Mary Soderstrom's Blog

 A young friend went running to his mother one morning this week, shouting "Come quick, the toilet is smoking!"

 What she saw:

  

 Nothing but hot weather and sunshine around here for the last little bit.  So far the native plants are doing all right, but we need rain!

Hot and dry, and the flowers, if they've been watered regularly, are blooming.  This pleases the bees, seen here enjoying my friend Monique's lovely garden. 
 

 

 
I see I haven't posted for a while.  Been busy with a number of things, including getting this cat to behave!  Actually she's a sweetheart and has been relatively easy to convince that she should follow the house rules.  True, she's awake when the sun rises, but then so am I usually.  And she always purrs when she comes to sit on my chest and inquire about what the day will be like.

One of the reasons we got a cat was to try to avoid furture invasions by mice. I think this video suggests that she should be more than a match for a mouse who might try to insinuate its way into our menage. 
 
 

Evlampia Siberian Glory joined our household Saturday July 5.  A sweet, three month old Siberian kitten who supposed to be hypoallergenic.  So far so good.
 

 This is l'église St-Pierre in Chartres, but down the hill from the cathedral.  The church was built in the 12th century, even before the cathedral.  I find it amazing that such a massive structure depends on the buttresses for equilibrium.  Truly a combination of the static and the dynamic. 

 Enjoying the flowers while we can.  I understand that picking roses and trashing the ones that have blasted on the bush will encourage more blooms.

 

We shall see... 

 Was delighted the other morning to see that we have roses!  Hadn't even noticed the buds, but after a long stretch of cool, rainy weather, a warm day seemed to be the trigger for blossoms.  Suddenly there were lots of buds and several flowers ready to burst out.

 Spring is always full of surprises, many of which smell wonderfully sweet, as these roses do.  

Space is at a premium in the Haussmannian buildings which give the city such charm.  The owners of this one got around the absence of space for an elevator by putting it in the middle of the spiral staircase.  Room enough for two persons or one person and a suitcase, but it gets you up to the fifth floor which we found most useful during our recent stay. 


 


 

The pacquettes were in bloom when we were in France a couple of weeks ago, even on the bridges.  This one is in the lower town in Chartres. where the famous cathedral is.  Certainly there is a lot to see there in addition to that church.