Yarn Along & A Birthday

Sock and mittens on the go at the moment.  The socks were a Christmas knit for a friends daughter but Tino saw them and declared them his, think they would have been to big for her anyhow!  I've got a funny feeling that I'm not going to have enough yarn to finish them...which means a wee trip back to Italy where I bought it.  Would probably to cheaper just to order it on-line but I've got a hankering for panetone and some good Italian coffee!!!

I whipped up these mittens for Tino to wear to school in the mornings from some pure wool that a guy gave me at a medieval festival this summer (I bough two other skeins and he threw this one in for free).
Tino thinks they smell like sheep!
We've gone from a ridiculously hot November here to snow and -10° in the space of a few days.  Tino and I are both down with colds and even the car didn't appreciate the change in weather conditions  - the back window shattered yesterday morning from the cold!

Currently reading about the different techniques of mediation.  I'm experimenting with the easiest one which involves counting repeatedly from 1-4 for 15 minutes and not thinking about anything else....Don't think I've even finished one repeat of 4 without my mind wandering off someplace!!! 

Today Rémi celebrates his 11th birthday, and has invited his two best friends over for tea.  We celebrated with family at the weekend with pumpkin pie and chocolate and orange cake.

So as ever I seem light years behind everyone in the world of technology,  having only just discovered Instagram!!! What fun!!!  Rémi introduced it to me and even told me about a thing called Facebook, and another called Twitter....but I don't think I'm quite ready for all that just yet.  The only Twittering I want for the moment is from my feathered friends!!!

What are you knitting, twitting, pinning, or just plain ol' reading this week?
Linking up with Ginny

 

Art & Artists

The boys had great fun yesterday morning making these.  

As you can see it's a wonderfully simple technique, and when the tape comes off at the end it's a real

'Ta-Da' moment!!

I hung them up whilst they were out playing.  When they 'finally' came inside and saw them, Rémi remarked that they look like 'real' art by 'real' artists.

"Well," I answered, it is REAL ART by REAL ARTISTS!"

Our Halloween Crafts

I know, I know, Halloween was last month, but it's been a busy week, I kept forgetting to charge my camera battery and when I did get around to it my camera and computer became temporarily 'incompatable'!

It was my turn to host the Halloween shenanigans this year, and as we were having American guests I though I'd better make an effort with the decor.  France however, is not big in the creepy home accessories department, so we had to get a little bit creative with what we had around the house:

Ghostly gifts for trick or treaters

The boys painted a spooky table runner and made a few mummy candle holders.  I found the table confetti on a recent trip to Italy.

We greeted our guests with a Frankenstein inspired front door, I even suggested painting it green for maximum effect but Richard Boohooed that idea!

This ghostly apparition appeared in the front window!!

Back by popular demand (from Tino) was the vomiting pumpkin that Richard carved - his very first one!

We had so much fun, I'm already 'pinning' ideas for next year.
Do you have any to share?

Trail Running - Italia

No, we're not still on holiday, as you can see it's back to the nitty gritty!   

What better way to start the week than a spot of trail running in the beautiful Val Ferret, Italy.  

Richard considers this to be the most beautiful running trail in the 'whole world' , so as the kids went back to school on Monday, I decided to blow off all my chores for the morning and take him up on his offer of a guided trail run.

Chores, chores go away, come back another day!

Le Val Ferret is only a short drive from Chamonix, through the famous Mont Blanc tunnel which links the two countries so handily! I've skied lower down in this valley and biked here with the boys, but this is the first time I've gone up onto the 'balcon'.

The Mont Blanc from the Italian side

My neighbor and running pal Jane came along too!

The terrain varied between grassy paths, snow and iced over streams which afforded a nice bit of scrambling here and there.  Kept it very interesting indeed!
The trail is part of the Tour du Mont Blanc, a fantastic 7-10 day, 170km, hike which starts and finishes in Chamonix, going through Italy and Switzerland on the way.  Although, some crazy people have been known to do it much quicker, in 21 hours to be exact - yes 170km in 21 hours, as part of the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc.

Our turn around point was the Bonatti Hut, which was unfortunately closed so no warming 'grappa' for us that day.  Probably for the best as we had another 5ish km back to our starting point - via a different path and all those pesky chores waiting for me at home!

Rifugio Bonatti

Keep up with Richards many mountain adventures on his new facebook page Mont Blanc Loisirs