digging in the dirt and observing jupiter

today, we finally made it out to our small children's garden plot by the laundry room to dig up a few impatiens plants and put in some bulbs.



(meanwhile, korrina ran off to a babysitting job in cobble hill. she took care of a little two and a half year old, very energetic, little boy who she said was very cute. they went to the carroll street playground where i used to take korrina sometimes when she was little.)

we found teeny tiny mushrooms which we have not identified as yet.

we also observed jupiter this evening, just to the right of the moon.

at st. mark's in the bowery

i was so sad not to have the pictures of our six year old friends tsameret and moriah (they're twins and tsameret means "treetops" and moriah means "the wind" and i accidentally erased photos i had taken of them with chanda down by the river) that i gave my camera to chanda today. she and morgana were babysitting and i asked her to take pictures of their afternoon. when i went to import the photos, i was astounded to see "121 photos to import" arrive on my screen. 121 photos in two hours. yep. she's a chip off the old block if i ever saw one. soooo . . without further ado . . here's a view of chanda's afternoon playing in the churchyard across from tsameret and moriah's apartment (movies by morgana):

more from st. mark's in the bowery (or st. mark's in the bowery continued)

 i'm posting this on july 20, 2019 after a visit this past monday with lucia, randy, tsameret and moriah. we all have such precious childhood selves in each one of us, and looking at these photos and movies makes my heart ache for my children's and my own and even my parent's (how i loved hearing their stories about their growing up). i'm so stuck in the past and i've been trying to pull myself out of it for several years now; as if moping around will allow time to stand still. i don't think chanda is much different from me. we're much too melancholic.

(i love seeing the people passing through caught in these photos . . as in the woman on the right above . . )

ice skating and baking

we were out early this morning at the ice rink. it's been so warm that i felt surprised an ice rink could even open. however, it IS november: the season for ice skating!

it was our friend's birthday and her mom had made sandwiches for everyone: goat cheese and white bean hummus.

amelia is fifteen now.

at home, korrina was baking up a storm . .

double chocolate chip cookies and butter scones and biscuits . .

and apple scones!!! i'm all set for tomorrow morning when i have my tea!

before going to modern dance class in the late afternoon, chanda worked a little on lines, rays and angles . .

and we talked about euclid, alexander the great, and eratosthenes.

the yorkville nutcracker at barnes and noble

it's been so difficult to post this week. for the first half i had a terrible cold that left me very tired, and then for the second half we were so busy. then, when i finally found i had a moment to sit down, greg was always already seated at the computer. now here it is sunday night! we were at barnes and noble at 86th street, between lexington avenue and third avenue, for the yearly yorkville nutcracker presentation. i was ambitious to capture some of the dances and speeches on my camera and accidently erased several pictures of chanda and i at the river park with our little five year old friends. i thought i had downloaded them already, and the camera hadn't deleted them. but, no, i actually hadn't downloaded them at all. soooo, they are gone and in their place of i have gingerbread and spanish dances from the nutcracker, but i miss the pictures of the river because i had some lovely shots of the girls and of the seagulls flying over their heads . . just some beautiful autumn outdoor scenery!

chanda's friend nora danced lead gingerbread for the event.

(this music always makes me smile.)

nora's dad also came up to speak. he's been coming to nutcracker performances with his wife for eleven years. his son, who is currently away at college, began dancing in it when he was seven years old. now his sisters continue the tradition. mr. massie was also there to sign copies of his new book catherine the great. he spoke of how he's seen dancers grow through their nutcracker performances and move on to other companies and opportunities, having learned so much through their experiences with dances patrelle.

(greg and i hope to attend his talk at the broadway barnes and noble on tuesday.)

faith, who is dancing in the above movie, has performed in the nutcracker since she was six years old when she started as a page. she's eighteen and attends columbia university now. i think part of the reason she chose columbia was so she could continue to dance in the show!

francis patrelle came on at the end and spoke about how he based the ballet on historical events and real people. the ballet takes place in 1895 in gracie mansion when william l. strong was mayor of olde new york. even teddy roosevelt makes an appearance since he was police commissioner at the time. you can read more about the ballet on the company's website.