34 weeks and my favorite donkey.

 

{34 weeks}

 

Today was a struggle to get out the door for our morning walk. I've felt pretty lazy all week, as it took me a few days to recover from the combination of being the sober friend at Salon des vins over the weekend, and a doctor's appointment on Tuesday morning...

 

 

...add to that the 80 degree F temperatures we've climbed back up to this week, and I've been pretty pooped. But Doc convinced me that walking the 2+ miles for a pain aux chocolat would be worth it, and wouldn't you know it, he was right.

 

 

With today being the start of my 34th week of pregnancy (!!!), I'm really beginning to get a little antsy about this whole delivery and labor thing. It's crazy to think that if Homekid comes as early as I did, he/she would be here in 3 weeks instead of six...or if they come as late as Doc, I'll be pregnant for another eight. At the moment I'm more nervous about the idea of this kid showing up in the next three weeks, as I've realized that even though we've been making progress on the nursery and procuring necessary items, we need to step up our efforts a bit.

 

 

And let's not even talk about the whole needing to pack a hospital bag thing. I've decided that is going to happen this weekend, even if I'm not mentally there yet.

 

 

Even better than coming home with pain aux chocolat? Seeing this guy, my favorite donkey in St. Jean de Gonville. He's just the cutest, isn't he? THOSE EARS! Is there any animal with better ears than a donkey? No, there is not.

 

 

He used to have a friend, another donkey, but his friend was nowhere to be seen. So it was just him and the cows. Poor little floppy eared guy (or girl?). The cows just don't understand his plight...

 

{He/she got camera shy}

 

But not to be too outdone, coming home with treats from the boulangerie was a nice start to our Thursday...

 

 

...and yes, those are little chocolate looking mice for sale. Because I want to be able to play a prank on someone and then eat the prank. That can really be their only purpose, am I right?

 

 

Back to my little floppy eared friend - he's always with this herd of cows, but it doesn't seem like they ever let him play in their cow games. Poor guy (or girl) is always cast off to the side, a lonely outsider in the French mountains...

 

 

...and with that last diatribe, this is the look I got - Doc's "enough with the donkey" face. Excuse me for caring!

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey



Fig drop: Update

 

 

Remember my post last week about having some fig drop and fig yellowing problems with one of our potted fig trees? Well, it appears that my efforts were too little too late.

 

 

Figs have officially begun falling off on their own, and all of the figs have turned a pale sickly yellow.

 

 

This makes me sad, but I take solace in knowing that I learned something from this experience to add to my "gardening toolbox"...but I take more solace in knowing that our other 6 or so trees that are producing figs look healthy and green. At least I haven't screwed up our entire fig harvest (yet)...fingers and toes crossed!

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey



32 Weeks and the Great Slowdown.

 

 

We've hit the 32 week mark here in SwitzerFrance! Holy vache t-minus 8 weeks and counting. Is this really happening?

 

 

Well, based on the way I've been feeling lately, I'd say yeah, it definitely is.

 

 

Last week I felt like a total rock star, probably the best I've felt all pregnancy. I walked over 22 miles in our mountainous landscape, and naively thought, "Hey, I'm sure next week I'll feel even stronger and increase that mileage by a bit..."

 

 

Yeah, no.

 

 

The reality is setting in that I'm most likely not going to be feeling better and stronger, but much more tired and consequently, weaker. I'm feeling better about it now, but it was bumming me out earlier this week.

 

{Nature takes back.}

 

I still managed to get in 8 miles of walking so far this week, but it's definitely been tough. It's hard to listen to your body sometimes when you mind says "Go GO GOOOO!" 

 

Here's to forcing myself to slow down, at least for the foreseeable near future.

 

Happy Friday everyone! Any plans for this weekend?

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey



A Year Later: Varazze, Italy (Part 2)

 

 

After a great day lounging on the beach and imbibing in some Birra Moretti, we headed out for some seafood...

 

 

 ...because where are you going to find fresher seafood then on the Riviera? (Spoiler alert: not many places.)

 

 

Want to know one thing I love about traveling? More than anything else in the world? The lovely and the random. It seems like we find the most lovely and the most random while traveling in Italy, and Varazze was no different. After dinner we decided to take a stroll, and stumbled upon a Queen Tribute band called "Queen Mania" that was just taking the stage.

 

 

I love Queen. I love Freddie. I love Italians pretending to be Freddie. And I love Italians singing Queen.

 

 

And strangely enough, this is the second Italian Queen tribute band that we've stumbled upon in a 6 month period in Italy.

 

 

It was surreal watching the concert in Varazze, because all of the songs that we knew well, the ones that we thought of as popular, the Italian crowd didn't know the words to - but the ones that were more obscure (to us), they were all over. Funny the differences of what becomes popular in one place compared to another.

 

 {Great spot for picking up pizza to bring to the beach}

 

 

The following day was our last in Varazze, and we intended to get the most time on the beach that we could.

 

 

Overcast or not, we couldn't care less. I'm definitely more of the beach person than Doc (he is from Nebraska after all), but I know we both enjoyed relaxing with our feet in the sand and swimming in the Mediterranean.

 

 

It has always taken me awhile to leave the beach, ever since I was a little girl. My mom used to give me the "five minutes to go" warning for about an hour before we actually left, and Doc has to do the same thing. "Just one more dip! It's my last time in the Mediterranean this year! Just ten more minutes! Ok I just want to collect some sea glass..." and so on and so on. I guess certain things we just don't grow out of.

 

 

We grabbed a gelato to go, and started our trek back from the Ligurian coast to the Jura Mountains. We did however make a pit stop at one of our favorite places on the drive back, for one last Italian pizza before heading back through the Mont Blanc tunnel.

 

 

 A year is far too long to be away from you Italy. Les Duggans need to right this wrong, and soon. Let the 2014 trip planning begin!

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey



A year later: Varazze, Italy (Part 1)

 

 

After finishing up our day of hiking on Mont Blanc in Chamonix, France, we drove through the Mont Blanc tunnel into Italy. We had a long weekend planned on the Italian Riviera, and after having spent so much of the months prior training for Bikram Yoga Teacher Training, I was really looking forward to it! We made it into town at about 10:00 PM after stopping off on the way for some pizza and about 5 espressos each, and were pretty tired (despite the five espressos). All of Varazze seemed to be just getting started for the night, but we went to bed so we could head out and explore early in the morning.

 

 

After some Italian pastries and cappuccinos for breakfast, we headed down to the beach and were met by a surprise: not only did you have to pay for the beach in Varazze, but it was very expensive. As in 50 euro expensive for two people for two days. And I'm pretty sure we got a discount from staying at the hotel we were staying at. However, with the most expensive beach badge we've ever paid for (I have spent half of my life in New Jersey after all) came two chaise lounges, an umbrella, a game area for kids, and a bar/restaurant.

 

{Umbrellas and speedos as far as the eye can see...}

 

 

After the beach we went for our first (of many) gelato of the weekend...

 

 

...followed by some aperos and snacks before heading back to the hotel.

 

 

Not a cloud in the sky or a worry in our hearts.

 

Check back tomorrow for the next installment of our trip a year ago to Varazze, Italy!

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey