for a fire and supper. And the first NHL game of the season.
Last fishing day of 2010 with Bill
For our last day of 2010 fishing with Bill, we knew we wanted to wade the Connecticut. Water flows were up, temperatures down = a recipe for landlocked salmon of the larger variety. 8am rendezvous at Lopstick and the plan was on.
We were sort of a ragtag mob heading to the river. Under waders, I was sporting my "lily of the valley" flannel PJs, while Alan had on the Santa red flannel bottoms. It had been so warm back in Averill (about 60) that I hadn't had the strength of mind to put on my capilenes -- a decision I would regret! We headed down to the river underneath charcoal grey skies that in lower temperatures would have promised snow.
My rod was rigged (caddis with a dropper) so I started out first and got a small salmon on an early cast (she took the dry). In what was the become a pattern of the day, I missed a boatload of fish (we both did) and, unusually, we hooked the big ones and missed the small. A small male brookie followed the salmon before Alan even got started. Once he got going, though, he landed three nicely sized salmon, about 18" and fat. The higher river flows had flushed them out.
The water temperature was 54 degrees, perfect for trout but much less ideal for humans. Really wished I had those capilenes....and wool socks. Fortunately, we did have rain gear, as the day decided to deliver a bout of showers midway through the morning--it was a late fall morning as can only happen in the early fall on the Connecticut. And the glare was unreal--the sky was this mottled grey that as it was reflected in the water was positively hypnotizing. One minute you say the fly, the next you were finding your footing as water and sky melt together. It's a wonder that we caught any fish, but between Alan's salmon and a beautiful female that I landed (same size range), we had an exceptional day of salmon fishing.
The area we fish is otherworldly. Even when you're there, you can't believe it. And ultimately the fish make it real as does the company we share with each other. Some may wonder about the rejuvenation that some place so wild can provide, but it is quite real, and quite electric. We finished the day at Happy Corner, as we have so many great Connecticut days, and bid Bill farewell for 2010. A great morning, a great place, a great guide, great fish, and ourselves in place. Magic.
We were sort of a ragtag mob heading to the river. Under waders, I was sporting my "lily of the valley" flannel PJs, while Alan had on the Santa red flannel bottoms. It had been so warm back in Averill (about 60) that I hadn't had the strength of mind to put on my capilenes -- a decision I would regret! We headed down to the river underneath charcoal grey skies that in lower temperatures would have promised snow.
My rod was rigged (caddis with a dropper) so I started out first and got a small salmon on an early cast (she took the dry). In what was the become a pattern of the day, I missed a boatload of fish (we both did) and, unusually, we hooked the big ones and missed the small. A small male brookie followed the salmon before Alan even got started. Once he got going, though, he landed three nicely sized salmon, about 18" and fat. The higher river flows had flushed them out.
The water temperature was 54 degrees, perfect for trout but much less ideal for humans. Really wished I had those capilenes....and wool socks. Fortunately, we did have rain gear, as the day decided to deliver a bout of showers midway through the morning--it was a late fall morning as can only happen in the early fall on the Connecticut. And the glare was unreal--the sky was this mottled grey that as it was reflected in the water was positively hypnotizing. One minute you say the fly, the next you were finding your footing as water and sky melt together. It's a wonder that we caught any fish, but between Alan's salmon and a beautiful female that I landed (same size range), we had an exceptional day of salmon fishing.
The area we fish is otherworldly. Even when you're there, you can't believe it. And ultimately the fish make it real as does the company we share with each other. Some may wonder about the rejuvenation that some place so wild can provide, but it is quite real, and quite electric. We finished the day at Happy Corner, as we have so many great Connecticut days, and bid Bill farewell for 2010. A great morning, a great place, a great guide, great fish, and ourselves in place. Magic.
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