Nan's Notes

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Winter in Texas ... "Ice Storm" #1

Awning on Back Patio

We complain about the heat, but this winter we had some cold to complain about. Photos not too dramatic, but illustrative of the interesting weather pattern.

Frozen Bird Water

Most of the ice was higher up and these shingles were coated next door!

Icicles on Shingles

My feelings about the cars parked in front of the house are well documented, but I did enjoy seeing them coated in ice!

Harry's Car Windshield

Of course, I was worried about the squirrels and was happy to see this early riser at the feeder the next morning. He coudln't get water, but at least he had food.

Although our back patio is protected by high brick walls, I go to great lengths to protect the ponytail palm that we've had since the 80's ... it's like a member of the family at this point! The patio becomes "tent city" for the plant groupings and I have two heaters that keep things warmed up under the sun umbrellas and plant coverings.

A Toasty 36 Degrees Under the Palm Tent

The Palm and surrounding plants get a tent with their own heater to keep their roots warm ... Ice Storm #1 didn't claim any Brewer plants!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Long Weekend in Galveston

After all the brouhaha of the holidays, we were finally able to spend some time at the beach over the MLK weekend. The weather was beautiful and we even got in a round of golf. Also discovered the next generation of Pirates Cove Townhomes homeless ...

CAN YOU SEE ME?

Click photo to see larger image.

Sadly, we've got two "wild" kittens on the property. It's always been this way, but we haven't had any homeless kitties since Ike in 2008.

I'm calling this one Marble - he/she has a beautiful classic tabby pattern. Very hungry and fairly brave. He wouldn't come to me, but got closer than you'd expect ... always with an escape route!

His sibling is solid black - I'm calling him Jet. I couldn't get a photo because he's SCARED with a capital S! When I first saw him sneaking out of the front flowerbed I thought he was a "munchkin-Manx" with no tail and legs only 2" long. Later, as I saw him streaking back to the safety of the landscaping, I could see that he's just fine. I guess he was doing the "fraidy-cat slink" with tail tucked under and staying low to the ground.

The good news - if there is anything good about being a homeless cat - is that they're currently living in the neighbor's boat, inside their garage. They have easy access to our garage, where I've got the insulated cat house we bought for Ike in the early days and I've put out Ike's old feeder/water tank. They won't have a constant source of food, since we're only there a few times a month, but it's better than nothing.

The pelicans were out in force and I got some great photos ...

We also have some young brown pelicans in the area ... this guy is a cutie!

Take a look at this HUGE Egret we saw by the 17th green ... beautiful!

Took a long walk on the beach

and had a great MLK lunch at the Sand Bar at West End before heading back to Houston.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

New York, New York

Although we made a quick trip in September for the Yankee's game, our real New York trip was planned for December with Norma & Bob. We had a great time, eating, shopping and walking our way across Manhattan!

We left on Thursday and it was a beautiful day. Approaching LaGuardia ...

Lower Manhattan with the Statue of Liberty Looking Very Small

Lower Manhattan with the Liberty Tower Rising Over the Crowd

Once we dropped our bags at the Palace, we headed for the deli and hot pastrami sandwiches before checking out the Museum of the City of New York on the upper west side. Interesting film on the City's history - check it out if you're in town. Of course, we hit Chin Chin for dinner - grand mariner shrimp - followed by a very COLD visit to Rock Center and a look at the tree.

2013 Christmas Tree in Front of Rock Center

Nan & Jerry Under the Tree

Norma & Bob Under the Tree

Pretty Lights and LOTS of Them!

Friday morning we were up early for a short-lived visit to the Today Show on the plaza. It was amazingly cold, so we didn't last long! Friday was a day of shopping from Elaine Turner on 82nd Street all the way back to the Palace on 50th.

Lunch at Via Quadranno was delicious and entertaining because we saw Steve Martin. He was seated alone, just across the aisle from us, enjoying a bowl of soup. This is a local place and we all had the good manners NOT to bother him, but it was kind of funny when he donned a fur hat and sunglasses before heading out onto the street. You wouldn't have recognized him with that get-up!

This is one of my favorites sights in New York ... the beautiful tree in front of our hotel.

2013 Palace Tree

Friday night we saw Steve Tyrell at the Café Carlyle. Good food and great show. Sorry, no photos. It didn't seem like a good idea, although I probably could have gotten away with it.

The forecast for Saturday was 3 to 5 inches of snow in the City and, as we arrived at Balthazar for breakfast, it started coming down.

Jerry & Bob in the SoHo Snow

It was interesting because the "early flakes" were perfectly formed and held their shape for many seconds before melting on our gloves and coats. This is a terrible photo, but they were so beautiful. As the snow event progressed, they were just messy flakes - I don't know what makes them more like crystals than blobs, but I'm glad we got to see them.

Poor Photo of Perfect Snow Flakes!

We shopped around SoHo and hit the ABC Home store. Jerry and I popped over to Union Square Park while Norma and Bob were making our arrangements to tour Ground Zero the next morning.

Entrance to Union Square Park

Very Cold Squirrel Sitting at Base of Tree in Snow

Me, with Snow Building Up on My Hat & Scarf

I know that most folks don't like snow, but I LOVE New York in the snow and it brought back some fun memories of Chase trips - particularly the December Angelia, Angela & Brie got snowed in and had to stay over with Jerry and me because the airport was shut down.

View from Our Room - St. Patrick's Cathedral with a Dusting of Snow

We had important dinner plans for Saturday night and had to bring in "the Russian" to drive us to Gotham Bar & Grill in the Village. We had a lovely dinner ...

Dinner at Gotham
(with a serious case of "hat hair"!)

This looks like an antique Christmas card, but it's the beautiful scene in the courtyard of the Palace Hotel on Saturday evening.

2013 Palace Tree - Facing Madison

Palace Tree with Villard Mansion & St. Pat's

Sunday morning was clear and COLD, with icy rain beating back much of the snow over night. We headed to Ground Zero to pay tribute and our experience was a good one - due to Norma and Bob's efforts the day before. After waiting in line, we passed security and soon were walking around the site.

I don't know what the architects had in mind, but seeing the memorials I felt that the double waterfall represented the collapsing of the buildings. There are two fountains - one for each tower - and the names of those lost are shown around the perimeter.

Liberty Tower

9/11 Museum Construction

Names

North Tower Double Fountain

Leaving Ground Zero, we headed to the Trinity Church - always a beautiful sight.

Trinity Church

Graves Covered in Snow

Trinity Church Tower

And here is where I spend a lot of time ... Chase Manhattan Plaza between 1CMP and 2CMP!

Chase Manhattan Plaza w/2CMP

Walking and New York go hand-in-hand and we really put in the miles. As our trip was coming to a close, we had to get in a little more upper east side shopping and no trip to New York would be complete without hitting the sales at Bloomingdale's!

Bloomingdale's Window - France

Bloomingdale's Window - Great Britain

Bloomingdale's Window - Italy

Bloomingdale's Window - New York City

Loved this bear workshop in one of the buildings.

Working Bears!

CLASSIC Christmas decorations ... Cartier panthers climbing the building of their Madison Ave store. I'd love to have one of those panthers for our balcony at home!