Thanksgiving

Since we have no kitchen we decided to go out for dinner this year.  Charlotte and her mother drove down from South Carolina and Natalie and Bill joined us.  After dinner we went to Sheila's for more desert.  I only stayed for a few minutes because I had to go home and give Bert his insulin.

Charlotte and K decided that they wanted to spend more time together but Charlotte had something she had to do at home on Friday.  So Saturday her mother and I met half way and Charlotte came home with us.  We will do the exchange again this afternoon.

One of K's bucket list items is a banana split.  So we stopped at Dairy Queen (where else is there to stop on I 85 in north Georgia???) and she checked this item off her bucket list.

Fall Catch Up

So what have we been up to this fall?  K has been kickboxing, playing the piano and violin and taking voice lessons.  She is also busy looking at schools for next year.

 We went to a Tesla meetup at Serenbe.  We had a fun drive through the countryside and then a yummy lunch at the Inn.  It was fun getting to know other Tesla owners.

 We took a quick trip to Dallas to visit old friends.

 Love an old friend who always picks me up in her favorite car.  And Ava has to be one of the sweetest girls in the world!

 And after arranging 2 babysitters and 3 drivers it was off to France for me.  This is the view from the patio of the house that I rented for my birthday celebration.  

We spent a day in LaCoste where SCAD has their French campus.  Amazing views.

 Another fun day in Aix in Provence.  Incredible lunch at Villa Galici.

 And drinks and shopping in Avignon.  The three Catherines.  

 A day and a boat ride in Cassis.

 Our favorite times were our evenings a home.  Some nights wine and cheese, one night the local pizza truck and another night an incredible catered dinner.

 Cahterine C was great at spotting just the right place to have lunch.  Here she is in Apt at Chez Mon Cousin Alphonse.

 Our final day we visited Gordes.  Breathtaking views.

 And a lovely courtyard for cocktails.

One of those laugh until your face hurts kind of trips!

 And then it was off to Paris.  Shoe shopping followed by lunch at L'Avenue.  Flea markets, museums and more shopping.  I think we were tearing around so much we didn't even take pictures.  We only had dinner one of the three nights we were there because we were so exhausted.  What a wonderful memorable trip!!!

 In the meantime, our house is being painted by the world's slowest painter.  And we are having some work done on the kitchen so we have no kitchen.  My kitchen contractor talked me out of putting in new stair treads and has convinced me to fix my miniature front porch and death trap steep steps.  Words like variance, engineering drawings, topography survey, etc...etc...are flying around.   I am sure this will cost $90 million.  Stay tuned.  

Finished!

Hard to believe that school starts tomorrow.  

When we got back from our trip, K went to acting camp and a couple of cooking camps.  The highlight of her summer was her first flight alone to Japanese camp in Minnesota.

Our last new pet ever.  I swear!  Promise!!!!! 

Sweet Bert spent 5 days in the hospital.  He has diabetes and will be on insulin twice a day.

K also went to rowing camp.  It was so hot that week.  K was such a great sport!  I picked her up, tossed her a sandwich and we raced to math camp where she spent the afternoon. 

Back in London

We flew back to London because we used miles and had to fly home from London.  We took a ghost bus tour on our last night.  Not too scary but very silly.  

We decided to try something new and stayed in Soho.  Loved our charming hotel and we even had a view of the London Eye.  K loved Soho-I'm not so sure.  I don't know my way around there and the traffic in that part of town is crazy!!  We had a late dinner at Hix and as we were walking home we passed a crowd of people in front of a bar taking pictures of transvestites and K commented that we don't get out enough.  I think I prefer quiet Knightsbridge.  

That thing K is eating is not a turkey leg-it is fish.

My vegetable salad-I would love to have one right now.

Drottningholm Palace

One of our favorite things that we did in Stockholm was take a boat rip to Drottningholm Palace.  The palace was built in 1662 and is the official home of the Swedish royal family.

This vintage boat that took us to the palace.  

We cruised through the Stockholm Archipelago to get to the palace.  Island after island and sparkling blue water.

Our little boat

 The Chinese Pavilion.  A blend of rococo and Chinese elements.  It was absolutely beautiful.  It was built in 1796 as a gift for the 30 year old queen to use as her summer palace.   The inside was beautiful but no pictures were allowed. 

The confiance dining room.  There is a kitchen in the basement.  This dining room was separate from the rest of the house so that conversations could not be overheard.

The guard house for the Chinese Pavilion. 

Back in Stockholm we got lost and stumbled across this beautiful building.

Loved this dog waiting area in the grocery store.  Americans need to loosen up! 

Stockholm

We are totally smitten with Stockholm.  It is such a beautiful city-it is built on eight islands.  In the summer everyone is out on the water or biking or in the evening out eating and drinking at the many sidewalk cafes.  There is so much to do-great museums and fabulous food.

The view from our hotel room-sometime in the middle of night.

Beautiful restaurant in our hotel.  Breakfast was so good-fresh squeezed juice, homemade very grainy breads, delicious fresh butter.  Yum!!!

The Skansen museum.  So cute.  A combination zoo and old time Swedish culture. 

The Vasa museum.  The Vasa sunk immediately after departing on its native voyage 300 years ago.  Thirty years ago it was discovered at the bottom of the port and raised.    The detail work on the boat is fascinating and beautiful.

Courtyard of our hotel that we overlooked during breakfast.

Terrace cafe at our hotel where we had lunch and dinner.