dinner at ruffian

 
marisa and tsering are in town and we decided to visit korrina this evening.

the summer menu . .

explaining the main dish . . . featuring yellowtail fish, radishes, shishito peppers, and english pea ice cream.

it was incredibly delicious.

we also had the gigante bean dish; the swiss chard, figs and potato dumplings; the marinated cucumbers; and the delicious sunflower sourdough bread with kimchi oil.

heading home after a very lovely meal.

a poem on sunday, and other things

flying poem

like a woman

hanging her laundry on the clothesline,

i hang my words

on the lines of my page.

heavy, frightened words,

spread fear in my room.

they shrink

when exposed to the sun

of the reading eye.

my words

dry up.

the next day

my brother, tired of

gazing at those fainting letters,

throws the book

in the drawer.

the sun sets behind

the eyelid.

the words in the drawer

swelter and stew in their sweat.

my little niece smells them.

she opens the drawer.

the words fly out.

the poem is free.

it lands in nests of migratory birds.

they sing it to the passing clouds.

by mosab abu toha (born 1992)

----

breakfast at hector's . . (i just missed a photo of the man walking away outside . . he had been tying his ascot in the window reflection).

i had a spanish omelette, half of which is in the fridge here at home. i can no longer eat the huge portions that are served in restaurants. sometimes i wish they offered "half" plates. how does anyone have room for appetizer and/or dessert?

morgana's photo of the forsythia blooming at harley's mom's house . .

and mixed with holly and another branch (not sure of the name) in a vase in the sun room. (such a pretty home.) (hmmmm . . i think it's forsythia; it looks a little different from the plants here in the eastern states.)

and marisa sent a photo . . they had snow yesterday! (she's in vermont)

another warm day

 
it was such a beautiful day that i had to go out for a walk. i met marisa again (with my knitting, but we did not knit) and we wandered over to the union square green market.

marisa ran into an old friend of her's on 11th street . . marisa is always running into an old friend or neighbor . . once (years ago) we were waiting for a bus late at night after a dance performance and when the bus arrived, the driver turned out to be an old acquaintance from her days living in the bronx . . anyway, above they are discussing townhouse issues . . prices and upkeep, not that marisa has a townhouse, but her friend does. he was pointing out a conjoined pair that went for 75 million in february. you can actually read about it online here. they call them frankenmansions . . this is the first time i've heard that term. i remember reading about a similar situation in hollywood where wealthy investors were buying up old hollywood homes, knocking them down and building much larger dwellings.

after saying goodbye we stopped to browse through a pile of old records someone had put out (in the blue bag). i tried to post it on the stooping account on instagram, but did not succeed.

at the union square green market . . (marisa was dropping off her compost)

andrew's honey . . andrew specializes in specific neighborhoods. his hives are on rooftops.

honey for korrina . . 

i was hoping to visit a new cafe/bakery i had heard about, but they were closed, unfortunately. we went to breads on 16th street instead.

for dinner we had scallops sautéed in butter, kale with minced garlic and a salad with a light vinaigrette that chanda made. it was a green market meal again (from saturday's market).

and . . it was harley's birthday today. she and morgan visited the lego store and picked out a rivendell set and a axolotl water park set. a few weeks ago i found the strangest little plastic serpent on the floor and it took me a few days to realize it came from a harry potter lego set morgan and harley had put together here. one of the cats must have found it and was batting it around.

this last photo is of cricket falling asleep on my knitting: on the teal green baby sweater i'm making for manu's granddaughter, and on my grounded poncho . . he looks very comfortable, doesn't he?

morning poem and a warm day

near the end of april

near the end of april

on the verge of may--

and o my heart, the woods were dusk

at the close of day.

half a word was spoken

out of half a dream,

and God looked in my soul and saw

a dawn rise and gleam.

near the end of april

twenty mays have met,

and half a word and half a dream

remember and forget.

by william stanley braithewaite (1878-1962)

----

it was such a beautiful warm day today . . flowers and trees all in bloom . . after breakfast we walked to the ice cream shop and then chanda went to see a friend and greg and i walked to the pet store in soho for kitty litter. marisa called me when i returned home and i ran out again to meet her for tea at tea and sympathy cafe.

the tulips by the laundry room

a white redbud tree . . 

monday with marisa and tacos for dinner

 
spring nature table scene . . 

marisa and i were supposed to go for a walk this afternoon, but we ended up having tea instead at her apartment. it was nice to visit and talk endlessly . . she had a slab of korrina's favorite blue cheese and also some very hot pepperoncini! 

dinner tonight . . i stopped at chelsea market and picked up fish and shrimp tacos for us.

morning meeting

 
marisa is getting ready to head back up to vermont. i'll miss having her around. we had coffee, tea and a cornetti this morning at sant ambroeus cafe. (we were both amazed at the size of the leaves on this plant we saw on perry street.)

friday at the green market

marisa and i walked to the green market this morning and bought lots of bread from lost bread company (pretzel shortbread, seeded rye with raisins, a pullman loaf) along with gorgeous beets, cauliflower, kale and a sunshine kabocha squash.

(it was cold today! and the wind made it feel even colder.)

 

 we also passed the faculty of the new school who were striking for better wages and benefits.

marisa always has the best tea . . this was a special black tea (i think from rishi).