taller than I am*

 . . . *but that's not a hard thing to be.
I found this pretty pop of pink
in picturesque Cape May, New Jersey.

[Linking back to Pink Saturday
at How Sweet the Sound.]

ABC Wednesday—M is for "mint tea"

and for Grand Mosquée de Paris. There's a 
wonderful café/restaurant there, and you can sit
in the colorful and comfortable garden and 
enjoy a glass of mint tea—the real deal, poured with 
a flair. (We also had couscous—yum.)

[To see more ABC Wednesday "M" posts, go here.]

Today's Flowers

Yes, it is getting to be that time of year again.
Still, I just re-upped my membership
at the botanic garden in my neighborhood,
because I think there's something beautiful to 
be found there in every season.

[To see more flowers from around the world, go here.]

Today's Flowers

This is one (and surely not the last) of the
many, many pictures I took in Monsieur Monet's
gorgeous gardens in Giverny.  They're a riot of color,
form, and fragrance—the place to go for the
best kind of sensory overload ever!

[To see more flowers from around the world, go here.]

Thursday Challenge—"garden"

Set within the memorial garden is the moving
tribute to those who perished here 
13 years ago.  Before cutting the names into the
black stone, they made sure that those of family members,
coworkers, and friends would be near each other.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

one lone radish

My friends down in Virginia have a
very impressive garden, where they grow
all kinds of yummy veggies.  When I
 visited in June, however, this was the
full extent of the radish crop.

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.]  

Something from the garden

Out in my friends' garden, the butterflies were
all over these flowers. I'm not much
of a gardener, but I'd put in the work for these
(and the tomatoes, and cucumbers, and melons, and . . . ).

[I'm linking back to Ruby Tuesday.]

Ruby Tuesday

I found this thing in my mom's garden.
She didn't plant it (she's 92, and a bad back
has made planting anything off-limits for a
few years now).  So this patch pretty much tends
itself—except for a bit of weeding done by me,
who can't always tell a weed from a wisteria.
I think it looks like a mutant raspberry.
Anyone know its true identity?

[To see more Ruby Tuesday, go here.]

Thursday Challenge — "garden"

This is La Pietra, NYU's property in Florence.
If I were going to study abroad, this is where
I'd want to do it—and my daughter Lila did.
(I took this pre-digital when I visited her there.)
It was truly the best of both worlds: housing was in
a 14th-century villa (but with modern plumbing),
and she could step out of this Renaissance garden setting 
and take a short bus ride or walk to the center of town.
Apparently, 12 years later, I'm still envious!
[To see more from the Thursday Photo Challenge, go here.]

abc wednesday - Q is for "quiet"

Yes, there are some bucolic places

in the big city where you can find peace and quiet. 

This one is the little garden hidden behind the

church of St. Luke in the Fields, in the West Village 

(which began as the "country" parish connected

to Trinity church way downtown at Wall and Broadway). 

I know about it because my kids went 

to school here for 10 years.

[See more Q's at ABC Wednesday, here.]

that's more like it

Gramercy schmamercy -- I'll take this garden. The wedding I

went to was in Poughkeepsie, at Locust Grove, the home

of Samuel F.B. Morse. Ironically, he was very active in the anti-

Catholic and anti-immigrant movements. Ironic because this

wedding was performed by a Catholic priest, and the bride's

whole family are first-generation Americans who came here

from Poland. I hope that old bigot Sam was turning over in

his grave (which is in Brooklyn, btw).