THIS AND THAT

Holidays over it's time just to do the ordinary things that make life pleasing and comfortable.  For most French (and probably many others as well), it's coming to les vacances..vacation.  Many stores, eating establishments and markets will be closed as people here really take their vacation time and leave for 2-4 weeks.  We found out this morning our egg/cheese market ladies won't be back till August 25!!!!  Guess we'll have to find a substitute!!

So today's post is just a little of life here in our Paris home.  First, and most exciting (!!!), is the new arrival we're waiting for.  No, not grandchildren!!!! For some reason, our potted flowers (or ferns in Plano) always make the perfect places for nests for baby birds.  In Plano every year we could count on a bird building a nest in our hanging fern on the patio...a hassle for watering, I think!!!  Now, one of our flower box geraniums is home for a nest currently holding two nice-sized white eggs.

I wonder how long till a baby bird is here???

You can see there is only one egg in this picture, but several days later #2 was there.  Mama Bird sits on them most of the day, leaves for quite a while in the evening and comes back later at night.  Because this box is outside our bedroom off our balcony, Mama used to fly off every time we opened the door (for fresh air, remember no a-c!) but now she knows us so stays put usually.  I'll keep you posted on the birth!!!!!

It seemed in Plano there was always road construction.  Is it possible that will be gone and completed when we return???!!  I doubt it!  Well, some things are true no matter where you live, I guess, and we've found Paris to have road construction all over.  Now, we're not driving so perhaps it doesn't cause us the frustration it would in Plano, but it does cause buses to change their routes, shorten a route so we have to found another bus and make walking around in certain areas difficult.  David is really good at navigating us to another bus (that helps), it's just a nuisance!  But I've learned (pretty much) to just roll with it.  It's funny the little lessons I'm learning on this Paris adventure...

Plano or Paris???!!!!

However, never let it be said Sherry Finkelstein let road/sidewalk construction keep her from finding (and buying) some cute dishes (or shoes, but in this case dishes!!!)!!!!!  We'd been strolling a neighborhood I really like, St. Paul, where there are lots of little walkways with lots of little unique  shops when I noticed some blue and white plates in the back window of a shop we'd previously been in.  Much to David's dismay, I didn't mention this to him then but stored it in my mental file and later told him about them.  He's always been willing, though perhaps not eager, to carry dishes back when I've found them while traveling.  We are trying, though, to be very careful about what we buy here that we might want to take back because it is difficult and can be expensive.  Most of the things we've bought will stay....they're not "close to my heart", they just make this home more us.  Anyway, we went back the next day to get the dishes (we didn't even know how he was selling them...plate by plate or as a set and we didn't know the price), and he was closed.  There was no sign so we didn't know if he was on the long lunch hour people here take or closed for the day.  We decided not to wait it out and came home.  A day or so later we went back, he was open, and we bought a set...4 dinner plates, 4 dessert plates, 4 smaller bowls and 4 larger bowls!!!!  Success!!!  They are going to look so great with my English blue and whites that are waiting for us in storage in Plano. For now, we're using them,  and it makes me happy each time I see them.  It's the small things.....

Can't wait to mix these with my English blue/white!!

Note:  these weren't made in France, but in the Ukraine (in Eastern Europe) and the name of the company who made them  means "pasta".  I thought that was pretty interesting.  David's father's family came what is now Lithuania, also in Eastern Europe, so I kind of like that connection.

And last, but not least, getting one's hair done in a country where you have a language barrier is very difficult!!!  Last time I came home with much darker hair than I had intended.  In fact, I went from laughing at it (while sitting in the chair) to nearly crying.  Yesterday, I came home much blonder than I intended.  All I wanted were some blond strands in my darker hair.  That's all......oh, well.  Amazingly, the woman doing my hair (who has done my hair each time) kept talking to me in French as though I spoke French!!  When I conveyed to her (in my feeble French) what I didn't understand, she would repeat or slow down.  You wouldn't believe, or maybe you would, the long conversations we had with my limited French and her limited English.  And, of course, Google Translate, was used by both of us.  While I felt pretty good I could understand and express myself as well as I did, it was EXHAUSTING!!!!!!!😓.  Perhaps she felt the same way with her English!!!!  Anyway, it was good practice I don't usually get.  I keep thinking I'd like to do something different with my hair (if you know me, you know I am always changing my hair...I get bored with it) but maybe not while I'm here.  Who knows.....maybe the next time I go (September), I'll get a bee in my bonnet and do something drastic!!!!!  I'll keep you posted....

How far back can you take a selfie to look 10 years younger???!!!!!!

So that's it for now. Next time I'll share with you a little about our volunteer opportunities and how that is taking much of our time.  It's been warm here (not like Plano!!!) but I don't care because once it stops being warm (I'm not sure when that will be but lots earlier than Plano), it will get cool and rainy and will stay that way a long time.  So bring on the sun.....😎😎😎!!!!!!!