SPRING PREPARES FOR FALL

 Title says it all! 

THE STRIDING NUN

 Striding along from Kalemegdan Park heading down the pedestrian street downtown. She looks happy!

SMALL BUT FIERCE....MAYBE

 This little fellow didn't seem too fierce, but one never knows with Chihuahuas!

WOULD I OR WOULDN'T I?

 I am intrigued by tatoos, I have to admit. I often wonder if I would have ever gotten one ...but then I guess there's still time. This fellow has a plethora of interesting ones,  Just below his sleeve is the Serbian letter for the 'dj' sound as in 'George'.

SHELTER FROM THE RAIN

Young texter found  a dry place to escape from the rain.

JUDAS TREE

 

This is a Judas Tree, thus named because it is said to be the type of tree from which Judas Iscariot hanged himself after betraying Christ.

THE BLUE HOUR

 L'Heure Bleue still is my favorite perfume. I fell in love with it in Paris. Read more about this classic fragrance HERE.

GUESS WHO'S GOING TO GET A HAIRCUT TOMORROW?

No, not me, though a photo of me would look much like this one of my dog. I go on Thursday. Summer cuts!
 

SECESSIONIST STYLE / ART DECO

There are many examples of Secessionist art here in Belgrade. This term morphed into Art Deco, but not entirely. This is my favorite exaple. 
 

ASPHALT ABSTRACT

 While I was waiting for the light to change. Never a dull moment with one's camera.

WAITING AT THE MARKET

I often see dogs tied to poles or something else firm at the market place. These two little guys were tied, but also were perched on an unoccupied seller's stand. I imagine that their owner was worried a bigger dog might come along and bother them if they were on the ground and not higher up.

STRESS BALL--SQUEEZE ME!

 Life in the big city is stressful in various degrees. This lady next to me in the bus was giving this stress ball a real workout. 

THE GUARDIAN OF THE HOUSE

Serbian Orthodox Easter was last Sunday, and I am a bit late posting this. I did my duty. According to tradition, the red 'čuvar kuće' (guardian of the house) Easter egg, kept from one Easter until the next, should never be dumped in the trash, but rather buried, sent adrift on a waterway, placed on a branch, or in some other natural location. The new 'čuvar kuće' egg is on my shelf!

ALL IN A DAY'S WORK

Counting money from passers-by. 

PINCE-NEZ

As you know, I often sneak shots in the bus and such was the case with the photo of the gentleman above, who was, of course, checking his phone.  Totally intrigued by his pince-nez spectacles, I asked him where he got them, and he said someone in his family who lived out of the country bought them for him. Later, I googled 'pince-nez Belgrade,' but no luck. Did same with 'pince-nez USA' since I am traveling soon, and got a lot of responses. You might suspect that most of the criticism was because they didn't always stay put, especially when your face gets sweaty. So I'll stick to regular reading glasses!

STANDING AND SITTING

Spring!

THE SIGNALMAN

 I'll likely be posting some photos from a recent trip to SUBOTICA (SOOO-bo-teet-sa), the northernmost city in Serbia, very close to the Hungarian border. This is a signalman, responsible for watching over trains' departures and arrivals.

ICE CREAM

 Of course to capture this photo I was also in the ice cream shop, eating my chocolate/peanut ice cream from a cup. 

OUT MY WINDOW AT 6 a.m.

 The only good thing about awakening early is catching the moon where you wouldn't necessarily see it otherwise....

IN THE TRAIN

Ah, youth!  It's fun for me to watch young people do thiings I used to do. These girls were in my wagon on the Belgrade-Subotica train two days ago. Giggle, laugh, make eyes at the boys you can't see here....and before arrival, the one in the middle, who had been dressed in jeans like her friends, rushed off into the bathroom and returned wearing this dress! The dress recalled a style with cherries that had also been popular when I was a kid. Long ago and far away in another galaxy. They asked me to take their photo and I obliged, of course, and sent them a copy.
 

NOT BELGRADE

 Today's photo was not taken in Belgrade, but by my daughter from her balcony that overlooks her magnificent magnolia tree with branches sreading gloriously over half the yard. Photos cannot do it justice. 

TWO LADIES AND A CAT IN THE RAIN

 From my window on a rainy Friday.

ANOTHER SERENDIPITOUS FIND

 I found this snakeplant (SANSEVIERIA) mug the other day while browsing in a little shop I like that sells all kinds of fun things. The shop didn't disappoint. Snake plant is also known as 'mother-in-law's tongue,' undoubtedly because of its sharp, pointed leaves. Aww....I don't think I am that kind of mother-in-law.

ANOTHER TEXTER

 It has been so cold and I am lacking photos. Warm days coming very soon, so they say. But for the moment, I'm not out and about much and seem to prefer the bus to walking in the cold and rain. No rain in this photo, but it was cold. I think the girl would have a hard time finding gloves to cover her long nails. Still textng though.

YORKIE IN THE WINDOW

This little fellow belongs to the lady who owns this dress shop. Sweet pup, but I think he envied my dog walking outside with me.

12!

My Belgrade grandson is 12 today. We had a family celebration last Sunday. His mother made this scrumptious 12-inch cheesecake with strawberry glaze. In the background you can see poppyseed cake slices, too.

ALMOST SERENDIPITOUS

As did the chair beside the dumpster I showed you three days ago, this mirror almost came hime with me, but no place for it. and you can see it's still raining.

WILD GARLIC

Wild garlic is popular here, but its season doesn't last long.  Allium ursinum, known as wild garlic, ramsons,cows's leek, cowleek, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, Eurasian wild garlic, onion grass, or bear's garlic is on the market here now in abundance. I make soup with it or toss some of the leaves into the pot I make pasta with.  Here in Serbia it is know as sremuš (SREH-moosh).

JUST PRETTY

 It was cold and rainy yesterday and today will be the same. I would have stayed in, but gotta walk the pup. You can thank her for leading me to these yet budding irises 

WHAT A FIND! (Please read the text!)

I must have gypsy blood. I do NOT mean that as any kind of ethnic slur, for gypsies, or Roma, do so much good here in Serbia by recycling paper, metal, glass and so on. When I have clothing I do not wish to throw away, I fill a bag and carry it with me. When I come across a Roma, I give it to him/her and they're always happy. If it is a big bag, I put it down by the dumpster and it disappears very quickly. Yesterday I had a role reversal. While walking my dog, I came upon this very dusty, but totally in good shape, chair that someone had placed by the dumpster. It followed me home. I have washed and scrubbed it and it is currently drying on my terrace. After it dries, I will shellac it and buy a cushion and it will be an  indoor chair in the location that you see it above. I'll post a photo!

ANGRY PASTRY

 I didn't buy this angey pastry, opting for a healthier choice, and I am sure it wasn't happy about that. 

NOT NERVOUS

 I took this photo from my window the other evening. I wasn't nervous and intentionally didn't use a tripod. I was inspired by a group on Facebook called Intentional Camera Movement. Very cool photos in that group; look it up!

READERS AND WALKERS

 Each enjoys the park in his own way.

PIGEON MAN

Just a man and his pigeons.

 

COLORS OF SPRING

The other day I saw several people wearing yellow. Here's one!
 

THE CAT WOMAN

 There seems to be at least one woman in each neighborhood who takes care of stray cats. Always a woman, never a man. Our neighborhood has two, and this is one of them. 

SPRING IN WINTER COLOR

 This puffy white bush's flowers reminded me of a large snowball. Just a few more days now until Spring. 

MAN, MONEY, AND A CIGARETTE

 Another market shot. Money, man, and a cigarette.

GOTTA LOVE THOSE HEELS

Her heels remind me of the type I wore to the senior prom as did all my other girl friends. You'd buy them white and the shop would match the to your dress!  I never held on to mine, but I guess I could have kept them for a dress-up car wash.

BACON, SAUSAGE, AND A MAN

 At a local market yesterday.

DOWN AND OUT AND UNDERGROUND

The musician in the background is often playing his guitar and I imagine he earns something in tips. The sleeping person is only one of a number of people who claim this mattress as home in an underground passage.

SALVADOR AND FRIDA

 Frida Kahlo and Surrealist Salvador Dali only met once in the 1930s, when Surrealism was reshaping the art world. Frida rejected the movement, but Andre Breton, the French writer and poet and co-founder of Surrealism, described her as a 'natural surrealist.' In any case, both are featured in the window of a bookstore downtown.

SKYWATCH--the crow

 I haven't participated in SKYWATCH in quite a while, so here's a sky photo for you.

LOST

If you've ever lost a favorite toy when you were a child, you know how this little bear's owner must feel. I hope he has found its way home. 

LOOKING UP CONTINUED...

 Yesterday I showed you a photo of a flower delivery man looking up. 

Here's what he was looking at:  BELGRADE'S WESTERN GATE or GENEX TOWER.

LOOKING UP

 A delivery man was waiting for his customer to pick up the bouquet of tulips he's holding on International Women's Day on March 8th. 

Tomorrow I'll show you what he was looking up at.

URBAN STILL LIFE

 I have taken lots of photos of 'things' on the street that don't always fall into a particular category, and so I call all of them 'urban still lifes'. Here's another!

WHERE'D CLIVE GO?

 Anyone remember the Clive the Talking Leopard commercials for Schweppes circa 1998?  Clive is gone, but his tail remains.

HAPPILY RETIRED

 My dog's tennis ball is really happy it's retired.