this past week

i've always been enchanted with ralph lee's puppets and the mettawee river theatre company. my very good friend ron performed with them years and years ago (so many years ago that i don't remember what it was he performed) and ever since i've been a fan. lucky for me that westbeth, the artists' community across the street from me, has an ongoing ralph lee exhibit. it changes periodically. in the window this week is a fox and dear little frog (bottom left) who is almost going to be eaten by the flying bird. but, as chanda pointed out to me, the fox will save the day.

thursday night's dinner: tortellini en brodo con l'arugula. it was especially good because the broth was fresh amish chicken broth.

enjoying the "new" room with bunk beds . . 

working on her "mary" essay . .

xena keeping an eye on jack.
 

plum kuchen ready for the oven!

chanda sitting in one of our favorite diners (stargate) near ballet academy east on third avenue at 93rd street, where dances patrelle holds their nutcracker rehearsals.

 
a crockpot stew for a cool evening.

 
we read jean fritz's where do you think you're going christopher columbus on columbus day. it was informative and funny and almost caused morgana to miss her babysitting date. later that evening we read about alexandra david-neel who was an explorer in tibet in the early 1900's.

 
morgana ran the flowers dance in the living each morning.

it helps make for a good saturday rehearsal.

chanda, ella and evan at the american museum of natural history. on wednesday we had a field trip to see the special bioluminescence exhibit. it began by talking about fireflies and how they produce luciferin and luciferase (latin, light-bringing/light-bearing). these two elements fit together and when oxygen is added, light is produced. the show also described the glow worms of new zealand caverns which are the larvae of a gnat. they hang from the ceiling and send from their abdomen strands of sticky mucous droplets to catch flying insects which are then hauled up and eaten. this website has a good description of the process. it's interesting how the strands will swing and glow in the cave . . my favorite part of the exhibit was the description of dinoflagellates in vieques, puerto rico. so many of these marine plankton live together that they emit a bright light when bumped against each other. in mosquito bay in puerto rico you can row through them and watch the light drip off of the oars, or your body! you can see read more about it and see images here.

chanda and korrina helped make wednesday night dinner. chanda found a recipe in the real simple magazine greg brought home from work. i picked up sausage from faicco's and we added bread crumbs, onion, garlic and arugula.

mixing it all together while laughing at something her sister said.

pasta with sausage, arugula and crispy bread crumbs . . 

 buon appetito . . 

working on vedic math on thursday.

jack manages to snuggle into the clean laundry once my back is turned for a second.

 thursday dinner: kale salad with sweet potato fries and chicken legs.

 

morgana attended a dance intensive this week with betty jones and fritz ludin who used to dance with jose limon. after walking crosstown with her, i stopped at the green market and bought mums and herbs.

 korrina helped me re-pot them.

 the peppermint plant.

chanda has been working on her violin as she is doing chamber this year. of course she just missed two days of practice as she's been cleaning out her dresser drawers, and sorting through seemingly thousands of hand-me-downs from sisters and friends.

friday night dinner: chorizo sausage bought at the green market in a soup with kale and potatoes.

finally, the windows no longer look bare. i'm also getting used to there being no trees and to seeing the building and hearing the residents across the way so clearly. it's amazing how much of a buffer the mulberry trees were.

stage managing

 korrina has been stage managing at HB. they're putting up three one act plays by one of the playwrights in the playwriting program and opening night was friday the 12th. 

 she's also modeling the cowl she made with yarn she had received as a gift. i think she made up the pattern.

the colors are beautiful and it's nice and warm for this cooler weather . . well, the cooler weather we had for awhile. it's grown a little more humid and warm these past three days.

 greg and i will see a performance thursday night.

nutcracker update

it's been difficult blogging lately. it's been difficult doing anything lately. the apartment is so upside down. there's so much that didn't get done over the summer because we were so busy with sturbridge, and because when i was finally home, it was just too hot to pick through bags of old clothes, toys and stuffed animals. i also feel organizationally challenged these days, but then i've felt that way ever since morgana was born. my mother used to say that she lost the curl to her hair when my sister was born, as my sister was born with a head full of curls. i say that i lost my organizational abilities when morgana was born. she took them all, and is now the one i turn to when i need to sort anything in this apartment . . anything in my life?????!!!! ha! in addition there is the everyday cooking, cleaning, laundry, taking care of pets (i truly do not like walking jack these days), dance classes, dance rehearsals and lessons. it just doesn't all fit in.

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so, what is the above picture of? it's a nutcracker rehearsal. the young boy is turning away from the door where he was watching the gingerbread dancers rehearse. the parents are watching and waiting for their children to be dismissed. rehearsal is almost over.

hmmm. what's happening here? the mice are rehearsing. justin, in the red shirt, is the company member who is directing the rehearsal. morgana is in the center of the picture, standing on her right leg with her left leg up in the air and waving her stick which is standing in for her sword. morgana will also be dancing "the waltz of the flowers." it's a lot of fun watching her rehearse this dance . . how many times did i dance around my living room to this song when i was little? maybe a million!

and what is this? this is a picture of the three marys, trying on their dream girl costumes. and, yes, that is chanda in the brown dress in the center. she's sharing the lead role with two other girls: her friend nora on the right, and calliste in the blue leotard on the left.

i'm finally down from cloud nine, but we were all flying high around here after the casting was announced. chanda is having a great time learning the part, but of course she has rehearsal friday, saturday AND sunday. it makes for a week without any break. i guess that's why i feel so discombobulated and the apartment is in such disarray.

bekka, the rehearsal director for the party scene section of the ballet, requests all party scene child dancers to write about their character. mr. patrelle based his version of the nutcracker on new york city history. the opening christmas scene takes place in 1895 in olde new york. the honorable william l. strong has just been elected mayor and he and his family have been invited as houseguests to a christmas party in gracie mansion, owned by hamlin and jane babcock. e.t.a. hoffman's marie character is mary strong, and her brother fritz is putnam bradlee. you can read a small new york times blurb about it's beginnings here. for me, it's a magical family holiday ballet production with very talented dancers. this year jennifer ringer and jared angle from new york city ballet will perform as the sugar plum fairy and her cavalier. many "regulars" will come back as guests at the party scene since everyone has such a great time dancing in it.

chanda's sources for her essay.

waiting for chanda's rehearsal to begin, after morgana's flower rehearsal ended.

since the girls are no longer little, i sometimes feel funny hanging around at these rehearsals, but i like just sitting and knitting. there's too much to do for me to sit comfortably at home and knit . . and i'm usually too weary to run errands . . so i get my earl grey tea and . . knit. on the needles now is a simple mohair scarf for a little friend who just turned nine.

on montauk

we went out monday morning to help nana and nonno settle into the house after the renters had left. (we passed greg somewhere around amagansett: he was on the train, we were in the car.)

we stopped first at the overlook where the goldenrod was seemingly taking over the bittersweet vines and the fence.

 having lunch . .

chanda decided to read ruth fielding at lighthouse point . . i think it had been my mom's book when she was young . . she had found it on the bookshelf downstairs.

after lunch, we went for a walk along hotel beach.

 so did this guy . . 

while nana, nonno and i were at the doctor's on tuesday, morgana and chanda unpacked more boxes and planted the mums my sister's neighbor gave my mom. morgana also trimmed the holly bush . . i mean tree.

 the mums were perfect in nana's iron kettle!

afterwards, we went to the ditch . . 

 

and they went swimming.

morgana ran back to inform me that there were (ahem) a few jellyfish in the water.

but, they both were brave and went back in. the surfers were in (they're the block dots bobbing around in the water two pictures up-they kind of look like seals), and there was a man teaching his three year old how to surf.

i love the goldenrod. i recently read that there are over 100 varieties. i enjoyed reading this person's post (kathy purdy) about trying to tame her goldenrod. she also has several good suggestions for books on native plants of north america.

since we are by the sea, i shall assume that this is seaside goldenrod! it also resembles the pictures i found on walter muma's website about goldenrods.

the grey day made for some nice pictures.

 i also took a picture of the harvest moon.

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nonno's not driving yet. he'll use the senior transportation van for a few weeks. i know he misses his freedom. growing older and wiser is not without it's complications.