FOTO FRIDAY: MAKE A WISH

 

FOTO FRIDAY: Making a wish was especially sweet this week ending it with this yummy from Ciao Baci. I would definitely recommend it.  The wind almost blew out my candle before I finished my wish... Made it.

Last week's FOTO FRIDAY was ECHO

TBT: LEARNING CURVE ON PERSONALITY

 TBT:  My learning curve re: ECHO, my most recent foster dog, who has been with me a week now, has been revealing a unique personality.  Each day has brought a steep learning curve.

Things I've  learned about Echo:

 *He's an interior decorator:

     

Moving kitchen mat to the dining room,

      front door mat to the living room,

     

                  and bathroom mat to the hallway...

* Food snarfer

   No matter if I've finished filling his bowl, it's gone in 40 seconds

 * Shoes: he likes shoes/is it where they are placed?

  Took all the shoes lined up by front door,

  placing them all over the house and not together in pairs...

  ( they're now all back in closets, guess I needed a nudge)

* Relieving himself 

    Holds in #1forever even after we've gone for a walk,

   then relieves himself in one spot ( great yellow stained backyard)   

   #2 -backyard dumps on carport driveway so it has to be moved         for me to leave...

*Sleeping preference

   Left his nice doggy cushion bedside, 

   but he decided I should have a man in my bed.

Imagine my face seeing him sprawled on his backside on my bed...

If you know me, you know I don't think dogs belong in a human's bed. I tried to stifle my laughter at the sight before yelling, "GET OFF!"

No wonder Echo's exhausted at the end of the day!

He is just the sweetest guy...

                                    It's a dog world, isn't it?

MIDWEEK MUSING: TAKING A CHANCE

Sometimes one just has to take a chance on an unknown.  Last weekend  I took a chance with an Austin, Texas musical group called Big Love Car Wash.  Last year they performed a house concert and 80 folks showed up. So this year their sponsors got a bigger space at Second Presbyterian Church and we filled it!

Big Love Car Wash is touted as a blend of bluegrass, folk, jazz, Celtic music, and rock. You just never know where they're going, but it works.  They pulled us in with their musicality; their strings worked overtime. "Lyrics from the band’s three songwriters touch on themes of empathy, environmentalism, and community building. Even the band’s name is a verbal reference to something like a group hug."

Here are the Big Love Car Wash members with a sample clip of their skills following-

 

During the concert, the band introduced their sound technician who hailed from Ireland. At intermission, I sought him out to find out where he was from in Ireland. (Remember I had taken that Irish musical tour) Alas, he was from Dublin, not the southern part where I had been. But he told me he had met the band in Germany, where Big Love Car Wash had been performing. I shared my couchsurfing story of a German couple who had stayed with us in the End of the Rainbow Valley. You see, the husband was an Air Force Captain in the States teaching our Air Force boys, but he was in an Irish band in Germany.  He grinned ear to ear. "Oh yes, the Germans love Irish music." We had a lovely convo!

In addition to this exchange, I met the gal sitting next to me, and it turns out once we started visiting she has had a home in Costa Rica for the last 20 years not far from where I lived last January. She is the only expat living there. I knew we were kindred sisters.

So the $20 entrance fee was certainly worth taking a chance: great music, lovely conversations, and a new bud to boot!

tUESDAY tUNES: LOVE ME WHERE IT HURTS

 tUESDAY tUNES this week is RIVER & LUZ sharing a beauty: LOVE ME WHERE IT HURTS....  

TBT & a MONDAY MUSING :SPLIT

Split as in Croatia... Our trip originally had us docking in Split but dock construction dictated otherwise. So the MS Diamond docked beyond the city and bussed us back to Split where we did just that- SPLIT, bid our boatmates a quick farewell as we all went our separate ways. 

The Happy Bookers checked our luggage in at a tiny storage place meters from where we had been dropped off.  The fee was well worth it since we had a city tour booked for early afternoon. Who wants to lug luggage? LOL . Good thing too as wet weather finally caught us during the day...

This was the only day in our journey we would be plagued by rain. And the heavens let loose with a vengeance... We found refuge under a large plaza canopy for the boardwalk restaurants. 

The rain eventually lifted, and we found a nice restaurant to dry off and have an early lunch. 

We had some time and since one of us didn't have rain gear, we went to the closest tourist shop to buy an umbrella. Unfortunately, there weren't any so the shopkeeper offered his. The Croatians are soooo nice! 

Finding our way back to return it after all the narrow walkways would provide a challenge...

Dr. Martino

Prof Martino would be our guide through the old town of Split which has been a UNESCO site since '79. 

Split started as a Greek colony in 3rd/ 4th C, then the Romans arrived. Emperor Diocletian built his massive retirement palace there. In the 7 th C, refugees from Salona moved inside its walls after their town was destroyed. 

The city has remnants of Byzantine, Croatian, Venetian, and Austrian hands before becoming part of Yugoslavia and then gaining its independence as Croatia in 1991. 

Today  ~3000 people are still there, and the emperor's mausoleum now is the Cathedral of St Dominus and the basement halls have turned into bars and shops. We witnessed a couple of wedding parties too! 

Magnificent architecture surrounds one... the pics can talk for themselves.

Historic craftmanship abounds... doors, gateways, creches, tile eo embellishments,

metal doors

intricate tile work

Even though we stayed dry in the basement, we weren't so happy when we learned its history... the dungeon was where all the dung literally was dumped. All of it had to be shovelled out when the space was repurposed in later centuries...

Gregory of Nin

10th C  Bishop Grgur Ninski in Croatian fought to use local language in services instead of Latin. 

People rub his toe for good luck!

Statue by Ivan Meštrović

Big hugs to my Wisconsin buddy who went online to arrange this tour after discovering the ship couldn't stop here. 

FOTO FRIDAY: ECHO

FOTO FRIDAY: Meet Echo, my newest charge, but I think they should have named him Milagro. Milagro is the Spanish word for miracle. 

You see Echo was found covered with ticks in the woods after he was shot in the head. They gestimated he was there a week in 100 degree weather. 

Echo is the sweetest guy...  

Now on to recuperation and finding him the perfect Family. 

                                     What a handsome guy.

Is this my good side?

 A milagro for sure...

Last week's FOTO FRIDAY

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: THE 3 S's

Learning outside of the classroom took some LifeQuesters to Trio's private dining room for an early evening for some wine tasting, delicious h'ors d'oeuvres,  acoustic music and some good company.

Or as my cousin Sheri donned the event with the 3 S's: "Sip, Savor and Socialize."

We tasted 3 different French wines... I learned a lot from Trio's Wine rep.

Starting with a champagne.  Champagne is versatile for more than weddings and can be paired with anything.  This was my favorite of the 3.

Champagne Mandois: Brut Origine, a blend of Chardonnay,  Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier- a pale yellow with fine bubbles, white peach and apricot, honey and toasted hazelnuts married all of the h'ors d'ouevres.

Second was: Terre de Silex from Château de Sancerre, in the Loire Valley, a Sauvignon Blanc with a distinctive mineral edge and structure.

Third: From Burgundy the Savigny Les Beau from Domaine Laurent and Karen Boussey is a red Pinot Noir - deep cherry color, red and black fruits, discreet tannins, and a balanced, elegant finish.

Great assortment of heavy hors d'ouevres: roast beef mini sandwiches, skewered chicken, cream cheese salmon, cheeses, charcuterie board with salami, pickled okra, veggies and assortment of crackers with a chocolate mousse torte for dessert.

I made some new friends at my table.  Tammy and her husband inherited a vineyard of muscadine grapes from her Dad. It yields ~ 50- 100 bottles of wine annually.  I am lucky to be sampling it soon with my own bottle. Ya hoo.

I told you one is never too old to learn...