wednesday

i love the morning walk home after an overnight of helping out with the baby. mamas, papas and children are heading to school and the  workers at the corner restaurant are washing down the sidewalk and street. the deli is open and people are getting their morning coffee and egg sandwich before walking to the subway, and then others are waiting for the bus uptown. i had a cup of tea and then went right out to get cold cuts and italian bread at faicco's for our lunch with korrina.

we managed to go through two loaves of seeded semolina and all the mortadella. it was a good lunch with chanda making a brief appearance also (before running off to class).

looking through some pom pom knitting magazines . . 

green tea and chocolate covered blueberries and honey mints from trader joe's . . 

we walked to the yarn store on west 10th street for knitting needles (for k's latest project) and then to union square green market where korrina caught the train home (stopping at mah ze dahr bakery to use their bathroom and where we succumbed to buying their homemade marshmallows).

 

korrina spotted our first snow drop of the season . . 

 

and pikachu in the window of an nyu dorm. we said good-bye at union square and i walked to whiskers pet supply on ninth street . . i don't think i had been there since pre-covid. i bought some cat food for kendall and for us. it was incredibly warm - 60 degrees! but it's supposed to go down to the 30's again tomorrow. i was able to catch the tail end of my book club zoom session as i walked home.

we had the leftover chicken peanut stew from last week for dinner and afterwards a hot chocolate with the marshmallows (korrina and i had split the package in half). oh, and i guess i bought cookies too.

 

k's latest project: a sweater with seven different strands - two lace weight and five fingering. i love the colors.

babysitting

what a rainy day it was today!!! and it felt so cold, especially after the gorgeous monday that was yesterday. kendall's nanny called in sick so reinforcements were needed. aurélien hadn't slept well and hadn't napped the day before, and it looked like he was going to repeat the pattern today. i ended up pushing him in the stroller around the neighborhood, block after block after block . . hoping he would nod off for at least an hour's nap. of course the drizzle intensified and by the time he did finally nod off, i was quite wet (thankfully, his stroller had a good hood as i had refused the plastic tarp when starting out). with him asleep, i slipped through the open door of the new bakery and ordered a cappuccino and a slice of whole wheat flax seed banana bread (soooo good).

uh oh. what's this? someone is awake already?! (sigh) c'est la vie! i think he slept for 30 to 45 minutes, and i managed to wheel him to the apartment with only one hand on the stroller and the other holding the still warm cappuccino.

it was a fun time and greg helped me get back to kendall's where i stayed over to help with dinner and a bath and then bed.

a monday holiday

greg thought it would be fun to go out for brunch on this president's day holiday. chanda came along too, after checking in on the cats she has been taking care of for our neighbors. 

coffee!

chanda and i shared an omelette and a waffle . . (spinach, goat cheese and bacon, and a belgian waffle with strawberries).

it was a beautiful spring day, and after a walk to the river . . 

i decided to walk to trader joe's on sixth avenue for groceries . . everyone was out and about, feeling happy about the sunshine and bright blue sky . . 

 

 

 

trader joe's is in the old adam's dry goods building, built in 1901 along sixth avenue (then the ladies mile shopping district) by an architecture firm called de lemos and cordes. for many of my homeschooling friends and for myself, this building was important in the 90's and early 2000's as it housed a lovely barnes and noble which we frequently visited. you can read more about it on this office site of quartz, (which seems to be an online member based news journal). (the quartz site links to other helpful articles.)

sunday morning poem and a second birthday celebration

 

joy

 

joy shakes me like the wind that lifts a sail,

like the roistering wind

that laughs through stalwart pines.

it floods me like the sun

on rain-drenched trees

that flash with silver and green.

 

i abandon myself to joy--

i laugh--i sing. 

too long have i walked a desolate way,

too long stumbled down a maze

bewildered.

 

by clarissa scott delaney (1901-1927)

----

our sunday brunch after watching first unitarian of brooklyn's online church service . .

followed by another birthday celebration with billy bakery cupcakes (yum!) . .

and dinner this evening was the fresh fish i bought at the green market yesterday. i cooked them differently tonight . . i dipped them in a flour and egg and milk mixture and sautéed them on a medium high heat. they turned out so crisp and tender. the vegetables were a mix of carrots and celeriac. one of the farmers always has celeriac and i've been cooking it more often.

february nineteenth - a birthday

we started celebrating greg's birthday with fresh bay scallops from the fish stand at the green market. it was a light brunch as we were to meet ron and andy at chelsea market for tacos at 2 pm.

we're into the pre-spring days when i keep thinking it's going to be warm outside, but instead the wind is strong and it feels incredibly cold - supposedly 41 degrees with a real feel of 28. it felt more like 18.

we walked up to the high line to get to chelsea market and the winds were intense . . it's february but the march winds were blowing.

lots of tourists taking photos . .

and there's still a lot of scaffolding from tall, uncompleted buildings.

there was a long line for the tacos but it went fast . . 

a snow squall passed through and almost blew the food away . . 

 

ron and andy brought the birthday cake from the little pie company . . 

 

it was great to be together.

it was so windy walking away from the market and i was so cold from sitting outside that we couldn't walk them to the train station . . i just had to get home where it was warm as quick as possible. the winds whip through the canyons and take your breath away.

the air is so clear with the wind, however, that the sky and the streets shine with a gold afternoon light.

warm on the train home!

london rainbow

morgan sent this lovely photo yesterday . . 

 

but today i received photos from storm eunice:

 

which devastated many beautiful old london trees . .

 

and someone's very nice car!

a bit scary! thankfully, no one was in it.

 

----

to end on a lighter note - here is greg's view from work today (he went into the office) . .