poem for another rainy sunday morning, and a sunday dinner

a ship, an isle, a sickle moon

a ship, an isle, a sickle moon -

with few but with how splendid stars

the mirrors of the sea are strewn

between their silver bars!

an isle beside an isle she lay,

the pale ship anchored in the bay,

while in the young moon's port of gold

a star-ship--as the mirrors told--

put forth its great and lonely light

to the unreflecting ocean, night.

and still, a ship upon her seas,

the isle and the island cypresses

went sailing on without the gale:

and still there moved the moon so pale,

a crescent ship without a sail.

by

james elroy flecker 

collected poems, 1916

----

chanda made dinner for us this evening. she braised some chicken thighs with carrots and greens from the fresh food box and the green market.

 washing the farm fresh carrots . . (extra sweet and crunchy) . .

 dicing the fingerling potatoes . .

 browning the thighs . .

 after everything was in the pan she covered it and let it cook for about thirty minutes.

i really enjoy eating a home cooked meal that i didn't make.

how to dress in 1740

chanda and i walked to gramercy park this evening after her ballet class.

a friend had heard about a book signing event focusing on 18th century fashion with a tutorial on women's dresses. the book was titled the american duchess guide to 18th century dressmaking: how to hand sew georgian gowns and wear them with style.

 the signing was held at the national arts club, housed in an historic mansion built in the 1840's.

 the club was founded in 1898 by charles de kay, a literary and art critic for the new york times. i'm amazed that it's programs are free and open to the public. i think i would like to bring my sister and brother-in-law to visit it's galleries. they always enjoy looking at current artists, and it's such a beautiful old building.

 the book event was very crowded and we almost didn't stay, but our friend showed up on the last minute and we listened to a lecture on how to dress in the 1700's (specifically, 1740).

 one of the authors was dressed in her hand sewn undergarments and, slowly, they explained how to add the outer layers. here they are showing how to put on the stays (different from corsets!) made of whalebone. after the stays, came the pocket (which tied around the waist and held personal items), followed by the petticoat.

 next came the stomacher, which was pinned on to the stays and formed the front of the bodice. next came side panels that held the dress out on the sides of the body, and then came the gown, which went on like a robe. i think there might have been another skirt first, that was the same color as the stomacher! there were so many layers! the woman on the left is dressed in a later, 1765, style. they talked about how the hair would have been lightly powdered and covered with a lacy cap. lace ruffles were also added to the sleeves. when chanda and i left we couldn't stop exclaiming about how happy we are to dress in leggings or jeans and a top!

rainy day walk

the day felt even more rainy and wet and dismal than it was, since yesterday was its complete opposite. on a bright side, this is the first of three vibrant and fun umbrellas i saw today.

another the bright spot was meeting korrina and picking up our fresh food bags (braising greens, potatoes, radishes, arugula, pears and purple carrots).

 we had a mulled cider at her work's cafe, and we did a little knitting . . though i mainly admired her recent FOs (finished objects): a kate davies cowl done in kate's buachaille yarn, and a hat (not sure whose design) done in la bien aimee dk. they're both part of her ravelry olympics group, and i think they represent projects two and three.

i managed one row on my pebble beach shawl with stonehedge fiber mill's crazy loaf . . korrina is working on a christmas gift project: quince and co's tweet yarn with the baedecker scarf pattern.

along my walk today, i discovered a health food store on third avenue, between 25th and 24th streets. they're well stocked in everything and i picked up a florivital liquid iron supplement and an imagine brand chicken broth.

 here's the second exciting umbrella i saw . . very cheerful!

 and here's umbrella number three: sky and a field of daisies. i think people are ready for spring.

dinner tonight was inspired by the recipes that came in the fresh food box newsletter: purple carrot soup with herbal lentils, and chickpea salad with an orange tahini dressing. 

----

oh! i almost forgot to add morgana's photos from her day in innsbruck . . 

 she had a much prettier day, i think . .

brunch at a cafe: eggs with bacon and fresh tomato, cucumber, avocado and sprouts. chanda and i tried an avocado this week . . it wasn't very good. we're still missing the avocados we had in california. not one avocado we've had since we've returned to nyc has been as good. i think we are forever spoiled.

the cafe with daffodils . , i need to go on a spring flower hunt on the high line and along the river. i know the flowers must be out there as eva discovered snow drops on her birthday and she's much further north than me.

snowboarding and spring

 morgana has been snowboarding this past week and really loving it (almost more than skiing, i think).

 on the mountain . . 

 a lemon from italy . .

and here in nyc i had to add a stripe of beige to my temperature blanket, as it went up into the seventies today. when i went outside and checked the temperature on my phone, it read 78!!

chanda and i are still watching parts of the olympics . . early this morning we caught up on the women's figure skating . . we don't always agree with the judges . .

birthday breakfast

 we celebrated greg's birthday this morning, as he has a chess game at the local chess club tonight.

 we had fresh farm eggs from the saturday green market, and organic bacon and orange juice from the health food store.

 being away all weekend, i didn't get it together to make a cake or a chocolate mousse. i managed to sneak in a birthday purchase yesterday at whole foods when we were there.

 chanda's card . . 

my sister and brother-in-law's card for him (on the left) and my card (on the right, which i also saw yesterday . . i thought it was so cute) . . 

all these cards are very appropriate for the year of the dog. the expression on this bulldog's face is so true. bulldogs always look so worried! the card is printed in germany by edition inkognito, and the illustration is by michael sowa (i thought you would find this interesting, eva!).

 his birthday gift . . a peanut butter chocolate bar from lake champlain chocolates.

oh, and i finally found a good batch of oranges! these are mandarins from california and i had one more walnut french chocolate left to have with it. i think i'll have to make another batch as i love having mandarins with walnut french chocolates. nothing else tastes as good.

sunshine and snow

 we woke to a beautiful blue sky and a glistening white world.

 walkways and driveways were untouched, even by toby's footprints. she doesn't run outside into the cold like she used to. she's happy to be in a warm home.

does she look a little worried here? i barked at her to get her attention. maybe she's concerned that i'm having an identity crisis.

 warren is all ready to start shoveling snow . . i forgot that when one has a house, there's lots of snow shoveling to be done. what softies we apartment dwellers are.

 this person is totally oblivious of the work that needs to be done . . or just very good at ignoring everyone's preparations to go outside.

 warren is operating his new gadget here, except it really isn't new anymore. he's probably had it for a good four years. 

 the year he received it, they had snow past the car roofs and it really became a necessity. when one passes sixty years old, i think there's only so much snow shoveling per season one can do.

 though, i have to say, pushing and turning this machine takes a lot of strength!

 after a delicious breakfast, greg and i headed out to pick up chicken soup and visit my mom for lunch.

 we took another walk outside, and napped in the sun in the gazebo for a good . . half hour? maybe not that long, though it felt that way, and it was certainly warm enough with the sun shining so strong. we were chased away from our vitamin d bath when the clouds rolled over and sent a chill through the air.

today the fireplace was working which cheered us all. i'm surprised at the warmth that it sends out. it must have something to do with the special glass cover . . somehow it radiates heat through the top and bottom vents. today mom was much happier with her lunch and ate almost all the chicken soup, albeit very slowly! before we went back to the other side of the assisted living complex, we visited the upstairs library and i tapped into facebook on the computer up there, to share photos with mom of my cousin johnny's visit to moscow. he travels all over the world attending chimney sweep conventions. being a knowledgeable chimey sweep, he gives speeches and classes about new techniques and protocol.

pictures and valentine flowers on my mom's dresser.

 mom and santa claus . . with my sister in the background (i love this pic . . it's just so perfect) . .

 and her wedding photo.

 these are the two boxes of chocolates my nephew sent, along with his valentine's card, which i think is incredibly cute.

 we said good-bye to mom and left her by a window in the activity room, along with the other residents (she wasn't happy about this today . . ) and stopped at whole foods for lunch for this guy . . i was a little hungry too, and had a vegetable sushi with peanut sauce.

this is the necessary chocolate heart to go with the jasmine green tea . . 

 greg is buying chocolate bars that were on a special sale right in front of our table . . just so tantalizingly close that he couldn't resist . . 

often when i play back these videos i'm surprised at how loud the background machine hums are. i also took this video as i was struck by the passage of time which i noted because of the song that is playing. it's chrissie hynde singing with the pretenders, brass in pocket, which came out in 1980, my freshman year of college . . thirty eight years ago . .

on the road home . . i'll be back soon.