sunday afternoon

figaro shenanigans - wednesday

figaro has been fascinated by my little baby aloe plant (the great grandchild of a plant i bought many years ago in florida).

apparently he thought it needed to be caught and teased, as i found it on the rug by the door, looking very bedraggled and forlorn. poor thing.

pluto says he had nothing to do with the incident.

another rainy day

i walked with kendall to union square for buckwheat cherry bread (also: carrots, scallions, mussels from the fish vendor, and maple syrup). i was a little surprised at how cold it felt when i stepped outside, though i had checked before leaving: 31 degrees. it only takes one 60 degree day to make anything less feel like five below.

the cats had fun running around my water color paper this afternoon . . 

a woman in the online knitting club i meet up with shared some water color techniques that she uses. i did a little bit, but mainly watched . . and threw figaro's toy for him (he likes to fetch, which is rather fun).

a hint of spring

 after a wonderful little snowstorm sunday morning and afternoon, spring definitely feels like it's here now. my friend had the surgery for her cancer last friday during which they did have to remove several lymph nodes. the tumor had shrunk so much and the doctors were so enthusiastic that she dared herself to hope that nothing so invasive would have to be done, but it didn't work out that way, much to her disappointment (she's been very worried about getting lymphadema). however, she's healing well and is currently at her follow-up appointment with her sister, having the tube removed that caught the leftover fluid. i'm sure she's hoping that it will now be easier taking care of her 1 1/2 year old. we've been alternating between her regular nannies, night-time nannies, friends and family to make sure she has twenty-four hour baby coverage as she cannot lift anything heavy, and for the first several days it was not possible to lift her left arm very high at all. she's also doing special exercises to keep swelling at bay, and has a special full arm compression band to wear.

the cats are sitting on the bins to my left, enjoying the open window and the warm spring air, along with the birds' tweets and calls. their ears are perked forward and their tails twitch every few minutes.

 

i have a bunch of photos i'll be putting up from the past week. i've been having fun reading ruth reichl's memoirs, and am still really enjoying braiding sweetgrass. i also managed to get through all four seasons of dix pour cent, or call my agent, on netflix after my cousin ron suggested it (as an actor he appreciates the hilarious stories about agents and their clients). listening to the french language while scenes of paris float by is incredibly relaxing. plus, it's a comedy show and i loved not having to worry about something really scary or violent happening (though the characters can get themselves into the most humiliating situations). of course there's lots of sex scenes in it, but i was appreciative that it was all preliminary and didn't show the full act (i don't know why so many directors think we all want to watch people flailing about with each other - there's something to be said about keeping things gentle and to the imagination).

breakfast this morning was coffee (water mill blend from hampton coffee company) and banana whole wheat flax bread from the new bakery on hudson street (ovenly).

garlic and sapphires tells tales of disguising herself to slip anonymously into city restaurants to critique food and service - the stories are funny and quintessentially nyc.

they're both very intent on listening and watching the birds flit back and forth.

early thursday morning

chanda was busy going over a math problem with greg on the phone this morning when i came home after nighttime babysitting, though it's calculus so he said she needs to teach him about it. (he went out to the house last night for a furnace chimney inspection this afternoon.)

these two greeted me with their usual ruckus.

a quiet sunday afternoon, and spring seems to be arriving in london

greg is almost finished with reading his book, the adventures of huckleberry finn.
 

and these two creatures are very good at taking the afternoon nice and easy . . 

 

and morgan texted these lovely photos of the bush in bloom outside the apartment door.

 

 

 

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in the morning greg and i had helped kendall check out of the hotel where she had stayed to rest for a few nights after the surgery . . 

 

i had always wanted to see inside this place, so it was fun for me to visit.

figaro and hair ties, and the last of the holiday decorations

 

 figaro spends a lot of his time hunting down hair ties and knocking them about on the kitchen floor. this morning he also was playing with a metal fastener that goes to a glass jar which held chicken liver pate from the butcher, and which needs to be returned for the jar deposit. when the metal fastener disappeared, i decided to check beneath the bottom drawer of the oven which is used for pot covers. what did i find after pulling the drawer out? two cat toys, three kitty litter pine pellets (he likes swiping them about on the floor too) and ten hair ties! i actually took a photo of the booty, but won't post it as the dust surrounding everything is not a pretty sight.

figaro at work . .

pluto investigating the situation.

 

thursday's kittenlady calendar picture which i liked so much i stuck it on the cabinet door.

and the last of the holiday decorations which will be packed away as soon as i publish this post -

 

 

 

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dinner tonight was leftover spaghetti and meatballs. i tried burning the mushroom candle which has been sitting on a bookshelf for years. it burned for a little while, but then sputtered out. it's funny how long objects can sit around for on shelves without being used. it's disconcerting how many years constitute "long."

wednesday

pluto and figaro just hanging out together by the refrigerator . . i tried to see if figaro would poke his head out to say hello.

he was happy to settle back inside again.

tuesday