this past week

i've always been enchanted with ralph lee's puppets and the mettawee river theatre company. my very good friend ron performed with them years and years ago (so many years ago that i don't remember what it was he performed) and ever since i've been a fan. lucky for me that westbeth, the artists' community across the street from me, has an ongoing ralph lee exhibit. it changes periodically. in the window this week is a fox and dear little frog (bottom left) who is almost going to be eaten by the flying bird. but, as chanda pointed out to me, the fox will save the day.

thursday night's dinner: tortellini en brodo con l'arugula. it was especially good because the broth was fresh amish chicken broth.

enjoying the "new" room with bunk beds . . 

working on her "mary" essay . .

xena keeping an eye on jack.
 

plum kuchen ready for the oven!

chanda sitting in one of our favorite diners (stargate) near ballet academy east on third avenue at 93rd street, where dances patrelle holds their nutcracker rehearsals.

 
a crockpot stew for a cool evening.

 
we read jean fritz's where do you think you're going christopher columbus on columbus day. it was informative and funny and almost caused morgana to miss her babysitting date. later that evening we read about alexandra david-neel who was an explorer in tibet in the early 1900's.

 
morgana ran the flowers dance in the living each morning.

it helps make for a good saturday rehearsal.

chanda, ella and evan at the american museum of natural history. on wednesday we had a field trip to see the special bioluminescence exhibit. it began by talking about fireflies and how they produce luciferin and luciferase (latin, light-bringing/light-bearing). these two elements fit together and when oxygen is added, light is produced. the show also described the glow worms of new zealand caverns which are the larvae of a gnat. they hang from the ceiling and send from their abdomen strands of sticky mucous droplets to catch flying insects which are then hauled up and eaten. this website has a good description of the process. it's interesting how the strands will swing and glow in the cave . . my favorite part of the exhibit was the description of dinoflagellates in vieques, puerto rico. so many of these marine plankton live together that they emit a bright light when bumped against each other. in mosquito bay in puerto rico you can row through them and watch the light drip off of the oars, or your body! you can see read more about it and see images here.

chanda and korrina helped make wednesday night dinner. chanda found a recipe in the real simple magazine greg brought home from work. i picked up sausage from faicco's and we added bread crumbs, onion, garlic and arugula.

mixing it all together while laughing at something her sister said.

pasta with sausage, arugula and crispy bread crumbs . . 

 buon appetito . . 

working on vedic math on thursday.

jack manages to snuggle into the clean laundry once my back is turned for a second.

 thursday dinner: kale salad with sweet potato fries and chicken legs.

 

morgana attended a dance intensive this week with betty jones and fritz ludin who used to dance with jose limon. after walking crosstown with her, i stopped at the green market and bought mums and herbs.

 korrina helped me re-pot them.

 the peppermint plant.

chanda has been working on her violin as she is doing chamber this year. of course she just missed two days of practice as she's been cleaning out her dresser drawers, and sorting through seemingly thousands of hand-me-downs from sisters and friends.

friday night dinner: chorizo sausage bought at the green market in a soup with kale and potatoes.

finally, the windows no longer look bare. i'm also getting used to there being no trees and to seeing the building and hearing the residents across the way so clearly. it's amazing how much of a buffer the mulberry trees were.