a wet day

i was uptown for an acupuncture session . . and then i walked halfway home before catching the bus.

i made a meatloaf this evening, in the pan kathy and warren gave me for christmas. it came out very good (according to chanda and greg . . and me too) considering i haven't made a meatloaf in years.

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morgan is in paris helping victoria sort through her photos and journals . .

(sweet rebel)

about a wednesday lecture

on wednesday i listened in on a zoom session with population connection's global partner series. they've been supporting a program to protect lemurs with dr. marni lafleur and dr. seheno cordaunt in madagascar called lemur love. as with dr. gladys kalema-zikusoko, they are aware that the best conservation efforts involve the community and so have been working with local people to help with education and resources. 

the difficulty is working with the government to curb deforestation which is rapidly shrinking the lemurs' habitat.

i went for a walk with our neighbor toni this afternoon and we stopped at trader joe's where i picked up some salmon for dinner.

ron and andy took a day trip to paris!

sunday morning poem and a sunday walk

 

 

  paris in spring

 

the city's all a-shining

beneath a fickle sun, 

a gay young wind's a-blowing, 

the little shower is done. 

but the rain-drops still are clinging 

and falling one by one — 

oh it's paris, it's paris, 

and spring-time has begun.
 

i know the bois is twinkling 

in a sort of hazy sheen, 

and down the champs the gray old arch 

stands cold and still between. 

but the walk is flecked with sunlight 

where the great acacias lean, 

oh it's paris, it's paris, 

and the leaves are growing green.
 

the sun's gone in, the sparkle's dead, 

there falls a dash of rain, 

but who would care when such an air 

comes blowing up the seine? 

and still ninette sits sewing 

beside her window-pane, 

when it's paris, it's paris, 

and spring-time's come again.

 

by sara teasdale (1884-1933) 

 

 

 

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greg and i took a walk to veselka for brunch today where i had vegetarian borscht and a beet horseradish salad (half of which came home to have with leftover cold beef).

 

 on the way home we walked by the asch building, also known as the brown building. it's been 112 years since the triangle shirtwaist factory fire on march 25, 1911 (the factory occupied the top three floors of the building).

here's my blog post from the 100th anniversary of the fire in 2011.

the organization remember the triangle fire coalition is working on creating a memorial to the lost workers that should be unveiled later this year in the fall, helped by donations from people across the nation and with funds from the state. a stainless steel mourning ribbon will descend from the top of the building to the first floor where it will split into two and drape along the sides of the bottom windows. you can see a rendering of it here. the victim's names will appear in a reflective panel along with testimonies of survivors and witnesses to the fire. it sounds achingly beautiful and i can't wait for the unveiling.

we also passed a demonstration in the park about the situation in israel.

 

i also made sure to walk by 3 washington square north where edward hopper lived with his wife jo from 1913 until his death in 1967. (i just learned that from the exhibit at the whitney which morgan and i visited on march 3rd.)

spring is slowly on its way . .

the magnolia outside our window is also blooming.

i wore my finished knitted sweater today.

 

at home i worked on two new knitting projects while listening to a podcast from an online knitting friend while cricket tried to steal my skeins.

pics from paris

morning sunlight . .

rebel looking very cute . . 

and being very good (cricket could take a few pointers . . unfortunately, cricket jumps on the table and tries to eat our food).

zuzu's eyes are no longer runny, but the third eyelid is still protruding, so we'll need to visit the vet again next week, i think.

dog walking, friends near and far and yarn gifts

today was incredibly windy (a typical march-like day) so milly and i stayed in the neighborhood -

and visited kiana, the owner of our local yarn store, to say hello and show her the novice sweater which i'm knitting with yarn bought at her shop (and to confirm that thursday night's get together is still on).

afterwards, some friends came to visit . . 

aurélien is just bursting at the seams. he's curious about everything and knows how to work our cd player (turning it on was one of the first things he did) and though i brought out plenty of interesting blocks and figures, he soon left them on the rug to browse everything on the shelves: the books, crystals, coins, jars, plants, nature table figures, cat toys, computer and keyboard, camera, etc . . and he was very good when told not to touch certain things. one cannot put everything away from curious hands! i remember when my own children were this age . . i wanted to live in a padded room with gymnastics equipment only . . two to three years old they seem to always be bouncing off the walls. i do remember taking korrina to a gymnastics class when she was three and four (right after morgana was born).

 

and morgan sent photos from paris as it's time to help victoria get settled in with the furniture, files and books sent over from nyc (i think it came by boat?).
 

victoria and her dog, rebel.

also, my yarn gift from the beret of light knit-along arrived today (denise bayron): two skeins of mohair and a skein of nightshades which i've been wishing to work with for several years now. i hope to cast on soon for another beret.

may day

song: on may morning

now the bright morning star, day's harbinger,

comes dancing from the east, and leads with her

the flow'ry may, who from her green lap throws

the yellow cowslip and the pale primrose.

hail, bounteous may, thou dost inspire

mirth and youth and warm desire!

woods and goves are of they dressing,

hill and dale doth boast thy blessing.

thus, we salute thee with our early song,

and welcome thee, and wish thee long.

by john milton (1608 - 1674)

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some pics from england and paris:

 donkeys in the countryside . . 

 filming with jenny on the trail . .

 morgan at work . . 

 jam from sainbury's . .

easter treats

sweet zara on patrol . . 

 victoria in her new mask . . 

a tulip along the seine . .

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(rose photo and all paris photos by victoria; all u.k. photos by morgana)

more cleaning, news from paris, and daffodils

 some people hoard toilet tissue, i hoard pepperoncini, and parmesano and romano cheeses.

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today i cleared out the cupboard and took stock of what dry goods i had and discarded jars of rice and cornmeal and flour that were too old. then i went shopping again with a meal plan in mind. i haven't done this in awhile. i've been shopping each day for dinner and not stocking the freezer and cupboard as in the past. i used to have a two week meal plan taped to the fridge that i followed regularly; so now i once again have items in the freezer and cupboard that i can throw together for meals without running out each day. i was talking this afternoon with my friend victoria in paris. she's in her 80's and has been taking precautions for this virus for several weeks already. she has also stocked up in case she can't go out (though, right now grocery stores in paris are still open) and today she asked me twice on the phone, "but when do i start using the provisions!?"

 i think she's nixed reading the jack london and daniel defoe books . . i think it got to be too much.

she sent a note that this was today's haul.

working out by the seine . . breathing in fresh air (rather than being in a gym).

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here are the daffodils in our courtyard that popped open on friday.