Monday, June 8, 2009

Weekend Tales


On Saturday, Kate and a college friend reunited and planned to go to the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.......Rob offered to drive them in and I seized the opportunity to ask if he and I could check out the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market on West 39th Street..........so off we went.....the 45 minute drive produced beautiful views and we even got to see the parade of the Tall Ships which were on their way up the Hudson River to Croton-on-Hudson to the Clearwater's 2009 Great Hudson River Revival.

We dropped the girls off near Central Park West where they met another friend and then Rob and I headed to our own adventure.......

The flea market was fun and interesting....Rob bought me this little book from the Netherlands with wonderful illustrations......





and we found this French enamel clock face.....

Within sight of the market and upon the recommendation of one of the dealers....we stopped for what turned into a delightfully long lunch at the most wonderful little Trattoria.....
The restaurateur was outside tending his grapevines that were strung up and over the sidewalk.....he had window boxes of parsley....tubs of basil and tomatoes growing on his little piece of real estate there in the middle of NYC......
The only customers when we arrived were three police officers seated at a back table......One of them jumped up and showed us to a table .... he produced menus and alerted the owner to our presence......We were served an exquisite meal....complete with homemade Pinot Grigio. Issac also makes homemade Sangria and Grappa with flavors of fig, prune, rose, pineapple and apricot........Issac was charming, hospitable and gracious. He told us all about his history....his cooking and his singing career......He is very proud of his establishment and claims to make the best Paella in New York....I do not doubt him!
We really had a great afternoon.....and are making plans to come back with family soon.....

Sunday morning.....we inexplicably became involved with cleaning out the garage which was filled to the rafters and housed everything except cars........the effort ended up taking the entire day....



This old garage with its dirt floor is home to all sorts of critters and three generations of stuff...... it was a dirty and exhausting job......



But it yielded treasure.....

I discovered things that I hadn't seen in twenty years!

We managed to clean out a lot of junk.......and consequently made room for more!

27 comments:

Elyse said...

the composition of your photos is so lovely. i love how you have added clovers to your "junk" still-lifes. gosh, your junk is fabulous.

sigh

gasp

swoon

xo

anythinggoeshere said...

what a fun weekend. Xo Joan

Anne Marie said...

time with friends....

aaahhhhh.....

how divine...and I too, love the clovers with the photos - that would make a really clever tag or greeting card Laura.

Michelle said...

can I visit your garage?
~The Sweet Gardenia

*The Beautiful Life* said...

I agree! Only YOU, Laura, could make "junk" look so darn chic! :)

Ruth

Lisa said...

Really cool junk!! I wish I could find fun stuff like that at my house!
Hugs, Lisa

Unknown said...

yep we sure do love .....junk
Cheers , helen

Tracie~MyPetiteMaison said...

Why doesn't cleaning out my garage sound as good as cleaning out yours? Love the chocolate box. Can't wait to see what you do with that item... Oh yes, if you don't want it, I do. Love the little ladder too.
xo~Tracie

manon 21 said...

alors là,je suis jalouse!!!
j'adore NYC.

manon

Corine(THUIS) said...

What a busy weekend was it?!
I have to tell you... I live at the "Veluwe", so I'm proud that you like your new book.
And cleaning out your garage in one day? I thought it should take a week!! Lovely things you found again..

Yvonne said...

What a nice weekend ! you found a lot of nice stuf in your garage :-)
We live in Holland at the Veluwe, de Hoge Veluwe is a very beautiful area where a lot of dears, foxes and wild pigs live..
(Sorry for my bad English, hope you understand what i am saying)
I enjoyed your photo's !
Have a nice day!
Yvonne

One Gal's Trash said...

Hi Laura,
Great photos and a wonderful post. I am a former New Yorker and have been really missing the city lately...Thanks for the little taste. Will check out the Trattoria on our next trip.
Pam

Les Cotrions said...

What a wonderful day! NY is stunning...I adore it, and I just like to visit the flea market!
Gorgeous treasures you found clenaing your garage! I like the old wooden box!!!
Have a nice day!
Big hugs
Vale

Floss said...

Oh, wonderful. What a great day out, and an exciting garage sort! I think it was Fleur from Marble Rose who has a similar garage - she showed photos of some things she'd just 're-found' in it recently. It's like a free flea market in your own home!

Zita - Mlle Magpie said...

Great clock face you found at the flea market! Oh, and the little restaurant you found sounds just wonderful.

Maison Beldecor said...

Dear Laura,
what a wonderful weekend, so many amazing finds...
I`m really happy for you, have a great and sunny day
BIND

{oc cottage} said...

"Made room for more"! That's the best part!!! ;)

m ^..^

Carole said...

That restaurant is just the kind of place George and I look for when we're in N.Y. and it's near where we usually stay. It's fun when you get to talk to the owners and get some of their history. New York is a big City but in so many ways like a small town. That's what makes it so charming.
I can't believe what great stuff you have in your garage. Kind of like Christmas opening all those forgotten boxes.
We'll have to try going down to Hell's Kitchen Flea Market this Fall together w/Dee & P.
Talk soon,
Carole

Wildflowerhouse said...

Lucky girl, what a wonderful trip. Next time you clean out your garage give me a call... Sharon PS love your beautiful photos!!!!!

Chrissy...The Apothecary Shop said...

Amazing isn't it what we forget we have...sounds like your weekend was good, Chrissy

Rosemary said...

It sounds and looks like it was the perfect day!!
Rosemary

Bronwyn said...

What a delightful post, it seems you unearthed some lovely treasurs this weekend. Love the photo of the park and the restaurant sounds amazing.

Floss said...

Hi again, Laura. I hope this is OK - I put a link in my latest post to your lovely 'Hi Ho' post - you'll see why if you have time to look! Thanks for the inspiration, as always.

Allidink said...

What a fun time! And some great treasures you rediscovered :)

All the best,
Allison

Mindy said...

I was drawn in by the trattoria. But, the junk on the dirt floor really grabbed me! I'm loving the treasures you are unearthing. ~Mindy

Mason said...

So glad to found another blog to follow! :)
Love it!

Susan @ www.peanutpetunia.blogspot.com

Liz @ the Brambleberry Cottage said...

Your last comment made me chuckle, Laura! That's the way it seems to ALWAYS go around here. We start cleaning out the barns and buildings and "weeding out" collections, but even before the task is complete, we end up filling the cleaned out spaces with NEW treasures. ;)

Blessings,
Liz @ the Brambleberry Cottage
http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/