Blessed with the best friends

 I am, truly, blessed with some of the best friends in the world.

Judy Greber surprised me with this amazing portrait she painted of me.

I adore it.

Some of you know Jude by her pen name, Gillian Roberts.

Gillian is an author, and wrote the much loved Amanda Pepper series, the Emma Howe series, numerous short stories, and YOU CAN WRITE A MYSTERY.

She is one of those incredibly talented, creative people that I so admire and am wondering how I got so lucky to have her in my life.

Me and Judith/Gillian
Bouchercon 2008

Me, Judith and Margaret Maron

Gad Frederik Clement - Two Friends in the Garden, 1867 - 1933.

Hold on to your friends

“We’re all just walking each other home.”

Ram Dass

❤ ❤ ❤ 

Getting through the hard days

I love having an adventure planned.  It's become a necessary part of my life.

It helps get me through some of the hard days.  

The days when this administration tries to strip away hard earned rights.  The days they flaunt their cruelty in a never ending grasp for more money and power.

I make plans and I try my ever-lovin' damndest to seek out and hold onto joy.

Holding onto our joy is, I believe, a form of resisting the bastards until they're gone.

Nobody ever said that resistance can't be fun.

I look for and find joy in many things - but an adventure tops the list.  

This one will be a biggie.  

We're not getting any younger. Who knows how many more trips we'll be lucky enough to have.  

We worked long and we worked hard for these adventures in our retirement.

We'll do it as long as we're able.

Trade Routes of the Middle Ages Viking Cruise

And, as most of you already know, I love scooting down rabbit holes of research about the places we visit on our excursions and adventures.

I'm going to ask you to join me in some of these rabbit holes.

Share with me, please, whatever you know about these stops on our itinerary.

For a place to start my research for this trip, I've bought

"Transportation and trade in the Middle Ages were more developed and varied than is commonly thought. This book examines why medieval Europeans traveled--from making pilgrimages to engaging in international trade--and surveys in detail how they traveled, both by land and water. Travel and trade were inextricably linked to transportation, and over time an infrastructure of roads, bridges, and accommodations grew across Europe, enabling people and goods to move around the continent and beyond. Also explored are the hardships faced by medieval travelers, including storms at sea, avalanches in the Alps, the presence of pirates and robbers, and the fundamental problems of finding a meal and shelter."

I'm seeking out books having to do with the spots we'll be visiting.

For our very first port of call, I got this beauty -

I have long had a fascination with Gaudi.

"The life of Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926) was full of complexity and contradictions. As a young man he joined the Catalonian nationalist movement and was critical of the church; toward the end of his life he devoted himself completely to the construction of one single spectacular church, La Sagrada Família. In his youth, he courted a glamorous social life and the demeanor of a dandy. By the time of his death in a tram accident on the streets of Barcelona, his clothes were so shabby that passersby assumed he was a beggar.

Gaudí’s incomparable architecture channels much of this multifaceted intricacy. From the shimmering surface textures and skeletal forms of Casa Batlló to the Hispano-Arabic matrix of Casa Vicens, his work merged the influences of Orientalism, natural forms, new materials, and religious faith into a unique Modernista aesthetic. Today, his buildings enjoy global popularity and acclaim; his magnum opus, the Sagrada Família, is the most-visited monument in Spain ahnd seven of his works are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Packed full of expert texts and hundreds of full-color illustrations, including new photography, this book presents Gaudí’s complete oeuvre. Like a personal tour through Barcelona, we explore his residential, religious, and public projects. We see how the “Dante of architecture” was a builder in the truest sense of the word, crafting extraordinary constructions out of minute and mesmerizing details, transforming fantastical visions into realities on the city streets."

Take a look at this list, please.

If you've visited any of these places, I'd love to hear from you.  What you loved, what you didn't love.  A favorite story or memory.

If you have books to recommend, please share them!

I've plugged in a few titles.  Some I've read, others I've just learned of.  I'll include a note with those I have read in case you're interested in escaping the real world by traveling through books.

Barcelona -

The Cemetery of Forgotten Books series by Carlos Ruiz Zafón - Outstanding!

Origin by Dan Brown - There are many who don't care for Dan Brown's work.  I am not among them.  I loved this Robert Langdon entry.

Homage to Barcelona by Colm Toibin - Just received it and am looking forward to reading.

Cartagena - 

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Loved.

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell - Have not read.

Malaga -

Message from Malaga by Helen MacInnes - Read.  A very long time ago.  Being a fan of Macinnes, i may ave to read it again.

Porto -

Falmouth -

The Cornish House by Liz Fenwick - have not read.

Portsmouth -

Paris -

It just so happens, I do have a fairly lengthy list of Paris books -

Fiction - https://www.kayebarleymeanderingsandmuses.com/2018/01/my-paris-reading-list.html

And

Non-Fiction - https://www.kayebarleymeanderingsandmuses.com/2022/02/my-paris-reading-list-non-fiction.html

Bruges -

Amsterdam -

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton.  Have not read.

Bergen - 

Bergen Spring by Michael Cummings - Arrived in today's mail.  Looking forward to reading it.

Here's to Adventures!

Rabbit Holes!

And Bracelets!

Happy Travels!

❤

Elect a Clown

 

He's a pig

 I'm posting about this because it's a moment in time I will be wanting to revisit.  

https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/12/politics/trump-kennedy-center-name-change-deadline?utm_source=cnn_Breaking+News&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=B%2FG%2Ba72%2BGNnN2SSh6MkfYBashzi5NrM2E9VjfJ4xOKZ6F0oog9sDMk790I9XPVpM&bt_ts=1781367196716

YAY!!!

Call me Huismus

 

There are always lovely new things to learn.  

Today at Facebook someone asked, "What do you call a person who loves being at home rather than being out socialising?"

Being Facebook, the comments, of course, ranged from sweet, to funny, to snide.

One person's answer jumped out at me.  I wish I had copied it, but basically she said she's Dutch and the word "huismus"  is often used.  Literally translated, it means "house sparrow."

Much nicer sounding than hermit, huh?! 

❤ ❤ ❤

Happy International Corgi Day!

 In celebration of Corgis

Princess Annabelle



Now


And



Then

Baby Annabelle





And, we'll always have wonderful memories of our Harley ❤

https://kayewilkinsonbarley.com/books/my-name-is-harley/

Baby Harley

❤ ❤ ❤ 

Museum for One

 

This photo popped into my feed at Facebook.  Entitled "Museum for One."

This intrigued me.

And got me to thinking . . .

What work of art would I choose for my Museum for One?

I love art.  Love wandering through museums and galleries. 

 Choosing a piece to bring home while on vacation.

There are, of course, many works of art, by a wide array of artists, I love above all others.  I've been lucky enough to have seen several of them, and look forward to seeing more.

If you could choose ONE piece of art that you love more than any - what would it be?  A piece you want to spend time with.  Maybe be able to just sit with it for as long as you want.  Soak in every detail.  Get lost in it.

(I know.  It's HARD!!)

Here's mine.

I was unprepared for the impact Pompon's sculpture made.

  I was unfamiliar with François Pompon, had never heard of The White Bear.  Donald and I happened on him in the Musée d’Orsay and fell in love.

The White Bear (Ours blanc) at the Musée d’Orsay

"The White Bear (Ours blanc), created by French sculptor François Pompon between 1923 and 1933, is one of the most celebrated works of modern animalier sculpture. It is a monumental white stone statue measuring 163 cm high, 251 cm long, and 90 cm deep, weighing about 4 tons Musée d'Orsay. The piece was purchased by the French state in 1927 and has been on display at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris since 1986 LP ART."

I ended up buying a small version so I could have him close by.  He sits on a shelf in our bedroom.  

I love him

❤ ❤ ❤

About the Bracelet Thing . . .

I'm still making bracelets.  Still enjoying it.

Some are political.

        Some mildly political, some more aggressive . . . 

Definitely leaning left.

Some are whimsical.

Some have a message.

Some are just a single word that I happen to like.  

The word might be "sparkle."

Or, it might be "fuck."

I never really plan them ahead.

I just sit down with a full table of beaded letters - some small, some larger.  Some in black and white, some in colors.

Beads, beads, beads - lots of sizes, lots of colors.

I may have just read the news and I'm feeling angry, sad, pissed, whatever.  

So I make a bracelet.

I let the beads speak.

Sort of like when characters let a writer know where they want to go, what they want to say, and who they might want to slap.

The question has been asked, "Do you sell them?"

I think probably not.

Here's why.

First, they're very cheap.  They're on elastic string that I cannot imagine will last too long before breaking from being worn often, or suffering from dryrot from non-use.

Second.  Postage costs have gone crazy.  I put three bracelets, wrapped only in tissue paper in a brown 5 x 7 envelope to mail to a girlfriend.  The Post Office charge was over  $10.00.

So.  The little bracelets pile up.  I dig through to choose a few to wear when i leave the house.  If someone notices them and mentions liking them, i will give them one or two of those I'm wearing.  Or leave one or two (non-political) behind when we leave a restaurant.  I hand them out to friends.  And if postage wasn't so high, I would mail them out to more friends willy nilly.

All that said, I'm happy to hear suggestions.  What would you do?

OR, if you really want one if these little bracelets, i would really love for you to have one (or more).  

Their original intent, as Friendship Bracelets, after all, was making them for sharing.

 but, honeys, I'm not gonna be spending $10.00 + to mail them.   ❤ 

 Wish I Could.