17.1.2010 von admin.

…whatever that’s suppose to mean… at least I try to put it a context of smart, brilliant and a shining star.. that’s me by the way, at least if I have my own say in the matter. Anyway it was said (and not by me) and my translation with a slight modification concluded it as a positive remark about my intellectual state. It didn’t even cross my mind that it could have anything to do with the clear blue sky, sun and the necessity of wearing sun-glasses..

The weeks pass quickly and we survived both pre-Christmas, Christmas, post Christmas, New Year and half of January in a swoosh, gained some weight (seriously -who doesn’t?) and even lost some after long days of diet. I call it the post-Christmas trauma.

VSV (the local ice-hockey Team from Villach) won the Derby in and against Klagenfurt last week and over 30.000 fans visited the changed football arena celebrating this open-air ice-hockey event. Unfortunately we had no tickets, so I shoveled snow instead and listened to the radio. I have never shoveled so much snow in my life as last weekend and there were muscles in pain days afterwards. I find it very strange that muscles actually pop up where as far as I am concerned, never have been any before..

Anyway- got to go

So long - another diet day tomorrow

/S

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8.1.2010 von admin.

….five hours…

Met up with a friend yesterday, in Italian Tarvisio for one of the best pizzas ever. Took a stroll after we stuffed ourselves through the old city centre, visited the local mercato (marketplace) specialized in leather, so a dream for any handbag fanatic. If you go there mid-week and low-season the probability of getting a better price is high. You just need to negotiate with passion, as the Italians do.

Some of the houses are fairly run down, which is a pity. It felt like going back at least 20 years in time, following the narrow board walks up the hill, with the buildings almost placed in the middle of the street, old signs and we could have painted a black and white landscape, capturing the snow, the grey houses and the dirt from the cars.

Tarvisio is located in the northeastern part of the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia in the province of Udine and has a population of almost 5.000 people. Before the Schengen agreement, opening up the boarders, Tarvisio was booming economically as a centre for trading junction between former Yugoslavia and Austria. Today, Tarvisio is known for its profound alpine snow which attracts many tourists for skiing and snowboarding, mainly schools. It was host to the 2003 Winter Universiade and the Women’s 2007 Alpine Skiing World Cup.

We passed through Kranjska Gora in Slovenia (know for skiing and world cups) on our way back, stopped the famous shop located on the border, where cheap cigarettes, wine, perfume and bits and bobs can be purchased to very competitive prices.

Today, I have been shoveling snow, shoveling snow and shoveling snow… Unfortunately the snow is the heavy sort and I have slight difficulties feeling my upper arms right now. I guess, that if it keeps going like this - I will be doing it all over again later this afternoon… hurray…. not… If I didn’t have as lovely neighbours as we have, I would buy one of those snow blowers and clear out the snow from the property…. I like snow…but not where I need to shovel.

So long - snow snow snow

/S

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6.1.2010 von admin.

… is the story of life. We live and die, we laugh, we cry… My heart goes out to a dear friend who lost a family member yesterday… rest in peace.

The past days around the house have been busy….not only food has taken up parts of the agenda for once, even though a big part included cooking… Wiener Schnitzel and Bavarian Schweinsbraten with potato dumplings (Kartoffelknödel) yummy yummy yummy…. I did my Masters in Bavarian cooking and have realized I could go for an armature house-wife award as long as it doesn’t contain ironing.

I have also had some dear friends around so we did some sightseeing, shopping and games of cards. I won all the time by the way and realized that this specific card-game (Skip-bo) has to be designed for women as it includes a lot of logic, plenty of multitasking and luck ;-).

We had some snow as well, not much, but covered some of the grey spots and brightens up the landscape. No need to shovel though, joyful, joyful!

So long - so soon

/S

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2.1.2010 von admin.

…me…

Embarrassing but true… though heard the fireworks from a horizontal position. There were moments where I actually had the feeling they were next to my bed. I must say - I tried really hard to stay awake but without any success. My dear dog slept through it all, snoring away in his most comfortable position. But I wasn’t the only one missing out on ringing in the New Year…so did the rest of the household, even though they managed to stay up later then I did.

So 2010 came, has started and not much changed since last year…

We had the opportunity to enjoy fireworks on the 1st January, as our neighbours are celebrating a birthday every year.  I watched from a safe distant, dog slept through this one as well and the New Years Eve extended, however without the champagne.

It started snowing today, our guests from Sweden left and we have more Swedes coming this evening. Friends are arriving on Sunday and the diet has to wait until they leave, as I don’t want them to starve while they are here (of course this has nothing to do with possibly me missing out on the good food which will be cooked).

Still no sign of the snow shoveling elves, guess they felt under-paid or got a job somewhere else.

So long -  stay tuned

/S

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