Have I mentioned I love birds?

Have you heard..?

Birds. Oh birds. I love them! In all forms---corporeal, vintage sketches, wallpaper, candle-holders, stamps, statuettes, stickers...
I have always been devoted to birds (ironic, considering I grew up with the nastiest, most bitter African Grey parrot this century has seen) and am longing for a house with a real tree of my own to hand birdhouses and feeders from!
Our large patio in the apartment has a few birdfeeders dangling from it, but they don't come for a visit and a nibble very often (perhaps because I've put pet birdseed in the feeder rather than wild..?).
But in the winter we get a frenzy out there! I love bird watching.

My favorite birds:
1. Dove
2. Robin
3. Hummingbird
4. Pelican
5. Puffin
6. Bluebird
7. Cockatoo
8. Kookaburra

And the list goes on...but I'm sure you're bored and wondering why in the hell I have a list of birds in order of how much I love them. Don't ask how many years I have spent compiling and reorganizing that list.  You may shudder at the thought of the productive things I could have been pondering instead.

And the Birds of Paradise! Have you seen those?! They will blow your MIND.

Oh birds...keep up the good work.

Just the shape of a muffin

DAMN YOU U.K. RAIN!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18849327

http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/7285337/Britain-gets-desperate-over-rain

Looks like withstanding the weather is going to be an Olympic sport in itself.....

 It is getting bad across the pond, where my best friend lives.
It may not have rained today...and may not be raining this exact second, but friend it is only a matter of time. They are getting buckets and buckets of cold water dumped on them.


It was my pal's birthday yesterday! Hoorah!  But back to the weather----
She got a head cold in JULY from this weather.
As if that weren't devastating enough.....THE PUFFINS ARE DROWNING.

I read that on the BBC this morning, first thing out of bed, and wanted to jump back under the covers and weep in despair and horror.
Yes, you read that right, the puffins are drowning.

Their burrows are being flooded (remember they can only stay underwater for about a minute)!
And for the puffins that, thankfully, have not drowned, they are lost--swept a'sea in a bewildering storm.



This little puffling was found waddling around a hotel!


I just adore puffins.
Whether it is because I have never seen one in real life,
or because my favorite nursery rhyme growing up was about the flapjack-eating-puffin (see below), or just because they're so damn cute...I'm not sure. All of the above perhaps.

And did you know when they dig burrows they make a separate "toilet" are for the babies to go so that they don't soil themselves?! Clever. And endearing, in a hygienic way.

And puffins laugh!!

And they are monogamous.

 

And now, the marvelous puffin poem!

Oh, there once was a Puffin
Just the shape of a muffin,
And he lived on an island
In the bright blue sea!

He ate little fishes,
That were most delicious,
And he had them for supper
And he had them for tea.

But this poor little Puffin,
He couldn’t play nothin’,
For he hadn’t anybody
To play with at all.

So he sat on his island,
And he cried for awhile, and
He felt very lonely,
And he felt very small.

Then along came the fishes,
And they said, “If you wishes,
You can have us for playmates,
Instead of for tea!”

So they now play together,
In all sorts of weather,
And the Puffin eats pancakes,
Like you and like me.

by Florence Page Jaques

No domo arigato, Mr. Hashimoto

So, just a brief disclosure here about my health---
I finally have some answers! Hurrah! They're not quite what I had hoped, but at least now I can treat them. Among other things, I have some anemia going on and have been diagnosed with an auto-immune thyroid disease, Hashimoto's.

Before you think "GOOD GOD! SHE IS TURNING INTO A BONSAI TREE!" let me tell you that Hashimoto's is not a reference to a Karate Kid character, a Korean cocktail, or any sort of hashish flavor.

It simply means my immune system is, quite unkindly, attacking my thyroid gland.
So my thyroid can't really produce the hormones it needs to function, and thus I get the symptoms of hypothyroid, which makes me tired and cold and achey all of the time.

And the anemia is your basic B12/iron deficiency, which makes me even more tired, gives me headaches, light-headedness, low blood pressure, and (this is an actual listed symptom!!) an "intolerance for exercise." Ha! See?! Not just be being lazy. Though all of the symptoms could be interpreted as culminating in laziness (technically referred to as "general malaise").

So I'm taking a TON of supplements. Mostly for glandular support and my thyroid, and trying to get more iron in my diet. Yes, I am now taking shots of prune juice on a daily basis. Yum.  Yes, it is really that awful brown color.


I suppose I will start making spinach smoothies or something equally disgusting in the near future.


On the plus side, I found a website starring an Anemic Panda full of hysterical memes that I can relate to!

That last one is especially true...

I am taking approximately 18 pills a day now.

I went to the dentist to get my tooth prepared for a crown (I had a root canal on it months ago) and the temporary crown he put on it started committing hate crimes against my gums and any nearby teeth that tried to interfere...so the dentist had to pop it off and the inner root of that tooth is just hanging out naked for 2 weeks, until the actual crown arrives.
Considering that it is a molar, it is not fun or easy to eat. Poor naked tooth.

I've been looking at hysterical images to take my mind off of my health woes. Allow me to share some of these inappropriately placed sticker pictures..

This last one is my favorite.

Not just because it involved Pooh Bear in a compromising position, but look at Tigger's expression! And the title of the book! HA! It is just too perfect.
And little Piglet, holding his tale for him.  Oh boy.

And let me include this, because it exemplifies how lame local news can be.
And it is damned hysterical!

Now time for me to drink some tea and wallow in my "general malaise."

because I'm going to die.

Not to be morbid, but we all are. We are all going to leave this earth someday, so we should see as much of it as possible and savor it! Experience it!

And so, on that note, I would like to introduce you to the place that has most recently been added to my bucket list.

Honfleur! It is in France, near Normandy.

And it has one of the most beautiful ports in the world (which was painted by a lot of incredible artists, including Monet and Courbet).  Just. LOOK.

I love water and picturesque villages with ridiculously narrow buildings squashed together. And if they happen to be painted neat colors, all the better. This lovely place has all of the above. And it is in France (incroyable supplémentaire).
And...it is a historic site. HOLY SHITBALLS! I know! As if being a picturesque seaside village could get any cooler.  HISTORY. Yeah man.
This place has been cool since the 11th century.

 And it has a marine museum.
Which is both an ultimate compound word and stop to visit combined.
I shivered with delight when I read that.
Marine Museum.
Here's hoping it has visible timber framing and something painted blue and white.

Stone bridges, just begging for you to pop a squat with a baguette and bottle of pinot noir.

Saint Catherine's Cathedral, which is the largest surviving wooden church in France.

And art museums (Honfleur had a big influence on Impressionism)
and open air markets
and BOATS.

Cute little tugboats,
painted shutters,
cobblestone streets,
and lots of beautiful old brick.











And it is close to Normandy, so we can visit the D-Day beaches and Monet's gardens at Giverny, where he painted his water lilies.






No offense to Monet and his impressive skills (get it?! Impressive..Impressionism? Ok, not my best work), but look at this place.
How can you live there and not create amazing art?






Eli and I are always daydreaming about travelling to Europe, and our constant refrain is that we will go for our 5 year anniversary...10 years at the very worst.  Both years, at the very best.

Someday Honfleur, someday! I will be found perched on your bridge with my husband and a bottle of wine.
And if one of my shoes happens to fall into the water...all the better for you to remember me by.