sunday bike ride

i made my mom's pancakes for breakfast this morning. it has been awhile since we had them. i think it's really my favorite breakfast to have - just flour, milk and eggs, and then we roll them up with jam (red raspberry this morning), maple syrup and butter . . and also fresh strawberries. greg and i then went for a bike ride . . it was such a beautiful day and i just wanted to feel the breeze by the river. the trees along the bike path form a beautiful canopy lately, and the flowers along the path were so fragrant. the sun was very warm, but the air was cool. we rode all the way down to the battery. there's been construction for the flood mitagation and they have been building up the land with ramps, but some areas have re-opened. 

the fountain by castle clinton (it was a fort from 1808-1811) . .  

the couple sitting next to us on the bench was having their caricature drawn. the woman sitting with the sketch pad on her lap (to the right of greg's face) worked part of the time, and then her partner took her place and finished the drawing. i thought that was interesting.

the water just glistened today (in the distance is the statue of liberty).

then suddenly we were at "the willows." the girls and i would ride our bikes here when homeschooling. we would read and work on whatever knitting project we currently had. sadly, the two willow trees are no longer here. they slowly died off after being inundated with sea water during hurricane sandy. i was glad to see that a lovely birch tree (seen on the right) had been planted in a willow's place.

(here's a 2009 willow visit . . greg is with us here, as it was labor day weekend . . korrina isn't. she was often off at a ballet class or a stage managing gig, a group homeschooling class, or just with her friends, which is probably the case here since it was a holiday.)

looking southwest toward the statue and ellis island.

we next passed a favorite monument - the mother cabrini statue . . 

"maria francesca cabrini, mother frances xavier cabrini, 1850-1917, italian american who dedicated her life to helping children and the needy in new york and around the world."

and then it was time to pick up a citibike for greg and head back home (i had my bike with me).

----

morgan called when we returned and sent a photo of the current craft project: a child's size quilt is being sewn with leftover charity shop fabric and liberty fabric (from the wedding napkin favors). i love the jumble of colorful prints.

we watched an episode from the new ted lasso season . . 

(cricket is eyeing my italian cookies that were supposed to be for adam, but since the car broke down we never made it out to the house for him to have any. by the way, the car has been fixed - the mechanic replaced a "sensor" and it is now running very well!)

morning poem and sunday afternoon

 

daughter

i ask her to remember, 

not because i want to hear the story again,

but because i want to watch her face relive

the moment. that moment, her eyes sparkle with longing,

i can see how she flies from the tent

to a time when she leapt

through our farm in every direction with eyes closed,

only stopping at the fence, where our orange trees

embrace our neighbors' olive trees.

some fallen oranges would tell her to open her eyes,

to pick them up and put them in a plate on our doorstep,

where children returning from school

would stop to gulp some.

i love the smell of oranges best

when she remembers.

by mosab abu toha (born 1992)

from page 37, forest of noise, published 2024 

----

i walked to the vintage pop up store chanda and i had visited friday to pick up the striped pants i liked that were on sale. i'm glad i did. they're very comfortable and they're something other than blue jeans, which i tend to wear every day. i met greg by cooper union/astor place and we popped into the muji store to see how much their suitcases were - chanda needs one. i don't know why she doesn't have one. i guess she was using an old one of morgana's all these years . . or morgana took her's back to london. anyway, they were a little pricey so she'll probably go to tj maxx. greg had never been in muji before and was excited about their pens and notebooks; now he's a big fan. afterwards, we walked to chobani in soho for one of their yogurt specialities, but they've changed their menu so we had an iced chocolate at burdick instead . . not such a bad trade off . . then we stopped at pet bar for a large bag of kitty litter which greg had to put in the basket of a citibike to pedal it home . .

now, hopefully i'll get to sleep a little earlier than last night . . 

(dinner this evening . . fresh tuna sauteed with olive oil, cumin, paprika, sea salt and pepper - picked up from the lobster place as our fish vendor no longer sells on saturdays at the green market. we really miss them!)

easter in connecticut

 

chanda, greg and i drove up friday morning, stopping for cookies, hot cross buns, bunny bread and savory broccoli bread at the mazzicato bakery on the way. we had lunch with kathy and warren and went for a walk around the neighborhood before warren picked adam up at the ferry in time for dinner (cod with mustard sauce, potatoes and stewed tomatoes). saturday we went for a bike ride and sunday we were up early for easter sunrise service.

----

saturday bike ride . . 

i met the cutest little dog - a staffordshire terrier - named clyde who was blind. he was so sweet. there were so many people out today . . walking, jogging and riding their bicycles. 

everything was just beginning to turn green . . 

i find the trees with leaves hanging on so steadfastly interesting . . do the new buds push the leaves off?

afterwards, we went for a fun and delicious early supper at harry's . . i had clams with the bellies and a chocolate shake . . others had mocha shakes, chocolate and raspberry ice cream, a fish sandwich and fried clam strips . . onion rings!

a game of bowl in the evening . . 

and then a little bit of dessert . . key lime pie and cookies.

----

easter morning was beautifully misty . . 

back home for coffee, tea and easter bread . .

and korrina sent this beautiful photo as she stepped out on her way to work . . 

her morning commute . . (her restaurant was doing sunday easter brunch)

time to hunt for the eggs in connecticut . . 

all found . . but there were a few difficult hiding places and i had to give hints to the search party.

and then it was time to hunt for gifts . . 

found!

something hidden in a coat?

kathy's gift was hidden behind the cat food . . 

special socks that said "i can't get up right now, my cat needs me."

the complete chi's sweet home, part 1 . . 

photos from the last trip to the everglades february, 2025 . . 

the zester and paring knife were from korrina who had seen kathy the prior weekend and sent them to connecticut for me. the book is a lovely book of famous intrepid women compiled by hillary and chelsea clinton.

i had brought up remnants from our christmas tree to put down as mulch in the yard. i added it to where a pine tree split from their last storm.

adam added a baby pine to an area he's calling the little christmas tree farm . . 

talking to jason . .  (it was his birthday today)

and morgan . . 

morgan and harley were at harley's mom's house . . they had vegetable pie, turnips, potatoes, a savory muffin and spinach . .

and little dougie, harley's nephew was there . . isn't he the cutest!

ham, string beans, broccoli slaw and macaroni salad . . 

and for dessert: rainbow cookies and leftover key lime pie.

and i drove home because greg had actually forgotten his wallet when we left home on friday!