New York Part I - A tourist's picture book

I'm back from New York!

New York is big, I knew that before I went, but I wasn't prepared for how beautiful it is. It's an old city with magnificent architecture.

One of the most famous buildings is the Empire State Building and for good reason. It was built in 1931 and is magnificent in every sense, from the art deco detailing inside to the gargantuan size of it.
We rode up in the old lift to the 80th floor, where we then entered another lift and went up to the 86th floor to the viewing platform.

This is the view from up top, from the 86th floor.

I'm afraid the guard rail round the outside wasn't high enough, or the rails close together, enough for my liking, but I did my best to control any creeping anxiety.

It's the original concrete jungle, from up above anyway.

Notice the Flat Iron building in the centre below. It's the triangular shaped one - like an iron.

It may not look so beautiful from the 86th floor, but at ground level it's spectacular. Manhattan is the wealthiest area on the planet, and Park Avenue, part of which runs along Central Park, is the top-end of the top-end of town. If you happen to stumble upon a spare US$20 000 000 or so, you too can have your own Park Avenue pad. These are the doorways to some of the buildings.

I'm stealing this planter idea. They're just downright handsome.

Some of the buildings have these beautiful gardens at the entry. I snapped some of the more colourful entry gardens below. They are ridiculously perfect.

We saw Central Park when the leaves had turned autumnal colours and the ice skating rink was in action.

I think this is a squirrel - or is it a chipmunk? We're viewing him from the tail end.

I spotted this spectacular building from Central Park, it's directly opposite. Speaking of which, in this same vacinity is The Pierre, remember Little Edie made her debut there. Getting back the building below, this is called The Dakota. It's magnificent. This is the building where John Lennon and Yoko Ono had their bed-in.

Yoko still lives here, her windows are some of the top ones on the left hand side, where the roof is pitched.

It was at the front door of The Dakota where John Lennon was shot on December 8, 1980. We were there not long after the anniversary.  Some many trinkets and tributes were left at the front door of The Dakota that the other residents started to get a bit annoyed (I know, sounds a bit harsh doesn't it), and it was decided that a permanent memorial would be created for John Lennon over the road in Central Park.

Hence, the creation of Strawberry Fields, which I have to say oddly smelt like strawberries.

This plaque says IMAGINE in the middle and people leave little bits and pieces here. New Yorkers just walk straight over the top of it though I noticed.

This was the view outside our hotel window, it's the service entry of The Marriott. Out the other side of us was the Waldorf Astoria, alas, our hotel was nothing like either of them. Michelle Williams was staying at the Waldorf at the same time. She was in town publicising her movie, 'My Week with Marilyn'.

This is Times Square. It's a bit grotesque but you have to see it. If New York had a bullseye, this would be it. FYI, if you take smaller children with you, tie them to you, I'm not kidding.

Illuminated trees. These ones are at the Rockefeller Centre.

Above and below is around Little Italy where we hung out a lot. I saw the sign below as we were on our way to a vintage clothing shop, Screaming Mimi's. We'd done a lot of shopping. I found this sign reassuring.

Below is the New York Public Library. It's magnificent. It was in one of the Sex and the City movies. This is where Big and Carrie had their pre wwedding dinner.

They had a special exhibition one with things from the archives including; Bob Dylan's handwritten notes, a handwritten score by Beethoven, the Declaration of Independence, Virginia Woolf's walking stick which was found floating in the lake after she'd drowned herself.

We weren't supposed to take photos, but I rebelled when I saw this below. These are the toys which belonged to A A Milne's son. He used them as the characters in his first children's book published 1926. That's Tigger, Kanga, Eeyore, Piglet, Winnie of course, Roo got lost.

Peaches has made me read her Winnie the Pooh every night for the last four months. I hate Winnie the Pooh. He will single handedly be responsible when I end up in the nuthouse.

The famous ice skating rink at Rockefeller Centre. It features in every movie set in New York in Winter. It's tiny.

This is how New York puts out its 'trash'. It gets collected every night.

We saw a Broadway play, Noel Coward's Private Lives starring Kim Cattrall. She's beautiful. Very beautiful and she's 55. While I was waiting near the theatre door to go in Cynthia Nixon walked past. It was opening night and the papparazzi were outside. How's that for an authentic Sex and the City experience?

A new life for an old bathtub

A few weeks ago, after much harping by myself about my (lack of) vegetable gardens, my husband moved the old bath tub from the house into the garden, where we had talked about putting the raised beds.
This idea was good for me because it gave me the opportunity to see if this was the best place for growing vegetables without too much commitment. For my husband, no doubt, it worked for him too, thinking that the vegetables would fail to grow, thus, I'd end up losing interest and move onto something else.
To everyone's surprise, the vegetables we planted have really taken off. The soil is some we had left over, it's turf underlay and apparently it's quite sandy with water absorbing crystals and lots of chicken poo.
We've planted different lettuce, spinach, beetroot and some herbs; coriander, basil, mint and parsley. It's going gang busters!
The seedlings were tiny when we put them in. These photos were taken at the beginning of the week and already they are noticeably bigger.

Must rush, I'm madly trying to finish Jonathan Franzen's Freedom in the next week. The Corrections is one of, if not my favourite book, but I'm not loving Freedom as much. Has anyone else read it?
Seven days!

The dying kangaroo

It's now two weeks til I leave for New York, and guess who I'm flying on. That's right - our 'national carrier' who currently isn't carrying.
What a turn of events, it's so fascinating. I suppose that's what happens when you hire an Irishman to run an iconic Australian brand, and then back him up with a Board of men who make Montgomery Burns look like Bill Gates.
The whole $2 million bonus would be hysterical if it were part of some satirical anti-capitalist comedy skit, but as a true story it is unconscionable and provocative.
If Qantas survives, and it probably will, it has already shown it's ugly underside as just another ho-hum company hell bent on making an obscene profit regardless of any social costs to the nation who has been supporting it for the past 90 years. And some things can't be unseen.
Personally, I'm happy to pay extra for a ticket on a plane if I feel confident it has been meticulously maintained, with no corners cut, and is being flown by a cohesive, contented crew.
Sadly, on the other side of this dispute Australians may no longer feel an allegiance to the company. Qantas has certainly proven it feels no allegiance to us.

Bedroom mini-makeover

What to do on a rainy Monday? With the help of some new bed linen, and using what I already have, I did a little boudoir makeover.
This is before, in all its glorious drabness.

...and after with some new linen.

And again. Before.

After.

Before.

After

Before.

After.

It's not finished of course. A house never is. I still need a rug, new lampshades, a bed head and new curtains, preferably ones without holes in them from the cat swinging off them.

Now, has anyone ever heard of ASAP skincare? Apparently it's the business, and it seems everyone else has used it and loved it except for me. I don't know how on earth that one slipped through without me noticing, but more importantly, I'm onto it now.

A bunch of lillies, two topiaried ficus, tomatoes and a wire setting

Oriental lillies are beautiful at the moment. I got these ones from Rosalie Gourmet Market.
Coincidentally, they were $15, the same price I paid for each of these topiaried ficus-es-s. Some might say that the topiary should have been left behind in 1995, but I disagree. I think they are a classic.

We got them this morning from the Caboolture Markets. There were lots of plant stalls there and I would have brought home more, but we had to curtail our visit due to Peach's having a meltdown. She decided to wear a long white dress and a white fur coat (it looks like its made from harp seal), just perfect for some dirty country markets on a hot morning. Although the temperature was getting up there, and her face was obviously flushed, she refused to remove it  in a typical Peach's style stand-off, which are always totally devoid of logic.
Let me tell you, the bargains don't stop there with the ficus-es-s. I also got these pretty cherry tomatoes for $1. One dollar! I actually detest fresh tomatoes, but they make great kitchen bench decorations. I can also just bear them in a salad smothered with fetta cheese and olive oil.

Cherry tomatoes. Boring, I hear you say.
Well then, feast your eyes on this.

This is my 1970s wire setting, which actually has three chairs and a table. It's in A1 condition and it was only $59 on Ebay. That'a bargain, no matter how you look at. It's perfect for that area. The chairs are comfy, it's not bulky and the sun can shine through it easily so the grass doesn't die, and it goes without saying it's a first rate afternoon g & t spot.

Taming the problem child

Remember last month I showed this photo of the area directly outside our pool gate. It's been a real problem area. There's lots of problem areas in the garden when you live on a hill - terracing is key!

This is how it's looking now.

Again. Before.

After.

It's still not finished. You'll see the fence has no palings, that's because we're planting a hedge there instead. That still has to go in, and I've also bought a little old wire table and chairs to go on the grass, which we will hopefully pick up this afternoon.
And in other news of progress, remember these eggs in the nest at my Dad's?

They've since hatched and the birds are about to leave the nest any day. I wonder how the bird is that was in the egg we dropped?
I have finally hired house cleaners, they start in two weeks and I don't feel any guilt (sort of). Clean, shiny floors, here we come!

Gearing up

It may be Friday for you tomorrow, but for me it's day 38 before I take off for New York. I have been surprisingly un-obsessed with it to date, but I can feel my enthusiasm setting in like concrete.
I've been reading Sybilla Court's Stylist's Guide to New York, and I've been re-reading Lily Brett's essays on the City.

 

I've loaned my New York Deco to one of the friends I'm going with.

I've planned a Woody Allen movie fest. Say what you will about him personally, the man makes an excellent fil-um.

I've done a bit of Mad Menning - goes without saying.

I'll possibly brush over Sex and the City again. I had it in my head to visit Magnolia Bakery, but I've heard you have to line up for an hour for your cupcake. I'm afraid the only time I line up for food is when there's a war on.

I'm open to any suggestions or advice from anyone. Unlike being pregnant, advice on visiting New York is welcome and appreciated.