spring or winter?

 i was surprised to see the crocuses poking their heads out of the ground when i took laundry down to the laundry room today. hmmm . . maybe these are daffodils. it's february 19th! (greg's birthday). this is the earliest i've ever seen them come up. i must have missed the snow drops. i should check the corner garden.

 i had to meet greg in our apartment coop's office to sign new paperwork, which everyone has to do as a loan was refinanced. afterwards, we walked over to one of our favorite cafes/diners (owned by a fellow neighbor in the complex) seeing several other neighbors there who had done similarly. it's a favorite place to be for everyone. we had lunch there before greg went back to work, and i walked to veniero's for his birthday cake.

 along my walk i passed the callery pear trees which were budding! another big surrprise.

 in the evening we attended my friend jeanette's community concert. she is with a new orchestra this year, not far from our apartment and in a beautiful concert hall. it was free and we were there early and able to get great seats. i really enjoyed being able to see the musicians so well, and as principal violist, jeanette was right in front. they played tchaikovsky's romeo and juliet overture, and symphony no. 5 in e minor, opus 64. it was exciting and beautiful and i loved it. it's always fun when someone you know is up on the stage.

 back at home chanda had the cake ready and we celebrated with greg.

 we each gave him a cute card. i'll have to add the pics of them later.

the veniero's cheesecake was delicious!

finally, a cold winter's day

it was 20 degrees when greg and i went for a walk this morning . . 

we walked to the river and the crisp air felt wonderful. it finally felt like winter . .

with everyone bundled up . . 

one interesting observation: there has not been any ice in the river at all this year.

we decided to have breakfast at the neighborhood diner, sweet life. sadly, they will be closing soon . . in march, as the rent has gone up.




i had a sunnyside up egg on french toast (a choice inspired by seeing my nephew on january 18th, before the vogue knitting event).
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i wrote two more posts about the vogue knitting event here and here; and also about korrina's new apartment and moving her into it here, here and here.

visiting the cloisters with abigail

we've had a friend visiting from florida. abigail is the daughter of a high school friend of greg's, and she is visiting while on her way to france to work on a farm. this morning we had breakfast with chanda at sweet life cafe, before driving with abigail up to the cloisters.

 it was a raw and grey day, but the cloister gardens felt warm and inviting. they put up a glass barricade in the winter, probably more to protect the artwork than for the comfort of the visitors.

 at one o'clock with joined the museum tour with a wonderful guide. we started out in the cloister of saint-guilhem, from the late 12th century. 140 stone fragments were taken from this benedictine abbey located in montpelier, france.

 we then moved into the large cloister that makes up the center of the museum which is the benedictine monastery of saint michel de cuxa, from near the pyrenees. the artisans carved many strange figures into the pillars: demons clutching ape-like figures, beasts devouring men, and "hunkering" lions. to help reconstruct the fragments here in the city, they obtained stone from the original twelfth century quarry.

 an unknown knight who was buried with his sword which must have been special to be depicted with him. our tour guide pointed out how more life-like this sculpture is, as the leather scabbard is falling to the side from the weight of the sword.

 at his feet is a lion, watching over him and symbolizing his bravery.

 explaining one of the meanings of the unicorn tapestry . . marriage and fertility symbolized by pomegranate seeds and carnation and orchid flowers.

 overlooking new jersey in the herb garden . . 

 the sleeping winter herb garden . . 

taking photos of the inwood neighborhood below.

brunch with greg

 i was actually up this morning before greg, which maybe happens once a year!! at 7:30 he asked if i wanted to have breakfast with him at a diner on christopher street. i hesitated for a moment, and then said yes.

i had a western omelette with home fries and rye toast and coffee. greg had three scrambled eggs and bacon and rye toast and coffee . . and i commented how the rye toast reminded me of breakfast with my mom and dad on montauk (my heart aches for days on montauk with my mom and dad).

 this is a place called sweet life, and i know he likes it because it feels a bit like the old village and it's still mom and pop owned.

 i think everyone who came in for take out were regulars. there were several construction workers and a few neighborhood people and tourists, who also sat at the tables.