pin one on

Not sure what you need to accomplish to earn one
of these, or whether you can actually just
buy one (seems wrong if you can).  They're on display 
at Bacqueville, one of my all-time fave shops 
in the arcade of the Palais Royal, in Paris.

[Linking back to Macro Monday and 
Blue Monday at Magical Mystery Teacher.]

counting crows

Here and there you can find some pretty
decorative tiles in the subway
—if you keep your eyes peeled for them.

[Linking back to Macro Monday and to
Blue Monday at Magical Mystery Teacher.]

knock knock

Somewhere in Florence . . .
Check out the detail on this thing—
it even has creepy little teeth!

[Linking back to Blue Monday
at Magical Mystery Teacher
and to Macro Monday.]

meet the neighbors

The other half of the couple was sitting on the
nest that they built in the hollow of this
sycamore tree.  There are birds nesting here
every year—don't know if they're the
same ones each time though.
Ditto for the ones who raise a family in
the space under my air conditioner
(why I never turn it on!).

[Linking back to Macro Monday.]

Cimetière de Passy

Judging by the vines growing over the door
of this crypt in the Passy Cemetery,
 in Paris, I'm going to say that it hasn't
been opened in a very long time.

[Linking back to Blue Monday
and Macro Monday.]

something blue

Finally got back to the garden after a few 
weeks—I've missed it!  My fave
flower this visit was this pretty and
delicate little thing—which I 
believe is a columbine. [No, it's borage.]

[Linking back to Macro Monday and
Blue Monday at Magical Mystery Teacher.]

blue flower

This was taken with my new (okay, used)
macro lens.  Nice glass—and I'm
looking forward to the shots I can take when
I actually learn how to use it!

[Linking back to Blue Monday at
Magical Mystery Teacher
and to Macro Monday.]

eat your beets

I understand that the more colorful
your diet is, the more healthful
it is.  And just look at these beautiful
beets!  Are you a fan?

Linking back to Macro Monday.] 

in the Vatican Museum

One of my favorite rooms in the Vatican Museum
is the gallery of maps.  It was commissioned
in 1580 by Pope Gregory XIII, and it took the artist
(Ignazio Danti) three years to complete.
Unfortunately, the last time I was there (in February),
the museum was more crowded than I've
ever seen it—even in July—and this was the only
picture I even tried to take.

[Linking back to Blue Monday
at Magical Mystery Teacher
and to Macro Monday.]

Gratitude . . .

on display at the church of
San Salvatore in Lauro,
in Rome.  I think this is a charming
custom—to give visible thanks
when prayers are answered.

[Linking back to Macro Monday and
Blue Monday at Magical Mystery Teacher.]

a head of her time

In the Capitoline Museum, in Rome:
I don't know who sculpted this
bust of a Roman lady from many, many
years ago—but I'm blown away
by the folds and patterns in that marble!

She's joined by a few dozen
of her compatriots.

[Linking back to Macro Monday.]

lights under glass

We have a "giveaway" table at work, where
I have found some pretty random
items—recently I picked up this glass
globe.  Didn't know what I was
going to do with it exactly, until I discovered 
these itty-bitty wired LED lights. 

[Linking back to Macro Monday.
To see more, go here.]

R.I.P.

A detail from the Cimetière de la Villette,
in Paris's 19th arrondissement.
It seems to be a fairly local cemetery—not
a lot of celebs spending eternity here,
but it's pretty and it's peaceful.

[To see more Macro Monday, go here.]

Surinam powder puff

That's the name of this little flower that measures
 an inch or two in diameter.  This one blooms 
in temp-regulated greenhouse comfort
every winter at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

[Linking back to Macro Monday.]

teeny tiny

Can't tell you what kind of flower this is—
aside from saying it's very small.
I took this shot with a macro
lens on my phone.

[Linking back to Macro Monday
and Blue Monday Two (thanks,
Magical Mystical Teacher!)]

Macro Monday

Here's a closeup of one of my fave
pieces of art (which also
showed up here with its partner).
I'd love to tell you who painted
this colorful dragonfly—but I can't.
All I do know is that it came
from England.

[To see more macro shots, go here.]

Happy Boxing Day . . .

to all my far-flung friends who are
 celebrating today!

[To see more Macro Monday pics, go here.]

knock, knock

This beautiful knocker is on the gate
that leads into the Museum of
Decorative Arts in Bordeaux. (If I didn't
live in a co-op, where we have
certain rules about uniformity, i.e., I don't
get to choose, I'd paint my front door
this color in a New York minute.)

[Linking back to Blue Monday and Macro Monday.]

something old . . .

While we were hiking in the Arctic, we found
this fossil of a sea creature from long ago.
A guide told us that the fjord we were in had been
formed about 65 million years ago and we were 
standing on what had once been the bottom
of a huge deep glacier.  We followed
the rules (leave nothing, take nothing)
and left it just where we found it.

[Linking back to Macro Monday.]

my favorite part of the garden

. . . is the bluebell wood—at least for the short time 
in May when the 40,000-plus bulbs bloom, 
carpeting the ground with their bright blue flowers.

[Linking back to Blue Monday at
Jeanne's Backyard Neighborand to Macro Monday.]