Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Spring in the City

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I’m back from a long day in the city. Yesterday was sunny, in the mid to high fifties, and all New York seemed to be out and about on a Saturday. Since I got in early – better early than late when taking the bus – I strolled down 40th Street toward the Main Library and Bryant Park. (I avoid 42nd Street like the plague as it is always crowded with tourists.)

The day was clearly about Scotland because I saw kilts and tartans everywhere. (I’m part Scottish, but I have no idea if it was a specific day being celebrated or just Scotland itself.)

See? Bagpipers.

I had no idea there was a Whole Foods in this location. It was a lovely surprise, so I grabbed some lunch there. I don’t walk through this area as much as I used to. When we lived in our rental cottage, we lived very close to the Metro North commuter train line so I arrived at Grand Central Station, which is just a few blocks from here. Now that we live where we do, the bus is often the best mode of transportation and our buses go in and out of Port Authority, which is on the other end of 42nd Street.

For those of you less than familiar with NYC, Bryant Park is behind the Main Branch of the New York Public Library. It’s very European in feel, with little bistro tables and chairs all along the green, a small carousel, and elegant food kiosks.

I walked through the park toward the entrance to the Main Library.

If it’s possible to have a favorite building in NYC, this one is mine: The Chrysler Building in all its Art Deco glory.

The entrance to the Library. They don’t make them like this anymore.

This group of people had gathered on the steps to watch:

These lovely highland dancers.

Takes me back to my high school production of Brigadoon. A shout out to the McLeod sisters and my dear friend Jerry who did the highland dancing in that production.

I went into the Kinokuniya Bookstore – my first time there – and was amazed! It’s the largest chain bookstore in Japan. Lots of books, both in English and Japanese and wonderful craft books, by the way, though I didn’t buy any. Paper, pens, stationery, wonderful gifts – the store is on three floors and it’s extraordinary.

I bought a couple of neat pens and this pretty pencil pouch:

After digging in the depths of my bag one too many times, I thought it was time to corral everything together in one place. Isn’t this lovely?

After lunch, I headed over to the theater.

I had a chance to chat with Christy – our Anastasia – before the show as well as a few of the other cast members. The matinee was lovely, all of the cuts and rewrites have made it a tighter show. I took notes, of course, but it’s in very good shape.

They are recording the original cast album today and tomorrow. So exciting!

After the show, I hightailed it to Port Authority, where I managed to catch the 5:00 bus. It’s Spring Break time, so both of the buses I traveled on yesterday were packed.

Today…I’m going to start cleaning up the property and the garden beds. Huzzah!

Happy Sunday.

Cuteness

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A quick post this morning as I have to head off to Manhattan, and a trip to Manhattan, even to simply watch a matinee and come back home again, involves a lot of time commuting. I don’t wish I lived in NYC, but at times like these, I miss being able to hop on the subway to get to my destination quickly.

I went to an antique store yesterday and decided to buy this little number. I have no idea what I’m going to do with it and have a wee bit of buyers remorse this morning, but only a wee bit.

Sewing machine drawers. I see them all the time and am never tempted to buy them. But this seller painted them this lovely shade of green and – the kicker – the drawer pulls are bunnies. I mean, come on! She had me at the bunnies.

They smell musty, so as soon as the weather cooperates, I’ll put them on the porch to air out a bit. In the meantime, I’ve put a little container of baking soda inside them.

Cute, right?

Egg cups in the den. On the top row: an artist bunny painting his egg, Humpty Dumpty (with an egg from Prague as his crown). Second row: another Humpty Dumpty (the head is a salt shaker), a little cherub holding an egg, and a pig getting ready to dine on an egg. Bottom Row: My two Disney egg cups (they’re very hard to find) and a little cowboy. Plus little wooden ducks and a lamb.

I found the shelves several years ago in a little antique shop.

Okay. I’m off to take a shower.

Happy Saturday.

Adventures in Torrential Rain: Sump Pump Edition

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Egg cups for Friday. The angry looking chick on the left was a gift from my mom. Two beautiful transferware egg cups on the left and right. The egg cup with the feet is Walking Ware from England. A beautiful blue ironstone egg cup in the middle – old and very heavy. An egg cup from Prague – a gift from my husband, along with the handprinted egg (also from Prague.) The bear egg cup was a recent gift from my dear friend Lynne and Sean. And the wood and porcelain egg cup was a gift from my Mom. The painting is by my friend Christie Repasy.

Yesterday’s “adventure” – We had torrential rains yesterday, as did a lot of the country. Endless, most of the day, and at times, accompanied by thunder and lightning. Late in the afternoon, while listening to something on the radio, I realized I was hearing something loud. It was the sump pump, which wasn’t stopping after pumping water out of our 1891 basement (entered from the outside, and sort of spooky).

So, I grabbed my rain slicker, put on my muck boots and braved the outside. I moved the stones that hold the tarp down (which covers the old wooden door) and I carefully went down the stairs and sure enough, it was the sump pump. I got it to stop. Then I stayed down there for quite a while to see if it would reengage and stop on its own. It did. There was a lot of water in the basement.

Back up the steps. Closed the door. Put the tarp back over the door. Went inside. Took off boots. Happened to look through the kitchen window and realized that water was flooding the street from the section of culvert that is just to the left of our driveway. Amazingly, a big sofa cushion that I had seen way down the street (apparently fell off someone’s car) earlier in the day, was now being sucked into the culvert drain and the water had nowhere to go but the street. It was way too big to actually move through that pipe, so it just stayed there, blocking the path of the water.

Back into my slicker and boots. I walked down the driveway, figured out where I needed to stand to reach the cushion, and, in the midst of rush hour traffic, grabbed the cushion. The suction was so strong that I could hardly move it, but after several tugs, I managed to pull it away from the culvert. It was so heavy and so wet that I had to drag it to the side of the mailbox, where it still is. (Not only is it big and awkward, it’s ugly.)

Back inside. It wasn’t long before the damn sump pump got stuck once again. This happened at least four more times. I don’t know whether it’s starting to fail or if something was in the way that kept the float from dropping. I even walked around to the side of the house to see if the pipe was clogged. No. I unplugged it, but then thought the better of it as the rain had stopped and the amount of water headed toward the sump pump had greatly decreased.

I’ll have our oil guy, who is also a plumber, look at it.

Oy. What a day.

Don, this is why I need you here.

Happy Friday.

 

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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