snow day

we woke to a beautiful white world . . and an icicle on the window bars . . not a giant one like jonathan and eva's (that was a great icicle!), but a sweet little apartment one.

 it felt cozy to sit down to tea and gingerbread and cream cheese.

and then greg, chanda and i went for a walk. this is the magnolia tree in the courtyard. i'm not sure how much a southern magnolia enjoys being covered in snow.

walking toward the laundry room . . 

the berries of the crape myrtle donned a fat snow hat.

just a small load on a snowy day . . 

one of my favorite trees at the corner of washington and bank . . 

bank street . . 

in front of hb . . 

 we walked towards the high line to see if it was open . . 

 the wind by the river was blowing strong . .

 the high line's gate was down so we took horatio street to the river.

 it was blustery . . !

 winding our way back home past a stone angel covered in snow . . 

 home again to wait for morgana to return from her acting class so we could go sledding . . !

snowstorm

we woke to snow falling small and softly outside. it changed to rain and then back to snow . . to hail . . and finally back to a small snowfall again. 

 little nutcrackers that have managed to stay out of their storage boxes.

 

 we made valentines today . . 

 we just need to fill them out and mail them!

 chanda worked on her border for her argonautica greek passage with translation by r. c. seaton.

 and then she made dinner . . with a little help from me.

 a lovely winter poem in brian jacques' redwall cookbook.

 with beautiful illustrations by christopher denise.

 stones inna swamp soup, or bean soup with celery and green pepper and parsley dumplings. there's supposed to be mushrooms, but chanda isn't a big mushroom fan and since she's the chef, she chose to leave them out.

 lots of parsley . . 

 stirring it up, but waiting for morgana to get home before adding the dumplings.

 i tackled the around the world cookbook . . 

 to make anzac biscuits, one of our favorite treats with coconut flakes and macadamia nuts.

 i used the new cookie sheet i received from my parents for christmas. it's the "gold" baking sheet from williams sonoma! i've always loved these from afar, so it was a really nice surprise when i opened my package this christmas!

 

while i worked in the kitchen, chanda began her writing . . she managed just to do a little bit before running off to watch a little of the fellowship movie . . 

after anzac cookies i finally opened my mollie katzen book to make . . 

 a gingerbread! i've been craving this every morning for three weeks now . . it's easier to bake when i don't have to worry about also putting together a dinner (and vice versa).

 we sat down to a delicious stones inna swamp soup . . except the stones melted a little as the water wasn't boiling when they were thrown in! live and learn!

violin practice and dinner

sloppeh joes tonight . . turkey meat mixed with celery, green pepper and lots of carrots.

close up . .

 close up: the marc jacobs store at night.

 is the bee trying to pull the tablecloth out from under her?

i believe the ants are taking off with the pears and bread and crackers . .

thursday afternoon tea

janet and i met at grounded on jane street for tea and coffee while some of our children were at ballet class.

chai tea on the left (janet's), mocha mint latte on the right (mine).

jack and the new yorker

should i?

nah.

tea kettle!

i decided to forego getting a copper tea kettle because i found . . this one! eva mentioned to me that she has a villeroy and boch tea kettle and when i checked their website i was immediately entranced with dishes, teapots and tea kettles! and i was immediately bit by that little shopping bug! i HAD to have one! oh! and lucky me! they were on sale!!!