C'est Fantastique!

Part of the beauty of living in Europe is the ease with which you can drop in to another country. My sister and I took a day trip to Paris, leaving at 7 in the morning and returning at midnight.

I find that Paris is a city in which almost everything you see is photogenic - even traffic...

.,..Rain...

...and shopping.

No matter how many times I go, I find myself fascinated with La Tour Eiffel...

...no matter where I see it...

...or from what angle.

Greetings from Paris!

The Eyes Have It

Eyes are fascinating things. As a photographer, I come very close to the eyes at times.

Sometimes they are hidden from me under long lashes...

...other times hidden by other means!

...Sometimes I get to see the lashes being created...

...other times neither eyes nor eyelashes may be seen at all.

There are crazy eyes...

...mischievous eyes...

...squinty eyes...

...curious eyes...

....and tears in the eyes...

...but there is still nothing on earth like baby eyes.

May you see beauty everywhere with your own eyes.

Karen

Like A Kid In A Candy Store

I find that when someone is visiting me, I take the time to notice things in my own city that I never really saw before. My sister came to visit from America, and we dandered the streets of Glasgow finding all sorts of interesting things, one of our favourites being a sweet shop on the West End.

It had everything we imagined a sweet shop would have (and, of course, a number of things we hadn't imagined).

Everything was beautifully wrapped...

...And even the price tags were pleasant and friendly, with little love hearts on.

There was an old fashioned gumball machine (including, I must confess, a hand-written sign explaining it didn't work, and please not to try to use it; but the sign took a quick holiday to enable the gumball machine's moment of fame in a photograph)...

...and pink stripy wallpaper.

The nicest thing about it all was that being the grown-up, responsible persons we were, my sister and I didn't have to just ooooh and aaaaaah over all the sweets...we could buy whatever we wanted.

So we did.

Enjoy life!

Karen

What's In A Kiss

A kiss is the shortest distance between two.
~ Henny Youngman

Is not a kiss the very autograph of love?
~Henry Finck

If you are ever in doubt as to whether or not you should kiss a pretty girl, always give her the benefit of a doubt.
~ Thomas Carlyle

Teach not thy lip such scorn, for it was made
For kissing, not for such contempt.
~William Shakespeare



One kind kiss before we part,
Drop a tear and bid adieu;
Though we sever, my fond heart
Till we meet shall pant for you.
~ Robert Dodsley

You may conquer with the sword, but you are conquered by a kiss.
~ Daniel Heinsius

A kiss makes the heart young again and wipes out the years.
~Rupert Brooke

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.
~ The Bible, Song of Solomon

A kiss, and all was said.
~Victor Hugo

Karen

Ice and Frost

There is nothing like those wintry beauties, ice and frost. They have a remarkable ability to alert us to the brightness of colour…

…cause brittle tree branches to stand out stark against the light…


…and make a simple bridge a storyland.

Then the mist comes down, and things appear a bit more ghostly…

…so we share the beauty with people, and the mist swirls about and creates a perfect backdrop for them…

…and the snowy bridge becomes a place to dance.

Enjoy the beauty of winter.

Karen

God Bless America

Well, it’s coming close to the American Thanksgiving holiday, which (although I reside under the reign of the country from which my ancestors sailed away), I still celebrate.


So here is my tribute to the flag of that country, and my thanks for those who sacrificed their lives for what it represents.

“O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light…

…what so proudly we hailed...

...at the twilight’s last gleaming…

…whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight…


…O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming…

…And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there…


..O say does that star spangled banner yet wave…


…O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”


Happy Thanksgiving!

Karen