summer ballet intensive observation day

 we rode our bikes along the hudson river park with chanda at 8 am this morning, to observe her ballet classes (and even though it was only 8, we were still all hot and sticky when we arrived.)

 warming up . . 

 her first class was technique and i was happy that the school had sent out a note that it was alright to take pictures.

 rond de jambe en l'air.

my partner in crime for the day.

 petite battements . . 

 grand jetés . . 

 piqué turns

(c's friend anna gives the second pretty smile of the day at the end of the exercise . . )

grand jetés across the room.

pointe work

reverance and thank you to the teacher, nadia pavlenko.

 then it was a lunch break. m and i went to maison kayser and c went to whole foods with her friends.

 contemporary class which chanda was not all that happy with . . 

character was more enjoyable with vladimir dvorovenko (whom she had years ago at the gelsey kirkland academy).

chanda and her ballet friends. they had their lunch in the middle of columbus circle today, even though it was so hot and humid.

visiting nana

 yesterday, morgana and i drove up to connecticut to see my mom.  we came particularly to take her to a dermatologist's appointment today (my sister is away in maine). we picked her up from the assisted living apartment yesterday evening and she stayed with us at my sister's house. she loves resting out on the deck.

 morgana is peeling casava (yucca root) that we picked up at the whole foods market. we haven't had this in a long time. she first boiled it and then sautéed it in butter. we had it with steak (my mom loves steak) and buttered carrot "pennies," (a mollie katzen recipe that is supposed to have sesame seeds added, but we couldn't find any in the pantry).

 here's toby looking out her window.

 my mom is writing a card to greg's dad, who had been in the hospital.

 after the doctor's appointment today, morgana and my mom asked to go to "sweet frog," a soft serve ice cream store where you add all your toppings. one of morgana's favorites is a little chocolate frog.

 look at those big bowls! everything is weighed here, so they make sure the bowls can hold a lot! (and my mom can really fill it up!)

 pink and green decor . . i'm embarrassed to say that these are two of my favorite colors! my living room is painted pink and green . . i saw it in a home decor book in the 80's . . paint magic, by jocasta innes . . i think the pottery barn store sold the book at the time . . along with the paint needed to implement all the project ideas.

my knitting . . another napkin with yarn from korrina's upstate travels.

back at the apartment we had my mom practice working her new cd player so she can listen to audio books.

it was a hot ride home in the car as the air conditioning doesn't work, but we made it and were happy to unpack and settle in at home again. morgana is trying to cut out a napkin exactly on the grain, following a pattern from a local fabric store, purl soho (fringed napkins in watercolor linen). it's very difficult to do!

wednesday morning knitting and birthday surprises

i've been knitting napkins with cascade ultra pima cotton in the colorway "ice." also pictured is a skein of sugar 'n cream in lime stripes that korrina brought me from her travels upstate. i have a post i will do later this week on our lunch visit with her and brian last week. i really enjoyed hearing about their adventures. the book in the photo is from my friend janet who shared a beautiful film with us a year ago called juliette of the herbs:

this is a preview of the film. i think i have the full link somewhere, but am getting ready to visit my mom in connecticut with morgana, so i'll have to post it when we return.

 the other day we had such a wonderful surprise in the mail!

 eva and family had sent a birthday package to morgana and i. the gifts are so lovely and we've really been enjoying them. morgana is happy to have a good book to read in german . . 

and i love reading passages from the city out my window before falling asleep at night. thank you so much eva and everyone!

baking oatcakes and a walk to the yarn store

i buy oatcakes from our local health food store. they carry the nairn brand that are baked in scotland. i think they're very good, but morgana prefers homemade, so she made a huge batch today and divvied them up between us and her friend deychen. they go very fast since greg and chanda really love them too. she'll have to put a bunch away just for herself next time she bakes, so that they don't all disappear within two days!

i took a walk today to the lionbrand yarn store. i had to first stop at the gaynor minden store to get two pairs of tights for chanda.

 i've been obsessed with making napkins . . i'm currently working on a turquoise batch made with cascade ultra pima cotton. it's mercerized and shiny and very different from past ones that i've made. 

 i also picked out cotton yarn from lionbrand that i've always wanted to try. the green is an organic cotton and the cream is their kitchen cotton. 

 another customer just hanging out and knitting. she was crocheting a summer blouse.

morgana met me and we walked home together.

a sunday walk along the river

 today chanda had an audition for a ballet school she is considering attending in the fall. we won't hear the results until wednesday or thursday. i rode my bike uptown with her and had a sandwich and coffee in a diner we like that is just up the block from the school. in the meantime, morgana went to the met museum to see the pergamon exhibit, which she really loved. afterwards, she met me at the diner and we walked to the school where the audition was to see how chanda was doing. there were quite a few moms and dads peering in at the door, so we didn't stay long. we managed to catch a few glimpses of her in the room. it was quite full with hopeful students.

i was hoping morgana could ride downtown with us on a citibike, but citibike only has an all day pass that costs $12. that was a little too steep for us for a thirty minute bike ride home. we walked instead and chanda rode ahead. it was quite hot walking along the river in the sun! however, i didn't find it too uncomfortable as i've finally acclimated. it just takes me longer than when i was younger!

breakfast this morning was cornmeal french toast with maple syrup and ricotta cheese. morgana had this at shelburne farms in vermont and has been wanting to try making at home ever since. it was very good; especially good with the vermont maple syrup sent home with her from my friend marisa.

saturday evening at the met museum

 today was the second to the last day for the pergamon exhibit so on the last minute, chanda and i decided to go. since it was evening, we drove up and i found a parking spot easily on madison avenue (it was 6 pm and only needed an hour's worth of metered parking).

 it was a beautiful exhibit with photos of the site and how it looks now and artists' renderings of how it might have looked in 300 bc. above is a very large statue of athena that graced the pergamon library and temple. also displayed were sparkling gold armbands, earrings and wreaths, statues of drama figures and young dancers, and busts of city officials and ruling families. they also had a movie from the oceanographic institute at wood's hole in massachusetts, showing divers and archeologists rescuing several pieces of ancient ruins from the sea. it was a great show and i'm so glad we went. we also found several books in the gift shop for the exhibit that we put away for christmas.

this is a painting i observed along the hallway on the way to the pergamon show. i was struck by specific details one could see when getting very close to it. there's a haziness indicating the sky and terrain and also very fine brushstrokes denoting the cow and the fence and the bushes in the foreground. it's a watercolor by john brett, done in 1865 and titled bonchurch downs. 

 on our way home.

we had a frittata for dinner made with fresh zucchini from the green market.

at the whitney

my friend kendall and i visited the whitney museum today to see the stuart davis exhibit and to sit out on the upstairs balcony cafe. it was a birthday treat from her to me.

it was a hot day, but it didn't feel hot in the shade. 

 they have a new outdoor exhibit featuring lily pads . . 

 excellent for the hot summer days!

 staring at water and lily pads feels very refreshing.

earlier today, morgana went out with her tin tin bag:

i love the embroidered snails on her top! i think she said it's from austria.

chanda left her ballet intensive early today to attend a homeschool class at the met museum. they viewed the pergamon exhibit and talked about greece and rome.

celebrating with janet

 janet took me out to celebrate my birthday today at tea and sympathy. we had a salmon type of shepherd's pie (i can't remember the official name of the dish) and rhubarb crumble with custard. my favorite part was the black orange tea that i ordered, which was very good.

 wrapped in the pretty green wrapping were three handmade pottery dishes from a garlic clove template, and a book by juliette of the herbs: traveler's joy.

 afterwards, janet had to check on two new ceiling fans that were being installed in an apartment in a building she owns on the east side. i happily went along as i was curious to see inside.

we ended up having to wait out a very bad storm.

 it was still raining a little when we started out, but soon stopped, leaving a steel blue and grey sky. the city is always so pretty after a rainstorm.

my teeny tiny pottery bowls.