may twenty first!

happy birthday to morgan today! 
and it's cold out again - at least 30 degrees cooler than yesterday (about 61). it was chilly last night when going to sleep and since i had already taken the wool blanket off the bed (and packed it away in its little storage bag) i bundled up with socks and long sleeves.

today was also rainy.

morgan and harley celebrated by meeting at franco manca for dinner . . i forget which location they mentioned they ate at now . . but their pizza looked delicious. they also had an affogato (espresso with vanilla ice cream, one of my favorite desserts).

here we're waiting to sing happy birthday to morgan on the phone . . there were many birthday wishers calling across the pond at the same time (6 pm east coast and 11 pm london)

afterwards, we had dinner at misoya . . (morgan received the package i sent in time . . i think it arrived monday or tuesday and harley put it away until this evening).

greg had ramen and chanda and i had hijiki salad (chanda) and kale salad (me), pork gyoza (dumplings) and veggie spring rolls.

aurèlien participated in a dance marathon supporting a school in guatamala. the kindergarteners moved through twenty line dances and it looks like they had a fun time.

early this morning i had an appointment with an opthalmologist who updated my eyeglass prescription.

and at noon i was at the library for my italian class. i've really been enjoying this and everyone is dedicated.

our teacher is stefania who is a lot of fun. she's constantly asking us questions and is patient while we try to anwer in italian. but she does get annoyed if she feels we haven't reviewed or practiced properly during the week. it makes such a difference (and is so important) to speak the language with someone.

chai tea and friday night dinner

 
it was a sunny and warm day . . 

greg had the day off from work so we went to qahwah cafe for chai tea (coffee for greg) and pastry (sabaya and khaliat alnahl, both with honey). 

(pluto watched an episode of finding ola with morgana and i.)

good friday dinner . . 

gift making, gifts and dinner

holiday decorations

morgana attended ellen's alumni class this evening (after visiting the transit museum in brooklyn with harley and meeting deychen for lunch) and stopped on the way home for take out food from our favorite middle eastern restaurant. we're getting ready to visit chanda this week and will bring her home with us.

all soul's day and the lake district

we are seven

--------------a simple child,

that lightly draws its breath,

and feels its life in every limb,

what should it know of death?

i met a little cottage girl:

she was eight years old, she said;

her hair was thick with many a curl

that clustered round her head.

she had a rustic, woodland air,

and she was wildly clad:

her eyes were fair, and very fair;

----her beauty made me glad.

"sisters and brothers, little maid,

how many may you be?"

"how many? seven in all," she said,

and wondering looked at me.

"and where are they? i pray you tell."

she answered, "seven are we;

and two of us at conway dwell,

and two are gone to sea.

"two of us in the church-yard lie,

my sister and my brother;

and, in the church-yard cottage, i

dwell near them with my mother."

"you say that two at conway dwell,

and two are gone to sea,

yet ye are seven! i pray you tell,

sweet maid, how this may be."

then did the little maid reply,

"seven boys and girls are we;

two of us in the church-yard lie,

beneath the church-yard tree."

"you run about, my little maid,

your limbs they are alive;

if two are in the church-yard laid,

then ye are only five."

"their graves are green, they may be seen,"

the little maid replied,

"twelve steps or more from my mother's door,

and they are side by side.

"my stockings there i often knit,

my kerchief there i hem;

and there upon the ground i sit,

and sing a song to them.

"and often after sun-set, sir,

when it is light and fair,

i take my little porringer,

and eat my supper there.

"the first that died was sister jane;

in bed she moaning lay,

till god released her of her pain;

and then she went away.

"so in the church-yard she was laid;

and, when the grass was dry,

together round her grave we played,

my brother john and i.

"and when the ground was white with snow,

and i could run and slide,

my brother john was forced to go,

and he lies by her side."

"how many are you, then," said i,

"if they two are in heaven?"

quick was the little maid's reply,

"o master! we are seven."

"but they are dead; those two are dead!

their spirits are in heaven!"

'twas throwing words away; for still

the little maid would have her will,

and said, "nay, we are seven!"

by william wordsworth (1770-1850)

----

photos from william wordsworth's home in the lake district where morgan and harley are visiting:

making friends with the cottage's cat . . 

who likes to rest in a bed in the garden shed.

at the beach, whale watching and remembering 9/11

 
we took the cats with us to montauk which wasn't the easiest, but they did catch the mouse so they were useful (!) (i also hadn't lined up a cat sitter . . so . . ) we had to play special cat soothing music for zuzu in the car . . she doesn't like bumpy roads or trucks or going too fast.

as we started out, chanda sent us a text and photo that she was on her way to a whale watching excursion in provincetown. my sister had been on the cape all week so i called to let her know chanda would be in her vicinity (they just happened to be biking in the provincelands, just outside of p-town). a few hours later we received these photos:

they were able to say hello to her before she sailed!

it was also nice to get a photo of chanda and her roommate and fellow students . . 

and here are two videos chanda sent of the whales they saw (32 in all, with one calf) . . 

you can also see several dolphins lunging near the beginning of this video . . so beautiful and very exciting!

here's one more video . . i also love hearing the calls of the seagulls feeding around the whales . . i think these are humpback whales blowing massive bubbles up towards the surface to then catch the sand eels. the gulls share in the frenzy.

meanwhile . . back to lawn mowing . . i did the front, and greg mowed the back and sides. i also weeded along the driveway and swept the front walkway. weeding is very tiring! 

when i came back inside, i decided to film the cats . . pluto and zuzu greeted me right away . . but cricket stayed aloof . . 

i didn't notice it when filming, but you can see his little ear poke up around the corner of the hallway behind zuzu who is cleaning her paws . . 

zuzu was being so funny, flopping around on her back . . i don't think i've noticed her ever being so seemingly self-satisfied . . why was she acting like this?

because they had caught the mouse! when i finally stopped taking pictures and filming and walked around the corner, i found cricket still bopping it around, though it was quite dead. i immediately ran outside to get greg to pick it up . . he's holding it here in the paper towel and laughing at cricket who didn't want to give it up. i'm not sure how helpful pluto was. he probably just stood around and watched all the excitement. 

we buried the mouse outside.

a fish and chips dinner at one of my favorite places . . i had clams with the bellies, french fries and cole slaw.

----

sunday -

a misty morning photo of woods hole from chanda . . 

and morgan sent these next two photos from a quaint, neighborhood park near their apartment:

a vacuum cleaner planter . . 

and the park itself . . it looks shady and cool for a hot summer's day.

today i took down all the canisters from the top of the kitchen cabinets to wash them and to clean up the mouse droppings i had found during our last visit. zuzu was happy to prowl around looking for any loitering vermin.

i convinced greg that we should stay an extra day and return home monday evening (meaning he would work from the house and not go in on monday) so we could spend all afternoon at the beach. it was such an incredibly beautiful day . . and i was able to get in lots of swimming (the water was a perfect temperature), knitting, sketching and reading (locations by jan morris, the first chapter titled vermont).

greg is reading a book on his phone and listening to music related to the book.

back at the house . . a cat and clean canisters . . 

once, when i was going in and out onto the deck, cricket managed to squeeze himself between the screen door and the outside sliding glass door . . thankfully, greg managed to get him out.

he's such a nut . . 

he also managed to do this . . 

i suppose we should have let him figure out how to get down . . but i also didn't want to take him to a vet for emergency bone re-setting . . 

after dinner walk . . 

----

monday -

monday morning - remembering 9/11 - the fire siren went off four times . . this is the first one. i was watching the table of silence project which performed at lincoln center and began at 8:10 am (you can still view it on their website).

we tried a new place in town for lunch . . 

and greg had a sandwich . . 

and it stopped raining long enough for me to get in a short swim . . 

on the way home . .