Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Out and About in the City

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Today was gray and rainy – not the best day for taking pictures – but I pressed on. I was in Chelsea, Greenwich Village, Soho and Tribeca – and the muscles in my legs are screaming. I walked a lot of it and quite frankly, took on a bit more than I should have. I’m looking forward to a hot bath this evening and then some reading in bed – I am just about to finish The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. Yes, I know it has been on my sidebar for some time but the truth is I started it a long time ago and then had to stop while I read books I had to review and lots of Shakespeare. I will be so sad to finish this excellent, excellent trilogy. They are brilliantly written.

Knowing that I was soon to be in need of another book to read, I headed to my favorite bookstore in the world, The Strand.

The Strand is an independent bookseller – a rarity nowadays. It’s slogan is “18 Miles of Books.” I believe it. There are books everywhere, on every subject, on 3 floors. Some are new, many are gently used and the prices are great. I could spend all day in there.

This is just part of the gardening section. Excuse the dark photo – this section is in the basement.

I found some books and I found this:

The Strand has all sorts of wonderfully designed book bags, but when I saw this the deal was done.

The Strand isn’t far from Union Square so I walked north, stopping here and there and then I landed at The City Bakery, which is celebrating it’s 20th anniversary. Why did I stop there? Because they are known for their incredible hot chocolate (which I first had a few years back.)

Hot chocolate with homemade marshmallows.

I’d forgotten how rich it is! It was almost too much. But I finished it. While sitting there I had a conversation with two guys about cupcakes. We each offered our picks for the Top Cupcake in NYC.

Look what I saw in a store window on the same block:

Do you know how much I would love that turquoise stove? Let’s not even mention that it’s sitting right next to a pink Smeg refrigerator. Sigh.

More walking and more walking and I ended up here:

Yes, it’s magical magnetic powers drew me to this corner in the Village. See earlier conversation about cupcakes.

 

Yummy. By the way, Blogger is very troublesome at the moment, every time I try to load a photo it gets jumpy and annoying. I may have to go back to the old Editor. (I did, temporarily.)

Anyway, more walking – wearing a coat that was too heavy for the unseasonably warm weather, carrying a shoulder bag that was too heavy, so I ended up at Whole Foods and brought some food back to the hotel for dinner.

Along the way (in the Village) I passed this place:


I love the name and description of this establishment. Do you see the skeletons on the roof? Fabulous.

I hope you’re enjoying these little excursions. The number of comments seems to be down for the last few posts. Not sure why.

Anyway, I hope you like these peeks at NYC. I’ll be bringing you more during the week. Tomorrow, I have a day of rehearsal and and evening performance.

Adventures in NYC

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I’ve just arrived back at my hotel after a long day: a dress rehearsal followed by a preview performance that went very well. I missed the first half of the Oscars but will be able to catch the last part of the show. Did you know I’m working with an Oscar winner in this play? F. Murray Abraham – who won for his brilliant performance in Amadeus. I even got to see and hold his Oscar the other day – boy, it is heavy!

I’m staying in the South Street Seaport area, in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge. I can see one of the towers from my window. I’m a block from the East River and a few blocks from Wall Street and Ground Zero. This morning I grabbed some time before rehearsal to take some photos for you:

The magnificent Brooklyn Bridge.
Clipper Ships at South Street Seaport.
Ground Zero. The World Trade Center Site where new buildings are being erected and work was being done even on Sunday.

This cross is made from beams found in the ruins of the World Trade Center. This is its temporary home – it will be installed in the Memorial Museum when it is finished.

This church, St. Paul’s Chapel, sits directly across from what was the World Trade Center. It is the oldest colonial church still standing in Manhattan. George Washington worshiped there and it provided continuous care to all the workers at the Ground Zero Site.

Tomorrow is my day off and I plan to visit a few of my favorite places – and I will have my camera in hand. Hope you had a great weekend.

Riley, Rehearsals, Skunks & Studios

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:: This is Riley looking longingly at the stairs, hoping that Dad will soon come down from his office. Riley loves his Dad. If he hears a sound coming from that general direction, he snaps to attention, all big brown eyes and tail wag. Riley’s favorite time of day is when Dad starts to prepare dinner. About 6 pm, he starts nagging. Then little whimpers. Then the pacing. He keeps this up until Don makes his move toward the kitchen. When that happens, this guy with bad hips practically leaps up the 2 steps leading into the living room from the den and trots into the kitchen.

Right now, as I write this, he is pacing back and forth, trying to see up the stairs. That’s because Don was just down here in the den and now has gone upstairs again. Soon he will begin worrying about when I am going to feed him. As if it just might not happen for the first time ever.

:: Last night we went to sleep with the delightful pungent smell of skunk throughout the house. This morning the smell is gone, thank goodness. When we looked outside, we could see tracks in the snow leading to our porch. Skunk tracks. All this, however, is a breeze compared to our skunk adventures when we were living in San Diego. Back then, they routinely got under our house and let loose with a smell that permeated everything in the house for days. Clothes, doorknobs – you name it. I lived in fear that I smelled like skunk. We tried everything to get rid of them. Nothing worked. And you know me well enough to know I would never consent to having them killed. No way. The little devils were very smart. We set out Hav-a-Heart traps and they never fell for the bait.

So last night, though annoying, was a breeze.

:: Yesterday was the last day in the rehearsal space. Now the cast moves onstage for tech rehearsals. I will be traveling into the city on Saturday for an 8 day stay while we are in the dress rehearsal/preview stage. I’ll be very busy with the play, but I will try to get out and about for some photo opportunities. It should be fun!

:: Thank you for all the wonderful comments about Don’s CD. I know some of you have downloaded the songs and others have written to request an autographed copy of the CD. We are very grateful for your support!

:: And thank you for all the lovely congratulations on my little studio’s appearance in Studios. I’m very happy. Another article to be framed!

Have a great day, my friends.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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