Favorite Neighborhood

Oops... Never got around to posting all of my pictures from my newest neighborhood discovery.

I'm back on the PC so can combine the remaining pictures into 1 post.

This is a candy store called Bon Bon. The interior looked like pictures in a magazine - beautifully designed. It included a small dining area that served desserts. I will have to go back and sample something sometime, and perhaps take pictures inside.

The scooters sort of make this look like a biker bar!

This is the Italian restaurant where we had dinner. It was quite good. This picture does not do justice to how beautiful it was. They have outdoor tables draped in beautiful, sumptuous linens with chandeliers hanging over them. We ate inside which was also lovely.

This "Just In" - ha ha, the name of the place is Just In. It is a wine and tapas bar. I looked at the menu and it was a little too gourmet for me, but it was also a lovely place.

Another lovely little store selling candles and other accessories. I love the window display and would seriously love to buy the table. (You can see it a little closer in the next picture.)

This was the street scene from outside of the candle shop. All of the greenery drew me down the street. Very atypical in Taipei. The Italian restaurant we ate at is down the street a bit on the right.

The atmosphere of the neighborhood caused me to think this van was cute. If it was on one of the grittier streets I probably would have thought it was ugly!

Over the weekend I discovered a wonderful little neighborhood in Taipei. It is full of boutiques and restaurants that look sort of European. It will take me 2 or 3 posts to show the photos because I'm doing it from my iPad which recently will not allow me to transfer more than 3 Or 4 photos at a time.

Mud Pie

Some months ago I posted about planting flowers. I was going to repost one of the pictures but I cannot find it. How fitting... The point of posting the picture of the flowers I planted earlier was to say that they are all gone. They didn't last long. The puppies ate them. Grrr...

We have a dog trainer now, his name is Evan. He is moderately successful. Actually I think he is amazing with the dogs. If he could just train the OWNERS then our problems would be over. So I got brave, or desperate, and bought some new flowers. Before I got them planted Evan used the potted flowers for training. By the end of the day's lesson Jade (aka main problem puppy) wouldn't go anywhere near the flowers, not for love nor money (or treats!)

I have now made 2 trips to the flower market. Many more trips will be in my future I hope. Earlier this week I bought 7 pots of impatiens to plant in our rock wall. Needing some way to anchor the plants into the rock I decided to make some old fashioned mud pie. What fun! I felt like a kid again! (And felt rather guilty that I was doing this while the kids were at school. They would have loved mixing mud pie! Next time...) I laid down a foundation of mud...

...then placed the flowers and stuffed more mud around them.

I hope it lasts, because I really love the look!

As you can see, there are still a lot of blank spaces in the wall. Need...more...flowers!

I also potted some roses, geraniums and daisy-things. I will have to take close up pictures of the roses because they are BEAUTIFUL. First I will have to locate my "real" camera.

So this is part of why I'm not writing much. Life has been catching up with me lately and I am choosing to spend my free time planting, making cards, and painting a bit at our church rather than blogging. Sorry!