Elflog and a garden

The shelf looks a bit bedraggled due to the rain we had yesterday. It was draped with a holiday "ribbon" and some sprigs of pine. Something left a red stain, maybe a candy that dissolved in the rain. A few blocks from the shelf, I came upon this lovely garden, with decorative cabbage and brilliant red stemmed chard (or kale?)

Elflog and found art

Two days, the shelf. I really like the wire love with the flower, held in place by the blue ribbon pin. I wanted to take it, but I , also, wanted someone else to have it. I put the santa hatted bear in place, hoping it would find a new home. It's gone now.



I found this painting in the alley a block away from our house. I hope it stays awhile.

Holiday season fun.

Our friend , Jude, is a glass artist. Each year, she invites family and friends to make their own gift. Her studio is our workshop, with lots of supplies to use for our creations. Here we are in the creative process and here are some of the pieces before they are fired. I'll posted mine after firing. I hope they turn out nicely. Even if they don't, it was great fun, and the music was good, too. Oh yes, so was the food, and the people.

Holiday season

I went to a lunch at a neighbors house last week. A couple years ago, while she was working on her second book, on the history of interior design, she created a lunch group for herself. Neighbors, friends, colleagues, former students, gather for lunch monthly when they are able to come. Here's a view of her tree and her table setting for the Dec. lunch, which she did at her home. Twelve of us attended, our largest group of the year, I think. conversation was lively, warm holiday cheer. Thanks Buie!

Tea Time - a Mail Art call

This is a reminder that I've posted a mail art call .
Check it out and participate. It's free, it's fun, it's Mail Art.

We're doing a mail art show at Carytown Teas in March 2008. I'm hoping that lots of people will participate and make this a really big show, or a small interesting show.

Elflog

While we were away, the shelf continued! I was so happy to see that the neighborhood kept the fun going. Here are two photos I took with my 'phone (imagine me without my camera, but doesn't the 'phone take great pix?) the first few days we were back from our trip. The first photo has an arrangement of stones on a leaf. Two of the stone were ones that I'd put there a long time ago, were taken away, and now returned. I felt like they were a welcome home sign for me. The second photo shows the shelf with a sugar packet and a dreidel on it. I took the dreidel home!

Paris, the Cité, au revoir

I took a few pix for the folks who've been to the Cité, and anyone else interested, showing the reception area, with the 'phone we use to make outgoing calls, our mailboxes, some of the folks we'd see each day as we went out and came back, and the tall Christmas tree they'd just installed. Our bags packed, the BHV bag with our last trash ready to drop in the poubelle (trash can,) we say au revoir. Nous reviendrons.

Paris views

These are the views of the Seine as I looked west crossing Pont Marie, when I went to La Poste or the Patisserie on Ile St. Louis. I took these the last morning in Paris. A lovely morning sky, yes?

Here are two final day and night views of Notre Dame from our middle window. And here am I, taking a final look at the end of our residency.

Paris mime, moules and mmmm.....

This mime, in front of Notre Dame was so cute. He would wink at audience members as he played on his little tin flute. The young women tourists were having a good time taking photos of him, and of the decorated tree on the parvis.

I finally got my Moules frites (mussels and french fries) at Le Trappiste restaurant near the Chatelet Metro stop. They were in a creme fresh-spinach sauce. Chuck had a salad Nicoise. We had our last pain au raisin the morning of our departure. I went to the patisserie across Pont Marie and bought two of them. One we ate in the studio for breakfast, and one I took on the plane. We ate it somewhere over the Atlantic. Mmmmmm, it was so good. I won't have that taste until the next time we're in Paris.

La Poste

Where would Mail Art be without La Poste, the post office? I've been to the Musée de La Poste in the past, but this year, I had a special treat. Not only did I go through the museum but prior to that, I had lunch with our new friends Jean-Claude and Régine, who work for La Poste. I know this may not seem exciting, but believe me, it was. Here are some images I took in the museum. The painting on the mail bag was done by Claude Viallat for a special exhibit of many of these. If you clik on Musée above, you can see more of the exhibit. Here's an old mail box, an old delivery coach, and an image from an old film showing pigeon courier soldiers in WWI. The soldiers had small baskets on their backs, with 2 pigeons in them. In the film, it showed them loading their pigeons into the baskets, then hopping on horses and riding off. There was an excellent special exhibit on the mail service during war time in France. And a really fabulous exhibit of work by Marc Pessin, that you must check out. He does intriguing calligraphy, engraving, embossing, collage work.

Last days in Paris

Well, I have to do it...I have to post the last photos from our last days in Paris. I put it off because once posted, it means the trip is really over. It flew by!

Okay, here's what you're seeing...a view of a French village as we were flying back to Paris from Dublin, the skating rink we watched being constructed on the parvis in front the Hotel de Ville (the igloo is where you rent skates,) a view from our studio on a rainy day (you can kind of make out the map of Korea in the lower right corner, you know the one that looks like a bunny statue,) and the Christmas decorations on the corner by the Pont Marie metro entrance. There's a similar one by the St. Paul metro. Big red and gold bows decorate trees. Lower branches have been pulled down to hide the tree trunks. Real grass was laid down and trimmed in a curve. We watched them create these, too.

So long Ireland

A few final images from Ireland. A seal in the boat harbor in Black Rock and M. looking out at the Irish Sea. A stair case at The Hugh Lane where we saw a room full of Sean Scully paintings, but weren't allowed to take any photos, so I got one of the stairway.



Here's a picture of the sun coming up at Dublin airport and a view of Dublin from the air as we headed back to France.

More Ireland (retrospective)

Here are some very Irish things...the double deck city bus, they were everywhere, and so very tall! Irish cofee, perfect on a chilly, rainy night. We were at a small market in Temple Bar and tasted homemade chutneys, and cheeses. We didn't get any samples of the Christmas pudding, however.

More from Ireland

A sight in Temple Bar, Santa! We came upon this last supper by John Byrne, in a pedestrian walk area, north of the river Liffey. The models he used are local people, from different walks of life.









The fish and chips I had for lunch were very yummy.














Here's a view of a closed off pedestrian shopping area, which was PACKED with shoppers. Notice, the sign is in Gallic.

Later that night, we went to see a dance performance based on R.D. Laing's book KNOTS. It was energetic and powerful.