a funny bird and waffles

chanda spied this bird walking home from violin on saturday.

 she thought i was being silly to take it's picture, and found it annoying to have a phoney bird sitting up in the tree. i thought it was kind of cute. we both found it interesting that whoever put it up there, put it at the back of it's house, not at the front with the entrance.

our breakfast on sunday was waffles made with almond flour. though they were a little floppy, they tasted delicious. we have a few frozen. we'll have to see what they're like when warmed up in the toaster. 

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weather-wise, it was warm on saturday, but cold on sunday. we went up to inwood to see a production of oklahoma, comprised of some homeschooling friends. the kids were great, but the show isn't one of my favorites. it was good to see the production, as we've heard a lot about that particular children's theatre. we've also never been up there, so it was nice to learn about yet another nyc neighborhood. we visited a thrift store with my friend janet who was shopping for me and my girl costumes. then we drove madly back to the theatre in time for the show (her son was performing in it). we came home on the train with other friends who were there, and it was very cold! i think it went town to 20 degrees last night. i know it's been even colder upstate and in vermont. spring is slow this year, though i can hear a cardinal outside my window this morning. it's the "cheer cheer cheer cheer" call. in the link it sounds most like the "encounter" or "songs #2."

spring arrives

 

king winter

 king winter sat in his hall one day,

and he said to himself, said he,

"i must admit i've had some fun,

i've chilled the earth and cooled the sun,

and not a flower or a tree

but wishes that my reign were done.

as long as time and tide shall run,

i'll go on making everyone

as cold as cold can be.

 

there came a knock at the outer door;

"who's there?" king winter cried;

"open your palace gates," said spring,

"for you can reign no more as king,

no longer here abide;

this message from the sun i bring,

 'the trees are green, the birds do sing;

the hills with joy are echoing;

so pray, sir--step outside!'"

the robin

the robin is the fairies' page;

they keep him neatly dressed

for country service or for town

in dapper livery of brown

and little scarlet vest.

on busy errands all day long

he hurries to and fro

with watchful eyes and nimble wings

there are not very many things,

the robin doesn't know.

and he can tell you, if he will,

the latest fairy news:

the quaint adventures of the king,

and whom the queen is visiting,

and where she gets her shoes.

and lately, when the fairy court

invited me to tea,

he stood behind the royal chair

and here, i solemnly declare,

when he discovered i was there,

that robin winked at me.

jiggity jig

we returned home this afternoon in time for acting and ballet classes. chanda and i had a snack before she ran off . . and i had a cup of decaf earl grey, which i don't think i'm actually supposed to have. but it was very good.

 here are some pics from the past two days. 

 it was very cold, so we didn't go for any long beach walks.

 

 we managed a peek from the overlook.

 

 for dinner the first night we stopped at the fish store for flounder and (a special treat) sea scallops. we also roasted a kabocha squash and zucchini.

 

 we've been craving sweets. morgana and i can't have sugar because of the diet, and chanda gave sugar up for lent. we tried baking a pecan pie made with a honey coating and coconut flour crust. it was very good, though we'll shorten the baking time for the next try.

 

 we played a game of cards with nana.

 

 we played only a few hands each night . . and i think chanda won with the lowest score.

 

 we were fooling around with nana's magnifying glass as we couldn't find the cards with the large print numbers.

 

 it was a busy two days as we cleaned and straightened, visited the recycling center/dump, and i helped my mom with some paperwork.

the girls were a big help with sorting glass and plastics, vacuuming, cooking and folding laundry.

it was nice to visit the library and celebrate st. patrick's day with a book about ireland, along with corned beef and cabbage for dinner. much information about this meal was gleaned from the st. patrick's day parade commentators on nonno's tv. corned beef and cabbage is supposedly an american dish concocted in hell's kitchen, nyc. however, cabbage was used by the farmers in ireland to cover up the cooking meat aroma from the lords of the land . . or so the story goes.

driving home today was pleasant with a blue sky and little traffic. there was so little traffic that it felt strange. thinking back on it, i can't believe we didn't hit one traffic jam.

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back at home i heard from greg about his two days: that jack was very good and stuck to his old routine, which means that greg didn't have to walk or feed the old boy before 6 am, and was able to get some sleep; and that he and korrina had dinner monday night at a nice noodle shop in the east village. it sounds like she's very happy with her new job and is enjoying learning how to cook the restaurant's signature dishes. she had her last day at the old place yesterday, and is looking forward to a day off on thursday. she worked every day these past two weeks: two days for the old job, and five for the new.

the sea

eastward

orchestra rehearsal, sunflower seed crackers and pickles

since greg had to go to work this morning (they had to move a bunch of phones in his building) i worked quickly to get the compost to the green market before meeting chanda and walking to third street. here they are reheasing a new piece i'm not sure the name of yet. 

i usually knit while i listen to them practice, but lately i've been falling asleep once i start and knit a few stitches. this is very annoying to me.

greg and morgana were both gone for dinner so chanda and i ate late as i got involved with putting nuts, seeds and dried fruit away. it had all been in plastic bags from the coop scattered on the kitchen counter, and i switched it all into jars now stacked neatly in the pantry. i also finally pickled the cucumbers with 1/2 tbl mustard seeds, 1/2 tbl seasalt, 2 tbl whey, and 1 tbl fresh dill. the crackers were made from sunflower seeds, three cloves of garlic, and a cup of sesame seeds. the sunflower seeds had to be soaked and dried on the lowest setting in the oven first. then they were ground into a coarse flour with the garlic and seasalt and sesame seeds in the food processor; rolled out and baked at 350 for fifteen minutes. they're a little bitter, but not too bad. they're tasty with the ghee you see in the jar on the left. we made that also, by melting a pound of butter in a pot and simmering for about twenty minutes. so much work. i miss opening a package of pasta and sauteeing garlic with spinach or broccoli or zucchini.

a nicer dinner

dinner this evening was roasted carrot soup with leftover steak, sauerkraut and pickled beets (and a bone broth, which is drunk with each meal of the day). the soup was very good (especially with a splash of olive oil on top), and i thought it looked much nicer than last night's fare.

a typical day

this is a typical day for us . . alternating work at the table (reports, cosmic calculator, key to math, italian/french/latin), computer subjects (latin, typing, khan academy math, duolingo for french, german and italian), instrument practice, recitation and reading together or crafting while listening to a book on cd.

 eleanor of aquitaine lived into her 80's and traveled extensively into her 70's (crossing the pyrenees on horseback to deliver a bride to her son in sicily, and then returning and crossing the alps back to her home in normandy). 

 she was very outspoken, confident and brave and helped create a stronger image of women in medieval times. she traveled throughout aquitaine and england presiding over court cases, settling disputes, and issuing charters. she enjoyed the arthurian legends and inspired exciting versions of the story to be put into verse and dedicated to her. at the end of her life she settled in fontevrault abbey on the river loire (near the town of poitiers) and died there on april 1, 1204.

 two of the books we used about eleanor.

umm . . i think this dinner looks rather pathetic; not very appetizing. what is it? certainly not a nice pasta dish. it's ground pork with fennel seeds, garlic and parsley with spaghetti squash . . spaghetti squash filling in for . . . spaghetti . . which i miss . . along with orrechiette, italian fig bread, pastina . . etc. (no pasta on the gaps diet).