Sunday in the Park with Pup

It was not a bad day today, the second day of celebrations. We were lazy all morning, some of us being lazier than others. Then we decided on a quiet day, a walk in the park, lunch in a cafe, tonight will be fireworks, watched from our rooftop. Which will be a fitting end to the weekend celebrations.

The Museum Park, next to the Belle Artes Museum, has a new sculpture installation. I am so glad ! The last looked like either a rusty car junkyard or a Transformers movie set, with rusty metal things coming out of the ground. These sort of make more sense and have a bit of a sense of humor to them. It was, as you can see, a beautiful day.


Someone thought it would be a good day to go fishing. I agree, the weather was good But .... that is a reservoir, I don't believe there are any fish in that water. But it was a nice day to pretend to be fishing.. and dress the part.
On to the restaurant for our celebratory lunch and drinks. Calamari and Bloody Mary and Malbec. Pup was given fresh water and lots of pets from the very nice waiter.
No, really, you would not like Calamari.
Ahhh, some nice cool water and some shade and we feel fine .
Somewhere, he read about Truffle Hounds and has been practicing ever since.

We walked around the neighborhood, trying to decide which house we like best.

I love these windows

These doors aren't bad and look at that glass at the top ! When you go through the doors, there is a large courtyard that leads to the back garden and to the right you can go into the house .. amazing.
This was an old run down house, now it is a new fixed up home .. I love the faces !
All you could hear today was birds singing.
I would go out on the little balcony on top every evening and pretend I was Juliet.
Mimosas are blooming everywhere.

Tonight the city of Buenos Aires will be lit up with fireworks starting at 10 pm. They will be shot off of some of the high buildings and malls , around town, making what I can imagine will be a ring of fireworks around the city. It promises to be quite wonderful, the weather is perfect for it. Instead of being in a crowd of people in a park, we are going up on our roof to watch, while poor Pup will hide in the bedroom waiting for noise to stop.

Bistros , Taxis and Music

The music we listened to last night, among other things, while having an excellent dinner at a tiny French restaurant on a nice quiet street in Buenos Aires.
Where the owner greets you at the door as if you were long lost relatives , kisses for all. The ladies who wait on the tables and bring you whatever you wish for, are all sweet and friendly and seem to only care that you are happy. .. ( and well fed).
We celebrated our anniversary here and we celebrated last night, the first of at least two celebrations for someone special.
Dave Brubeck playing Take Five and Ray Charles singing Hit the Road Jack ... interesting mix, no?

The food was excellent, Seafood Souffle, Pasta with Mushrooms and Chicken in a Cream Sauce and the wine was a lovely Malbec. Dessert was Tarte Tatin... but who had room for dessert ?

Now let me tell you about the Taxi driver..

We were running late as usual, and the taxi came around the corner, I stepped into the street and stuck out my arm, he stopped. He gave us a nice hello then took off. As we were driving along, he waved to a man on the street, telling us that the man owned the nightclub on the corner. Then he told us that ( this is what we Think he said) he knew us because we walk with the Grande Perro ( big dog) .. yes! we said... so he is either a neighbor or he sees us often.

While we sat at a light, he wrote his name and mobile number on a piece of paper.

We now have our own personal Taxi ... I am so happy.

The evening was excellent, we were full, muy contento and ready for bed.

Sunday ! more celebrating. One celebration is never enough in my Book.

Chau !

In the Blink of an Eye

I remember them all ... Christmases with my children.

Hiding presents, hanging stockings, staying up late Christmas Eve putting toys together under the tree, putting out the cookie and drink that Santa would enjoy and my little ones would sort of, kind of believe that there really was a Santa !

The whispering and anticipating and hiding of gifts.

The anticipation of Christmas morning and trying to get everyone to stay in bed, "just a little longer " .

The last days before the Big Day, running a million errands, wrapping gifts after little ones have gone to bed, hiding things in my closet ... I don't know when they finally caught on to that hiding place.

They were better than bloodhounds for sniffing out where the presents were hidden !

I would go into a frenzy of baking and cooking , shopping and wrapping, eating and drinking.

Sitting in the living room at night with only the tree lights on, watching sleepy eyed little ones fighting sleep, it was so magical, can't miss anything .

Then the children grew up.

The presents changed, they were easier to hide . . although sometimes not as much fun to buy.

Who doesn't love standing in line at a toy store where they have had to limit how many people come in ?

Suddenly it was about clothes, records, posters, books and jewelry ! Wait a minute, where are my little ones, sneaking down to see the tree?

The cat liked Christmas. He liked chewing on the tinsel.

When I found it in his litter box, I rejected the idea that he was merely decorating and stopped putting tinsel on the tree.

That did not stop him from a small attempt at climbing ..

Pup liked the trees but didn't really care one way or another.

He respected the presents under them though .. all except one that had a jingle noise that drove him crazy.

We had a dog when the children were small. He was totally housebroken, gentle with the children,a nice dog.

Some "friends" were coming over to visit, bringing their two small brats ...err... children and we bought and wrapped two presents and put them under the tree.

Later in the afternoon, we came into the living room and the dog, skulked out, looking guilty .. what in the world? nothing is damaged, the tree is still standing, wait, what is that ?

The presents for the two visiting children are wet ! they are in a puddle !

Bad dog!

Right before Christmas Day I would usually have a melt down .. I can't get everything done !

I have to buy a gifts for the employees! The children are having half days, I am not going to be able to manage .

And then I did.

Every Christmas came along and happened and everyone was happy and I have photos to prove it !

None of them show me, half lying on the sofa, circles under my eyes, hair standing on end, listening for the chime of the oven timer to tell me the Turkey needs basting.

Only the children, smiling, busy with their new gifts, trying on new clothes, listening to new music, my husband looking at his new gifts.

I miss every minute of it.

I miss those babies, I miss those houses and I miss it being Cold at Christmas !

It was not long ago that I was complaining about how cold it was and I still had to find stocking stuffers, now it is hot and there are no stockings to stuff.

Enjoy your holidays ( I know you will) ... they go by in the Blink of an Eye.

Think Cool Thoughts

Where am I ?? Why am I not in this photo ??
Where is Pup ?? He isn't there either ?

Ppppfffffftttt ! It is 89º and we are behaving as if we are , perhaps, vampires? We walk along the buildings, under the balconies, hugging the sides of the buildings to stay in the shade.

We dash across the street, as if we have just been pushed out into the Sahara, hurrying to the other side, into the shade. Walking various routes instead of the most direct, that one is in too much sun !

Thank goodness for the street with all the shade trees.

Taking Pup to the park, we see a homeless man holding a tiny baby bird that has apparently fallen out of a tree. My husband tells me he was holding the bird this morning. While we were there, he put the bird in the tree, when we were leaving, I saw a mother bird, in the branches. I am hoping it was a joyous mother - birdie reunion.

There is no possibility of dinner being Cooked. We bought cherries, tomatoes, avocados and tonights dinner will be a super duper salad.

Tomorrow we are going out. A Celebration .. should be fun.

I am now counting the days until Fall. That's it for me... nice, Summer, now let's cool off .

Summer is here...

Today we were going Christmas shopping. It is hot out, like close to 90 and blazing sunshine . So we got a few blocks from home and I was wilting. I didn't want to look in windows and I didn't want to walk out in the heat. So the Alvear Hotel was right there ! What better than to stop and have a drink... something to cheer a person up, cool a person down.
We sat in a corner on a sofa with pillows and faced the bar and the room, where a family took up two tables , having lunch, laughing and drinking and enjoying themselves. They spoke Spanish so my imagination was working ... residents who just decided to all get together and have lunch at the Alvear ? Tourists ? There were ladies with very low cut dresses and very high heels having lunch, talking on their mobile phones..Then of course, the waiter came over to us and asked us what we wanted, in English.
I ceased to be La Señora and became, Madame. But but ... I live here ..... So we had a Bloody Mary ( my tonsils are still burning) and my husband had a glass of a very good Malbec. ( "Muy bien," said the waiter..)
After drinks, I took a better look at the tree in the lobby... what an amazing sight , how beautiful and wonderful. A Make A Wish Foundation Tree, all white branches and tiny white lights, it was at least 20 feet high and huge ... so very beautiful and so very worthy a cause.
The Lobby Bar .. beware of the tendency to over Tabasco your Bloody Mary !

The Alvear Hotel Lobby.

We came home and took Pup to the park, which did not last very long. Sitting in the shade was not that cool, there were bugs biting and even Pup kept looking like he was ready for air-conditioning. He missed seeing the mounted police as they rode through the parks. So we came home, loaded down with fresh sweet cherries and scones from the bakery. Summer is here.