Winter's End

The snow has been slowly fading, but the days are mostly cold. 

The last warm beautiful day, about two weeks ago, I spent most of the day inside doing taxes. I plunged out in the late afternoon on my bicycle. The cold was already blowing back in.

One day, the sun filtered through thin clouds, making New York look a little edgier, not so shiny and modern.

I believe these are some artfully arranged oxidized metal doors. They were in front of a cute little townhouse on Prince Street that seemed to sell antiques.

The last big snowstorm passed south of us and we only got a light dusting. The cats preferred it that way and ventured out.

Voltaire always looks good in the garden.

Coco is more camera shy, but I caught her just before she escaped the frame. 

January

January has stayed true to its reputation of being a gloomy month. We had the week of grey weather accompanied by the young son and his flu. Then the week of bitter cold and biting wind, the air so dry it felt like an arctic desert. Finally we had a little snow, just a dusting really, but it brought warmer air. I tried taking photographs, but the results were a bit sad. This week the weather is swinging wildly from spring back to winter, with wind and rain.

When there has been sun, the light has been flat. I thought it would look nice shining down on the new Brooklyn Bridge park. It almost feels wild, but with bits of the city in the background.

The landscaper of the park must have considered how the colors would play together in the winter. It is a bit like plant sculpture.

I do not know what this branch is. It was covered with a velvety layer and reminded me of antlers. That's the Brooklyn/Queens expressway in the distance. Its constant rumbling also prevents one from getting too overwhelmed by nature. I think there are plans to build hotels and condos on the edge of the park. I wonder how they will deal with the noise.

There was still a little ice in spite of the 50 degree temperature. The last time I was here, it was the summer solstice.

Equinox

Some moss with crazy hairs sprouting on top...

I had great plans for an equinox bonfire, with Guy Fawkes watching while draped in ivy, but they were foiled by the departure of my daughter.  On Tuesday, she moved to San Francisco leaving a trail of Febreeze scented dust bunnies. So I celebrated the vernal equinox with a round of spring cleaning.
 

The cats instantly took possession of the space, no doubt thinking that I set it up for them.
 

The neighbor's apricot tree is in bloom.

Its petals drift softly down like the snow we never got this winter.
 

My bulbs are coming up.
 

My rose bush has sent out healthy red leaves.
 

Voltaire has been lording it over the garden, often sitting on the compost can like a throne.
 

Coco is more cautious. While her pose is somewhat ordinary here, I like how she has tucked all of her fat away.

Solstice Light in the Kitchen

As I have mentioned before, the light that comes around the winter solstice is my favorite. Here it is spilling out over my kitchen. Unfortunately, I am usually too crazy with the holiday preparations to take advantage of it.

Coco has been doing her best to help although she seems to think that trimming the tree involves nesting on the decorations.

At least the tree is finished! I am not so sure how much posting I will be doing before the end of the year as there is to this holiday than a pretty tree.

Papyrus

Things have been hectic with visiting French, barbecues in the rain and the young son's birthday. It has been difficult to work on all the art projects that I would like to concentrate on. I actually took pictures today, but they were film so I have nothing to show for it, yet. Waiting for the distractions to subside, I thought I would share this picture of the papyrus I acquired during one of my market forays.

Of course Coco had to get into the picture. I thought she helped tie into the Egyptian vibe; papyrus, cats. I like the way she is balancing on her back legs with her considerable paunch acting as ballast. I once again descend into the frivolity of cat blogging.

Promising something more serious next time.

Cats in the Garden

Things have been hectic, I am not getting much artwork done. So until things calm down, here are the cats lounging in the garden. Voltaire tends to look for contrast.

Coco tries to blend in with the background.

I am hopeful that the madness will settle and I can get a little work done.

I have been working on a small bit of street art that I want to do on Mother's Day. I have never liked the holiday until last year when I found out that it was originally a peace protest. Julia Ward Howe (she of the Battle Hymn of the Republic) was a suffragette and pacifist. She made the first Mother's Day Proclamation against the Civil War and the Crimean War. Since I found out about this, I realized that street art was the best way to celebrate the day. Above are my olive branches. There will be more but I do not want to spoil the surprise.

I got some grass seed leftover from a science experiment and tossed it around the garden. It sprouted valiantly through the rocks and debris.

The poppies have also sent up green shoots. Everything is very dainty, little bits of green surrounded by vast expanses of dirt and rubble.

I am really happy about the pea shoots.  I didn't think that they would come up at all and then for a week or so, they were tiny little nothings. But now they starting to grow. I would photograph the whole row, but they are still pretty small. In fact, at a loss at what to show in this week of preparation, I offer up...

cat tongues.

Voltaire in his cheescake pose

Coco in the herb jungle.

More art to come.

April

                                                                 The hydrangea is waiting for me to plant it.

This week feels like the heart of April. It has been rainy, tax day has come, the plants seem so small. Spring break has left the young son in my company. It has been hard to get work done. I have been taking pictures with the film camera with very little to show for it. I am slowly moving towards another round of street art, again with little photographic evidence.

The other night I had a dream that I was walking through a green field near the Bronx (naturally), the clover was thick and huge, springing up between my toes. I hope that my garden clover starts to grow like that. I think the dream was transmitted by the cat Voltaire, who was sleeping next to me.

The cats have been frolicking in the dusty branches on the patio any chance they get. 

 

Winter Isn't Going Without A Fight

Almost every day since the start of spring has been cold and windy. We had snow last week. I tried to photograph it, but it  wasn't that pretty transforming snow that makes everything seem special. It just made my garden look dirty. The mystery tree in my neighbor's yard is sprouting buds, though, so I am staying hopeful that spring will eventually arrive. I started digging up the soil in the garden over the weekend, unearthing the usual nyc detritus; broken glass, cigar tubes, bricks. There were worms which is really good news.
 

I planted some of the cuttings for my next street art foray. There are only four pots because I am having trouble keeping the cats from playing with the plants, as can be seen below.

They pull the stems out of the water and leave them on the floor to dry out. Cats can be so cruel. Some of the cuttings were a bit traumatized and they are taking longer to grow roots.  I also have a new crop of cuttings that I have hidden on the window sill behind the curtain in back bedroom. They haven't found them yet. Luckily these cats are not really bright.
 

I used the bottoms of Perrier bottles for the pots. For fun, I stacked the tops on a bottle. I plan to use the tops as shades of a string of lights I have. Maybe it will go in the garden, once there actually is a garden instead of a plot of mud and rubble.

Morning Light

I had wanted to post the scans of the prints I made from my last roll of color negatives, but I had technical difficulties. So I decided to photograph the light as soon as it came the next morning.

One of the cats ensured that there would be still more cat blogging.

Later, when I came out of the subway, the light fell on a ghost bike, one of the white bicycles placed in memory of a cyclist killed on the road. The bikes are often decorated with flowers, they are beautiful in their sadness.

Brief Descent Into Cat Blogging

I have been printing, but I haven't set up a place to copy prints yet, and the daily life has recently upped the ante, with middle school dramas and mid winter break. The cats have been charming, and so here we are. Voltaire poses quizzically on the newly purchased yet old carpet.

Something about the carpet is like catnip to him and he rolls around, rubbing his face against it.

Although the patio is a bit stark at the moment, the cats really like it out there.

Coco gets really wild leaping around, meowing with her tail in a brush.

It snowed yesterday, a half hearted, early spring kind of snow. The cats were of different minds.

 

Coco did not mind the wet flakes.

She tried to catch a few of them.

Voltaire preferred to take refuge under the brazier. He likes to be in caves.

The snow did not last, but there is still a little chill in the air.