Rainy, Rainy, Rainy

What a busy couple of weeks! Getting back to normal after my trip, cleaning, gardening, company, cats to the vet for their year old check-up, school events, recovering dining room chairs ...and on Friday, hosting two parties in one day!

Today was the perfect day for listening to the rain and reading a good book.

I'm not really complaining about the rain...

My clivia hasn't bloomed this well in a long time.

My hydrangeas are abundant

and the colors are lovely.

The most these hydrangeas ever produced were 4 or 5 blooms.

The lilies are beginning to open

and the pansies are still going strong.

When it ever stops raining, I think the garden is going to burst!

What I ate on my vacation...

Yes, I took pictures of my meals...doesn't everyone?

When I looked at my 1,000+ photos, it was hard to tell where I had been.
It was mostly food and flowers!
Thank goodness my talented daughter took 4,000+ of all those buildings and landmarks!

We ate at those lovely sidewalk cafes...

and had some of the traditional cuisine.

This was purely for the sake of tradition.

This cafe was near the Eiffel Tower.

Lots of frites were consumed.

...and chicken.

Delicious pizza at Michael Angelos....I know, not traditional.

I did have my fair share of quiche...

and it was so good!

Why, yes, that is a pyramid of chocolate on my table.

Oh my, THIS was good!

These were, too.

Breakfast at Angelina's was a wonderful experience.
That is basically a pot of melted chocolate and cream with whipped cream on the side.
Need I say more?

Well maybe one more:

Huge Hand-Dipped Strawberries. On a skewer..in Brussels.

Hydrangeas

Here's my contribution to "Mosaic Monday". I had to crop the center painting a little bit. For the full view go here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lvetopaint/
Please go to http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/
to see all the other beautiful mosaics!
Thanks for stopping by today!

Paris Flower Market

On Sundays, the Paris flower market is in full bloom.

Just about any plant you can think of is available for your little french terrace or balcony.

The hydrangeas are in every lovely shade of pink, blue & purple.

These blooms are waiting for me to paint them.

There was a shop full of orchids...just heavenly!

Each shop looked like a garden.

Oh my, I couldn't bring anything home.

Interesting lawn ornaments, if you're in the market for a pair of fighting boars or a snapping crocodile...between your delphiniums, perhaps.

Luscious hydrangeas and fuschias!

Sweet lovebirds in the bird market.

Can you imagine shopping here?

Little Red House is having a give-away!

In honor of her 5ooth post, Mary is giving away a beautiful silver-plated tea set. Mary is the talented hostess of the Mosaic Mondays. Go check out her blog:
http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/2009/06/500th-post-giveaway.html#comments
You'll love her photography and thrift shop finds!

Why, thank you!

My little counter has registered 1,000 visits! ...and I was worried that no one would stop by!

Monet's Water Lily Pond

My favorite part of Monet's garden is the water lily pond. It's incredibly lush and serene, even with the crowds of visitors.

The museum in giverny had a really interesting exhibit about the
creation of Monet's beautiful garden. There were pictures of the Monet family,
garden blueprints, and even an old receipt from a nursery for his plants.

I can't wait to paint some of these!

..and some irises!

Thanks for stopping by to enjoy the water lily pond with me!

Flowers in Monet's Garden

It's another fun Mosaic Monday. Thanks, Mary, for hosting this!
I wanted to share a little of Claude Monet's garden with you. Don't miss the other beautiful mosaics at http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/.
We had a wonderful visit to Monet's house in Giverny, France. I was in garden heaven! It was a rainy day, but the flowers were gorgeous! Peonies, pansies, irises, clematis, roses, foxgloves, poppies and many more....just a feast for the eyes! Tomorrow I'll post pictures of the water lily pond in the garden.