brunch and brooklyn

i persuaded greg to have breakfast at one of my favorite places this morning.

their food is very good and the servers are friendly . . 

and the space is charming and cozy.

they also refill your coffee which is a plus as greg is a diner - at least two cups of coffee - aficionado.

korrina is staying at a friend's apartment near the restaurant she works at tonight as she needs to be up bright and early to prepare for the brunch seating. she passed where we used to live and sent a photo . . it looks just as warm and inviting as ever - such good memories. my photos from this time are all on photo paper as it was pre-digital camera. i have boxes of these photos i would like to sort through . . one day!

9 am at milk bar

another busy saturday

 

it was slow at the cafe (where chanda works) in the morning so janet and i went to visit.

in london, morgan did some closet organizing . . 

lovely hand knits!

at 1 pm i listened to accounts from the bethlehem institute for peace and justice documenting the terrible situation there. i keep thinking i should send this to my sister . . maybe she could share with her church. they are asking for help in spreading the word to christian organizations in this country. i know of two churches in nyc that are acknowledging and fighting for oversight and change. i receive a newsletter from one in chelsea, and the other is the uu church in brooklyn that we've attended.

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now for the first big part of this day: chanda became a full fledged member of the food coop!

shopping at the coop again!

the first stop was to get a packet of her favorite treat from here: spiral black licorice.

together at the coop again . . 

we went for a walk past prospect park . . 

and past grand army plaza . . 

to fausto! where korrina is working.

the first course was delicious focaccia and cauliflower salad . . 

followed by meatballs and broccoli rabe . . 

followed by gnocchi, whole wheat chitarra pasta with mushrooms and montauk shrimp with calabrian chili and green garlic . . 

the chef! (she was working the pasta station so she made all our pastas.)

the gnocchi with spring peas, sheep milk yogurt and pancetta. there was also a new special pasta that wasn't on the menu yet . . we ate it so fast that i didn't get a photo. it was my favorite along with the meatballs, gnocchi and cauliflower salad.

pana cotta with blueberry and crushed pistachios . . another fave! (we were so full by now . . )

we also all had an espresso. it was a fabulous meal and so exciting to see her work place.

on our way home . . but only after we first did a shop at the coop! (which was fun!)

a big day in brooklyn

today we drove to brooklyn to rejoin our food coop.

but first we stopped at the cafe chanda works at for coffee and a treat . . 

(we shared a scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam.)

over the bridge . . 

a little fellow waiting for his owner to come out of the deli . . 

back in the old neighborhood . . 

we were surprised in the office by the sight of a dear old friend who is now working there. it was a very happy reunion with lots of hugs and talk of how the children were doing. it was the best welcome back (and there was also some paperwork to get through).

and here's korrina . .

she's working in brooklyn now and we stopped by to say hello.

after rejoining, we could shop! it felt strange to be back . . many things were the same, but there were a few changes, such as there's no more childcare! perhaps that fell apart during covid.

i remember shopping with the girls when they were this young . . 

greg was incredibly happy to be back . . especially in the coffee aisle where you can pick out your beans and grind them yourself.

the grey awning on the left was the vet clinic from whence we adopted black cat xena (in 1995 i believe - she was a sweet little curmudgeon). they called her survivor because they were surprised she survived! she was seven months old and had been very thin and malnourished, along with ear and nose infections. she got right to work and scared the mice away that were in our ground floor apartment and they never came back. i was very thankful.

beautiful brooklyn . . 

it was starting to rain when we stopped for gas . . 

the reason why i wanted to rejoin . . it's time for the big boycott vote which will be tuesday.

back home again, i made a salad and quick marinara sauce to go with ravioli i had picked up from raffetto's. ron and andy came over for dinner. 

and we played a few rounds of uno.