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A bit of this and a tad of that

 Yesterday, the tallit that I was mending got picked up.








All of the bits that get touched in normal wear  just got worn out.




I backed the edges near the atara with silk chiffon and just stitched and stitched away with silk thread. One sees this kind of work on really old garments from the early 20th century. The fabric was just too fragile to stitch by machine. hopefully I have strengthened the material enough so the tallit can be cleaned and then worn  for the big family event coming up in a couple of weeks.

Yesterday  we went on a little adventure to Little Island.


It is an island constructed on a series of plant like cement pods on stems planted into the Hudson River. from outside of the island it looks like a completely artificial man made folly.

While on the island it feels like a series of sloping bits of wildlife.





It's both very beautiful and really silly.




There is an amphitheater space within Little island and some dancers were rehearsing.












While we watched the dancers I also watched the birds on the river










Later on our way home I admired two wonderful bird mosaics facing one another on stairwells going to the up and downtown trains at 14th Street.







The kippah I have been working on is taking shape.







Tomorrow is my sister's birthday. During our childhood she was so often my teacher, teaching me the ways of the world, how to ride the  MBTA  and later how to navigate Manhattan  and the MTA when I moved here.


While we often shared a room during out childhood, these days we are mostly in touch by phone.



Happy Birthday!. (and Shabbat Shalom)




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