Push and pull

I'm having a real battle with myself at the moment.  Part of me is in England, mentally decorating my house and wanting to supervise the builders and rush around putting everything in order.  But another part is here, wanting to make the most of our last days in New York.  And the part that's here also knows that there's work to be done, packing up the house and finishing everything off at work, while really what I want to be doing is gadding about the place.

On Saturday, helped by the apocalyptic weather, it was all about staying in and sorting things out and putting things in black bags for the bin men and generally getting to the bottom of what we want to take.  But Sunday was definitely a gadding about day.

I wanted to go to the Highline.  The Highline is a garden created using a disused elevated railway that for years was a decaying blot on the landscape.  Apparently, it would have cost more to dismantle and dispose of than to regenerate it, so someone came up with the idea of creating a park along the railway line.  And it's just lovely.

Image from here

We'd been before awhile back but I wanted to go again for the views of the river and the Avenue below.

And to go past one of my favourite buildings in New York: the Standard Hotel.

I'm really not sure why I like it so much.  But something about its structure reminds me of a book.  You get a better sense of it here:

I know.  Not at all pretty, but I like it.

We had brunch first in the diner style restaurant on the ground floor.

All rather lovely.  And the kissing dogs salt and pepper pots offered just the right amount of cheesiness....

Fortified with decadent doughnuts...

... we set off towards the Highline.  And it was CLOSED.  Bummer.  No reason given, but it might have been down to Saturday's bad weather.

So we cut our losses and went to Chelsea Market.

And all the while at home, there was a loin of pork cooking away.  Mr. P's latest obsession is Lorraine Pasquale.  So in an effort to use up a joint that has been in our freezer for ages, for dinner we tried her slow roast pork recipe.  And yes, it was amazing...

AND (cue drum roll) I am sewing in the ends of my wavery ripple scarf.  Hurray.  Full reveal when it's all sewn in and blocked.  (Don't hold your breath - way too much going on at the moment.)  Here's a sneak peak.

Back at work today.  That should put a halt to my gallop.

C.x