City Views, Country Dreams

Good evening from New York.

I've been taking quite a few walks through Central Park recently, and would like to share some of those city views with you.

First of all, I wish to honor a spring tradition of showing the tulips blooming in the planted areas in the middle of Park Avenue.

These tulip photographs are specially taken for Merisi whose blog Vienna for Beginners is a treat.

Yellow cabs and yellow tulips and yellow traffic lights with luxury buildings as a background.

Walking back through the Park on my way home, I had to take some pictures of pink flowers with blue sky behind.

The brilliant green lawns looked quite good, too.  Young children were perfecting their walking skills

Some trees were flowering in a deeper rose.

Over at Bethesda Fountain, wedding portrait photography was underway.  Row boats were sailing in the lake.

Here is another view of the same area, just to show you all how lush the Park can become as spring takes hold.

Pretty blue flowers have taken over from the daffodils that were flowering here last week.

Tulips were at full bloom...very large blossoms.

I came home, and baked some cookies for my former workmates at the shop.

I made simple brown sugar butter cookies, and had a bit of fun creating some tracks along the flour left after the first batch of cookies was baking in the oven.

Here's another photograph of a mid-baking session moment, and now here's a photo of the cookies ready to be carried down to the shop.

It was lovely to see my buddies and to thank them again for the swell farewell party they gave me.

Tomorrow is my cousin's birthday, and I've mailed her the following little watercolor birthday card I painted a few days ago.

Earlier today, I took another walk across the Park and made my return walk via a stretch of fashionable Madison Avenue.  I do love the fanciful dresses on display at Morgane Le Fay.

In the bright midday sun shadows cast by the painting on the window repeated the window message below.  I wish my photograph were more clear.

Gorgeous hellebores caught my eye as I passed by a very elegant Upper East Side townhouse.  Aren't these colors subtle?

Just across the street from the subtle hellebores is another scene filled with bright light and sharp angles.

Nearing the Park again, the view of model boat pond is filled with gentle, muted colors.

I like the patterns of the sidewalks on the Central Park side of Fifth Avenue.  Lots of inspiration here for some knitting.

Daffodils are still blooming in certain parts of the Park.

Park gardeners had left their tools behind while taking their lunch breaks.

Motor vehicles are allowed access to some of the Park's roadways.  I imagine that the drivers of these taxis are glad to see some natural beauty.

No motor vehicles are allowed on this tranquil pathway.  I wish that you could also hear the bossa nova saxophone music being played nearby.

I smiled to see this large cluster of dandelions blooming on the edge of the Sheep Meadow.

This following photograph of a Central Park West apartment building window was taken just for the Weaver of Grass, whose blogs have been showing us wonderful bird nests in the Yorkshire dales.

If you look carefully in the triangular space just behind the air conditioner unit, you will see...a bird's nest.  I was attracted to it by birdsong I heard walking past the building.  I stood very still and waited a while, and then actually saw the singing bird pop back into the nest.

As you all can see, I'm really enjoying these early days of my retirement.  Thank you all for your visits to my blog and for your kind comments.  It's a pleasure to share this time of transition with you all.