Not far from where I live is this really lovely park with many picnic areas. They’re very popular, especially on the weekends, for people to hold parties, have barbeques and maybe play some volleyball. Each grove is named after a kind of tree and usually has some kind of balloons, handmade sign or a combination of the two to direct the crowds towards the correct gathering.

These photos were all taken in 2006 when I had the good fortune to visit Pisa in Italy. Beautiful place and very quiet, except (of course) for the crowds milling about to see the pretty, wonky tower.

We’ve had a bit of snow here lately. Definitely hot chocolate weather.

So many people lost power to their homes—I think close to 70 ooo—and one of the water companies instituted a mandatory water conservation notice, asking people, among other things, not to drink water. This led me to wonder what people would drink instead of water until I realized that I live in the land of fizzy drinks, right?

Anyway, please stay warm and safe if you’re living in a part of the world that decided to snow up a storm.

From a few years ago .

Jasper really didn’t want to stay still for a portrait. He has such a great face. If you click on the picture above it will open up larger in a new window so that you can see how fantastic that face is .

Isn’t Callie so sad and don’t you just want to make it all better?

For the last few days, the cats have made their usual request to go outside. I open the door, let them out and in under a minute they’re back in again. Even my most stoic cat, Tzara (at the door in the this picture) is entirely unimpressed with the -12C or so temperatures we’ve been getting lately. I suspect he thinks that I’m somehow responsible for it. Bad mum!