visiting christine . .

morgana has been in denmark visiting our friend christine (she was here in the fall over a year ago to go with us to the sheep and wool festival-such a fun visit). i find the above picture amusing as it looks just like the brooklyn botanic garden with the cherry trees in bloom. and that's another interesting and amusing item . . the cherry trees are in bloom in copenhagen even though it's so cold there. we have another week here before they are fully in bloom. (well, i just checked the brooklyn botanic garden's website and there are several cherry varieties in bloom here, but the popular prunus kanzan which we have on washington street and which are planted along the botanic garden's infamous cherry esplanade, are not in bloom yet).

a bulldog in the gardens . . 

i wonder if we'll make it to our gardens this year . . ?

the interior of trinity church built in 1637 (completed in 1642) and which survived two city-wide fires (1728 and 1795) and the 1807 british bombardment of copenhagen . . 

i think this is trinity church also . . as seen from the gardens or the cemetary?

the castle where the crown jewels are kept.

 this is a blue mountain lily and i think it's a native flower of the middle east (i found a reference to it in a book online titled natural emirates).

houses in copenhagen . .

 at a coffee shop with lemon meringue pie and cyclists riding by outside . . 

a coin manhole cover in lund, sweden where christine works.

 at another coffee shop, this time with chocolate cake . . 

 outside the palace where she was able to see the queen on the queen's birthday . . oh! that's right . . that was the birthday they went to! christine has posted about the celebration on her blog.

cozy at home (there's a special danish word for this) with tea and treats and a knitting project . .  (love the lace cloth, christine!!).

and now in denmark

morgana is visiting our friend christine in denmark for this week. i'll have to post more about it when i get home again. we're visiting my mom and dad for two days.

day of the dead/all saint's day, more pumpkins, and a puppet show

 we began the morning with a poem celebrating november, and prayers for our loved ones who have passed away. (i liked reading about the preparations that residents of positano, italy were making on nicki's blog figs and lemons).

 at 9 am morgana left for her dance class, and chanda and i got ready to leave for a puppet show at the new vic theatre on 42nd street.

 though it poured while i walked the dog before leaving . . afterwards the sky was a beautiful blue in the west.

 

 we saw sleeping beauty performed by carlo colla and sons from milano. the puppets were hand carved with a minimum of six strings. the puppeteers created and worked their own puppets. the sets and costumes were incredibly sumptuous and elegant! it was an amazing show. rich. decadent. funny. serious. loud. beautiful.

check out the interview with piero from the company. 

 we walked home and passed the pumpkin patch at abingdon square park. 

they were supposedly giving away free pumpkins for you to carve and place on the grass. chanda missed out on doing it this year . . but maybe next.

 more pumpkins on stoops . .

 pumpkins looking frightened and surprised . . 

 pumpkins looking tired and squashed . . 

 pumpkins . . part of a scary scene!

what is in my refrigerator at home? two big pots of soup! this is what the girls had for dinner tonight. there's still lots left over. maybe you should come for dinner!

what is on my counter? leftover apple pie and pumpkin pie . . not for long!

 dances patrelle had their fall fundraiser this evening, in a large and lavish apartment on park avenue. i got there late (there was traffic everywhere and the 4, 5, 6 line was not running) and i left early and walked and walked until finally hopping on the bus down fifth avenue on the way home.

i stopped at eataly for a bowl of their zuppe de pesce (striped bass) and met juliet from santa fe. we had a fun conversation about brooklyn (the brooklyn museum currently has an exhibit of wangechi mutu's work which juliet encouraged me to see--museum info is here and a new york times article is here), busy manhattan (dance, theatre, art . . ), and whale watching in hawaii. the place was closing when i left, but i managed to get an espresso from the cafe before walking home through a downtown that felt like summer with everyone out and about. it's supposed to get cool again . . ha!, on sunday, according to the latest weather info from greg. however, the last time i checked the weather it was supposed to be warm for the next week and a half . . who knows what it'll do . .

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i forgot to write that christine went home saturday afternoon. i went with her to penn station and waited in the (rather nice!) new jersey transit waiting lounge while eating annie's pretzels (i had salted and christine had cinnamon). then she wound her way through a skinny doorway amidst a very fat line of people bound for newark airport. and then she was back in denmark . . back in her castle home . . and back to work. until next time christine . .

the parcel . . continued . .

when i first opened the parcel, i thought my friend had mixed up the items from another parcel she was sending. but that was not the case. what seems to have happened is that the parcel broke while being shipped and not everything was put back. i ended up with a stamp pad meant for someone else. or someone actually took the items and replaced it with the stamp pad. for me the substitution of the yarn and chocolate with the stamp pad is just too amusing. so while christine may feel very upset that her lovely gifts did not make it into my hands, and while i may sorely miss working with the lovely yarn she picked out for me, and eating the delicious chocolate, the hilarity that ensued from the mix-up is priceless. honestly, i still can't stop laughing about it. that stamp pad is just too funny. i wonder if this lee royen person is going to miss her stamp pad!

i just looked up this CHV company and composed an email to them. however, i think i will try calling them tomorrow and ask for "lee royen." maybe it will be best to speak with lee royen personally. maybe she (or he) received my yarn and chocolates in a package? i hope they didn't eat them . . yet!