Maybe, Perhaps.......at last....

A walk down 21st Street yesterday morning revealed:

shy little bits of fruit blossom

daffodils -- the pale kind I like best

and Lenten Roses.

In the immortal words of PB Shelley:

If winter comes
can spring be far behind?




Yipee!




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Citishots

For some reason Soho has more graffiti than other parts of town.

Maybe it's because it's meant to be artsy. The little yellow cat caught my eye.

In this one it was the peeling-off green paint. 

The black tagging is not that great. Maybe it isn't meant to be.

It was a horrid wet day, and the colors on the subway were  very subdued. 

I think this picture has more to do with triangles.

 You could play a game to see how many there were.......
that is, if you had huge amounts of time to waste.

This photo isn't New York (it's Marrakesh) but the same
 electrical stuff and men on ladders
 --so a sort of echo.

These are the bare trees at the park this morning.....

it was about 32'f..... but I do believe the buds are thickening.

The silk scarves I mentioned earlier have arrived yesterday very promptly from Bali.

Very exotic and gorgeous. I do recommend Novica. By coincidence, 

 Weaver of Grass, one of my top favorite blogs mentions them too today.  

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www.novica.com

Shadow Shot Sunday/Cheerful

Haven't participated in Shadow Shot Sunday for such a long time. Anyway it's lots of fun.

This first picture isn't about shadows really. More something cheerful in this miserable cold weather.

This is the shadow shot. The local diner with decorations by Berch

 on the window and the paint casting shadows.

Some shadows here too. Late afternoon from our sitting room window.

Yesterday we went up to 66th Street to deliver a painting.

Such a view from the collector's apartment! This looking North.

This looking  directly down from the 29th floor. (Not highly recommended....)

This looking towards Central Park. It looks like fall because I tweaked the color......

It still feels like the middle of winter here!

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March Madness

Quite the stupidest weather. Yesterday there was snow and rain and sleet.

In the evening there were thunderstorms with hail.

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This is looking out of the study window about seven this morning.

Ha! Decorative cabbages outside our building.

22nd Street.

I think the love-heart sticker is somewhat misplaced.

Not a good day for biking. Nor walking. Nor anything in particular.

A bad day too for the na

A bad day too for the poor magnolia all ready to bloom.

Last Friday I saw a girl in a sundress hmmmm......... 

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Downtown

Had to go to J&R Camera downtown . Subway to World Trade Center where things are actually being built at last. St. Paul's Churchyard in need of a spring raking.

Such a clear, bright (cold!) day.

The Woolworth Building looking rather splendid.

Snow forecast for tomorrow......

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Architectural Digest Home Design Show

A beautiful sunny day on Friday so my thoughts turned to spring.

A friend had tickets to the design show at Pier 94. The flowers 

 were far more interesting than most of the design elements.

So herewith a grand tour of flowers I enjoyed.

Tulips and amyrillis so bold they assault you.

A restrained arrangement at the booth where you could get booze.

Tulips rather lovely and almost on their last legs --or petals....

Lots of New York-y designery types with fabulous eye glasses etc.

and............ lo and behold.......

an Amish couple.......who knew...

Bridal and lush with spring-like pussy willow.

The last my personal favorite.

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Local

Now the sun has finally come out, we venture outside to discover

  

a shop window smashed on 8th Avenue. 

At first it's hard to work out if the crime scene tape is part of the window display.

The sparrows chirp and preen as the first green shoots burst on 22nd Street.

Two people who don't know one another share a bench at lunch time...

... and down by Chelsea Piers sunny ripples reflect underneath the stern of the boat.

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ps I have just discovered the gorgeous silk scarves of Yuni Kristina a wonderful Indonesian batik artist. They are available here through Novica a company that, in association with National Geographic, specializes in promoting the work of all sorts of craftspeople mainly in Asia and Central America.All eco-friendly and fair trade and all that good stuff, and excellent for corporate gifts as well as regular ones. And, yes, I am getting a super scarf for mentioning them!  

Easy Like Sunday Morning

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Flowers from last night's party catching the light.

Such a clear, bright morning with lots of sun....

...but very dark clouds over New Jersey in the distance.

My usual walk down 22nd Street with the dog.

Here the new building overlooking the High Line swathed in translucent blue mesh.

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The Art of Travel

Well,  I now have to admit that we are back in New York, and although I love being in different places, I loathe the actual traveling bit. The waiting in endless lines, the actual plane ride itself..... for me terror and tedium in equal measure..... not to mention the being all crushed up into a little tiny space.

So......

....virtual travel may well be the way to go. On Sunday we went to the model train show in Pearl River. Young, cool, hip people were remarkably absent. It was mostly attended by ancient folks and families with little children.

This imagined miniature world was quite splendid and trains rushed about merrily. Is this Transylvannia?

Henry was madly impressed.

I think this part is America. No one else has diners like ours.

The little boy in green was transfixed.

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A MoroccanFeast

One of the delights of going anywhere is sampling the food.

Another is discovering instant folk art.

Here is a little restaurant just off derb Dabachi where the painter of the awning has had fun depicting the local specialities. Internationally famous chefs apparently approve... Arabic is written phonetically --unlike pesky English. No prizes for guessing who Jimmy Hollver is!

Robert's favorite olive seller in the Mellah Market.
 He likes his olives extra spicy.

How they glisten!

Good,  fresh, raw ingredients are the key to good cooking....... 

What abundance! Strawberries are in season now.

A simple couscous with seven vegetables at
 Grand Cafe de la Poste.

Salads for Sunday lunch at Villa Riad el Arsa.
Notice the one with oranges and strawberries and  cucumber
 and mint and all the little decorations round the edges.

And for dessert --oranges again and strawberries.
 Imagine having so much fruit and so many veggies you scarcely know what to do with it all...

Then little pastries with nuts and honey.

 The ones on the top row look like ripe figs.

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