Another sunny day!

 The sun is extremely bright today and it's quite chilly outdoors. It looks much warmer than it is. We took a walk today, noticing the sharp shadows on the buildings, glad we had enough layers of clothing and hadn't forgotten our gloves.

 I crossed the Pont Marie to go to La Poste but there was no one to wait on people at the stamp desk, so I went to La Poste in the Marais. There are so many of them within walking distance, it's such a pleasure for a Mail Artist.

 On the way to La Post on rue Pavée, we stopped in at Mona Lisait (bookstore) which is full of wonderful books at lowered prices. One must be very careful not to get too distracted by such fabulous items or one could break one's ankle. Notice the "floor" which is just the paving stones of the former passage way that is now the shop. We got a super book on collage that we'd not see before. This is also the best buy on Mona Lisa postcards - 12 for 2€, as I mentioned before. They do have other postcards, not just Mona.

 We stopped at the Orange telephone and photo developing store and chose some of my honey's photos to have enlarged. We've decided to have an Open Studio before we depart.  After that, we went to the market for and got some Poilâine bread for lunch. It's nice for us that they carry it at the market and we don't have to make the trek to the shop, though we will do that one day, also.

 Last night, I wasn't sure what I'd make for dinner as the cupboard was pretty bare. The previous resident had left some of these packets. I wasn't sure what they were but Alsacienne's are maybe a pancake? The ingredients: pyrophosphate de sodium, bicarbonate de sodium, et farine de blé. Okay, I know it's baking soda, some flour, and ? maybe baking powder?
So I beat up a couple eggs, some milk, some flour (left by the previous person) and some of the packet. Voila, I had a sort of thicker crèpe. I folded them in half with some chevre inside. Sorry no photo as we dug right into them and they were delicious. We garnished with apricot preserve. My honey says that I'm such a creative cook. Nice to be appreciated.



I made a double landscape for some mail art to send to a friend who is a landscape artist par excellence.
She can cut each of them out to frame, should she wish to do so, or leave as they are. I was thinking that next time, I can leave them sans color, like a coloring book, for her to complete. Hmmm, an idea!

Day 6, the sun is out! oh, now it's gone.

 I made some mail art the past couple of days. This is using material at hand.

 My honey found some free postcards at a cafe, and he found the balloon to alter it with.

 This morning, we walked to La Poste at l'Hotel de Ville and BHV. I bought a lot of stamps but we didn't buy any blank discs as they are very expensive here. However, we did stop into the Illy cafe in the basement for some quiche and espresso.

 How delish is this? A dark chocolate dusted almond is in the little packet.

 Children's clothing is always fun to look at. So cute.

 The sky started to become overcast with puffy clouds, gradually darkening. It was nice having sun for awhile.

Exciting news! My honey has posted new photos to his blog. He's now very happy to have one and will keep up with it so be sure to subscribe to his blog or become a follower. It's called My Urban Fragments on blogger. Look at it here.

Last Day in London!

We had a sunny day today, perfect for Andy and Elena's wedding. In the morning, we walked along the south bank taking the sun, wending our way through thick crowds speaking lots of different languages. \There were long lines for the London Eye, which looked scary to me. I got lots of nice photos. Crossed the Thames by Big Ben and made our way to Fulham town hall for the wedding. \It was a really lovely ceremony and dinner, attended by lots of family and freinds. The bride and groom looked wonderfully happy. \Yesterday was very rainy but we met up with my long time mail art friend, Andrea McNeill at the Tate Modern. It was such fun and I got to hold the real Beannie Mouse. Andrea has posted on her blog, which I can't remember the address for, but you can find it via <found-art.blogspot.com> probably. Tomorrow, we're off to part 2 of our adventure, where in I meet two more mail art practitioners, in Istanbul. More when I can get to an internet cafe. Wish I could post photos, but you'll have to imagine: a sunny day in London, daily mail art reflecting that, a wedding ceremony, and a radiant bride and groom. We met lots of interesting people and hopefully, they'll send me their landmail addresses so they can receive mail art from me.More when possible.

Back in L.A.#2

Because I returned to spent time with Mom, giving my sister a chance to help her daughter, a new mom, I'm inside with limited view of the world. Here's what my first day looked like. Very sunny and hot!

Mom is still reading a lot. I brought her several new paperback mystery novels. She sits in her chair and reads and reads. Look at the books lined up for her. Notice her knitting needles and a completed scarf on top of the books. When she's not reading, she's knitting scarves. What a gal!

Here are a few of her stuffed animals. She has a large collection of these little items and loves them all. I think the one that's looking straight out at me is an aardvark!

Paloma

My sister's first grandbaby is only 2 weeks old. I was able to get a break last night and visit with her. What a cutie! Check out all that dark hair!

A storm, a dove, and a sunset.

A storm was approaching last night, but we made it home before it hit. Winds over 60mph/96kph were predicted. Luckily, it wasn't that bad at our place.


We have a dove nesting on our sill, behind the little magnolia tree sprouting next to our air conditioner.  The air conditioner makes noise and blows a lot of air when it's on but the dove just sits still, with it's black eye looking out at us when we stop to check on her. I took the photo of her looking left, my son took the photo of her looking to the right a few days before.

Tonight the sunset was gorgeous. I loved the view of the clouds, the sun rays, and the parking lot lamp coming on.

More time at Mom's

In my mom's bedroom there are three framed prints that take me back to when I was a little girl. I was happy to see them again. These are the images that, along with my cousin Don's comic book heroes, I drew incessantly. I credit them with my ability to draw. ha ha ha. No, for real. I drew these ballerinas over and over again. Here is my younger sister's favorite one of the three. I spotted this little metal tray covering mom's tube of knitting needles. We all need some sunshine! Outside of Mom's door is this statue, left by the previous tenants and way too heavy to move. Cement! Last night, my sister and her husband had date night for the first time in ages. One of her daughter's came by and hung out with mom and me. She brought yummy Viet Namese food for dinner, which sadly, I didn't take photos of because, yes, I just started to eat it because it looked and smelled so delicious. Forget the camera, grab the chop sticks!

A dusting of snow, sun ahead....

Yesterday morning view of the back yard. A light dusting of snow, just enough, no more...it's all I need or want. It's very cold here, as in most of the U.S., and my down (and feather) coat is serving me well. The feather part is not appreciated. When I take my coat off, small white feathers are clinging to my black wool sweaters. I have to "pluck" myself. There is, however, sun ahead for me as in two days I fly off to sunny California to help my mother celebrate her 96th birthday. How sweet is that? I don't know how often I'll get to post while I'm there but hopefully my first post when I can do it, will be of a sunny sky. Fingers crossed.

Elflog update, Postcard 103

This afternoon, I saw that the previous item I'd hung on the post had been taken. It was a "found-art Weathergram." SO this evening, I placed Postcard 103 on the shelf. Can you see how the sun was setting and giving such a nice light to the pole? The shelf is a riot of tiny beads, jewelry making fittings, a U.S. penny, a U.K. coin, the "art matters" stone and the shell are still in place. It's all very festive.