Up state adventure.

We have just had a weekend of total luxury staying at our new Friends; Keryn (Titahi Bay, NZ) and Cathy's (Alberta, Canada) up state cottage aptly named "Tuiloon" the Loon being the Canadian national bird, we all know about the Tui .
The cottage is in the Berkshires , up State NY next to the Vermont and Massachusetts borders. These gals are flash.
Here's  what we did , talked , laughed , made more friends with a bunch of crazy local older gals, walked a little, ate well , swam in the heated lap pool , sizzled in the sauna , glowed in the steam room, took in some sight seeing around the area , and watched drifts of more snow land on the peaceful countryside from the comfort of their beautifully renovated cottage first built in 1820 . Ahhh what a life.

"Tuiloon" , cottage, guest house , pool room, frozen pond.

Best bathroom ever with stunning views and a steam room shower for two.

Dog hostess Belle

Junior dog hostess Tui

The Chevy resting site.

 

-12 c never looked so pretty.

Edith Wharton's Estate "The Mount"  Open for inside visits May to Oct, we where the only folk around to take in this stunning property in peace and quiet.

The Barn on the estate.

Revisits

Central Park

Bethesda Fountain Central Park

Bryant Park

Bryant Park

Coney Island

Coney Island

January Retrospective

Since November we have been living in Cobble Hill , Brooklyn , this is the apartment we have done the house swap with , with Danielle. Its  2 flights up a back apartment that faces south west , which means we get the sun all day , so even if its -3 outside we are always toasty warm ,basking in the sun like lions.

We live on one of the 2 main shopping/ restaurant streets , so easy to pop out for strawberries any time of the day or night. Right at out front door is the Chocolate shop , next to that the Cobble Hill Movie Theatre and just across the road  Union Market a combination deli , fruit and veggie , fish, meat and bread market and beer.  We are a hop skip and a jump away from the sub way , Kirsty only has to catch 1 train -the F train- to get to school in mid town Manhattan.

The view from the 6x6 meter kitchen , living , dining  room window. We are surrounded by all these apartments it  reminds me of Hitchcock's Rear Window , no bodies in suitcases yet, I'll keep you posted.

A week after returning from Mexico we had a big snow - view from bedroom window- , 19 inches overnight , NY had a snow day  - the 8th since 1987- which meant kids didn't go to school and a lot of businesses didn't open. It was the most glorious day, I took myself off to Central park.

Our hood , the side streets are lined with classic brown stone apartment buildings , 15 minutes walk from the Brooklyn Bridge. Down Town Brooklyn as the old time locals call Cobble Hill was one of the first  Brooklyn suburbs , populated in the early days by the Irish.

Slush a few days later. Even tho it's cold  I love living in the snowy times , its such a novelty.

I had to give way to these guys as I made my way around the lake - other side of the fence - on the Snow Day at Central Park.  The Park was chocker with people enjoying  the snow . Wouldn't it be great if every so often on a lovely sunny midweek day in NZ the powers that be said ok you guys no work today , out you go and have some fun.

A bit more Oaxaca

Zaachila

 Oaxaca City  is the capitol of the state Oaxaca it lies south east of Mexico City and  stretches from the West coast in to the desert lands.

Once you've gotten over wandering the beautiful colonial center of the busy town, the great restaurants    ,  markets , craft shops and art galleries , its time to head out to one of the many small villages in the area.

On  our recent visit we explored Zaachila  a 30 min bus ride away,  like  all the villages there is the  zocolo — the central square with a market , municipal building and a church  .

On the afternoon of first visit we followed a procession to the local cemetery , the lure of a rowdy brass band , women carrying armfuls of flowers and lit candles , some guys trailing along  at the back sipping on local mescal, is always too much for us not to join in so we wandered along chatting with a chap who informed us that it was a 1st anniversary of the death of a relative and they where laying the head stone that afternoon and invited us to the join them.

This little cemetery has got to be one of the prettiest we have ever been to  ,it was filled to overflowing with love and memory ,I know this sounds strange but it felt full of life , graves with only inches between them almost popping out of the ground with the squash , brightly coloured flowers and decorations  everywhere , it had such a warmth and tranquil beauty, as well as a respite from the heat and  paved streets of the village. We ended up returning 2 more times to wander and take photos.

Kirsty used this quote when she handed in some images  from the time we spent there  for  a school project on memory.

"Don't cry for me but remember the most important things in my life and what I represented in my life and make that your memory of me, not my death"  St Augustine

In the Zaachilla cemetery the memory of life was more than present.