More Halloween pictures this week…but instead of creepy ones, I thought I’d put the emphasis on pumpkins!
I went over to my parents’ house this week, and carved pumpkins with my dad. It’s a tradition. 🙂
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I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I love walking around my neighborhood. Lately, neighbors have been breaking out the Halloween decorations, so with the holiday coming up next week, I thought I’d share a few!
These horrid things live next door to me. I don’t even dislike spiders, but knee-high creatures that suddenly appear as I come around a bush–yikes! First there was one, but they seem to be multiplying…
This is a favorite–cute with a little ghostliness! Continue reading “Saturday Snapshot: Halloween Decorations”
I am SO ready for fall and winter. That may partially be because of R. I. P., but mostly it’s the fault of the weather–we had a tantalizing few days of cold and clouds, before going back to upper-80s this past week. I am trying to savor the cold mornings and pretend not to notice the hot afternoons. I can’t wait until it’s actually cold enough for all my favorite fall and winter things–like sweaters and heavy quilts and scented candles.
In the meantime, I’m amusing myself for Saturday Snapshot this week with a sort of Fall Tableau.
What could be better on a dark and chilly evening than a cozy afghan, hot tea and warm cookies, candlelight and Hitchcock?
I’m just impatient. I suppose it’ll get chilly soon enough…and I watched Rebecca this week anyway.
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This week, I reviewed one of my very favorite books, Susan Kay’s Phantom–and I promised pictures from my recent trip to Paris!
The Paris Opera House–or as the Parisians call it, the Opera Garnier. This was taken from somewhere far enough down the Avenue de l’Opera that you can see the dome. I love those gold statues. They shine so bright, even on cloudy days.
This is the famous staircase–it’s very hard to get a shot that isn’t covered in people! Not to mention one with decent lighting…
This is, I confess, what I was mostly here to see. Phantom fans–Box Five is the bottom tier, in the middle. The big box closest to the stage is the Imperial Box, and the boxes farther to the right are general boxes–and not nearly as secluded as Box Five.
The famous chandelier! Unbroken. 🙂
This is the grand foyer–unbelievably gorgeous. And, as fully befits an Opera House where all is illusion…it’s mostly gold paint!
I know there wasn’t really a Phantom…but someone building this place was having fun with mirror tricks.
These are the front steps of the Opera House, and I feel remarkably fond of them. You see, when you’re on a literary pilgrimage and have a hotel two blocks away, it’s a wonderful discovery to find out that you can go sit on the steps of the Paris Opera House any time you like!
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This may sound strange, but I love British food. It gets a bad reputation–but what’s not to love about fish and chips, meat pies, yorkshire pudding and jammie dodgers? I made a particular effort (and it wasn’t that hard) to find British food while I was in London. After I got home, I started thinking about where I could find British food here–and what I could try making myself.
Meat pies seem complicated, but I thought I could handle fish and chips. On my trip, I had fish and chips for lunch one day at The Black Lion. First picture, here’s the pub:
It’s a great old place that dates back to the 1700s. It’s on Bayswater Road, across the street from the Black Lion Gate, which opens onto the Broad Walk in Kensington Gardens. I like to think J. M. Barrie may have eaten here, considering he lived just a few blocks away.
Here’s The Black Lion’s fish and chips:
The book, incidentally, is Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig, and very good. So was the food!
And here’s my version of fish and chips–which also turned out tasty. 🙂
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Tales of the Marvelous 