Relaxing

Last night after I got home from work and finished the dishes...

I went outside with this.

This is where Rob found me.

It looked like fun so he joined me. And brought a snack.

We spent a nice evening talking on the balcony.

We went inside after the sunset.

The End.

Tomatoes

We've actually had ripe tomatoes for a couple of weeks now. We chopped up the first plateful for tacos last week. Neither Rob or I is a huge tomato eater, but we grew 'em so we'll eat 'em. We've decided that our gardening ability has been maxed out - due to space more than actual ability. But our balcony is full of planters and pots that will be refilled each year. And we can eat the tomatoes.

What a Funny Bunny

From Sunday:

This morning I brushed the bunny. He's still in the midst of the summer shedding and the fur was flying. When I'd finished, or rather he'd had all he could take, he jumped over to his carpet. I dropped his towel (which we use to protect our clothes some) on his head and walked away.

The following video shows what happened next. Usually he gets out from under the towel in one hop. Today there were problems.

Enjoy!

Something Cute

This evening I went to the grocery to pick up an onion (the missing ingredient) and ice cream (desert). On the way home I walked by two little girls holding a stoop sale. They were maybe 10. I noticed the one girl from the corner. She was wearing white leggings and a white tee-shirt with a sparkly pink super-hero cape. When I got closer I saw she was also wearing pink bloomers over her leggings. Oh yeah. I remember dressing up at that age, although my super-hero of choice was Laura Ingalls.

Anyhow, when I got close they asked me if I wanted to buy anything today, they were having a sale to raise money for their dad's birthday. With a half-hearted look at the treasures (junk) of 10 year olds I kept walking. Then remembering the 84 cents in my pocket from the store I had a change of heart and gave then a little donation. They asked me what I wanted to buy. I took a closer look, some of their jewelry and books (some of which I totally read as a kid, and were tempting - for nostalgia you know) and a few random wall plaques and bookends. I told them I really didn't need anything today. They asked me if I had a daughter to buy something for, that made me smile, as I realized how OLD I must seem to them. I declined again.

I asked what they were going to get for their dad. They told me it was hard to raise money, but that it was a surprise, and he didn't know why they wanted to have their stoop sale. They were very excited about their plans to get some decorations, and sneak up when he was sleeping to decorate. And they had some poppers. And they were going to make a cake for him.
It all made me smile. They thanked me for their generosity. I wished them luck.

I hope they have enough to make the cake.

A photo essay: Walking the Queensborough Bridge on Bastille Day

To start the day of right we made a stop at the Starbucks around the corner. Thank you to Cynde and Marty to keeping us caffeinated this summer!

Coming up on the bridge entrance, about two miles from home. It is also the NW7 subway stop.

Here we go!

Bikes and Peds only - in case you didn't read the sign.

Scenes from the bridge...

In case you want to join the traffic?

Roosevelt Island Tram

East River Rapids

The Manhattan side of the bridge.



Bastille Day! (a street fair with no tube socks)

Our only purchase: and now we need to learn to make our own wine sorbet. Delicious!

The End.

Birthday Boy

Today is Rob's Birthday! And it's been a birthday celebration weekend.
Friday night I surprised Rob with some friends, who came from Boston and Josh, who joined us for the birthday dinner he knew about. Ninja New York. We were served by real live people in ninja costumes with swords and daggers and all kinds of cool stuff. Five course meal - Appetizer, Sushi, Fish, Meat, Desert - I don't know how fancy people used to eat that much all the time. I brought two courses home with me...

Saturday was the 4th. We took it easy. Worked some at home, then took a walk to a street fair and heard the NYPD Jazz Band play for awhile. They are pretty good.

"Sunday we attended to some much neglected chores around the house. But then took a nice long walk through Astoria all the way over to a Sculpture Garden we'd never heard of and a kayak launch point. Nice long walk. Rob then got to spend the afternoon before church playing video game - woo! - while I made his fun-fetti boxed chocolate birthday cake.

He really wanted it for desert last night, so I gave him the candles and birthday some a bit early.


Happy Birthday. I love you.