Paris!

Goodness Paris has been popping up the last few days. I've decided it's a sign and I'm going to win the lottery so I can go. Of course I don't buy tickets so it will be difficult. . .

I started reading a book called The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn. It's one that I've had sitting around for awhile but haven't read. I'm about half-way through and really enjoying it. The author lost her job and decided to use her savings to move to Paris and attend Le Cordon Bleu. The story is definitely not making me want to attend Le Cordon Bleu but it does make me want to go to Paris. I've been there, but only for one day. It would be so amazing to be able to live there!

This morning someone I follow on Facebook posted a picture from this article: The most beautiful Metro stations in Paris! These are incredible!  The stations I saw were not at all as beautiful. Here's a few highlights from the article! 

This one is my favorite. It's the Place Colette entrance to the Palais Royal-Musee du Louvre station. It was redesigned in 2000 with arches of big glass beads.

This is the Abbesses Station. It is one of the few art nouveau stations which still has its glass canopy at the entrance.

These two pictures are from the Concorde Station. The walls look like one gigantic word search puzzle. Each tile has a letter, and together they’re the words to the Declaration of the Rights of Man from the French Revolution of 1789.

This is the Cite station. It has a beautiful art nouveau entrance, it also has pretty globe lighting along the track itself, reminiscent of old fashioned street lights.

I Love Pinterest!

When I first heard about Pinterest I couldn't figure out what the big deal was. Posting pictures? It didn't sound like a lot of fun. Once I got on though it took very little time for me to be hooked. I thought I'd share a few of my pins today and if you'd like to see more you can find me here.

This is from my It made me smile and/or laugh board.

This one's from my Quotes and Thoughts board.

This is from the Vintage cookbooks and recipes board.  I collect old cookbooks and leaflets and I have this one. One of these days I'm going to take pictures of all of mine and post them on my board!

This is from the Jewelry board. It's Elizabeth Taylor's tiara. Circa 1880, it was a gift from Mike Todd. Some how I think I could live with having this!

 

This is from the Cats board. You probably could have guessed that!

This is one I just re-pinned tonight. It's on my History board.

I love pink! This lovely pink tree is on the Yes, I do like pink board.

This one is on the Needlework board. It's called  "Leaving" by Lisa Binkley and is in the August/September 2012 Quilting Arts magazine. I really like this a lot. The beaded leaf is wonderful.

Really? It's been that long?

I have been neglecting my blog for the last six months. It's hard to believe it's been that long! I think I just ran out of steam for awhile but let's see if I can get back into this! Since I'm basically a lazy person and it's 105 here today, I think I'll start easy with a few pictures.

The first one is a buggy that goes from Old Sacramento to the State Capitol. I was parked by the Capitol today (in a nice shady spot) and saw the buggy coming down the street. Nos 2&5 are sidewalk art pictures from my walks. Nos 3&4 are pretty ones that I took in the State Capitol Park.

Ok, that was an easy post! I think I can ease back into this. Assuming I don't have a heat stroke. It's been over a 100 the last few days and in the high 90's prior to that. The rest of this week is supposed to be around 100. I spoke with my daughter the other day and she was in Half Moon Bay. By the ocean. Looking at fog. I'm sitting here in 100+ heat and she's looking at the ocean and fog. That's the nice thing about being in the Bay Area; you can drive to the ocean within a reasonable time. It's not such a reasonable time from Sacramento. . . ah well.

I do love living here but I hate the heat! I've decided it's just like any relationship, there are one or two things you just really don't like. Unfortunately the one thing I don't like goes on and on and on and on all summer long. Sure it gets hot in the Bay Area but only for a few days at a time. Then the fog moves in and it cools off. Sacramento has no off button in the summer. I am desperately awaiting fall. I love fall and I love Sacramento in the fall. I am literally counting the days!

Friday's Poem

Final Notations

it will not be simple, it will not be long
it will take little time, it will take all your thought
it will take all your heart, it will take all your breath
it will be short, it will not be simple

it will touch through your ribs, it will take all your heart
it will not be long, it will occupy your thought
as a city is occupied, as a bed is occupied
it will take all your flesh, it will not be simple

You are coming into us who cannot withstand you
you are coming into us who never wanted to withstand you
you are taking parts of us into places never planned
you are going far away with pieces of our lives

it will be short, it will take all your breath
it will not be simple, it will become your will

by Adrienne Rich

Still walking (not fast though)

I walked this morning and it was quite lovely! It was cold and quiet and I could hear birds singing and the freeway background noise (which I actually like). I didn't take one picture. I was tempted but it seemed like a morning to just enjoy the walk. Here's some pictures from my walk yesterday.

Walking

My mantra: Walking is good. Excruciating pain is good. Exercise is good. I've been (mostly) walking every day though not as far as I'd like. This is due to the excruciating pain part. My back is hurting and I know the only way to get rid of the pain is to keep walking. So I trudge along muttering my mantra and hoping I'll make it home.

I do manage to take pictures as I trudge along and I thought I'd share some. Also a blog: The Solitary Walker is a great blog I stumbled on some time ago. It's interesting to read and he has wonderful pictures!

I found a little sidewalk art but not much. I have to walk a different way tomorrow and look for more. The tree in the fourth pictures is one I know I have a picture of when it was full of leaves. I need to look for it!

Hammarskjold - Week 2

On April 7,1953 Dag Hammarskjold was appointed as Secretary-General of the United Nations. Hammarskjöld was not a member of any political party and regarded himself as politically independent. That attitude combined with his Swedish neutrality made him a candidate acceptable to everyone.

He was not aware that he was under consideration for the position and was surprised when the news came. When he arrived in New York he was met by Trygve Lie the current Secretary-General with the words “you are going to take over the most impossible job on Earth.”

His career up till that point would seem to have prepared him. In 1945, he was appointed adviser to the Swedish Cabinet on financial and economic problems. In 1947 he was appointed to the Foreign Office with rank of Under-Secretary. In 1949, he was appointed Secretary-General of the Foreign Office and in 1951, he joined the Cabinet as Minister without portfolio. He was a delegate to the Paris Conference in 1947 and he was his country's chief delegate to the 1948 Paris Conference of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC). He was Vice-Chairman of the Swedish Delegation to the Sixth Regular Session of the United Nations General Assembly in Paris 1951-1952, and acting Chairman of his country's delegation to the Seventh General Assembly in New York in 1952-1953.
 
From Markings:

What next? Why ask? Next will come a demand about which you already know all you need to know: that its sole measure is your own strength.