Tour du Mont Blanc via Dublin and Greece with Two Old Beans!

Here we go again! You are invited to come along with Vern and I (the two old beans) as I pen a few words and post a few pics of our just completed Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB). Always rated among the top 10 hikes in the world, the TMB circles the range around Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps. It is about 100 miles long, winds through France, Switzerland, and Italy, and gains and loses 33,000 feet (yes, thousand) over the ten days we took to complete it. As always, I (not necessarily Vern) was under-prepared so Ibuprofen helped the first few days!? Even better than Ibuprofen, though, were the 360 degree unbelievable views we were offered every day...well, except the sideways sleet day where we navigated 3" of new snow on steep trails...and also the pouring rain day where we slipped and slid our way to the Refuge Elisabetta. But more of that later.  If you know Vern and I, you know we travel in the cheap seats. Sooooo, there are often layovers at multiple airports, thus long trips. This one involved a 22 hour layover in Dublin, Ireland on our way to where the tour begins in Geneva, Switzerland. And we had a BLAST :) Stayed at the Barnacles Temple Bar House smack in the middle of the city, saw the famous Trinity College, Book of Kells, the ancient harp, Dublin Castle, an interesting public meeting notice, and a 10th Century church. We ate traditional Irish Stew and drank a Guiness, while we watched a soccer game between Ireland and Serbia. Later, after the best gelato ever, I posed with several ladies in front of a sweet shop where a couple of Irish guys photo-bombed us. The three bars adjacent to our hostel were bursting at the seams and the music was crazy, very Irish, and awesome - well, I thought so anyway. Though things did not quiet down until after 2 am, we got up, had a nice coffee by the O'Connell Bridge and caught a bus back to the airport to fly out by noon. SUCH a fun 22 hours. On to Geneva and the TMB!

My Grandmom of Sixty Years Ago...

Came across this old photo and boy oh boy does it make me smile. Cousins Margie, Bob, Jack, and brother Shannon are all there with me and I am certain that I was wearing my cherished cowboy boots - which went rather well with that dress!  I wish I knew what we were laughing at :)  And at the center of it all is our ever smiling emblem of happiness:  Marguerite Bryan, blessed Grandmom.

OH NO! Bad timing little Sunflower...

Spotted this on my morning walk. Can you believe it?  October 31st and this little guy is ignoring ALL the winter signs and heading straight UP.  Can you see the tiny green spec in the lower left hand of the second photo? Talk about optimism...or stupidity...or perseverance? Or, as James Russell Lowell said in "What is so Rare as a Day in June" ( a very long poem that my grandmom taught me at the age of 4!?!):  Every clod feels a stir of might, an instinct within it that reaches and towers, and, groping blindly above it for light, climbs to a soul in grass and flowers...

But it's almost NOVEMBER little guy...

Grown up Chicks...Waiting for the EGGS!

Oh I am just an Iowa farm girl at heart...though I am VERY glad I live in the Northwest :)  My pets are pretty cool and these six chicks were the ones "sneaked" under my Little Red Hen several months ago when they were two days old. By the next morning, Little Red was convinced she had hatched them and became an ideal mama. Vern is not liking the fact that they love to roost on the two adirondack chairs on the front porch!?!?! But it's so hilarious to see them there!

Blooming Mugs Feed Cheney!

The Mason Jar was the gracious host to display and sell all 37 Cheney Blooms Mugs which netted $185 for Feed Cheney this year. Thanks to Jennifer Brock Olsen for her gorgeous succulents, Brian Greene from Greene's Greenhouse, and Chet's Flowers. I am looking forward to a new round next year. Any other flower and succulent sources are welcome to join in :)

God Bless These Little Feet

I'm still loving my three hours in the NICU each week and get the chance to send all my best hopes and dreams to these fragile kiddos. I find out their first name, think of someone else with that name, then tell the little baby all sorts of stories about their "twin"!  Let's hope these tiny feet will find a safe, fulfilling, loving path.

Fire and Beauty...

Surprise! I'm back to the "occasional" blog.  Was looking through this year's Pacific Crest Trail photos and kept coming back to this one of a 1988 fire accidentally started by loggers, which burned 3,000 acres. Was on a stretch between Stampede and Chinook Passes. Such a strange, stark, yet beautiful scene...