birds, cats and scones

 

morgan and harley were up in the lake district on vacation with harley's mum, brother, sister-in-law and adorable nephew, dougie. they sent this photo of a pretty european robin who let morgan get so close. 

they were at a very pretty cafe that had a lot of sweet birds flitting around (looking for scone crumbs probably!)

the delicious blackcurrant scone!

these photos are actually from wednesday, august 25, when i was traveling to connecticut. this past weekend we spent a quiet time (far from the crowds, as it was the memorial day weekend) at home and on wednesday my italian class began again! it was exciting to be back with everyone and i've made a better effort to remember everyone's name, as they were all knowledgeable in that regard.

here's a photo i took today of zuzu acting like the queen of sheba which i sent to my sister . . 

she sent this of toby who likes to go in and out of their window (her favorite pastime is sleeping in the windowbox) . .

till tomorrow . . 

coffee and projects from morgan

 

greg and i went for a walk today and stopped at qahwah house. we tried their jubani coffee. it's a light roasted coffee and coffee husks with cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon (and we had ours sweetened with sugar).

morgan sent photos of two finished vests that had been in the works . . 

i think they look fabulous though i've heard they don't fit as well as they should. i think they were begun before the january fitting workshop at vogue knitting live.

they've also been working in the garden . . 

saturday dinner and an unexpected update

we had a late dinner tonight as i didn't get started on making this vegetarian shepherd's pie until evening. it came out well though and we really liked it. it was a martha stewart recipe . . lentils, an onion, carrots, celery, cremini mushrooms, worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and green peas with the obligatory mashed potato topping.

i think they were talking about the ice cream chanda found on sale at the local market (gourmet garage) . . ben and jerry's caramel toffee.

i finally made it to the green market this morning (i haven't been in months!) and ran into kendall and aurélien (which i had a feeling would happen). aurélien was very excited about all the budding plants and made sure to show me the snowdrops, crocuses, daffodils and other buds popping up in the park. i bought fish (tuna and scallops), apples, apple granola, cider, an olive ciabatta, a muffin, chocolate croissant and a strawberry rhubarb pie. we certainly have plenty of goodies for the next few days.

veronica (harley's mom) was visiting morgan and harley and they were walking around where we will be staying in july for the wedding. oh, that is a bit of news i don't think i ever mentioned, that morgan and harley have set a wedding day in july and we've been having fun making plans (food, music, venue, wedding favors, etc) . . it's exciting and we're very happy for them. other news? i think i mentioned that korrina changed jobs. that was a big deal. she loves her new place. she's with a friend from river park (the place that closed during covid). she really enjoyed working at the wine bar, but a change for her was due. now she's once again cooking italian food and working in a slightly bigger kitchen. the other news i never mentioned is that we went through a difficult time during the fall because in the summer we found out that greg's mom had stage four cancer (in the stomach that went into the liver). the five of us managed to visit her all together in late september, early october while she was still feeling well. it was a very special visit. she passed a day or so after thanksgiving. greg had flown down about two weeks prior so he could be with her and his brother and sister. it was hard to write about. i felt so overwhelmed with emotion . . terrified of losing my mother-in-law, and missing my mother so much. being without one's parents on earth is . . sad. that's all. just sad. well, losing any family member or close friend is sad, isn't it. we all have wonderful memories and they are in our hearts . . but it's just difficult . . and sad.

i do have beautiful photos of the florida visit. i hope i post them in the next week or so. 

here's a beautiful london sky  . . 

and a beautiful london park . . 

i think spring is just a week or so ahead of us there.

snow day

walking milly and pics from london

milly and i went for another walk by the river today . .  

and there's till goldenrod in bloom . . 

morgan and harley were by the lake district with harley's mom and brother and sister-in-law (and newest little one):

it's just so beautiful! (morgan mentioned that harley's mom likes to go for hours long walks! do morgan and harley last that long too?)

at the library and flat pics from london

greg and i decided to visit the mid-manhattan library today, but first stopped to say hello to patience (the lion) at the schwarzman building before crossing the street for our destination . .

the mid-manhattan branch is now called the stavros narchos library.

this is such an interesting rendering of the library's layout . .

puzzles!

we took the elevator up to the 7th floor to the cafe . . 

and then took our coffee and iced mocha out to the terrace . . 

it was our first time visiting the terrace cafe. we had heard how nice it was from korrina.

(the blanket i'm working on for milly's owner as she's having a baby . . this month!)

it was quiet and peaceful . .

afterwards, we returned to the schwarzman building for an exhibit about the new yorker magazine.

poet dorothy parker had a column for the magazine in its early years called "reading and writing."

one of her lists for the column included "unattractive authors whose works i admire."

we're accustomed to computers now, but so much was done then by hand.

fiction editor katharine white's letter to harold ross requesting that he do away with the practice of logging and describing every single manuscript that arrived for solicitation as the office girls were threatening to quit (!)

(the "genteel" piano player the workers are hollering at is on the center left side).

(the maid grabbing a smoke at the window)

the cover of the new yorker in june of 1962 when rachel carson's silent spring was promoted through a serialization in the magazine. the book came out that september.

we took the bus downtown and shared a salad and sandwich at waverly diner . .

(shrimp salad . . not easy to find these days . . )

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morgan and harley's apartment is beginning to show the benefits of their hard work. morgan sent photos today of the place all spruced up for a gathering of friends this evening:

now they finally have a kitchen sink! (morgan made red bean and quinoa chili in a newly bought pot.)

tomato plants?

i think this is chard.