ikea date

greg took two days off this week. yesterday he drove morgana to sturbridge village for a winter costume fitting, and today, after cleaning up a little more around the apartment, we visited ikea in red hook to purchase shelves for the living room. i wasn't even sure first if they would be open. red hook flooded badly during hurricane sandy. many buildings still don't have their power back, and many businesses haven't reopened yet. fairway is still closed, as are several mom and pops that i read about in our local paper.

first we strolled the showroom to decide on the shelves we wanted . . then we visited the cafeteria for coffee and cinnamon buns! a cheap date, i said. greg disagreed. just think of all the money they'll be getting from us for the shelves we plan to buy!

ikea is situated right on the river, but greg thinks they planned for possible flooding as the building is built up off the ground. they've also turned part of the cafeteria into a FEMA recovery center so people in the neighborhood affected by sandy can come in to fill out their paperwork and get counseling.

no matter how many times you go, the marketplace is always spectacular!

these carts aren't easy to push . . i sometimes end up going around in circles trying to control it.

after unloading the car and carrying the boxes up four flights of stairs, i took chanda to rehearsal. i went for a walk to the corner bookstore to get a gift certificate for a friend's birthday, and on the way back i passed a familiar looking building. it was the old maternity center where korrina was born at 92nd street, just east of madison avenue. it's someone's private home now, but i have many memories of visiting for check-ups and entering through the bottom right door the night i was in labor.

cleaning up

 we've been cleaning up around the apartment; cleaning off dolls and storing them away.

these are my madam alexander little women dolls: marmee, beth and amy. chanda acquired jo from ebay when i brought mine back from nana's a year or so ago, during the summer.

they finally came to take away the garbage on the street from our coop apartment's hurricane sandy clean up.

we found it amusing that the workers were taking their time. usually, they're very quick and impatient, but efficient. i don't think these were city workers, however. the apartment complex had to hire a private trash collector.

skating on tuesday

we went ice skating this morning, but it ended up pouring during their lesson! it was so wet, that i never did put on my ice skates (this photo was taken through the window by my friend janet).

it was so cold and rainy that i was incredibly happy to get home to hot cider and panettone.

working on violin and geometry exercises . . 

it really feels like winter now. all the trees are bare and everything is beautifully brown and golden.

chanda and i were on our way to the east village before going to her ballet class.

we visited our friends amelia and joanna at their yoga/health center to donate some muffins to their hurricane sandy bake sale. we contributed also by buying their delicious brownies and oatmeal cookies! they did very well and raised $250.

korrina is stage managing again; this time for a shakespeare play combination the war of the roses.

for dinner we were happy to have a non-turkey meal! i made spinach salad and pasta carbonara.

monday puppet show

morgana woke this morning and prepared a puppet show for the children she watches at a waldorf parents' study group.

she decided to tell the shingebuss story, but we couldn't find the old shingebuss, so she needed to make a new one.

meanwhile, chanda took care of unloading the dishwasher.

and then did her schoolwork: some greek writing in her workbook.

she's still into turning upside down about every 20 minutes or so . .


i thought she would hold the pose longer!

nutcracker dinner

today i walked around during the nutcracker rehearsal.

and then joined everyone for a "mary/babcock/putnam bradlee" dinner at dean's pizza on 85th street.

it's a large space and fun to go to with a big group.

thanksgiving on bank street

on saturday i cooked a turkey at home and made mashed potatoes and more creamed celery, while morgana made a sunchoke salad.

we also had a beet and kale salad with feta cheese.

. . and sparkling cider.

it was a very good meal!

and was followed by a nutcracker rehearsal.

battle scene . .

and flowers.

and then i was tired and ready to go to sleep . . too much cooking and eating.

walking dunes and gosman's dock

friday morning was silvery grey . .

and jack had a barking fit on the deck . . he usually never barks . . maybe he was smelling the deer that like to come around . .

enjoying some quiet knitting and reading time . . 

my sister and nephews had never been to the walking dunes.

it was great to hike it with them, and to hear about the names of many of the plants from my nephew.

you can see where the dunes are encroaching on the woods in this picture . . they are slowly rolling north eastward.

napeague bay is in the west behind them.

on top of the dune facing south.

just a small mushroom poking up through the sand!

a bayberry plant . . 

panic grass . . 

a lone cranberry from the nearby bog . .

red cherry . .

goldenrod gone to seed . .

pea shoots in the sea grass.

collecting scallop shells someone discarded at napeague bay.

there's a lot of iron in the sand and on the shells.

you can see the iron clinging to the metal of morgana's camera case.

oh, they picked up a pygmy puff . .

and decided to take it home.

after the walk, and before going home, we stopped at gosman's dock where there was a 40 percent sale at one of the store's we like. we picked up a few birthday gifts for friends.

korrina and i walked along the water before heading home.

saying good-bye . .

it was late, which meant it got too dark to knit in the car!

back in the city . .