Mersydotes

I'm a bit tired, folks.  In a good way.  In a wonderful visits, fulfilling work, mind-boggling new world kind of way.  But still, I'm a bit wiped.  Saw this on my way home from work yesterday, and I couldn't have said it better myself : )  And lately I've been feeling like this when I wake up: It's time for me to take a moment and re-establish my routine, gather my strength to bring to my work, and do some serious apartment cleaning.  And breathing. I'll be back soon- promise! Love, ~Mersydotes

Do you know that my cousin is expecting a baby?  Yayyyy!  A little baby boy is getting himself ready to be borned very soon, and this month we are having a shower to welcome him!  The theme of the shower is to build the little guy's library, and while I at first thought of getting him a leather-bound copy of Heroditus, I decided instead on Peter Rabbit. ; )   I've always wanted to crochet little baby bits and bobs, but I've never really had occasion to do so until now- would you like to see my very first ever baby blanket?!  It's suuuuuuuuuper soft and squishy!   So much fun to make!  Big, chunky acrylic yarn and an N hook made for very speedy progress.  Also, I'm a sucker for the shell stitch pattern- I think it looks fresh and elegant.  And of course there just had to be pompoms! I hope this keeps you warm and snuggly little baby! Love, ~Mersydotes

Last week I wrote about the surprising number of spring tulips and daffodils that have popped up throughout our neighborhood, and I thought I'd share some pictures with you all.  Truth be told, I wasn't expecting anything like this to happen in our area of the city- the winter was so dismally gray and bitter and the streets were so dirty and barren.  But lo and behold, our borough has transformed itself into a riotous spring garden!  Such a pleasant surprise as we slowly crawl out of the deep freeze!   I guess there are parts of New York City that aren't so bad after all. Some of our dastardly neighbors have crept out in the middle of the night and cut some of the tulips to bring indoors.   That is not allowed, people!  Don't you city folks know how to behave?!  I think the super should station snipers on the roof to shoot these sneaky flower cutters in the patootie! As for Penny, she cuddles up in her garden of color o...

Hi Peeps!  Last night was Friday night, and it was a blessed relief to be done with the week.  All of the fire and vigor which drives me had worn out a bit prematurely this week, much to my chagrin.  I need to recharge my mental and spiritual batteries so that I can go back to work on Monday swinging.  I took a nice long walk in the afternoon and picked up some veggies from a produce stand.   It was the perfect night for "salad for dinner", but since I don't like salad, my interpretation of that is a bit loose- Greek salad, potato salad, and egg salad.  Ooooh yeaaahhh! Don't you just want to climb into the Greek salad and go swimming?  We tossed in a bit of left-over blue cheese, and mixed up a vinaigrette to sprinkle over top.  Too delish. Gotta admit- I'm not a huge feta fan.  There was an incident a few years back with a day-old sandwich.  It was fifty percent off, and I was a grad student. ...

This time last year, the "creaky bones" were protesting as I knelt knee-deep in weeds and mud, beginning the fruitless battle of The Garden.  Happy days and sunny, cool spring afternoons were spent at the community garden planting onion bulbs, sprinkling carrot seeds, and transplanting tomatillo plants.  Although I knew it was doomed to floods, weeds, deer attack, and drought even before I began, I loved that little oasis of quiet experimentation.  The redwing blackbirds would sing in the trees as the wind waved the protective walls of sunflowers, and I poked around in the dirt, soaking up the warmth of the earth into my hands.   Granted, my garden was the most forlorn of the entire community (although the crop of onions and tomatillos was astounding)- but it was my patch of land to cultivate, evaluate, and care for.  It was a reason for me to spend time in the sun, and even though the creaky bones meant I moved slower than t...

On our way back from visiting family for Easter, Mr. Mersy, Penny, and I found ourselves riding along the highway, looking out the windows when all of a sudden we spotted the Washington Monument off to our left.  Wow!   We had no idea the route home would take us straight through DC! And since we have adventure coursing through our veins, we hopped off the highway and spent a great afternoon exploring the Capital.  Even though we made it home at 2 am, it was totally worth it!  We saw a lot of monuments that were new and some that we had never seen before when we had visited in our childhood.   For me, the most memorable was the new World War II Memorial.  I had no idea it was so vast and so elegant! Both of our grandfathers served, and we found the memorials to their states.   When the memorial first opened, my grandmother sent a framed photo of my grandfather in his uniform along with a neighbor who was going to visit...

Happy belated Easter everyone!  We've been in-communicado here in Mersydotes land because of a huge fire on our block which, besides massive property damage, wiped out Internet service for quite a while.  Don't worry- there were no injuries. So let me catch you up on some of the lovely and colorful happenings in our neck of the woods.  We've had pretty good weather in general with tons of sunshine.  It's funny how my attitude toward NYC changes with the weather.  On these bright days, it suddenly doesn't seem so bad.  But when the sky clouds over, and there just gray, diffuse light, I really can't stand it.   For Easter, I wanted to make some eggs for the apartment, but we didn't fancy living off of hard boiled or scrambled eggs for a week, so I decorated some papier-mache ones instead.   Since I'm a bit obsessed with all looks ombre at the moment, I picked out five different ombre progressions of embroidery thread. ...