Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Today

All the frilly pink Abraham Darby roses were open this morning, all about half their usual size, but still perfectly proportioned. Very pretty while I sipped my Cafe Bustelo.


Lilium "Eurydice" again.

And this one has opened, too, "Silk Road". Not the sort of lily I would usually go for, but it has been included as a bonus bulb in my order for the last two years running and I planted them. Six feet tall, flowers the size of my hand, richly scented. The sort of lily that would steal the silver. Or one's husband.


See what I mean? Rude.

Then it was off to work on the subway, which was fun today. A small pale brown boy was deep in conversation with a dark white man, side by side, and I thought they might be father and son, or Big Brother Little Brother, talking about a sport's story in the paper, and the man was explaining to the boy what an agent was. The boy was rivetted and reading along, asking questions. Two stations later a big guy wearing construction boots, sitting across from them, reached over, tapped the boy on the shouder and said in a kind way, We gotta go. Your stop? said the paper-guy, Yeah, said the small boy, smiling, Seeya! Take care, Buddy, said the guy. They gave each other a low five, initiated by the small boy, and parted ways, the boy trotting after his dad onto the York Street platform. Then a tanned lady in her late 60's or early 70's got on with her scooter. She was wearing knee pads.

I stopped to buy paint and a portfolio at Blick and looked with interest at 40 Bond Street, a design project we/I were/was (whatever) not awarded, and noted with satisfaction that the backbone of the garden concerned seems to consist of arborvitae. Ick. So I think we were deemed too expensive rather than not good enough. Which is ironic, given that address. But who knows.

At work I designed almost both sides of a townhouse renovation in Chelsea - two medium-sized terraces in full sun. I was given a reprieve - the presentation would have been tomorrow and it would have been a nailbiting finish. It's been put off till Monday. Phew. But: next week I meet four new clients, with four potential new projects, two referrals from previous designs I've done...The two weeks after that two big plantings happen: the one around the corner in Brooklyn, in-ground, and one very much above ground on the Upper West Side. I need three more days in each week.

So I took myself to Prune for lunch, something I have not done in a very long while. No, the menu has still not changed. Julie, the very sweet waitress sent over a tuna tartare with a small triangle of warm toast (no toast is not always warm!), as a present, and I had the Caesar and glass of Greek white which was warm and not wonderful. Otherwise it was very good to sit there quietly with my New Yorker and the white-bearded man with a big tummy who is a fixture there at his corner table. He ate something with the superlative French fries. Maybe the burger. Maybe the tuna club. Julie asked who cut my hair and I gave her Izumi's number.

And back to work.

Back at home new people have moved into the top floor of the brownstone across the way. It's so funny: their flatscreen TV is in exactly the same place as the last one, and their couch is in the same place, too. It's a little scary.

7 comments:

  1. Hm, it's cozy in here... ;-)

    Your flower picture are gorgeous. Man, that camera does a good job on close-ups! And the photographer... Sublime! :-)

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  2. Re the photos - uitstekende (sp??) (translation for Beence - 'outstanding'); re the couch and flat screen - its called LOI (Lack Of Imagination) (a terrifying condition); re the hair - will we get to see??

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  3. Beence, darling...thank you. You think it's cosy now, just wait till you're here. You think we make people sick now with our cutesy ways: they'll be upchucking in the streets. Oh No!!! It's them! - the in-love people, the happy people, the tall ones who keep smiling, Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, run, run for the Heights!

    Jane - ag, baie dankie,hoor! And you will have Beence rolling his eyes with the hair question. I think I take horrid pictures of myself and have told him he needs to be here to take them himself...his pictures I like! The LOI - yes...creepy, man, even the flickering TV shadows in the apartment are the same as they were, at night, because the flatscreen is HUGE. Not that I spy on my neighbours or anything, :-) THe Cobble Hill Clones, I think. Hm. New post percolating here...

    BTW Two Brooklyn whales are swimming to Japan. Mine is nekkid, but Estorbo's has clothes and moustache, :-)

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  4. Please, please I too want to see The Hair?!

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  5. Sorry, I'm Anonymous. But not any more.

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  6. An interesting miscellany of your day, with images to match. In true "New Yorker" style (the city, not the magazine). The subway story---amusing...who knows who belongs to who anymore?

    Arborvitae? Well, really now....

    Sorry about the warm white wine and best of luck on your upcoming presentations...

    Your last sentence...very 'Rear Window'...

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  7. yummy yum yum you should bottle your terrace! rock on shiny star!

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