Wednesday, 9 May 2018

My Happy Place

As you all know, Cape Cod is near and dear to me.  My parents built our cottage in 1959, with my dad designing the house and overseeing every aspect of the construction.  The siting of the cottage is spectacular.  We have the most beautiful view of the sunsets over Cape Cod Bay.  The colors, whether vibrant or muted, are always a sight to be seen.  Here are some photos of the sunsets taken from out top deck using my iPhone.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

This first one is the view looking towards the bay during the day.


Now we have the fireworks...














Tuesday, 8 May 2018

Unexpected travel

I have some  news... When I entered the US, I had a visa waiver, so I was given three months stay, full stop. But we only discovered that the visa couldn't be extended (at all) when the border protection guys sent me an email saying they hoped I had enjoyed my visit and that I had only ten days to leave the country. Bye bye!

I still had a valid return ticket to Paris, and I will travel this Thursday. Fortunately, I have many friends over there and have already arranged a place to stay, with a very good, very welcoming friend.

I'm not quite sure what will happen next, but I know I can't stay with Dora on a full time basis. I'll apply for a proper tourist visa and try to spend the summers in France and the winters in Miami. Best of both worlds! 

I need my fellow bloggers to cover for me from Thursday until at least Monday, because the journey is brutal and I'll be jet-lagged. Merci in advance, peeps!

The good news is that I can take you sightseeing in the French countryside again...

Here's a taster, a place called Dampniat:



Monday, 7 May 2018

Something a little different...

My DH showed me the article below. I am still trying to figure out why he felt the need to share it with me, but that's a story for another day. 😉 It made me realize that we don't do many posts geared towards the men who read this blog. We know we have at least one! I suspect there are a few more who read the blog but don't comment. So here you go guys, this post is for you!



           Sixteen Logical Reasons Why Some Men Have Dogs And Not Wives 



I had to include something for the ladies!

                                                                                                                                                                       
1. The later you are, the more excited your dog is to see you.

2. Dogs don't notice if you call them by another dog's name.    

3. Dogs like it if you leave lots of things on the floor.         

4. Dogs parents never visit.                                                      
                                               
5. Dogs agree that you have to raise your voice to get your point across.

6. You never have to wait for a dog; they’re ready to go, instantly, 24 hours a day.                                                                                                     
7. Dogs find you amusing when you're pissed.                         

8. Dogs like to go hunting and fishing.                                       
              
9. Dogs won't wake you up at night to ask: If I died, would you get another dog?     

10. If a dog has babies, you can put an ad in the paper and sell 'em.

11. Dogs like to ride in the back of a pickup truck.                          

12. Dogs never tell you to stop scratching your balls. Instead, they sit pondering why you don't lick 'em.

14. Dogs will let you put a studded collar on, without calling you a pervert.
                                             
15. If a dog smells another dog on you, it won't kick you in the crotch; it just finds it interesting. And last, but not least:

16. If a dog runs off and leaves you, it won't take half your stuff. To verify these statements: Lock your wife and dog in the garage for an hour. Then open the door and verify who is happy to see you!                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Sunday, 6 May 2018

Missing this little creature

I miss Pirouette, but I'm happy that I found a loving family to take her in. They're animal lovers and she became the lady boss of the animals that live indoors: one young puppy and one shy cat, younger than her. There are also two hunting dogs that live outside (they have their own little house). They kept her inside for a month so she could get used to her new surroundings, then she was let out to explore the woods behind the house. They say she's very friendly and loving. I was apprehensive about her adaptation to a new family, because she was extremely attached to us, especially to Peter. After his death, she was behaving strangely, peeing all over the place and other things. The vet (lovely Olivier) put her on some natural capsules that I could open and put in her food, and she improved rapidly. I gave the rest of the capsules to Damien, so I expect she wasn't too distressed in her new surroundings. Here's the adorable Pirouette:
























Saturday, 5 May 2018

Let's All Relax!

Sometimes life demands that we just stop running around and take a nice walk.

I think today is a perfect time to do just that!




Anyone care to join me?

Friday, 4 May 2018

Illusions...

This floor is flat



This "triangle" changes when you move 



The rows of tiles are all parallel 



This is not a spiral, they are all separate circles 

Thursday, 3 May 2018

May is here !

The beautiful month of May is upon us. It was a long time coming this year !  Cinco de Mayo, Mother"s Day, and Memorial day will all be celebrated in the next few weeks. There are some other holidays scheduled in May that I was not aware of. Perhaps some of you have heard of these unique days.


                                                  May 3rd- Garden Meditation Day



       

This special day was conceived by C.L. Fornari, an author and radio personality. I know many of us will enjoy this day !                             



                                                                  May 4th- Bird Day





Bird Day is the oldest of the days set aside to recognize birds. It was first observed on May 4, 1894. It is one of several holidays celebrating birds.



                                                         May 6th- International No Diet Day






I think this one will be fun to celebrate! No Diet Day encourages us to appreciate the bodies we have, people come in all shapes and sizes.... and that's okay. It was created by Mary Evans Young in 1992. After personally experiencing anorexia , she worked to help people appreciate themselves for what they are.



                                                    May 9th- Lost Sock Memorial Day






Who amongst us has not had this problem ? Matching socks go into the wash , a single sock comes out. It is a pet peeve of mine, I waste so much time searching for the elusive sock ! It is recommended to throw out all mismatched socks on this day. Face it, they are not going to turn up! 😁



                                                      May 25th- National Wine Day






We are going to need this day after searching for all the lost socks ! The day speaks for itself- Pour yourself a glass or two and relax!



                                                May 31st- National Macaron Day






I thought this was the perfect holiday to celebrate as we often enjoy Macarons on this blog. I know anything chocolate usually wins out, but let's give these guys a chance on their special day!

                                                           


Wednesday, 2 May 2018

The World's Coolest Rainbow

This cool rainbow appeared over California last week. How neat is this?


      Photo by M.Jimenez

A Fire Rainbow is very rare. In order for this phenomenon to occur thousands of tiny hexagonal ice crystals have to line up perfectly and so does the sun.

Isn't nature awesome?

Tuesday, 1 May 2018

Cat activates dog's turbo mode

Monday, 30 April 2018

Take a closer look...

Things are not always what they seem!











Italian photographer Angelo Musco gathered thousands of people to create the feather photos. 

[Link to article and video - in Spanish]

Sunday, 29 April 2018

Luxury for frequent flyers

These palaces in Turkey were built during the Ottoman Empire, between the 15th and 19th centuries, to house... birds!











[All photos by Caner Cangül]

Saturday, 28 April 2018

Road Trip!

We all got along so well on our trip to Paris I thought you might like to join Mike and me for a Canadian road trip into Northern Ontario.

Grab your bags and hop in. Sweet Pea is making room for all of you.





Anyone for a 'double double' from Tim Horton's? No road trip is complete without a stop at Timmy's.





 I have some Canadian road trip music downloaded. Open the windows we are going to sing!

\



Let's hear you now! Don't be shy!



We head west on the Trans Canada Highway and then turn north, away from the traffic and the big cities toward Muskoka. Bracebridge is a town in the Muskoka region. The name comes from a First Nations chief of the 1850's. Apparently the area was the hunting grounds of a band led by Chief Yellowhead or Mesqua Ukie. As you can see, this is not farm land!



Finally we are here! There is still some snow on the ground but it is a lovely day for a walk around the town of Bracebridge. Muskoka was named one of National Geographic Traveler's 20 "Must See" destinations.

Can you see the deer on the lawn across the street from my sister's house? He greeted us when we arrived. Then four of them pranced down the lawn and across the street.


 This is the view from down the street.


Heading downtown... In a couple of months you wont be able to move on the main street. There will be so many summer people.




At the bottom of the street we can stop off and take a look at the power plant. My sister took this little video clip for Pallottine.




The water powered generating plant was bought by the town in 1894 making Bracebridge the pioneer in municipal hydro electric generation in Ontario.



Last spot on the tour is to Huckleberry Rock Lookout Trail. Best to wear your hiking boots. You will be standing on the oldest surface rocks on the planet. They are well over a billion years old. A sign carved into the rock tells us that "(a)s part of the Precambrian Shield these rocks have been encased in glaciers, buried under mountains, submerged beneath oceans, and scraped and eroded clean again."

It is a incredible feeling to stand atop these rocks. Mike managed to get to the top last summer.




Anyone want to head back into town? I know where we can get some  yummy homemade carrot cake. We can kick back and leave the rest of the world behind for a little while.