July, The Blue Hour

l'heure bleue en juillet  

the blue hour in July 

Because of its beauty that makes time stop for an instant, the expression l'heure bleue has come to describe a variety of special times and events, not just a description of a special blue glow at dusk. Each month in 2016, I am sharing a collage of blue images that create a little l'heure bleue for me. 

JULY... is an exciting time because BACK-to-SCHOOL shopping pops up all over town. But the best place for back-to-school shopping is in a papeterie (stationery shop or office supply store). New backpacks, snazzy new notebook designs, special prices for folders, pencils, pencils, pencils, colored staples, purple rubber bands, and BLUE everything fills aisle after aisle with items only available at this time of year. The rest of the year, all the school supplies are ho-hum, boring yellow pencils, lackluster notebooks, and standard colored folders. 

Saying Goodbye to GFC

Saying Goodbye to GFC...

No, I'm not migrating from Google Blogger to Wordpress or another platform, but I am saying goodbye to GFC, Google Friend Connect.

Why, you ask? 

Because Google has made yet another change to move bloggers away from Google Friend Connect (GFC), and this latest new change is working to make me choose to say goodbye to GFC.

Almost from the beginning when I started blogging, but did not know enough even to understand what I was reading, Google and bloggers warned that GFC was going away.

Bloglovin' came to town and promised to take us in. 

Somehow, it wasn't and isn't the same. 

France Traveling Tips - To Do List

Vacations are always exciting with lots of anticipation and planning. At least, they are for me. For weeks I plan what to pack, make reservations for events and restaurants, and write lists of places to see. Here are my France traveling tips and to-do list for this year's 10-day vacation to Paris. 

Home to...  the Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, haute couture, flea markets, Cordon Bleu cuisine, Tour Eiffel, Metro, Tuileries Garden, Champs Élysées, tarte aux fraise, sidewalk cafes..... 

What is on my list for a vacation in Paris?

Hydrangeas - Favorite Shade of Blue

Writing can sometimes be difficult because you put off writing something you do not really want to write. The flowers are cut and arranged, the photos are all ready, and there are some truly memorable ones, but the words will not come. Because once the words are written, a finality occurs with no going back.

Hydrangeas - Favorite Shade of Blue 

Hydrangeas come in several shades of blue, purple, white, and magenta with some of those colors all occurring on the same plant at the same time. Sometimes multiple colors occur even on the same gigantic blossom due to the minerals in the soil. 

Sweet Tea - Sweet Lavender

Dare you! Double-dog dare you! Sound familiar from your childhood? Challenges from my childhood neighborhood buddies and siblings ran along those lines. The ultimate challenge was double-dog dare you. 

A recent challenge this summer wasn't a double-dog-dare-you challenge, but was a challenge. 

Sweet Tea and Sweet Lavender were involved, but probably not the way you may think. 

What did I do in response to the challenge? 

Wild Honeysuckle Vine Topiary

French design and inspiration pops up in the most unusual spots. Driving along the country road to my brother's house in farmland Alabama, I spotted a wild honeysuckle vine topiary trained around a fence post. 

Mid Summer Hay Harvest by Women Farmers

Bright sunlight glinting off golden grass in farm pastures paints a picture of America's farmlands in mid-summer, a time for hay harvest. 

Trucks laden with huge rolled hay bales driving through uncut hay fields is a common sight in mid-summer as farmers gather hay for their livestock to eat during the long winter months to come.