City Views, Country Dreams

Good afternoon from New York.

The sky is a brilliant blue today and the sun is shining.  Alas, that sunshine has some fierce competition from strong breezes, and the temperature is definitely below freezing.  It's a good day to spend some hours indoors in blog land.

Current events here and around the world have continued with twists and turns since my last post.  Thank you all for your visits and comments.  Although I have not been to any additional marches, I have been keeping close attention on the news, and have watched many Senate confirmation hearings regarding Presidential Cabinet appointees.  I have been calling and writing to my Senators and Congressional Representative.  Many of my friends have been doing likewise.

Perhaps it is not too late to wish you all a Happy Lunar New Year!

A friend sent me this tiny Almanac whose pages are filled with daily advice about what is Good and what is Bad.  I am greatly enjoying turning to it for guidance.

To thank my friend for the gift, I painted her a card with a Fire Rooster image for 2017.  My birth year designates me an Earth Rooster.

While indoors watching the Senate committee hearings, I have also been making progress on my striped socks.  The sock on the right with the red, white and blue needles is all done except for the tricky Kitchener stitch bit that with close up the sock's toe.  I need to concentrate a lot to manage that maneuver.  It will require a quiet, well lit place.

I'm including the following photo of a pretty green doorway that I saw in the Chelsea neighborhood, so that all the pictures in the post won't have been taken indoors.  The doorway qualifies as a city view.

My current tower of books borrowed from The New York Society Library are a rather eclectic bunch.  The following book is a 50th anniversary edition of a beautiful nursery rhyme book.  I had never known of this book during my childhood, and was introduced to it via the Instagram site of a fine artist named Debbie George.  I recommend both the book and Debbie's site to you all.

I've just finished reading the following detective novel.  It's quite a long book, and the plot has many layers.  Not all of the police are innocents.

This is the third time that I have borrowed the Springsteen autobiography.  I don't want to read its pages too quickly.  Bruce is just a bit younger than I am, but close enough in age that it is easy to identify with much of what he writes about.

I will be starting to read this new Margaret Drabble novel later today, with hopes of finishing it by Monday, so as to be able to return it to the Library.  Once again, the author and I are very close in age, and that has added to my appreciation of her previous books.

Just for fun on a chilly February afternoon, I thought I would show you all this pool picture.  I wish that I could see the upcoming Hockney show at the Tate.  

It's about 3 p.m. now, and I think I might venture outdoors for a very short walk.  I wish you all an excellent weekend.  It's my hope to be posting here again soon.