Paris The Eiffel Tower

My blogger says I'm out of space to add more photos until I upgrade and buy something.  So this is not truly my complete post but will have to suffice for Paris in July.  The boy and I were there when he was twelve in 2006, where have the years gone.

We had a wonderful trip and I'm so glad I took the opportunity to do this with him because time is fleeting and circumstances change so my motto is Seize the Moment, Carpe Diem.

We visited the Eiffel Tower at the end of our very last day in Paris.  In all it took us three hours to buy our tickets and get up to the top and back, but well worth the wait. It was Rob who kept me going.  We had spent all day at Versailles even walking into the town for lunch and a walk around the market where I bought some lovely earings.  So I was very tired and the lines to get up the second half of the tower to the top were very long, but how could we not, who knew when we'd ever get back again. For me it was my second time up, I was last there at the age of seventeen.  Rob has never forgotten his visit to the Eiffel Tower.

Christy

Paris in July

London Eye Ground Level

 

I wanted to share a few views of The London Eye from ground level as we approached it.  It has a nice position on the River Thames with the back drop of Big Ben and The Houses of Parliament in many of the photos.

Christy
Continuing my day in London

Sunday A Week In Retrospect

Hi folk, I came downstairs this morning in the wee hours before the sun was up, walking through my dining room to the kitchen, for a cup of tea.  In the dining room we have an electric window fan and the digital read out said 75f, joy of joys as it has hovered around 92f with high humidity, but this week has been very changeable.

Dear Boy and I were driving to a meeting on Thursday evening and the sky was one dark charcoal mass, you couldn't even see where one cloud ended and the other began, I was afraid it would sporn a tornado a few have been known in this area but it is a rarity, the sky was most ominous though.  The winds raged through for five minutes after we got to our meeting and then the electric went out and that was that, so we all went home and the storm was passed.  Good for my garden though except for all the little dead branches that fell out of the oak tree onto the patio.

Mr Bit Brit and son cleared up all the Grad Party last week, we just need to return all the items, tables etc that we borrowed.  I think I was on my feet so much Saturday that Sunday I just vegged.

But you hardly have time to think about things before you've moved on to another thing in life.  My sister phoned and said that my mum is very ill in hospital, so have been in touch with her all week and we will have to wait and see what happens.  But being such a long way away is difficult in times like this and it all falls on my sister.

I haven't done much letter writing, it has been a busy time but yesterday I did sit on my Oak Tree Patio and wrote, with my faithful companion Tinkerbell by my side and a cheeky squirrel propped up in a crevice at the bottom of the oak tree, sitting on his haunches eating a nut in his tiny paws.  Do squirrels have paws, actually they are more like little hands.

Tinkerbell started watching the squirrels, but she was very comfortable so just gave a sigh and went back to sleep; which made me laugh.  But later she had second thoughts and started stalking them, it makes her feel like a feline.  Not that she has a hope because when I got her from the SPCA she had already been de-clawed by who ever had her before.  Not something I would do to a cat.

Later I ran out to get a paper bag to pack my wedding shower gift in, along with a card.  I bought a set of 12 steak knifes made in France with white bone style handles and a little bumble bee on them that represents the area in France that they came from.  I know I would like them so hope she will too.  Will post pics when I get them downloaded.

Ran across 6 soup bowls at the thrift made at the Cannonsburg Pottery in Pennsylvania; which closed in 1978 after a devastating fire in 1975.  The company was formed in 1909 after purchasing the Cannonsburg China Company.  They mostly made dinnerware putting out over 25,000 dozen pieces per week. They employed 305 people. Here are a couple of pics.

I just like to collect a few pieces here and there because as far as I know no dinnerware china is produced in PA anymore, if even in the USA.  You even see pieces like Portmerion of which I have a lovely platter that my grandmother gave me for a wedding present and just the other day a saw a Portmerion double dish and it was made in China, not the UK, does that seem right?

Two favourite patterns from the Cannonsburg Pottery are Temporana and Wild Clover. 

Also a couple of weeks ago I ran across a beautiful smaller turkey platter, made at Cannonsburg; which I'm thinking will go nicely with my soup bowls which are cream with an embossed edge.

Well that's my eclectic week.

I did watch the opening of the Olympics and was pleasantly surprised that Wow!  They got it right.  I liked the James Bond and Queen skit plus Chariots of Fire and Mr. Bean.  It seems wild flowers also abound around the stadium area, and that what used to be a very run down area of London in the East End has been revitalized.

Christy
Lil Bit Brit

Walking To The Eye

That's Waterloo Bridge in the background and in the foreground just one of the many lights along the embankment which are so iconic and exude such romance.  How many old black and white movies have you seen where a couple stand under one of these lights on a foggy night, especially WWII movies.  This is along The Queen's Walk.

Walking under the Hungerford Bridge a railway bridge.

I'm never sure if I really like these people dressed up like this.  We saw so many of these in Barcelona, some were intriguing, but to me there's something a little weird about them.

The Eye with The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in the background.

This is the Jubilee walking bridge.  As you can see the sky is already clouding up again.  So we're hurrying along to get our tickets for The Eye.

Christy

Walking Waterloo Bridge

Here we are again in London.  The skies have cleared it's about 3:00 PM and we are walking across Waterloo Bridge to The Eye.  The weather was cooperating with us.  Here are some shots as I crossed the bridge.  Some I have used special effects on and others I have just left.

Christy

Downton Abbey

The World of Downton Abbey by Julian Fellowes who wrote the series.

My lunch hour at the park; where I thought it would be fun to share with you some eye candy from the book that accompanies the mini series Downton Abbey.  The visuals are just beautiful and full of interesting information about how ones would have lived back then.  And how the actors felt making the series.

It would be a lovely book to add to your library.

Christy

Monday Morning

I woke up this morning Monday in the wee hours of 4:00 AM and decided to get my morning cuppa and take the laptop outside and sit on the Oak Tree Patio.

It's like stealing time out of the day, so quiet and peaceful, our little pond waterfall in the background and just the night time insects.  A lonely goods train can be heard tooting in the background such an American sound to it, very haunting, very hobo.

Then I ran across this video which I thought would be great for my Paris in July posting, I'm listening to it, it's about 5:00 AM and I think I woke the bird life up, because all of a sudden after playing this there I hear one bird starting off her or his morning song, the sky is a deep grayish blue with clouds and a new day dawns.

Christy

Theatre District London

Well you have been more than patient with my London postings and I hope you have enjoyed them.  Here Jean and I are walking through the Theatre District of London, above is the Aldwych Theatre playing Top Hat.  I like the dappled lighting coming through the trees and playing on the building.  It was a day of constant change weather wise.

This is in front of another theatre playing The Lion King.  I took this photo for Rob as he wants to take Media Communications.  Obviously the camera man knows I am taking his photo.

After having waited outside the theatre here they have met the man they want to interview.

All fleeting snap shots of our day out.

Christy

Rob's Graduation Party

The day dawned cloudy and quite cool, but warmer than Friday when I cooked, which was a wonderful cooking day, but we were a little concerned that it would clear up for Saturday.  There was a tiny shower in the morning and cloudy but as the day moved forward the sun came out.  It couldn't have been more perfect for all the running around and the work that needed to be accomplished.

I kept on track by looking at my list and saying to myself I need this accomplished by this time, and it worked and I even had 30 minutes to sit down with a friend who came a little later to help, before everyone came.  Plus time to get changed.

Above is my cake table and to the right my china and napkin/serviette table.

Tables set up, chairs rented for around the tables, and a pulling apart of Mr. Bit Brit's very neatly packed garage, the only reason I can keep so many treasures/junk in there is because he keeps it so neatly packed.  All my trash finds see the light of day and come together and some things after being kept for years have now seen the light of day and been discarded.

My retro coffee urn, a thrift shop find and my very plain clean lined silver teapot set a yard sale find, plus my original Meakin cups, a wedding gift.  Glass tray found in trash and Azores table cloth a thrift find.

Chinese battery lanterns see the light of day.  We had to buy AAA batteries, but I can't say they worked too well, but they did look lovely.

This is how the tables looked.  The tables and clothes were borrowed from a friend, but I had made the clothes for her, so now I get to use them.  IKEA $1.00 find double sided picture stands, just right.  Trash find candle-sticks spray painted silver.

In the for-ground two sofas found in the trash, a rattan and a very sixties cream bent bamboo.  Notice the original orange seat covers.

Rob with friends, holding his picture.  G on far left who I have known since I was two years old in the UK, our mothers were friends, and here we are both living in the USA.  Lovely to have friends you have known that long.

Rob coming up for seconds.  I think everyone enjoyed the food, there wasn't too much left,  lots of desert left, but not savoury.

And something that caused a commotion and a lot of photo taking a cicado on our ash tree emerging from it's nymph shell.

It's nice to see all one's plans and visions come together, shared with friends, music played. good food eaten and go to bed worn out but happy.

Christy

P.S.  Hope you are enjoying you weekend too.