A NYC Walk in Springtime

 

Hi everyone! This week's walk is a change of pace and scenery for us all. I asked a friend who lives in Manhattan to send me photos of the city in early spring. Let's welcome our guest photographer! I hope you enjoy exploring his neighborhood. 

He lives in lower Manhattan, in Battery Park City, a  quiet and pristine neighborhood that was created in the 1970s on reclaimed land made with the rocks and soil dug out to create the original WTC Twin Towers that once stood a few blocks east.

You can see the new Tower that looms above the city now. So imposing and futuristic, isn't it.

I expected Spring to be much more advanced in the city. The daffodils are showing bravely though and in a few weeks the shrubs and trees will be in colorful bloom.

This residential area is clean, quiet and uncrowded . It faces  the south end of the Hudson River and NY Harbor. The Statue of Liberty is a daily companion off to the south a bit.

                                                       

Here is the atrium in my friend's building. Totally enclosed, this lovely interior  garden is private, for resident use only.

Outside, the water's edge has a wide promenade that follows the harbor and river from Battery Park at the island's tip to I think north around Tribeca's edge or Chelsea. Much loved by walkers, dog owners, bike riders. I hope Mo and I get to visit again someday. 

more about Battery Park City here

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....

A Beach Walk

Back to my blog beginnings, a walk down to the beach to look for the first hint of spring here--my beloved Oystercatchers, a large and showy shorebird, protected status, black and white feathered,  squawking clowns with pink legs and orange beaks. They live in dedicated pairs or threesomes and return to exact nesting spots every year.

Off we go, on a sunny Sunday, avoiding the scary big trucks who groom the sand weekdays through April.

The vintage duck markers that we call the Par Ducks have survived the winter storms. The shell installation is obliterated, but the wooden ducks parade on.

The eastern gaggle has been repositioned to a higher place on the dune.

The western Pars remain in the grassy edge area.

The beach is huge. 1.6 miles round trip, 

And the boardwalk not entirely replaced.

I didn't really walk along the edge, just down and back in a tight loop. Oooh, out of shape for soft sand hiking, puff puff, gasp gasp.

They're here!

Just one couple.

There were many people on the beach, so the OCs were shy and probably exhausted after their long flight north. Photos are from quite a distance, quality is poor, sorry.

The other birds are sanderlings, a small sandpiper that travels in large flocks to the northern Canadian tundra to nest.

I didn't see any plovers, but evidence of nest tryouts were there, with footprints large and small--plovers and Oystercatchers. I hate that the work trucks destroy this gentle ritual each spring, though the OCs do try to carry on. The piping plovers though are less each year, last year only two nests, down from16 nests in the early 2010s.

On the way home, examining the dune verges, I found pussy willow in bloom. A newcomer to my dunes this year. I hope they grow well and flourish.

No seashells or seaglass due to extreme sand raking by one of the trucks, but my weird objects are emerging from the snow melt and drifted sand.

A sparkly glass ''paperweight'' button, 1/2"

Looking back: ---Below is a link to one of my first posts back in 2010. Eleven years ago!  It got no comments and only a few page views. The next couple posts are similar, with great pics using a telescopic digital camera I used to have. I thought you might enjoy the early unread posts, link is

HERE

sorry formatting is wonky on oldest pasts, too much to fix entirely.

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Baby Mo is not well, he has a bad ear infection and is traumatized by his vet visit. I will tuck him in to nap and be off for a short walk on tis windy but pretty day.

Have a great weekend!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach...

Vaccine shot ONE is done, next in 4 weeks. CVS, very efficient, only a short wait. No side effects, except sleepy, more due to all night power outage and worrying than the vax. Six weeks till normal life, hooray!  Will the ''you're dead'' nightmares subside? Who knows. [my friend went online every morning for weeks at 5 AM to finally get me an appointment! I am so grateful for his efforts]

Update / Quilting ~ Blue Pineapples and Cartwheels.

 Hi everyone! March is rushing by, isn't it. I am not accomplishing record amounts of sewing but slow and steady, I remind myself. [A juggler of many projects I am not!]

I feel like I'm doing okay. My main hope for March is to complete the top of Blue Pineapples and get it off to the quilter for this summer use. 

0rdered two backings, extravagant but I measured carefully and didn't order too much. Whichever I don't choose can be pillow cases for summer beds.

Binding:  premade, something new to try.

Working without a pattern is freeing and I enjoy it, prefer it. But time gets spent figuring details, especially settings.

Here the layout begins.

Seems to work, but spacers and sashes  are needed.

Put together.

Many of you asked about the sashing and use of the white The white is a pigment white-on -white cotton, tropical hibiscus flowers.

I have just enough of the white to add the final borders, 3 1/2" each side and maybe a narrow framing strip top and bottom. The final bit of yardage cuts into about 1 3/4". 

The white was originally purchased for Baby Pineapples, but the person I made it for wanted that grey background. I still prefer the white, but it was her daughter's big girl bed quilt for someday. So my friend had final say.

Looking from a distance, I see polka dots not pineapples. Ugh. 

And this project reminds me of Blue Baskets/ Cheddar Handles, in its graphic impact. I did not need TWO.

....

Last week the solids for Cartwheel's borders arrived, faster than I expected. Fat Quarters Shop always ships really slow, even before the pandemic or storms.

I am not sure the new solids are okay. Certainly they do not match. 

I ordered a Kona color card for one last try, bit of course that too is a delayed item from I forget where.

Below is is a small antique quilt top, fragment rediscovered as I searched for more antique turkey red for Cartwheels. It is a perfect size for a doll quilt, just needs a few repairs. I washed it and plan to hand quilt it in a simple diagonal. Maybe add some small wool motifs appliqued, from the files of the Cheri Payne group on FB. Just a for fun. The old thin cotton should be easy to quilt.

 I'm  working on more hearts for winter storage/ spring cleaning and summer bowl and basket displays. My friend L used to help me finish the hearts, I miss her exquisite sewing so much.

................................

And this gift-to-myself arrived, ordered as a preorder back in maybe January. 

I couldn't imagine what was in the envelope. 

Authentic and useful light shirtings, for my quilting palette and stash; often they are hard to find. TQC is offering an adorable, slightly modern-ish Tiny Baskets patterns to go with them and these cream ground pretties are in stock now.  There is also a free pattern for fabric Easter Eggs. HERE  [free downloads]

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The other evening I could NOT find Mo!? Oh no, had he escaped? Frantic, I searched everywhere. Here he was found, in the sewing room, in his shirt bin. Waiting for me get busy sewing!! "And bring me a chew treat, mommy! Yeesh.."

The first day of spring was his 7th birthday. He had puppy ice cream instead of cake.

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Have a good week~

love

lizzy 

gone to the beach....