It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new.
But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful.
There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.
Alan Cohen
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
Groucho Marx
The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.

Friday, September 30, 2011

If Wishes Were Horses ........

Pup loved horses.
This one was an Anheuser Busch Clydesdale .
Nice. Gentle. Huge.
We met him in Portland , Oregon.
He was fascinated by our brown , wriggling with excitement, curly- haired creature that made those warbling noises .
All Tate wanted to do was get into the trailer with him and bump noses.
Imagine ... bumping your nose with That nose !
Here in Buenos Aires, the mounted police use one of the parks that we would go to every day, to rest their horses in the shade.
The police would stand around in the shade and chat , the horses would rest, relax in the shade.
We were always welcome to come over and pet the horses.
Pup was allowed once, to go close and see the horse.
He was so excited, I thought he would pop !
The horse was curious but not disturbed.
I was not too worried about him getting kicked or anything.
The policemen laughed at him.
When he saw them outside of our home, he would stand at the door, quivering with excitement , making small noises ..
When I was a child , every Christmas I asked for a horse.
Who knew that one day, my dog and I would be in Argentina and wishing we had a horse !


TGIF


Not sure at this moment what the day will bring.. no plans as of yet.
Wishing you a good day.. later we will discuss Friday in Buenos Aires.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

If I had a Goal

Browsing through other blogs, enjoying the thoughts and photos and ideas of some of the most amazing people who blog, I came across one who spoke of Lists ...
To Do Lists and things that a person wants to accomplish in Life.
Life Lists.
Which was inspiring in it's own way- making me think - what would be on my List if I had one.

I used to make lists all the time.
On Sunday I would put together the List of Things To Do for Monday... you know that one, bank, groceries etc.
Then there were the longer term lists, what to do about the paint job in the kitchen or where are we going on vacation.

Then through a series of Fortunate Events, my husband retired early and we took off, leaving the house we thought was the best house we ever lived in ... to live in a few others, in other states and to continue looking for that place that would be Home ..

My list might be , Things to Look For in a New Home ..
or Countries that are Good For a New Home ..
What would have been different if I had made that sort of List...Goals.

I have reached goals that I never knew I had, lost track of goals that I thought I wanted to reach .. and now, goals don't have the same meaning to me as maybe they would have , years ago.

I have goals in my head for my children though :)
I want them to be in a place that makes my goal for Peace of Mind easier to obtain.

Contentment ... that is a good goal.
You can move and get better jobs and make your house so fabulous that Home magazines are fighting over you, but if you are not content in that home, with your life, then there is still work to be done.

I am not what you would call Totally Content.
I love my home. ( I can always do more to it though)
I love where I live ( but I get "homesick")
I love the people here, but I still can't understand most of what they say.

I am lazy.
I am here, so I relaxed and let some of those goals slide, you know, Learn The Language .

Now that Pup is gone, we no longer have to stay closer to home, but so far, my head has not caught up with that idea, I still feel like I should stay close to home.
This will probably go away as time goes by, but for now, we are exploring our home as if it were new again and enjoying it .

So I guess on that list would be Learn to Speak Castellano well.
Go to Brazil - Rio.
Go to see the Penguins.
I mean really, if I live in Argentina, I might as well see the penguins !

But then I think, I want to see the trees change color in the fall ... in Upstate New York.
I want to eat an apple from New York.
Visits can fix this .. The Goal ? do I want to go somewhere else ?
Does Paris still sound that good ?
England ? ( I can speak the language in England ... sort of )

Perhaps my goal will be to Have a Goal.

I have done many of the things on my List so far, and have done things that I never thought to put on a list and those have given me the most happiness.
Not planning some things or enjoying the unplanned, surprise parts of life make it worthwhile.

I never dreamt I would move to live in Argentina. And here I am ~

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

San Telmo

We went to San Telmo yesterday.
An entire neighborhood that looks like Buenos Aires "way back when" ..
Cobblestone streets, crumbling old buildings, renovated old buildings and one lane, back streets that tempt a person to move there and live behind a wall covered with flowering vines in an old casa.
A Casa for two .. of course, if I lived in a casa, there would end up being more than two of us.

We had lunch in a favorite little cafe, where we sat at a table for two under the staircase, next to the bar, so we were able to be secluded but listen to the louder-than-necessary young men at the bar discussing who knows what ! with much arm waving.

Sometimes I have to stop a minute and think ( well, this happens more than sometimes but never mind that ) and I remember I am in Argentina, not Italy.
But then, many many people here can trace their grandparents etc back to Italy so I am not so very confused ( or so I tell myself )

We wandered the back streets, took multitudes of photos, mostly of houses that I thought were worthy of looking at again .. Birds were singing like crazy, they know Spring is here, nests to be built, babies to hatch .
Flowering vines were bright green and heavy with buds, jasmine was hanging over walls, one wall was almost covered in lilacs and my imagination was zooming around at what it must be like behind those walls.
I picture the garden with a fountain and flowers and exotic green plants, comfortable old furniture and a home with many windows .. all looking out into their very own private garden.

I think I am growing wearing of living in a crowded city, in an apartment building, where I can hear and see too much of the people around me and not enough of the birds and quiet green spaces.
But this will pass.

Less than 2 months now until our Visitors arrive.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Where I live ...

Where I live there are a gazillion old buildings full of people .
The city is dotted with parks and there are areas in our neighborhood that are miles of parks and great huge trees and lakes and gardens.
But sometimes I daydream about moving .. here or there.
Then I think, there is almost everything I want where we are now, maybe if I just made a few changes here.
After a visit to the Flea Market this past week, I have been mulling over the possibilities of changing the look of things here.
My furniture mostly came with us from the U.S.
Most of it is antiques and they came from Europe and Asia.
But our bed was made and bought in New York City and that is the one thing that I consider changing.
I have a chandelier hanging over my bed... wouldn't it look good to have this sort of bed under a chandelier ?
I think so too.

This chandelier would be too large for the bedroom .. I might have to move into a larger apartment for this to work .. one with a ballroom.
But in this bedroom where I sit right now, is the petite version of this chandelier .. who knew they had babies ??

This is our "backyard" ... this is the way it looks when Summer arrives, completely.
Not just a hint of summer with a touch of green here and there but Full Blast Summer.
I am looking forward to it.
This has been my longest and saddest winter ever.
I need bright sun and warm days to wander the city and beyond .
This is a home in the neighborhood we like to walk in .. the Mayor of Buenos Aires lives here, as do Ambassadors and movie people and various other rich and famous types.
I think it would be nice if they let us live there too.
Somehow, I think this will not come about.
But it is a fun daydream.
This is one of the parks where we enjoyed stopping in and taking a rest not long ago, on one of our marathon walks around town.
Buenos Aires has one thing that amazes me on an almost daily basis.
The trees.
Where did they come from ?!
I am glad they are here but I have never seen trees quite like them. Wonderful.
You should come see for yourself.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Monday .. Look at This Blog !


Encore ! Life

I am sharing this blog with you today, because someone might be sad or depressed or just bored and needing to look at something beautiful or cheerful or weird.
I find it helps me get my mind off of sad things some days..
Encore! Life, that is a good title ... my Monday Look at This Blog ..

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Spring has Sprung

Spring , in all its Glory has arrived ..
Walking home from the market ... it was warm !
As my husband said... This is the Buenos Aires I love ...

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Slothful


I have become a sloth.
I am slothful.
It might have something to do with cold mornings or just laziness.
Going to bed with all good intentions of getting up and out of the house early, I find that I wake early enough, but I loll around too much, I sit at the computer with my coffee too long, I dawdle.
That's it , I have returned to my dawdling stage in life.
Good, glad I got that straightened out, now we know what to call it.

We were going to Palermo today.
But someone was dawdling too long .. we grabbed up our cameras and walked out the door and ended up in my favorite barrio.
It is tiny, the real estate for Every Single Dwelling is over 1 million dollars...
U. S. Dollars.
This means that even my powers of talking people into things is not even going to be considered.
Therefore, the inhabitants of this wonderful tiny area of beauty, can find me in their streets, on their sidewalks, with camera in hand, mooning over their homes, wishing I could live there too.
I know, there are times that I am so pathetic, it makes even me want to slap me.

It is 2 months give or take a day or two until our guests arrive.
I have lists and lists of things To Do before they get here.
Nothing has been done so far.
I have lists and lists of things that the Painter/Plumber has to do...
Nothing has been done so far.
I even wanted to make some pillow covers for this guest room,
nothing has been done so far.
Perhaps I am not the only slothful one here ?

I can see that last week before they arrive, when the two of us are madly dashing here and there, trying to get everything done .

Today on our walk, we met a lady that we know from dog walks in parks .. the first thing she said as she walked towards us, was ... Tell me about Tate.
She knew he had not been well, seeing us in a park without him could only mean one thing.
I hit a mini milestone though, I was able to talk to her without crying.
It has only been 6 weeks, I don't know how long it will be before I can write about him without crying.
This was the weather he loved best.
Without Tate around to photograph, I am busy with the neighborhood, people, homes and whatever happens to catch my fancy.
I might have to make a coffee table book.
It will be for especially large coffee tables.






Friday, September 23, 2011

My Glamorous Life

Today we went to the mall where I had a ridiculous episode with the strange habits of the Shopping Mall people and their rules.
You buy it, you keep it, if you want to return it, you don't get money back.
I know this, I live with it ... but today , someone sold me something that we did not realise was the wrong thing until about 3 seconds after paying for it.
( we also know that the girl who sold it to me knew what she was doing and it was sneaky and made it even more annoying)
It took about half an hour of explaining to three different people what happened before they gave me back my money.
This will not stop me from shopping but I will never shop in the make up department of Paseo Alcorte. Never.
I will make my visitors be my mules and bring me my make - up from Sephora .
I hope they don't go through my sons luggage and look at him funny because he is carrying an awful lot of lipstick and blush !
The weather went back to cold .. like boots and a warm coat with a scarf cold.
I didn't love it.
I am considering staying in all weekend, doing closets and moving furniture around and I guess you could call it, nesting.
Although with just the 2 of us birds in this nest, it might just be Spring Fever ..
One thing for sure, I will enjoy the warm weather when we can go for walks at night again.
I will miss Tate getting to walk with us, he loved those night walks in summer.. not too hot, just meandering around, usually stopping at the ice cream place where we would sit and have a bit of helado and he would get petted by everyone who saw him.
So this weekend, if you are looking for me, I will not be out dancing, I will not be out at the nightclub, I will be soaking in a hot bathtub after spending the day moving boxes and beds and books.
So goes the glamorous life of an ex-pat in Buenos Aires !

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Primavera and What was I going to say?


We went back to the Hospital today.
I found out from my lovely friend Sandra , that once a year, they close the hospital and clean it from top to bottom.
I imagine this is a very Good Thing.
I now know to watch out for this next year when making plans for appointments.

I am pleased to say that I was a brave girl and did what I had to do and what every woman should do every year and I am fine.
I didn't kiss the technician but I felt like it.
But I did get out of there as fast as possible, hoping not to see that place for a while.
Seems like I have seen this hospital more in the past 4 years than anyone I know, and I am never sick. . Hospital sick.
But I guess that is part of it, I keep things watched and checked and stay well.
But yesterday was also Primavera and I think lolling in the park on a blanket with friends listening to music would have been a good way to spend the day.
Next year, that is what we will do.

About buying the purse that I have my eye on.
If not that one, another one will be purchased and odds are it will be this weekend.
Sometimes, you just need a new handbag.
For no reason.
Well, no reason a man would understand.

We are going to an Art Show tomorrow and hopefully to the cinema.

It is Spring .. so today was freezing cold and raw and grey.
I am starting to call my coats names and tell them I never want to see them again.
I have been wearing my little Chanel style work boots every day.
When I put on a ballet flat or any open shoe, my feet get all nervous and say Stop ! Look at us ! all white and naked ! cover us up, quick !!
I guess when the air is warm, they will feel like being out in it more often.
But they will miss those boots, they are so comfortable !

I plan to do some serious shoe shopping soon.
I love the new styles and if they don't have the best selections of shoes here in Buenos Aires, I don't know who does.
Well, alright, Paris does, Rome and London and okay !! New York City has a few nice shoe shops, but still, BA has sufficient numbers of fabulous shops for shoes.
And I intend on visiting them all.

Palermo is calling to me, I think this weekend might involve, Margaritas, Shopping, Giggling, Shopping.. please be sunny and warm !!

Our visitors will be here in 2 months.
Lists and lists are being written in my head, they really should be on paper.
My head seems to misplace things a lot lately.
Dates, names, words, faces... it is a very good thing that guy I live with, whatsisname, has a good memory.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Testing testing ....

I went to the hospital today for a test.
I had to ready myself for this test over the past months, it takes a whole lotta internal cheerleading and no nonsense arguments with myself to get there and get this thing done.

So today- I did it. I had to take half a Xanax to get there but I got there.

The Hospital is closed today for sanitizing.
We are not talking about a little medical center.
This is a huge modern hospital with surgeries and mammographies and emergency rooms. What the ? ......

Tomorrow I am to call and get the appointment time.

Now all I can think of is what made a hospital close to sanitize itself .. isn't it already sanitary ?

So there I was , sort of relaxed and sort of happy .. put off for another day , what to do, what to do.
The sun is shining, it is at least 70º F...
That's right ! We went to the mall.

We won't talk about what I almost bought, what I might still buy and what I couldn't find but I did find a perfect pair of denim trousers, they aren't really jeans. But they look great, they are light for warmer weather and they suit me.

But then I went to the make up counter, bought my make up and got home and found that I bought the wrong color. So tomorrow, poor me, I get to go back to the mall.
Where the bag is .
After the test at the hospital.
Deja vu ?
Tonight is a meeting of the Consorcio.
All of the owners of the apartments in this building, get together in one apartment and They discuss what the problems are and how to solve them and then someone kindly fills us in because there is no way our Spanish can keep up with a room full of Argentines all speaking at once ..
I love them dearly but they talk too fast !
I think we are going to get the building washed and put a new door on the elevator before a child gets their hand chopped off.
We have the original cage style elevator.
Beautiful and charming and dangerous for little hands and fingers.
A certain Pup had to be watched that a certain nose didn't poke through and get chopped off too !
I hope that bag is still there tomorrow ....


Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Let's go to the Flea Market !

It sounded like a good idea at the time.
We bought things there when we were furnishing our new home here in Buenos Aires. We managed to find 2 lights that were rare, only found in one very over-priced antique shop in Recoleta and there they were, in two different shops in the Flea Market ! And we got them for a mere pittance. Really.
Two of them, exactly alike, in two different shops.
Cheap.... Cheeep !
So today I was not looking for anything in particular, maybe something like a rug for the living room ...
perhaps something pretty in cobalt blue glass ( I collect, I collect ! ) or a surprise thing that we didn't realize that we had to have until we saw it.
Well, today we didn't see it.
But there were some fun things to look at .. If only we had a garden !
Or somewhere to fly off to..
My bags could be packed in a flash !
There was even a convertible if we wanted one !
You never know what you will find at the Flea Market .. more on that later~

Monday, September 19, 2011

Monday .. Look at This Blog !


Lars Van de Goor Photography
Each photo is more beautiful than the next. I am in love with this photographer !
Well, with his work.
Go look, enjoy, tell me how you like it.
And tell me if you wish you were there, like I do ~

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Where we need to be

I think you could say that This is Me.. or Us.

My husband, Pup and I, set out on this Adventure with open minds and excitement and enthusiasm ..
Well, Pup and my husband did, I was more cautious in some ways of thinking ..
You know ... What If ?

What if they don't like us,
What if we can't find our way in English/non-Spanish,
What if there is nowhere to live,
What if it is just too hard .. etc.

So we landed on this "planet" .. believe me , the first weeks here, it was more than a different city, more than a different country, it was a different planet.
One that we quickly and easily fell in love with.

Pup knew right away that it was good.
Even in the United States, he had not met this many people who wanted to kiss him.
He wasn't sure what they were talking about when they called him Mi Amor but he got the hang of that pretty fast.
These past 4 years of his life, his last years, were good.
He had not only our love , but he had the love of everyone he met.
He had huge parks to play in every day, he was welcomed , petted and well, we won't talk about how many people from all over the world have photos of our Pup.
He soon learned to stand still so they could take the picture.

The people we met from the beginning were kind and helpful and above all, had a great sense of humor.
This country has been through some really hard times and not that long ago !
But everyone we meet is open, friendly and kind.

This is one of those places where if you have trouble understanding the plumber, he calls his friend in Connecticut who speaks English to tell you why he has to remove the tile in the bathroom floor to get to that pipe.

This is the place where a neighbor will call the Immigrations Office,
( formerly known as H E L L to us ) and sit on the phone with the answering machine and then get a human to ask, when can we come get our final stamp already ??

This is the place where I run into people , who before only waved and petted Pup, who now share a small sweet sympathetic hug.
Our housekeeper asked me to print photos of him for her to have at home, she called him mi amor and wiped tears from her face when she asked.

We talk about moving back to the United States.
But then we both get this rush of Love for this place and wonder, what will life be like somewhere else, even where Home used to be ?

Will life be as much of an adventure when you can speak the language ?

I sometimes wonder, I love it that I can't understand the news .
I love it that I don't get local US news, the World News is enough for me, thank you very much.

I kinda love it that I don't see Regis Philbin or Dr Whatshername and all those shows on our television .. we get more BBC and World News and PBS shows.
I am fine with that.
If I want "news" , the internet is here with the New York Times and BBC and all that.
Funny though, we get HouseHunters International and Canada's, Property Virgins and we are hooked !
We are also watching Downton Abbey .. oh my am I loving that !
We see Nurse Jackie and Dexter too, just in case you think I am not at all bloodthirsty .
I am .. I am.

If we went back to the US, we would live in the countryside.
Not a city. Or so we think now.
I get this picture in my minds eye, Eddie Arnold and Eva Gabor .. Green Acres.
Will that be us ? me ?
Will you soon be seeing photos of me on a tractor ? wearing my high heels and pearls ?
Nah, relax, that will never happen.

But then here, I will be going to a ranch out in the countryside, seeing Gauchos and horses and estancias.
Will I just decide to live a thoroughly Argentine life and move out there ?

Nope, probably not, they speak even less English out there and odds are, I will never be That proficient in Spanish to live in the countryside. . although just the husband , me and a couple of horses has a nice ring to it .. and maybe a few dogs ? and a cat ... chickens ?
I can see my husband now, falling over laughing at the idea.
I can see my husband now, starting to think it doesn't sound so bad..

We certainly did not plan to come to Argentina one day.
Paris was always dreamt of, London was spoken of , but Buenos Aires, never.
And here we are ... stranger things have happened.
Strangers things can still happen.

But for now, we are where we need to be.










Saturday, September 17, 2011

The Weekend


It is looking good out there.
Spring is here, so one day is cold and crisp and the next has that balmy warmth to it that encourages you, the cold days will be gone soon, hot sunny weather is on the way.
So we are going to go out and frolic ... well, we will go out and take a walk, perhaps shop, maybe look around an antique shop or two or even a flea market. Who knows, it will be a weekend of doing whatever ....
Have a good and safe and happy weekend. See you Monday !

Friday, September 16, 2011

Galerias Pacifico

Today we went to Galerias Pacifico.

We had to be in the area for something for the computer and it only made sense that we wander through the mall too.
It is such a crowded place !
Full of tourists, everywhere you turn, someone is taking photos of someone else, large groups stand at the top of the escalator and discuss where to go and what to do, causing larger groups to stand behind them and wait ...
I noticed a few things today .. since we don't go there often, I noticed more than I do at my "own" malls ..
First of all, the place is ridiculously beautiful. It is a mall, but so beautiful.

There is a huge Glass Mobile hanging from the huge glass domed ceiling...that sort of thing.

The same shops are there as in all the malls, that is the way they do things here, each mall pretty much has all the same shops, they all sell much the same thing.. it can actually take some of the Fun out of shopping.
If you let it.
I try not to let it.
But they have Bobby Brown makeup and I plan on going back soon, if my malls don't have it.
I think I would have noticed, but I will be sure to check .. maybe tomorrow.

Best of all, the top of the mall is a museum.
The Borges Cultural Center. FABulous ... really.
We went straight up to the top upon arrival and spent the next hour or so, wandering through a photo exhibit of people out in the countryside. Horses, amazing horses, cattle, gauchos, barren countryside, wrinkled old people, young men carrying bags of heavy produce like they are egg cartons.... I have to go out to the countryside and check into this.
I managed not to buy anything. I must be coming down with something.


We had someone coming to the house at 4 so we dashed over to our cafe for our afternoon pick-me-up .. cafe con leche and manzana tart. Delish.
Then home.... We have to go buy flowers now and figure out where to have dinner ordered in from.
It is the weekend, I am not cooking.





Thursday, September 15, 2011

Chinatown

After a long lazy morning .. after many cups of coffee , I managed to get myself together and we grabbed a taxi to Chinatown.
Of course, as soon as the taxi started driving, I forgot the names of the streets ..
but somehow, I managed to remember and we got there with no traffic and enjoying the sightseeing along the way.
Flying past the grand apartment buildings on Libertador, past the parks in Palermo, past the really grand residence for the Ambassador of the United States ... past the Hipodrome ( race track) and polo fields, then there we were ! Chinatown ! all 3 or 4 blocks of it.
We went straight to my favorite market where I found Hoisin Sauce and Sesame oil but not anything else I had in mind.
That is the way it always is when shopping, isn't it ? you have all sorts of things on your list but finding them is another thing altogether.
We played with the idea of eating there but continued with our walk and never did stop to eat.
On the drive, I told my husband, I always want to live in Belgrano when we come here.
Today was no different.
The streets with the Plane trees arched across, the character in the old buildings and the appeal of the new modern high rises, makes me want to live there.

The weather was fantastic, we have to go back soon..and next time more eating and shopping too !

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

What can I say ~

Our brief warm weather spell has left us.
But the sun shines and the skies are blue so I won't fuss too much.
Mostly because, before I can go out in warmer weather, I will need to go into the vestidor and get down the summer clothes.
This chore ... I am not ready for.
What can I say ~ I am very low energy lately.
We took a walk to L'epi where we loaded up on French bread, croissants, brioche and various crunchy things.. some of these will find themselves the ingredients of a Bread Pudding.. the rest will find themselves eaten before the week is out.
We have been doing some planning for our Visitors ..
Plans to be tourists for a couple of weeks in our "home" town..
That and far flung vague sort of plans for What Do We Want To Do For The Rest Of Our Lives.
This is a game we play now and then.
In the past, this game has led us to make big moves .. you know the sort .. one day you live in Florida, the next you are in Oregon.
Or the extreme case, one day you are in Oregon, looking at the latest issue of Travel and Leisure, the next you are in Buenos Aires.
So pay attention, be careful, this can happen to you too.

But then we take a walk and I discover a little street like this, where Time seems to have stopped, the houses are charming, there is no traffic to speak of and well, look at it, wouldn't you love to live there ?
I have been putting a lot of time into my photography.
It keeps my mind on Other Things.
I enjoy posting my photos on Tumblr and I have ambitions of finding a place here where I can get some things enlarged and framed.
It just requires more Spanish than I am up to at the moment.

This is a building on the street where L'epi is located .. how perfect that the building across the street is beautiful.
Spring is here, trees are budding, it doesn't get dark quite as early and birds are everywhere. This morning I was getting ready to leave the house, listening to the parrots squabbling in the courtyard.
Some mornings it is baby doves fussing at their mama doves, other days it is parrots.
What can I say ~ it's Buenos Aires .


Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Tumbling along


Spring is here.
Unsettled weather, warm days , chilly nights and flowers popping out everywhere.
The trees that were shiny and bare are now covered in a green haze. The birds are so busy, nests being built, twigs and the very best of this and that for the new home for the new babies. In our garden, the baby paloma follows its mama and peeps non-stop.
Lucky mama, she flies away when it all gets to be too much for her.
Summer will be here in no time.
Summer in Buenos Aires ... hot, dry, sunny days and cool , star-filled nights.
Not bad... not bad at all.
The gardens and parks turn into lush green spaces, full of birds and flowers and people. Weekends you find futbol games, skateboarders , roller skaters and bicyclists, people and their pups playing .

Summer in Buenos Aires seems to last for about a year.
Autumn is on it's way for many people.
My favorite time of year. The most beautiful time to me.
Even though it has been a long and sad winter for me, I am reluctant to let it go.
Maybe I am fighting time going on and some things being left behind, memories being less clear and sharp.
Maybe I want it to hurt as much as it did in the beginning.. a sign that someone is not forgotten.

We will have visitors.
Nothing better for a broken heart than loved ones coming to stay.
The Seasons march on .. we just tumble along with them ..


Monday, September 12, 2011

Monday .. Look at This Blog !

I discovered The Vintaquarian on Tumblr, where I also have a photo blog.
But this goes way beyond just photos.
Pretty things, pretty places, beauty in all sorts of ways.
Some unexpected, some just perfect.
Do yourself a favor, sit down, take 5 or 10 minutes for yourself and just look at the photos.
Let me know if you enjoyed it .. I am sure you will.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Creatures of Habit

Even though we don't have to get up early every day and go to work , I still feel like Saturdays are special.
I am still reluctant to get out of bed ..
I move slower on Saturday than I do on , oh, say Wednesday.
So after a very slow start, we made up for it Big Time by walking all over the area we live in.
We were looking for a different fish market, we ended up deciding ours is best ..

We walked past the new mall which is nearing completion, the lights on the staircases are being installed, iron gates / barriers are up along the sidewalks to protect pedestrians from buses and taxis.

( Have we discussed the drivers of buses and taxis here ?
No ? Well, another day, when you are prepared for a scary story)

On the way home , on a very warm, very beautiful Spring day, we felt the urgent need for coffee and some sugary substance with perhaps chocolate added.
So we stopped in a new cafe, Croque Madame.
They need to iron a few kinks out .. new staff etc but it will be a good spot for coffee if we want something different from our old cafe.
Not Likely says my husband.
Ahhh, we are such creatures of habit, the two of us !


Friday, September 9, 2011

Visitors

In about 2 months, we will have visitors .
This is a long over-due visit.
There are lists being made, ideas being tossed around, plans for day trips and shopping and eating and music and entertainment being mulled.
This is coming just at the right time, although there really is no bad time for loved ones to visit ..
I am already thinking of where to go to eat , what to cook and how to make things as appealing and welcoming as possible.
Of course, I sometimes give in to the daydream of What if they liked it so much they decided to live here ... what if there was a job just for him ... what if , what if ...
So far I am browsing through my favorite Buenos Aires blogs, and seeing if I can get ideas.
I am thinking of places we have not been and will now go with them, seeing it all together for the first time.
I am thinking of how far can we go and can I get there without having to take a boat .. Boats and I .. we don't agree.

From now on, there will be ideas tossed out, hashed over and some will be saved and some will go out the window.

Right now, the idea of a day trip North to another town , a day trip to the Delta and perhaps a day trip to an Estancia are in the mulling stage.
Fun times are ahead.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

"The Best .... "


Dogs have given us their absolute all.
We are the center of their universe.
We are the focus of their love and faith and trust.
They serve us in return for scraps.
It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made.
~Roger Caras~
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sunset in Buenos Aires

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