sarah in nyc

I finally got the images properly transferred to silk.   Perhaps the ink that my printer uses is no longer compatible with the Bubble Jet but the images washed out of the fabric when they were washed with detergent. I turned to an older. low tech method of transferring images to fabric, where you lift the toner off of a photocopy using iron on mending material and then transfer the image to the silk. It’s a two step process but I have done it often enough so that it’s second nature to me.   It is frustrating that something that ought to have taken fifteen minutes has taken nearly a weeks’ worth of  work time  to get right.  it is finally done so now I can work on getting the rest of the bag completed.

My third grade teacher, G'veret Cohn died this weekend. G'veret/Mrs. Cohn was one of those teachers we used to categorize as "strict but good". G'veret Cohn was in her early 50's when she was my teacher. I was seven. She spoke both Hebrew and English with a strong Polish/Yiddish accent.  Amazon.com Widgets She was a teacher with a mission. She expected us to become serious spiritual Jews.While G'veret Cohn taught us meany things well, she really excelled at teaching us Bible.  We had begun our study of the book of Genesis the year before with large lettered textbooks that contained just the biblical text. In G'veret Cohn's class we moved on to the more grown up text with Rashi's commentary at the bottom of the page printed in regular Hebrew print. ( by fourth grade we had moved on to volumes with Rashi printed in the more usual "Rashi" typeface) I believe that we began the year's work in bible at some point during the Ab...

I have spent much of the last few days trying to transfer these images onto silk for  the lining  of the tallit bag.   I had prepared the silk shantung with a chemical that allows the ink from my printer to set permanently onto the silk.  The product has a really stupid name, Bubble Jet 2000, but it works really well. Printers don’t love to print fabric, so you have to trick them into the job. I had prepared the silk, and then ironed it onto some  wax coated  cloth backing with the trade name Chartex.  Chartex was created to back photographs. A neighbor had given me a box years ago. We had thought that it would work to actually transfer the image from a photocopy to fabric. The Chartex was useless for that task.  It is wonderful though for giving the fabric enough body so it can go through a printer without destroying it. Chartex is no longer being manufactured and I have most of a box of 100 sheets so I’m set until I find something bet...

Happy Shushan Purim!!!   This year I had no idea of what I would wear for Purim. During Shabbat morning services though, I had an inspiration. I decided to come as Elizabeth Taylor.   I had made this gold lame dress as a joke a couple of years ago. With a push up bra, the mink coat and a ring that I fashioned out of a glass door knob I was set.     My neighbor Lorraine teased up my hair and cemented it into place.   My husband is of the throw random stuff together school of Purim costumes.  I think he looks great. Here are some close ups of my ring. The jury is out if it was the push-up bra or the ring that really made the costume.

I know that most people think of  cooking chicken in terms of  specific recipes, chicken divan, chicken Kiev, Maryland chicken and the like.  I tend to think of cooking chicken in two broad categories, dry and wet. I usually cook chicken dry. The spices or goodies added to the pan may vary but basically it’s chicken cooked dry. Today I decided to cook the chicken wet. While we were away in Florida, my son made a big Friday night dinner. I assume it was a fairly boozy evening, ( better not to ask too many questions) but we had most of a bottle of red wine left in the fridge. I decided to use up that bottle of wine. Some of it went into a tomato and chicken soup that I’m pretending is an Italian peasant soup. The rest went into the chicken. I got a raft of chicken thighs at Costco yesterday. I also got one of those wonderful addictive bags of peeled chestnuts and a bucket o mushrooms. This seemed to be a a good winter combination for chicken. Cooking chicken with a ...

My living room window faces west. we are sometimes treated to spectacular sunsets.  Occasionally the fire works on the Hudson will light up the sky above the buildings.   For the past few mornings, as I have done my workout at 6:30am the light of the sun flattens my view of the buildings on West End Avenue to two dimensions.   The crisp-edged buildings and the roof top water tanks makes my view look like something painted by Edward Hopper. These photos taken yesterday morning and this morning will give you a taste of some of the visual pleasure I get while working out.        

My cousin’s daughter got married this weekend. My husband and I went to the wedding in Sarasota. The Delta terminal at Kennedy Airport was filled with sparrows. We flew into Tampa because it saved us a bundle on airfare.  We spent a day wandering in Tampa. We loved the old part of downtown and it's many art deco buildings. We completely fell in love with the art deco  Tampa movie theatre. What a gateway into the experience of movie going! I loved the contrast of old and new brickwork. This square column is from the Tampa movie theater. The nee-Federalist Hotel Floridian from the 1920’s reminded me of so many stately hotels from the same era in New York and Boston. You just knew that this was a respectable hotel. I wish I could have seen the ballroom which I'm sure is behind the arched windows. I was also smitten by the Kress store. Even the manhole covers were beautiful in Tampa, even though it was relatively cold and rainy. The administrati...