Looking Back - A Beautiful Walk

This was at the corner of our street , where we lived in Buenos Aires.

I took thousands, no, not exaggerating, thousands of photos over the 7 years that we were there.

I am considering making a book of photos.

Even if it is only for me and the family.

Every time I look at a photo, I can see it all in my minds eye.

I can hear the noise, cars honking, people walking and talking, dogs barking,

the sounds of life in Buenos Aires.

I can remember every step of the walk from our apartment, across the street, around the corner and down this street, to the end , where there is a wide flight of stairs down to the next street, and on to the supermarket.  Just going to buy groceries was a beautiful walk. Whatever the season.

We Are Sending Him Birthday Cards .. Every Single One Of Us

His name is Danny Nickerson.
He is battling brain cancer and not winning.
He has a birthday coming.
He will be 6.
We are all sending him Birthday Cards.


Danny Nickerson
PO Box 212
Foxboro Ma. 
02035

Looking Back

Looking Back on the years we lived in Buenos Aires, the one thing that stands out is how Happy we were.
I was cranky the first couple of weeks because ..
1- the water/food did not agree and I was losing weight like crazy and my clothes were getting bigger on me by the day.
2- The red tape and police visits all conducted in Spanish were very stressful for me.
I worry ..
I worry when things are good and in English, imagine how I dealt with it in Castellano.
Thank goodness for my husband who was never stressed and just so happy to be there that he would just smile and do whatever it was we had to do.

I look back on those days and think that having Pup with us was one of the best things that happened.
He was my stress relief.
He was like having a living teddy bear, soft and sweet and loving and happy .. that dog was always happy.

He was our Ambassador of Goodwill.
There are no Standard Poodles in Buenos Aires .. or there were none when we arrived and lived there.
So it was , as my husband said, like walking down the street with a gorilla .. a unicorn .. everyone wanted to touch it, pet it and take a photo of it.

There are tourists today- in Japan, in France, Germany, with photos of my dog.
Some of those photos have me or both my husband and I and the dog in them.
It wasn't possible sometimes to avoid being photographed with the Celebrity Dog.
The Caniche.
I learned that word the first week we were there.
Caniche Grande.

He loved it. He thought Buenos Aires was the best thing since dog biscuits.
Everyone wanted to touch him, pet him, ladies kissed him .. on the lips ...ewww.. and he could run all over the park and not get yelled at and he got to go for walks all the time every day.
What more could a dog ask for ?

He had his favorite cafes, he was allowed to have drinks in the Evita Cafe .. the lady down the street always gave him a biscuit when she saw him .. the porters all loved him and gave him a good scratch on the back .. behind the ear .. the vet kissed him and gave him cookies ..
Buenos Aires was the best thing that ever happened to that dog.

My husband was pretty much like the dog  ...
He was so happy to be there.
He walked around just soaking it in, smiling , charming people even in another language .. he was gifted that way.
He made lists and we did everything on the list and we got everything accomplished.
We , finally after 3 years, got our Permanent Resident IDs and relaxed and enjoyed just being there ..
We made friends with Argentine people , we avoided the ex-pat life .. we didn't want to move somewhere totally different and sit around with people from our old neighborhood and speak English.

Although speaking Castellano was difficult and we were not fluent by any means , we managed to do everything one has to do in daily life .. in another language.

I enjoyed the days when we were house hunting and finally found our apartment. The excitement, the closing ! that was an experience to remember !
Then the shopping .. furniture, lighting, kitchen and bath .. we remodeled the kitchen and bath, but left everything else as it was , with a new paint job.
The apartment had previously been a private home, 2 apartments to a floor.
Front to back .. high high ceilings, the building was done in the French Style .
So we went straight to San Telmo and shopped for Chandeliers.
There were also shops for coffee tables and desks and such..
My desk which I am using now, here in NY , was hand made , an Argentine country style wood desk with a charming look to it and lots of memories in it.
Most of the lights are put away, this house doesn't have the high ceilings needed for the chandeliers we bought, those are wrapped and in boxes, waiting for a new home with high ceilings.
Someday ..

Our sofa .. the biggest and heaviest sofa made this century .. bought in Recoleta, now living in New York .. with the antique coffee table bought on Vicente Lopez in Recoleta where they sell antique rugs and a piece or two of furniture .. lucky for us, the coffee table was there that day.
It is very old and Chinese .. and has so many stories to tell.

We sat in cafes every day .. we tried different foods, we shopped, we loved the fact that we were 3 blocks from a huge Museum of Art .. that we were 3 blocks away from miles of park and walks and beauty.
We were also quite close to a few malls.
What more could a girl ask for ?

The music .. we were always buying music .. my husband was totally in love with anything Argentine, we have so much good Tango music now.
I was totally in love with the low cost of shoes and I have so many pairs now ... what ? I like Tango music too ! but you still need shoes... and handbags .. beautiful soft leather handbags.

We took lessons in Castellano and failed.
Well, to be honest ... I failed. My husband did pretty good. I quit. So he quit. We did fine anyway.


more later .....

All is Well

Relaxing,
Gardening,
Feeding birds,
Watching Chipmunks,
Looking at a gazillion stars at night,
Being sad,
Having a laugh,
Being fed good things by a neighbor,
Meeting new baby Highland Calf ,          
Saying goodby to new friend who moved away,
Reading,
Playing with Minette
Cuddling with Minette
Watching good BBC TV
Listening to great music
Filling up on fresh farm produce
Seeing sheep and cows and horses on my way to the supermarket
All is well.

Taking the Weekend Off

The weekend is coming.
It turned into a bit of a stressful week, culminating in calls to police and self recriminations and deep sadness that my husband isn't here.
Everything is fine now, I hope ... but I want to take a little break and get over it.

Minette is my little angel.
She squeaks at me if I grab her up too fast, or startle her.
She will then bite me and then kiss me.
She and I both have issues I guess :)

She sleeps in her new crate and cuddles with me in my bed in the morning.
We both enjoy those morning snuggles .. although I can still do without the little love bites.
Lordy that kitten has sharp teeth ..

I took a drive today, it was so very beautiful , I just had to be outside.. even if I had no place to go.
And no one to go with.
Yesterday I went to Great Barrington .. today I went to Chatham and farm markets.

Buying perfect fruit and veggies just yards away from where they  grew is a treat.
Eating fresh baked scones made at the farm market is a treat too. .
They also have flower greenhouses, I am trying to decide what kind to get. And herbs too.

In the meantime though, I bought what looks like a Japanese pottery .. it is so pretty, it doesn't even need a plant, I just put it in the window on the sill .. a work of art in a beautiful shade of green.

I hope everyone has a perfect Summer weekend.
I will see you next week.

Best Dressed Schmoozer on NH Road

Not to sound like a Braggart or anything but I am the Best Dressed person on my street .. perhaps in the neighborhood,  but I mostly just see close neighbors and the cows and sheep .. so I will just go with Best Dressed Resident of NH Road ..

Today I decided to get out of the house and regardless of thunder clouds, drive to Great Barrington Ma, and use the ATM  at the bank there. The bank lady and I have long schmoozes when I drop by ..
I needed that today.
I have gone too long between schmoozes.

It was as pleasant as ever and I am proud of myself because I didn't cry once ... she is one of those people who is so sympathetic and comforting, that she sort of makes me cry.
But today I was strong ..

Until I went to the grocery store and decided that I   can eat ice cream AND cinnamon rolls.. maybe even for dinner.
And as luck would have it .. I was walking through the store, looking for something to tempt me and a lady admired my shoes.
I thanked her and told her I got them in Argentina.
Which as you can imagine, started a nice conversation with lots of laughs ..
Are Argentine men really that handsome ?
Did you eat steak every night ?
Do you tango ? We want to go !!

And the answers remain the same ... Yes, No , No , Go .

It was quite cheerful , I drove home singing along to my new CD at the top of my lungs.
Zooming right past the policeman at only 5 or so miles over the Speed Limit...
He must have heard me singing and thought, she is in pain, I won't stop her. Or ...
She must be happy, I won't ruin that.

I saw fabulous horses .. a Palomino ( remember them ?) and his harem .. 4 of them ... all blondes .
Young blondes.

I saw gardens that are dreamy.
Houses that make me wish I could be like the character in a movie who goes to the door and just says, I want to buy your house, here is one million dollars.
I saw sheep.. so many sheep here .. and funniest sight of the day goes to the Goat at the Farm up the hill.
They rake the used straw and make a pile in part of the yard outside the barn.
Eventually they put it somewhere else ..
Today, on top of this very high ( taller than my car) pile of dirty hay, was a white goat .. sleeping.
I was afraid it was dead at first but its ears moved.

I visited with the Garden Club lady after coming home and getting restless ... the day is so long when there is no one sharing it with you.
Minette only wants to sit by the sliding doors and keep an eye on the chipmunks.
She will need therapy soon.
Obsessive Compulsive Chipmunk Watching.
She will have to take Kitten Prozac.

Now the sun is going down and I will close the doors and figure out which is more appealing .. movies, TV shows or a book.
I will let Minette choose.