good wishes from family and friends

there have been many good wishes for me this morning, along with a thoughtful gift that arrived the day before yesterday (and which i waited until now to open). eva sent me a quote from one of my favorite authors (louisa may alcott) and notecards with advice from a tree, another subject close to my heart. trees and louisa are a perfect combination. thank you so much eva! i love my birthday gifts! 

all these birthday wishes are much appreciated by me, especially since i've been so negligent in getting wishes out to others this year. i've been feeling a little blue and unmotivated to do things . . all this thoughtfulness from others is very inspiring and my heart sends out many thanks.

biking to breakfast

 the small field in our courtyard . . 

 which has small wild strawberries growing in it this year.

 

 this morning we decided to just get up and out and not eat until we arrived at duane park patisserie.

 waiting to cross west side highway . . 

 with the sun hiding behind clouds and haze, it was nice and cool this morning . .

 riding along harrison street . . 

 to duane street . . 

 and duane park patisserie . . 

  tea, turnover and prune danish . . 

 and knitting and rachel carson . . 

getting back on the road again . . 

 to sketch in the hudson river park . . 

 we think it's a small type of sunflower.

 this really looked like siberian yarrow to me, however according to my wildflower book, it's tiny petals are supposed to be white.

 my photo isn't very clear. i could try for a better one . . one day . . soon . .

heading home again.

at the met

 lunch time!

earl grey tea and chocolate . . 

 there are so many new exhibits we haven't seen, as we haven't visited in months.

 we made our way to the asian section for the poetry of nature: edo paintings from the fishbein-bender collection.

 shibata zeshin (1807-1891), egrets and crows . . late 19th century, colored lacquer, white pigment and gold leaf on paper.

 a myriad of mynah birds! late 17th century . . momoyama (1573-1615), ink, color and gold on paper.

 yosa busan (1716-1783), travels through mountains and fields, ink and color on silk.

at the whitney