sunday photos

janet and i had coffee in the morning at cafe minerva (8 am!) then i came home to pancakes with m and c and greg. greg went off to his chess tournament, and i drove m and c to their gilbert and sullivan rehearsal, uptown on the east side. then . . i drove m to her ballet rehearsal back cross town again on the west side. then i went back to pick up chanda on the east side. then i drove cross town to the west side again to pick up morgana and take us all home. yes, i was a very good chauffeur today. i also made dinner: butternut squash soup with spicy yogurt topping and sauteed spinach (from the ancient grains for modern meals cookbook). (isn't the green tipped pink hyacinth interesting?)

a courtyard concert and eleanor roosevelt slept here

chanda and i arrived at third street fifteen minutes early this morning. i was rewarded by seeing steve's repertory class performing their annual spring outdoor concert in the courtyard.

i'm always thoroughly amused these days at how we live through our phones and cameras . .

the kids were great. i hope they enjoyed it as much as we did. (you can hear chanda playing in 2009 here).

chanda and i pass this sign every saturday morning on our way to third street. eleanor roosevelt supposedly "resided" here during the years 1933 to 1942. These were also the years FDR was president, so i'm not sure how often she was here . . i suppose during nyc visits.

she grew up on west 37th street (until she was eight), and taught at the dalton school on the east side, and also worked at the united nations, so she lived off and on in manhattan for a number of years. i'll have to read a biography to find out the details.

sun and haze . . spring or summer?

it was a very warm day. our friends came to visit and we went to the park. and sat in the sun until my friend said, you know i really can't take this anymore can we move to the shade?
before they came over we straightened up the apartment and made muffins (chanda is cutting up the apples here). it feels so good to have put away the extraneous stuff that accumulates . . and recycle papers that i think i need to look at but never do.

morgana practiced guitar . .

jack threw himself off the chair and beached himself on the floor . .

madeline watched him with much interest . . as she likes to do. jack is infinitely fascinating to the cats.

at the hudson river park with our friends. the sun shone down, but behind us the sky was overcast and hazy.

playing "telephone" in the shade amongst themselves with several very interested little ones . .

morgana went to HB at 2 pm for a rehearsal with marlene for the ten minute play she's performing in.

after dropping chanda off at ballet, i came home and managed to make dinner . . i finally decided on fettuccine alfredo with a caesar salad.

and chanda did some last minute practicing for orchestra before going to bed.

working in central park

at 10 am we were at 80th street in the park to spread two large piles of mulch around. it was a big group of us today. there were so many helpers that i didn't need to work very hard and, thankfully, i didn't get a blister like last time. morgana did, however. she kept swinging that pitchfork. gloves might have helped.

the day was amazingly warm. seventy eight degrees! it felt like june the way the sun was beating down on us.

chanda did a lot of wheelbarrow work . .

we left the park around noon, and walked home from the subway along west 11th street. the pear trees are blooming and their dusty scent filled the air. i feel like they're blooming a whole month early.

people's gardens are looking beautiful with all the flowers that have been planted . . one person has their plot covered with grape hyacinth . .

another person has all tulips . .

we ran into janet and gael! they were on their way to gael's swimming lesson at the mcburney Y.

pear blossoms . . chanda brought some home to put in a bowl of water on the table.

babysitting and cooking dinner

we were at dance theatre workshop (aka new york live arts) at 10 am for a studio rehearsal. at 11 am, lucia dropped tsamaret and moriah off and we walked to chelsea piers.

the geese were stopping by . .

we weren't able to ride the big merry-go-round as it was closed up,


but the small one was still fun.

after chelsea piers, we walked south towards the water park and our neighborhood.

at 14th street we saw these ducks. they always look like loons to me, but i don't think they are. however, i haven't been able to find them in the online duck pics i've looked through.

at the waterpark.

after meeting tsamaret and moriah's mom and dad at the apartment, and having lunch, morgana went to her dance class, and i took chanda to her's. we were all at home at 8 pm to make dinner with a little help from korrina and tyler.

korrina put the salad together . .

and tyler set the table . .

hmmm . .

maybe not . .

yes, the table is set . .

and jack is keeping an eye on things . .

the photographer . .

finally . . dinner is ready and on the table . .

crispy brown rice burgers with green olives, pecorino, and sage, from ancient grains for modern meals (found in the new york public library).