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.

Monday, November 30, 2015

Who Would Have Ever Thought

That I would actually miss the sight and sound of Buenos Aires Traffic.
As  seen from the balcony in our living room.
The street is Pueyrredon and the intersection is Las Heras.
Home.
I miss everything about it.

I woke early to cats kvetching.
Yes, even cats kvetch.

Open the door .... Feed me.....Open another door ... I'm lonely ... Get Up Mama !!!!
Now I am up .. they have gone off to nap .. quietly.

Let us hope ... Someone wants to see my house today. . Someone wants to buy my house today ..
I can get on with my life ... today.

I want to see the traffic again, I don't even mind hearing the traffic again.
I want to see people walking by .. I want to hear music and window shop and stop in a cafe for cafe con leche y medialunas and visit with my friends and go to a Museum and have a life again.

And if it means I have to hear traffic ... then so be it.
The cats want to see what this Buenos Aires thing is about.


Saturday, November 28, 2015

Enjoy Your Holidays













































Enjoy the shopping, the music, the smells, the sounds of the Holiday  Season ..
Stop and rest when things get crazy.
Eat chocolate ... every day ... or any day .. any time.
Buy yourself a little something too.
Be a kid ... get excited .. listen to corny Christmas music ..
Have fun with the shopping for the Stocking stuffers ..
One year my husband bought all little things from Sephora .. my stocking smelled so good !

One gift and a kiss with a promise of a fabulous trip after New Years is a good gift .. for anyone trying to think of something good.

The cats will get their stockings and toys and the children will get their gifts ..
Then I will concentrate on 2016 and what comes next ..
Fun times ahead, Everyone .. Be Happy.

November

November

The stripped and shapely
Maple grieves
The loss of her
Departed leaves.

The ground is hard,
  As hard as stone.
The year is old,
  The birds are flown.

And yet the world,
  Nevertheless,
Displays a certain
  Loveliness ----

The beauty of
  The bone. Tall Dog
Must see our souls
  This way and nod.

Give thanks; we do,
  Each in his place
Around the table
  During grace.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Be Thankful

              Wishing you all a very good Thanksgiving.
               Even when it doesn't seem like it, we have so much to be thankful for.

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

I'm Not Ready !

I keep thinking there are a few days , at least, until Thanksgiving !
I have everything for the meal ... will make a few things ahead of time, today.
The beds are ready and the house is dusted and there are no large balls of Merlins hair lying around.

I could build another cat with the hair he leaves lying around.

Minette , the Good Girl, went up on top of the fridge where she is sleeping.
That is her new Favorite Nap Place , her favorite Scare Mama place and Keep Warm place.

Merlin lays on the sofa .. he is not that adventurous ... a nice big sofa cushion with a blanket just for him is fine. All he could ever ask for. And there is no danger of rolling off in his sleep and falling 5-6 feet.

He will be gobsmacked, baffled, dazed and confused not to mention horrified when People arrive at our door. People and one small creature who will want to touch him !
I don't expect Merlin to leave my closet, room , bathroom for the duration of the visit.
I will have to take his dinner in to him.

Which leads me to wonder how he will like taking that long drive in a car ... for 3 days .. hotel rooms at night ... strange people, smells, cold and noise and a car ... I know it is all hard enough on me !

Minette will be a little trooper .. she will be curious, adventurous and fearless , especially since she can sleep next to mama .. that is my little girl.


Although I have decided, when we are not in the car with them in a crate, they will be in the crate in the hotel room too.
It is too scary horrifying and dangerous ( for them and my peace of mind  ) not to be always safely tucked away in their crate .

So I have our version of Thanksgiving planned and I hope to be able to enjoy more time with the baby than with the dinner and stove.

It won't be a  long visit so I have to make the most of it.

Public Service Announcement ..
My house is for sale. You can come buy it now.
Thank you.



Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Monday, November 23, 2015

Sunshine

We all need sunshine in Winter .

Lucky me ...



  


Happy Birthday to Zachary.
I remember when he was born .. I remember holding him for the first time, I think he was 2 days old .. maybe 4.
He was So Small !!
Isn't it just mind boggling when you see a newborn ? they grow up to be these tall beautiful Vikings with huge smiles and even bigger hearts.
I could not be more lucky in the grandson department.

Lucky me.

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Congratulations

                            Congratulations Argentina and President Macri !!

Content


Every Thursday Night we used to go here to the Faculty of Law and sit in beautiful old red velvet chairs in a massive room and listen to concerts.
Classical music, played in this vast place, in a huge room full of like minded people.
Then we would stroll the couple of blocks to our home, content with our day and how it ended.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

A New President

I am wishing we were in Buenos Aires at this time.
An election. A New President !! I hope .

Just days after we arrived in Argentina, the President died. We were in the parks and there were so many people, everyone was heartbroken, they liked this President.
Television was all about him, the funeral, the question of who would be next ...

And from then on, it was not so great, politics-wise.
It got worse, slowly , crazy rules and laws and political nonsense.

So it is with great hope for the people in Argentina and for the next years of this new Presidents term .. I wish everything good for them all.

President Macri does not sound bad ..




Friday, November 20, 2015

Where ? Why ?

I woke too early again, thank you Merlin , thank you Minette.
I started thinking there might be house hunters coming ... I should clean house !
Then I realized there was nothing to eat.
I should grocery shop !
When I pulled into the driveway , I thought the car really needed washing.
I parked and went into the house.

No one called but a neighbor who is a realtor stopped and chatted .. hopefully word will get out, the sign is there .. the house is clean, the cats promised to behave ..

I will not take them out of the house and I will not leave the house with them alone in it with house hunters so we will all sit out in the sun room and pretend we are not there.

If someone wants my house- the 2 cats and I sitting in a room will not change that.. if it does, they don't really want the house .

I remember this realtor taking us to look at houses when we first arrived here , one house was empty .. all except for the little dead mouse in the window.. on the landing of the stairs ... I have no more memories of that house .


We looked at a house that was at least 100 years old,   low ceilings, creaky narrow staircases , yes, one staircase in the front, going to the bedrooms upstairs .. one in the kitchen  .. I don't remember where that one went .. probably down ..

It would have been a money pit but it sure was full of character.

Now I am not thinking of houses up here, I want some, I see them and think they are what I always wanted ... but all the rest of what goes with them makes me say no thank you.

I will pack up my cats and drive South.
I had thought there would be company on that drive but no , there was an offer but it was rescinded.
So we will take a drive .. in the car ... 2 cats and I ... for 3 days .
We will see who is the most insane when we arrive.
It is sort of weird , I kind of have the freedom to choose wherever I want to live .. what state, what country !
I am still yearning to go back to BA and that will be considered.


So ... where would you move to if you could ? what state? country? why ?

Not if you had a million dollars or anything .. within reason .. of course, if I had millions of dollars, I might buy a cottage in the Cotswolds .. or an apartment in Argentina ... but for now... just within reason, where would you rather live ? and why ?



I Am Queen !

Life sure would be easier if he was here . The cats would never forgive me but I would be so glad.
When I get settled ... there is going to be a puppy .. I am queen of the house, the cats are my subjects ( whatever they think) and they will have to live with it .
I Am Queen of the House !

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Color

A dreary day in my village but Nature makes up for it .. there is so much more color than this photo shows.

Like a dream ..

In the neighborhood. See the windows / building in the back ... that is the library.
This was where we walked every day , with the dog to the park , just the two of us , we would sit on the grass with the dog or a bench and just talk, just be there .
It seems like a dream now ... a movie I saw a long time ago ... I wish I could see it again.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

It is a terrible time

Apparently my thoughts put into words on my last post  offended/annoyed  someone.
It is a terrible time and I wish people were more thoughtful and considerate, more caring and open minded and above all, less hateful.
In all ways.
For now, I will just say that my heart goes out to everyone in France and in the world .

Paris je t'aime


Friday, November 13, 2015

Peace

This makes me feel peaceful.

I Need A Change

My hair is past my shoulders. I am ready to cut it . My hair is blonde. I think this is the new haircut.
Cleaner looking with no black roots .

I need a change. We will start with the hair. Move on to the matter of Residence / Location.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Jacaranda Time

 Spring in Argentina ..
The colors are so intense

 And they are everywhere
 In the parks, lining the boulevards, in gardens ... Spring is Jacaranda Time.










Wednesday, November 11, 2015

November 11

       
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place ; and in the sky
the larks , still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived , felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

On the 11th hour on the 11th day in the 11th month - A Moment of Silence

My Other Life

When we moved into our apartment in Buenos Aires, it had the original 1930s kitchen .. a series of tiny rooms, one being the maids entrance, then tiny kitchen cooking area, the fridge in a sort of hall and then the "maids room" which was a toilet ( no lid) with a sink ( industrial) with mops and buckets stored.

There was no way I would have thought twice about that apartment because of that kitchen and the bathroom ... with a huge toilet, small sink, massive bathtub and rusty looking bidet. Oh, and ugly tile.

Because of the lovely difference in the Ar Peso and the USD .. we knew we could afford to make changes and bring the space up to a comfortable standard that we were used to and also I was thrilled to have a very South American style to make comfortable and pretty but not change in the sense of erasing its South American personality.

The kitchen was easy in a way- gut it.
Everything went out.
All new and shiny and modern went in. But with antique lighting and the room itself, the new blended in with the old with no clashing .

Here are a few photos  ....
One of the living room windows. With the Plane tree outside, complete with doves, with their nests and babies.

 Our Elevator. My husband liked making jokes about the film Lady in a Cage. I loved it.
No claustrophobia in that elevator ! The staircase wound up around it, I tried racing up the stairs once .. the elevator won but not by much.
In the Park with Pup.
His favorite bench.
 
My first Balcony Garden. 
Who knew that it would be so appealing to the Mama Dove ?
It became home to nests and babies .. a nest with a view - not bad.

A view of Home.

At the end of the street ( 2 blocks away) were miles of massive parks.

Mi dormitorio. 
Complete with chandelier bought in antique shops in San Telmo.
Doves nested outside the window in the air conditioning units.
I woke to cooing each morning.


Our favorite light. We bought it in San Telmo in an antique store.
Art Deco at its finest.

When we got to our block, I would drop his leash and he would dash to the door and stand and wait ..


The walk to our park. On the right is a very high wall. The British Embassy property.
And miles of parks and museums .

The neighbors. I would daydream about living in a building like that but our small private home was much better in so many ways.

Our building. It had been a private home and when times got bad in Argentina, they renovated and made it an apartment building. The daughter of the family who owned it, living next door to us.
With her mother. My husband guessed her mother was about 120 years old. :)

The Front Door.
I sure do miss that Door.
When we moved in, across the street, was an ice cream shop. 
My husband was sure we made the right decision to move to Buenos Aires.
And so here I am now .. years later.
A big change in Everything.
And new changes coming.
Change is good.


Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Thoughts on Giving Advice :)





I always pass on good advice. It's the only thing to do with it. It is never any use to oneself.
                                                                                 ~Oscar Wilde

The best advice is this : Don't take advice and don't give advice . ~ author unknown


 It is more easy to be wise for others than for ourselves. ~ Francois Duc de La Rochefoucauld.


The people sensible enough to give good advice are usually sensible enough to give none.
EDEN PHILLPOTTS

What's wrong with advice ?
Advice is often a basic insult to the intelligence of the other person. It implies a lack of confidence in the capacity of the person with the problem, to undersand and cope with his or her own difficulties.
Advice is like cooking--you should try it before you feed it to others.
CROFT M. PENTZ,



To offer a man unsolicited advice is to presume that he doesn't know what to do or that he can't do it on his own.
JOHN GRAY

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