ROSES ON SALE TODAY

This morning at the Farmers Market in Union Square………….was a rose lovers delight.

“May each moment of my life be as sweet as the fragrance of a rose”.  {tlc}.

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Sweet Peas……….inviting butterflys and honey bees…….who flirt with them without shame………oh the sweet fragrance.

The white rose breathes of love………with it’s blush of pink.

Sam helped me select the perfect bunch……….to take home.

It’s a wrap!

Gorgeous……….sunrise…..and sunset.

It was hard to pass up the snapdragons.

The roses look soooooooo beautiful in my window.

But they’re just as beautiful on my terrace.

52 VIEWS OF LIFE IN GREENWICH VILLAGE

I spent the morning at the Apple Store……enjoying my weekly lesson.  Lunched in Greenwich Village at the SPOTTED PIG.………but did NOT pig out…….at $20 for a burger………$6 for pickles……fries were $8…………..coffee and dessert $16.  They suggest a 20% tip.  So, a burger lunch for two…….$120.  Yikes.  No beer….no wine………..not even an iced tea.  Was it good!  It was FABULOUS !

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A stroll around Washington Square is always “a TRIP”.

LEAH, JULIE and AUBRI at the MET MUSEUM

Three lovely ladies…….
“out-of-towners”………out and about ON THE TOWN.  Morning starts at the Boathouse in Central Park…………coffee and the best muffins in town.

Then its off to the Met Museum.

STUDY OF A NUDE……..1860……..by an unknown French painter.

CLICK on any photo and it will fill your screen with a slideshow.  FUN !

Central Park, Bergdorf’s,  Central Park Zoo,  Trump Tower……..we did at all.  Even stopped in at Tiffany’s.  [Audrey Hepburn was nowhere to be seen].

Dread locks?  Bet Cleopatra never thought she would be a style setter 2000 years later.

The John Lennon Memorial “IMAGINE” in the Strawberry Fields area in Central Park……always a tourist destination.

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ON Broadway, we met Rita Ellis Hammer…………one of New York’s glamorous ladies.  Model, singer and such a beautiful person.  Always nice to run into her.

20 New Yorkers KILLED ON THEIR BICYCLES.

Thats about how many are killed every year…….crashing into car doors and bumping into trucks.  23,000 ride their bikes to work.   Hundreds of “delivery men”are in the streets every day and thousands of New Yorkers just peddle for pleasure.

For a while…..New Yorkers went crazy for folding bicycles………but now they have fallen out of fashion.

Bicycles, unicycles and pedi-cabs wheel about on the city’s streets, bike paths and in the parks.  Riders don’t have to don helmets…….but the law does require that they use headphones only in one ear

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Dogs are permitted to ride in a basket………but their owners must cycle only in the street.  Sidewalks are off limits.

MACYS FLOWER SHOW 2012 BRAZIL: “Gardens in Paradise”

Macy’s Annual Flower Show is always a beautiful way to “Ring in Spring”.

“Gardens in Paradise………

A Garden in Bahia………never been there so I”ll take Macy’s word for it.

Bridge over the pond….there were no fish…..but they called it the Amazon !

“Brasil Red” Begonias……you can grow your own from seeds.  Yes indeed!

This flower cover parrot was about 8 foot tall.  Scary!

Salvador da Bahia garden……with Asparagus Ferns.

Orchids galore…….

The wild grasses with the tiny yellow flowers……..grows wildly on my own terrace.

La familia de las orquideas  la familia mas grande.

Water fall in the rainforest……but there was no rain…..not even a mist.

The Donald walking thru the Amazon………and I am sure this is the closest he will ever get to it!

“Pony Tail”.  In 1964 James Kirkwood wrote THERE MUST BE  PONY…….under all this shit.  Amazon has the book for $6.95.  A good read.

Same tiles on my terrace roof here in Manhattan………sans the herbs.

Modern statue in “brasilia’s Garden.

Man and a Woman?  Unisex?  Don’t know who the sculptor is.

Pineapple Plant…………also flouishes on my terrace here in New York City.

Planters ala contemporary style for the “Modernists” is San Paolo.

Penthouse Apartment in Rio.

Same penthouse.

That watering can is more Westport Conn………..than rio!  I even have one.

Love the old pot shed.  Am designing one for my own terrace.

Bromilliads and creeping Helichrysum [italicum Curry Plant].

More Bromos.

You will NOT see this fountain on my terrace.  Way too heavy!

On the top of Corcovado Mountain outside of Rio is the Cross of Christ the Redeemer.

And then we have a sunny little porch with an oriental rug?  Somewhere one of Macy’s decoratoreswent wrong!

I have the same chair on my terrace…..and it is not Brasillian!  Another decorator faux pas!  And the hydrangeas?  More like orphans from the Bronx Botanical Garden.

The CONSERVATORY GARDENS in Central Park

With temperatures of nearly 80 degrees……..time for a relaxing afternoon in the Conservatory Garden in Central Park.   One enters thru the Vanderbilt Gates..……..with a sweeping view of The Terrace.  The Magnolias were showing at their peak.  Kids were there drawing them.  Cute!

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The French Garden contains the THREE DANCING MAIDENS by Walter Schott. The garden was designed  by Gilmore Clark in 1937………the atmosphere is quiet….calm……..no joggers or bicycles are allowed.

ORCHID SHOW / Bronx Botanical Garden

It was a fabulous day in New York City………..sunshine perfect………..and a glorious day to spend at the Bronx Botanical Garden.

CLICK ON :  New York Botanical Garden

At the Enid Haupt Conservatory , the annual Orchid Show is now on……….thru April 22

A smile is worth a thousand……………

Pansy orchids………….but huge………..

The founding sponser for this show is THE TIFFANY AND COMPANY FOUNDATION.  Thanks guys!

Patrick Blanc has designed walls  of “Vertical Gardens”……..they are seductive and mesmerizing……….free from gravity……and dazzling with thousands of orchids.

There are special “Orchid Evenings”……wander about with a cocktail in hand……….and of course it is “orchid inspired”.

Jade Vine [ Stronglyodon macrobotrys]………….wierd!

“Red Velvet”………….. xRhyncattlleanthe

The favorite orchid for corsages.  Remember your PROM ?

Orchids reflecting in the pond.

The crowds were descending……….time to wrap it up.

Some call it “the Lipstick Orchid”.

The garden covers 250 acres……….so I wore my Orchid Hued Nikes!

A WALK AROUND WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK

Washington Square Park at the foot of Fifth Avenue……is always a fun spot to spend an afternoon.

The first arch was erected to celebrate the centennial of George Washington’s inauguration………was constructed of plaster and wood.

The Empire State Building.………..popping into view up on 34th Street.

The arch was designed by Stanford White…..erected in 1892……modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Another photographer………sitting on the fountain.

These Greek Revival houses date from 1830……….a very desireable place to live.

When I first moved to New York…….I turned down an offer to rent a “floor-thru”……for $255 a month.  Today the same apartment is $8000 a month.

The apartments on the West side of the park are reserved for Professors at NYU.

No. ONE Fifth Avenue……now a co-op……one bedrooms apartments from $1.2 mil.  Higher in the tower…….add another million.

Number ONE University Place….on the corner of the park…….An artist friend of mine…….Sally Carlin….shared an apartment here with  Ethel Mertz………yep…..of I Love Lucy fame.

Judson Memorial Baptist Church…………home to the hippy happenings of the 1960″s………of which i used to participate.  They were “crazy man”.

Sienna…Ravenna……..try Washington Square South.

In Memoriam.……….a daily tally of U.S.Soldiers killed in Iraq.

Bell Tower of the church.

The Holy Cross……….

NYU Deutsches Haus  where I join discussion groups to practice my German.

The private gardens behind the carriage houses of Washington Mews.

Typical apartment house along University Place.

Stopping in at THE GOTHAM for dessert and coffee.

A beautiful spot for a cup of tea.

The First Presbyterian Church in the city of New York.

Sitting here at 12 West 12 st. since 1846……..in all it’s Gothic Revival glory.

Around the corner………Fire Patrol No.2…….

Looks like Athena……….over the firehouse door.

Awwwwwwwwwwww………..

CITIES WHERE I HAVE LIVED

Some for years………..others for only a short time.  But I have loved them all.

In London I lived right around the corner from OLYMPIA……the exhibition center famous for the Chelses Flower Show……one of the most famous in the world.  This year the dates are May 22-26.

Eiffel Tower in Paris……also known as the “Iron Lady”.  Have lunch in the tower:

Site officiel des Restaurants de la Tour Eiffel – Paris // 58 Tour Eiffel – Le Jules Verne – Bar à Champagne //

Brooklyn Bridge…..NYC……wanna buy it?  Many a rube has fallen for this scam.

STATUE OF LIBERTY.  Paid for by millions of French school children gave small contributions.  Of course, she was designed by Frederic August Bartholdi.  She arrived in New York from France in 1885………all 350 pieces of her…..n 2225 crates.  Americans collected money to pay for the base on which she stands.

Cute little Citroen car….favorite of Parisians…..small enough to park anywhere……even on the sidewalk.  It is a crazy car to drive…..but fun.

The famous night club……..Moulin Rouge {the Red Windmill}…..in Place Pigalle.

Very baudy floor show….famous for it’s “Can-Can” girls.  Oh LaLa !

Brasserie Lipp……….Paris……..with the same decor since 1926.  A place to drink beer, wine and coffee.  A place to sit and read, write and vitit with the ghosts of past celebrities……Marcel Proust,Chagall Yvs Montand and my favorite…Simone Signoret………..whose loft in SoHo I had a chance to rent….when I moved from Boston to New York.

To be a waiter here…….you have to be proposed by another.

The Book Stalls in Paris…….filled with books, and MY PRINTS that I did years ago.

Sacre Coeur, a magnificent Roman Catholic Basilica…….on top of a hill in Montmartre…..home to many famous artists.Picasso lived here.  I didn’t!

Notre Dame de Paris………..the worlds most stunning Gothic Cathredal.  The hotel where I always stay is just a stone’s throw away.

Hotel De Lutece.  You will love it too.

Hotel Lutece Paris Hotel 3 etoiles – SITE OFFICIEL – Hotel charme Ile Saint Louis – Notre Dame

The building in this photo are actually closer to Union Square.  My loft was near here when I moved back to New York from Germany.

Harry’s Bar.  This one Paris…….but my fave is in Venice.  Tho the one in New York is rather exciting too.

Ah London.  My home for two years…….on the edge of west Kensington….near the palace when Princess Margaret lives.  Tho we never crossed paths.

THESE PHOTO COLLAGES ARE ALL FOR SALE.  FRANCK TORDJMANN IS THE CREATOR AND PHOTOGRAPHER.

A WALK on the not so wild side in THE EAST VILLAGE

Alphabet City………….Avenue’s …...A.………..B.………..C…………and D.…..over near the East river.  Was once very dangerous……..now fun and funky.

Yes, it is fast becoming gentrified.

There is still a bit of “wild life” on First Avenue.  Meadow Hawk…….just sitting there in his tree in Tompkins Square Park.

The Church of the Most Holy Redeemer on East 3rd Street……..sitting there since 1844…….in a neighborhood that was filled with German immigrants.

The church as also known as Santisimo Redentor.

It’s never too late to say a prayer.

And some New Yorkers walk and pray at the same time.

I didn’t get one!

Looks like the “cook wagon” from BEHAVING BAD is  parked here.

Harness Jackets for those so inclined…….hanging in an Art Gallery.

All he owns is wrapped up in this plastic.

Lunch in a bag.

Billy’s Junk Yard has been here for decades.

In Kiehl’s Pharmacy……..a 1948 HARLEY-DAVIDSON Panhead Springer Suicide Shift.  My brother, Bill, used to own one. He let me drive it by myself when I was twelve.  Smashed right into a fence.  He never let me on it again.

Mural……..n a school yard.

On a truck………“Master This Illusion”.  I tried!  Didn’t happen for me!

Beer stop.  Two Boots Restaurant……it’s a hoot…….a throwback to the “50′s.

Miss Kitty did not make it into my shopping bag.

Lucy herself will squeeze your juice

Night lights on Houston and Bond……..thw PUCK BUILDING is on the corner………home of the “Will and Grace” TV show.

In the subway on the way home.  ”Parting is such sweet sorrow”…….. Shakespeare.