What a difference a day makes

An ever changing vista

The happenings of the last few days have left me fearing for the human race. 

I can't stop thinking about the unbearable grief of the bereaved families. 

I take solace in my surroundings.  

But how do they find peace? 

Wild Geese gather on our pond.  They are getting ready to fly South. 

Would our Emden geese go with them if they could fly? 

This time of year we lower our pond for safety reasons.
The ducks enjoy the newly exposed soil along the banks.  
Who knows what tasty morsels they find .

It snowed all day yesterday.

This morning the sun is shining.

And I have hope.

Thank you for letting me share my thoughts with you.



Gina

I'm back

  

From Gay 'Paree'

And the Dordogne, Brittany, Bordeaux, and Normandy.

Had a wonderful (GREAT) time.

And surprise, wonderful surprise; my garden is NOT frozen.

Tender flowers like cosmos and zinnias are still going strong.

I can enjoy them a little longer.

Have a great weekend my dear

Blogging Friends.

Gina



It's a Done Deal

Air Plane Tickets are puchased.

(tickets may go up)

We have our favorite Seats reserved.

Car has been carefully selected.

But before we fly off to Paris there will be several months of

Hard Labor.

Have a great weekend my dear

Blogging Friends.

Mon Bouquet du Jour

I do not like to leave my Garden

My last rose bouquet from my garden.

This past growing season was much too short.

We will have a frost while we are away.

The Sugarhat Cabbage will get sweeter.

We'll make Sauerkraut when we get back.

The potatoes need a light frost to set their skins

and so will the Lakota Squash.

We have a new Rooster (friends gave him to us, he was supposed to be a hen chicken)...he is the silliest looking Rooster we have ever had.  Not even our pretty hens liked him at first.  But he sports a very nice crow, not too loud and not too early in the morning. 

And he is friendly.

I hope that:

Our house sitters, from the big city, won't mind the rooster crowing at 4 o'clock in the morning,

Stanley, our old gentleman cat, will not bring mice and voles to the front door,

That the chickens will not go into a molt, I have promised our friends fresh chicken eggs every morning,

That the Charolais bull and his girls will not decide that the "grass is greener on the other side"

That the frost will be light so our house guests can enjoy the bounty of the garden and flowers to bring into the house.

This will be an easy trip for us.  We fly non stop to Paris. A car will be waiting for us.  We will head for the Champagne Region, then the Alsace, then Germany and Austria and then, finally, to my second most favorite place in the World, Italy. 

You wonder what my most favorite place is in the world? 

The Great United States of America, of course. 

My dear Blogging Friends, you have been so generous with your lovely comments and good wishes. 

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Wish I could take all of you with me.

Until next time, Auf Wiedersehen. 

Gina 

Paris

Paris, exciting and beautiful

Our home away from home in Paris;  A cozy and charming apartment on the corner of rue Constance and rue Lepic, 18th Arrondissement, Montmartre.

 A very special meeting with Frederic Almaviva, the charming and oh so talented owner of Atelier Almaviva

A visit to the Museum "Les Arts Dcoratifs" is a must

And so is a visit to a flea market while in Paris.  This one is located at the south end of Metro Line 13, Sundays only.

Versailles, all that glitters, is gold

We enjoyed meeting our friends, Steven and Christine, for our first visit to Versailles.  Immediately, Steven and Gene had to discuss something major, most likely the Origin of Man.

It was wonderful to travel to such exciting places such as Marrakech and Paris but it is so good to be back home. 

Happy weekend my dear blogging friends.

Gina

Too much to do

Another year and another Artist Studio Tour, the charolais bull is in the pasture

My kiln is working overtime and so am I

Pottawotomie plums are the first plums of the year.  They make great pancake syrup

There are flowers to dry for Potpourri, hollyhocks are delicate and roses are the easiest to dry

Peppers are growing fast and so are the cucumbers, must have some for the winter months

Canning for the sweet tooth, peaches are next

There should always be time for a glass of wine.

Soon I must take time and see what I need to pack in my little roller suitcase.  22 pounds of luggage has served me well in the past.

I don't know if that will be enough for Paris and Marrakech.

Gina

French Evening

Soon we will be in Paris

And so will be our friends



Our friend Steven, prepared kir royale for us






And he brought foie gras, prepared two different ways

Did I tell you that our friend Steven is a very fine Chef ?

Gene served roasted chicken, I added my Mother's very special cucumber salad, quiche made with vegetables from our garden and freshly baked bread, just out of the oven.

We served a 25-year-old bottle of French wine.


For dessert we had Mousse au Chocolate made with a secret ingredient.

And we schemed and planned our trip to France

Gina