yes, it was another birthday ice skating party today! this time we celebrated amelia's birthday. she turned fourteen! (oh my goodness, how they grow.) we met at the "pond" at 10 am.
all of us had a wonderful time skating. it was grey and drizzly again! but that was fine . . as it kept the crowds away and left the rink quiet. (this, of course, will change as it gets closer to the holidays!)
leigh, lizette, and the birthday mama, joanna (on the right).
here is amelia, the birthday girl, with the bag morgana made for her.
ok. i couldn't resist a few close up photos of m's bag. she does beautiful work. i love the lining she chose.
this is the lining of the strap, which she put on the outside so the rougher sweater part would stay up on amelia's shoulder better.
many of our friends do gorgeous handwork. this is evan's necklace that he made for her. (you can see him in the picture below, in the blue hat and scarf that his mama knitted.)
they are admiring the ruffle scarf that our friend barbara made.
i haven't made a ruffle scarf in awhile. i made three one year, one each for k,m and c. i used knitpick's ambrosia yarn which they no longer carry. so sad! it was the softest and loveliest yarn: a mixture of merino and cashmere. hmmm. i wonder if anyone has it in their stash on ravelry?
and here is a pretty scarf that deychen made.
i'm not sure what yarn this is, but it was incredibly soft!
. . a beautiful journal from tibet. it says "om," in tibetan.
chanda had a violin lesson, and tessa had an acting character class, so cindi and i left a little earlier than the others. morgana stayed on to skate a little longer.
here are two special friends. we thought it was amusing to have the poster of harry in the background. (he is all the rage these days . . ) both tessa and chanda are reading the books year by year. they are both eleven and have read the first book. many of their friends have read all the books, and several of their older friends have seen the movie (twice now!). i'm glad they have each other's company in this adventure.
the weather has been much cooler . . hints of winter are beginning to blow through new york city. it's later than other parts of new york state . . having too many lights and people and buildings! nevertheless, the leaves are finally falling in all their colorful coats and we're enjoying running through them in the courtyard.
these are always my favorite autumn leaves every year in my neighborhood. their reds and oranges and fan shape entice us to pick them up and hide them between tissues in our many books.
the peace dove mobile was hung this morning, and the advent candle spiral was set on the table. chanda and i will work on the nature table this afternoon. how quickly the holiday season is upon us! and we're finally feeling cold and having to bundle up in warm sweaters with socks on our feet.
i perused all my pumpkin pie recipes and found one from last year which i had copied from the internet. i think it was from foodnetwork, though it could have been from cooks.com. it calls for cream cheese, and it has become my favorite pumpkin pie recipe. i made it this year with buttermilk rather than half and half and it was so good that i really need to make another soon!
thursday morning i woke to a feeling of restlessness. here we were in nyc for thanksgiving (we usually go to connecticut to my sister's house) and so far we had no plans to walk around the city. so m and c and i decided to go ice skating and catch a bit of the parade.
we took the train to 28th street and from there walked up sixth avenue to herald square. we were excited to see the hello kitty balloon.
there the crowd got to be a bit too big, so we headed over to fifth avenue and then up to 40th street and bryant park. we passed lord and taylor's windows. we didn't stop to look today as there was a line. we figured we would visit one morning after an early skate. lord and taylor's always has beautiful windows. they're our favorite.
as we reached the rink, we saw a large elephant through the trees. it was dr. seuss' horton!
there was a short line to get in to the rink, and the zambone was cleaning the ice. but then we had a nice skate with many other families out for the day. it was actually a nice crowd, and we saw santa claus passing by along sixth avenue. he was bringing up the end of the parade.
in the evening we went to janet's for dinner. we made and carried over with us: two apple pies, candied yams, creamed celery, steamed apples and raisins, turnips, and crackers with herring, blue cheese, drunken goat cheese, gouda, and manchego. janet had a huge turkey, brussel sprouts, chestnut and wild rice stuffing, savory biscuits, baked golden potatoes, cranberry relish, two cranberry orange pies, and two pumpkin pies. it was quite a feast. afterwards, everyone wanted to get out into the crisp air for a walk.
we went to the high line and enjoyed the solitariness of a thanksgiving evening.
we also had ice cream with our pies. well, others did. i prefer mine without such a cold addition!
happy thanksgiving
we went to the chocolate bar this evening after duncan class with sami and lizette and camille. it was the perfect touch to the afternoon . . a classic hot chocolate!
the girls decided to see what chanda would look like with camille's red hair.
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after dinner, chanda and i attended a concert at st. mark's church, across the street from the music school. her violin teacher was playing with luci toscane, a group that performs every summer in siena, italy, and fundraises for the trip during the rest of the year.
it was a beautiful concert, and we missed having sami and lizette with us. they usually join us for jose's concerts, but julienne was at home beginning the thanksgiving preparations, and lizette felt it important to return. unfortunately, i think many people felt that way, or they were on the road traveling to thanksgiving ports, as the audience was smaller than it should have been for such beautiful music, and such talented musicians and singers.
the past few days have been warm: 60 to 64 degrees! it's much cooler today. 43 degrees right now, only going up to a high of 50. i haven't been outside yet, i know i shall feel cold, especially with the wind i hear out there. but right now, with the sun shining in the living room onto the amaryllis and the seashell, the rug and the dog, it feels wonderfully warm. 
i'm behind with posting about the past few days. korrina's birthday was sunday, and chanda had a dance performance the same day at barnes and noble with dances patrelle. since sunday was so busy, monday felt like it should be a holiday. but it wasn't. we still had laundry to fold, the palace of minos at knossos to read about, a dance class with ellen robbins to attend, dinner to cook. and now, of course, we have thanksgiving. there is a giant turkey in the refrigerator . . with vegetables and potatoes and onions and cider and . . . apples! lots of apples. also, a butternut squash for a pumpkin pie.
yes, it was another birthday ice skating party today! this time we celebrated amelia's birthday. she turned fourteen! (oh my goodness, how they grow.) we met at the "pond" at 10 am.
all of us had a wonderful time skating. it was grey and drizzly again! but that was fine . . as it kept the crowds away and left the rink quiet. (this, of course, will change as it gets closer to the holidays!)
leigh, lizette, and the birthday mama, joanna (on the right).
here is amelia, the birthday girl, with the bag morgana made for her.
this is the lining of the strap, which she put on the outside so the rougher sweater part would stay up on amelia's shoulder better.
many of our friends do gorgeous handwork. this is evan's necklace that he made for her. (you can see him in the picture below, in the blue hat and scarf that his mama knitted.)
they are admiring the ruffle scarf that our friend barbara made.
i haven't made a ruffle scarf in awhile. i made three one year, one each for k,m and c. i used knitpick's ambrosia yarn which they no longer carry. so sad! it was the softest and loveliest yarn: a mixture of merino and cashmere. hmmm. i wonder if anyone has it in their stash on ravelry?
and here is a pretty scarf that deychen made.
i'm not sure what yarn this is, but it was incredibly soft!
. . a beautiful journal from tibet. it says "om," in tibetan.
chanda had a violin lesson, and tessa had an acting character class, so cindi and i left a little earlier than the others. morgana stayed on to skate a little longer.
here are two special friends. we thought it was amusing to have the poster of harry in the background. (he is all the rage these days . . ) both tessa and chanda are reading the books year by year. they are both eleven and have read the first book. many of their friends have read all the books, and several of their older friends have seen the movie (twice now!). i'm glad they have each other's company in this adventure.
