a field trip on new year's eve

 

good morning!

 

(zuzu, just watching the mourning doves and the squirrels)

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greg, morgan and i decided to drive to hyde park to see eleanor roosevelt's house, valkill (korrina and i visited in 2018). morgan and greg had never been.

the weather has now grown so warm that the fog was intense coming after such cold weather. we had a very foggy drive north.

we couldn't join a tour until 1 pm so we stopped at the same diner (eveready) korrina and i had visited as it was only noon.

someone is missing their glove . . !

eleanor's study . . eleanor's son had sold the house after she died, but the town ended up buying it and establishing the historic site. 80% of the furniture is now original with more promised when the current owners pass away or are finished using the pieces.

 

the dining room . .
 

all decorated for christmas . . i was hoping to pick up a dessert plate in the franciscan design for korrina but they never reopened their gift shop after covid.

it was fun to see the house decorated for the holiday season.

supposedly eleanor loved picking out gifts for friends and family and would surprise everyone with her memory of what they liked.

videos of eleanor knitting:

more lost gloves . . 

and a foggy . . 

and rainy ride home . . 

where we played scrabble while waiting for midnight to come around . . 

watching the times square alliance streaming event . . 

they gave a fun commentary with stories from people who were in the crowd (people from kentucky, florida, minnesota, wisconsin, new jersey etc . . )

happy 2023 . .

friday morning

this morning morgan and i were out early to visit with reina and sacha at maman on university place. i had never been to this cafe before (i think it came in just before covid), but had seen photos on instagram. chanda suggested it as a meeting place and it did not disappoint. their pastries and cookies were delicious and they had good coffee (and such pretty cups!)

it was actually a warm day, but after sitting outside for several hours i was a little chilled! it was so nice to see them though. we walked to the green market afterwards as morgana was going to kendall's to help with aurélien and i wanted her to take some vegetables with her that i knew kendall needed. then reina and i walked to strand books and said good-bye there. we get so busy with our lives that it's so nice to catch up during the christmas holiday. morgan plans to meet again with them next week to see the children.

after strand, i walked home and took a nap . . after the nap morgan and i watched a few episodes of the ted lasso show which my sister and brother-in-law and nephews have been enjoying. i get three months of apple tv free on my ipad.

sixth day

 one of my favorite parts about christmastime: having christmas spice tea from san, and christmas apple bread.

 trying to finish chanda's christmas sock!

 discussing some paper work . . about jury duty? or acting school? bank statements?

 contemplating life,

 or just sunbathing?

 madeline has a new perch in morgana's room on the two big pillows that rest on the bins.

 chanda is away at her friend's country house upstate.

 it's just morgana, greg and i for waffles this morning.

 morgana and i are looking forward to new year's eve at our friend's home in brooklyn tonight. greg is being a bit of a curmudgeon.

new year's eve on montauk

nana is always happy to see jack, and vice versa.

we arrived on montauk in the middle of the afternoon and went for a walk to the playground.

it was a very grey and dark day!

we walked the long way around and came back to nana's from the west . . and found this beautiful scene in front of ketcham's house.

everything was cozy and warm at nana's.

nonno made us a delicious dinner of broccoli sauce and garlic bread.

see the dark red holiday napkins? i love using these during christmas time. i had to go downstairs to the cedar storage room to get them! see the shiny gold looking forks and knives? i had to hunt for these downstairs also!

our di rigeur hors d'oeuvres are herring on premium and ritz crackers, shrimp cocktail, and potato puffs with sparkling cider. nonno always goes for the real thing and has champagne.

the age-old tradition from massapequa . .


 banging the pot lids outside the front door. when i was a little girl, i could hear my neighbors doing the same thing outside of their front doors, and yelling "happy new year!"