visiting with nana and nonno

my sister and her husband are away in maine, so we went up to connecticut to spend some time with nana and nonno (and toby the cat too).

 we had a chili dinner saturday night with raspberry and lemon sorbet for dessert . . 

 and then today we brought them over for lunch. my mom and i had some time to relax and knit and crochet together . . though my mom fell asleep and i was surprised that i didn't also . . it's been quite warm and soporific!

 nonno succumbed . . 

 lunch was several different salads from the whole foods market along with muenster and jarlsberg cheese and also fresh roast beef from my local butcher. we also had the small black and white cookies from lily's brooklyn bakery.

 i was upstairs getting ready to go . . when i smelled something burning in the kitchen. i ran down the stairway yelling and we all discovered the plastic bread bag burning away on my sister's glass top stove! it had fallen over onto a still hot burner . . we decided to burn it off and the fumes were not good. c and m took refuge outside . . and our departure was delayed by a good hour i think.

stoppping at rose's berry farm for blueberries after saying good-bye to nana and nonno at their assisted living home.

 always some ballet shenanigans going on . . 

 we were trying to make it home in time for my friend's "sewing lady thank you tea." she was having a get together to thank everyone who helped her get the costumes ready for the show she designed for.

 we were very fashionably late . . 

 but still had a very nice time.

(it's been very hot!!)

friday town trip

we drove into east hampton today, and visited the ladies village improvement society. the ladies always have wonderful old books to buy! today they did not disappoint and we came away with too many books . . which i am putting away for christmas (christmas is always an excuse . . ). after book hunting, korrina went to see x-men with jason and uncle warren, nana and aunt kathy went to see the new woody allen movie, and morgana, chanda and i went home to nana's. well, we tried to get home to nana's, but we ran into a major traffic jam (a dumpster had fallen off a truck). it was so bad that i turned around and drove back into amagansett to wile away the minutes in the village square with a coffee, a cider and a ronnybrook chocolate milk (and admired the roses growing along the fence which reminded me of my aunt's garden in california many years ago).

we finally got back on the road an hour later and, thankfully, it was a smooth trip out to montauk.

heat wave

ever since friday night (when i was separating 12 dozen eggs for the birthday party cake) it has been TOO DARN HOT!

saturday at the party in prospect park we were relieved from the heat by a lovely breeze . . but saturday night . . back in the apartment . . i tossed and turned in the night. it was, once again, TOO DARN HOT!

every morning i would wake at 6 am to feed the cats and then i would collapse again onto the bed . . in a stupor . . no energy . . listless . . weighed down by humidity and heavy limbs . .

everywhere i went, people were saying . . from winter to summer . . where is our spring????? it felt like we had gone from the frying pan (rain rain rain) into the fire . .

finally, at about 4 am this morning . . the air was dry and the breeze was cool. i woke at 6 am to feed the animals . . and stayed awake!!! i felt energetic . . cool . . refreshed . . and even a little happy! and right now the breeze through the window is boisterous and indulgent. we're off this evening to morgana's guitar recital.

thursday errands and activities . .

korrina, morgana and chanda shared studio time this morning. here m and c are entranced by . .

the usual ongoing construction that keeps nyc busy!

while k worked on her dance . .

after the rehearsal, chanda and i walked to dick blick to get dye for the t-shirts for the party tomorrow. on the way back we walked through nyu's washington mews. it houses their french and german departments.

the roses are beautiful . .

morgana and korrina did some water color paintings that will be turned into bookmarks for birthday party favors.

in the evening, m and c and i had high five tickets to see the new york city ballet. we ran into an old ballet friend there! it was very nice, and we were all happy because our favorite ballerinas danced this evening: wendy whalen, jennifer ringer, and maria kowroski.

oh wow, a bathroom picture! yes, a recently renovated bathroom in the new york state theatre . .

roses in bloom

the roses are all in bloom in our coop's garden and in our neighbors' gardens. i've been enjoying breathing in their early summer aroma.