walking milly and a slice of cheesecake

 

milly's ear blowing in the wind . . 

before i walked milly today i rode a citibike downtown to visit the mah ze dahr cafe at brookfield place. i had seen on their instagram story that they were closing their counter at the food court and today was their last day. they used to have a storefront on greenwich avenue but they left that space a few years ago. (i had visited there many times with marisa, and also with korrina, morgana and chanda.) so today i thought i would go and have one last treat and cup of tea. a worker behind the counter mentioned that they might open a new space near hudson yards in september.

voting day and spring flower photos

pluto this morning . . 

and here are the three of them before chanda and i went out to vote.

it was a special election as our local council member was elected to the state assembly and we had to vote for his replacement.

look who we met up with . . it was a voting party.

the neighborhood is looking beautifully festive with all the spring blooms . .

and greg and i ate at tartine. we figured out that the last time we ate here together was when the restaurant had a different name, which neither of us could remember. we asked the current manager who also couldn't remember, though he knew that it was in 1991!! i have eaten here several times since then with janet and with morgan and chanda. one time we met a colleague of greg's from his work, which was interesting as i cannot remember how we figured out that she knew greg since he wasn't with us. maybe chanda remembers the story.

the weekend

just some photos from our weekend out east. pluto stayed home with chanda while the two rascals came along with us. we had a rainy drive going out, and two days of grey skies. the sun shone on monday and we left in the evening when greg finished work.

dinner at the point - i had one of my favorite meals: seared blackened tuna with sesame seeds and a soy garlic glace. their fresh tuna is always very tender and never overdone. i love the steamed vegetables and mashed potatoes with it too. greg had a fish reuben sandwich which he said was very good.

afterwards we visited the art gallery as it's their last show in this particular space. they're not sure where they are moving to yet.

i always enjoy walking around the backyard.

it was a drizzly walk along the beach early sunday morning . . 

coming back to the house, zuzu likes to peek through the window to see who's coming up the path.

this was a nice book explaining how the several breeds of guardian dogs have been trained to take care of the sheep. 

korrina was off from work and was at home watching the mets game with wash.

it was a close game of scrabble and greg would have won by just a few points, but he was too tired to lay out his final word. i've gotten better at holding my own.

a beautiful moon . .

and i hadn't missed the peepers . . 

zuzu had her eye on a squirrel outside . . 

their tails!

lunch on monday: fried clams with the bellies and lobster bisque for me, fish and chips and cole slaw for greg (though we shared the soup and the slaw).

my aloe plants haven't been doing so well. i brought two of them home to see if they can spring back.

home again late this evening.

morning poem

 

planting pansies

the garden store has flats of pansies.

hardy enough to bounce back after a frost,

they promise spring color before it's safe

for impatiens or petunias.

i head home with twenty-four plants,

purple faces cheerfully grinning.

and spend the morning in a coat,

carving holes with a hand shovel.

turning moist earth, i recall

that my father taught me

to position plants before digging

and gently loosen tangled roots.

daddy used to say it's more practical

to purchase perennials, plants that come

back year after year like returning memories.

but today i put my faith in pansies,

heart-shaped petals not too fragile

for the lingering chill in the air.

by jacqueline jules 

(born 1956, american author and poet)

how are the lilacs?

the lilacs are starting to wilt, but i've really enjoyed having them. i've been amazed that the cats haven't bothered them very much. cricket and zuzu would try to nibble at the leaves and flowers in the morning before they were fed, but would stop when i distracted them. i'll have to buy lilacs more often!

the current spring time nature table . .

friday night at home

 

for dinner this evening i had leftover split pea soup with an arugula salad. greg and chanda had the salad along with ciabatta bread with a caprese salad sandwich: mozzarella, basil, tomato and olive oil.

getting ready for a game of bananagrams . . 

my winning words!

sunny day

 

it was windy walking milly by the river today . . but it was perfectly warm . . 71 degrees - not too hot and not too cold.

today i discovered that there is a fellini cafe on 14th street! they're everywhere.

she's wondering where her treat is . . it was in my pocket.

and she gets another treat at home.

korrina sent this photo of wash, which i love.

a birthday celebration

we celebrated janine's birthday at bar tizio with chicory salad, asparagus salad, olives, pizza, chicken and a black and white cheese cake. we had never been to this restaurant before and it was quiet with delicious food and a very nice server (he said his name was alexander).