busy Sunday

 I made this baby quilt in 1994 without any babies to give it to. Leftover blocks, many of which contained fabrics from blanket covers my Nanny made in the 1940's and '50s and we all slept under.
I still love this quilt.

My other children had boys and it didn't seem like the thing to give them, so I still have it.  Today I threw it on the living room floor for Emma to lie on.

Early this morning I drove to Brooklyn to bring Jess and Emma back here. I couldn't really say "bright and early" because the sky looked like this as I drove east at 9:am. Fortunately, while it threatened intermittently all day, it never really rained. But ick, it is humid!

I got to Brooklyn so early that nobody had moved their cars and I had to park a couple of blocks away, next to this camouflage tree.

Around the corner, in front of the school, these roses brightened up the street.

Jessica was coming out to borrow her father's car to get to the Fire Island ferry. Vacation time for Jess, Tommy & Miss Emma. But first, we stopped at the assisted living place to see my mother.

It was just before lunch and all the old ladies were outside, so we wheeled Emma out into the backyard.  They went crazy over her - there is nothing like an infant to make 90 year olds happy!  Kootchie-koo.

 

None happier than Molly, who visited with her granddaughter and great-grandchild for a half-hour or so. I say great-grandCHILD because my mother kept calling Emma "he."  When Jessica finally said for the 20th time, "Emma is a GIRL" my mother's response was "well, at this age it doesn't matter."  Oh, really?

Emma's hair looks red but isn't.  Jessica's is red - and yes, that is her natural color, which has darkened substantially since she was a child. When she was 3, people used to ask whether that was her natural color.  Huh?

A sense of humor is the first requirement for getting through life without going insane.

a kid grows in Brooklyn

Miss Emma - almost 6 mo., pix on my FB page.  But she was only part of the entertainment today.

I took Jessica to visit her friend Liz this afternoon. Liz is one of a kind: sharp as a tack, memory like an elephant, and has all her marbles. She is 103.

Jess and Liz have been friends for more than ten years, since Jessica lived across the hall from her on 29th St. in Manhattan.

Liz is in rehab because her substitute nurse dropped her taking her out of bed and she broke her knee.    You have to read this story about her and you ABSOLUTELY must watch the audio slide show in the article (click on amusing stories under Liz' small photo).  She has led quite a life and is a #1 amazing person.  We had a great visit with her today.  Hopefully, she will go home on Thursday.

Brooklyn - not art related

A lovely day all the way around - and a perfect way to spend a Sunday.  If you will indulge me: first things, first.

Miss Emma on her play mat, interacting with the animals. And here she is with her happy Nanny, who couldn't get enough of her.

After Emma played, ate, and napped like a little papoose, we took the stroller out for a walk down Vanderbilt Avenue, around the corner. Grandpa pushed.

Vanderbilt used to be somewhat yeccch but is now getting trendy with good restaurants and some interesting shops. But happily, it still retains enough of its grit to keep it from being bland. This is the building that houses one of my favorite restaurants and I think the first one we went to with Jess and Tommy after they moved there.

You gotta love this sign outside the door: it made us all smile:-))). What could be bad???

 Another local place which we haven't tested yet.

When grandpa got tired we turned around and walked back up the few blocks to Joyce Bakeshop to meet Tommy for coffee.  As we passed the used bookstore, I told Jess and Marty I'd meet them at Joyce but had to stop in and see what books were there. There are very few of these wonderful places left and I could have stayed all day. Put me in a good bookstore (not the behemoths) and I am in heaven.

 

 Another wonderful sign: so polite! LOL.

 Could I resist this on the way back up the block?

Back at Joyce, Tommy admired his sleeping child, Marty had  biscotti and tea, and I surveyed the rest of the clientele.

The happiest mommy on earth.

  The second happiest headed home so the kids could have a breather before the next shift of admiring relatives arrived.

O frabjous day.

potpourri

It's Saturday night -although yesterday also felt like Saturday. It has been busy around here. Allergy season has started but the weather has been fine for the past two days.

Suffice it to say that Friday (alias Saturday #1) was another medical merry-go-round with a few errands thrown in for good measure.  Not enough time to go to the studio but I did work a bit at home, creating some other fun/cool elements with the leftovers from the yellow and blue star block.

Then, it was off to the opening of Strong Women - the art exhibit at the Newark School of the Arts.  I was really honored to havebeen asked to be with so many accomplished (and strong) women artists and I was especially happy because mine was the only fiber piece amongst the paintings, drawings, prints and collages.  The curator

specifically wanted to include a fiber piece to show that it is as valid an art form as the other mediums. Because of the  exhibit's subject, she selected this piece, which pays homage to the strong women in my family who emigrated to a foreign land -- unknown territory -- to start anew. And to the strong women who stayed and perished.  The show included work from 29 artists and was, in fact, very strong!

After the opening, two of my studio mates and I went out for drinks and dinner in Newark's Ironbound, the Portugese section of the city, loaded with wonderful Spanish and Portugese restaurants.  Casa Vasca, actually a Basque restaurant, served the best paella I've ever had. Will return!

Today, trek to Brooklyn to see Miss Emma. I made a wrong turn(made the mistake of following the sign that said "Brooklyn" and ended up driving in circles in parts of Chinatown I never knew existed. Remind me not to believe the signs.  To get to Brooklyn, I need to follow the sign that says "Uptown."  This doesn't make any sense, but it works.

You've heard of garage sale, yard sale, house sale, estate sale, boot sale (in the U.K.), sidewalk sale? Well, this is New York and they call it a...

The main attraction was not the sidewalk/fence/stoop sale.

 At least I'm not the only one in the family with two chins.

I hated to leave but we had to get home to see my mother. Back on Canal Street heading toward the Holland Tunnel, traffic was stopped enough for me to shoot this.

There was a time you would never have seen butts like that on mannequins.  But fashion on Canal St. is catching up to real life. I'm wondering who the intended audience is for that black and white dress.

Tomorrow - bill-paying and then another opening of a show which promises to be extremely interesting.  My friend Rachel Leibman is guest curator for this exhibit. 

PULP - Artworks made of Paper
Opening 1-4 pm at Arts Guild New Jersey
1670 Irving St.
Rahway, NJ
The exhibit runs March 19 – April 15

If I can get permission from some of the artists, I'll post pix tomorrow night.

Sunday traffic

We waltzed into Brooklyn in 58 minutes and it took us an hour and 45 to get back to NJ.  While we were sitting in traffic, I did a drive-by shooting with my iPhone.  No idea what I had till this minute. Took the Manhattan Bridge across to Brooklyn going in and I loved the way the light caught this building on Flatbush Avenue.

My brilliant idea to take the Brooklyn Bridge to avoid Canal St.on the way home was not so brilliant. But I got some good pix as we approached the bridge. It's hard to see the hordes of people walking across the bridge on the left, but if you click, you might see them better.  It was a beautiful day for walking.

 

 

  

Now we're on the bridge and you can see the other side.

 

 

Now we are approaching the approach to the approach to the Lincoln Tunnel. I love these buildings.

Tour's over. Remind me not to take this route again. 

warm and sunday

It took me less than an hour to get to Brooklyn and find a parking spot across the street from Jess & Tommy's apartment. This includes a horrible detour on the way to the Holland Tunnel, and the time it took me to interrupt a cop who was reading his newspaper, to ask him where I was.
Fast forward to Red Hook, Brooklyn (this is a fascinating site) - a gritty-being gentrified-section of the city with cobblestone streets and no subway. You can get there on foot, by bike, car or bus - but not by train.  There was a hope to bring back the trolleys, or even to establish a trolley museum - but oh, dear. Here they sit - sadly rusting away.

an interior shot

The building you see behind them used to be a  dilapidated warehouse - Van Brunt Stores.  Wasn't it beautiful? My kind of building.

Today, I don't know what is on the upper floors but the first floor is a to-die-for Fairway market.  The most gorgeous selection of fish, meat, cheeses, coffee, organic and regular produce, and groceries from every part of the world. 

 The building has all these wonderful shutters that we couldn't figure out - except maybe they were hurricane shutters because the building is right on the water?  A mystery. Here it is from the back.

But I am getting ahead of myself.  After Jess and I shared a delicious IKEA 99 cent breakfast of bacon, eggs, and home fries  (biggest bargain on planewe spent a couple of hours looking at kitchen cabinets, etc. and got a lot of good ideas.   We finally got out of there and headed for Fairway, where we had lunch outside on the water.  After lunch, pictures.

 Lady Liberty

the mother

the daughter

                                 the tugboat with the Verrazzano Bridge

The Waterfront Museum barge

and that's all she wrote.  It was a gorgeous day, well spent. Tomorrow, the studio (hooray!). Rachel and I are going to try our hands at my new Akua-Kolor relief inks, paper, and the press - and see what happens.