ABC WEDNESDAY--"Z" is for "zen"

Another year gone by, and unfortunately, this is the last post for our meme ABC WEDNESDAY.
Like a lot of other bloggers, this meme will truly be missed.

Many thanks to its creator, Mrs. Nesbitt, and to those who took it over after her.

Roche Harbor, Washington

This beautiful little  harbor, also favored by many as a wedding location, is called Roche Harbor, and is located on San Juan Island, Washington.

Beats me why they still pronounce it 'Roach' Harbor...

See other reflections on James' WeekendReflections.

SKYWATCH--sailing into the sunset

Holiday pressures get me stuck for photos. I promise to do better in the new year.

Here's another from Golden Gardens beach in Seattle.

See others on SKYWATCH.

The wall outside

The wall of a building visible from the small park downstairs from me.  

Not a shadow...

This looks so much like a shadow of a cat, but it is actually a real (black) cat sitting on a wall downstairs.  Trompe l'oeil or better yet, like that painting by Magritte of a pipe with the title "Ceci n'est pas une pipe".  Because it isn't....it'a a painting of a pipe.

WEEKEND REFLECTIONS: ANTIQUE SILVER SERBIAN JEWELRY

This display immediately caught my eye. So pretty, but for the most part today so impractical.

See other reflections on James' WEEKEND REFLECTIONS.

SKYWATCH--Gulls at Golden Gardens

Another one from the US.  But beautiful skies are to  be seen everywhere.

See others at SKYWATCH.

Still at it...

Belgrade's air quality is just awful.   Mind you, it isn't just this one guy who contributes to the lack of clean air, but multiply him by lots more...  You can have a look at this page.

Of course the bigger polluters are vehicles. Like many laws, Serbia has 'enforced' a prevous law on older vehicles like the one belonging to Yours Truly.  These laws are conveniently ignored if palms are greased...

ABC WEDNESDAY "X" is for "kisses" and "Christmas"

Xs are often used at the end of a message or letter for 'kisses'.  X is also used to replace the word Christ in a shortened version of Christmas, since the letter X in Greek stands for the first letter 'chi,' which is the beginning of their word 'Christos" or Χριστός.

In any case, granddaughter Mila is deeply in love with Madhu, and covers her with kisses, while both wait for Christmas.

See other Xs on ABC WEDNESDAY.

Nikolai Krasnov

Ah, the pleasures of having a dog again. Now with little Madhu, I spend more time outdoors and revisit parks I used to walk Bibi in. Sometimes I find new things there, like this monument to Nikolai Krasnov, whose info I found on the Internet.  Oh, the things you learn!

"Nikolai Petrovich Krasnov was a Russian Yugoslav architect and painter, who served as Chief Architect of Yalta, Crimea, between 1887 and 1899. From 1922 he lived and worked in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and was a key figure in the architectural development of Belgrade."

Slava cakes

More brioche than cake, these beauties appear in Serbia for various saints' days during the year. The next saint's day is Saint Nikola which, according to the Serbian Orthodox calendar, falls on December 19th.

SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY--Patriarch Pavle

I always wondered about the oddity of this statue.  It would seem like Patriarch Pavle is sitting on air...which I guess he is.

Looked it up and found info:  

In June 2018 it was announced that a monument to Patriach Pavle, head of the  Orthodox Church from 1990 to 2009, will be erected on the green area between the newly finished plateau and the tram stop in Tašmajdan Park. The 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) tall bronze monument was authored by Zoran Maleš. It was placed in the park on 13 November 2018 and dedicated on 15 November, an anniversary of Pavle's death. Maleš said that he wanted to show the etherealness of Pavle, who was deemed among Serbs as the "walking saint". He also added that he was influenced by the photos of patriarch commuting by the trams – it showed his mundane approach to life, using the public transportation, and he indeed often travelled to this spot when he was visiting the Saint Mark's Church. However, the sculpture of the patriarch in the sitting position, but without a chair, throne or anything that he is sitting on, garnered negative public reaction. The Serbian Orthodox Church said that this is a public monument and that they will not judge it, but that it plans to erect a proper, monumental sculpture of Patriarch Pavle in the churchyard of the Rakovica Monastery , where he was buried.

See other shadows on SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY.

WEEKEND REFLECTIONS--kitty in the window.

Another from Seattle. I was walking by my favorite used book store, TWICE SOLD TALES, whose owner is a cat lover. Store was closed, but kitty conveniently posed himself before the book of cat cartoons...

 My faint reflection is there...

 See other reflections on James' WEEKEND REFLECTIONS

SKYWATCH FRIDAY: GOLDEN GARDENS

A bit of Seattle for you today. This was taken at Golden Gardens Park in Seattle.  Aptly named, at least at this time of day.

See other skies on SKYWATCH.

Hurt finger...

How he hurt his finger is anybody's guess....  What's yours?

ABC WEDNESDAAY: w is for 'winter'

No, no, it doesn't look like that here now...nor do I hope it will. This is an archive photo of over a year or two ago.

Brrrr....

See other Ws on ABC WEDNESDAY.

Coconut cake

Another easy Serbian cake, though I never make it since I would probably eat more than I should.

This one was served to me by my friend Boba, with whipped cream on the top, along with lemonade.

It was yummy.

Wall art

Not a recent photo, but then again, I haven't been out and about much recently with camera in hand.

So this one dates from last summer. I think it is a fairy or nymph struggling (?) with the plant on the relief.

I did it....

Here I am again with Katya, whose photograph I have posted several times, in the past.  If you want to see more than just in the link I've given you, type Katya (or I may have spelled it like it really is, Katja) in the search box on the upper right.

I took the plunge....I waited two years after Bibi's passing to adopt this little pearl whom I have called Madhu (Hindi for honey), because that's exactly what she is.  She had  been given to Katya to be her own personal pet (she's 3 mos. old), but Katya wanted me to have her, and so....  She is a shorkie (half Shih-Tzu, half Yorkshire terrier!

I love her to death.

Seasonal reader?

Here we go....my feeble attempt to get back at my blog, shamefully neglected since late August when I was in the US.  My reasoning was that I was not 'in Belgrade,' but then Yankee can move around, so you might be getting photos from here and there.

It was a nippy morning when I saw this fellow at one of Belgrade's remaining iconic cafes, Poslednja Shansa (last chance), in Tasmajdan park.  Rumor has it that it has been bought by a chain of cafes, and oh, there we go....another piece of history bites the dust.