Whenever we go on vacation, instead of staying in a hotel we usually try to rent a house or an apartment since you get more room, a kitchen where you can prepare a few meals, and it’s easier to pretend that you live in the community to see if you might want to make it your home. Since we’re house sitting this week along the … Continue reading The advantages of living in Florida
Bill and I used to both work in the travel industry where part of our jobs was to attend consumer trade shows as representatives for our respective companies. At every show one of the comments we consistently heard from potential travelers was their desire to go on a “trip of a lifetime”. They might describe a week-long stay in Scotland with one night in a … Continue reading Live in the moment
Yes, they can can but we can’t can anymore. What? In other words, the downsizing continues and the latest collection to go was all of our canning supplies. Who knew that we had 12 dozen jars, an equal number of lids and rings, cookbooks, a collection of tools, a pressure canner, and even a gas jet burner with giant pots and a cannister of gas. … Continue reading Can you can?
While I was growing up on the southeast coast of the US where hurricanes were a routine summer event, Bill was often subject to the threat of tornadoes in the midwest. With disaster a part of our psyche, we both have an ingrained “hurricane mentality” where we hoard food and drink, just in case. If the electricity goes out or the water supply becomes contaminated, we will survive, by golly! We even have a gas powered generator that will run our two refrigerators and our our two freezers if necessary. The three waist-high wine racks in the basement are always full as a back up to the gallons of water that we have stored down there as well. Although we are not zombie apocalypse people, we’re ready for them too!
The closest grocery store to us is what we call the “scratch & dent” store where they buy odd lots, open crates, imperfect items, foods soon to reach their expiry date, or other perfectly edible goods that the chain grocery stores won’t stock or don’t want to sell. Boxes of cereal for $1; big bottles of ketchup for 50 cents, salad dressings for 25 cents, on and on. Imagine the hurricane mentality set free in this place! Continue reading “Shopping in the pantry”
In our world of social media it seems that many words are getting redefined. Thanks to Facebook, “friends” now come in several levels but then the French have always had 7 types which is a subject worth its own blog post. The word “meeting”, which used to be a face-to-face encounter but now you might meet someone with email, instant messaging, or even see them … Continue reading “Meeting” Tracy & Alan
We have a dog. We found Heather at the animal shelter 12 years ago when she was 3 months old and I’m happy to say that she has as much energy now as she did back then when you could hardly keep her in your arms from all of the wiggling. Naturally she’ll be going with us so the first thing we checked out was being able to take her in the airplane cabin with us. Although small, she’s too tall to fit in a cage that would go under the seat in front of us so we asked about buying her a human ticket so that her cage could sit on the seat beside us. Not allowed. Have you heard of an airline called Pet Airways? They have refitted the interior of their jets with kennels instead of seats so that pets fly in the main cabin rather than in the hold. There were only 2 problems: they didn’t fly outside the US and they are out of business. Actually their still-active website says they they aren’t currently flying, so perhaps they will be back. Continue reading “Dog on a plane”
Bill’s mom used to say that when she felt overweight and would put on a belt it was like tying a string around the middle of a sausage. That’s how I feel about taking the contents of a 4000 square foot home and putting it into 645 square feet. Something’s got to go. Appropriately for a move to France, there’s a bit of déjà vu here. Twenty years ago Bill’s parents sold their house, bought a big RV trailer, and went on the road year-round. To dispose of the family ‘’treasures’’, all the siblings gathered at what the parents considered a joyous occasion since they were getting to realize a long held dream to travel full time. The kids, however, had not a dry eye as they received photos, tea cups, Christmas ornaments, and other prized possessions that would not fit on the trailer. Continue reading “Who gets what?”
Let's Live In France 