kittens!

it's been such a busy week. greg and i returned from visiting my sister and brother-in-law sunday evening. then monday evening we drove out to the house to check on it and mow the lawn (i also had a nice swim in the bay) before returning in time to pick up the two kittens we'll be fostering for awhile. they're only five weeks old and are quite small, with little bitty meows. 

this is finn . . 

and this is andy . . 

we fed them a meal at 5:30 pm which andy ate up hungrily, but which finn wasn't interested in at all. we then had dinner ourselves, after which we took them out to play and run around the room (around 9:30 pm). they're very sweet and purred happily and finn hopped about and was first to explore, but still wasn't interested in eating when i offered food again before putting them back in the pen to sleep. i've put in a note to the foster kitten team for suggestions, so hopefully we'll get things sorted out and get this little fellow interested in eating. 

it was such a busy day. i took several plant dyed gauzy cotton kerchiefs to kendall this morning while she was sitting in the car waiting for the street cleaner to come by. while talking with her my friend ron texted to say he was in the neighborhood and could we meet up for a coffee . . so i went to meet him and while talking with him in the courtyard marisa calls me on the phone! she had driven down from vermont and was wondering if we could meet up. it's just so funny how everything happens at once. it was wonderful seeing ron and i'm happy marisa is around for a little while. i hope we can have some knitting sessions together again.

and now i better get some sleep. the kittens will be up early.

 

(oh! and i missed michaelmas. i hope to get the ingredients for a harvest bread tomorrow . . ) 

(photos by chanda.)

sunday morning poem

sunset

since poets have told of sunset,

what is left for me to tell?

i can only say that i saw the day

press crimson lips to the horizon grey,

and kiss the earth farewell.

by effie lee newsome (1885 - 1979)

autumnal equinox

it's still very warm here. i can feel a coolness usually at night, but mostly the days have been humid and warm. it's not summertime hot, but one cool day is so refreshing that any temperature that jumps above 78, combined with 73% humidity, feels sticky and uncomfortable. 

i'm ready for cool, crisp days to match the nights longer, cooler nights. it's dark by 7:30 pm.

dinner and schoolwork

whenever i make minestrone soup, i'm reminded of when my mom was in rehab after her hip operation (at easter time!) and we visited with a big bowl of it for her.

chanda had some quantitative reasoning homework in the excel program which she asked greg to help her with tonight.

harvest moon

and here we are again . . autumn and the full moon of september.

sunday night dance concert

 

 it was an evening of firsts: first night out to a public event since covid for the grown ups and first concert ever for the little one.

 

i had reserved our time to enter little island several weeks ago, when my cousin let me know that her friend leo sandoval would be performing a free concert there with his company, music from the sole. we were surprised by how crowded it was . . i don't know why i thought it wouldn't be crowded, when i'm well aware that everyone and their cousin has been pouring into our neighborhood at night to have dinner and drinks out on the town!

we entered little island and had to walk up to the glade. we thought that they would allow kendall to stay down below with the stroller, but that was not possible, so we rolled on up and unloaded the little one and wiggled our way into the audience. greg stayed with the stroller at the very top. he's not one for wiggling betwixt people and fortunately for kendall and i, he did not mind staying with stroller and bags and just listening to the music.

aurélien was a little stunned at first, i think, but slowly warmed up to the experience and started bouncing to the beat. he enjoyed looking around at everyone and watching the children who were sitting behind him.

 

i loved every minute of the concert. it was so joyful and uplifting and everyone around us was dancing and clapping and enjoying it also. it felt good to be so happy.

our view of the river from where we were sitting . . 

and of downtown . . 

the moon is almost full . . 

looking northeast to the empire state building . . 

 

(after the concert i did go up to say hello and it was very nice to meet him after hearing so much about his dancing and visits with my cousin.)

heading back down . .

 

and back onto manhattan island . .

 

and past the cunard pier 54 arch . . (pier 54 was where the cunard ships lusitania and mauretania docked, and where the survivors of the titanic landed after being rescued by the carpathia in 1912).

 

the whitney museum brightly lit, but quiet on a sunday night.

 

maybe beginning to be a little tired?

lovely evening tunes from the bar entwine . .

 

good night now, sweet dreams.

sunday morning bike ride

i was in such a bad mood this morning that when greg suggested a bike ride i almost chose to stay home and mope  . . 

we rode down to brookfield place . . 

and parked the bikes across from the 9/11 memorial . .

and went into his old workplace building for coffee . . (he loved working here) . .

i usually don't look at clothes in store windows these days . . but this bell bottom pants outfit really caught my eye!

i think the brown got my attention . . it's always been a favorite color . . .

pain au chocolat at le district coffee bar . . 

and cappuccino . . 

old fashioned steam boat heading up the river . .

this man having his photo taken is positioning his hand as if he's holding the statue of liberty in the distance . .

 

the willows . . where we often rode our bikes to read and picnic when homeschooling. the willow trees died soon after hurricane sandy when the river overflowed (which i posted about here).

back to a bike rack . . 

heading home . . 

to brunch (leftovers from last sunday's brunch) . . 

in a room that now has matching chairs . . 

and a student with a college t-shirt (the new school's mascot is a narwhal - it's so cute).