another tsatsa workshop on a leap year day

there was another tsatsa workshop today which i couldn't resist participating in . . 

the artist, sonam dolma brauen, demostrating how to shape the tsatsa . . 

today we gathered on the third floor . . 

i and the woman sitting next to me at the table ended up molding and shaping three tsatsas.

walking back outside to a blue sky . . (and a chilly day) . .

porkchops, red cabbage, potatoes, sautéed kale for dinner with greg.

Ceasefire Song

 

yesterday on the jewish voice for peace power half hour for gaza, they shared this video created by ayanna gregory and common hymnal and friends. it's a beautiful song and they would like it to be shared with everyone, everywhere. just go to ceasefiresong.com and share!

cricket antics, pluto and milly

this is what making the bed is like each morning with cricket . .

he eventually lets me complete the task.

pluto didn't sleep much last night. we think he was still feeling the effects of the sedative they gave him for shaving his belly and doing the ultrasound. i could hear him hopping up and down the hallway, visiting his water bowl and using the kitty litter. he usually sleeps with either chanda or us, but not last night. it was interesting that cricket stayed with him on the floor. zuzu finally hopped up next to me somewhere in the early morning. of course today they were all extra tired and have slept a lot.

milly was very interested in a perfume shop today . . 

and didn't seem to understand that i didn't want to go in . . maybe she visits the store with her owner.

it was also a wet walk, and i think she grew weary of the dampness. she had cysts removed over the weekend and has a few stitches. she grew confused when we were on the stairwell and wouldn't climb the last set of steps. i had to carry her up. she's ten, and so i guess it's understandable.

waiting for her treat after getting dried off.

at the vet

chanda and i took pluto to our vet today for an ultrasound.

he's been having blood in his stool off and on for awhile now and we're hoping to get more information.

i walked chanda to school . . 

and then visited mah ze dahr cafe for carrot cake and a latte (and to wait for pluto to be finished with the procedure). the book is days at the morisaki bookshop, by satoshi yagisawa, translated by eric ozawa. of course it was the cat on the cover that piqued my interest, however, there was never a mention of a cat. i still liked it very much. it's about a young woman's relationship with her uncle and how they help each other in a way they couldn't anticipate. the setting is  the uncle's bookshop and the author uses specific books and how the characters relate to the stories in an insightful manner. i highly recommend it.

i also found out that noon is a good time to visit this particular cafe with lots of available seating.

i took this photo because zuzu was perched on the other side of the armchair, but i wasn't quick enough and she jumped off right before i pressed the shutter.

anyway, the ultrasound showed a thickening in the ileum (the final section of the small intestine) which is indicative of the acute gastrointestinal problem, and it also showed enlarged abdominal lymph nodes, which (unfortunately) could point to cancer. so now they suggest an upper and lower gi endoscopy. we don't know yet what we're going to do next. (he's already on a special diet and has been for a year.)

lunch out with friends

today was a day for noticing pretty flowers sprouting from window boxes. 

cafe himalaya, where i was supposed to meet reina and sacha, was closed today.

we found a nearby thai place instead . . 

and got caught up with our personal news and with what our children are doing . . (news about college, middle school, baseball and musical theatre . . )

flowers everywhere today, even if they're not all real, they're pretty . . 

someone planted hyacinths . . 

blue sky . . . warm sunshine . . i think spring is on its way.

sunday morning poem and a bit about the day

 

the snowdrop

i found a tiny snowdrop, blooming in the cold,

i'll share with you the secret the little flower told:

"though winter still is here, it hasn't long to stay.

i came ahead to tell you that spring is on the way."

by christina t. owen from a journey through time in verse and rhyme, collected poems by heather thomas

----

greg and i woke this morning to a very loud cardinal calling outside our window in the courtyard. he was so loud that i could check his call on my merlin bird id app from the bed (greg thought it was a robin). i think spring is definitely on its way.

we had grits this morning, after helping kendall unload the car from an excursion she and aurélien had made out of town. chanda joined us before heading off to school to study.  

an old book that lived life undercover for awhile . .

what author?

thomas merton . . the sign of jonas, first edition, 1953.

a rare moment of companionship between zuzu and pluto . . of course zuzu is on her special cat bed, so the contact is allowed.

dinner . . 

and dessert (hot chocolate with whipped cream and honey cookies - our hot chocolate mix which we bought in woods hole is lasting a long time . . i wonder if it will keep until next christmas).

museum workshop

chanda and i participated in a workshop today at the rubin museum.

it's for their next exhibit in which several tibetan artists will be presenting different pieces.

today we made tsatsas . . tsatsas are votive offerings made to commemorate the dead. these offerings are made with clay that is often mixed with the loved one's ashes and then shaped into a figurine. they are placed in sacred spaces to acquire positive merit for the deceased person as well as for the one who placed the offering. for our tsatsas we rolled a piece of paper (along with a small stick of incense) on which we had written wishes for love and peace for specific friends or family or for groups of people and the world. she had several seeds we could also add to the figure. we made a cylindrical hole in the bottom of the piece into which we placed the scroll and seeds. 

we were provided with clay, a scroll of paper, incense and a copper mold of the same design as the artist's mold. we had to push the clay into the mold and pound it on the table to help it settle into the point.

chanda had to help me separate the clay from the mold.

artist sonam dolma brauen is helping to smooth out the bumps on my tsatsa. 

chris, another workshop attendee who sat next to me. 

the seeds . . (i'm not sure of their name)

the artist's tsatsa made with the mold her family brought with them from tibet when they fled in 1959 to india. she shared that she walked across the mountains when six years old with her father, mother and four year old sister, whom her mother carried. her father carried several pounds of roasted barley on his back which they mixed with water in wooden cups for their dinner when they stopped at night. in india they settled into a refugee camp where, sadly, they lost her little sister, and her father eventually died also. she finally was able to emigrate to switzerland with her mother where she was able to attend art school.

my finished tsatsas.

chris saying good-bye and thank you to sonam dolma brauen.

chanda's tsatsas . . it was a very special event that i'm glad we could attend.

afterwards, we met greg at chelsea square diner for lunch . . 

heading home (though chanda veered off to study at school for the afternoon).