Bariloche

This is Bariloche.
I think we should pack up Pup and go there. It is a plane ride or about 23 hours, I think , by car.
I might not want to come home.

image.. RFerrier

Monday - Look At This Blog !

an illustrated life

I discovered David's blog not too long ago and I am enjoying it so much. I enjoy all the blogs on my list so much. My husband always knows where to find me now, here, reading all my favorite blogs.

Last night, reading the latest blog from an illustrated life , I read that there is a method of leaving glasses of wine strategically placed about the house to keep up one's Christmas cheer and that he wants to adopt a rescue pup for Christmas. And name it Pixie Marie.

I am now in love David and an illustrated life.

Go look, see how fast you fall in love, let me know ..

Happy Monday ! 12 more days til Christmas !!

Wonderful

Life is Wonderful..
The holidays can make things tough for some people, some are homesick , some miss family far away .. Remembering that you are well and that everyone you love is well can help.

But wherever you are, whatever you are doing, sometimes the best way to remind yourself of how wonderful life can be, is to take a walk. Down a country road, down a city sidewalk, through a meadow, through the woods, along a beach, through the neighborhood.

At this time of year, the signs of the season are there to be enjoyed , which can cheer a person up. ( hopefully) .. I mean really, it you don't get a kick out of the house on the block that is totally , completely covered in colored lights, with reindeer, sleds and inflated Santas on the lawn, then I am gonna call you Scrooge.

OK, I will agree with you too, there is such a thing as Too Many Decorations. Ask Clark Griswald.

Today we took a walk.

One of us is still not feeling 100 % well and the other is fighting off the germs from , well , me.

Pup feels good though.. as you will see. He met a new friend today in the park.

A Pup look-alike!

We saw a side to Pup that has not been shown lately , bouncing , butt in the air, Playful Pup .. no sign of being Old and Tired Pup.

It was worth going out in the chilly wind to see that.

The Ferias are in full swing.. Shoppers are crowding the parks, entertainment is everywhere, from drummers to singers to jugglers and more.

We walked across the park to the bridge that takes you to the Law School .. a Most Impressive Building !

The gardens in the park on the way .. Christmas and flowers are blooming everywhere.

But at home there are more signs of the Season, more Christmas Cheer.

Remember .......Life is Wonderful ~

The Christmas Tree

So we put up the Christmas tree last night , did all the lights and we think it looks pretty good. The wreaths are hung also but we were having a thunder storm when I was taking photos and for some reason, nothing was in focus . But this will give you an idea of the decorating going on in our house for another Christmas in Buenos Aires.
It was very warm and humid, Pup was not that interested in doing anything at the park but sitting in the grass, looking at us.
We had a laugh when we arrived at the park. Pup was walking under a tree and a bird flew down, dive bombed Pup, hitting him in the back with her legs/feet. Pup jumped.
The bird flew into the tree, Pup went back to sniffing and bam, she hit him again.
I walked over and thought I would see if she would try it with a human there when my husband said, she is protecting her baby. And there it was, a little bit of feathers, big beak, tiny bird, at the base of the tree. So we all moved back, Pup reluctantly, he reeeally wanted to sniff that little Thing. And mama continued her watch over her baby.
They are filming a ... commercial, movie or as the man at the bakery says, Propoganda, down at the end of our block. So on one side are all the film trucks, equipment, make up and wardrobe trucks, "honey wagon " ( food) and they had to spoil our fun and 1- block off where we always walk, 2- not let us close enough to see if there was a recognizable movie star. Recognizable to us would be maybe one actor ..
We meandered home and the storm hit. Later, we will walk over to the nearest ice cream shop for dessert.. quite an exciting day... I hope you can sleep after reading this.
Speaking of sleep .. I am letting " sleeping dogs lie"

Friday Trivia ( you may call it babble)

It has been raining all day. The sun might try to make a come-back. It will probably be a steamy come-back.
If it has to be hot, in my opinion, it should be dry heat. Arizona dry.
I actually enjoyed the year that Argentina had a drought.
Of course it was entirely self-centered and I do appreciate the problems it caused the farmers and ranchers and I regret the loss of all the cattle and horses who died ... but it was a dry summer and then there were fires which made things even worse for the farmers and ranchers and it was hard to breathe in the city, but there were no mosquitoes.
See, I can find the positive in a bad situation !

Pup is bored. He goes from room to room, lays down, sighs, lies quietly then gets up and goes somewhere else.
If I get up, he is up and at my side immediately. I hate to move now, I will sit here for a while and let him get some rest.
The housekeeper has gone.
We can all relax.

Housekeeper day- no cooking.. not in that shiny clean kitchen !
Tonight's choices are Chinese, Indian, Italian or Pizza.
Which would you choose?

I have been trying to make things look Christmas-y .. 2 wreaths hanging inside, candles here and there ( although there are always candles here and there) and some tree ornaments hanging off of chandeliers and door knobs.
I want to buy some peonies and roses, ( I saw them on my friend Amy's blog (God I love Paris) and they charmed me and made me determined to have them here too .. in the Paris of South America..

I would also like to put some potted plants around and maybe get some more shiny objects to hang on the chandeliers.. in case someone ( like myself) has the attention span of a bird and shiny things catch their eye.

I am blaming all of my loss of attention span and memory on the fact that I read online , so much that I forget everything I have just read, or worse, remember it but not where I heard/read it .. making me one of those people who just babbles half baked theories and facts ..
I need help.
There are no Christmas cards here. Hallmark does not live in Buenos Aires.
I have to make my own, send cards in Spanish that are not exactly Christmas cards .. or send e-cards.
I know everyone understands but I hate sending e-Christmas cards. It is so impersonal.
I used to have such long lists of cards to send.
I bought only Christmas stamps, I made sure that I got the International cards out early enough .. wrote with the special pen, sitting with my Christmas music playing, cup of tea nearby, cat/pup sleeping nearby.. now I sit at the computer, typing out email addresses.
I do have a small porcelain Santa on the desk though !

I bought these beautiful blouses at the store over a week ago. I now have this urge to "save" them for something special.
Therefore every time we are going for a walk, I spend too much time trying to find Something to Wear.
Although I would look a bit pathetic walking the dog in the park with my beautiful float-y silky "hippie" blouse .. the lady that sleeps on the bench might appreciate it .
I noticed that she has colored her hair.
She has no home, she sleeps on a bench and carries a large bag full of Things and she has managed to get her white/grey hair semi-dyed orange. I wondered briefly if some bad person thought it funny to put something in her hair, but no, it is growing out now, white roots, grey roots, orange streaks.
I found out the hard way (twice) that she does not appreciate gifts of food or drink. So I just smile at her now.

I have no idea what we are doing this weekend. I imagine we will be in a park a few times, walking a few miles and no doubt eating and drinking .. Pup will be included in at least some of it .. Maybe a feria .. buy something from one of the artisans. There are several to choose from, ferias, not artisans, although there are many of them ! There is my neighborhood, then Palermo and then San Telmo. There is no excuse for not buying presents in this city .. remember that, if you are ever here. You have to buy presents. For everyone and yourself.

Now to go buy Flowers.. TGIF !!