a southern gal in the north

Its been a crazy time – getting back to my daily practicing schedule – after a great week last week of lots of work, took Sat off to listen to the Opera (MET – IDOMENEO – beautifully done and also the first broadcast of the season) and do chores, etc which is a great way to listen – its the left brain, right brain thing – and then babysat my nephew W. – such a cutie pie – he loves to play with his trucks and had created an imaginary airport on the rug in the living room where he was building a new runway and fixing various trucks.  We played for awhile and then had a good bubble bath  (he let me wash his face without ANY complaints – a FIRST), teeth brushing, bedtime and singtime and then he was out like a light!  I love my times with W – he is a VERY bright, intelligent child – as he should be with two great parents and a loving doting aunt (that would be me) influencing him!  He is almost three (jan) and his mom (my sister) is expecting their second son the first week of Jan so we are gearing up for that big event! 

Then Sunday spent the afternoon dealing with how to decorate the apt – i was too unorganised last year (had moved the day of Katrina and then had surgery in sept) so didn’t even know where the decorations were!  But this year finds me settled in and all boxes arranged and organized – but the problem is WHERE to put a Christmas tree! 

First here are the results of my afternoon stringing (taping) lights to the insides of the windows (there are no outside plugs)

And the wreaths I decorated.  (from things found in my boxes – wreaths are fresh balsam).

And the dilemma about a tree – here is the Music Room (be the front room on the street) First, looking into the room from the hallway

This is from the other corner behind the piano

And another view from the piano .

So, its either ON the piano or I move one of the chairs – but the room is only about 12 x 12 so a tree would take up pretty much too much circumference – so … and i don’t really have any place to put either chair if I moved one of them.

i have been thinking of other ways to decorate.  As you can see I have hung some lights along the wall of bookcases.  Its amazing that I am even thinking of decorating at all – i havent in – gosh, at least 10 years – can it be – yeah well, lugging a tree by foot thru the streets of Park Slope and up three flights of stairs and then back down etc… really didnt appeal many years and well, some years I didnt really celebrate Christmas.

But this year, I guess feeling settled, I want to do something – my sister’s family is Jewish so I will do Hannukah with her family this Friday (!) which is fun as W is starting to understand ceremony and tradition – he is like a little sponge soaking up everything!  And this is the first time ever I have a place that feels like a little house and not an apt (even though it is really its one of four in a fourplex).   So anyway… I have the urge to pull out all my ornaments – i collected for many years– some really gorgeous ones – and am looking forward to seeing them.  But the dilemma of how to display them – I came up with a few ideas – string some wire on the bookshelves and hang them – but I wouldn’t really be able to get to much on the shelves.  The other idea is an Ornament Tree Stand. 

Here is one I have found on the web.

Of course there are the CATS to think of – i wonder how I could weigh the stand down so they wouldn’t tip it over – maybe take some bags of peas etc and drape them over the base and put a little fabric for a tree skirt over it?

And it would have to be on the piano – but maybe it would look ok?  At least it would be reusable.  will sleep on it.

I Passed My Road Test

The license examiner gives you an interim driver license that is valid for 90 days (10 days for commercial learner permits (CDL) and non-commercial Class C learner permits). Keep the interim driver license with your learner permit as proof that you have a driver license.

NYS DMV – After Your Road Test.

WOOHOO – PASSED!   Of course it would be the COLDEST day yet this winter – 3 degrees wind chill this morning – its still so cold that my furnace is coming on – i keep the house at 58 degrees so you know its bad if the furnace is on!    Anyway, it was quite an adventure – driving up to a small town north of here (Yorktown Heights) which supposedly was one of the best sites to take the test.  My examiner was nice; my first attempt at the parallel parking was a bit close but he gave me another try and that one was fine. 

So NEVER again will I let my DL expire!  Take it from me – you don’t need to spend he 20+ hours necessary to get a new one from scratch (and that excludes the online time studying for the written test).

update on knitting and the new group and other stuff later.

This morning I was looking for weather (its COLD here in the Hudson Valley today) and stumbled on KNITTY GRITTY at 11 am on HGTV .  Apparently its on Mon-Fri at 11 am!!!  WOO HOO !!  Can’t really tell but it looks as if its older shows?

Here’s this week’s topics

You Spin Me Right Round – Spinning fibers; making spindles from recycled materials.

now that i pay for my heat (gas) and after last winter’s bills (which i am STILL paying), I keep the house at around 58 degrees – today its around 38-40 outside so the furnace is trying to come on – i may have to turn it down again

when i am at home i resort to wearing lots of layers – a thermal undershirt (and soon pants) wool socks and then a wool crewneck sweater and either a poncho (when i practice piano to keep my arms free) or a heavy wool sweater (at night)

also purchased two ceramic portable heaters – one for the music room and one for the den and an electric blanket for my bed – so the heat doesn’t need to come on much at all.

its been a real slow process for me – i’ve been up here 20 years now – and find that all corporate offices and many public spaces are TOOOOOO hot. So at home i look like an expeditioner to the Alps but if i am going somewhere public/work like space – i dress less warm and wear a GREAT DOWN coat and WARM UGG boots (its cold on that train platform next to the Hudson River!) so I can derobe and then be not TOO hot wherever I am.   If i am at home all day – i just layer and unlayer as the day wears on. 

So  – I am starting a new knitting group here in my small village on the Hudson River.   Its going to be sponsored by the village library – the program director knows my sister (who did a reading there for her first novel) and of course my adorable nephew – and as we were chatting one day somehow the topic of knitting came up  (she was admiring my Flower Basket Shawl) and a a short while later, i was agreeing to start a group.  (Not that it took much persuading – I have been dyeing to meet other local knitters)

I am thrilled – i miss knitting with others since i moved in Fall 2005.  There was a group I started at my job (really small) and another one in Park Slope that is still going on but distance precludes my attending that one anymore.  And without a car, I can’t go to the one area knitting group I could find (they weren’t very friendly either when I enquired about the group). 

Over the weekend I posted emails on a few of the bigger knitting lists and also on Craigslist – and have received some emails of interest!  (I am REALLY thrilled!)  What I am planning on is an Introductory meeting on a weekend day (Time TBD) and then the group can decide day and time of the weekly meeting as per group preference (and library availability).

This is a real step for me – I have tended more to introversion in the last years – don’t know if its a swing back from the extreme extroversion of my younger years.   That’s a long story for another day. 

Maybe its because for the first time ever, I have a little HOME– yeah, its tiny (six very small rooms) and yeah, its a rental, but its the biggest space i have ever had to myself – and i have a garden (bigger than I have ever had the one at my Park Slope apt was the brownstone’s front yard – about 80 sq ft).  And i love the little sweet village I live in.  And that my baby sister and my nephew and nephew-to-be are just five mins away.

I have spent the last year fixing up the apt and making it a home = and reaching the end of this journey – it feels good.  The joy of my life is my music room and baby grand piano (although its being fixed right now – soon to be home).  In the photo, that’s the south wall along the long wall of the apt (its a railroad) with all my scores and cds and music books – and the cat’s favorite sleeping spaces (except not now as its FREEZING in there – I run one of the heaters while I practice).

Anyway – as small as it is – its home for me and my cats.   And actually just recently (like this past week) I was realizing that I am beginning to feel “settled” – you know its been a year (i moved on the day of Katrina – no kidding) and now that all the boxes are finally unpacked and every room has been organized (even my clothes closets! and the study ), I  can get thru a day without – – oh s$%^ where did i pack that ? or is it in the basement storage?  

hmm, i have wandered a bit haven’t I?  Oh well. musings on life!

ACK how did it get to be Dec 4th?

helllllllllllllp

well, its been a busy few weeks – several family members came for two weeks around Thanksgiving – not staying with me as i have a really small apt with no guest rooms.  But the daily schedule was all family all the time.   (see my main blog for more about that)

Work on Ariann slowed to a halt due to lack of yarn – i ran out right after joining the sleeves – but found what i needed on Ebay .  It came at the end of last week.  So I spent Saturday night and most of Sunday afternoon and evening working to finish Ariann – got to the end of the collar but was so sleepy that I didnt want to screw up the cast off .  Well do it tonight and then block.

here’s Ariann when I ran out of yarn

another FO – A lace poncho for a sister (that’s her modelling it) in my mom’s Hudson Valley pied-a-terre apt.  Here’s the back where you can see the lace patterns.

and a shot of the front.

i finally sat down and read thru the Winter INTERWEAVE KNITS – i had been saving it – of course there are quite a few items I am interested in…

NANTUCKET  – LOVE this pattern!

Shirley Paden’s Coat

   and these  

especially necessary since i keep my apt at 60 degrees (or lower) to save on my gas bill  COLD ?  i just pile on another sweater! or sit next to newest toy and FAVORITE appliance !

well, time to mash my potatoes – sausage and garlic mashed potatoes for supper tonight (piano practicing makes me hungry!) and then knitting to WATERLOO BRIDGE and BABY FACE on TCM (Saturday night was ALL Frank CAPRA all NIGHT – it was WONDERFUL)

This resonates with me very much – just substitute GROUNDHOG – except that my neighbors and I have decided ours WILL die next spring!

Dear Diary:

I had just moved from California to the Upper West Side, and was in a neighborhood store, purchasing some plants for my new apartment. In front of me in line were two older New York couples.

The wife of the first couple said to the man behind the counter: “Got anything for squirrels? I don’t want to kill them; I just want to scare them away.”

To which her husband replied: “I want to kill them. What do you have to kill them?”

The second couple, behind them, interjected, “Where do you live?” It was determined that they all lived within one city block of each other.

The next question: “What does your squirrel look like?” After some discussion, it was agreed that it was the same squirrel.

“That’s him,” wife No. 2 said. “He’s got a feisty stance, and beady eyes.” To which her husband then suggested: “Let’s kill him together.”

The man behind the counter said, “We’re not killing squirrels here, ladies and gentlemen. This is Manhattan. We all got to get along.”

Naomi Starkman

My garden in the Fall
Originally uploaded by sogalitno.

This is a shot of my garden in late November – to test Flickr email to blog
photo posting.

The last two weeks were full of visits from several family members from far and near and lots of outings and family gatherings – enough to last for awhile!  A sister from the west coast (Santa Monica) and my mother (from Louisiana) were both here in mother’s pied-a-terre in our small village.  The Berkshire Mass sister and her son made several visits throughout the two weeks.

Culinary report first. 

Tried my hand at two new recipes for my contribution to the big dinner on Tday.  First, the dinner rolls – here is a photo of the dough – rising

and after baking!  (thank goodness!)

These were easier than I had feared – but as it was the first “yeast” bread I had baked in the apt – I was a little concerned about the rising – and especially since I keep the apt fairly chilly (around 60).  But they rose beautifully in the oven.  They were a big hit at the dinner.  Definitely something to do again.

My other contribution was Mincemeat pie.  Not as difficult as it may sound as I used a jar of the original Mincemeat filling from England – so I made the pastry from scratch – which required doing two batches of the pastry – one for the bottom shell and the second for the lattice on top.  (Apparently that’s one of the traditions of Mincemeat pies).  

Here it is cooled and ready to go!  Next time I will make the lattice pieces a bit thinner so that they wont spread so much.

One of the outings was into NYC to hear the Saturday matinee concert of the New York Philharmonic  

A wonderful programme:

with Glenn Dicterow, Violin; Lisa Kim, Violin; Cynthia Phelps, Viola; Carter Brey, Cello; and Gerald Robbins, piano. 

Beethoven:  Symphony No. 3, “Eroica”  

with Lorin Maazel conducting.

Quite a rousing performance of both the Quintet and the symphony – that second movement, which always is stirring, particularly moving in their passioned playing.  Interesting the NYT’s reviewer of Friday night had taken them to task for lackluster playing – definitely NOT the case on Sat afternoon!   (Maybe TDay and jet lag from their Far East tour had finally worn off)

Also finally saw THE QUEEN – and HIGHLY RECOMMEND it – especially if you are a fan of Helen Mirren! (Still haven’t watched the second half of the Last PRIME SUSPECT – just like I haven’t watched the last MORSE or read the last MORSE book )    I was rooting for Meryl Streep to win Best Actress for PHC before I saw this movie – and let me tell you – its one of the most AMAZING performances.  Ms. Mirren deserves the award for her brilliant and subtle (very !) performance.  The film portrays both positions very fairly of the public and the Royal Family  – however, Ms. Mirren had me in the palm of her hand from fairly early in the film.  There is one scene (shot in the highlands at Balmoral ) which was incredible  and not just for the scenery.  (And Michael Sheen is no slouch as Blair).

On another outing, we went to the MORGAN and the GUGGENHEIM – seeing the exhibits of Fragonard drawings and of the Mozart scores at the Morgan in the morning and then the EL GRECO et al Spanish show at the Guggenheim in the afternoon – quite a smorgasbord of art for one day.    HINT – the EL GRECO is huge – don’t do it at the end of a long day.  GORGEOUS Goyas and amazing Picassos as well as quite a few Velazquez.

And now this week – back to more normal routine – except for the countdown to Christmas and Hannukah!  (YIKES)

lots of updates – mainly photos, not much typing cause of this

done while working on this:

That’s the outside of the “front door” to my apartment – its an interior door off the downstairs hallway – right next to the Front door into the building.   All of those panes where covered with two coats of paint.  Sunday i scrapped them all off – it took about four hours – don’t know if thats a long time or not but it was long enough – especially the last one (the top left ) during the middle of which I cut that left forefinger – its a slice right on the right edge of the finger– just where you type and hold things etc.    so no practicing the piano for a few days! boohoo

I am very happy with the way they look – this is something I have wanted to do ever since I moved in.  Now the next step is to scrap/clean off the INSIDE –

– as you can see in the photo above that I have done the top two and some of the others.  And you can see how the entire door will look when completed – with the lace curtain showing thru – i also have black velvet curtains to pull over the door to help with the draft from the Building Front Door.

As for what’s on the insides? its very weird – some of the panes have paint on them only but some have paint and (the yellowish part) some sticky kind something – god knows WHAT it is or how long its been on these panes – this building is turn of the century (as in 1900).  Don’t know when the glass door was put in – there is one just across the hall to the mirror apt on the first floor that is also painted over.   So it will be a combination of scraping and using GOO BE GONE to get the sticky gunk off.  Another day’s project!

And here is the beginning of the door handle redo  I may have to replace this one as its not the interesting once i started to get the paint off of it.  I dont even think it will polish up to anything nice.

Here is the other “home reno” project i did this past weekend –

Installed pull handles on the Kitchen sink window and sash locks on that window and the Den window and one of the Hallway windows.  Again things I have wanted to do since I moved in – it feels good to get down to the bottom of the list.  I want to get prettier Pulls for the rest of the windows (not use the ones for the kitchen window)– thats FIVE that need them (sigh) but it will be nice when they are done.  Will have to look online or ebay as my local hardware store only had the ones i used on the kitchen window. 

It was quite interesting installing the locks for the Den and Hallway windows – they are double hung and so NOT flush with the sashes when closed that I had to get some little pieces of wood (which I had prudently saved from all my carpenter’s work last fall) and saw them to fit the sash and the height so that I could put the Lock piece on the outside window sash so that the inside window would meet it and the lock would close (hope that makes sense!) 

About the locks– even though I have been in the apt for over a year I did feel a bit safer with them installed and even though my small village has an extremely low crime rate especially since i live next door to an ex police sergeant and two blocks from the police station – still there are three windows that open onto a side alleyway .  I did install security spotlights that are motion detection sensitive but still… i know that the glass can be broken etc. etc (although now that it’s winter i have the storm window and the screens down – so as the police say – just make it hard enough that anyone will not want to take the time to continue.

Now I just need to sew blackout/insulation material into the Den curtains and that curtain that hangs in front of the Music Room door (that one up in the top of the post) to keep the drafts out from the front door (which is not insulated and which others in the building sometimes dont close).  

oh and then buy insulation felt/foam for all the windows and get a new light fixture for the kitchen and get the ceiling light fixed in the den and – sigh, well, the list does continue on doesn't it? 

Birthday flowers and some cards.  That yarn and needles were my grandmother’s (the one who taught me to knit) they are from a sister who doesn't knit but had them. 

Chic Knits ARIANN – in the Finishing stages… i only have ONE skein left – and am in the middle of the second to last skein  – i think i need to order some more – to finish the shaping and then make the collar!

Good news – the nephew who is getting the Totem Jacket was here on Friday and i held it up to him and its going to be fine – he should be able to get two years wear out of it.  So i can continue with the sleeves and then the trim – he is coming back thru next Sunday so maybe Ill work to finish it.