(a few final words & pictures from 2006...)

...before I move on to New Year's Eve and the beginnings of this newest year. So much was going on during the month of December that I couldn't keep up. Thankfully, things have slowed up since. But more on that in a blog or two...

Here are a few from the Arte Xmas Party. It was Jean-Philippe's idea to stage it under the big top (or rather, under three of them). His ideas over the past few years have brought a new dimention to Xmas parties for Arte. Frankly, he amazes me still, after all these years: so quiet and unassuming, but with an imagination and a sense of the wonderful that have no bounds.

Here are a couple from a soirée arranged at Eric & Joël's, so that we could all hang out with his brother, sis-in-law, niece and another friend - all from Marseilles and all very swank. It was a great evening, to say the least! In order of appearence: (1) Where's the teddy? (2) Their next album cover (3) Hide 'n' Seek (4) Strangers in the night?

Here are a few from a soirée held at Caroline's place. The best pictures of the night are these four, which is something of a shame, because their other friends that were there are not only too swank, too ("too" = see above, chez Eric & Joël), but are lovely-lookin' ladies and gents. Next time, next time... For this feast, a hunter-friend of Fred's had caught a wild boar, so he roasted the leg he was given and whipped up some spaetzele to our collective delight. It was divine. Then again, Fred's cooking (and Caroline's) is always divine.

Here are the boys on the bikes their Mémé & Pépé gave them for Xmas. They were pros within a half an hour (well... okay, there's still work to do. But they FEEL like pros, and I ain't gonna take that away from them)! Biking is tiring work for beginners, though... Anyway, they now have another obsession to add to the list!

This was a stuffed animal holder that Tomi constructed with giggles and vigour; and the Xmas trees that the boys constructed at school:

Here are some sweet moments at play...

And the lunch crowd, assembled in front of our favourite food & drink stands in the Place Broglie section of the Xmas market:

Here are a couple of photos from 100% Locally Produced meals we had at home in the last days of the year 2006:

And lastly, here are a couple of images from an afternoon we spent at a new café that's opened on Rue Hannong, La Tarte aux Billes. You pay a set sum (6€ for big kids & 4€ for wee ones) and you receive a sweet or savory something to eat, plus a drink to sip - and you can play at any or all of the great games they have on shelves and stacked in corners and on the window sills for as long as you like. The fun stuff for 3/4 year olds is upstairs, so we collected a few big kid games downstairs, then headed up to where all could share in the fun! The muffins were a hit with the boys. So were the play farm and the car-pet (get it? huh? ho!). the big kids played a kind of fruit War and then a couple of rounds of chess. We hadn't played this last in three years! Though I suspect that Jean-Philippe's been honing up behind my back...

"Boys, guess who came last night!"

"Fa-durr Kiss-muss?"
"YEAH! And what do you think he brought you?"
"Uhmm... chocolate?"

After this exchange, the boys ran out and attacked the tree. We asked them to do us the favour of posing for the Before picture, which they did, though reluctantly. See, they'd already shaken the box of Jelly Bellies that Ellen had sent, and it didn't take more than that shake for them to guess its contents. See below, first series:


Unfortunately, we had to do the opening rather quickly, since we were all late in getting up, the house was still a mess from baking and the boys' antics of the previous day - and the rest of the B family was arriving "any moment, now." Fortunately, though, we ended up having a few minutes to revel in the lovely contents of all of that packaging before the second of the three parts of the day began unfolding.

Unfortunately (#2), when the rest of the extended B family arrived, it was sans Tanti Théma and Cousine Ariane, the latter of whom had come down with something that included fever and her first asthma attack* the night before. Poor wee one. Fortunately (#2) though, the fixins were fine, the wine flowed freely and the grey stayed outside while the festivities raged within. I wish I had pictures of said fixins to share, but I was too busy partaking to be taking. Still, I don't mind mentioning that Mémé Renée brought her heavenly homemade fois gras, which went wonderfully well with my homemade Pain de mie (a.k.a, Pullman Loaf).**


An aside: among other treasures, the boys got a doctor's kit. When they realised what it was, they cried out, "Jernite!"*** before busily going about playing doc. I was a bit mystified at first by their sticking the syringe in our mouths. And then it dawned on me: the play syringe looks more like their liquid aspirin ones than my insulin ones! I explained it to them, and they get it, but still sometimes prefer to "give us aspirin" with theirs. Here's Leo, on one of his first proper goings at it:



Oh, and get this: each of us got an apron for Xmas, from three different couples! Jean-Philippe got one from the Oveys, the boys got theirs from the Kotlers and I got mine from the Larsons - all totally different and absolutely fabulous! I hadn't got mine by the 25th, but you can see (me wearing) Jean-Philippe's in the above two pics. We just got the other three tonight, and they'll soon be making their way onto these pages. More on other wonderful gifts will also be coming, and soon...

The third third of Xmas Day began as the second third was reluctantly petering out. A few friends, on their ways to or from their family festivities, stopped by for a last bite or sip. It became an epic undertaking for two of them, though. Manu and Candice rang the doorbell and walked in the downstairs door around 6-ish, and the phone rang two minutes later: they were stuck between the first and second floors! Ever-so-luckily, Damien d'Otis (as he styled himself - Otis is the elevator company) was able to come by within a half an hour. And to thank him for this (as well as for once having saved a beloved frog of Tomi's from doom when he came for a routine elevator check-up), we asked him in for a round and some tall tale telling.

By the time I talked to the folks in Portland, I was half asleep - but awake enough to understand that Ellen and Donnie were sick in bed, the fourth and fifth victims of a bug that Barb, Anne and Evie had all succumbed to in previous succession. Crikey!

* Our boys had their first when-sick asthma when they were about the same age; seems it runs in all three families.
** I am fast becoming a yeast-bread-baking addict, ever since my debut last week...
*** Our friends, Assia and Mohammed Jernite, are also the boys' doctors. I used to make the difference between going to their house and going to their pediatrics office by referring to them as the Doctors Jernite when we were going to the latter, and by their first names when we were going to the former. It seems this usage is still stuck in the boys' minds, though we adults don't use it any longer.

Ho! Ho! Hi-dee-do!

After 36 hours of cooking and baking...


24 December > Chrsitmas started out in salmon & style with Neil & Clare and their bambini (+ another family they're friends with) at their place. My Stilton paté seemed to go over well; the coquilles St. Jacques were absolutely fabulous; the stuffed, baked salmon was heavenly (Leo even asked for, "More lots of fish?" several times - and he got it!); the leg of lamb was, too; the fine 'n' dandy drinks were thanks to the Oveys' neighbourhood wine salesman, who never fails - ever; the seven kids were great fun; the cracker-guns were hilarious... what more can I say? Aside from, "Many, many, many thanks to the chefs!" Oh! And it was also Felix's seventh birthday, so: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FELIX!

More Ramblings...

First of all, I would like to mention another tape I so thankfully found: Jean's Far Away Friends Tape. (snif!) This tape re-discovery is turning into an odyssey...

And then I'd like to offer more evidence of Tomi's latest obsession. And to mention that it's Leo's, too, though to a somewhat lesser extent. Please also note the evidence on the far right of one of the last days of that particular "Leo! Sick!" - though he and I just got something new to keep our throats and noses company. Woo-hoo. Yippee. Kerchoo!

And finally, I'd like to offer another glimpse of the Christkindelsmärik (and also the observation that Alsatian is not exactly a written language. That is, that it IS, but that the writer can largely decide on his or her own as to the spelling of pretty much everything within) and wink a little wink in Aunt Peg's direction...

Bring on the Braedele!

Announcing the successful completion of the ...Fifth? Annual Beinert-Yerkes Braedele Baking Fest! (10/12/2006)

Well... judging by the Alsatians' remarks, we can't really call these "braedele" - to make a long story short, the only batch they thought "just right" was the burnt, too-flour-y one* - but we will, anyhow. For the sake of something or other.

Here's Tomi - our diligent little cook - starting things off with a roll and a pat. And there's the sky from our kitchen sink window...

Meanwhile, back in the living room: the band plays on - and so do Leo & (Big) Felix!

If I'd've been Candice, I'd've been RUNNING...!

Spot the Dirty Cookie? (This has been tradition ever since the first of these braedele fests, way back when. Advanced apologies to the more sensitive readers...)

* Too-flour-y, thanks to too many kittens' paws and thus too many re-rollings. Although I do love the idea of letting three three-year-olds and a seven-year-old help with the cutting, the reality of it can become somewhat overwhelming. Things probably could have been managed better, though. We'll have to see how we can better the kids' experience for next year.

Recent Ramblings, Ruminations...

A few things I've been meaning to mention:

1) We passed one of the cribs on to Laurence and Guillaume nine days ago, and had a lovely Saturday afternoon with them & their burgeoning foetus in the bargain. While Jean-Philippe pieced together the crib and I sorted the remaining baby clothes before they arrived for lunch, I felt the first wave of motherly regret of the weekend. Ouuu... there it is again...

Here they are, foetus in tow, scanning the Xmas market crowd for Caroline. And here, too, are Tomi & Jean-Philippe (who you don't see often in these pages, because he so very much detests having his picture taken. As you may have guessed from the look on his face...)

Here're the proud parents on the next day, and the crib their baby will be lying in just a few weeks from now ( ?! ). Whoa...

2) The Xmas market was in full swing on that Saturday afternoon, which almost resulted in our missing Caroline & Co. in the crowd. I've never seen the Christkindels Märik through this large a throng. And I've been through many's the Märik by now.

Speaking of which: the name. Christ Child? Who? Where? Not that this bothers me, but... it is rather strange. There you go, though: a Christ Child's Market without the child. I'm starting to think that this holiday should be renamed. I mean, everybody I know celebrates this holiday, most of them are non-believers and many of them weren't even brought up in the Christian tradition. Got any ideas?

While I'm waiting for your feedback on that one, here's a crowd of tourists awaiting the bridge's swinging back in La Petite France; and Tomi, trying to figure out WHAT is going on, here...

And here are the boys, meeting up with their buddies, Lara and Dylan; thanking Dylan for a movie his family gave them for their birthday; and all four of them watching Totoro do his tricks later that night. (An aside: Dylan was all into trying his hand at the guitar that night. And... I think I know what he's getting for Xmas...! Don't tell.)

And here's alot of the bunch of us at table, drinking various warm drinks from the local producers' section of the market (which, as I've mentioned before, is right next door to us, making us feel very lucky for one whole month)...

3) Here's a little look at a couple of the Xmas corners of the house...

4) Here's Tomi, who hasn't stopped drawing and cutting and pasting in the past few months, except to eat, drink, sleep or watch CAT! and DOG! MOVIES! In the second picture, he's showing me where HIS udder is.

5) Below is sick Leo, after having drawn me a dinosaur (based loosely upon a stegosaurus I'd just drawn for him and the Ed-Emberley-inspired cows we'd all drawn together at school earlier that day, before it became apparent that Leo had caught the bug, too). Poor babe.

6) Their dally was coming home late that evening (we were supposed to go out together, but it turned out that Audrey wasn't able to babysit, so Jean-Phi gave my ticket to a friend at work. In the end, though, we would have had to cancel, anyway, for fear of giving Audrey this weasel of a worm that's been going around) ...so we started our evening drawing with a DRAW! STORY! of two boys who go on a walk, looking for their dally, a corner of which you can see in the picture of the sleeping Leo. The cat doesn't know where to find him, nor the does the dog or the mouse, but when their walk takes them to their mommy, she is able to help them out. The boys like this way of telling stories - and so do I. It's fun, and it gives them more impetus to think of their own twists and turns for the story.

7) I keep meaning to mention four great guys and gals who I am very
( ! ) happy to be able to call my friends. Two of them are brothers, and the other two are brother and sister, and they all keep coming to mind of late, though they are far-far away.

First of all: Ruairi* and Nial, who were crucial to every gathering we ever had on Kelvinhaugh Street or in Cleopatra's or any of a squillion other venues in Glasgow, and who kept coming to mind as I went to concerts this past autumn. Two of the times in particular (at David Thomas and Yo La Tengo) were because I was wearing Doc Martins; and things started looking like a slam dance fest was in the making; and this reminded me of the Damned, which was the concert where Anne and I met the brothers, and where my Doc Martins turned into paper maché. You didn't think this could happen to Docs, did you?

Well, whether you do or not: Nial and Antonella (who he met at the end of the year I lived there) just had a... BABY! Wee, beautiful Brendan. I hope to meet him some day soon...

Which brings me to Emer, who put me on to Altan, which was among my happy recent cassette finds; and who also just had her second child, Una, last year. And! who wrote recently to tell me that Justin (whose Justin Music cassette I also just popped in so happily) and Melanie had just had their first child, Rory! More babies ( + Emer & Patrick's four-year-old ) I can't wait to meet!

Which (name) brings us full circle, dunnit? Except that I don't have any pictures of any of them scanned (digital didn't mean what it means today, way back when), and I haven't yet asked Nial if I can take any of his from the internet. So... stay tuned...

* Ruairi and one of my four flatmates, Maria (who is another fabulous person), have been together since sometime in the second semester of that year. She didn't make it into that paragraph because she wasn't at the concert, unfortunately.

Li'l Saint... Gamma-Gampa?

How to explain? The evening of the 5th was meant - in best Alsatian tradition - to be when we celebrated St. Nicholas' Day at 24A. But it was not to be. Tomi wasn't quite over his feverish sickiness of the preceding days, and after a stint at the park with Leo and their buddy, Raphael, he literally began falling asleep with his head in his plate by the time dinner rolled around. So we decided to do it the next morning. Only, the next morning found Tomi sleeping in (which meant his mom & brother could, too, because Wednesday = no French school), and so... on the evening of the 6th...


& of course, that last picture is of the detrius of Saint... oh, but I almost forgot: this day has been renamed, and shall henceforth be referred to (in this household, at any rate) as Saint Gamma-Gampa Day. 'Cause... well...

Each of the boys got a book and an ornament from Gamma & Gampa, to be opened on this day of days. Both gifts come from the St. Nicholas Day tradtions established at 1622, and have been adhered to very scrupulously ever since ye good aul' days. I was trying to decide whether to say they were from Gamma & Gampa right away, or to wait a bit, and try to let the mythical St. Nick do his work. In the end, though - and since the first joy of a gift is indelibly imprinted on these boys' brains with the first hearing of the giver's name - I told them that G&G had sent the gifts along with St. Nicolas. And thereafter, the whole kit and kaboodle was a big GammaGampa parade of gifts and giving, as far as the boys were concerned. So... the lion and tiger are Gamma-Gampa Li-ee-un! & Gamma-Gampa Tie-gerr! The tangerines are Gamma-Gampa tie-n-jerr-ens! and so on.

Both books were a hit, but the real star of the two was How Do Dinosaurs Play With Their Friends? Barb & Larry had picked it up at a book sale at Betsy's school, when they visited her and her Herr boys in Chicago, with Ellen . And they couldn't have picked a better one. From the very first question ("What if a dinosaur's friends come to play. Does he mope, does he pout if he can't get his way?"), Leo would laugh and roll his eyes and head back and say with a giggle, "No-o-o-o-o!" Tomi was still a bit sick, so it took him until the second or third question to get into the groove. But it was SO funny - and it's the first time they've really responded to questions posed in a book in this way.

We got the tree the next day, but pictures of that will have to await our next post...