Zenobia's Long Lost Cousin

I was pleasantly surprised to meet Buddy, my cousins' 13 year old cat. Like the rest of our family, he looks good for his age ;)

He kind of reminds me of a cross between Zenobia and Chubby. He's also a first-rate foot warmer.

Funny Tearoom Name #5

Dream About Tea:

So if you're not in the area, at least you can dream about the place.

Who would I recommend this place to? Perhaps Martin Luther King Jr.

Vroman's Nose

Just came back from a fantastic weekend upstate. On Friday we hiked on Vroman's Nose, which is basically up a mountain and full of incomparable views. Fall foliage! More upstate pics to come.

(By the way, it took a lot of effort to get pics with my eyes open. This happens too often. It is, of course, the only reason I had to give up a promising career as a supermodel.)

Childhood Book Nostalgia #2 Little Miss and Mr. Books

In the small world of my childhood (not my fantasy world which spanned the globe, or at least the Prairie), a walk past Broadway on Steinway Street was equivalent to a road trip. Nowadays the streets past 34th Avenue are teeming with shops and restaurants, especially since the opening of the movie theatre. Back then, it was something that King Kullen was there. Anyway, there was a children's shop called Valco (thanks for remembering the name, Pam) between Broadway and 34th. It wasn't particularly glorious, though they did sell Cabbage Patch dolls - I saw the first Preemies there. But they did have a display of Little Miss and Mr. Books. I think these books were designed to teach adjectives to children. They were so simple but slightly unusual. My first one was Little Miss Scatterbrain. I still identify with her sometimes. I also like Mr. Impossible. He could read books upside down. When I realized I could do the same, I thought I had superpowers. Now I realize it's rather low on the skill level. Darn.

The Prince of Darkness

Pam's second dog, Nemo is absolutely adorable. He also had a mysterious past...when he was rescued he showed considerable anti-social behavior. Though he has improved, especially with those he has regular contact with, he still frightens me when he barks. He likes me when I sit down, so that's something. And he posed very nicely for these pictures.

Book Nostalgia #1: Little Golden Books

As a book lover since early childhood, I thought I'd delve into "old favorites", the books that make me look happily into my past - not necessarily with longing, though it's true that those were simpler times.

Yesterday I was in Posman books in Grand Central Terminal, and I saw The Monster at the end of this Book. I haven't seen this one in years. I used to laugh at how freaked out Grover got every time I turned the page. My grandmother had this book, and visiting her was always a pleasure - other toys, cousins around my age to play with, and children's books. Though times have changed, if I flip the page over, Grover still accuses: "YOU TURNED THE PAGE!!"

I don't think I had The Shy Little Kitten, but she kind of has Zenobia eyes, so I couldn't resist.

Why does the Donny and Marie book look familiar? Did we have it? Possibly, but that would have been dated even when I was a child. I think.

My favorite was The Rainy Day Play Book. A brother and sister are sad that they can't play outside on a rainy day, but they come up with all kinds of activities. It inspired me, a perennial indoor person.

Which was your favorite Golden Book?

Zenobia Feels At Home

 

Say It Ain't So!

I just found out that the Wild Lily Tea Room is closing at the end of the year. This is terrible, it's such a gorgeous place and I was looking forward to returning there sometime. If you all get a chance to get there before it closes, I strongly recommend it.

At 66

Somehow I don't think he'd be this hairy...

Funny Tearoom Name #4

This place looks right up my alley: Sherlock's of Celebration. I'm not sure where in Florida this is, if anywhere near West Palm I may end up visiting it someday. I know the area is called Celebration, but for some reason this name sounds like a product one would find in a Sanrio store, you know, where the English is slightly distorted. (Notepads that say, "you are my dream cloud. Love powder and moonstars"...huh?) It also sounds like my Dad's cat-baby talk, when he'd say things like, "Come here, Sino of Cat". Hard to explain that one.

Library of Gata

I love the front room in my apartment now. Because of my feckless teenage neighbors, that room was rendered uninhabitable as a bedroom. You think you can handle the noise until you try to sleep through it. So this room was reincarnated into a library/study. Well, I had to have someplace to put my vast book collection! Actually, compared to many book collectors, mine is just somewhat big. There are three bookshelves, and they are not even full after opening all my boxes. Still, it is mouthwatering to look at.

I've devoted one shelf to my public library books, and it looks like it'll be full for a while. I took 3 books out today - two from Alexander McCall Smith which don't take too long to read - and there are others waiting for me on that shelf. But that's my personality. I can't read only one book at a time. Like cable tv, I have to have something else to turn to after a while. There's always a few rejects that I tried to read the first few chapters of, and couldn't go any further.

I'd post pictures, but at the moment I have houseguests in that room. I like them - it's nice to have someone else in the house at certain hours - but of course it will be nice to have my library functioning as a reading room again.

It beckons. Can't wait to devour another book. Maybe even one I own!

My teas are in exile for a little while too, but the restoration will be a fabulous one.