Thursday, October 23, 2014

An event that changed my life!

October 23, 1956

This is the 58th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution. This is the event that changed our lives, my mother and father and we became Political Refugees. We had to flee our home and homeland.

War is ugly no matter where or when it happens! The memories are still vivid and dark!

This is the apartment we lived in the address was Lenin Korut 101. Before the Communist renamed the boulevard it was called Terész Körut and again after the cummunists regime fell it is again called Teresz Korut as it is today. Located about a block away from the "Nyugati" (West) Train Station. Click Here for a Map of Budapest.

We lived on the first floor apartment #10. The tree was right in front of our windows. This is one of the main "round" streets in Budapest so during the revolution there was a lot of "action" right in front of our building. This is a picture I took about a year ago when I was visiting.

During the revolution this was our view of the tree.... yes including the dead body hanging by his feet....Now that I'm writing this it sounds so horribly ghoulish but at the time we were numb to all of the horrors.


This is what the street looked like, the building on the left is our building. The debris on the ground included human body parts, sometimes the tanks ran people over....

Here are some more images from 1956 what we left....




This is a magazine that Life Magazine issued as an extra addition and sold for .50 cents and the proceeds went towards helping the Hungarian Refugees. I found a copy at an old magazine store on Main Street in Santa Monica. A couple of years ago I paid $50 dollars for it but to me it is one of my treasured posessions.



Links:
http://www.hungary1956.com/journeyhome.htm

PestCentric a Blog about Budapest in English

Hungarian Dictionary

The Terror House Museum
This one is in Hungarian about the Revolution
www.freedomfighter56.com
www.hungary1956.com
www.1956.lap.hu
www.hungaria.org
www.hacusa.org

Friday, August 15, 2014

Then this Happened!

I fell and could not get up! Rushing around with two bags of groceries in each hand, not watching where I was going carefully, it happened. I tripped at my back door and went down with my right foot twisted under me! OUCH!

Talk about seeing stars! I immediately knew that I hurt something bad. Got my husband to rush to help me as I was laying on the ground. He came running and it kind of freaked him out too. I asked him to please get some ice! Ladies believe it or not he asked where we kept ice? That's a frazzled husband for you.

Sure enough after x-rays it turns out that I broke my ankle and my 5th metatarsal bone. As you see in the pictures my whole foot turned black and blue. Then I got this lovely boot. Recovery time is estimated 4 months. Which will take us into November.

The good news is I have plenty of time to knit. Here are the projects I have finished. 

I will post the details and patterns in a future blog post. 







The good news is I have plenty of time to knit. Here are the projects I have finished. 

I will post the details and patterns in a future blog post. 




Wednesday, May 14, 2014

It's been a while but here I am blogging again.

So many changes, new hobbies and new way of eating. I want to share this recipe for a Paleo Cauliflower Soup. I just made this up with what I had on hand and my limited understanding of the Paleo way of cooking.



1/4 pound of ground beef
4 strips of bacon (oven cooked)
1/2 medium size organic sweet onion, chopped fine
Coconut oil or Olive Oil
1 head of Cauliflower cut to small pieces
2 carrots, grated
4 T almond meal 
Sea Salt to taste
water or organic chicken stock
chopped parsley
dash of hot paprika

In coconut oil Brown chopped onions with half of the grated carrots to almost burned 
add ground beef pinching dime size pieces, 
add chopped bacon, stir and sear
add salt and a dash of hot paprika
add the almond meal stir well (in place of a roux) for about a minute 
add 1/4 of the cauliflower stirring well for another minute
add all the cauliflower and the remaining of the carrots
4 cups of water 

Bring to a good boil, do not over cook. 

***********************


My new hobby is making Jewelry. I've been taking Metalsmithing classes and boy is it rough on the manicure. I'm just taking a little rest from knitting, although I still always have a project or two and knit a row or two just because I love knitting. I should have said new hobbies in the plural because I've also been doing some millinery hat making. I LOVE making hats!

I will post pictures and links to this new and exciting adventure I'm on. 




Friday, January 24, 2014

Skipping right over Fall and we are in the middle of Winter




Although judging from our weather here in Southern California winter has not showed up yet. The Swing Vest kick that I'm on right now have been perfect for our climate. Keeps me warm yet not too warm, I've come to the conclusion that vests are my favorite garments to wear.

A friend of mine asked me how many of these swing vests have I made and it stopped me to count. I confess I've made several. It all started with the "Wingspan Vest" made out of Noro Silk Garden yarn. This piece was a great success, feels nice and an easy wear.




And if and when it gets cold enough I wear this shawl that I made years ago and so happens to match.


Too warm so next came "Rusty Wings" made of sock yarn.


When I was teaching at Newtons Yarn Country I fell in love with their Nevada yarn. It's a wonderful rayon and drapes really beautifully. I named this one "Birds of a Feather".



 

Then when I got this wonderful wool in Estonia I made the "Vera Vest", decided to add a collar and this one I think is my favorite. I love wearing it.


And then there is this one that I kind of updated with my leftover felting.


And on the needles soon to be finished (I hope). The working name is "Squiggly" for obvious reasons.