Human Rights/American Values/Family

First a charming picture of a new member of our extended family.
He's just entering the world we're in charge of.......



This is not my usual sort of post and will necessarily be brief.
You do not come here to be lectured about politics.
Today bloggers round the world are talking about human rights.


The day after my daughter's 21st birthday, 2000 people were murdered a mile down the road from our apartment.
This was tragic beyond belief. I still shake when I think about it.
What has happened since is almost more tragic.


The America I believed in has been destroyed.
I will give only two examples.
The American government invaded a sovereign country without provocation - which goes against international law.
At Guantanamo Bay, prisoners have been held without trial for more than five years.
If you hold someone prisoner for that long, you must have sufficient evidence to bring charges.
You cannot round people up simply on the strength of the fact you think they are one of the 'bad guys'.
Just think of all the people I could round up................!

Stairs and a Field Trip

A decorative gold staircase in an art gallery.
Who would have thought?


Pink marble stairs. It would be rather lovely to have something exciting to look at every time one went up and down.
These are in Gueliz at our notaire's office.


Yellow and black is rather chic and New Yorkish.
Also in Gueliz.


I like the metal stars on the security gate.


I was up in the new town to visit the kindergartners I looked after in September.
They were having a field trip to a playground with spectacularly bright rides.


Here the boys clamber off the little toy train.

Effects of Light

The light in Morocco is so pure and bright that it takes on almost the intensity of an object.


On Sunday afternoon, we went to Cafe France and then wandered around for a little while.
We went into the souks.
Here the two shopkeepers appear much less important than the stripes on the building.


The sunlight falling through the slatted roof superimposes another design upon something already patterned.
What Byzantine layers of complexity.


The teleboutique in the Spice Market is probably getting less use lately because everyone, except us, has a cell phone.


Light glitters and flows almost like a river over the winding lanes of the souk.


In Kennaria a man bicycles under a tunnel and emerges into the light.

A Visit to a Pretty Old House

Adjacent to the sleek, modern house from a few posts ago -joined by an internal door no less - is a very traditional riad.
Here a little still life ready set up.
The chair, the metal tray, the wooden bowl.
We have the same tile design on our stairs - except in our case they are very old and bashed up.


An enigmatic placement of three small bowls. What are they for in this austere little room off the courtyard?


Looking up, you can see the soft green of the painted windows.
The climbing vines and the orange tree show this to be a real riad -a house with an internal garden.


And the tiles!
These are often used on walls as well as floors - to prevent damp -or at least hide it..........


These are three very traditional designs.
At first I was besotted with them.
Then I was bored with them.
Now I love them again.
Both houses delighted me in the same way both sweet and savory things do.

At the Farm

A flowery meadow from Eden. Geraniums, a whole path lined with daisies. Olives and willows.


More of the same..........


and a grape arbor near the house.............


A path through the olive grove where the earth has been plowed.


If you look very carefully, you will see the actual plow nestling on a bed of hay in a very unobtrusive fashion.
A donkey was borrowed for the big event.


The cow was the star turn of the whole day as far as the two little boys were concerned.
It obliged us by saying 'moo' - or the Arabic version thereof.


Heading back towards the house ...........


for an open air lunch

The Road to Marrakech

Late afternoon, leaving the farm after a lovely quiet day.


Down a dirt road where the children are coming home from school.


This really doesn't look like Morocco at all.
Mediterranean olive groves, lush fields watered by run-off snow from the Atlas Mountains.


We are some 30 km south of Marrakech, towards the mountains.
Fertile, rustic and quite hard to get to.




The day was overcast rather than the usual blazing sun, rather refreshing.


The clouds played on the low hills making sharp contrasts between light and dark.


One can sit and look at the hills for a long time.

Kitten Update

The kittens continue to do kitten-appropriate things.


They try to catch sunbeams...............


They try to escape into the derb ( alley) where there are children, mopeds and bigger, wilder cats............


Still it's interesting to peep over the doorstep..............


Mostly they just hang around in the courtyard fighting with each other, their mother's tail, and decorative grass the florist thrust upon me with the roses.
They spend a lot of time getting in and out of my various shopping baskets.
Most objects in the house are now certified cat toys.

A Different Marrakech

Yesterday we were invited out to tea in rather a different part of town than our rather gritty neighborhood.



There, the terrace looked out onto the walls of a magnificent garden.


Everything was sleekly moderne -even the sugar basin shaped like an egg.



It was hard to remember we were in Marrakech - except for the wonderful colors.



There is something refreshing about raw, clean space, without lots of fiddly, decorative things.



Here our luminous hostess, Sarah of the enchanting blog Passementerie, who is usually to be found in Paris discovering exquisite things.



You can tell we are still in Marrakech from the floor tiles and the fruit bowl made from a recycled tire.