City life... A Sunday afternoon walk in the neighborhood...

I took a walk down to the waterfront this afternoon. It was a lovely day for it. Wore my straw hat, the one that goes well enough with my 2-day old stubble to elicit comments on my sex appeal! I kid you not. It happened yesterday in Petland Discounts. Something about me being the next big sex symbol. Ha! Made my day I can tell you that! :)

It was sunny and warm this afternoon and the 20-somethings were out in abundance. Lot's of eye candy for the trip.

The city is (finally) doing some wonderful things with the waterfront. My understanding of the plans is that the whole Brooklyn waterfont will eventually be parkland. This is a good thing. The open breeze that wafts across the East River salves the soul like no ordinary park breeze. It's trip across the expanse from Manhattan gives it a chance to ripen into what feels like bursts of billowy down across the face. Pregnant with fresh air.

There's lot's to see down by North 5-6-7-8-9th Streets by the water so I took my camera along and will leave this little photo journal of my afternoon walk. (I didn't buy anything at the flea market, but 2 weeks ago I bought a lovely old hand crafted doily.)

A few recommendations.... continued

I have had a jar of lye sitting in the closet for the past several months. It is waiting for me to make soap of it.... and the time has come. I've just ordered a few molds, picked out the recipe I want to use (oatmeal soap) and picked up some cinnamon bark essential oil at a store in the west village... so hopefully I'll end up with oatmeal cinnamon soap. Fingers crossed...

Enfleurage
321 Bleecker Street

If you're in NY, most certainly stop by. If not, definitely visit their website. They have a most amazing selection of essential oils (check the products page) from all over the world. Some of it is pricey: $130 for 2ml of Agarwood Hindi Super, but most are within reach. I purchased 10ml of cinnamon bark (from Vietnam) for around $28.

The store is not large but there is a whole rack of oils that can be sampled.

For the birds...

They've been so patient.... It was a very productive weekend. I finished the 2 portions of wall--painted and stenciled. Today wasn't entirely hitch free. The birds got excited just a tad too early and a few of them flew up to where the paint wasn't quite ready for their presence--almost, but not quite. I noticed one bird had a few small touches of blue where she wouldn't normally. It wasn't much. Believe me, when you have birds something will eventually go wrong. No matter what. No matter what precautions have been taken. No matter how diligent. Something, sooner or later, will not go according to plan. So for a few days she'll go around all tarted up. She certainly doesn't seem to mind. Sweet things they are.

The wisteria is pictured below. I finished it yesterday. Stencils are a great way to decorate. Inexpensive and fast. I probably spent less than an hour on the wisteria and the results are charming and colorful and warm. Good bang for the buck.

I also stenciled some clover at the end of the counter on that newly painted wall. 15 minutes worth of work gets big results, IMO. And to top it all off, stenciling is fun!

For the birds....

I'm giving their room a new coat of paint on two walls and they are being extremely patient with me. I found paint from Benjamin Moore called "Natura" that is non-toxic and odorless so I can paint even when they're in the room.... I left the door open so the less adventurous amongst them could fly into the dining room while I primed and painted but many of them--surprisingly--stayed around to see the old surface away behind the primer and then to be the first ones to see the new colors. I'll post a pic when I'm finished.

Yes, you may be thinking: What if they flew into the wet paint? They didn't. But I didn't leave the room until it was dry to the touch, and Natura dries very quickly. (I should write a post about the time one of my birds flew into a strip fly catcher and got all gunked up with it! She recovered fine. I'll leave the details for some other time.) Also, I'm painting the room bit by bit for a few reasons. Firstly so that I don't have to protect them from a vast area of wet paint and secondly so I don't spend more than an hour at a time in the room. I like to give them time to rest from my intrusion and catch up with food and water.

I still have the stencils I used years ago throughout my apartment (long since covered up with fresh coats of paint) and decided to stencil a wisteria vine on one wall of the bird room. It's looking real nice if I do say so. Stenciling is fun.

Cello....

I've just started extensions (reaching up or down from 1st position). Well... It's going to take a bit of practice! I absolutely love that feeling when something that seems impossible starts to unfold and a glimmer of possibility appears. The glimmer is there... now how to make it shine? Practice, practice, practice! :)

A few recommendations... continued...

The Yarn Tree in Williamsburg. 347 Bedford Avenue between North 3rd and North 4th Streets.

The Yarn Tree carries only natural fibers--yarns and spinning fiber. The best spinning fiber selection in the city. Everything from yak to silk to bamboo to wool of every sort. Dyes, equipment, spindles, wheels, looms. She also has several hand woven articles (scarfs, rugs) brought back from India and Mexico for sale.

The proprietor, Linda LaBelle is very knowledgeable and helpful. A former costume designer, she now spends a certain amount of time in foreign lands teaching underprivileged people how to weave and dye. I highly recommend a trip to The Yarn Tree.

Check out "Stories of Hope" on The Yarn Tree's web site.

Cello...

Working on a forte sound. Whew! Going to take some work... especially on an up bow... especially near the tip. Albeit very enjoyable work. There's a lot more to bowing than meets the eye. For sure. I absolutely love the Dotzauer exercises that I've been doing. Though string crossings are a big part of them, they have me focusing on my left hand more than on bowing.

Looks like I'll be done with Suzuki Book 1 in a few weeks. I started the next-to-last piece this week--a Bach Minuet in C. That's followed by another Bach Minuet. Went to Sam Ash's over on 48th St. this week to pick up Book 2. I could get lost in Sam Ash's stores... I think they have 3 stores all next to or across the street from each other. Get lost amongst the keyboards and music and cellos. I suppose if I were really lost no one would see me walking away with a keyboard under one arm and a cello under the other... heehee.

Now that the weather is nice I'm contemplating taking the cello out to the back yard for practice. How lovely would that be!? Can't do that with my piano. I wonder if my neighbors will be able to hear me from there? I don't sound all that great when practicing (well let's face it I don't sound all that great period at the moment!), but as we all know good practicing isn't meant to sound great. (If practicing sounds great there's a good chance it could be playing or performing instead of practicing.)

I am realizing how important core support is to cello playing. It's a real workout.