what a hair raising moment at empire state building - come back soon.....

Happy Summer 2012

 Yesterday evening, we sat on the patio until the sun was no longer visible.....

 Hello shortest night.....

 

good night longest day!

Catskills Trip

Happy

Days

 As usual, we drove with no plans. All we knew, we wanted to get away and see a few things we had not seen before. This is mostly because I cannot handle planning at all. My husband learned to live with my no reservation attitude and so far, we never got stranded, well once in California, but that does not count. Anyhow,  6 maybe 8 hours later......enter....Catskills NY.....no reservations....we found a beautiful Hotel somewhere in Hyde Park NY

FDR Grounds - the Rose Garden

 FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt - the inside of the house kind of weirded me out, like all old Museum type houses do. I don't care how they lived in there, where they slept. Plus it smelled really, really bad.

We then drove into Woodstock....again no reservations.....but the Woodstock Inn was there for us....and it even smelled good ;D I have never seen so many friendly people in a town before, and no, they were not stoned, they were just generally happy people....then again, maybe they were stoned....whatever. We loved it so much there, we are going back to see Joe Cocker. But wait, that would mean planning, so maybe not back for Joe, just back in the Fall, when it's more dramatic with the trees changing colors.....

 Catskills - many sights to see.....

 .....enter.....Ithaca NY.....I am all Woodstock clad and full of attitude hahahahaha....no, just happy, happy from all the beauty we saw along the way. The wonderful people we met, plus we were on our way to the Book Barn to see Vlad, always a pleasure to talk to him.....

We stopped at the Thirsty Owl.....laughed at fat old men in their bicycle shorts.....
......on our drive home....5 days later....

 ....awesome cloud spotting......

.....I really love this thing....called Life.....

Happy Candy Day!

Should we fill our days with chocolate and love only when some day of celebration rolls around? I say NO to all holidays and YES to all days filled with LOVE and whatever makes us HAPPY!

But if you must have that special day - Happy Valentines Day - X O X O X O X

Rock & Gem

Friday morning, I was up early. The Rock&Gem Show was in town. My finds made me happier than a child in a toystore. The small stones are Jasper, Opalite and some green Quartz - spas that I am, I forgot the name. The beads are Labradorite, Citrine, Hematite and Quartz
Honey Citrine
Coral
Malachite
I have to find them the proper room now.........peace out.....

marvelous weekend

we drove along the river - until the river met Lake Ontario

the trees in the park were magnificent
..

watched the sunset.......yes, this life is good....

ART

Art by my friend Klaus Schmidt -

ADIRONDACK

From a cool room with a view of Mirror Lake
and a stroll through Lake Placid.........to Saranac Lake.....to the top of Whiteface with roadside boulders covered in ice....we've seen it all....

To Klaus

Art by Klaus Schmidt aka Shitt Van Toplitz

I never forget the day I met Klaus. I was pretty drunk as usual, so things might be a bit foggy. Klaus was a professor of the English language and a wonderful artist. My friend, who's name I don't recall, was smitten by Klaus and wanted me to accompany her to his studio. He opened the door for us. A tall, thin man, dressed in black. A room with black curtains, a strange altar in the middle. My friend just stood in the doorway. I needed to sit to keep from swaying, plus I was in dire need of another drink. Klaus watched me as I flopped on his coffin. What? I looked at him and said: "Is this wrong of me? I need a drink and I am tired!" Klaus was overjoyed with happiness. He found a soul mate that day.
He used to come to the bar I called my home and he did not approve of my friends. He protested so much so, that one night he started a fight and of course he came out bruised. Klaus knew I was no fan of hard work. Klaus felt the constant need to protect me. He was my best friend. He saw my possibilities, my flaws, he saw and called it all. Nothing more precious than a friend who tells the truth.
The day came when I wanted to leave the country I grew up in. Klaus, my mom and dad tried to plead with me to stay. I still see me standing in that phone booth at that street corner, near my bar, Klaus on the other end of the line and me just ignoring him. I always ignored the best people.
We stayed in touch, we lost touch, I returned 10 years later. I called his number and we picked up like it had been just yesterday. He was the same Klaus I knew, he still did not eat, he still began his day with a drink. He still had the ladies in total awe. My friend Angie hung on to every word he spoke like he was some God. We ended our night in some bar, and Klaus gently put his arm around me and said: It was wonderful to see you again my friend, may I now tell you what a big jerk you once were? I will always love Klaus and his total honesty. We stayed in touch a little more after that visit and he sent me many of his sketches. In his last letter he told me about his plans to open a show in NY, his move to Berlin.
I never heard from Klaus again and all my attempts to find him were unsuccessful. I have his pictures all over my house and Klaus will forever stay in my heart as my best friend in Europe.

greetings to a friend