a field trip on new year's eve

 

good morning!

 

(zuzu, just watching the mourning doves and the squirrels)

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greg, morgan and i decided to drive to hyde park to see eleanor roosevelt's house, valkill (korrina and i visited in 2018). morgan and greg had never been.

the weather has now grown so warm that the fog was intense coming after such cold weather. we had a very foggy drive north.

we couldn't join a tour until 1 pm so we stopped at the same diner (eveready) korrina and i had visited as it was only noon.

someone is missing their glove . . !

eleanor's study . . eleanor's son had sold the house after she died, but the town ended up buying it and establishing the historic site. 80% of the furniture is now original with more promised when the current owners pass away or are finished using the pieces.

 

the dining room . .
 

all decorated for christmas . . i was hoping to pick up a dessert plate in the franciscan design for korrina but they never reopened their gift shop after covid.

it was fun to see the house decorated for the holiday season.

supposedly eleanor loved picking out gifts for friends and family and would surprise everyone with her memory of what they liked.

videos of eleanor knitting:

more lost gloves . . 

and a foggy . . 

and rainy ride home . . 

where we played scrabble while waiting for midnight to come around . . 

watching the times square alliance streaming event . . 

they gave a fun commentary with stories from people who were in the crowd (people from kentucky, florida, minnesota, wisconsin, new jersey etc . . )

happy 2023 . .

fifth day

 

 

peanut brittle!

so delicious! (thank you eva).

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in the late afternoon i visited janet for tea . .

i had a bag of bellocq chai tea for janet (spicy!) and a special handcraft book showcasing artisans in british columbia, canada.

panettone, cappuccino . . and cricket

(the last of the panettone . . )

alla famiglia

 we were up early on the first day of christmas to travel east for our family get together. it was a beautiful sunny and very cold day! the first thing my nephew did when he arrived was put up the icicle christmas lights as my dad used to do. i have fond memories of rolling up to the house in the car at night and seeing the lights shining in the darkness.

 

 

the very second thing we did after unpacking the cars and putting away the goodies was head to the beach . . it was the first time in years that we were all together out east (korrina had to work last year, and chanda had been sick).

i was so busy taking photos that i didn't pay attention to the conversation and now i'm wondering what it was about. greg looks very animated. perhaps they were all just commenting on how cold it was.

here we're at the library where we looked for the photos we had submitted for the wintertime exhibit  . . our library has a special local history section now.

adam's submissions . . 

we talked with the librarian, amy, who had put the exhibit together.

perusing the books in the donation section . .

back at the house, morgana received a special graduation gift from aunt kathy and uncle warren . .

dinner time . . salad with spaghetti and sausage from the italian deli that i had brought, along with a marinara sauce i had made . .

admiring the lights . . 

time for a game of our special charades . . 

 

dessert . . cookies from ferrara's cafe and krumkager warren had made with jason and adam . . and my sister's gingerbread cookies.

time for bed!

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tuesday . . 

breakfast was quiche and muffins . .

pluto was the only cat who came along this time . . 

 

 

 

greg caught the 2:48 pm train home and korrina caught the 10:05 pm train home . . they both had work the next day, wednesday.

evening visit to the lighthouse . . 

and then a game of cards (may i) after dinner . .

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on the way home wednesday afternoon . . we stopped at hampton coffee in southampton and then morgan and i dropped chanda and pluto home before heading to manhattan. it was such a fun time celebrating together . . (morgan and i were shocked at how cold chanda's apartment was when we helped her take the bags and pluto upstairs . . she really needs a heater!)