ABC's from Abroad

Almond croissant in an Alley near Avignon...

from a Boulangerie tres Belle, tres Bonne?

a Bicyclist Beyond Belief

and Berets by the Bunch.
Charlie Contemplating outside Chapel

and a Crazy Coat in a Courtyard.

Dos Dalis on Display,

Eyeing the Eiffel Tower,

and an Edgy Edward.

Famous Flowing Fountain
and Fabulous Fruits.












Grisly Gravestones

Hanging High

and HRH's Horses.

Indigo Irisesand Inside Inigo Montoyo's Inner sanctum ...(ok..that's stretching it.)
Just Jane before

Karting the Kids around.

Leapin', well, Lazin' Lizards



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Man iMMobilized,

Magnificent Maison du Moulin,

and Marvelous Movie Mania.. (the real-life set of Amelie)

and Morrison's post-Mortem.
Nativity outside the Nave

and did you Notice the Narcotics Noser?
Olives are On!





Oobviously it's Octopus and Paella (cool! O and P in same one...carrying on..)


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Plenty of Paddingtons












and a Posh Poodle, Pierre.

Plus Phillippe Preparing to Provide Plates of Pasta!

Quest for Quasimodo
and Quiet, quiet

Regarding Regal gardens in the Rearview

while Sharon Sees Sumptious Squares to Sample.
Traitors Traverse at the Tower
and Tom Taking Texture

and then there's

Terry Tormenting Teens by Trippin' in Toeshoes (Taken after Trip but Topical)

Unitedly Us!
Vincent Van Gogh
and a View from Van Gogh's Vantage.
Valreas' Weeping Wisteria (oooh V and W in one.. I'm on a roll!)

Winter Wishing upon a Wall of Wine,

and Wavy Woodwork.


eXtraordinarily and eXactingly still.

Y, it's just Y-ine.

the baZaar &

the biZarre

Here's to Z-life!

Vanishing Vinyls

Shelagh and Thomas had us over recently for a little Lebenslust* at their house. It was an absolutely gorgeous evening. No parkas needed. The neighborhood party started out innocently enough. Hang out on the front porch, drink a little lemonade and then whoaa....Ian arrives from next door with a pile of fresh lobsters! Master W is checking those babies out!

Christine, Shelagh and I were solving a few of the world's problems... we are just so good at that!

Charlie's just chillin'. He doesn't notice Naomi nudging in.

Here we are stuffing ourselves silly with some mouthwateringly delicious homemade pizzas --Unspeakably yummy. Perhaps, purely by chance, we might happen to be in their 'hood on Friday nights. Pizza stalkers..yep...that's us.

and THEN it was time to spin the old vinyls. Shelagh had some of some great old Canadian bands and I had borrowed a whole box of classics from a friend. What is it about taking hold of the actual record.. the original artwork? Indescribableness. We had Van Halen, Pat Benatar, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, The Cars, The Stones, Creedence, The Pretenders, Queen...and more. I dare you to find anything like Classic Rock. (Roger...Mozart is classic in a different way.)

Here's Terry L, a fine, upstanding, church-going, Ph.D earning, job-holding, father of two, spouse to one. He's reminiscing over the Deep Purple ..looks innocent enough, eh? (remember this image - you'll need it later.)

Now..if you're over 40... do you remember when you'd sit and listen to an entire album (usually in someone's basement) BOTH sides? OK, if you're under 40, you might just get the same glazed-over look that Riley has.

But the boys are beginning to boogy ...

and the girls are getting into the groove...
It is time to put on the Spinners and let 'er rip! We danced and danced and danced and just let it all hang out. Shelagh put on her high heels for some added panache. You go, girl!

and then we enticed Christine to try on the heels. It's a party now! And then, remember the image you are holding in your mind from before?? got it??

"Someone else who shall remain nameless, put on the high heels. Go Terry! We were sooo cracking up and loving it. I don't think anyone did THIS in the 70s but The Times They Are A'changin'. (Sorry, Riley, but this will not be the last time your dad does something to completely mortify you. Isn't it nice of me not to post this to your facebook?)

This is what they mean by Lebenslust - the Joy of Life!

Grandparent Giggles

Today was the last day of Grandparent Reading..very sad to see it end.

I've had these two sweet ones all school year... E's favorite line is "Do you think you'd like to bring us a treat next week?" P is Russian, just learning English, and has the cutest way of saving "taaarrrrrrrrrrrrruck." He told me on our very last day, "Did you notice that E always gets to go first and I was very patient?" Yes, P..I did notice.

And I've had Miss B, who is VERY interested in Stevie, the school's ghost. We read about the Incredibly Revolting Ghost, the Averagely Spooky Ghost and a whole hosts of other ghosts....mostly from under the table so Stevie couldn't get us. Sometimes I had two other girls at the same time so I brought in a big bedsheet one day and we were ALL under there. Was that in the job description?

we NEVER get to go crazy in the library, but on the last day C and G broke loose,

and turned things a little upside down ...

Here's my buddy, J, who loves to sneak up on me and then we talk all about Batman Lego for DS (with me trying to remember as much Batman as I can from the 60s reruns.) Did you know that the Penguin's only weapon is an umbrella and that he would rather run than fight Batman?

The kids gave us all these handmade thank you cards which these days is becoming a lost art. I love 'em!
and then they did a concert for us on the spoons.
and gave us roses too! If it's bribery for showing up next year it just might work.
So, we're free for the summer...IF it ever turns to summer up here? So Jackolynn and I have already made lots of girls day out plans.

and after all that fun.. here comes the icing on the cake: my limo driver to take me to lunch. Bye kids! Thanks for a great year!

Rockies Road Trip

With the temps finally in the above 0 range, normally, we'd be biking, hiking, or just hanging out in the park, but because of a little glitch in "someone's" foot, we decided to hop in the Jeep and take a Rocky Mountain Road trip, riding out towards the mountains to see if we could find the ranch where they train the RCMP horses.

So, fortified with hay and oats from our usual watering hole, we head off!

By golly, cowpokes..it's gonna be a glorious day!

Just look at those mountains... still snow on 'em. I decided after a few hours of driving around, that it might be a good idea to pull out the trusty GPS. I typed in "Ranch" and all it came back with was LutheRAN CHurch and bRANCH Davidians. NOT, exactly what we're looking for, but Charlie's usually really good with just intuiting directions.. so we'll just keep going. Giddyup!

But after a few more kilometers, it's time to restock the ol' feedbag with 8 essential vitamins and minerals. Don't be gigglin' there .. see the real dairy and 'taters we got? And isn't there a special category for Sour Patch Kids in the food pyramid.

Back on the road again.....Oooh..what kind of surprises might be over that bridge?

Oh, look! It's a whole herd of whitetail deer. I caught the last one as they bounded into the thicket and disappeared. Lucky for them, we were only hunting them with a Canon and lucky for us, they passed 50' instead of 5' in front of us.

The scenery was just like this the whole way. However, we seem to be off the navigational charts.. where are we??

Aha! Here's a cool Forest Service road - it says "unpaved road" on the GPS.. well, no kidding! NO one on it. Not even loggers, but we can hear ATVers off road.. busy making ruts..oh well.. we'll try not to worry 'bout them.

My brother, Alan, a lifetime Forester and occasional forest firefighter, would be proud we heeded this sign. Now, we need to teach the pine bark beetle to read too!

Hey, which direction are we going? That says TEXAS gate! Aren't we in Canada? (very small joke)

Hey! We found it! The Ya Ha Tinda Ranch! How did we do that? No horses in sight though... hmmm? Was this a wild goose..er..horse chase?

But, wait, here's another cool "sign." Where there are stirrups, there are horses, right?

Here we are! Hello, Mr. Ed! (8#X) If you're under 40, you can google Mr. Ed.
And now, that we made it here..it's time to head back.

Whoo Hoo! We got back in time for dinner at Lee and Don's farm where they rustled us up some mighty fine grub. Cheers!

Earth Day Baby Turns 50!

Today is Earth Day. God Bless Mother Earth. AND it's the 50th birthday of the boy in the peppermint-stick striped pjs. 50!? How is that possible? My brother, Mark, has been one of the most influential people in my life and now he's all grown-up! (Chronologically)

My youngest brother, 50!? Holy *$#%! This is so traumatic. Not for him probably, but for ME! Three of my other sibs have turned 50 and then some, and my beloved husband and sister have even hit the NEXT decade and I haven't batted an eye but now I'm all whacked out about Mark turning 50!! Hailp! OK, I've wallowed in the angst.. Now I'm over it.

So, I'm raising my glass ( organic raw unpasteurized apple/wheatgrass/spirulina juice of course) to you, brother. You are a beautiful spirit -- inspiring-- generous with your gifts.

We are blessed to have you in our lives.

[Here he is volunteering at L'Hopital Sacre Coeur in extremely improverished and TB-plagued Haiti

I'm pretty sure that I can take a lot of credit for Mark's success as a musician. I reluctantly relinquished my piano-practicing time slot and sacrificed countless hours of sleep so that my brother could practice HIS music at all hours of the night. Seriously, though, as our reward, Mark has created a rich legacy of astounding music - http://www.muddyangel.com/ , including countless personalized songs, many of which have hit home for someone at just the right time when they needed a bit of relaxation, inspiration, entertainment, or plain ol' understanding. He has also contributed untold amounts of CO2 emissions, sewage and refuse along the away but I for one am glad that he is sharing Mother Earth with us for awhile. Happy Earth Day Birthday, Marko!