Haunted Chelsea

All these photos were taken this morning on my early walk with the dog.

As befits an older part of the city, one feels there must be tales to be told. Here is the roof of the seminary where Clement Moore once worked.

Here is a little independent bookshop.

I turn down 21st St to discover that I'm being watched.

And the raven pecks at the skeleton's mouth.

The window is blank

the basement is dank.

Here is my favorite house, now sadly overgrown, waiting for me to trim back the bushes...

Here a big pumpkin swallows a little one.

Happy Halloween

Veggies etc

Em was right, I really can't keep away....

Autumn is so stunningly abundant and thrilling. I think I must be very old to be thrilled by vegetation - but I am. So there. The top left of this collage is drying up beach vines on Long Island. The other pictures are from Union Square where the food addicts congregate.

A plethora of pumpkins and gourds - each prettier than the next.

For some reason the green leafy things reminded me of 'under the sea' and curling billows and froth...

Look at the savoy's wrinkles.

Look at the 'hats' on the eggplants - especially the black ones at the top.

Back to frothy and purple and green...

Pears have such a very satisfactory shape.

These poor, sad, speckly, funny unsprayed apples have lots of charm...

as do the Winesaps I bought home.

Urban fruits from roof garden. October....roses, lavender and dill.

My other blog is here.

Fort Tryon Park and the Cloisters

I know this blog is officially finished...but yesterday's glorious weather prompted an excursion to the northernmost part of Manhattan. 

The pictures have an oddly fuzzy look since I managed to inadvertently turn the knob to some 'artsy' setting. However you will get the general effect...

Fort Tryon Park, high above the Hudson, has lovely herbaceous borders.

And masses of the autumn anemone-like plant whose name I have managed to mislay...

Not to mention hydrangeas.

At the Cloisters the salvia blazes,  the Thomas Tallis Motet soars in the background

and a few first yellow leaves fall.

This is the nearest thing to Europe on the island of Manhattan.

Bliss.

The End of this Blog....

What super kind comments from so many people. I'm really touched. My other blog which is also a bit about New York but also about books and art  is here. There is a thing to check if you want to follow it. I will be trying to keep up with all my blogger blog chums too. Anyway...

 I went up to the roof this afternoon and took a photo of the Empire State Building.

Then I looked down and took a photo of people crossing the street.

 I noticed how many berries were on the tree on the roof.

After that I picked some dill and salvia, two zinnias and a couple of blades of grass, which I took downstairs and photographed on the black table that was left here by a friend six years ago. 

These roses are over life-sized - as is the oregano.  After that I decided that I have run out of things to put in this blog. After over 841 posts and 298,863 page views, enough is definitely enough. This blog was mostly about New York; my other one The World Examining Works is more about fruit and flowers and family and hasn't got a proper theme at all except to show pictures of things. 

Blogger is easy to manage, but, to my mind at least, Typepad is better looking.What fun it's been!

Gray Day in DUMBO

I hadn't been to DUMBO (down under Manhattan Bridge Overpass) for about ten years. Then, I bicycled there. This time I came on the subway.

Friday was overcast and gloomy. Everything in Dumbo was oversized, industrial strength and dramatic.

It's all been gentrified to bits -which is wonderful. Here I am under the bridge.

And more of the same.

How light the lofts must be!

Old tram tracks and cobblestones...

shouting out urban and gritty

and reflecting things

a restaurant swathed in vines

and an astoundingly fancy French patisserie. I need to explore further.

Sunday in the Park with Jo

It's embarrassing how rarely we get to Central Park when it's not difficult to get to at all. I always forget what fun it is.

So, yesterday we descended the long steps that lead to the pond...

and felt what a difference from the bustle of the street.

It was very GREEN.

Wind ruffled the surface of the water and there were ducks.

What a strange, tall building next to the Essex House!

Of course there were thousands of people there - lots of them taking photos like me.

There was a fun fair with rides...

and The Dairy looking like a Victorian railway station.

A beautiful day for just lying around

or getting cool information from the partially obscured tour guide.

Lots of generic and bad-for-you snacks. YUM.

And the piece-de-resistance - the angel presiding over the round pond with the boating lake beyond.

Now for a short quiz a la Where's Waldo.

Can you find:

1. the bride

2. the two dog walkers

3. the muscle man

4. the boy with the bike helmet