birds, cats and scones

 

morgan and harley were up in the lake district on vacation with harley's mum, brother, sister-in-law and adorable nephew, dougie. they sent this photo of a pretty european robin who let morgan get so close. 

they were at a very pretty cafe that had a lot of sweet birds flitting around (looking for scone crumbs probably!)

the delicious blackcurrant scone!

these photos are actually from wednesday, august 25, when i was traveling to connecticut. this past weekend we spent a quiet time (far from the crowds, as it was the memorial day weekend) at home and on wednesday my italian class began again! it was exciting to be back with everyone and i've made a better effort to remember everyone's name, as they were all knowledgeable in that regard.

here's a photo i took today of zuzu acting like the queen of sheba which i sent to my sister . . 

she sent this of toby who likes to go in and out of their window (her favorite pastime is sleeping in the windowbox) . .

till tomorrow . . 

pets and a new mural in soho

 

ready for our walk . . 

it was very hot today so we tried staying in the shade as we took our time walking to soho. along the way we passed a mural artist working on a new piece at macdougal street.

everyone was intrigued.

i bought a peach iced tea again from fellini and milly received a treat.

after walking milly i met chanda for pluto's annual vet check up.

our vet and the technician loved him as he was so sweet and quiet and dr. goldberg declared him to be in good health. 

morgan sent these next two photos . . 

but without an explanation so i'm not sure yet who this dog is.

i posted about rejoining the food coop here, the vote at the coop here, and about dining at korrina's restaurant here, and there are other days in between.

i also tried to take a photo of the beautiful full moon . . well, it's not completely full anymore though it still looks quite full. it's been rising later so i haven't seen it when first falling asleep. i woke at 3 am and saw it bathing the room with its silvery light. this was the blue moon, the second full moon of may (may first and may thirty first).

saturday dinner and an unexpected update

we had a late dinner tonight as i didn't get started on making this vegetarian shepherd's pie until evening. it came out well though and we really liked it. it was a martha stewart recipe . . lentils, an onion, carrots, celery, cremini mushrooms, worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and green peas with the obligatory mashed potato topping.

i think they were talking about the ice cream chanda found on sale at the local market (gourmet garage) . . ben and jerry's caramel toffee.

i finally made it to the green market this morning (i haven't been in months!) and ran into kendall and aurélien (which i had a feeling would happen). aurélien was very excited about all the budding plants and made sure to show me the snowdrops, crocuses, daffodils and other buds popping up in the park. i bought fish (tuna and scallops), apples, apple granola, cider, an olive ciabatta, a muffin, chocolate croissant and a strawberry rhubarb pie. we certainly have plenty of goodies for the next few days.

veronica (harley's mom) was visiting morgan and harley and they were walking around where we will be staying in july for the wedding. oh, that is a bit of news i don't think i ever mentioned, that morgan and harley have set a wedding day in july and we've been having fun making plans (food, music, venue, wedding favors, etc) . . it's exciting and we're very happy for them. other news? i think i mentioned that korrina changed jobs. that was a big deal. she loves her new place. she's with a friend from river park (the place that closed during covid). she really enjoyed working at the wine bar, but a change for her was due. now she's once again cooking italian food and working in a slightly bigger kitchen. the other news i never mentioned is that we went through a difficult time during the fall because in the summer we found out that greg's mom had stage four cancer (in the stomach that went into the liver). the five of us managed to visit her all together in late september, early october while she was still feeling well. it was a very special visit. she passed a day or so after thanksgiving. greg had flown down about two weeks prior so he could be with her and his brother and sister. it was hard to write about. i felt so overwhelmed with emotion . . terrified of losing my mother-in-law, and missing my mother so much. being without one's parents on earth is . . sad. that's all. just sad. well, losing any family member or close friend is sad, isn't it. we all have wonderful memories and they are in our hearts . . but it's just difficult . . and sad.

i do have beautiful photos of the florida visit. i hope i post them in the next week or so. 

here's a beautiful london sky  . . 

and a beautiful london park . . 

i think spring is just a week or so ahead of us there.

hello again

 
i'm sitting at my desk by the window listening to the brian lehrer show. they're discussing the latest supreme court ruling that chastises lower court rulings and the majority has been called out for running rampant with making up rules.

i didn't post when morgana was here - we spent most of our mornings having coffee or tea together - and then when they left (morgan and harley), i spent a lot of morning time moping about . . definitely not unusual for me. now i'm trying to get back into the writing rhythm again.

we had so many cool days in may and early june! and they were followed by a heat wave which no one was used to, so of course it felt dreadful. i even put the air on (we have a heat pump, which uses a little less energy, i believe, than a regular ac unit). now it's seasonally hot and i've acclimated and the air has remained off. as long as it goes below 80 degrees fahrenheit at night, the apartment stays fairly comfortable and we don't need the ac.

we had a primary mayoral election and much name calling has been going on, but many, many new yorkers are pleased (over the moon is more like it) with the outcome and the atmosphere has been happy. of course there's lots of work to do for november.

morgan and i have been watching "the residence" on netflix and really enjoying it, and i began a new book yesterday that my sister gave me for christmas a year or so ago: call the nurse by mary j. macleod, "true stories of a country nurse on a scottish isle." it's very good and i highly recommend it. (i read it outside in the courtyard yesterday while waiting for the laundry to wash.)

(oh! and i was also sick for awhile and am still quite congested from it. it was a bad cold/flu type illness. i had a low fever, no appetite and no energy, but, thankfully, no nausea.)

friday morning update

listening to brian lehrer talk with elie mystal on wnyc . . 

i didn't post for a long time as i was enjoying all the fun holiday family time. then i didn't post as i was missing all the fun holiday family time. and then i was unhappy with government stuff (which hasn't changed and has only grown worse) . . and then i was out of the habit of posting . . and now i just miss posting, so here i am. 

(january 8th and 9th have also gone up) 

pluto squinting in the sunlight . . 

pluto is ready for lunch and is letting me know.

brian lehrer is now speaking with katherine wu (a journalist for the atlantic magazine) who is outlining how the administration's cuts to research grants will affect scientific progress and important medicines needed for patients. a person who called in just said, "as a people, do we believe in public knowledge or not?" another person called in to share that she and her coworkers experienced a hostile takeover of their department and all were fired under false pretenses (using bad work reports as an excuse when their work reports were all positive - many are preparing to contest this in the courts). all episodes can be accessed on spotify (wnyc/the brian lehrer show under podcasts and shows).

third sunday of advent

 

the first light of advent is the light of stones,

light that shines in seashells, in crystals and in bones.

the second light of advent is the light of plants,

plants that reach up to the sun and in the breezes dance.

the third light of advent is the light of beasts,

light that shines so bright in the greatest and the least.

----

we arrived home late last night from our week away in woods hole for chanda's end of semester presentation. we were supposed to have gone in october, but instead greg and i had covid then. we had car trouble coming back . . and were stuck on the road. subsequently, we were all exhausted last night and it felt amazing that we were able to get it together for a family christmas celebration this evening. morgan and harley fly back to london tuesday night around 8:30 pm. they were supposed to leave early tomorrow morning, but the flight was changed due to the approaching storm. i can hear the rain on the windowpane now . . 

now it's the end of august

i succumbed to purl soho's advertising and bought their "sunshower" cotton and participated in their zoom knit-along. their yarn is expensive but they actually have very nice patterns that are all free. they also offer free online help. i'm amazed at the business they do. of course, not only are the patterns free, but all their yarn is very beautiful. this pattern is called the "double-thick potholder" and it was a lot of fun to make. whenever i needed a little technical help i could look it up online or check their last zoom meet up where they answered questions and explained everything in detail. i was impressed with the level of help and really happy with how this came out. i have a few more that i would like to make.

greg and i are getting ready to take chanda to the cape this weekend for her semester at the marine biological laboratory. i've been preparing the apartment for the cat sitter (getting canned and dry food, making labels for the cabinets as to where all cat paraphernalia is located, getting keys ready for the sitter, etc.) and had to run out for extra treats this afternoon as the two rascals managed to open the closet where their treats are kept and ate an entire bag. pluto is here too, so things are a little more complicated, and a little more worrisome as i don't feel that zuzu and pluto have completely settled in with each other. thus, i have the cat sitter coming twice a day.  

(the photo above was taken on my way to the pet shop on 14th street, walking west.)

the weather has been beautiful and surprisingly fall-like. nighttime and early mornings have had a very cool breeze, and today was not at all hot, even with the sun shining so bright and no clouds in the sky.

i'm preparing a post from last saturday when we moved chanda out of her apartment and back home . . she's been here just for this week . . though i haven't seen her much since she's been out seeing friends every day and night!

it's the middle of august already

my new computer is finally set up with my photo libraries and my email. we ordered it about two weeks ago and it came a week early, but it took time to back up the old computer, transfer all the photos to an external hard drive and sync my new gmail to the new mac's email program. i decided on a laptop as it seemed archaic to have a computer sit in one place all the time. i really like it! it's incredibly fun to work on. 

the photo above is of madison square park, this past wednesday, the 16th, when i was walking home from a check up at the dentist. it was a beautiful day, not too humid, and everyone was out enjoying summertime.

the new small dog run at the park . . 

and the large dog run.

milly and i took a walk to pet palace in soho where i bought treats for the cats.

and look who's here! pluto! chanda will be moving out of her apartment in another week, and she brought pluto over early as she plans on being away for a few days camping with a friend. pluto will be staying with us while she attends a special marine biology program for the fall semester at a different school.

cooking dinner with the three of them is certainly interesting! 

morgan directed a play (which a friend wrote) and it opened monday at the camden fringe festival. our good friend deychen flew in for the occasion. morgan was very excited about this visit and they've been having a fun time attending plays at the globe, taking tea at the wolseley, paddle boating on the serpentine in hyde park and swimming in the pond at hampstead heath.

i was happy that my friend marisa came down from vermont for a few weeks to check on her apartment and to visit her dentist for a check up - i guess it's just that time of year! i don't think we have seen each other since spring of '22.

and this photo is from chanda . . hiking and camping in the catskills.

oh! just a few more photos from aurélien . . 

enjoying his summer in a pond upstate . . 

picking blueberries . . 

and falling asleep over his naptime book.

oh! and in regard to korrina: she had covid for a week and was not at work! she was very hot with chills at the same time along with joint/body aches and had a terrible headache for several days. she's better and back at work now, but still feels very tired. hopefully as the days go by she will feel stronger.

monday morning thoughts

for the past two weeks i haven't wanted to go on the computer in the evening to put up a post (trying to be on the computer less before bedtime). i keep thinking i'll get to it during the day, but the day goes by and there hasn't been a moment . . or i just haven't taken the moment. i've added yoga to my days, hoping it will help my divergent left eye by relaxing and feeling less stressed. i think i've succeeded at being more relaxed, but my eye doesn't seem better. maybe it just needs more time. i finally saw an acupuncturist and i think acupuncture will be very helpful, but she's away now for three weeks. i think i will postpone this week's eye therapy appointment and just keep up with the daily exercises.

we've been trying to help the cats be less rude in regard to our food when we have meals, so i have two "games" to put kibble in to slow them down when eating, and to distract them while we eat. it was suggested by our veterinarian. in the photo above they are exhausted from a round of kibble game play, and finally seemingly satiated (they are always hungry) and even let us eat an entire meal without frustrating us so that we would have to exile them to a bedroom. 

 . . so, i've been mainly off the computer these past few weeks, but am back on now as i need to get a new one, and have started clearing out files from the old one so that ancient and unnecessary letters, movies, music lyrics, homeschooling documents etc. . . don't come along. i found the old new york city home educators alliance (nychea) newsletters that i edited for two years in 2006 and 2007. i liked working on them and i think i would have made a good graphic designer if i had thought to follow that path (and if i had been a few years younger in college when computers really took off). it might be fun to see if i can put one up on the blog somehow. i also found several home movies chanda took with my "new" (at the time) canon rebel camera when she was ten years old. they don't show the nicest people. she filmed them late at night a few weeks before morgan's 14th birthday party. everyone reacts in a very cranky manner (even greg!) to her artistic endeavor. i felt a little sad for all of us. i think we had just returned from my aunt's memorial service out east and we were all tired and trying to catch up with personal business and household chores (the apartment looked like a hurricane had hit it!). we had three cats and one big bulldog who didn't get along with them. these days all i remember are the fun chaotic times, i don't remember the difficult days. this was a reminder. she doesn't get upset with us for not giving her endeavor attention, instead she continues on in a very merry way! she is actually wonderfully childish and funny in the video. i was actually lying on the floor laughing hysterically after watching one of them last night. greg was very amused. 

time for me to walk milly . . 

friday catch up

we've had some beautiful sunny days lately, but today is once again grey. however . . spring is here! yesterday it was 68 degrees and today i think it's supposed to go up to 62.

i finally visited the edward hopper exhibit at the whitney museum on wednesday (it closes march 5th), and on tuesday, valentine's day, i finally made it to the she who wrote-enheduanna and the women of mesopotamia exhibit at the morgan library on my way home from a dental appointment. i have a few photos of the hopper show (i plan to return before march 5th!) and many photos of the she who wrote . . so i hope to post those in the next few days. kendall and i also visited our friend janine in connecticut with aurélien last saturday to sunday. we spent a lot of time outside walking around her community lake and sitting outside around a warm fire.

morgan has been working in beautiful wyoming, babysitting for a family's twins and helping with their ailing dog. i think they all come back this weekend. below is a photo and short video of a brief break on the mountain, finally getting a ski run in:

right now i hear a white throated sparrow singing diligently in the courtyard. this is the first winter that i've heard one consistently all season long. usually their song announces spring for me, so . . this winter has been one long spring with no snow and only a few cold days sprinkled about.

what's been going on . .

it's been a quiet week. this morning i walked with kendall to the green market at union square and picked out kale and winter squash for the week's dinners. it's been warm . . in the upper 40's and 50's. every day is cloudy, every morning is dark. when the blue sky appears, the cooler air descends, but it's been very calm with no wind.

kendall and aurélien came over to see the tree on wednesday and had biscotti, teff cookies and gingerbread with us, along with kukicha tea. morgan has been taking care of the twins uptown and going to rehearsals with deychen for ellen's show. chanda has been off from school and enjoying some down time in between work shifts at the cafe (and ellen rehearsals). pluto has been well and the sore on his tongue has healed, and korrina has been at work in the east village four days a week. the christmas tree is still up and is not coming down anytime soon, it seems! we have friends coming over to see it and to also meet the cats next tuesday, and morgan has friends coming in from london on monday who will stay at a hotel in chelsea and come by for dinner sometime next week.

this evening morgan and i watched the man who invented christmas and we enjoyed it immensely. thanks for posting about it, eva. i think it will be an essential christmas time movie from now on, along with reading a christmas carol. (we also watched a christmas story christmas, and eloise at christmastime this week.)

cricket watched a bit of it with us too . . 

it's still holiday time around here . .

this week

keeping an eye on the birds that fly past the fire escape . .

morgan's friends are in town, visiting from london. they arrived saturday evening and are here for a week. we had a nice get together tuesday evening for which i made a vegetarian chili and they brought a delicious chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert. victoria joined us after a busy day of sorting through books and papers at her storage unit.

the kittens are enjoying the comfy space morgan made for them on the bookcase. amazingly, they slept here while we ate without bothering us.

my friend ron works as an extra for many different projects that film in the city and this year he is part of the screen actors guild nominating committee, and so received two guest tickets for the very first screening of the movie babylon. (this was yesterday, wednesday). the part i enjoyed most was the discussion afterwards with the director and actors.

funny little cricket who hopped into the kitty litter tray after i finished cleaning it and didn't want to get out.

 

 morgan and harley stopped by in the late afternoon today, early evening (it was dark out already), with an amp they had found on the sidewalk and stayed for tea and a chat and playtime with the kittens. last night they all had dinner at korrina's restaurant and i enjoyed hearing about the amazing dishes that were created for them. their favorite was the pear tart with oat pastry cream, sherry crumble and apple.

chanda is slowly improving, but a low fever has been persisting and she now has a painful sore throat. i'm hoping tomorrow she will feel a little less achy with no fever. pluto has been enjoying having her home more and cuddling together. (but she missed having any kind of celebration on her birthday, wednesday, the 16th, when i went to the movies.)

greg, i and victoria had a nice dinner together at home this evening and enjoyed talking about past days in the village before the twin towers and battery park city were even built (when victoria first moved here in the early '70's), and before the river park was created (greg and i in the late '80's). i'm hoping she finds some old photos of the neighborhood when going through her boxes.

it has been cold outside!! 40 degrees today and on tuesday and wednesday it felt like snow . . (there were flurries yesterday which i missed seeing as i was watching the film). i know it's even colder by eva and i'm sure she has had a decent amount of snow already (!). the point i want to make is that just last saturday i was wearing sandals and a t-shirt (and jeans) as we drove out to the house.