July 30, 2017 (211/365)
Working in the garden, a long walk with Piper, relaxing on the deck with a cocktail and a good book...
"Summer afternoon— to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language."
- Henry James
July 29, 2017 (210/365)
"Magic exists. Who can doubt it, when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind and the silence of the stars?" - Nora Roberts
July 28, 2017 (209/365)
« Sous les arcades, les oiseaux s’évadent, les couleurs paradent, les passants bavardent. » - Rolande Causse
The Place des Vosges, in the Marais, is the oldest planned square in Paris. Originally known as the Place Royale, the Place des Vosges was built by Henri IV from 1605 to 1612. Actually a true square (140 m × 140 m), its architecture and gardens are some of the most beloved in Paris. What was new about the Place Royale in 1612 was that the façades were all built to the same design of red brick with strips of stone quoins over vaulted arcades set upon square pillars. The steeply-pitched blue slate roofs feature dormers that stand upon the cornices. Two pavilions rise higher than the unified roofline at center the north and south façades -- the Pavilion of the King and the Pavilion of the Queen. Although no royalty ever lived there, the Place des Vosges was home to writers Madame de Sevigné (No. 1bis), Victor Hugo (No. 6), Théophile Gauter (No. 8), as well as Cardinal Richelieu (No. 21) and other noted residents. Le Pavillion de la Reine (No. 28) is now a palace hotel (#bucketlist).
July 27, 2017 (208/365)
"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you." - Frank Lloyd Wright
I've been a Wisconsin resident and a student of Nature all my life, yet she never fails to teach me something new. This morning while walking with Piper, I spotted several of these little wildflowers that I had never seen before. A reverse Google Image Search identified it as Hibiscus trionum, better know by several common names (some more pleasant than others), including flower-of-an-hour, modesty, shoofly, Venice mallow, and bladder weed.
July 26, 2017 (207/365)
"Every raindrop that falls is accompanied by an angel." - Muhammad
July 25, 2017 (206/365)
"Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes...There must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen." - Epictetus
