Blossom Blizzard

Wistful for our preferred blanket of white.

 Seems much farther in the past than just six months ago.

Let it snow. Let it snow. Let it snow.

Doctor (Laura's) Orders

A full cup of coffee, a comfy chair, a bit of time with no distractions, and a reliable internet connection are the only things prescribed for a session of
Happy Therapy with Amy.


So much color after so many months of so much white might have you reaching for your shades as you browse the eye-popping images in 
Amy Butler's color and design-saturated online magazine, Blossom.  

View as needed. No limit on refills.

Silver Linings

It has been difficult to find anything to appreciate about this cold, cruel winter. But thousands are trying by flocking to the Lake Superior shore to experience the ice caves of Bayfield County.

NDL official real photographer Sam Plasch ventured out across several miles of 18" thick ice to capture these beautiful images and has graciously agreed to share them with those of us not able or intrepid enough to make the trip ourselves.

Fantastic!

French Connection

This is what made our auto come to a sudden halt as we passed through town.

And it is the sole reason that we propose Toucy, France as our NDL sister-city. Although we have since discovered that there are many other reasons we should want Toucycois as a sibling state. 

At the top of that list is the mid-September event called "Frequently Asked Potatoes". 

Voulez-vous être le mien, pourriez-vous être le mien, s'il vous plaît ne vous mon voisin?*

*Would you be mine, could you be mine, please won't you be my neighbor?

On the Town in Hexham, UK

The great expectation of our travels is to know that we are in a place that 

is different from where we have came from. 

Sometimes it seems that  foreign destinations are being homogenized by mass merchandised fashion, the prevalence of personal technology, and  the encroachment of worldwide franchises such as McDonald's and Burger King. And since our last tour of the continent, KFC.

But it is still possible to find spots and see sights that are unique in all the world.

The courtyard of an abbey.

The quintessential English primrose, primula vulgaris, actually in an English garden.

Buildings commonly hundreds of years older than the oldest building in our town.

We don't have department store entrances like this.

Tchotchke by any other name is still  one man's trash or treasure, 

but it seems so much more alluring part way across the globe in a "charity shop". 

Bric a brac shelves are heavy in practically nonexistent categories at our thrift shops 

such as egg cups, toast racks, and tea serving paraphernalia. 

The Poundstretcher - a wildly more exotic version of 

the dollar store concept we are familiar with. 

The lentil soup is is not so unusual, but look closely at this lunch. When was the last time you saw a cold sausage with red onion chutney sandwich on the menu?

Lovely!

Cocorico

The French flag is red, white, and blue.

And the cock, or le coq Gaulois, according to this enthusiastic vendor, 

is the unofficial national symbol of France  because he shares the same color scheme. 

He does not look very noble here does he? We do not pluck and eat our national bird.

but if Benjamin Franklin had gotten his bird of choice we certainly would.

In France and Wallonia, the French onomatopoeia for the rooster crowing sound,

 "Cocorico" (cock-a-doodle-doo), is sometimes used to express national pride.

#17 - #22

Six more reasons Canada is awesome.

(As if we needed any more.)

#17 - They make macaroni and cheese sound classy.

#18 Male chickens get equal treatment in the soup department.

#19 - Five simple words - Ballpark Hot Dog flavoured chips.

#20 - Their cookies demand respect. "That's Mr. Maple to you punk."

#21 - They dare to stew and eat monsters from the deep.

#22 - For your convenience they sell mole meat in a jar.

We want to go to there.

The Very Best Find Ever

It was a tent sale miracle.

Never seen before or since. Just one pair of the cutest Eric Carle Hungry Caterpillar shoes ever. And not found by us! Hope the lucky recipient appreciates the excellent shopping skills of the thoughtful gift giver.


Field trip anyone?

Living in the Past

Already missing this.

And this.

And this.

Looks Like about 8lb. Test

Angel's Fishing Rod, Fairy Wand, Wand Flower, or dierama pulcherrimum.



Photo from: Seaside Plants

Anyway you call it this is a lovely, ethereal flower that nods in the slightest breeze on the slenderest of stems. England and its Gardens participants from New Jersey to British Columbia, but no farther South than about zone 6a (except for one lucky Texan in the group) were entranced by this zone 8a to 10b beauty found in several of the gardens on our tour.

If you know someone down South you should ask them to plant dierama and then plan your trip to their locale when it is in bloom. Angel's Fishing Rod would be a wonderful addition to the garden. Yet again zone envy rears its ugly head. Sigh.

Never Really Been, But We'd Sure Like to Go

Mexico.

Another young adventurer has sent beautiful, colorful photos home from their travels.












More images of Southern climes from another lucky vacationer here, here, here, here, and here at Thimble.

Hoppy New Year

Our world became white again overnight, but this week we are putting on our snowblinders and looking straight ahead to find color wherever we can. Our first sighting is from China.




A young friend currently in Shanghai took these photos at a bazaar she visited. Fortunately for us, New Year decorations were still in place from the February 3rd celebration of the beginning of the Year of the Hare. She said it was so crowded in the bazaar that when she tried to stop to take photos the crowd just kept moving her along.




We're glad she was successful at getting a few shots to brighten up what threatens to be a rather monotone week for those of us stuck in the Midwest snowbelt.