a grey and cold friday

 

friday morning i walked downtown to whole foods tribeca to meet ella mills, the owner of deliciously ella granola bars, cereal and the delicious hazelnut balls morgan always brings me from london. i also used to subscribe to her app for recipe ideas which was a lot of fun and they were all very good. we also visited her cafe in '22 when we were in london for morgan's graduation. (i had the most delicious vegan chocolate chip tahini muffin when there.) 

she had a good turn out even though the weather was a bit dreary and everyone enjoyed talking with her. she's very personable and even said i should say hi to morgan for her (after i told her about all the deliciously ella treats morgan brings me). her husband and two children were with her and the little ones enjoyed handing out promotional canvas bags to the fans waiting in line. they're such a sweet family.

walking home through the misty grey day . . 

saying hello to these two friends . . 

mr. frog and mr. bee (a tom otterness sculpture, seen here in 2014) . . 

another beautiful star magnolia (beginning to lose its petals already) . . 

such a foggy day!

i stopped at duane park patisserie for a hot cross bun which i've been craving for weeks (i also brought three home with me).

thankfully, the callery pear trees are very cheery on these cold grey days.

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in the evening i met ellen for a special salon chamber concert with one of her former students who plays the cello (he was in morgana's age group). we heard pieces by shostakovich, prokofiev, dvorák, messiaen, piazzolla and kodály along with the stories as to how they were composed:

"shostakovich stands against stalin's terror, prokofiev paints the chaos of red october, dvorák echoes a nation's search for identity, messiaen transcends the walls of a prisoner of war camp, piazzolla reinvents the tango as argentina teeters on collapse and kodály keeps hungarian tradition alive despite overwhelming suppression. each piece is a testament to the indomitable force of human expression in the face of adversity - a symphony of resistance, survival, and hope." 

a visit to the veterinarian

 i've been lackadaisical about getting pluto in for a vet visit after having adopted him. part of the problem was that i was no longer enthusiastic about our veterinarian. the clinic we went to was nice enough, but they had recently opened two magnet clinics and the one doctor whom i had really liked left our local office for one in another neighborhood. this week chanda helped me settle on a new doctor at a new office closer to home. today pluto and i visited the new veterinarian and it was a fun and positive experience. well, perhaps not so fun for pluto, but still positive.

 the new office is a smaller practice in a smaller space. however, it was very clean and incredibly "cozy" with exposed brick and a dog and cat book collection from local authors and not so local authors. i think the owner of the clinic just loves books.

 i wanted to ask if i could check a few out, like at a library . .

 but then it was time to see the doctor . . 

 pluto enjoyed investigating the exam room.

 unfortunately, the situation that compelled us to finally schedule a doctor visit was that the kittens and pluto developed parasites. yuck. it hasn't been easy eradicating them as the kittens need to be a particular weight for the medication. two kittens were below weight and one kitten was at the proper weight. i was told i could give the medicine to the kitten with the proper weight, and wait to give meds to the other two. this actually was not a smart move, as the kitten who had the medicine early has probably been reinfected and can reinfect the others even after they get their medication. i think this kitten will have to be returned early. it's actually been very stressful and still is. the kittens are very attached to each other and to me and i feel sad to send one to the center alone, even though she's quite independent and will probably be fine. she would probably have to be in a cage by herself until after her spaying surgery on monday and then until she's adopted.

 well, that's the sorry situation . . here are more pictures of the books . . 

 we actually have the taxi dog book and read it often at night before bedtime when the girls were little. i think we used to know it by heart. it came out in 1990 and was popular when korrina was born.

 here are watercolor prints by our local artist, who sells his work on the sidewalks of our neighborhood.

 i think i'll try and find this used online and wrap it for my sister for christmas. she likes to practice her french.

pluto is resting in front of jack's coffee on our way home. we passed a man with a pet crate clasped in one hand and his dachshund in the other hand on a leash. he smiled and asked if we were coming from the vet and i said, yes, and we both acknowledged how much we liked the doctors. 

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in the evening i met my friend jeanette for a concert uptown at columbia university. it's been a long time since i was on campus. i forgot how beautiful it is.

 i think this is the butler library . . 

and this is the low library, in front of which was a celebration (beneath the tents on the right). i have no idea what it was for, though i wondered if it had anything to do with either octoberfest or yom kippur.

the concert was in the italian academy in a beautiful small auditorium. the concert was so moving that i forgot to take a photo of the cellist and pianist at the end during the bows. i just kept clapping. they were friends of jeanette's from florence, italy.

topology!

 my friend jeanette invited us to a special concert at her new apartment in brooklyn. she had good friends in town from australia who were playing at the chamber music society of lincoln center, and she hosted them for a private soirée sunday afternoon.

this was my favorite piece they played. it's called ten hands, and you can hear a longer version below:

here they talk a little bit about the rehearsal process.

there were some adorable little ones who drew and colored while their parents played.

it was a fun evening and really nice to see their new place. they moved in around the middle of october and have enjoyed being "owners," rather than "renters." they have a sunny balcony and love being able to go outside directly from the living room, and they have friendly neighbors, some of whom are also musicians.

a solo concert and a chamber concert

yes!!! it's may 11th and time for deychen's solo concert!!! it was supposed to be for an hour, from noon to 1 pm, which i would have not minded since deychen plays so beautifully. however, chanda had a ballet rehearsal at 1 pm, and then a chamber concert at 3:30 pm. so, i was glad deychen's concert turned out to be only thirty minutes!!

i cannot tell you how she swept us all away . . she plays with such passion that you don't want her to stop. and of course she chooses the most intense and exciting songs! (she is sixteen, afterall, a time in one's life when one's skin is very fragile and life is very big).

deychen played:

j. s. bach, suite no. 1 in g major 

prelude (which morgana plays on the guitar, she was very excited about this)

allemande

courante

hindesmith, sonata for viola and piano, op. 25 no.4

bruch, romanze in f major, op. 85

 

good friends . .

and on to chanda's chamber concert . . i have a movie of this!! i'll have to upload it.

getting ready to say good-bye to daddy who couldn't wait to get to his cheap taco place on 13th street for a bite to eat before joining his friend to watch a knicks game in williamsburg!

west 10th street has houses with beautiful gardens.

i think . .  a japanese maple in spring.

i don't know!! please tell me if you do . . 

boxwood . . i've come to love boxwood . . so simple, sturdy and reliable.

more peonies! an entire forest of them!

clouds, a chamber music concert . . and a macaroon

these were the clouds that were out in the sky at 6 pm this evening at abingdon square. they were interesting . . i'm not sure how they would be labeled . . maybe a square stratus . . or a cirrostratus . . i was looking at this website for cloud information.

this afternoon, chanda and i were supposed to attend a birthday party with morgana (korrina went to new jersey to attend a bridging ceremony at her friend's church). a little girl morgana babysits for was turning four and we were all invited to the festivities. however, anne-sophie mutter was performing in a chamber music concert at avery fisher hall, and since we've been wanting to see her perform, we went there instead.

my friend marisa picked up the tickets for us. it was a wonderful concert, and ended with the octet performing an encore of one of bach's canons. it was very moving. and ms mutter was amazing. she has a special strength with a sensitive nature . . the audience loved her and everyone stood up in admiration and happiness at the end.

afterwards, we met up with morgana and had a bite to eat at the le pain on perry street.

i had the most delicious macaroon!