City Views, Country Dreams

2012-01-15T17:28:00.000-08:00

Good evening from New York.

Winter has finally claimed our city. I am so glad to have had this Sunday off, and to have been able to spend most of the blue skied day in hibernation, only venturing out between 2 and 3 this afternoon, hoping that the strong winds will have brought the official effective temperature closer to freezing.

This was not the case. The wind was still strong, and everyone I encountered along the sidewalks on my quick walk to the grocery market seemed very intent on their own individual destinations. These folks were not always mindful of their fellow pedestrians, sort of like what happens when umbrellas give us an excuse for bad walking manners on a rainy day.

It was wonderful to get back home and make that inevitable pot of tea. PG Tips it was.

My apartment is usually very overheated, but today I am grateful for all the heat that the continually hissing radiators are emitting. Yesss, I am.

Enough of this weather report.

I'd like to show you some of the projects I've been working on in my hours away from my job. The following photos show a two-toned, popcorn-stitch-accented crocheted hat that I can report has been keeping my head warm this past week.

I made this up as I went along, using a black worsted weight black wool yarn, accented by a dual strand of vintage Rowan 4-ply Botany yarn and Rowan ivory-ish tweed 4-ply. The overall shape is like a Russian turnip dome building, meeting up with a classic beret shape.

I was also inspired by the pop-up Japanese tie-dye technique called shibori. I have several scarves made by this intricate method, and loved the idea of making my own modest tribute.

Another of my New Year's projects has been an initial experiment with a medium new to me, acrylic ink. Perhaps many of you are also fans of Milly's beautiful Drawings from Nature posts? If you have not visited there, may I encourage you to do so? She is one of the folks who initially encouraged me to start this blog.

She's a fine artist, who definitely has mastered the use of acrylic inks. Last week, I made a quick visit to my favorite NYC discount artists' materials shop, and bought three bottles of acrylic ink, in black, white and sepia. This afternoon, I opened up a page in one of my mostly empty sketch books and played a bit with the sepia and white ink. I'm being brave in showing you all the results, and hope that in the weeks to come, I'll have much better examples to share. I did like using the inks, finding them somewhere between watercolor and gouache, featuring some aspects of each of those two media that I have liked.

Now, let me return to another yarn fueled project. I am knitting a long, fringed scarf as a surprise farewell gift for a work colleague who will be leaving at the end of the month. I'm using all four-ply yarns, most of which I bought many, many years ago at Liberty's then excellent yarn department. I do hope that department still exists!

The colors in this scarf are a bone Botany (same as in the hat) and three different grey tweedy yarns. All are Rowan yarns, though I think most might no longer be available.

Let's see, what else have I been doing when not at the shop, trying to keep up with certain 2012 resolves? I'm reading two books. One is a recent Alexander McCall Smith novel, The Forgotten Affairs of Youth, featuring his philosopher heroine, Isabel Dalhousie.

The other novel is Heat Lightning, by Helen Hull, published in 1932, by Coward, McCann, Inc. I was not yet born in 1932, and Coward, McCann, Inc. no longer exist. However, Persephone Books are going to reissue this book. I am finding its plot rather like the story line to a classic film of that era. I see the scenes in black and white, though Ms Hull's excellent writing also exposes all sort of grey.

Perhaps you readers will now sense that this post has featured a certain colorway?

As we all take our additional steps into this new year, le'ts hope for lots of color, more as each day dawns.

Thank you all for your comments. I continue to be amazed to have visitors from all over the world.

City Views, Country Dreams

2012-01-07T14:56:00.000-08:00

Good evening from New York.

This New Year is so different from 2011. Truly, it is. In early January 2011, New York was still trying to recover from a massive snowstorm. I clearly remember the depth of the snow, and the energy required to shovel that heavy, icy snow from the sidewalks in front of the shop. How my muscles did ache for the first few days of that shoveling. How surprising it was to realize that even though the shoveling continued, the aching did not.

Today's weather was much more spring like, with the temperature almost reaching 60 degrees F. How odd it was to walk past the skating rink at Rockefeller Center this afternoon, and see skaters in light sweaters and sweat shirts trying to execute their favorite moves on slushy ice. You can also see the large orange crane that allowed some workers to remove all those glittering lights. Pretty soon the Tree will be removed from its place of honor.

I was on my way to meet some friends for a long-postponed Christmas lunch.

Since my last visit to this part of Rockefeller Center, a large Lego shop has opened. I did not have time to go inside for a proper browse, but loved the sculptures in place over one of the entrances.

Eventually, I reached my lunch destination and met up with my friends, an artist couple I have know for many decades. We always have much to discuss, and laughing plays a big part of our conversations.

We also brought along the Christmas gifts that we wanted to exchange with each other, and elected to wait to open these festively wrapped packages after we'd returned home. Too much drama might have ensued if we'd done the unwrapping at the restaurant.

So, after lunch we took a bit of a walk, enjoying the blue sky and mild January afternoon, and then parted with the knowledge that we'd be seeing each again very soon.

I am going to try to be more frequent with these posts, even if this might mean a shorter post. I'm going to try to change a lot of my routines this year and see if this shake up gives me more relaxation and even fun. I hope to be able to find some new city views to share with you, as I also explore making some of my country dreams more of a reality.

Best wishes to you all for a New Year that will amaze with its positive possibilities.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-12-22T18:28:00.000-08:00

Good evening from New York.

It's been a very busy bunch of days since my last post, and I do not want more time to speed past before I show you all a rather poor photo of one of my watercolor cards...to wish each of you a Very Happy Christmas!

Work at the shop continues to be very demanding, and it's up to all of us to keep our energy levels high as we help many folks to make their various seasonal shopping decisions. We are all beginning to truly look forward to December 25, when the shop will be closed.

I've also been doing lots of cookie baking and baked cookie giving, and enjoying getting together with various friends, opening beautiful cards from folks all over the world, and generally enjoying the spirit of this season. Today the daylight began to increase!

May I again wish all of you a very Happy Christmas, and thank you again for all your visits to this space.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-12-04T14:24:00.001-08:00

Good evening from New York.

During the past week I have been taking some time off from my official job, and instead have been working at home. This homework has centered on preparing for Christmas. I have been painting Christmas cards and making lots of gifts. Part of one of the gifts is pictured below.

However, I have managed to leave my version of Santa's workshop several times. One evening I attended my employer's annual holiday party, held in a party space on the 20th floor of a building. The space had a wall of windows that gave us all spectacular views of many New York icons, like the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. It was grand to see many folks who work in different company departments. The recorded music was very loud, the buffet dinner was delicious.

This afternoon I attended a totally different Christmas, or Holiday as many folks tend to say over here, party. It was the annual open house at the gorgeous Fifth Avenue main branch of our New York Public Library. Friends of the Library, like myself, who donate a little bit to the Library are invited. The Library is otherwise closed to the public on this particular December afternoon.

It's a very special day, and always presents an interesting mix of young family groups and much, much older folks. What we have in common is that we all love to read.

I have written posts about these parties before, so I hope to have included some different photos this time around, like the following view of the entrance to the Rare Map Room. I have done research there myself and can vouch for the scholars that are always available to help anyone.

Just down the marble hallway from that doorway is this charming water fountain. Lions play a big part in the architectural details of the library.

This rather blurry photo shows a library volunteer dressed up in a lion costume. Many children enjoyed chatting with the lion and have group photos taken.

The various other literary characters wandering about moved rather quickly, so I do apologize for more blurs.

Yes, Mr. Scrooge was back again, and as grumpy as ever.

The library's party does not rely on recorded music. Various performers are stationed throughout the building.

Can you dance on stilts? This duo can, and you can see that our friendly lion is trying out a few steps, too.

Lots of folks were creating balloon sculptures for children of all ages.

The little fellow below is enjoying his new Santa hat, complete with beard.

You can see yellow taxis rushing down Fifth Avenue from this magnificent window.

Carols were sung by the West Point cadet glee club. As always, I am shocked at how young these cadets look.

Here's another balloon hat fan.

The building really is lovely, but if you look around, you can see that there's also room for some restoration.

There are lots of security personnel on duty, and some of them are folks I have known for many years from seeing them at various branch libraries I have used over the years. It's fun to catch up with them at this party, too.

This fellow is a talented juggler who can teach anyone how to do a few tricks.

On the third floor are many large murals. Can you see that the gentlemen on the bench below is using his laptop?

I believe that the following mural is Biblical.

The library has been exhibits and has extensive collections of documents and art. The Hockney print below was included in a little show hung along one of the hallways.

I hope that you all have enjoyed seeing a bit of this open house. I am now going to show you some photos I took as I walked up Fifth Avenue on my way home.

Here's a little different angle on the famous giant tree at Rockefeller Center.

The buildings that make up Rockefeller Center are splendid examples of the art deco style. Here is a frieze that's above the doorway to one of the buildings.

A bit further up Fifth Avenue, I notices this large space is empty. In the recent past it has housed a Walt Disney themed store. I am not sure how long it has been empty. An Armani shop is just a few doors away.

Here's a view of the crystal studded snowflake that hangs over the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street.

These are just some of the heavy planters outside the Trump Tower building. They are there to keep some determined person from driving a vehicle into the building.

Tiffany's has gone a bit tacky this year in my opinion, with these very gaudy surrounds added to their usual elegant little display windows. To my eye, they have a bit of Disney about them.

And so, let's cross the Avenue and take a look at the exquisite holiday windows at Bergdorf Goodman. This year's theme is the Carnival of Animals. This allows the shop's very talented visual team to recycle lots of familiar props in new ways, and to also show off some very, very elegant outfits.

Today's light was a bit subdued, but in some of the following photos you will still be treated to multiple reflections. I like the effect, and hope that you all will not mind.

I could not resist taking a few close up views of this seascape.

Birds of a feather flocking together.

Those birds are now ready for their portraits.

Here's another close up.

I may be able to return to take some more photos of the BG windows, but that will conclude today's taste of that taste.

I continued walking westward, and wanted to show you another sculpture by the artist who made the shiny blue bird that I included in a prior post.

Let me assume for now that there is no connection whatsoever between that giant green apple and the giant glass Apple shop just across Broadway.

And here's some more greenery. The following stand is just one of many that offer us Christmas trees of many shapes and sizes.

Here's a little reminder that it's still possible to catch a glimpse of a beautiful rose in bloom on this fourth day of December.

This has been just a pleasant day. It's now time to think about what might be for supper, and then, it will be time for me to return to my own little North Pole.

Best wishes to you all on this second Sunday in Advent.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-11-24T12:31:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving from New York.

The above photo was taken last weekend on a walk across Central Park. The weather was warm, only a heavy sweater and scarf were required. I kept hoping to see some brilliant autumn leaves, but think that I missed prime leaf time. However, my photo does somehow remind me of colors from a Pissaro painting.

Now, on to today, a cold day when down-filled coat, gloves, scarf and hat are required for anyone who got up early enough to walk over to Central Park West to see a bit of the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade sponsored by Macy's, the big department store.

No matter how hard I try to have an early enough start, I never quite get to the parade in time to actually get close enough to see floats featuring minor celebrities or marching bands. I do however manage to see lots of balloons. Some are part of the parade and some are for sale to parade viewers.

I am not sure why the Sanitation Department truck was parked on West 72nd Street.

There were several other large delivery trucks along this block, and their cargo contained bundles of hundreds of green balloons, each printed with information promoting an upcoming revival of the Peter Pan stage show. I thought this balloon giveaway was a clever promotion, but wonder what the folks selling balloons thought.

The young lady on the cell phone in the following photo was selling cotton candy and this spun sugar bouquet found purchasers as the minutes passed by.

Dora and Sponge Bob were popular balloons for sale. The Sabrett umbrella in the background is above a stand selling big (possibly stale) pretzels and hot dogs. Remember this was around 9 o'clock a.m.

I found a spot adjacent to the Dakota apartment building and took this photo to show you the sunny, clear blue sky. It was chilly, but not too windy.

The parade began just about five blocks north of where we were patiently waiting. The little girl in pink had a great view, courtesy of her father's strong arms. They were from across the Atlantic.

This little fellow, with his animal design hat pulled low over his own eyes, slept for the first 45 minutes of the parade.

The shadows cast by the buildings and the sharpish sunlight did not grant me ideal photography conditions. I did not take too many pictures of the giant balloons. This one is the Pillsbury Dough Boy, a character that first appeared in television commercials decades ago. I think it's funny that he is still a crowd pleaser.

I certainly do not think it at all odd that the famous beagle Snoopy still can wow a crowd.

I think that he deserves more than one photo.

See you again next year, Snoopy!

I wonder how many of the family groups watching the parade were going to follow Ronald McDonald to find a snack to keep them energized before they sat down to a traditional turkey dinner?

Here's another little cutie wearing a wonderful, warm hat.

After about an hour of parade watching, I realized that I was beginning to feel a bit cold, and so after witnessing Spider Man's arrival and departure, I made my own way back home to warm up with some hot chocolate.

Since that delicious hot chocolate, I've been dedicating myself to some intense Santa's workshop activities. I love painting my Christmas cards and making gifts, but realize today that I am way, way behind my usual production schedule.

I hope that you all will have enjoyed this little peek at a New York City tradition and again wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-10-31T17:00:00.000-07:00

It's now Halloween evening in New York, and I would like to share some photos I took this afternoon on West 69th Street, where October 31 is always a very special day and night.

West 69th Street is a tree-lined street dominated by classic brownstone houses. There are a few larger buildings, and even an Episcopal church on this street. There are no tall buildings. It is a street that has a quiet intimacy, from which residents have drawn to create an October wonderland for neighborhood children.

The decorations and open houses are a collaborative effort.

Try to ignore the garbage receptacles in the background and enjoy these three witches at work stirring their cauldron.

Cobwebby effects pervade the street. Do you spot the bat in the web, do you see the Eye on the window shade? Do you remember seeing it in a photo last year? That eye becomes very scary after dark.

Would you want to enter this doorway, even for a treat? You would have to pass below the witch and a collection of flying bats. Just asking.

Art history students are not ignored on this street. Is the frame perfect?

Please do not think that the organic side of Halloween is ignored on West 69 Street. That roped canvas in the upper left of the photo is part of a pirate ship that will be revealed after sundown.

The neighbors are so friendly, always waving a howdy!

Well, here's that welcoming witch again. does she look more friendly from a side view?

Parking is always a challenge in New York, no matter what sort of vehicle is used.

Well, I think if you had the courage to enter the house guarded by that flying witch, I will give you another test. Mind the bat.

Sweet dreams to you all. I have a bowl full of candy, hoping that there might be some trick or treating children in this building who might trade a view of their costume for a bit of chocolate. Not sure that anyone will ring the doorbell.

It's now eight pm and the adults are taking over the celebrations. There's a crazy Halloween parade just beginning downtown.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-10-31T08:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween from New York!

That whimsical seasonal image is taken from one of my favorite calendars, Cynthia Hart's Victoriana 2011 Calendar. Each month features a collage assembled from a very rich assortment of yesteryears' glories.

Later on today, I'll try to take my camera for a walk around the neighborhood to collect some current Halloween images to show you all.

However, first I wanted to tell you about the weekend trick that Nature played on us.

New York City is often used as a film location for movies, television and advertising. It is not too unusual to see pseudo snow blanketing a small area of a street in July. That area will have to be treeless, because it is hard to make a snow scene seem real with lots of leaves on the trees. Or is it?

Our autumn weather has been gradually settling in, with only the yellow leaves making their appearance around town. There has been no sign of the auburn shades yet.

As I looked out my front window on Saturday, what do you think I saw? Inch-wide floppy white snowflakes flying through the air! I have never seen snow falling while trees still held on to their green leaves. I somehow thought of that old tune Season of the Witch.

Of course, this unusual sight quickly motivated me to get outside on my necessary errand rounds, with a quick midday toasted cheese sandwich and cup of tea in between rounds. By the time I bundled up in my down coat (down coats do not usually get worn before late November) and went out for the final errand mission, the sidewalks were beginning to accumulate lots of slushy ice. I was quick in my rather abbreviated mission and then enjoyed the rest of Saturday from my cozy apartment.

This very freaky storm did lots of damage to lots of trees. Central Park alone has lost over 1000 trees, many more than were downed as a result of last summer's Hurricane Irene. Heavy, wet snow on leaf-bearing trees creates a bad combination.

In many suburban New York areas, folks will be without electricity for another day or two, due to so many fallen trees connecting with overground power lines. I consider myself very fortunate not to have been inconvenienced.

And so again, I wish you all a Happy Halloween, and advise you to concentrate on treats, and to beware of tricky surprises.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-10-16T17:47:00.000-07:00

Good evening from New York.

It's been quite a while since I last wrote. Before offering up my alibi, I would first like to thank all you kind folks who've left lovely messages

Not long after that prior post I got sick, catching some sort of cold that had a big bad cough as its sidekick. Around the same time, demands of my job ratcheted up a bit. Not a great combination, but I am delighted to report that weeks later there's improvement on all fronts.

About the time that my cough was on the upswing, I chose to go ahead with a long-planned get together with the truly marvelous, well-traveled Vagabonde, who was visiting New York with her husband. Yet again, I experienced that wonderful feeling of meeting a fellow blogger and having the sense that we've known each other for a long, long time. Even better, neither Vagabonde nor her husband seem to have taken my cough home with them as a New York souvenir.

By last weekend, I was feeling much better, and ventured over to Fifth Avenue to have a glimpse of the Hispanic version of the Columbus Day Parade, in which contingents from all the Central and South American countries settled by Spain show the rest of us their costumes, music and dance.

The weather was perfect.

So many bright colors and fantastic costumes for men, women and children.

You can see from the view of the sidewalk that there were very small numbers of folks viewing the parade. The parade's route used to run from midtown all the way up Fifth Avenue to 79th Street. No longer. This year's route was barely a mile long. I hope that this does not signal a trend toward shrinking festivities. The "big" Columbus Day parade, honoring Italy, is held on Columbus Day and draws much larger crowds.

Look at these adorable children! I hope to see them again next year.

This next fellow looks a bit fearsome. I guess that I also look forward to seeing him again next year.

I think that this lady with parasol will also be wanting to join the parade in October 2012.

I left the parade route and walked a bit further up Madison Avenue, stopping for a delicious hazelnut gelato, and engaging in some window shopping. I liked the clean lines and harmonious colors of these textiles. Somehow, I cannot remember the name of the shop!

Refreshed by that gelato, I then walked back across Central Park to the West Side, and admired the view of the different greens in the sun and shadows of the Sheeps Meadow, with the Central Park South buildings in the distance. It was a bit too cool for any sunbathing, but perfect for ambling around, playing with frisbees, or just sitting and talking.

And so, that Sunday drew to a close, and another work week began.

Look at the amusing shiny blue bird with silver ball that has appeared overnight on the entryway to my local subway station. How can you possibly look at this and not smile?

Here is another view to show you the joyous attitude that this very big bird wants to share with all of us passersby.

Tomorrow morning when I set out on my commute to work I am counting on this gleaming vision to work its magic. (I promise to try to find out more about the identity of the sculptor.)

Best wishes to you all.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-09-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

Good morning from New York.

It's a beautiful September day here, with cool air that will require my wearing my favorite heavy woolen sweater when I venture out this afternoon.

I am now coming to the last hours of my glorious time off. It's been a grand week filled with lots of relaxation, creativity, and fine visits with friends. Some of these visits involved celebrations of my birthday at a cafe and included very rich chocolate cake.

Cafe Lalo is a charming neighborhood place that provides an expansive selection of cakes, tarts, and other pastries and various beverages. There are also various light meals on the menu, but I've always concentrated on the baked goods.

Although orange is not my favorite color, I admit that I do like the look of the large cups in which coffee is served at the cafe. And the little cow might be sitting down, but is always ready to pour a bit more milk or cream.

My photo does not do justice to the density of the dark chocolate in this slice of Chocolate Satin Cake. The helpful waitress asked if I would like it heated slightly so that some of the icing would melt a bit. Oh yes, I replied, and did not regret my answer.

The friend who was treating me to this birthday fun chose a much more modest pear tart, but seemed to enjoy it!

I do wish that the music played at the cafe would be kept at a bit lower volume, but that is being too picky when such cake is available.

Other friends also treated me to another visit to the cafe later in the week and I tried the tempting chocolate caramel mousse cake with toasted pecan topping. Bliss!

All was not chocolate this week. I also had fun visiting Casa Barilla, a promotional event by the pasta company that was set up in a vast tent in Central Park. One could learn from master chefs how to prepare unusual, and also familiar, pasta dishes, see the latest kitchen products, consider buying some Barilla products not usually available over here, and...best of all, sample a wide variety of pasta dishes and complete that meal with your choice from various Lavazza coffees, made to your order.

Everyone received a recipe booklet to take home, and I also held on to the clever little multi-functional fork/spoon/knife with which I gobbled up my pasta variations. I was surprised that the event did not seem to be too well attended, and amused that when I handed in my complimentary entry ticket I had my hand stamped with a Barilla blue farfalle design...the closest I will ever get to a tattoo.

Let's see, what else happened this week. Ah yes, I ventured out of Manhattan (aka New York) to the Borough of Queens to visit a friend I had not seen in far too long. We had lunch in a lovely restaurant where the owner and staff really knew how to treat patrons well. Our multi-course lunch, accompanied by wine and lots of catch up conversation, lasted almost three hours!

The food was delicious and plentiful, and there was certainly no need for me to have more than an omelet for supper that night!

I visited the Union Square farmers market and brought back some beautiful little apples, that I may get around to sketching before I gobble them up.

These pretty vintage cups and saucers were amongst the lovely birthday gifts I received. I have already done some sketches of them and want to get my watercolor paints and brushes out soon.

I also did a search through my stacks of fabric remnants, left over from long ago when I used to sew most of my clothes. I found some beautiful cream colored silk, cut it up into large sections and have tea-dyed those sections various shades. My plan is now to use the clever little gizmo in the following photo to make up a bunch of gathered silk "yo yo" circles, that I will then attach to each other with silk embroidery threads and superimpose on some other fabric, probably either linen or silk velvet, and make up cushion covers. It is typical of my to really get into full creative flow just as I come to the end of my free time!

Ah, here are some other projects that I have worked on this week. The knitted checkered cushion has been completed. Its striped reverse side is done in a knit-every-row garter stitch, using two-row repeats of the various colors used in the squares. Its envelope styling closes with three buttons and has its front and back connected by a few rows of single crochet.

The giant ball of cream colored Cascade Ecological Wool is being transformed, cable by cable, into a very long scarf. (I have two more hanks of this wool available!) The pattern is from last autumn's Debbie Bliss magazine. It is very easy!

I've also enjoyed lots of walks over in Central Park, and have managed to read several books, including several mystery novels, and my current book, La Seduction by Elaine Sciolino. I've also found lots of time for daydreaming.

It's been a grand week of self indulgence. However, when the alarm clock beeps tomorrow morning, I will have to heed its insistence that it will be time to get ready to return to work. Perhaps this is the time to remind myself that it's the working that allows me to have these enjoyable breaks!

I hope that you all have also been able to enjoy the current changing of the seasons.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-09-11T18:21:00.000-07:00

Good evening from New York.

Since 2001, around this time of the year I begin to think that I will concentrate on farmers markets finally showing us naturally ripened tomatoes, following who is advancing toward championship in the U.S. Open tennis tournament, seeing how the morning and afternoon light is changing and the birthday that I will reach on September 12.

However, we New Yorkers also continue to be annually reminded by various media and our own minds of what happened ten years ago. I'd guess that not one of us who woke up that 2001 morning to see the beauty of the blue sky will ever quite get over how our city and perhaps even the world was changed by what two air planes did to our landscape, our fellow New Yorkers, and how that devastating shock was soon amplified by violence in other places.

Yes, we do collectively try to embrace our continuing realization of our collective fragility, and to value each day. Even so, bad and tragic memories continue to color the beauty that autumn in New York can bring.

This particular morning's blue sky quickly turned to overcast grey with the possibility of rain. Even so, I headed over to Central Park around midday to see if I could detect any Hurricane Irene damage to that lovely landscape. I preferred that to staying indoors and watching any of the television coverage of memorial ceremonies being held further downtown.

The opaque sky really muted all the greens and gave those of us walking or bicycling through the Park a sense of a quieter day. Perhaps this was appropriate and a hint from nature. (Tomorrow will give us a full moon, with all that night light might do to affect us mere mortals.)

Tomorrow will indeed be my birthday. I find it difficult to believe that I have reached the age that I have reached. Perhaps everyone feels this same way as years go by. In any event, I am taking this week off from my usual workaday life, and will be enjoying playing with my creative notions, spending more time outdoors, and getting together with friends for lots of cake...most of it chocolate.

The following photo shows some brightly colored glads that were given me by my work colleagues...along with a delicious fruit tart that we shared after I'd made my wish and blown out the requisite lit candles.

I'll keep the light touch in this post going with another photo taken in Central Park today of a massing of tiny, bright yellow blooms in an embrace of gentle green leaves. I continue to find that nature is reassuring, even after a hurricane's reminder of her power.

Our city is now under its latest security threat warning. Since 2001, we have consistently been under a very high security threat, so it is a bit tricky to understand what ratcheting up these degrees of warnings actually means. For myself, I continue to welcome each day, and to try to continue to go where I love to go, do what I love to do, embracing life.

Best wishes to you all.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-08-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon from New York.

Our city has now added another weather-related name to its collective memory. Hurricane Irene. Like many other hurricanes, she was raised in the Atlantic Ocean and spent her early days in the Caribbean. She grew very large and powerful and settled in on an usual northern path, hugging the Atlantic coast of the United States.

Irene moved at a slow pace, and attracted lots and lots of attention from the press. Governmental officials also began to take notice of her power, and began to plan how best to protect local citizens (many of whom are also voters) from Irene's potentially destructive ways.

By last Friday, our New York City Mayor along with other regional officials made the decision to actually close the area's mass public transportation system for at least two days, beginning at 12 noon on Saturday. No buses, no subway trains, no commuter railway trains, etc. This was a huge hint to everyone to get to a safe location before midday Saturday and to stay there. Our Mayor is also a billionaire businessman and clearly understood the economic ripples to be caused by this transportation decision.

Most folks therefore received a change to their weekend plans. I was to have worked on Saturday and Sunday, and instead received an opportunity to relax at home, chat with friends on the phone, work on various craft projects, do some reading, and watch hours of television coverage of the hurricane vigil.

The size of the storm meant that we were already receiving wind and rain here in New York while Irene's actual eye was still slowly moving across the North Carolina coast, hundreds of miles away.

That eye was to reach us around midnight. I admit to finding the land of nod well before midnight and actually sleeping through Irene's entire visit.

When I woke up this morning, I did not hear any rain. (Heavy rain and wind had been predicted to last through this afternoon.) I looked out my window and realized that Irene had sort of lost her punch before she got here. There is a popular tune with the lyric, "if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere...." I am truly not at all sorry that Irene did not cause as much havoc as some had predicted.

Most damage is flood related and occurred in outer areas of the city. Some huge trees have fallen over as their root systems could not hold in the soggy, soggy soil. (I dread seeing what has happened over in Central Park, but it's too dangerous to take a walk over there this afternoon. Branches and trees are still vulnerable.)

By late morning, Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm as she headed through Connecticut on her way to the New England area.

By early afternoon, I was suffering from cabin fever, and decided to take a little walk around the neighborhood. I took my camera along, so that I might show you all some sample city views.

Because of the transit shutdown, many businesses wisely closed, including my usually bustling local market, The Fairway. This store is very, very rarely closed.

The sidewalk outside Fairway is much duller without the usual brilliant display of multi-colored seasonal produce. Those fruits and veg will be back tomorrow.

Also along Broadway, the usual sidewalk book vendors had carefully wrapped up their tables of books and records and magazines. I do hope that they used enough plastic.

Although the Mayor said that using masking tape on windows really does not do much to protect those windows from airborne debris, some folks did decide to tape their windows.

My final photo is a southward view that shows the post-storm cloudy grey sky and includes one of the entrances to the 72nd Street subway station, with a police car parked outside. Before the subway trains can be put back into service, many safety checks must be completed, including the need for transit personnel to actually walk along each of the hundreds of miles of subway tracks. Wow.

As I type this post, I have just heard that limited City bus service has already been reinstated. Wow, again. I think that means that I will have a way to return to work tomorrow.

I would like to thank all you readers who send your good wishes to me over the past few days. What kind folks you are.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-08-21T13:04:00.001-07:00

Good afternoon from New York.

As we enter the last weeks before Labor day, our tradition last day of summer, New York has been having lots and lots of dramatic thunderstorms. These storms are usually proceeded by a beautiful day, and then a strong wind blows a new weather front in from the west that brings the thunder, lightning and lots of drenching rain.

One of these storms arrived Friday night just as I was about to leave work. The sky grew very dark...it was not yet sundown time. And then, the big show began. I delayed my departure for the subway train station for a while, hoping that the storm would quickly roll over the city.

The storm, however, had other plans, so I got my little folding umbrella out and took my chances splashing my way along very wet sidewalks, uneven cobblestone streets and tried to avoid deep puddles and other folks' umbrellas. It was Friday night and lots of evening plans were rapidly being altered.

My usual commute requires me to transfer between subway lines at the Times Square station. Last Friday night my usual plan required amendment, because some train lines were out of operation. When water gets on to some electrical tracks, it is too dangerous for the trains to proceed. So I along with thousands of other damp travelers found other routes to get to our desired destinations. We all just slogged along, and nobody seemed to be complaining very loudly. After all, nature is much more powerful than we are!

Today has been a beautiful day, and although we are under a thunderstorm watch, the local sidewalk vendors are having more luck with their stylish hats than their stocks of umbrellas.

The church in the next picture is the First Baptist Church, but its architecture is inspired by that of other countries. There is no bell in its little bell turret.

I was also lucky to have a day off yesterday, and did some more sewing machine research, culminating in my ordering a new machine, which I should receive later on this week. I am looking forward to trying out its features that will greatly surpass those of my trusty old Singer.

Meanwhile, I have been doing a bit of playing with color while crocheting and knitting. The following photo shows the current sock project.

When I have two consecutive days off, I also have the opportunity to get caught up with tidying up the apartment and doing some cooking. Although I have not precisely followed any of its recipes, I have been inspired by thumbing through the following Elizabeth David collection that I found deep in the stacks of the New York Society Library.

It is back to work for me tomorrow morning. I am hoping that the sun will shine and the commute will be drama free.

I thank you all for your comments, and advice on many matters. I have recently been having pretty good luck negotiating blogger by employing Chrome.

Enjoy your final summer weeks!

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-08-09T19:23:00.000-07:00

Good evening from a hot and humid night in New York. A sustained, overdue rain did fall upon our fair city this afternoon, but has left us not very cooled, but very moist.

I do not know if other of my blog pals have been encountering problems with accessing your posts, or dashboards, or other bits and pieces that allow all of us to keep up our international, airborne connections. Well. I have had such problems for the past few days and am getting annoyed. Why no patience with this recent hiccup? Easy answer, because I do so enjoy staying in touch with you all.

I hope that our New York weather will soon turn milder, and that google, blogger or whatever power is experiencing difficulties, will soon have a complete recovery.

Hey, I also would not mind of the stock market might find a way to send its arrows upwards.

Best wishes to you all. All over the world.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-07-23T16:28:00.000-07:00

Good evening from New York, on a Saturday night when the temperature has just drifted a bit below 100 degrees F. Let us rejoice. If the anticipated thunderstorm arrives before midnight, we might actually have some sort of easier atmosphere by dawn.

As I type out these complaints about temporary temperatures, my deeper reason for tonight's post is to give a tribute to a very fine artist, Lucian Freud, whose work encouraged me to try my hand at etching and to continue my attempts at painting.

I am showing you a few of my favorite LF images from a book I bought years ago...possibly from the original Tate's bookshop. Over the decades, I also made a point of making sure to visit Freud's exhibitions at his New York gallery. I really studied those shows, and also various museum exhibits.

Did he not draw well? Did he not know how to make etchings? Did he not influence many other artists?

I love the linear works, and also really, really loved his observations of nature, as shown in this painting. These seem so very different from the very well publicized and regarded portraits.

The following picture was done many years ago. As I grow older, I recognize that I will never be able to make the art that I dream of making. Maybe that is why I will always want to take another look at the works that I loved to see years ago when I thought my dreams might amount to something.

The following photo of a page from a book is not a good photo, but I love seeing its contrasts, what is shown, what is hidden, what is left to the viewer to unravel.

As many of the artists whom I grew up with leave this world, it is a challenge for me to remain interested in the current Scene. Some of that group of artists do interest me, but not too many.

Perhaps this is an invitation for me to try to actually find out what art I just might be able to make in whatever time is still left to my own personal calendar.

Mind you, dear readers, all this post might be a result of the extreme summer heat now cloaking New York.

Best wishes to you all.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-07-20T15:49:00.001-07:00

Good evening from New York, where summer has got us in a hot and humid grip. So far, that other dreaded summer addition, the yellowish sky with ozone alerts is waiting in the wings.

I think that we have gotten off pretty easily so far, and the following photo gives some evidence. I would never have begun knitting this woolly sock on a day like this.

What I might have done would have been to keep reading this biography of Isabella Blow by her husband. I do wish that she might still be with us, but after finishing this book I do understand more about why she did eventually succeed in taking her life. The older I get, the more I do understand about what life brings to us all. No one's life is exactly like anyone else's.

Those of us who are somehow granted more years, or choose to grab those years, know that there are always surprises in store. Some are good surprises!

So. It is very hot here. I do not like air conditioning, although I am often glad of its presence at my workplace. In this little apartment of mine, I really am so grateful for thick walls, that hold on to the chill of evening, cross ventilation from open windows, that I can enhance with my trusty fan. And cold water.

I grew up in Virginia, well before air conditioning was ever invented. I know how to deal with heat. However, heat in green leafy suburbs is quite different from city heat.

Even so, I still value city life enough to try to wind my way through July and August in New York.

Below you will see a pillow cover I knitted way back when snow was still on the ground. It has taken me until now to actually buy the pillow insert, and to crochet the sides of the pillow cover, and get those buttons (bought maybe ten years ago at Liberty's) sewn on. I do like the look of this pillow, but cannot quite bring myself to touch it until the temperature drops by at least 10 degrees.

Let's see, what else is going on. Ahhhh. Yesterday marked my ninth anniversary of being employed by my current employer. Those years have sped past, but I definitely still remember certain days that seemed to linger way past what the clock defined.

I was presented with a beautiful bouquet of dahlias, and actually managed to get some of that bouquet home in a live state, after a late evening trip on our efficient subway train system. The subway trains are very, very air conditioned, but those waiting platform areas in the stations are ... well, beyond hot.

Aren't those flowers pretty? Some parts of the bouquet just did not survive the homeward bound trip, but I am so glad to have these survivors. I think that there might be some gerbera daisies in the mix as well.
Here's a lovely close up view. I do love this color.

Yesterday, I was on the very late shift at work, and so was at home long enough in the morning to watch just about all of the Murdoch father and son hearing on cable tv. It reminded me of how I was such a regular viewer of our own Watergate hearings so many decades ago. It is very unusual to actually see powerful people having to appear in places that they would clearly much rather avoid, in real time.

Today I was lucky to have the day off, and to have the opportunity to get many errands done, have an appointment with my eye doc to check my glaucoma, and to rejoice when he told me that all seems to be under control.

And so, I was also able to have a relaxed afternoon, during which I finished sock one from the earlier photo, and went on to get sock two underway.

Whatever you all are doing in these final July days, wherever you might be, I send you best wishes, and again want to let you all know how much I enjoy reading your posts.

Stay cool!

2011-07-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

Good evening from New York.

It's now about midway through our big summer holiday weekend, centered around the Fourth of July, our nation's birthday, also known as Independence Day.

This year the Fourth falls on Monday, so many folks are getting a three-day weekend, somewhat like what happens in other parts of the world who have various bank holidays. Some folks have departed the city for various beaches, some folks will have to work to allow those with leisure more pleasure in enjoying their leisure.

Well, this time around, I am amongst the folks who are getting the three days off. This lets me celebrate a certain bit of independence along with my nation!

The past weeks have not contained any pre-holiday feeling, and have found me feeling a bit weary on some evenings. When certain times become demanding and might be potentially stressful, it is so heartening to connect with friends.

That is why I have chosen to include the above photo in this post. The little bouquet of pink hydrangeas, drinking in some water from a stack of vintage teacups, were spontaneously given to me by a neighbor. This lady has a garden in front of a brownstone house in which currently grow some roses, begonias and hydrangeas. At other times of the year, other blooms offer their beauty to all who pass by.

This gardening neighbor and I had a quick chat yesterday afternoon, comparing notes as we often do. And then, she quickly broke off some pretty pink flowers and gave them to me.

Some might think that a tiny bouquet is only a tiny bouquet. I would say that this gift of beauty represents the soft quality of interaction that exists between or amongst folks in this big city.

We often might seem to be rushing around with our own agendas, without a thought for anyone else. Numero uno to the max. I do not think this is always so.

May I wish those of you who live in the States, a very Happy July 4. May I wish others a beautiful week with many opportunities, as your Monday arrives.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-06-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

Good evening from New York as we approach the longest day of the year.

It has been quite a while since my last post and so I will offer a bit of a smorgasbord sampling of what has been going on around here.

At the beginning of June, I had a relaxing week off, which gave me the chance to do some catching up with old friends. I took the above photo at lunch at a Scandinavian cafe with some friends I have known for over 30 years. During my week off I got together with many friends, and still knew that there were many others with whom I couldn't quite make the coordination. We resolved to continue to try see each other soon.

During this time off, I also attended to overdue tasks, like making enquiries about our national Social Security and Medicare benefits. I was delighted to discover how helpful the Social Security office folks were.

Other accomplishments included some more clearing out of Stuff from my apartment. This required me to really give a cold, measured look at some things I'd been holding on to...revising my own autobiographical archival approach, if you get my meaning. I filled up a few bin bags and disposed of them, and also took lots to a thrift shop.

I'll admit that there is still quite a bit more around here that could perhaps leave the premises. I am just not ready to say all my farewells yet.

Spurring some of this re-assessment was a series of sad news. During the past few weeks I have learned of the deaths of folks who are around my age, folks that I will so miss.

Let me do a bit of a skip outside my apartment now, to show you view of Broadway as it appears in my neighborhood. Pictured below is the Beacon Theater, a former cinema palace, that went through some transitions to become a concert venue for many bands. I was lucky to the Kinks perform there several times, and did not mind the dangerous conditions of the errant springs in the theater's seats.

The Beacon eventually had a grand renovation, and a week ago was the location for our NYC Broadway theatre awards, known as the Tony's. From my photo, you can see that even on the night of the awards, a demonstration was underway under the front marquee.

Folks were protesting the lack of a certain musical being included in the nominations.

The following photo shows how the red carpet interviewing area for the stars attending the ceremony needed to be set up at the back door area. So much for glamour.

I am delighted to report that Mark Rylance did win the Best Actor award for his performance in Jerusalem.

Moving along, I also spent some of my time off relaxing with good books and various crafting projects.

These are the socks that I made for a birthday gift for my brother. The little AERO needle package of double point needles once belonged to my beautiful great auntie who taught me how to knit many many years ago. I love the idea of using her needles.

I am so pleased to report that the socks were a hit with my brother.

There are always lots of needlecraft projects underway around here, and the following photos show a fair isle style scarf I am playing around with. It's fun to mess about with a harmony of colors, and relaxing to do it without much thinking involved.

Part of the apartment clear out involved trying to bring some order to my various bits of yarns and other crafts and art materials. What I want to do is to jettison my aged, rickety easel, and replace it with a drawing table and a table easel.

If any of you have any advice for me about drawing tables or table easels, I would welcome your comments. I am not totally sure that this apartment, even post clear-out, will accommodate these proposed additions, so will move slowly towards my decision.

I am going to let the next photo, of a linen scarf, serve as a segue into other topics.

It is such a pleasure to read many blogs from all over the world. I have remarked on this before, but the thrill of being connected continues.

Let me give an example. I recently read a post by Jane Brocket
in which she mentioned a book Four Hedges, written and illustrated with magnificent wood engravings by Clare Leighton. What a delight to discover that my fabulous library had a 1935 first edition of this book that I was actually able to check out and take home.

I am going to show you two of the beautiful illustrations.

Aren't these exquisite?

My work days continue to be demanding, so I am never quite sure when I might be able to get around to my next post.

So, I would like to end this mid June post with a tribute to a wonderful musician, Clarence Clemons.

He brought so much happiness and touched many folks with his beautiful saxophone artistry. I am so sorry to think that we won't see him play again.

Let's remember our favorite Clarence Clemons solos, and smile at at their soulfulness.

Here's a little bit of Sunday afternoon sunshine filtering into my living room window.

Best wishes to you all.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-05-31T17:56:00.001-07:00

Good evening from New York.

For a few more hours, our calendars cling to the month of May, and for a while longer will claim we are in springtime.

I'd like to apologize for being so long between posts. No need to offer my usual excuse.

Let's get on with what I might show you of what is now going on in this hot city. A Chinese artist, Mr Wei, once lived in New York, and made a living as do many other artists, by doing portraits of tourists passing by the sidewalks near Central Park. He is now under detention of some sort in China, and so was not able to see the official unveiling of his sculptures that now ring the fountain in front of the Plaza Hotel. This hotel is now primarily given over to expensive condominium apartments, and is just across from the street called Central Park South where Mr Wei once drew those portraits.

I will not dwell on the ironies or the politics of this confluence, but will let you see some photos of these sculptures that I took a few weeks ago.

Do you all know which animal is associated with the year in which you were born? I am a Rooster. Morning person. I currently struggle with a work schedule that is trying to convert me into an evening or even a night person.

I think that a similar exhibit is going on in London. I do not know exactly how these sculptures were commisioned, or any other details of how it was decided to locate this show in front of the Plaza. It would not be too difficult to do some research.

There are so many things that I have wanted to do during May, and I admit that few of them have been done.

Today was a beautiful day, if a bit hot and humid, but a great day to meet up with a dear friend and have a belated celebration of her birthday.

We went to sample iced coffee and fruit tarts at a lovely little cafe called Cafe Lalo. It has some European hints in its decor and menu. The pace of the place is leisurely, and friends may sit and talk for many hours without any interruption from the gracious staff.

On such a glorious afternoon, it was another pleasure to leave the cafe and walk over to Central Park to see what was currently in bloom.

In a word...roses!

Pink roses, rosy roses. They all had such delightful scents.

As we walked through the Shakespeare Garden, we saw other flowers in bloom, peonies, columbine, iris, and some flowers that I could not name. Can any of you identify the blooms in the following photo? Their deep color was velvety.

The ferns were in full furl, and made a lovely backdrop for these pretty yellow iris.

I am always rather surprised that more folks do not visit the Shakespeare Garden. And also very glad that it retains its tranquil atmosphere.

As we left the Garden, we walked towards the lake and came across this very bucolic view. It's hard to imagine that just a short distance away were lots of folks piloting rowboats all around the lake with great energy.

Right here, it was just May greenery and calm reflective water.

Tomorrow we will enter a new month, June, and before long we will have our longest daylight period of 2011.

This year is going by so quickly. I am hoping that summertime will grant us more relaxed days and nights, perhaps including some mid-summer night's dreams.

Best wishes to you all.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-05-03T17:51:00.001-07:00

Hello from New York on an evening in early May.

I've had the luxury of two days off from work in a row. Yesterday was a day to tend to many errands, and then enjoy the fun of meeting up with a dear friend to sample delicious coffee and pastry, while having a long-postponed catch up. Our conversation ranged over many topics, from sudden current events, to family matters, to travel plans and wishes, to springtime's beauty.

We had a quick walk in Central Park and visited the Turtle Pond. The friendly turtles were very disappointed that we had not brought them a snack.

Today began with my having to take care of yet more errands, but with a list scribbled on a little square of paper clenched in my hand, I managed to get past those errands by midday, and then got to treat myself to my first visit to Savage Beauty, the Alexander McQueen exhibit that has just landed on the second floor of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

While I was still in mid-town on errand duty, I had snapped this photo of one of the Bergdorf Goodman shop windows now devoted to showing McQueen styles.

The BG windows are as imaginative as ever, but this time around I would give my applause to those who designed the Met's settings for the McQueen exhibit. The various gallery rooms offer lots and lots of atmosphere, information and ... if you are patient and wait for other eager viewers to move out of your intended viewing space, the possibility of really, really seeing how beautiful, crazy, traditionally inspired, historically reverential, beautifully tailored, and sometimes even scary, garments might actually exist.

Most of the rooms in the exhibit are moody and dark, with display cases holding four or five or maybe, three mannequins. There is dramatic lighting. There is music that is eerie and beautiful. There are lots and lots of captions and credits on labels. No way to read much of this because of the crowds with their elbows.

Over the years, of course, I saw many magazine photos of many of these designs, and saw some of the garments for sale in some expensive shops. However, the impact of having so many designs now displayed at the Met is so much more dramatic. How I do wish that Alexander McQueen were still alive, and able to quietly visit the exhibit and see the reactions of all those folks who are being introduced to his talent.

If you are in New York this spring and are at all curious about fashion, you would be very wise to pay a visit to the second floor of the Met.

It seemed so odd to leave the Museum and return to the early afternoon sunshine. I made a point of taking a photo of the tulips along Park Avenue for a certain resident of Vienna. The tulips are a bit past their prime, but still putting on a fine show.

And then, I hopped on a crosstown bus that obligingly arrived just when I hoped it would. As we traveled westward through Central Park, I took my camera out and clicked just one final photo, of the area of the Diana Ross playground, to show some of the beauty of springtime 2o11.

Rain is due tomorrow!

I will be returning to work, and taking along my umbrella, and know that from time to time, my mind's eye will return to the fantastic visions under glass that I was fortunate to see today.

Sometimes a city view can provide a city dream.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-04-24T18:57:00.001-07:00

Good evening from New York on Easter night.

What a busy day I have had today, filled with fun. I was up early this morning, wondering if our weather was actually going to provide the forecast thunderstorms and other showers. If so, the annual Easter Parade on Fifth Avenue was going to suffer.

The sky still looked very iffy when I decided to take my camera over to the parade. At first, I did not spy very many bonnets with my little eye, but did see some very fashion conscious folks, like this gent in the plaid suit.

In front of this church I saw some of the expected balloon entrepreneurs, and began to find a few hats, too. However, it seemed as if most were wearing very casual attire. Too many jeans.

The fellow in the following photo showed some originality in his bonnet.

Now these ladies decided to find some pretty vintage styles for their sashay down the Avenue.

Eggs on a bed of feathers are featured in this confection.

I am not too sure what this designer had in mind.

I asked this young lady permission to take her picture, and the answered yes with a big smile.

The crowd did continue to build as I got closer to St. Patrick's Cathedral and Rockefeller Center.

There were quite a few family groups who all decided to go in costume.

These ladies had interesting hats that were also lady like.

These ladies obviously like daffodil season.

Can you tell that one of the gentlemen has covered his top hat in jelly beans?

The next photo shows more vintage styled parade goers, caught quickly, not posed.

These two little girls were wearing very big bonnets!

The lady in the next photo designed her own very stylish hat. She looked more glamorous than most in the Parade.

I think that the following gentleman designed his hat, too. It is clever, if not too glamorous.

I am not sure it the next photo shows a family group or a group of milliners.

And here is a bit of elegance and grace.

Just one glorious flower, artfully placed, can carry a lot of impact.

I made my way down to the esplanade at Rockefeller Center and saw more bonnets, lots of lilies and quite a few azaleas.

Can you just spot that little bit of blue sky emerging from the clouds? It began to seem as if the thunderstorms might pass us by.

The gentleman's conical hat is covered with marshmallow "Peeps" candies. Very sweet.

This lovely family had actually attended a church service before their walk down the Avenue.

This shows the top of St. Patrick's Cathedral, and a bit of the scaffolding that is now covering much of the building.

This happy couple had wonderful bunny ears and great smiles.

Here's another custom made hat. The gyroscope type shape is not part of the hat...it's part of the Atlas sculpture at Rockefeller Center.

This lavender-based group looked great as an ensemble in their ensembles.

The gentleman in the blue jacket is famed New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham. He is also the subject of a current documentary film. He has been taking photos of street fashion for decades. I think that we might have taken some similar photos today.

These two little girls met each other just before I clicked this picture. I think that they are adorable.

I had such fun at the Parade, but my Easter Day treat was not yet over.

I returned home for a quick lunch and then decided to try my luck at getting a ticket for the theatre.

What luck! I bought a ticket for a very good center row seat and got to see the remarkable actor Mark Rylance in Jerusalem. The entire cast was perfect, the play caught up the audience from its first moments. We gave the performers a standing ovation at the final curtain. This is fairly rare for New York audiences.

Another Easter note. My supply of Cadbury creme eggs have begun to disappear. How can this have happened?

Hoping that you all have had a fabulous weekend!

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-04-22T14:15:00.001-07:00

Hello from New York on a very chilly April afternoon.

Easter is almost here, and I have taken on a small supply of Cadbury creme eggs in anticipation of the end of my Lenten vow to eat no chocolate. With less than 48 hours to go, I think I will be able to resist the temptation.

I have also been painting some cards and would like to share one with you all.

Now, let me share a few photos that I took during my errand rounds today. The tulips along Park Avenue are asking for warmer weather before they start their spectacular annual show. When the colors finally are released, I will try to get back over to the East Side for a proper follow up view.

I passed by a little antique shop in my neighborhood that always puts on a good window show to celebrate certain holidays. The following picture shows just a few of the many bunnies that were in the frame. I tried to get some other photos, but reflections on the glass obscured the cuteness of the little decorations.

I also wanted to show you all the entrance way to my very favorite flower shop. Just walking past the open doorway of this tiny shop will give anyone a wonderful gift of floral scents as well as a fine view of the visual treats for sale. The folks who work there are very pleasant and quite talented at creating unusual arrangements. It is hard to resist a purchase!

And finally, I thought this whimsical magazine cover would make you all smile. The artist is Maira Kalman.

I wish you all a wonderful Easter Weekend, and hope that our own New York weekend will not be as damp as some forecasters have warned.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-04-11T17:13:00.000-07:00

Good evening from New York. This afternoon our seasons seemed to change from a cool, dampish spring to a rather warm early summer. The time/temperature sign on the neighborhood bank said it was 80 degrees F. Wow! What a switch. On Friday morning, I took a train down to Washington, DC for a long-planned visit. It was cold when I left New York, and even colder, plus rainy when I got to Union Station in our nation's capital. There was suspense at that point whether wrangling between our country's major political parties were going to result in an actual "shutdown" of the federal government as of midnight Friday. The following is a photo of the Capitol Building where some sort of vote needed to take place by midnight. The following photo taken from my wonderful host's car shows the rain. Just behind those trees is where the Capitol is, even if you cannot really see it. This weather called for wooly layers of clothing and umbrellas. One reason for this visit was to see the splendid Gauguin exhibit, at the National Gallery, that had recently traveled across the Atlantic after a stay at the Tate in London. If the government shutdown were to have happened, the National Gallery, as a publicly-funded museum, would have had to lock its doors. If the shutdown were to have taken place, my host would have had to stay home from his government-funded job on an enforced furlough until various politicos got their acts together. And so, we decided to see the Gauguin show late on Friday afternoon, just to make sure that we would be admitted. I have seen many Gauguin exhibits over the years, and it was grand to see some old favorites amongst the paintings, prints, and wood carvings. As we had a few minutes left before the normal closing hour for the NG, we also took a quick peek at a Canaletto exhibit. I liked the Gauguin much more. On Saturday morning we learned from various news reports that some sort of temporary settlement had been reached, and the government would not close down. Unfortunately, the rather fierce weather continued. No actual rain, but grey and chilly, and damp underfoot. We had a great breakfast and then went out to a local garden center to get some annual plants for my host's garden. It was a fun place to visit, where we pulled a creakly little red children's sized wagon around the various beds of flowers, herbs, and other plants and made our selections. This was all very relaxing and so very different from my usual New York pace. After a delicious lunch, we took a walk round my host's neighborhood, and I did take a photo of this cherry tree. This weekend was the end of the annual Japanese Cherry Tree Festival held in DC to honor the Japanese who gave many of these beautiful trees to our nation. We did not attend any of the official events, but saw some of them reported on television later. It was more fun to see local flowers in bloom. If you look very carefully just to the left of the base of this wonderfully knarled tree, you will see Coco, the fraidy cat, one of my host's neighbors. We happened upon her after our walk, and tried hard to convince her to come a bit closer for a hello. In vain. She's a lovely black cat with bright green eyes.

I dined very, very well this weekend, and did not have to do any dishes. Delicious chicken dishes, omelettes, salmon, all with imaginative seasonings. Lots of chatting about all sorts of things, and lots of laughing also filled the days.

All too quickly, it was time to get back to that impressive Union Station, and to hop on a train headed back up to New York City.

I usually show you all a bit of my own city, but this time I have given you just a quick glimpse of another city. Having this quick visit to another beautiful place was great fun.

I'll have to try it again soon.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-04-04T17:25:00.000-07:00

Good evening from New York. I am glad to report that our city is finally showing some signs of springtime. No, the tulips are not yet blooming along Park Avenue, but there are lots of flowers showing off in Central Park. After this morning's light rain ended, and after I managed to take care of some required errands, I had a light lunch and headed over the Park with my camera to see what was going on.

Many of the flowers were emerging from a protective blanket of autumn leaves. I quite like the notion of one season helping along another.

After the rain, lots of birds were out looking for delicious afternoon treats. Can you see the brilliant red feathers of the cardinal in the following photo?

Well, I thought you could! Now see if you can find the American version of a robin redbreast in the next photo.

You all did brilliantly! Let me reward you with this beautiful forsythia veil. The lake is just beyond.

Just to remind us that Central Park is in the middle of Manhattan, I let my camera have a look above the lake to show you some of the skyscrapers along the southern edge of the Park. The subdued light does not do justice of the gentle green glow that budding leaves are giving to the tree branches.

There are lots and lots of hellebores in bloom. Some are white, some are in delicate purples, and some are in deep, deep purple tones. They all like to keep their heads bowed.

The new leaves of this tall willow tree are a delicously delicate shade of green.

Ah, here we come to the entrance to my favorite spot, the Shakespeare Garden.

All sorts of miniature daffs are making a statement.

This area has a wonderful mixture of shapes, textures, colors that goes on all year long. I encountered a Park gardener there today who showed me where primroses will soon be joining the mix. He also said that he'd be planting oxlips, too. I told him that I'd just learned about those pretty little oxlip flowers this week (from Celia who writes the Purple Podded Peas blogs.)

Here are more of the showy little daffs!

And here's another indication of the mixture.

And here's a bright eyed showoff of a flower. I could not resist taking a close up view.

In a recent posting I took a photo of this slope when just one or two daffs had the courage to reveal their petals. Now you can see the entire host.

Birds were not the only ones looking for a late lunch. This little fellow was kind enought to pause mid-snack while I took his picture.

The gardener told me that he's seen more blooms every day. This tree was just beginning to get into a springtime fling.

I love to walk around the Park's pathways, because a walking pace lets me see more and lets me stop and take even longer looks. However, some folks prefer to hire a carriage. You can see the top of a church on Central Park West peeking over the wall at the western edge of the Park.

I was glad that I had a toasted cheese sandwich before setting out for my walk. All the same, it's good to know that refreshments are available. One of the signs on this cart proclaims Nuts 4 Nuts.

I began this post with some blue flowers, and found these hyacinths as I left the Park. The delicious scent tipped me to the presence of hyacinths long before I actually saw them.

Tomorrow I will return to work, carrying with me refreshed by what I saw outdoors today. I hope that each of you are also finding time to experience early spring.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-03-17T16:50:00.001-07:00

Good evening from New York on Saint Patrick's Day.

It's been a glorious day, mild, blue skied, and in our city a wonderful parade made its way up Fifth Avenue for hour after hour.

I made my way across Central Park from the west side a bit after noon, and wore a bit of green in the subtle shade of my trousers and scarf. It was warm enough that many parade goers had not bothered with coats or scarfs.

The local schools have a day off, and so many students are out and about.

These lovely teenagers agreed to let me take their picture. You can see that some of them were on their cells, making plans. You can can also see that marvelous blue sky.

A few minutes later, I reached Fifth Avenue and began to figure out where I'd like to stand to view the parade, on and off the Avenue. The parade begins in midtown NYC amidst all the big shops and office towers, but I've always preferred to watch the show from further uptown, along the edge of the Park.

Lots of folks do make a grand gesture in their attire on March 17. Some are more traditional, others decide to find an edge worth exploring.

Very young parade goers have been dressed by their parents. Eventually, they will find their own sense of style. It is this generational progress that also gives much to the fun of the parade.

I asked permission to take this young lad's photo. He was so adorable.

Well, I have shown you so many photos of those along the sideline sidewalks, let me show you some of the parade itself. I love the bands!

The parade's marchers are a blend of civil servants (like police officers, firefighters, and Marines and Navy folks,) school bands, and representatives who've actually traveled from across the pond.

Some folks wore outsized and dramatic hats. Others take another approach to drama.

Here's another of those marvelous banners. It usually takes at least six men to keep these banners moving along erect.

I do love the various tartan kilts. Have you all been able to see the green stripe painted down the center of Fifth Avenue?

Look, I've spotted a green tu tu.

While I was watching, I saw several wonderful fife and drum bands march past.

I also saw lots of wonderfully talented Irish dancers. Their movements were not very easy to catch in still photos.

This young lady had a green sparkly shamrock appliqued to her cheek, and her attention was definitely on the text she was sending.

Here's another festive mohawk on parade down the sidewalk.

Here's a family group gathering together on the wall at the edge of the Park.

These two children were posing for a photo by their mom, and I took advantage of the opportunity.

Some of you all know that I enjoy knitting, and so here are a trio of beautiful sweaters. Sweater one.

Sweater two.

Sweater three.

And, here is another crowd-pleasing parade participant.

I'll show you all another family group who were showing us how to wear green.

Sometimes, the crowds along the sidewalk made it tricky for me to get a photo when I wished to do so. And this resulted, this time, in this view of flags above the heads of the viewers.

Ahh, here's another view of those flags.

More headgear.

This year, I did not notice as many sidewalk vendors as in past years. This gentleman was doing quite well with his long-sleeved cotton tee shirts, proclaiming that today was the 250th St. Patrick's Day parade.

This lovely little toddler got to see her daddy march past. There was much excitement on both sides of the barricade.

About this time, some of us parade watchers were getting a bit weary.

I think that the parade still had a few hours to go.

However, I decided that I had clicked enough photos to give you all an idea of what a splendid day it had been.

And so, I began to retrace my steps and find my way across the Park. Others were already on the same route.

How wonderful it was to have these hours in the bright sunshine, enjoying music and silly hats, and cute children, and a great annual celebration.

There are so many other serious, very serious matters in our world right now, trying to claim all of our attention. I was glad to be reminded of the power of fun.

Best wishes to you all.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-03-13T14:43:00.001-07:00

Good evening from New York.

In an earlier post, I mentioned a casual resolution to do a drawing every day of the then new year. We are now reaching mid-March, Spring is nearly here, and I have not done a drawing every day.

Last night, our clocks went forward an hour as we adopted Daylight Savings Time. It's 6 pm according to the re-set clock as I type and the sun is still lighting the sky. Perhaps spurred on by the sense of time rushing by, and also by the dreadful news of natural disasters in Japan, I decided to actually do some drawings this afternoon. When my mind fills with sad thoughts, I usually try to counter them somehow.

Here is one of the drawings, more of a stylized inky scribble than a drawing. I was inspired by a little kalanchoe plant, whose photo will appear later on.

Earlier today, I took a walk over to Central Park. There was a very strong wind blowing, and I was curious if I would be able to see any brave spring flowers.

I did see a few, amongst them these purple and yellow crocus.

Here's a rather limp hellebore, viewed through the parallel lines of some protective iron fencing.

I think that if you look very, very carefully at the next picture, you might just see one or two daffodil pioneers, trying to encourage the rest of their comrades to burst into bloom. With the help of a couple of warmish days, this hillside will be golden.

This next view, taken in the Shakespeare Garden just goes to show how little really is now in flower. I saw mostly dried out stems, leaves and lingering seed pods. These natural stages of the plant world are also beautiful in their spare way.

As I walked along the side of the lake, I saw this charming duck couple, trying to find a little private place for their courtship. Those trees without leaves provided a frame for the picture, but no shelter for the ducks.

I made my way home, and decided to just do some sketches of one of my potted plants. And so, I will leave you all with the subject for this afternoon's drawing session.

Please do not look too carefully at the clutter of my apartment that is apparent in the background.

I am pleased to report that after the sketching session, I continued to sit down with paper, pencil, eraser, pen and calculator and think that I have now just about finished my annual tax forms.

All in all, it's been a fine Sunday, even though I am missing that lost hour.

Best wishes to all.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-03-07T17:16:00.001-08:00

Good evening from New York.

As spring begins to its attempt to arrive in New York, I am hoping that I will have no more snow photos for you all until next winter.

Instead, I want to write about the notion of villages, of communities, that we can find visiting folks online. It's lovely to connect with someone whose blog you might have read, or someone whose comment on another blog might have interested you. Haven't we all found such connections?

Sometimes, it turns out that someone met on the web might just be someone whom you might be lucky to meet in person. I have had this luck, meeting some folks who live far away from New York, and sometimes meeting someone who lives not that far away.

Today, I had the treat of meeting Carol who writes Paris Breakfasts, encouraging all of us to travel, particularly to glorious Paris, and to enjoy the style and taste that Paris brings to mind. If any of you have not visited Carol, let me tell you that you are missing a treat.

Carol and I met up this afternoon for tea at a quaint little New York tea shop (and I know that Carol will be posting some photos.) We quickly fell into conversation, and not long thereafter, got served with scrumptious, very very large scones and delicious teas.

Once we got settled in, Carol reached into a voluminous sac and produced two delightful miniature ceramic items ... for me! Once I got home, I took out my camera and clicked some photos to show you all adventures in scale. This might be appropriate, because the tea shop is called, Alice's, and we know how scale figured quite a bit in that young lady's adventures.

The above photo shows my gift, the vintage Sainsbury's Potted Meat container, next to my even tinier lid-less teapot and cup. It's all in the proportions.

The photo above shows another play of scale, featuring Carol's gift of the little French cafe au lait bowl, next to my various espresso pots, tin tea infuser (disguised as a tea house) and a little jam jar. Carol and I both enjoy watercolor painting, and know the value of empty jam jars ... for holding the water, of course.

I am sure that many of you all have had the fun of meeting folks in person whom you've already met on line. Is it not marvelous when you quickly sense that you are going to really going to enjoy getting to know each other better?

My current resolve is to post more frequently, and after tea with Carol, to return to actually travelling the world.

Best wishes to all.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-02-14T07:03:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day from New York!

I am so pleased to report that Mother Nature has given our city the perfect gift. The heavy snow falls have ceased for a week or so, the temperature has risen above freezing, and almost, almost all of the snow and ice has disappeared.

Of course, we are all keeping our boots, hats and other winter gear close at hand, because we are sure to need them again before long. Meanwhile, let us all have a great celebration today.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-01-30T14:49:00.000-08:00

Good evening from New York.

Our city has tried to set a record for January snowfall depths. Right now, owever, many residents would not mind just letting the record pass us by.

Even after several days of above-freezing temperatures, we still have quite a bit of snowy leftovers, and many of them are not so pretty.

Most folks now seem to have at least one mobile cell phone with them at all times. The stationary pay phones in the picture below have not been much use to anyone lately.

Some urban planners refer to receptacles such as the free-newspaper stands in the following picture as street furniture.

Now, if you look carefully, you will see that this bike has been parked illegally.

Let us leave Broadway and head over to Central Park, taking a route past a block of brownstone houses. Still quite a bit of snow left along this block.

I wonder if this car's battery still has any uumph? Can you all see the discarded Christmas tree just peeking out of the snowbank?

Here is another car that isn't going anywhere very quickly. The discarded palm probably wishes it had gone to Florida. Perhaps that is where the car's owner has been.

At last, we have crossed over into Central Park, where some of the pathways have been cleared, and some have not. The benches are not yet ready for passersby who wish to sit awhile.

Lots of dogs, dog walking folks and pigeons are out for some exercise. Many trees still have their striking white outlines.

In the above photo, can you see the big snowman, actually wearing a hat?

I like this vista looking over the Sheep Meadow, where hundreds of sunbathers lie during July and August. You can see the buildings along Central Park South in the background.

Even though the day was bright, my gloveless fingers were becoming chilled, so I took just one additional photo before putting my camera away, getting my gloves back on, and heading home.

I hope that you all have enjoyed seeing some of my city views.

Stay warm everyone.

City Views, Country Dreams

2011-01-27T18:11:00.001-08:00

Good evening from New York.

Our New Year has been dominated by snow forecasts and snow falls and snow removal. The snowstorms have been punctuated with days of very fierce, icy air. And, like a knitting or crochet pattern, it seems as if we must just repeat until we reach the end of the row.

We have not yet reached the end of the row. The photo below was taken from my front window early this morning. It looks so much like other photos in my last post.

Snow can be beautiful, particularly when viewed from the other side of a window, the side of the window that is warm. Having a cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate can improve the appreciation of the view.

Snow can be fun to walk in, as it begins to fall, and begins to "stick." Snow can be fun in Central Park if that snow is deep enough, and if you have free time, and a sled, and a dog or children along for the ride. It can also be a pleasure to observe with a camera at the ready.

Snow begins to wear out its charms if you don't get the opportunity to play with it. If you need to shovel, and shovel, and shovel again. If you need to deal with murky, slushy aftermath in deep pools at sidewalk intersections. It also can be less beautifully romantic if you have a hard time finding time to get to the grocery store, or do other errands.

If you all think that these listings of ifs mean that I no longer love a good snowfall, you are wrong. I am just wishing that I could have had more time to enjoy the beauty of our various snows since Boxing Day.

Ah, but it is still January, and we in New York still have at least two more months that just might deliver the deep stuff of dreams.

Meanwhile, on a recent clear and dry day, I went out to do errands and returned home with a new pair of boots. I love them. I cannot wear them in the snow. These boots are meant for dry surfaces.

How I would love to wear them tomorrow. They must wait a few days.

Hoping that this still New Year is still offering you all lots of opportunities for fresh starts, and renewals of treasured patterns of life.

Best wishes to you all.

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-12-29T13:56:00.000-08:00

Good evening from New York.

About midday on Sunday, December 26, known to some as Boxing Day, snow began to fall in New York City. It continued overnight and into Monday morning. This snow was a true blizzard, with lots of wind and some thunder and lightning, too. Quite a show.

I was working on Sunday, and was relieved to be granted permission to have the shop close a bit early. We had shoveled the sidewalk and entrance way leading to the shop several times during the afternoon, but our efforts were quickly covered by those energetic flakes.

All of us who were working on Sunday were fortunate to have access to public transportation in the form of our underground subway trains. I had an easy time getting home, and was so glad to be indoors as the storm really got going.

I woke several times during the night to peek out my front window and was amazed that wind was so strong, bending the trees along the street, and swirling the snow to create a curtain blocking a northern view past the brownstone houses just across the street. Remarkable. The occasional thunder surprised me every time.

Morning arrived. The light was that unusual glow of snowy ground cover mixing with falling snow, and muted sunlight shining from way above the clouds.

The following picture shows the view from my bathroom window, where my fledgling paperwhite bulbs were backed by a drift of snow on the other side of the glass. I thought that drift made a strange little miniature landscape.

Gradually the snow began to lighten, and once again I could see past the buildings across the street, as my usual uptown view returned.

Ah, but below the rooftops the view was very changed. The brownstone's front steps were smoothly covered. No one had entered or left that building overnight. The little garbage cans to the left of the steps were covered with their polka dots of snow. It was clear that at least one New York City snow plough had scraped some snow from the actual street, but not many vehicles were brave enough to venture down the block.

Here is another photo of the same view that indicates just how quiet and still and even was that snow.

That tranquility would have been lovely to have enjoyed from inside my apartment. The snow was about 18 inches deep, deeper in places.

I had to go to work. The option of keeping the shop closed was not available. Again, those of us scheduled to work on Monday were fortunate to have access to public transport that was functioning. Many of the City's bus and subway and railroad lines were not functioning. The wind was still very strong, and as I walked down my street (in the street) I was lucky not to find myself blown over.

It was strange being at work on such a quiet day. The downtown neighborhood of the shop is normally filled with tourists and really buzzing. This was not true on Monday, but we did have some business.

Again, we had to shovel out the sidewalk and entrance way. It's the law!

Again, we were fortunate in being granted permission to close the shop early.

When I slipped and slid my way to the subway for the ride home, I saw something I have never seen in all my years in New York. There was actually an accumulation of snow along the platform where we travelers wait for the next arriving train. The snow had be able to force its way underground through the grating in the street above.

The following photo documents this. It is not a pretty picture, but shows how commuters had tramped down a passageway that would align with a doorway to an arriving train. In the background you can perhaps see a train stalled in the station, with an Out of Service light in the space that would usually indicate its destination.

Once again, it was relatively easy to get home. And again on Tuesday, I was scheduled to work. Again, all staff scheduled for Tuesday got to work.

Signs of normalcy began to reassert themselves around the neighborhood. Various delivery services were again able to make their deliveries. The City's Sanitation Department had cancelled garbage collection services until more of the snow had been dealt with. City sanitation trucks have snow ploughs attached to them and are used to clear the streets. There are many, many streets to clear.

Our shop makes use of a private garbage collection company, and a representative of that company informed me that they were resuming service...if we could provide them access to the actual curb location usually used to stow the garbage on collection nights.

Well. The City snow ploughing had created curbside drifts that were about four feet tall. I am not a large person, but I do have inner strength, and so, I shoveled snow for about three hours yesterday to create an opening in the snow drifts that we could use for our required garbage collection.

As I was working on this channel, I realized that it was also useful for tourists who wished to cross to the popular restaurant opposite our location. A few said thank you in various languages. One, repeat one, polite man asked if he could help me. I declined.

By the time I got home I was pretty tired, and little sore. I stopped by my neighborhood pharmacy to ask the wise pharmacist what he recommended for someone who had my symptoms. He made a wise recommendation.

I was asleep earlier than usual, and woke up with very minor aches. This was a day off! I was able to get all today's errands done.

The magical glow of our blizzard has now been transformed to the inevitable slushy aftermath.

I offer you all a few photos of today's view from that same apartment window.

You can see the sidewalks are clear, the street is pretty clear, and those curbside drifts are still formidable.

The staff of the large building across the street has kindly cut a channel through the ice-coated drift to allow access to the street. Their channel is larger than mine, but strong men created their channel!

I am delighted to be indoors with warm, dry feet. It's grand to have a hot cup of tea. One little tablet from that Advil bottle seems to have been all it took for my muscles to recover overnight.

The new issue of The New Yorker magazine has arrived with a funny cover reminding us that it's just about time to say...

Happy New Year!

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-12-23T18:37:00.000-08:00

Good evening from New York, and a very Happy Christmas to all.

I have been hoping to get a better photo of one of the Christmas teacup cards I have been painting for weeks now, but...this one will have to serve.

This 2010 has been quite a year, full of surprises, some of which were wonderful. Amongst those joys has been the pleasure of getting acquainted with so many interesting folks from all over the world. I imagine that next year will increase this wonder.

Meanwhile, may you all know just how special you are to me, and may you find that this Christmas creates the magic that only this season can provide.

May your dreams be filled with sugar plums!

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-12-11T15:41:00.000-08:00

Good evening from New York.

Do you all know that tune, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," and in particular, perhaps, Bruce Springsteen's recording? Please do think of it as you continue reading.

I return to work tomorrow, after two weeks' off, during which I have had a wonderful vacation in my home city. It is a wonderful time of year hereabouts.

Early this afternoon, I walked over to the subway station, in order to travel downtown to take care of a few of my own Santa Claus projects.

And. What did I see but a scattering of folks wearing either Santa or elf outfits hanging out around the subway station. I was so glad to have my camera with me.

I could tell that I was not the only person puzzled by this collection of cheery young folks dressed mostly in red. If we were in a cartoon, we would all have had balloons containing question marks over our heads.

As I looked towards Central Park I must have seen hundreds of Santas heading my way, or rather heading for the subway station. Hundreds! It was wonderful!

By this time some information was beginning to spread, and it turned out that this mass Santa event has been launched around this time of year for a few years. The idea is to dress up, meet up in Central Park, sing some Christmas tunes, and then sort of head out into other parts of New York, generally spreading cheer.

Some Santas went for the patriotic look, some for the romantic, some for the downright funny or even sexy.

It was hilarious to see these hundreds, yes hundreds, of Santa folks entering the subway, waiting for subway trains. Definitely not an ordinary pre-holiday Saturday.

These smart young Santas all seemed to have a Metrocard in a handy pocket to allow them quick entry through the turnstiles.

And, they were very gracious in allowing mere fellow travelers to enter the station and catch the next train.

This was such unexpected seasonal fun. On my subway car, an ad hoc Santa sing along commenced, not always on key, trying its best to remember each and every line to The Twelve Days of Christmas. They were best at Five Golden Rings.

And they got to the last line of the song just as that express train arrived at Times Square, and all the assembled Santas dispersed to spread some fun around town.

This is an example of why I do so love New York.

Best wishes.

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-12-05T17:43:00.000-08:00

Good evening from New York.

Since I last wrote here, there has been a remarkable change in our weather. The calendar still tells us that it is autumn, but the temperature insists that it is winter. If the marathon race had been run today, those runners would have been dealing with stiff winds and almost freezing air.

Not good for runners, but excellent for the fir trees that have now appeared along the sidewalks. These evergreens appeared the Friday after Thanksgiving and give a wonderful scent and softening atmosphere to the blocks where they are available.

Just don't try to buy one of these beauties though, unless you have got lots of cash in your pockets. They come in many sizes, from three feet tall to well over seven feet. Delivery to your apartment can also be done for a negotiated fee.

I have been off from work for the past week and have been spending lots of time completing many Christmas gifts, and painting my cards. In a week or so, I may show you some of these creations. Meanwhile, I will show you some of the decorations I've recently seen on my quick trips around town. Once upon a time, there were many fine, large shops around New York that took great pride in creating unusual and beautiful holiday window displays.

Times have changed. Many of these stores no longer are in business, and those remaining have obviously been trying to keep up their window decorating standards, even though the economy continues to be challenging.

The above photo and the next few photos are of windows at Lord & Taylor, which try to show some retro New York Christmas interiors. They do call forth some nostalgia for times long gone. They are all right, but not breath-taking.

The following example shows a cookie baking session in a New York kitchen. The miniature bits and pieces are cute, but the tableau falls a bit flat. Note the dog on the floor.

Moving about ten blocks uptown to Rockefeller Center, I took this picture of the giant tree that is set up just above the skating rink. The lights were turned on at dusk on the following day, as heavy rain fell. The tree really is a classic shape, isn't it?

Moving on up the Avenue, I passed by Fendi, and thought its lighting scrim across the front of the store front was lovely. The lights are in motion, and give the impression of dripping ice cycles. Simple, elegant.

I'd planned a few photos of Tiffany's little jewel box windows, but they were done in white on white themes that just did not translate well into my photography skills.

And so, I turned toward the bright blue sky above the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, and offer you all this picture of the crystal snowflake suspended over that trendy crossroad. The building in the background is the Bergdorf Goodman store, with a be-ribboned wreath in each of the upper floors' windows.

I drew closer to BG to try to take some photos of their amazing windows. This year's theme seems to be "wish you were here," with dreamy travel motifs. Or perhaps day dreams.

Once again, my camera and I were defeated by the brilliant sunlight and the glass reflections. Still, you might be able to separate the planes and see a bit of what I saw.

I will try to get back over to this location on a more overcast day with hopes of better resulting pictures.

Still, I do love the following shot of the leopard coated lady taking a look at a fantasy display.

Some of the BG windows made use of paper sculptures, and stage settings made up of blown up enlargements of maps, clock faces, and celestial chartings.

Some of the props used in the windows are great little sculptures.

This mannequin's hairdo was made from peacock feathers.

This vessel was created from pleated papers.

Each of the displays conveys a sort of sophisticated jolliness.

I don't think that selling the merchandise that's featured is actually the main idea. It more showing elegance.

And so, I will leave those shop windows and take you all indoor again, so that you may shed your hat, coat and gloves, and enjoy the warmth of today's annual open house at the main branch of the New York Public Library.

Many noted personalities were there.

It was possible to acquire balloons sculpted into the shape of your choice. Hat, flower, or the choice of many young boys ... swords.

A beautiful tree, a little smaller than that at Rockefeller Center, graced the entry hall.

And just in front of that tree was a bandstand, on which some traditional jazz musicians played and played.

The glee club from West Point sang carols. Many folks entertained visiting children with juggling, face painting, story telling, magic, origami, and even a small circus.

Yes, the above picture is blurry, but perhaps you can make out the green fellow in the red coat. Yes, the Grinch was in the house.

And finally, here is another crowd pleaser, Mother Goose. She kept scurrying around and it was very difficult to catch her (and her goose) standing still enough for a proper portrait.

Hoping that you all will enjoy this sampling of some current New York City sights.

You will see that we do not have any snow.

Best wishes!

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-11-07T14:33:00.001-08:00

Good evening from New York.

This Sunday is the day that we "fall back" and re-set our clocks to standard time. As I write, it is not yet 6 p.m., but the sun set over an hour ago.

Our personal inner clocks will now have to start a gradual adjustment. Soon this city will have added lots of additional electric light in various designs as holiday decorations. These will help to brighten our dark evenings.

Today was also the day that the New York City Marathon was run. Media commentators said that the crisp, cool weather was perfect for the runners. In past years I have made a point of walking (definitely not running) over to nearby Central Park to watch many of the participants make the final quarter mile to the finish line. It is always a very cheery occasion.

Today, I had other obligations early in the day, but mid-afternoon decided to take my camera over to Central Park West, the street that parallels the western edge of the Park, to see some of the aftermath of the marathon.

Central Park West, or CPW as it is often called, was closed to vehicles today, and served as a place for runners to meet up with family and friends, a place for many international media to set up their broadcast headquarters, a place for many ambulances and medics to stand by to aid runners in need.

As the runners reach the finish line they receive crinkly metallic wraps to insulate them from the chilly temperature. You can see that these wrappers also feature lots and lots of advertisements.

The runners also received drawstring-handled plastic bags containing various treats.

The following photo shows a runner who clearly wanted to stretch her muscles and to try to regain her strength. I do not think that she felt the cold sidewalk below her.

Many family members and other supporters found unique ways to allow their runner/s to find them in the crowd. Some waved flags, some rang bells. This couple wore funny hats.

Some runners looked very fresh after their many miles. Others looked a bit worn out.

Some walked along with a jaunty pace. Others limped or trembled. I have never been a runner, and still marvel at what some of these folks decide to put themselves through.

My reservations about the whole notion of marathon running does not in any way diminish my awe at what all these folks accomplished today.

Each participant was bestowed with a medal that was hung around his or her neck. Each of these folks must be incredibly proud of their accomplishment.

Congratulations to you all.

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-10-31T11:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween from New York.

This is a beautiful afternoon, but oh, so very windy! It will be very chilly for folks who might want to attend the annual free form Halloween Parade up Sixth Avenue later on this evening. I decided to venture out earlier, in the sporadic warmth of the sun, to take a few photographs.

We will start with a splendid array of pumpkins at the farmers market. Some might yet turn into jack o' lanterns before nightfall.

Leaving those pumpkins, I strolled over to a brownstone-filled neighborhood street that goes all out every year with its decorations. Around twilight today, the street will be closed to vehicular traffic and will become a magical place for little ghosts and goblins. There will be a street party. I imagine that the shrieking and laughing will be quite loud.

Here are some of the decorations adorning the steps and entrance ways to buildings on this block. The small round pumpkins in the following photo will be lit after dark.

These two Dracula characters are competing to see who is scariest.

This fellow gets my vote. (Ahh, our election day will be this Tuesday.)

I am not sure if this display will or will not actually spook children climbing these steps in search of candy.

Brownstone houses usually have a entryway to the "garden" level of the house, and this entrance way is located under the main front staircase that leads to the "parlor" floor. This little fellow must be busy with his garden at this time of year.

The following photo shows a bit of a mish mash (or is it a Monster Mash) attached to the wrought iron gating over the garden level window. Sometimes, less might be more in the frightening stakes.

One house along the street was decorated tastefully with seasonal plants. These stairs serve as a bit of a palate refresher between the spooky bits.

I began this Halloween post with some pumpkins and will close with another sort of pumpkin. I could not resist taking a picture of this adorable little girl and her mom, whose long shadows echo some of the shapes of the trees along this walkway just behind the Museum of Natural History.

I hope that your Halloween will be filled with many treats.

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-10-24T16:50:00.001-07:00

Good evening from New York.

This has been a beautiful late October day. Sweater weather. Blue sky. And from my point of view, even better that all that, it has been a day off.

The past week has been a bit too full of activities that have left me searching for extra hours of sleep, and for more time for pursuits of my own choosing. In other words, work has been demanding. I am glad that it's been busy on the work front, because that situation might signal a continued improvement of our economy. At my age, I am glad to be employed, and to have the energy for that employment.

I will now tell you a bit about some places I visited on my time off. Let's start with Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, absolute midtown, and the location of the main branch (and total architectural gem) New York Public Library. The Fifth Avenue facade of the library is currently undergoing some clean up processes, but the two stone lions, affectionately known as Patience and Prudence, who guard the stairs to the library's entrance way, are definitely looking very good. I liked the composition of the following photo featuring a gent catching up on news via a printed newspaper, not via a more modern medium.

I was on my way to a sample sale of a wonderful Italian company that specializes in cashmere knit accessories and beautiful leather gloves. The giant mums below were amongst the plantings just the other side of the stone lion. At all times of the year, the library makes a point of having this little garden space full of beauty.

The sample sale was very well organized, and full of beautiful bargains, but I resisted. This company will hold two more sessions of this sort of sale leading up to Christmas, and at each subsequent session the prices will be reduced. It's a great place to find fabulous gifts.

I had more errands to do that day, and managed to get through much of my list. Some of this list involved boring bits like housecleaning and laundry. It also involved the gathering of food. I visited the big farmers market at Union Square and got some fresh veg and a vast selection of various apples. Many of these apples have now become part of a yummy apple crumble.

My local food market is located next to another food market. The other food market is a bit more expensive, and so I rarely shop there. I do, however, admire their window displays that often feature fanciful arrays of seafood. The following photo gives you a glimpse of such a window.

This time next week it will be Halloween. While gazing at this past week's brilliant full moon, I began to think about how much I love Halloween. This might be due to childhood memories of candy gathering, but I also feel it has to do with the tradition of donning a costume. It's lovely to have this annual opportunity to cast aside one's day-to-day face, and to try another persona.

My neighborhood is still traditional in certain ways, and there is already evidence of Halloween preparation. There is a little antiques shop that does seasonal window displays crowded with various vintage decorations appropriate to the upcoming holiday.

The above photo shows a tiny model haunted house, with a very tiny pumpkin out in front. I took some other photos of the same window, but the sunlight's reflection diminished the effect of those pictures.

Many brownstone houses in the neighborhood have begun to put pumpkins out on their front steps, and I will try to get some photos of these doorways for my next post.

Today, I tried to get my errands done early, so that I could have a very easy going afternoon. I continued working on my current sock knitting project, while doing a bit of reading. Yes, it's possible to read and knit at the same time. This is easy multi-tasking. I have just about finished this sock, and will soon begin work on its mate. The Trekking (XXL) yarn from Germany has a variegated colorway that gives a subtle striping to the socks. The yarn is much more of a red than is apparent in my photo.

Tomorrow, it will be back to work for me.

Before I end this post, I would like to mention that a relative dear to me lost her long, long battle with cancer this past week. She was someone whom I always thought of as the epitome of glamour, sophistication, intelligence and talent. She was a gifted poet, lived in many parts of the world, and together with her wonderful husband raised two talented sons. May her soul rest in peace.

Best wishes to you all. May you all have a grand week ... perhaps you will also enjoy celebrating the liberating possibilities of Halloween.

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-10-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

Good evening from New York on Columbus Day.

I am writing this as I near the end of a rare occasion, a three-day weekend. The weather has been so beautiful, and the days have been relaxing.

Let me take you along to some places I visited.

Saturday, October 9, was what would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday, and I walked over to Central Park's Strawberry Fields area to add my thoughts to those of many others who crowded in to this special place all day.

The following photo is taken from the vantage point of Strawberry Fields, and shows through the trees, a view of the famed Dakota apartment building where Lennon lived.

From there, I travelled downtown to the Union Square farmers market to find some apples and a tiny pumpkin to bring home. The pumpkins below are destined for the homes of others, and might be carved into Jack o'lantern faces.

I have used my mixture of apples to make a delicious cinnamon, butter, and sugar flavored apple crumble. Yummy, and so easy to make. Just the aroma of this dish baking signaled autumn's arrival.

Sunday was another gorgeous day, perfect for a parade. New York City has two Columbus Day parades. The traditional, Italian, parade took place today, Monday, and went on for many hours as lots of school bands and polititians made their way up Fifth Avenue.

I elected to visit yesterday's Hispanic Columbus Day Parade, that honors Spain for funding Columbus's voyage. It is filled with wonderful music and costumes and dancing, and its route covers about three miles of Fifth Avenue.

There are always some wonderful mounted police officers at the beginning.

Then, the parade contingents from Spain arrive. As you might guess, yesterday there was evidence of the Spanish pride in having won the World Cup.

This fellow turns up every year, with his tie-died beard and dog, and party dress. He has a grand time, and no one seems to mind his joy at parading. I do not know which country he represents!

It was at this point that I realized that my camera's battery was not going to last for the entire parade. Alas.

Spain was followed by Argentina, with lots of graceful tango dancers.

Next in line were the representatives from Bolivia, and I did manage to click a shot of one of hundreds, hundreds of costumed dancers. These ladies were able to twirl rapidly while moving forward briskly, and this got their mini skirts whirling around waist high. No photo of that.

I am so sorry not to have a photo of the group from Chile who honored the about-to-be-rescued miners. They each wore a miner's hard hat and scruffy work clothes. The crowd applauded, and some eyes were very moist.

Another event that took place this weekend was the second annual NYC yarn crawl, organized by a group of prominent yarn/knitting shops in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Each shop had special offers, a lottery drawing, a scavenger hunt for visitors to find the hidden knitted apple (NYC is known sometimes as the Big Apple.) The event went on from Saturday through today, Monday.

I did visit some shops on Saturday and Sunday. At the Purl SOHO shop downtown on Sunday, I had the pleasure of meeting a delightful and skilled knitter, Kristina McGowan, whose new book has just been published. It is called Modern Top-Down Knitting, and is a guide to creating various dresses, hats, sweaters, etc., from the top down ... so that each garment is made in one piece. It is a very clever concept, and I wish Kristina great success with her lovely book. I bought a copy and the cover is in the following photo.

Today was another blue sky day, and I traveled across the Park to meet a friend at the Metropolitan Museum. We went up to the roof exhibition space. The Met is actually located on the Fifth Avenue edge of Central Park and so its roof garden has fantastic views. I share the southern view with you.

I wanted to visit the roof not only for the view but also to see the Big Bambu construction that has been made by the Starn twins, who usually are known for their big photos. Big Bambu will be dismantled at the end of October. Every summer, some artist has the roof space to display some sculpture that is just for the roof.

What do you think? Is this a nest gone crazy? A unnatural thicket?

Within this mass of bamboo staffs, carefully knotted together, is an actual pathway in which one can climb up inside the assemblage...a few at a time, please. I did not take the path up today.

Perhaps you can make out the lady in the red dress who did make the climb.

Here is a close up view of how the poles are connected. Would you want to climb?

Here is a mother and son debating whether they want to join the queue for the ascent.

After seeing all that we wished of Big Bambu, we went back downstairs (real stairs) into the Musuem and saw an exhibit of beautiful Renaissance paintings by Jan Gossart and others. It provided a huge contrast to the roof.

After that, we ambled through a few other parts of the Museum and then left in search of a quiet cafe for lunch and lots of chatting. It was a lovely day.

I got home in time for a few errands, and then sat down to work on one of my current knitting projects, a multi-cabled, chunky weight scarf in a gorgeous soft yarn. Project on top of Rowan pattern book. (Yarn is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky.)

Tomorrow morning, I will return to work and hope to carry with me the relaxed state of mind that the past three days have granted.

Best wishes to you all.

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-09-30T16:26:00.001-07:00

Good evening from New York.

On this windy evening, we New Yorkers are awaiting the next round of rain and wind that will spatter us with vertical or perhaps diagonal or horizontal rain, and wind that might do more damage to old trees around town. In various parts of our city there may be what the weather forecasters call local flooding.

It seems to me that this September has been experiencing windy weather that might actually have made time move more quickly. It was weeks ago that I took the following photo of a couple attempting to cross Fifth Avenue between the traffic lights of 56th and 57th Streets. I liked the billowing of the lady's coat and marveled at the height of her stilettos. Without the willing arm of the gentleman, she would have fallen.

Ahhh, to have the willing arm of a gentleman to guide one though turbulence.

Since my last post, I have had another birthday, and this has let me now qualify for various senior citizen benefits. So far, I have not had the time to do much research to find out what procedures might be needed to actually acquire these benefits.

I am grateful to be healthy and still able to carry on in my career. This career does have a connection to the fashion industry. Although I still do cling to the notion that I might be a painter, even an artist, I admit that the evidence of this is thin on the ground this year. I keep hoping to gather more time to my own interests, rather than following my inbred work ethic that seems to encourage me to devote my hours to the causes of others. Well. I do get a pay check, and so must not moan too much here.

Last week, friends whom I first met in the 1970's when we all worked at the marvelous, wonderful Metropolitan Museum, and I got together for a lunch. Is it not marvelous to stay in touch with folks who remember who you were decades ago? These folks and I do meet every now and then and always laugh and talk and talk and talk. And again, we never quite have enough time to catch up.

Back to fashion. After that lunch, I sped downtown to the Fashion Institute of Technology's Museum to take a look at the current exhibit there. It is full of marvelous, inventive contemporary Japanese fashion. This school has trained many of our top designers, and its museum stages delights, one after the other.

And, as September raced ahead, I fell back into the routine of work, sleep, errands, meal preparation and dining. Repeat. Repeat.

This disconcerting treadmill view of days passing got a bit of a check when I finally found time to take a walk over to Central Park to see how the end of summer might be treating my favorite place, the Shakespeare Garden.

I have shown you all this area in various seasons, and so perhaps you'll enjoy seeing it at the end of September. I love the bikes propped up against the rustic fence at the western entrance to the Garden.

Most of the summer flowers had turned to seed pods, so I let my camera turn to various foliage that showed beautiful contrasts in color and shapes.

This garden is on a gentle incline, and its gardeners always allow it to go a bit wild. I love the mixture that results.

Something that always impresses me about this part of the Park is the quiet. Another encouraging bit is that the visitors do seem to treat the entire area with the respect that these wonderful plants deserve.

My recent walk had an unexpected reward, as I found about six butterflies in complex flight and landing patterns around a particular bunch of flowers that matched the orangy tones of the butterflies' wings. I was stopped in my tracks for quite a while as I enjoyed watching this aerial ballet. I hope that you will enjoy this single photo that I was able to take, catching a beauty in a quick still moment.

The Shakespeare Garden has many roses, and a few were still having a glorious final act last week.

There is something about this part of Central Park that always welcomes anyone who lingers for a while. No matter what pressures might be facing us in our day to day existence, it is very encouraging to see that even in a huge city, nature can thrive and teach us much.

Although I was not able to take any photographs, I was also able to stop in my tracks last week and have a long, long gaze at the full moon, as I returned home from work.

And then, another treat occurred when my workmates and I treated ourselves to an evening yacht ride around the New York harbor. The sky was overcast as we set sail, but just as we passed under the Brooklyn Bridge, on our return back to the Chelsea pier from which we'd set off, the clouds parted and the almost-still-full moon showed its cinnamon golden face. We applauded it, and then the clouds again drew their veil..

I fervently hope that October might have a different pace, and that each day might have something remarkable to report.

Best wishes to you all.

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-09-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

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.

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-08-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon from New York.

How can it be August? What has happened to July? This summer does seem to speeding past. The days are hot, some of the leaves have begun to fall from the trees. Crispy brown leaves can be seen scattered along the pathways of Central Park.

Walking along one of those pathways I saw a collection of pedi-cabs operators waiting for some customers. I cannot imagine how they can do their job in the current heat.
We have had some thunderstorms during this summer, and this caused many trees in the Park to lose branches. Actually, some people were killed by falling branches. This seems impossible, but alas, it is true.

This tree remnant is not in jail, but rather is just behind a delicate bit of fencing that bears the the Central Park Conservancy id. The Conservancy is privately funded (even I make an annual contribution) and helps to keep the Park beautiful, and perhaps also safe.

Here is another photo of some damaged tree parts. There is something a bit sad about these logs.

I won't dwell any longer on these poor old trees, but will instead take you along with me to the Sunday farmers market. This week was a wonderful week for rosy red fruits and vegetables. I bought some of these peaches.

And some of these tomatoes.

I greatly admired these plums, but did not buy any. The peaches will keep me busy for the next few days. I do not like to refrigerate peaches or tomatoes, and so I plan to eat them pretty quickly.

I also found some beautiful zucchini, sugar snap peas and cucumbers. I think that it might be too late in the season for lettuces. Some of the farmers had wonderful looking corn, and eggplant, and green peppers.

My plan was to do this marketing well before midday, so that I could have many hours left to work on some of my craft projects. I am experimenting with all sorts of yarn-related notions, and can show you how my circle in the square afghan is coming along.

There is something rather crazy about crocheting with wool in the summertime, isn't there?

At work tomorrow, I will be wearing an alpaca sweater, hoping to induce the customers to buy one for themselves. There is something pretty crazy about alpaca in August, too.

I do hope that August is treating you all very well. Best wishes.

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-07-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon from New York on a very hot and humid summer day. I believe that there is to be a full moon tonight. It is my hope that before that moon rises, we might also have a quick, cooling thunderstorm.

The clouds are gathering and the wind is up. This is the July afternoon weather pattern. What usually happens is that the rain is pushed eastward to Connecticut. We have actually had very little rain. Those areas east of us have had all sorts of dramatic storms, near-tornadoes, fallen trees, power outages, etc. We just stay hot and sticky.

And so, let me stop fixating on this weather and show you a very out of focus photo of a beautiful flower arrangement I was given to commemorate my eighth anniversary with my current employers. The flowers really were spectacular, and before the hot weather (oops, another weather reference pop up) did them in, I found time to sit down with my sketch book to try a few drawings. I wanted to be able to better remember the snapdragons, asters, roses, gerberas, tiny mums, and lovely foliage. For the first time in ages, I spent many hours on an errand-free day off, just trying to regain hand and eye coordination.

Some of the drawings that pleased me most turned out to be those of some of the asters that had actually gotten dried out and spindly. I really loved the linear inspiration of those tiny little twisty, turny dried flowers. I have not taken any photos of those drawings. They were just warm up exercises (another possible weather reference there.)

The picture below is an oil painting I did quite a few years ago, during another summertime. The cups are some of my old china. The setting is imaginary.

This morning I had an early morning walk over to the farmers greenmarket, and found some super red and ripe tomatoes, a tiny kirby cucumber (to add to tomorrow's turkey sandwich,) some young, crisp green beans and a perfect peach. I was tempted by some of the other prime produce for sale, but did not linger outdoors for too long.

I wanted to get home to do a little watercolor picture that I will be giving to someone as a sort of farewell, good luck gift, tomorrow. I do lots of these fanciful watercolor teacups and thought you all might enjoy seeing the difference in my approach using different media.

I painted this pretty quickly without much planning, other than deciding on the shape of the cup.

Some of the colors are inspired by some of my old Minton china. Lots of the colors are just arbitrary to fill up the space with a summertime feeling.

Well. I am delighted to report that while I have been typing, the light in this room changed dramatically, and now we are getting that longed-for summer shower. The air is transformed!

It's my hope to keep the sketchbook handy this week, and to be able to share some more of my playing about with pencils and paint. It's also my hope that you all are having lots of fun this summer. Cheers!

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-06-25T19:00:00.001-07:00

Good evening from New York.

We are now into deep summer in New York, although the calendar says summer only started a few days ago. It seems very different to those of us who spend more than a few fleeting minutes below ground each day on the New York City subway system.

The photo below is of an earlier version of the map of this system showing the route that I have been taking daily from my home to my work place, the shop. The Metropolitan Transportation Agency changes the look of these maps, and even the routes and names and existence of the various subway train lines every so often. I like to hold on to older maps. Not one of them is as graphically magical as that of the London Tube. That map is a classic.

I

I have digressed.

Mostly the NYC subways gets us to our various destinations without incident. Normally incident is a euphemism for ... something bad.

I would like to tell about three sights I saw today on my commute via the subway. I did not have my camera with me. You all will have to summon your visual imagination.

This morning I did my usual transfer between train lines under Times Square. I was walking down a necessary stairwell, when I saw something unusual headed my way. This something was a very large man whose body was entangled within the curves of a highly polished brass tuba. I backed up to the edge of the stairway to allow the man and his tuba to pass by.

He did pass by with his tuba, and I continued my stairway descent to the concrete surface of the subway platforms. I will not describe the high temperature of the atmosphere or the scents or the areas of litter. No, what caught my eye as I walked along that platform to the measured spot that will allow me to enter a train and exit that train car at the perfect spot on 23 Street, was something that was such a contrast to that giant polished tuba and large man.

It was a single, tiny, Chinese child's slipper, embroidered. It lay all by itself on the platform. Some tiny child must have yearned for bare feet in the heat of the subway, and given a tiny but determined kick to free his/her toes. The little slipper was adorable, never to be confused with the left-behinds that constitute the usual litter.

I love the contrast of scale. Huge, tiny, and I continued on to a full day of work.

Many hours later, I reversed my travel route to return home.

As I walked along the 23rd Street subway platform aiming to find the spot on that platform that would guarantee my exit at Times Square being that stop's ideal spot, I was stopped in my tracks.

I saw a young camera crew in the process of filming some sort of film that I guessed might have been part of a fashion promotion. Not too many fellow travelers were on that platform who were, like me, waiting for a train. Those who were were treated, or exposed, to a vision of a young, beautiful, tall Asian model wearing a floral embroidered filmy robe, open that robe to show off some very lacy and very ephemerally minimal lingerie and to walk about 20 metres down the platform.

Well. The camera man and director thanked all of us mere mortal commuters for our allowing the filming to continue without interruption. The model was pretty much naked under that dressing gown. I have never seen such a scene underground before.

Well. I had never before seen a tuba or an abandoned tiny embroidered slipper before either.

Is it not the run up to the full moon above ground?

Best wishes from New York.

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-06-19T18:05:00.000-07:00

Good evening from New York.

This will be a quick post. It's been a day off, an extra third day off to finish off the week. My employers calls the category a floating holiday. What a great notion, don't you think? A holiday that floats.

I started my floating Saturday with a good breakfast, featuring a three minute egg. About a year ago, my doctor advised me to cut back on my egg eating. I love eggs. I have followed his advice and will soon check in with him so that he can check my blood to see if this egg cut back has had any effect. How I perversely hope that there won't be much effect. I would love to resume sampling more than one per week.

In the above photo you will also see the front page of today's New York Times and some toast with marmalade and some coffee with skim (ugh ... that doctor again) milk, and my cluttered table.

Post egg and toast, pre-finish of all the coffee, I was also taking the elevator up and down to the basement laundry room to do the weekly wash. Last Tuesday, the wooden water tank on the room of this apartment building was replaced. This was a major deal. It was accomplished within the predicted time ... but meant that for most of Tuesday we had no water. It has meant since then that we residents have good running water, but it does have a faint scent/taste that is woody-metallic.

We hope that it will return to tasteless soon.

Ah, so breakfast was good, the newspaper was full of information that did not always please, the laundry was done.

I set off for a visit to my hair stylist who skillfully returned my bob cut to perfection. She is a wizard, and a fine person, too.

Then it was over to the nearby Union Square farmers green market. It is still a bit early for the local farmers to have truly bountiful produce, but all the same, today's stalls were beautiful.

There were lots and lots of flowers and plants, and bakery good, and eggs, and fish and chicken. I did not buy those.

Instead, I focused on greenery, finding fresh leafy Boston lettuce and wild rocket, and parsley. I was tempted by a stand featuring radishes. I admit to not being such a fan of radishes, but the varieties on display just won me over. I selected a rubber-banded-together bouquet of radish varieties, pink, red, redder, ivory, sharp, mild, globular, carrot-shaped. The farmer laughed when I told him that I was going to try to learn to like eating radishes, just because his selection looked so pretty. He suggested slicing the radishes very thinly and sauteing them with soy sauce. I will try it.
The picture above just shows a few of the samples. I planned on doing some colored pencil drawings of these lovelies, but admit that the afternoon's heat caught up with me ... and I took a nap.

It's a bit early for abundant tomato displays at the market, but I did spy with my little eye, the beauty in the following photo. It did not contribute to tonight's salade compose, but ... tomorrow evening it just might be the star of the show.

Every summer when these green markets really begin to strut their stuff, I just begin to yearn for the opportunity to have a garden of my own. Could it be that a year from now one of these recurring dreams might come true?

Meanwhile, I will state for the record that the radish that contributed to tonight's salad was scrumptious.

Best wishes to all who garden and to all who appreciate those gardeners.

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-06-08T16:33:00.000-07:00

Good evening from New York.

If you have visited here a time or two, you will know how much I do love the country, even though I have chosen to live in a huge city.

This post is a tribute to some dear friends of mine, who last week treated me to a day in the country. The weather was perfection. Our destination was about 40 miles north of New York City.

And so, in our rented car, we set off mid morning. And, mid-day decided to have a restoring stop. This was not our destination, but rather a lovely spot next to a pond.

On the other side of that reflective pond was a mill. Its wheel is just to the disappeared left side of the mill. I cut off the wheel to show the goats that were exploring the pond, while we rested under the trees.

We got back into the car, and continued on. Our destination was a fabulous place. It seems to be an undiscovered treasure. It is Stonecrop Gardens. Those of you who live near fabulous gardens across the Pond would definitely appreciate this place.

When we parked in the gravelly car park area, and emerged to that gravel, and looked at the green trees, shrubs, and iris blooming around us, it was the quiet that struck me.

True peace. I think that there was one other car parked. It was this welcoming quiet that would characterize the rest of our visit.

We ambled up a wood slatted pathway toward the little Potting Shed building where we would register our arrival, pay a very, very small fee, and receive a map to guide us around the expansive grounds.

Stonecrop is a place where botanists may come to study and observe, where students may learn a thing or three hundred about plants.

The site was once an estate owned by a particular family. It is now a teaching garden.

Every part of this place seems artless, yet could not have been what it is without lots of skillful planning and carrying through.

There are woodland areas, pond areas, rose gardens, areas where horses ramble, greenhouses where fledgling plantlets take root. There was something about this group that reminded me of some Chinese scroll paintings at the Metropolitan Museum.

In this part of New York State, there are lots of stone walls. I would love to learn how to build such a wall.

Here is one of those horses. Under a sky that truly shows what June can be.

This is a sample camellia. We saw hundreds. In many colors. I just liked this one best.

And here is one of the pond areas. Remember that we walked around and around, and had a splendid picnic lunch and walked around some more. And the entire time perhaps saw ten other people. For a New York City resident...this is just astounding.

We did not see Blackie, the resident black snake about whom we were warned. We did see lots of frogs, turtles, a few duck, and lots of tiny fish. And we heard much bird song. And saw many swallows as the day reached afternoon.

Since the day was so sunny, I took along my hat with the wide brim. I also took along my big linen tote bag with a sketchbook and colored pencils. Yet. Even at our relaxed pace, there really was no time to sketch. I took many photos, in addition to those posted here. Perhaps I can use those pictures to do some drawing and painting.

The above photo was taken by one of my traveling pals, and shows me in a beautiful little wisteria-covered gazebo, on the edge of a lilly pad endowed pond, next to a bit of rocks. Remember the name of the garden is Stonecrop Gardens.

The above photo shows one of those crops of stone, with one of my friends exploring the route to the next layer of ponds. That pond was just a short climb up the rocks...or stones.

We stayed almost until sunset, watching the light change, watching big clouds move across the sky. We were so glad to have had wonderful weather for our day in the country.

We lingered as long as we could. What dear friends I have to have treated me to this beautiful experience.

Hoping that you all will enjoy a sampling of our visit.

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-05-26T15:33:00.001-07:00

Good evening from New York.

It has been about a month since I last managed to give you all a city view. I have had quite a month, filled with challenges. I cannot give details. I have learned to find a way through some unexpected difficulties.

Having cleared my way through those shoals, I will show you some photos taken a few weeks ago, on a late spring day as beautiful as today.

This is another view of my nearest subway station. I love this station house, situated in the herringbone cross of Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. A huge building has been going up and is just visible on the left side of my photo. It's the one with the red corner. Above street level, hundreds of tenants may eventually get around to renting expensive apartments.

At or below street level, there is to be a giant branch of a major bank, and ... more interesting to me, a giant branch of Trader Joe's, a sort of supermarket. I hope that Trader Joe's will start a price war with my beloved Fairway Market, and that my weekly grocery bills might soon begin to decrease, instead of continuing their alarming escalation.

And now, back to the little "plaza" leading to the subway station. Overnight, the two heavy female shaped sculptures arrived. They look grand from a distance, with their formal symmetry . We could not expect topiary at a subway station, yet these solemn ladies suggest it to me.

A closer view shows the distressed finish to the sculpture's skirt area. It also reveals the scattered litter drifting round the lady's hemline.

And this final photo shows an overflowing garbage bin. We New Yorkers do mostly try to dispose of our litter. If a receptacle is full, we are not so great at carrying our litter onwards in search of another receptacle.

Regular visitors to this site will perhaps recall a series of photos I took last summer showing the results of a traffic accident that had demolished an iron fencing surrounding the Broadway side of this plaza. Take a look at the right of the garbage bin and you will see that the temporary fencing is still doing duty.

All who pass by each day notice this, wonder if and when the actual repair will occur. Finances are hard for public expenditure. I want to know how the sculptures were funded. I love seeing the ladies, but also want to have that iron fence back.

Best wishes to all. I will try to write again before July!

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-04-28T10:07:00.001-07:00

Good afternoon from New York.

What a cold and windy afternoon it is. A day to wear woolen layers, and perhaps later on it will also be a day to keep an umbrella handy.

It is also my mother's birthday today, and I have just been speaking to her over the phone. She lives hundreds of miles away from here, and I hope that the usually reliable UPS folks will manage to deliver my gifts to her this afternoon. One of these gifts is something I crocheted and it is pictured below.

I would like to keep this flower theme and show some photos I took yesterday, a day that began grey and then breezily cleared to a lovely afternoon. I crossed Central Park via bus and met a friend at the Metropolitan Museum. Just across Fifth Avenue from the Met, I saw some mature tulip blooms and could not resist taking their photo.

On the other side of Fifth, just next to the entrance to the Met's underground parking garage, stands this marvelous Noguchi obelisque. The lighting makes this sculpture even more powerful than usual.

While in the Metropolitan, we saw several interesting exhibits, the favorite being on of illuminated manuscripts of the Limbourg Brothers. These were exceptionally beautiful, and the exhibit is very wisely arranged to encourage folks to really look. The captions were well written, very witty, and had a way of calling attention to many story lines depicted in each manuscript.

We looked at some other exhibits, had salad lunches and then went outdoors to find a blustery atmosphere, and lots of blue sky. The picture below is of the miniature boat pond. These little ships are propelled by mobile power. Some folks also bring their own non-electric model boats to these waters. The pond is also home to some families of ducks. It featured prominently in the classic children's book Stuart Little.

We sat in the sun and talked away as old friends can do, sneezed a bit (lots of pollen blowing around) and then finally decided to stretch our legs a bit more, and walked up the hill from the pond, encountering this stunning tree. Isn't its shape just iconic?

I like that tree so much I have posted another picture of it ... see how it stands out in a crowd? Also, please note that beautiful sky.

We strolled a bit westward to the Bethesda Fountain area, and found many, many azaleas in full flower. The variety of greens and foliage is very rich at this season.

The following picture looks down over the Fountain's plaza to show the lake beyond. It is so strange to see that metal hair net scaffolding around the beautiful Fountain. I surely do hope that this project ... whatever it is ... will soon be completed.

Lots of folks were taking advantage of the many refreshment stands along the various Park pathways and roadways. The menu includes hot dogs, pretzels, ice creams, various sodas and water. Again, just look at that sky!

Many of the Impressionist painters made much of using fresh ways to show light effects. The photo below shows a cherry tree whose petals have formed one of those gorgeous pink carpets. As the sun shone intermittently from behind the quickly passing clouds, the pink carpet had such a great dappled effect ... the shadows really did look purple.

And here is more color ... that green, that blue!

There was something in the shape and the shadowing of the next tree that led me to see a bird in the line of its trunk. Do you see it also?

What a marvelous day! My final photo is of yet more tulips that are planted near the West 72nd Street entrance to Central Park. There are hundreds, if not thousands of these tulips. Some are in color blocks, and some are mixed colorways. All are beautiful.

I do hope that each of you has been having a grand springtime. Best wishes.

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-04-18T16:15:00.001-07:00

Good evening from New York.

On this Sunday, our spring weather has taken a few steps down the temperature charts. I was so glad that I had not taken my wool pea jacket to the dry cleaners yet. That would have been a true declaration that the chill was gone.

I was also very glad to have this day off from the work place. After taking care of various errands and home chores, there was lots of time to go out with my camera to explore the clear day under a sunny blue sky.

In the very early afternoon, I headed up Broadway, and took the photo below of tulips and beautiful trees enjoying their final blooming. If you look carefully through the branches, you'll see the blue awning of my wonderful neighborhood food market, the legendary Fairway.

On these median cross ways of Broadway, seasonal plantings are underwritten by various merchants whose shops line Broadway on our upper west side neighborhood. Sometimes we also have these areas adorned by sculptures.

And so I crossed Broadway, on my way to see what might be available today in our little farmers green market that adjoins the weekly flea market held on the asphalted playground of a school.

I've been meaning to post a photo of this entryway to a brownstone that may, or may not, still have folks living inside. I think that someone still lives here. I am always taken by the Dylanesque painting on the front door. Someone must be keeping that shrub alive?

I continued my walk through the flea market, and as usual, saw nothing that I admired more than the various bits and pieces back home in my own apartment. As I get older, vintage takes on a different definition as far as flea market finds. Antique is a word that I still hold precious.

On to the farmers market area, set up on sidewalk paving just behind the Museum of Natural History. Lots of folks were buying bunches of these beautiful cherry tree branches.

It is still way too early in the season to expect to see any veg in this market. There are still some farmers selling last year's apples. Some sell hot house herbs, and lettuces. In a few months we will see all sorts of fruits and vegetables and flowers.

And so, I rounded the corner at Columbus Avenue and 81 Street and took the following photos of the grounds outside the Museum.

The day had been a bit overcast earlier, but on my walk, I began to see the sun assert its true shining splendor from behind the clouds, and so I clicked my camera to capture the dappled green of the lawn below.

I could have taken lots of photos of the lawn around the Museum, but instead pressed on, and crossed over to the western edge of Central Park. The sign in the picture below always reminds me of how that playground came into being. If you google Diana Ross and Central Park you all will also be able to learn this history lesson.

Today, I just loved the light on the green and pink, with the sky above

And then I found a way to cross the park's roadway, dodging folks on bicycles who were definitely enjoying their Sunday exercise. It's not so tricky to weave across runners. They don't have pedals and wheels.

The picture below is a little dell just below the Shakespeare Garden. In a prior post I showed a view of it from the top of the Shakespeare garden ... back when the daffs were in bloom.

After taking that photo, I saw many more beautiful spring scenes, but also discovered that my camera's battery was just about gone. Oh No!

One of my reasons for this afternoon's eastward walk was to take some photos of the annual tulip display along Park Avenue. How could I return home with only that shot of tulips on Broadway?

And so, I have not any pictures of early spring softball games, romantic couples braving the April chill, various robins hunting for worms, frolicking dogs, and many folks marching up Fifth Avenue in this afternoon's Greek Independence Parade (including some major politicians.) Nope. I saved my battery.

The reward was being able to show these yellow tulips that are almost ready to reach stardom on Park Avenue.

And, there was just enough power still available to show the array of cherry trees that line up between the tulip beds on each Park Avenue block.

If I had done more camera preparation, you all would have been treated to more views of the Park on my walk home. Musicians, beautiful paraders and parade viewers, ducks on the lake, rowboats on the lake, azaleas, forsythia, violets, lingering daffs. And so many fabulous dogs having a grand time outdoors.

The camera's batteries have now been re-charged. I look forward to venturing out again soon to show you all some more city views.

Best wishes.

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-04-04T17:22:00.000-07:00

Good evening from New York on Easter evening.

Our city's weather decided to finally get into the swing of spring, just in time for today's traditional parade of finery, and extravagance, along Fifth Avenue.

I'd made plans to meet friends at the northern end of the promenade path and took my camera along for the walk. As I walked towards our meeting place, I could not resist taking this reflective picture of a shop that features paper goods.

When I reached Fifth Avenue it was clear that having the street closed to vehicular traffic, it was a great day for folks to walk up and down the Avenue. This was the view down Fifth Avenue.

This was the view up Fifth Avenue. Note the brilliant blue sky, and a glimpse of Central Park's trees just beyond the sunlit edge of the elegant Bergdorf Goodman shop. Taxi cabs were obliged to make a turn. The policeman waved them right and left, but they could not proceed down Fifth as usual.

Last year, my Easter Parade photographs were taken in locations nearer to the center of it all, around St. Patrick's Cathedral. This year, my friends were not enthusiastic about venturing that much into the thick of the extravagant regalia. And so, the following photos will have a gentler theme. Many will show family groups.

The next photo is to two twenty-somethings, wearing wonderful vintage outfits. The young lady on the left still has her boyfriend's jacket on. The day will warm up.

What a little beauty in her mother's embrace. We wished each other Happy Easter.

This teenager still had braces on her teeth, and gave me a huge smile, when I complimented her color sense.

These two fellows were very nonchalant in parading in their festive headgear.

Black and red are colors not usually associated with Easter. Yet that did not deter this lady. You can see that another photograph was being taken simultaneously to mine.

Now this trio was dressed in rather traditional finery. Quite elegant.

Remember the young lady with the black jacket. Jacket is gone now. The sun has come out, bringing more warmth and more cameras.

Look at this sweet picture. This young lady is still keeping her lightweight cardi on. And she's got her Easter basket handy.

And here is another cutie in rosy pink. Note the little shoes.

Here is another view of a family group. I admit that I was having a hard time staying in conversation with my friends, while still keeping an eye out for promising bonnets or other interesting photo ops. Every now and then, I would just call out, "I'll be right back," and run off after a hat or outfit. I was not always in time to click in the proper light or focus.

This fellow was doing a grand business outfitting folks without hats. He could provide all sorts of shapes, sizes, colors.

The following picture is rather tacky, but still rather graphically okay. The flowering trees are arranged on staggered setbacks midway up the side of a gleaming building.

The photo below involves a contingent with a costumed dog. I am not sure if the dog was originally riding in the baby buggy.

These ladies in their beautifully elegant kimonos agreed to have me take their picture.

Most Fifth Avenue shops were closed today. An exception was the Lindt Chocolate shop. They were keeping busy supplying quick energy for the paraders.

This little bunny got a great view from her daddy's shoulders.

I did not seen anyone else wearing a kilt. This gentleman looked terrific.

The colors of the Gap store windows mimic that of the lady with the bonnet.

Now here is a stylish mother/daughter duo. The both favor large hats.

Here's an old-fashioned fashionista, complete with puffed sleeves and pigtails.

Her colleague also had a marvelous sense of style.

These gentlemen went in several directions with regard to their outfits.

And here are some wonderful striped trousers (not pin-stripes!) And take a look at that beard.

Doesn't this little girl have a sweet expression? Her parents were so kind to let me take her picture.

This lad is definitely a J. Depp fan. I just wish that my photograph had turned out better. He was a charmer.

For those who've been wondering, yes, there are many churches along the parade route and many paraders did go to Easter services

I could not resist clicking a picture of this sunny yellow clad family.

Now that's a hat. I think that this is another view of the mother who appeared in an earlier photo with her daughter.

Here is another picture of a beautiful Fifth Avenue church.

Mid-day sunlight does provide some dramatic lighting possibilities in the midst of some tall buildings' shadows.

This lady decided to add a little pink fluffy something to her otherwise rather subdued chapeau.

So many golden flowers growing from just one hat. Wow!

And so, although there were many more sights to be seen, we decided to turn around and make our way towards Central Park. The day had grown very warm, and many folks were shedding their jackets.

At 58th Street we made the turn westward, and I caught a shot of the corner across from the Plaza Hotel. If you look carefully, you can see the clear glass cube of the Apple Store, where lots of enthusiasts have been purchasing the latest triumph.

Here's a view of a side entrance to the Plaza. It is now a condominium, and not quite the glory that it was when the story book character Eloise ran through its halls.

As we neared a pathway into the Park, we were cut off by horse drawn carriage traffic. Apparently, the horses's drivers think they are always due the right of way. This picture makes it look as if the white horse is wearing some sort of red bonnet. He was not. It is the back of a carriage.

We walked through the park past all sorts of lovely blooms. And then I said farewell to my pals. I had to get home to start packing more boxes, emptying out another bookcase ahead of the next visit from my careful painter.

On my way home, I stopped by a newly opened shop offering authentic gelato. I am delighted to report that my first sampling, a fig gelato, was scrumptious.

Happy Easter!

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-04-02T18:03:00.000-07:00

Good evening from New York.

I wish you all a very Happy Easter. May the Easter Bunny leave you lots of chocolate eggs, and may the weather be friendly to all bonnets. May all sorts of beautiful flowers be bursting into their full showy blooms.

I am hoping to be able to get to the Fifth Avenue Easter Parade on Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, I am charging my camera's batteries so all will be ready.

Best wishes to all.

City Views, Country Dreams

2010-03-29T17:26:00.001-07:00

Good evening from New York on a night lit by a full moon.

Even if the weather has retreated into a moist chill, we are a few days deeper into our springtime. I thank many readers of my previous post for their comments. I went back to check my photos of those white flowers in Central Park to see if I had some closer view that would allow you dear readers to have a more even chance of identifying these charming blooms.
Here it is. Perhaps the foliage will assist?

Even with the rather grim weather, I so enjoyed having this day off. It was a day that did not require me to prepare for the next visit of the meticulous painter. He is having a week off to observe Easter with his children. Bravo to that.

I had the great pleasure of meeting up with a great friend, a fellow artist, to take a look at several exhibits at the Museum of Modern Art. The admission fee for this museum (not a public museum) is high. Over the years that I have lived in New York, I sometimes take out a membership in MOMA, entitling me to unlimited visits. I time these memberships to my budget and to the exhibitions on offer for the 12-month free-entry period. I recently received an offer for a 14-month "annual" membership. That did it. I was hooked. I renewed.

Today's visit allowed me to see two exhibits that I will want to see again. One is a rather pop-oriented show devoted to Tim Burton. It was lots of fun, crowded with families looking at drawings and film clips and even some costumes from some of Mr Burton's films.

The other exhibit was the one that was the true draw (in every sense) for me featuring drawings, prints, and films by William Kentridge. If you all are not familiar with this man's talent, I encourage you to take a long look at whatever journey the MOMA website might offer as a starting point. There is a very interesting article about Mr Kentridge in a recent issue of The New Yorker magazine.

On the way home, I stopped by a grocery store and picked up a few frozen items to stow in my new fridge. If the weather warms up, I will soon be stocking up on ice cream.

How wonderful to realize that I also have tomorrow as a day off from the shop. And also to realize that the sunlight and blue sky might also be on offer.

Best wishes to you all.