Mom :: Before she was Mom

My Mother would have been 83 years old today. I thought that I had seen all of the pictures of her through the years, but amongst her things we found the picture below. I don't know whether it is her or not but it was in the same drawer as her marriage license and certificate.





Whoever it is, she is a cutie! Below are some (okay, a lot of) confirmed photos of Mom. What do you think? Is the above photo my Mother? As always, double-click to view a larger version of the photos.



1928 and 1934

1936 and 1937

1941 and 1942

1943 – fifteen years old – yes, 15!

1944 – sixteen years old

1945 (Junior Prom) and 1946

In May .., for her 80th birthday, I posted some photos of her in her later years.

Surprises at Meriton Old Town Garden Hotel in Tallinn

When I am travelling alone, the location of the hotel I will be staying at takes centre stage in the planning. I have my budget limits of course but I would rather spend a little more for a hotel that is centrally and conveniently located in town. Safety and near to everything are imperative. Sometimes I get lucky and get an affordable lovely hotel, sometimes not.



In Tallinn, I think I had a nice hotel that did not break the bank, and with some surprising twists as well.



The Meriton Old Town ‘Garden’ Hotel



Website: Meriton Old Town Garden Hotel







In Tallinn, Estonia I stayed for 2 nights and had roughly 3 days to enjoy the oldest city in the north. I stayed at the Meriton Old Town Garden Hotel which is part of the Meriton Tallinn Hotels. The hotel is a 16th century merchant house restored into a modern and charming historical hotel in the centre of old town Tallinn.



Do take note that there are 2 Meriton Old Town Hotels in Tallinn old town centre. The first one is called ‘Meriton Old Town Hotel’ located beside the old town’s ancient city walls, and where I stayed is the ‘Meriton Old Town Garden Hotel’ located in the center at both busy main streets, Pikk and Lai streets (the hotel is housed between 2 main boulevards and thus have 2 entrances). The word ‘garden’ thereby is the operative word here.



Many people get the 2 hotels mixed up and end up booking a room at the wrong hotel. The other hotel is very nice, I came across it while walking around and thought it was cute, but the one where I stayed at is very central which I quite prefer.



The surprises of this hotel are its café and the breakfast rooms but I’ll share first my room.



My Charming Room











My room was spacious for a standard double-bed room accommodation. The charming colour scheme of pale yellow gold and white was very smooth and light to the eyes while the floral baroque patterned red carpet was an elegant contrast.



The downside was the toilet and bathroom. No windows, they were not separate and tight. Moreover, the sink was located on the too narrow hallway and the mirror above it has a glass bracket where you can place your stuff. Whenever I brush my teeth and use the faucet and water, my head would get caught up with the bracket. It was soooo annoying.



Café Mademoiselle



This was one of the biggest surprises. I adore cafes and nice places aka hotspots, especially if they are themed and beautifully interior designed. Café Mademoiselle is one of those cafes in Tallinn that a city visitor should not miss, while hotel guests are lucky to be treated with easy access because this café is the café of Meriton Old Town Garden Hotel!



Here are a few pictures of this elegant Parisian style café:



















When in Estonia, do try the local coffee with Vana Tallinn liquor.









Outside the hotel on Pikk street is an open-air terrace served by Café Mademoiselle.







There is also another cafe terrace in the hotel located in the inner courtyard near the reception but this is only accessible on Lai street and I think only open during the summer months.



Hotel Toilet with an Ancient Well



If you are not a hotel guest but you have come to visit the café or the restaurant in the cellar, do stop by at the toilet because you will be in for a cool surprise. There is a big hole inside the toilet! Actually, this is an ancient well, but don’t worry it is covered in glass. Try standing on it though.









This is the hallway going to Café Mademoiselle (and the Estonian Dining Room) and to the courtyard of the hotel. On this hallway is the toilet with the ancient well, see arch door on the left.







Breakfast at the Estonian Dining Room



More surprises are coming! Face to face with a bull head, or maybe a different type of elk – reindeer head? I am not sure, you tell me!







Watch your head when you go down the stairs please.











My first breakfast took place in the cellar of the hotel, at the Estonian Dining Room Restaurant. The cellar's walls are made of brick limestone and the ceiling of dark mahogany coloured wooden panels. It is very nice and cosy, and perhaps typically Estonian, what with that animal head on the wall. In Madrid, Spain, many restaurants have them on the walls as well. Read here: El toro (bull's) head



The Estonian Dining Room is a restaurant of the hotel specialising in Estonian Kitchen (which I found out is very similar to the German Kitchen) but they use this place sometimes as a breakfast room in the mornings.



The Breakfast Room of Café Mademoiselle



And the last surprise was my second breakfast, this time at the breakfast room of Café Mademoiselle.











I thought we would have breakfast at the café but when I arrived I was redirected to the adjacent room, the (main) breakfast room of the hotel actually. The interior design is different from the café and compliments more my room in slightly French Victorian with a very feminine touch, unlike the Parisian vogue cafe that has a snarky bit Moulin Rouge design.



In the afternoons the breakfast room is used as a function room by the hotel. Buffet breakfasts (on both occasions) were very good, lots of vareity, unfortunately I am not a huge breakfast person.



Except for the toilet and bathroom, I am very satisfied with this hotel.

The Mont Bell Permafrost down jacket?

I had seen Mont Bell garments around for a few years. I liked many of the designs but until recently the sizing was off for me. I dropped weight and Mont Bell made an effort to re size. Now Mont Bell fits true to size for the North American market.



My first real exposure was actually "forced" upon me. I had agreed to do a synthetic jacket reviewforCC.com. They had wanted me to include twoMont Bell jackets. Fair enough and glad we did include them. I learned something from it.



The Mont Bellsynthetic versions really impressed me. I see a lot of gear, as in, a LOT of gear. And I used the Mont Bell Synthetics last spring and through the summer. I kept one (Thermawrap Pro) and continueto use it now in winter. It is a great mid weight by any comparison. And like all the Mont Bell garments I have seen recently an exceptional pattern and fit for me personally.



More on the original synthetic review here:



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//12/synthetic-insulation-60g-to-100g.html



It waswell over 3 years ago now that the idea of a "gear test" and the resulting,Cold Thistleblog, came from my search for a very warm, down "climbing" jacket.



"I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it,[Emphasis added.]


—Justice Potter Stewart,



I've been around long enough to "know it when I see it" when it comes to a down jacket appropriate for climbing.


I've sincelooked at a lot of jackets. Some I tossed aside unworthy, early on and didn't add to this list. Many (5 and counting) of these jackets have been changed a lot since I did my first reviews. So make sure you know what you are looking at. The most recent update (data is from the earlier reviews though) below of the jackets I have thought met that criteria of "climbing jacket":





L or XL
weight insulation @ the shoulderbox wall or sewn through



xEddie Bauer Peak
XV 1091g/ 38.5 5" box

xNarrona
Trollveggan 1063g/
37.5 3" box

xRab Neutrino Plus
794g/ 28 5" box

xArcteryx
Duelly 794g/28 2.5" non
laminated syn

xNarrona Lyngen 737g/ 26 3"
sewn + layer

Mont
Bell Permafrost 694g/24.5 4.5" box


xRab Neutrino Endurance 650g/22.9 3"
sewn

xMtn H Nilas 652g/ 23
3.5" box/sewn thru arms

xEB BC Micro Therm 590g/
21 2.5" sewn + layer

Mont Bell
Mirage 420g/ 14.7 3.5" box


xRab Infinity 402g/ 14
3" sewn





There is a sweet spot
between design, use and weight. Hard to define what will work best for you.
But for my own use generally the warmth to weight ration will cut through all
the fog. What works best for me has little to do with the quality of these
jackets. All are high quality, state of the art, down jackets. Any one of
them will keep you warm on most occasions. Each has a forte' and specific use
worth searching for if you want to spend your money wisely. Without having all
these jackets at hand in front of me there is no way I could have made a
educated decision on what was best for my own use. And I continue to be
surprised almost every time I start making these kinds of comparisons.




Between the fully baffled Eddie Bauer Peak XV and the light weight, sew through Rab
Infinity there is a lot of leeway, weight and warmth.



If you are looking the ultimate example of warmth and light weight construction in a down jacket is boxed wall construction. There has never been any doubt about that. The best down jackets made 40 years ago were box baffled construction and the best now are as well. It isn't a cheap way to make a jacket. It is however the best way to use down as insulation.



On the list above only these are full box baffled construction.



Eddie Bauer Peak XV* #

Narrona Trollveggan(the new one might make 4+")

Rab Neutrino Plus*#

Mont Bell Permafrost*#

Mont Bell Mirage(just under 4",moredetails in another review)



And of those only three jackets* break the legitimate 4" of loft at the shoulder #. These are all really warm jackets but going past 4" of loft is the exception here not the rule.Of those three the Permafrost is the lightest and the least amount of loft..@ 4.5" of 800 fill down.There is 9oz of the 800 downin a medium.



The Mont Bell's are the only large size jacketsin these comparisons. The weights aren't going to be far off for comparisons if you wondered. But a large Mont Bell now fits me like a XL RAB (MB lg is a bit bigger) or XLMountain Hardware Nilas (MB Lg is a bit smaller). "Like"but the Mount Bell jackets actually fit better with my intended layering systemthan either RAB or Mtn H.



Unzip the hood from the Permafrost and you drop 100g or 3.5oz.



4.5" of loft and nowthe Permafrost is 594g, or 21oz. Your decision on what is required of an insulatedhood. But the huge stand up collar and detachable hood gives you some options that don'toften see in these jackets. And something I don't generally like in my own jackets. This one may be a rare exception. I still have to wonder though what the weight would have been if they had ditched the stand up collar for a attached hood. The detachable hood will easily take a climbing helmet with room to spare inside. The zipper, baffleand detailing on the hood attachment is exceptionable.



The more I play with this jacket the more the Permafrostimpresses me for warmth, detailing and value. It fills aniche market no one else even playing in yet. Something I am just beginning to realise Mont Bell does a lot.











More comparisons here:

http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//03/more-on-mid-weight-down-jackets.html








The Permafrost's excellent stand up collar and detachable hood










The RAB Neutrino Plus also hasa stand up collar that includes the hood
with a Velcro "latch". The "latch" allows one to climb in the jacket with the
hood buried and free of snow when it is not up.





The Neutrino Plus also has a 30" back measurement in a XL. The Permafrost is 29". A little weight savings there.



The best pocket combo I have seen in a jacket of this style. Big gloves or 2 liters per side, easy, plus a sun glass pocket. Hand warmer pockets with a micro fleece as well on the outside.














Fair size sun glass pocket and the detailing of a Velcro closure on the big pockets.




The Permafrost hasVelcro and elastic wrist closures which work
extremely well.









The neck and collar are both lined with a super fast drying,soft micro fleece material.









The entire shell has a DWR coating and is made of Gore's Windstopper fabric. Winstopper laminated fabrics have proven to "offer total wind proofness and maximum breathability".









http://www.windstopper.com/remote/Satellite/toc/TechnologyOfComfortFrameset/index



All in all you have a very sophisticated jacket from Mont Bell.here.
Retail is $369.



I think it is well worth searching out the brand in your area and checking them out.



Backcountry.com carries them for mail order and Pro Mountain Sports in Seattle does locally as well.



http://www.promountainsports.com/

Trip to Virginia Complete With a Surprise Once We Arrived!

Nathan and I took our first no children with us trip since...well, ever! We went to Virginia to stay with his Mom. We headed out on Friday and ended up getting stuck in traffic on Saturday but still made it there in decent time.



On Sunday, we headed down to Daryl and Diana's where we saw their new barn.



We also met Dustin, Lauren's new horse, who was largely the reason behind the barn. I actually met Dustin once before, but got to spend more time really getting to know him this visit.



While we were talking horses, Josh came out to see what we were doing. And he brought some of the white stuff with him.




I'm not a fan of the white stuff. It cracks me up when people ask if we miss snow. I can't figure out what on earth there would be to miss. It is pretty to look at. If you are looking at it in a picture. While sitting in Florida! Beyond that, nope, we don't miss snow.



The chickens seemed to agree with me. They had ruffled feathers over the snow.



By the time we drove back to Mom's house, this is what it looked like:



I think it's time to hunker down and stay inside until the sun comes out and melts it all away again!




Living the life in cold VA!

Snowy Road