a smokey day

the smoke grew worse as evening came on. korrina took this photo and the video below while on her way home from work. 

i ran a bunch of errands again and also went to the dentist, and then we all spent the evening packing after having dinner.

zuzu . .

and wash . . 

time for some sleep . . 

running errands - again; on a hot summer day - again

the myka yogurt place has not had a line these past two mornings when i pass by . . so i've stopped in for a small yogurt with two toppings each day. yesterday i had chocolate chips and walnuts. today i had olive oil and ground pistachios . . so delicious! this photo is a true new york social media moment: i was talking to my cousin while eating the yogurt and taking a picture! i was going to post it on my ig . . well, maybe i'll do so later. (i was on my way to print out the letter to our cat sitter and was finally successful!) i also stopped at the sustainable shop for a refill of dish detergent.

i've probably passed this dog sculpture more than a dozen times, but today was the first day i noticed it (on 9th or 10th street).

zuzu likes to join me when i sit at the table to write out cards or a letter. thankfully, she let me write this afternoon, and didn't try to head butt me or knock the pen from my hand . . or sit on the card itself. twice last week i stopped working on this task because of her. yes, i'd much rather procrastinate further with my correspondence than put her away in the bedroom. 

we had a nice dinner tonight of left over tuna (for greg) and chicken thighs for chanda and i. chanda did a work shift today and brought home beautiful looking cauliflower and patty pan squash, so we had fresh vegetables too. (it's quite hot today - 93 degrees - but we all must be used to it finally as no one has suggested putting the air conditioner on. of course, 93 is not as bad as 100! we do have the fans going, and there was a nice breeze . . which has sadly disappeared.)

it's almost 11 pm . . i still need to do duolingo and babbel . . language learning has been neglected these past two weeks as i've concentrated on packing and getting the cats and apartment ready for being away for a little bit. 

greg has already fallen asleep.

and here is korrina's beautiful photo from her evening beach visit.

last minute meetings, chores and travel preparations

i began the day having breakfast with greg at 7:15 am at our local cafe. i'm usually not out this early and certainly not eating breakfast until much later . . however, since we had eaten much earlier than usual yesterday evening, i was hungry this morning and they also have really good oatmeal . . 

i was surprised to see the owner . . it's been years since i've seen her . . probably because i'm never at the cafe this early.

chanda and i met ellen for our annual summer ice cream visit to morgenstern's . . however, morgenstern's was closed today (they were painting and giving the shop a deep clean) . . 

so we walked to "the dutch," a restaurant i've passed multiple times but have never eaten at . . their food is so good! i think greg would like their hamburgers (the table next to us had ordered them and they looked quite appetizing), and also the homemade ice cream chanda, ellen and i had. well, chanda had french fries.

chanda is holding last minute purchases for her semester at woods hole . . including a new bike helmet (she walked with me and my old bianchi bike to the shop to have it repaired, and picked out a much needed new helmet).

chanda also managed to spill her plate of spaghetti and meatballs on the wall to wall carpeting which greg subsequently pulled up (it took us two hours) as it really was rather old and disgusting and not worth trying to clean (cricket would have just licked it to death - he's very dog-like when it comes to food).

the old parquet floor beneath it needs to be re-finished. we covered it with some comfortable throw rugs for the time being. it actually feels good to have this section of the decrepit carpet gone . . we'll slowly pull up the rest as the year goes by. slow and steady!

(the courtyard is wonderfully shady and cool in the summertime.)

getting ready

one suitcase is set (two suitcases are going this time . . usually it's just a carry on but i guess more items are wanted these days) . . 

more craft work before going out to walk millie the dog and to say good-bye to kendall and aurélien.

and we had waffles for dinner after morgan returned from helping ellen with the younger children (friday evenings were for the older teen class).

talking to aunt kathy while finishing up the gift.

monday projects and cat photos

and work on the late christmas gift continues . .

 

zuzu found the latest nature table arrangement very interesting (completed yesterday by morgan).

 

tonight's dinner was fresh tuna steaks and sea scallops from saturday's green market fish stand.

morgan has been running around; getting in last minute visits with friends, chanda and the twins (and also packing).

clouds and lunch and errands

we've had cooler weather, but it's been more humid so it really doesn't feel cooler . .

but the clouds have been amazing!

you see bags from the target store everywhere here . . even on the mail carrier's cart.

we'll be traveling tomorrow, so i've been packing. and it's late right now. i need to go to sleep soon!

chanda came by to trim my hair, but we got so caught up with relaying the latest news to each other and with having lunch that we forgot (she was also doing schoolwork). now she says will come by tomorrow after her class . . they both look a bit funny here. they just wanted to eat and not have their picture taken.

last minute errand to the chocolate shop . .

and wash is camped out by korrina's suitcase.

to unpack or not to unpack, that is the question

i wonder how long it will take her to unpack. when she arrived monday late afternoon/early evening, she went right to a physical therapy appointment as her foot injury from last october had been bothering her (when she twisted it on the stairs at steps dance studios). today she has an intensive all day and a friend's birthday dinner in the evening . . . maybe tomorrow?!

she brought me some gifts from prague and london. knitted (remember?! machine knitted!) leg warmers and a book by noel streatfeild that we've never read.

and this is our friend deychen's gift: blank stationary with ink pads and stamps from the store the ink pad.

----

today was actually an incredibly beautiful day. for the first time in seemingly months, it wasn't humid and there was a cool breeze in the morning. when i returned from the store with groceries, i didn't feel like i had walked home through a sauna and i didn't need to take a cold shower to feel human again. i could sense that autumn might actually be somewhere in the future, and that brings a sigh of relief.

a conversation across the pond

chanda spent the afternoon packing before running off to babysit in the evening.

she spent a good amount of the time discussing with morgana what clothes she should bring . . what might be needed . . which shoes? sweaters? sweatshirts? shorts?

of course i think she's bringing too much . . she's away only for three weeks . . and two of those weeks she'll be living in tights and leotards . .

monday packing

 what to take? what to leave behind?

 last minute phone calls . . 

 a last knitting session while watching david letterman's interview with obama.

 it's looking more organized . . 

 long lost christmas chocolate!

 and a last card game . . 

 a game morgana played in austria that she tried to teach us . . 

(and which we unsuccessfully tried to play again with charlotte a week later!)

one last pic before i go to sleep . .