marshmallows and ravioli

 

the beautiful banner from san is currently between the bookcases . . though i might move it eventually to one of the windows.

the bakery where we usually buy a packet of marshmallows to have with hot chocolate at the holiday time has only been selling them individually. i finally bought three the other day for us.

so good!

and . . it's been so spring-like that the ice cream truck has been parking by the playground and singing its song.

we had one of my favorite dinners this evening: cheese and spinach raviolis from rafetto's with sautéed baby spinach and garlic.

summer saturday

so many wonderful vegetables at the green market - summer squash, broccolini, butter lettuce, scallions, panisse, endive, cauliflower, tomatoes . . 

the treats . . 

i spent part of the hot late morning going through the sprinkler in the park with this little one . . 

pretty sudbury where morgan is visiting.

it's a warm night but there's a cool breeze coming through . . it's supposed to go up to 99 tomorrow . .

on my mother's birthday

halloween preparations

bleecker street playground had it's children's halloween celebration today.

i took korrina to this years ago before we moved to brooklyn. i dressed her up as a pirate . . she was a year old at the time.

today we saw many pumpkin costumes, elsa costumes from the movie frozen, and a few princess leias.

the leaves on the locust trees are some of the first to begin turning.

back at home i got out the decorations and chanda got busy . .

drawing with the window crayons . .

and then it was time for popcorn and a board game.

chanda chose herd your horses . . 

our pumpkin sitting with the two little pumpkins from my mom and dad's home. they were from meals on wheels which always brings them holiday decorations.

a funny bird and waffles

chanda spied this bird walking home from violin on saturday.

 she thought i was being silly to take it's picture, and found it annoying to have a phoney bird sitting up in the tree. i thought it was kind of cute. we both found it interesting that whoever put it up there, put it at the back of it's house, not at the front with the entrance.

our breakfast on sunday was waffles made with almond flour. though they were a little floppy, they tasted delicious. we have a few frozen. we'll have to see what they're like when warmed up in the toaster. 

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weather-wise, it was warm on saturday, but cold on sunday. we went up to inwood to see a production of oklahoma, comprised of some homeschooling friends. the kids were great, but the show isn't one of my favorites. it was good to see the production, as we've heard a lot about that particular children's theatre. we've also never been up there, so it was nice to learn about yet another nyc neighborhood. we visited a thrift store with my friend janet who was shopping for me and my girl costumes. then we drove madly back to the theatre in time for the show (her son was performing in it). we came home on the train with other friends who were there, and it was very cold! i think it went town to 20 degrees last night. i know it's been even colder upstate and in vermont. spring is slow this year, though i can hear a cardinal outside my window this morning. it's the "cheer cheer cheer cheer" call. in the link it sounds most like the "encounter" or "songs #2."

in the city

we were on the road early this morning to return m and c to a macbeth rehearsal. their friend's dad found a theatre for them (through personal connections he has!) on 42nd street that they are using for several hours for the performance. there's a lot for them to do and they're at the point where they have to choose which problem is more important to focus on: stage blood, last minute prop selections, scene difficulties, full runthroughs . . they've been working once a week for several months now. no matter how large the obstacles, i think it'll be a great show. (the above photo is of the french fry tower - sorry, just can't bring myself to call it the freedom tower - basking in the glow of tonight's setting sun. i'm actually beginning to like this absurdity).

i was home in time to walk jack and find a parking spot, which was a great relief to me. (it's always unpleasant driving around and around waiting for one to open, and coming home to a dog accident). we'll go back for our usual february/march visit next week, but i'll also probably be doing more frequent visits to help keep bills in order and see what work needs to be done around the house. my parents are quite elderly now and it's a difficult transition for my sister and me since they are quite far away. our daily and weekly routines are disrupted and neither one of us wants to leave our own home. of course this whole situation has been painful for my mom and dad. it's just not an easy adjustment . . . or journey at this point, though i know my sister and i are grateful for the beautiful home they've always kept open for us to visit whenever we wanted. if they had lived up the block from either one of us, we would never have enjoyed the continual beauty of the town they chose to make their final home.

on another note, morgana had a guitar concert this evening. she played bach's prelude (one of my favorite pieces) and a new quartet piece titled chasing dragons.

tuning up . . 

on the way home, hungry and tired.

bleecker playground

 . . bleecker playground under a blanket of snow . . greg ran into chanda coming home from her modern dance class with ellen, and took this picture of the park.

songs for the city

 on my way to meet chanda this afternoon, i passed magnolia bakery and heard a piano playing in bleecker park across the street . . i had to investigate.

 it was a man playing a sing for hope piano . . we had our very own piano in bleecker park . . so exciting.

he was playing a grateful dead song . . do you recognize it?

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and here's two pics from morgana's limon intensive with betty and fritz:

fritz, betty and morgana . . (she can't remember the other student's name),

and with samantha geracht and francesca todesco . . (rafaël and daniel in the background).

mother's day

 

 greg made omelettes for all of us this morning.

 

 they're always very good!

 

 

 korrina . . eating her breakfast . . she worked on her screenwriting beat sheets for her last class tomorrow.

 

morgana worked on her headbands for the study group children she cares for on monday. she also prepared a puppet show called akimba and the magic cow.

 

 

at one o'clock we went to see bye, bye, birdie which we really enjoyed!! leCee always puts on a great production. she really knows how to work with the children and how to stage the songs in a simple yet exciting way. of course janet's costumes were beautiful and colorful and brightened up the stage!

 

in the evening we went to dinner at moustache . . a neighborhood restaurant from 18 years ago this is, happily, still around. the girls and i waited for greg in the new park on bleecker street (he was walking jack).

 

 korrina stayed engrossed in her book . . 

 

their hummus is still the best. m and c liked the spinach pie.