holiday monday

the mornings have been cool with a strong hint of autumn on the way . . but it still gets very humid during the day, though not at all too warm; only 80 degrees today. (chanda brought home this little cat tea light holder from london.)

i made pesto for dinner with fresh basil from muddy farm on saturday, along with sautéed summer zucchini (also from the farm). greg and i had breakfast at buvette in the morning. chanda had been cat sitting and came home to work on her room.

i can hear the baby downstairs wailing tonight . . !

walking milly, staircases, chinese food and the moon

milly sometimes likes to walk very leisurely . . 

and she is also extra fluffy these days . . 

milly, there's a rumor that you have a grooming appointment this coming weekend . . 

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when i was leaving after helping ellen with her five year olds this evening, i was suddenly struck by how wonderful i find the staircases to be in the old buildings of manhattan . .

the stuffy aroma, the modern addition of new pipes next to the old along with internet wires, the creakiness of the steps, the smell of the paint and the details of the banisters and molding . . and often the dust and dirt that owners and superintendents fail to keep up with amidst the number of people that frequent its halls.

i often run into the postal worker when leaving . . and today it was still light outside. (we jumped ahead an hour over the weekend.)

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greg and i met up for dinner at a place we haven't been in years, and one that has moved at least three times since our first visit - uncle ted's . . they're now located on 8th street.

char siu bao - steamed bbq pork buns. i remember the first one i ever had . . i was about ten years old and with my aunt evie in california, los angeles. we were at the farmer's market and i can't remember if she suggested them or if i saw them and was intrigued, but she bought one for each of us and i remember the pungency of that first bite enveloped in the puffiness of the bun and how delicious i found it. 

broccoli, eggplant and green and red peppers sautéed in ginger scallion sauce.

can you see the new moon?

just . . a little silver slipper of a moon . . on the second day of ramadan.

dinner with chanda and greg

raviolis from rafetto's with a salad . . 

chocolates and cookies for dessert.

memorial day here and there (docklands and the national gallery)

today is the first day that summer feels like it's on its way. it was hot. i made a "bulldozer" smoothie in the morning (named after a smoothie chanda and i used to get from the liqueteria juice bar chain): oat milk, coffee, cocoa powder and a banana. it's also the same ingredients juice generation uses for their "pb and joe." it was a slow day . . greg and i took a walk and chanda was at the cafe. korrina texted me beautiful vermeer photos of her day at the national gallery.

the yarn i bought at downtown yarns looks to be the same color as the napkins i made in 2016. i first thought i had bought the same color, but when checking my ravelry page i see that six years ago i had bought the color "ice," it has just faded to now look like sea green.

being so sunny and hot, we did not go far, but stopped at the health food store on the way back where i saw the cutest french bulldog, brindle color. i hurried after the owner to corral her in the freezer section by the frozen applegate chicken sausages and asked if she had gone through a breeder. no, she said, she got her dog through citipups (!!). she said she was lucky, and she was lucky because her dog looked very healthy (no heavy breathing or skin allergies) and was extremely friendly. he jumped right up on my knees with his front paws (i had squatted down to say hello) and gave me lots of chin kisses. his name was gus and he was three years old. citipups. hmmmm.

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expedition to docklands:

i think the visit to the museum of london docklands that korrina and morgana took was on sunday. i love the energy of this photo and all the colors. london has so many picturesque corners.

the british also have such a great sense of humor. lots of cute rat photos were sent to my phone.

(we're currently having an overabundance of rats these days due to the outdoor sheds and garbage lying about on some of the main avenues).

i think this is showing how they rolled the barrels after they were made . . 

korrina's turn . . 

i think this was a shared lunch before heading home . . 

or maybe a stop first at the grapes (where chanda was asked to leave a number of years ago because they tried getting her in underage) . .

and then another ride on the new lizzie line (so nice!)

 

 now for some photos that korrina sent me today, as she went to the national gallery to see the vermeers (she danced the lead in ellen's piece, walkaround vermeer, many years ago, giving her a special personal connection to vermeer and to ellen which i know means a lot to her).

 

nelson's column in trafalgar square . . and that was today in londontown.

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meanwhile, back at the ranch . . after dinner . . 

after cooking dinner (and washing a ton of vegetables from the green market) it felt so warm in the apartment that i had to get out for some air so greg and i walked over to the river . . (and to the dog run where there was an incredibly adorable french bulldog puppy who was getting harassed by a brown cockapoo).

back home . . a round of bananagrams . . 

 

which i won this evening (it helps to get a lot of vowels).
 

chanda's words . . 

and greg's.