Come on in.....

Song - Close the Door by Teddy Pendergrass

My favorite knocker of all time (at least so far) is this one above from a door in Paris.

So interesting and elaborate!

 A man & a woman's hand knocker

Both are from France - the one on the right was taken in Brantome.

You can put your letters through the slot on this knocker from Lacock, England

A simple but elegant knocker found on a beautiful wooden door in Tuscany



"The ache for home lives in all of us
the safe place 
we can go as we are

and not be questioned."

Maya Angelou

Squirrel Agility Course

Video - Building the Perfect Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder by Mark Rober

Zipper the squirrel assessing which bird feeder he is going to launch himself at this morning!

"Phantastic Gus is my spiritual animal."

--Mark Rober

(see above video)

It's Three a.m.

Song - Mr. Sandman by Richard Smith & Joscho Stephan

A full moon peeking out behind the clouds overlooking the rooftops in Paris at 3 am.


"Oh, London is a man's town, there is power in the air; 
 And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in her hair;
And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great to study Rome;
But when it comes to living, there is no place like home."

--Henry Van Dyke

Turtle Soup

Song - Turtle Blues by Janis Joplin

The first turtle on the left is the only one doing proper distancing.....well for turtles at least!

Photo captured several years ago while walking around Heather Farms pond.

"Try to be like the turtle -

at ease in your own shell."

Bill Copeland

Timmy

Song - Sweet Loretta (Get Back) by The Beatles

 Several years ago Mr. B and I took a trip to England and before we left I booked a tour with the above company Fab Four Taxi Tour.  And the best thing was....

....Timmy!!!  Our funny and informative guide!




"I get by with a little help from my friends."

--The Beatles

Three Mini's

Song - Outlander - The Skye Boat Song by Bear McCreary



In the last few weeks I have taken three mini vacations all while SIP at home.  The first one was ordering Sam Heughan's The Sassenach Whiskey.  Mr. B and I enjoy him on the Outlander series.  It took several months to arrive and I will pop it one evening soon while watching Outlander reruns as we are in Droughtlander right now - meaning the lack of a new show until next year.

I mean just look at this man - who wouldn't want a wee dram with him - in a kilt - of course!



My second mini-vacay was ordering bread from Poilâne a bakery in Paris.....yes really Paris, France. OK here is the deal.....I was tired of our local artisan bread drying out each day and I had heard that in France they use linen bags to let some air in but not too much.  I started looking on Amazon but they all had corny labels on them so I thought of  Poilâne.

It's an amazing bakery that bakes mostly bread and is located at 

8 Rue du Cherche-Midi in the heart of Paris.  

I went to their website - HERE. 

I placed an order for the linen bread bag and noticed that there was a 30 euro charge for shipping. It seemed a little steep but when I realized all of the money that I was saving Mr. B by not traveling to France this year, it seemed like a great deal! I threw in a few more items in my cart and noticed that the shipping cost stayed the same.  I ordered some shortbread cookie spoons for my mom to dip in her morning coffee and a loaf of Walnut Bread.  I received a text the next morning that they were just taking my bread out of the oven and getting it ready for shipping and that I would receive it by 10:30 the next morning!

Ding-dong......right on time!

It even came with a handwritten card thanking me for my order.

I had a little bit of Brie on hand and Mr. B and I had a delicious breakfast! I put on French music and danced around the kitchen with joy in my heart!!!
Delish!!!

Then little Henry arrived and he munched on a piece of bread too as did his daddy.  I sent Andy home with a slice for Ashley too!

PS - The linen bread bag doesn't work....maybe I shouldn't have left my SF Sourdough bread in it for 4 days????



My next adventure was a little more local -- Santa Fe!  Several years ago I went to a Painting Workshop there given by the artist Carol Marine. It was held at a convent and the food was catered locally and was amazing.  One of the things I loved most was their granola that they served with breakfast. We have ordered it through the years but I had forgotten about it until last week.  So I jumped on their website - Santa Fe Granola Company - and ordered us two bags.  Mmmmm.....

So what little surprises have you been enjoying during SIP?  

We all need to break it up a little and have some fun!

"Quarantine has me realizing why my dog 

gets so excited about something moving outside 

and going for walks and car rides.  

I just barked at a squirrel."