French wine, the aftermath and Chili

- One of my dinner party guests from several days ago brought this beautiful bottle of wine.  So, Wednesday, being National Wine Day, and the "jolliest Wednesday of the year," according to USA Today, I was inspired to have some.  It had been a day.  As I have said before, there is a day for everything and I think this one might have been my favorite so far.

- The dinner, from two Saturday nights ago, was my dinner group from church friends.  I refused help cleaning up - I like to put some music on and do it methodically.  I was inspired to snap this photo of the aftermath though.  It was nice having friends around my usually quiet table.

- Friend Janice brought her puppy to our walk last Saturday - his first walk on a leash in the park.  He loved everyone and everyone loved him.  Here, he had spotted a rabbit - I loved the bemused look he was giving it.

Have a lovely weekend, my friends!

New favorite video of a favorite old song

I adore this video - and I'm not even sure of who a few of the musicians are, but recognized most of them (and Brian Wilson is still my favorite).  

Humor in uniform, repurposed and let them eat cake

- You'd have to click to enlarge to see the City of Atlanta police vehicle pulled across the road ahead.  There was also a noisy hovering helicopter overhead.  The reason was a large sinkhole at 14th and State Street (in the intersection behind me.)  I didn't want to bother the workers by taking a photo of it.  :)  I was on my way to my volunteer work housed at nearby Georgia Public Broadcasting in the late afternoon yesterday and was detoured onto a side street to park. On the trip past this police car the first time, I asked the officer inside the car what was going on? (not wanting to walk on into a shoot out or anything):

          He:  Shark attack.

          Me:  What???

          He:  Shark attack.

          Me:  What??? (it had already been a long day)

          He:  Sinkhole.

 

- This bracelet was made by Juliet of the Crafty Green Poet blog.  She lives in Edinburgh, Scotland and frequently takes us along with her on nature walks.  I noticed her Etsy shop link and visited.  She creatively "repurposes" materials, making them into one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry.  That's the pretty bracelet I got, above.  Do visit Juliet's blog when you can - especially if you love Edinburgh as much as I do.

- This is what my coworkers and I are counting on.  :)  In a fit of boredom yesterday (we are slow this week at work), Joanne went across the street to the commercial bakery (which also sells by the slice) and brought back cake.  (Image spotted on facebook.)

Spirit, tenacity and big heart

Many of you know my volunteer work for the Georgia Radio Reading Service for the blind, visually impaired or people who have difficulty with the printed word.  I record the New York Times Book Review, which airs once a week.  We have a blind board operator, Phil, who has been with GaRRs for at least 30 years.  He gets back and forth to work on public transit with only his white cane as a guide.

The volunteer coordinator sent an email this week that Phil fell at the train station, broke his nose, had to have several stitches in his lip and one knee, and also loosened some teeth.  She suggested he might like emails at home from volunteers to cheer him up a little.

I did send a hope-you-recover-quickly email and got this response:  "Hey Lynn!  Thank you so much!  Once again I appreciate so much the great job you do for us!  Keep it up as long as you can.  Hope to see you soon!  Phil"

I so admire his spirit, tenacity and his big heart.  No more words other than that today.

(Other than - have a great weekend!)

New life, morning light and if you can't beat 'em...

- The weekend weather in Atlanta was as lovely as predicted.  Sister, niece and I met cousins for lunch at Mary Mac's Tearoom for some southern food and then moved on to Ponce City Market for a look-around.  The large brick building there housed the Sears Roebuck & Company from 1926 until 1979 (retail store, warehouse and regional offices.)  My grandfather used to go there and pick up items for the family in the 1930s and '40s when he had business in Atlanta.  I like to think of that.  The city of Atlanta bought the building around 1980 and used it for police and fire department headquarters for about 20 years - it was called City Hall East.  It's so nice to see it reinvigorated as a mixed used development now - apartments, offices, shops, restaurants and a food hall.  I had not been there since its official opening last year, so it was fun to act like a tourist for a few hours.  And I can go there anytime!

- An unedited photo that I snapped last week at one of those pop up antique markets near my office.  I thought the coat rack might work in a coworker's new home.  I just love this photo for its lovely morning light.

- And I posted about this building near my office last February.  It has been plagued by graffiti art.  My post in February showed a lone painter painting over the graffiti with white paint.  Of course, the graffiti artists came back and covered the end next to the street with graffiti again.  So I love this window company for their "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" attitude - they have hired mural artists to paint it.  Click to enlarge.  It's a train!  Can't wait to see what they have planned for the other wall.  :)

Favorite moment of the weekend.  My sister and I were standing in my parking lot, when the sprinkler came on.  A delighted robin hopped in and out of the water - reveling in the water drops.  My sister said, "I need to get a picture of that!"  But by the time she got it positioned, the bird had tired of the activity and flew away.  My sister is a kindred spirit, I think.

Thursday treat, all done and the forecast

- Coworker Joanne brought these in to work yesterday as a treat.  They are from Sublime Doughnuts that I've heard so much about.  It took about five seconds to go off my diet.  :)  That one on the middle right - the "A-Town Mocha" (the A standing for Atlanta), was one of the best things I've ever eaten in my life!  So I had to blog about them.  There are two locations in Atlanta and one in Thailand (?), so if you are ever there, I recommend them. 

- My sister and niece are on their way to visit from Florida to celebrate Mother's Day weekend - an annual tradition now.  I hurried up and finished all my spring potting and re-potting and am finally pleased with how it looks.  It was 48 degrees outside on this cool Friday morning when I transferred the Mexican Heather to that pretty green pot I found at Ace Hardware this week. 

- Look at that weather forecast!  I texted this to my niece last weekend so she could see how cool it will be this weekend in Atlanta.  It's been very hot and humid in Florida already, so she is excited.

Have a lovely weekend, my friends!  Hugs to friends who are moms and celebrate this holiday!

Latest book read, visual imagery and memories

My book group just read "My Name is Lucy Barton," by Elizabeth Strout.  We love her books, and always read them after they are published.  This one is set in New York City and it's not really giving anything away to say that the lead character is in the hospital and when the curtains are open, she has a view of the Chrysler building.

- I had a unique perspective on the visual imagery of this book, since my niece's (former) apartment window looked out on the Chrysler building.  It was the first thing my sister showed me on that first visit in 2010 - it was reflected in the glass dining room table.  This is a photo at night, taken from that window.

- And an image from the daytime - same window.  There is lots going on in that book - the lead character has a chance to be with her mother for a week.  The mother sits by her bedside and they talk, often during the quiet middle-of-the-night hours.   I had that same experience the last week my mother was in the hospital, so with these images and that experience in mind, the book had a bit of an impact on me (in a good way.)  Memories.

This apartment building is in the Turtle Bay neighborhood in New York City.  My niece and her family are living in Turkey right now.  I'm so glad I had this brief experience while they were in New York.  I took these photos with me to the book discussion, via my iPad, to share.