Hoboken

Another nice day today. We went to Hoboken then met the boy for dinner before returning home.

Duke Farm

Had a glorious sunshiny day yesterday so strolled around Duke Farm in the afternoon. Before this, we looked at a back up, rental property in case the one we're living in gets sold. It was pretty nice.

Easter Egg Hunt

I boiled up and colored 3 eggs for Gil today, but I only had that gel food coloring, so they never dried. They were too sticky to have an Easter Egg Hunt. Then my mom said "just wash them off and hide them for him". What a brilliant idea! So I did. Here are some pics of the him hunting them. He loves it!!

NYC

Went into the city yesterday. It was warm, (no jacket required) and sunny. Since hubby hadn't been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we decided to go there. We walked to it from the 33rd St. station. Saw this protest in Times Square. Its not exactly clear from the signs, just what they're protesting. But whatever it is, it requires their boobs to be shown. There is one with nude pantyhose on that looks a little weird, but whatever. We had a snack in Central Park before continuing the hike up to the Met. While there we saw the painting below. Very striking! Look at the heads on those children!! 

Afterwards we had dinner at a vegetarian restaurant. It was so-so, not the best. It seems the boy spent the night hunched over a toilet bowl, puking his guts out. He got the fish. Bad choice I guess. We didn't get sick.

Tick

Gil insisted on a bath today. He sat on the mat facing the shower door with his back to me. So I read his signal and washed him. During the washing I felt an enormous bump under his chin which turned out to be this tick. Looks like its been on for awhile. Thankfully the head is still attached and not stuck in Gil. He's been vaccinated for lyme disease, so hoping he's protected, since it does appear to be a deer tick.

Foxy

Gil and I went for a walk around the neighborhood Wednesday. Of course we were bundled up against the cold, but the sun was out and it was a pretty day. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some movement at the bottom of the ravine. There was a fox walking over to the water hole. Shortly another one appeared and lay down in the grass, waiting for the first one to finish drinking before it went to the water. It was pretty cool.

Snow

After a warm weekend and near 70 degrees on Monday, it snowed Tuesday night. We're back to cold and wearing winter coats!

Weekend Trip

Went to the memorial service for our dear friend who passed away last month from pancreatic cancer. It was sad. But it was also nice to see some friends we hadn't seen in years. Also got to spend some time with the girl. She slept over at our hotel 2 nights.

Chipmunk?

All winter I have been trying to help out a chipmunk. At least I think its a chipmunk. Some creature has been living under the back porch. In the fall I collected a bunch of hickory nuts that I was planning to crack and use in my cooking and baking. But when winter set in so early and I realized that there was (probably) a chipmunk living under the porch, I started setting a nut on a brick under the porch, as you see below, every day. For a while, the nut would disappear each day, as though eaten by a little chipmunk. For a couple of months in the deepest, coldest part, the nut did not disappear. I feared the little fellow had perished in the harsh weather. But to my surprise, the long lying nut, one day, disappeared! Since I returned from my last Ohio trip, I have put out a nut every morning, and it has disappeared by nightfall. I think perhaps he was only hibernating during the coldest months and now is back. I am looking forward to finally seeing him. Or her.




Now you see it!










                                                                                     Now you don't!

Craft Group Trip

This week my craft group took a little field trip to Drew University to view an exhibit of Palestinian Textiles. It was a small exhibit but very interesting. Their cross stitch and embroidery techniques were fabulous. The colors very vivid. The first photo is a woman's face veil. There is a headband that has the face part attached at the middle of the forehead, coming down over the nose and over the face consisting of a lot of small metal discs on a chain. Looks very uncomfortable to me.  Other items we saw were pillows, clothes (called thobs or caftans) and other pieces of cloth used for various ceremonies and around the house.  We now have a challenge project. Each of us is to come up with something inspired by this exhibit. The parameters are very loose and open. We can do whatever we like, large or small, with any materials and techniques we desire. We have 2 months to complete the project. I've no idea what I'm going to do. Any suggestions?

Art Machine

Last week I was listening to NPR's science Friday when they began talking about a project they were doing. They wanted everyone to invent a machine that could create art. So after thinking about it for awhile, I came up with the very crude, simple machine you see below. I tied paint brushes and rocks to a limb, then pulled back the rocks, letting gravity propel them towards the brushes, smooshing and dabbing paint on the paper as the brushes moved with the force of the rocks. The result wasn't very pleasing as you can see. But I enjoyed the challenge and will listen to see what the project for next month will be. Maybe I'll give it a go as well.