to the willows

 chanda and i took a bike ride this morning (after seeing korrina off to work at the yarn store). we haven't done this as part of our week since . . september! which is when we ran into the 9/11 memorial. i can't believe we haven't been here since. time goes too fast with a teenager.

our destination today was the willows with a stop to admire lady liberty . . 

and the boats passing by. it was very warm in the sun but the breeze felt nice and cool.

in the distance you can see the verrazano.

finally . . the willows . . one of them was gone. it had been doing poorly since sandy, and they must have decided to take it down this winter or early spring as it was still here in the fall.

we had a picnic lunch of "mary's gone crackers" and egg salad with pickles. then chanda began her christmas knitting gift, a shrug from quince and company in beautiful brown chickadee yarn, and i worked on my canyonlands shawl with sea silk yarn while we listened to nicholas nickleby (still!!! but we keep plugging away) on my phone via the audibles app (so 21st century!). actually, i made her wait until several of the napping workers on their lunch break left. i didn't want to disturb the quiet of the willows circle. then there was only one sleeping woman remaining . . .  (she looked like nothing would wake her) so i finally turned it on.

chanda's ballet classes have ended for the year so i'm unsure of what motivated us to finally leave, except that she wanted to do some math and i was planning on visiting my friend janet who is working on costuming another show and is in dire need of sewing help. whatever it was, we packed up and rode past the yachts and sailboats. 

there were several beautiful ones docked today. 

this was our favorite. isn't she lovely? she had ventura written on her bow. i instantly thought of eva and california. eva is home now, but ventura, california is a place i passed often when i went to school in santa barbara (where eva visited). my uncle and aunt also kept a boat in oxnard for a few years. ventura, oxnard and santa barbara are all lovely places to live.

i took a picture of chanda in front of this yacht for a specific reason. can you guess? do you see what is sitting on the very top of the yacht? a  helicopter! . . just in case you have a heart attack from all the rich food you're eating on board and need to get to a hospital fast, or just in case you need to make a quick getaway because you are actually james bond and le chiffre or scaramanga or jaws are after you . . 

back home again . . chanda and i made a soup she had picked out from the giada cookbook i have . . 

fresh pea soup with fennel and lettuce . . 

from her feel good food book. we sautéed shallots, fennel and lettuce with butter and added chicken broth, water and fresh peas. then i blended everything with an immersion blender.

but i forgot to take a picture of the final outcome as i was at a coop meeting until almost 8 pm! the meeting was with prospective board members and residents of my complex. there are actually no new candidates as everyone knows what a difficult and thankless job it is. the board had to defend several decisions it made this past year that do not sit well with my neighbors (myself included). as you can see, the meeting was outside in our courtyard and it became so heated and loud that chanda took pictures out of dismay and curiosity!

even neighbors from the building next door came out onto their balconies to see what the fuss was all about! 

when i finally came back upstairs i was happy to see that chanda had set the table and dinner was all ready. we ate while i regaled her with a few tales from down below, and then we got ready for bed and watched star wars, episode v . . well part of it. we'll have to see the end another night. it got too late.