morning poem

 

like her the saints retire

like her the saints retire,

in their chapeaux of fire,

martial as she!

like her the evenings steal

purple and cochineal

after the day!

"departed" -- both -- they say!

i.e. gathered away,

not found,

argues the aster still --

reasons the daffodil

profound!

by emily dickinson (1830-1886)

saturday morning photo op

 

just a photo of pluto for your saturday morning.

evening walk

 

we ate earlier today as chanda was going out to meet a friend and i wanted to visit the burdick chocolate shop to pick up a bag of ginger chocolates. we walked through the park so i could drop off a few bags of compost. it was such a pretty sunset.

returning home we passed this crowd by the restaurant chanda works at. they're always very busy at night. (i was enjoying an iced chocolate drink from burdick!)

warm days, a cafe visit and a card game

after the few chilly nights last weekend and the chilly autumn air of monday, this week it's been back to warm and humid summertime weather. the cats and i have felt quite soporific again (and it was a little difficult sleeping at night - no cool breeze!).

i did manage to walk cross town to visit with my friend sacha at cafe abraço. (it was such a nice visit and we caught up on all our news.) (i checked for chestnut honey at the health food store and at raffetto's, but neither place had it - here's hoping they replenish the supply soon!).

i walked home along houston street to see what was happening with the feast of san gennaro . . everyone was busy setting up for the grand opening which was this evening. greg and i hope to visit sometime next week.

michaelmas daisies at the garden on la guardia and houston . . 

it's a special garden as it was created in homage to the lost forests of manhattan by environmental artist alan sonfist.

this placard explains his concept titled "time landscape."

it was so warm this evening that i didn't feel like cooking . . so we just had sandwiches . . 

we're up to round four in our "may i" game. so far i've been in the lead . . here's hoping i can maintain this streak!

a wednesday lunch treat and salmon for dinner

 

i love hot fudge sundaes and the van leeuwen ice cream shop had a special called "the new yorker," which was coffee ice cream with hot fudge and whipped cream . . so greg and i treated ourselves after lunch today.

my local fish store had fresh, wild caught alaska king salmon for sale . . 

i bought a small piece and it was delicious. we had it with sautéed chard and mashed potatoes (all vegetables that were in the vegetable box).

(we usually eat dinner between 7 and 8 pm and it's been dark these past few nights!)

walking milly, neighborhood puppets and plum cake

 

my milly pics of the day:

ready for the walk!

passing another fluffy pup . . 

looking for the treats i have in my pocket . . 

and ready for one last treat after a successful outing.

every other tuesday i pick up fresh veggies from a local program similar to the one i used to do with korrina, and i always pass the puppets created by ralph lee that are on display (my friend ron used to work with his puppets years ago with the mettawee river theatre company). 

(ellen uses several ralph lee masks for her dance titled "rainforest.")

do you think i put too many pats of butter on my plum cake?

well, it tasted delicious!

fancy cafe visit

 

i've been wanting to show janet cafe lysée on 21st street; so today we walked over and had coffee and matcha and shared two pastries . . 

my "signature" lysée latte (made with their toasted brown rice milk) and their classic pastry: korean toasted brown rice mousse with pecans, hazelnuts and caramel. 

on the bottom right is their matcha white chocolate chip cookie with strawberry jam, and on the top left is their summer "floating island" - matcha espresso with yuzu sorbet. the cafe is the creation of chef eunji lee who combines korean ingredients with a french touch. she explains her inspiration on the cafe's website which you can read here.

we walked home through washington square . . when we first left the cafe, the breeze out on the street felt so cool that i waved my arms in the air and exclaimed that i had goose bumps. a person in new york city can go through three months of summer and never feel cold - not once! there have been times in the past when i have packed to visit my sister or for a trip upstate or to the berkshires in massachusetts that i did not even consider bringing a sweat shirt or sweater or a long sleeved shirt only to face a cool day or cold night and have to borrow something or actually buy something. so now i know fall is definitely on the way because i was actually cold for a moment when leaving the cafe. of course we warmed up quickly after turning left onto broadway and walking in the sunshine.

i also stopped at the union square green market and found prune plums! they were quite expensive . . but i bought two pounds worth and hope to make a delicious plum cake.

sunday bike ride

i made my mom's pancakes for breakfast this morning. it has been awhile since we had them. i think it's really my favorite breakfast to have - just flour, milk and eggs, and then we roll them up with jam (red raspberry this morning), maple syrup and butter . . and also fresh strawberries. greg and i then went for a bike ride . . it was such a beautiful day and i just wanted to feel the breeze by the river. the trees along the bike path form a beautiful canopy lately, and the flowers along the path were so fragrant. the sun was very warm, but the air was cool. we rode all the way down to the battery. there's been construction for the flood mitagation and they have been building up the land with ramps, but some areas have re-opened. 

the fountain by castle clinton (it was a fort from 1808-1811) . .  

the couple sitting next to us on the bench was having their caricature drawn. the woman sitting with the sketch pad on her lap (to the right of greg's face) worked part of the time, and then her partner took her place and finished the drawing. i thought that was interesting.

the water just glistened today (in the distance is the statue of liberty).

then suddenly we were at "the willows." the girls and i would ride our bikes here when homeschooling. we would read and work on whatever knitting project we currently had. sadly, the two willow trees are no longer here. they slowly died off after being inundated with sea water during hurricane sandy. i was glad to see that a lovely birch tree (seen on the right) had been planted in a willow's place.

(here's a 2009 willow visit . . greg is with us here, as it was labor day weekend . . korrina isn't. she was often off at a ballet class or a stage managing gig, a group homeschooling class, or just with her friends, which is probably the case here since it was a holiday.)

looking southwest toward the statue and ellis island.

we next passed a favorite monument - the mother cabrini statue . . 

"maria francesca cabrini, mother frances xavier cabrini, 1850-1917, italian american who dedicated her life to helping children and the needy in new york and around the world."

and then it was time to pick up a citibike for greg and head back home (i had my bike with me).

----

morgan called when we returned and sent a photo of the current craft project: a child's size quilt is being sewn with leftover charity shop fabric and liberty fabric (from the wedding napkin favors). i love the jumble of colorful prints.

we watched an episode from the new ted lasso season . . 

(cricket is eyeing my italian cookies that were supposed to be for adam, but since the car broke down we never made it out to the house for him to have any. by the way, the car has been fixed - the mechanic replaced a "sensor" and it is now running very well!)