City Views, Country Dreams

Good evening from New York on this first day of September.

What a hot summer day this has been. I have been rambling all over town, and even managed to get a much needed hair cut. It was a surprise to discover that it had been almost three months since my talented stylist got her scissors near my hair.

The salon is very near the wonderful Union Square Farmers Market, and this afternoon the farmers were all there, showing their end of summer season produce.

There was corn.


There was squash, in many varieties. I bought some tiny zucchini...some call them courgettes.



There were many displays of beautiful flowers. I meant to buy some flowers, but did not. Perhaps I will get back to this market at the weekend and find the bouquet of my choice.

The following photograph shows a stall selling potted plants ... lots of herbs and chrysanthemums. The photo also gives you an idea of the buildings just beyond the northwestern corner of the Square. This view looks up Broadway.

Ahhh, aren't these eggplants beautiful? That glossy finish gives such a contrast to the grainy stem hat shape at the top of each purple ovoid.

If you like fresh, fresh lettuces in great variety, the Farmers Market is an ideal place to visit.

The Farmers Market stalls are arranged around the north and west sides of Union Square. In the center of the Square are some little cafe tables. I think that the city planners are trying for some sort of European ambiance, but I am not convinced that the ambiance has been achieved.

Well, I did gather some tomatoes, peaches, and early apples to take home along with the zucchini.

On my uptown subway train, I had the pleasure of transcending the underground surroundings, as I opened David Mitchell's newest book. I had reserved this book months ago, and at long last, my library's copy of the American edition was placed into my hands.

What a treat to be able find myself in another century in Japan as I traveled under the New York streets.

And, let's see what else transpired on this day off.

I got home in time to do a bit of playing around with some crocheting. As usual, I've got a few projects underway at the same time. Not sure which of these projects might yet be unraveled, and which might just zip anlong to completion.

It's quite fun to just play around with colors and stitches.

Today's post brought a heavy, glossy fall fashion catalogue to my mailbox. A sort of dreambook as far as contemplating making any purchases. I like these catalogues for the opportunity they bring to see how top designers clothing is styled, and to investigate the silhouettes of the season.

Often, when I turn though the pages, the photographs remind me of clothing I have worn before ... decades back. The two coats shown in the photos I am sampling here are so, so very smilar to coats I remember owning. I might have to go and see these actual coats and try them on, to see if they actually feel like those coats of yore.

Somehow, I have not found time all day to switch on the television to have a glimpse of what might be happening in another part of this big city ... on the tennis courts of the U.S. Open Tournament.

Perhaps I can have a long look at tennis this weekend, although there is a certain hurricane named Earl that's whirling its way up the Atlantic coast, threatening to give us a wet weekend, and to dampen the tennis matches.

Fingers crossed for more sunshine, glorious farm fresh produce, and great tennis.

Best wishes to you all.