at the met opera

a friend was able to get us free standing room tickets for la bohéme at lincoln center this evening. her daughter played a "mascot" in a crowd scene. she was adorable and marched in step and waved her flag with the biggest smile on her face. 

we didn't have to stand long at all, but sat down in the last row of family circle during the first act. puccini's music is incredibly beautiful!

the first day of advent

 since family matters is just a week away, the day began with a rehearsal at the studio.

 and then when we got home, we had brunch with korrina and her friend brian who came to meet the family. afterwards, they ran off to work and we prepared for another (small) thanksgiving feast.

 as morgana chopped the cranberries, the cats looked hopeful for handouts . . 

(we're really in holiday mode now: playing christmas music and putting up decorations . . )

 madeline is hopeful for some treats too . . 

 morgana added grated apples to the cranberries and i think we put in a little bit of honey also.

 chanda worked on a physics experiment for class tomorrow. it was something to do with the magnetic fields of the earth. she magnetized a thin metal spear and watched how the compass pointed to it when it was placed in the apple.

 before eating we sang our first day of advent song and lighted the first candle. since two of us wanted to see what we were eating, we lit a few more candles.

"the first light of advent is the light of stones, stones that live in seashells, in crystals and in bones."

home again . .

 the trees in connecticut are bare and brown, but here in manhattan the callery pears, gingkos and locust trees still have many leaves.

it's another grey and rainy day, but thankfully the rain along the drive home was light.

a grey day after thanksgiving

 though it was very grey out, it was very pretty.

 it had been raining and the ground and deck, acorns and leaves were all wet in the morning.

breakfast with a beautiful view of the garden.

 after breakfast, we picked nana up to bring her back to my sister's for lunch (nonno opted to stay in their apartment). we first stopped at the local yarn store and had a lot of fun picking out several skeins that were on sale for seventy percent off! nana put them away for christmas.

 back at the house my nephew was busy making a winter garage for his volkswagen van.

 several of us decided to go on a walk to the overlook.

 it was really very warm out.

 a beautiful grey-blue sky!

 the days are so short! sunset was upon us before we made it back home.

 the cozy van . . 

 christmas lights were being put up!

 it's starting to look a lot like . . christmas . . 

 nighttime card game before taking nana home . . 

jason won one hand and morgana the other.

thanksgiving day

getting the table set.

morgana's table decorations.

working on her knitting items for the craft fair.

 knitting on a scarf and talking to nana in the kitchen while . . 

 aunt kathy makes the gravy.

 while we were waiting for my nephew and brother-in-law to get back with nonno, the girls and i and nanna visited the lake.

 morgana picked winterberries for the table.

 lllex verticillata, american winterberry, a species of the holly bush, native to eastern north american and southeastern canada. the native americans used the berries for medicinal purposes, thus its common name of fever bush.

 we contributed the creamed celery and sweet potatoes (and a pumpkin pie).

 our after dinner walk . . 

 it was very grey out but warmer than last year.

some of the cousins . . 

and charades!