Branching out...

I love trees in all seasons and in all settings, I love their lushness in summer, and the fragile beauty of the new leaves in Spring. I adore the autumn colours, and the sheer whimsy of Christmas trees. But when I maybe love them most of all is in winter, without any adornements, in all their stark beauty.
I love them for their graphic qualities...
For their framing abilities...
But maybe most of all for the fact that they almost, but not quite manage to conceal what is behind them...

Green is the new black...

Or so the word is out on the streets by the looks of it. If even one of my favourite statues is wearing it, it must be true...
On my last visit to Paris I went to the Rodin Museum and somehow was totally overawed by Rodin's statue of Balzac. So, this time round I had to go to the Balzac museum, which is in one of the houses he used to live in in Paris. And look what the museum is wearing...
This is a truly gorgeous spot by the way, the little garden must be lovely in summer, even now there were people sitting round here, just enjoying the sun.
I love the special hue of green that you see a lot around the city. Whether it is on the Musee de la vie Romantique...
Which by the way is in the former home of a Dutch painter that I had never heard of, or on the innards of the very special Grand Palais...
And look at what offsets these marvelous floral displays...
Do not you just want to sit down here and enjoy the sun in the Jardin de Luxembourg...
I definitely got some inspiration on the colours I want to wear this spring, pink ( think pink) by all means, but this kind of green is a must as well, there are so many signs, I can not ignore it.
It is just these guys that are still bucking the trend, but with a bit of peer pressure that should sort itself out...
Enjoy the rest of your week!

Reflections...

Sometimes I really like the way photos turn out, whether intentionally so, or just by chance. They can either completely portray a certain mood or feeling, or at times there is an added effect in them that makes them special.

Like this one I took at the Gallerie Vero Dodat. You can almost sense the faded glory and the feeling of loss of a certain time, yet it is still beautiful, and I love the face that you seen the other side of the gallerie reflected in the windows.
Or there is this surprise, I took this in the Rue Fleurus, because there really was a lovely courtyard inside the gates. You do not see much of it this way, but you see the rest of the road, somehow it makes the photo very three dimensional.
This is possibly my favourite, it would be, as I took it in the Musee Zadkine. I looooooove Zadkine, this made me realise how much again. Maybe this way you do not see a whole lot of the sculptures, but you can see a bit of the house he lived in and the gorgeous weather! I was very lucky there... I love the effect of having being able to see the outside and the inside of things at the same time this way, I think it is magic!
Have a great week and hope for some sun!

Everlasting love...

I honestly intended to do a quick post before I left for Paris, I even took a few photographs specifically for that purpose. And then I went and deleted them from my camera, I am extremely clever that way...
Anyway, I just returned last night and have not come up for air yet. I had the most fantastic time, even the weather was lovely, saw plenty of blue skies.
Is it possible to fall as heart stoppingly, not being able to breath in love with a place as much as a person? I never would have thought it was, but I can not get Paris out of my mind. I love everything about it, and I am not even a city girl.
I will sort my photos out later and post some for you, in the meantime I will leave you with some photos of Audrey Hepburn, for some reason I felt like her all the time I was there, really have to watch Funny face and Paris when it sizzles again...
I am off to plan my next trip, so much more to see! Have a great weekend!

Many happy returns...

It is my birthday and you are all invited for tea...
And of course cake, I hope you all like coffee walnut cake, I made it myself...

We will all have sooooo much to talk about, as we all are creative people. Oh, and of course you can have a second piece of cake if you want to...

Have a lovely weekend!

Today I am enjoying...

This simple vase of spring flowers...
Planning my itinary for Paris, so much to see, so little time...
My new book on the Stravinski fountain...
Loads of clever photography...
Colourful things that move, it is a children's book I think, but simple pleasures...
A few brilliant magazines...
Hooking a cushion cover ( I love working with Rowan wool)...And so definitely not the weather...

I wonder what happened to mister sun, has he gone in hiding? Wishing you all a bit of sunshine in your day, if not real than at least in your heart!