At Liberty in Central Park

Amanda and her friend 'Ms Liberty' outside Central Park.

A day of highs and lows today. Post-pride come down this morning here, but then the emails started to fly in, some insults - naughty people, and some offers from even naughtier people. Just for the record I'm doing nothing for less than $5 an hour plus benefits and as many pretzels as I can get down my cleavage.

That aside, Amanda and I went on a little trip to the American Museum of Natural History. An impressive and beautiful building on the west side of Central Park. The main entrance has a huge entrance hall decorated with vast, murals depicting Theodore Roosevelt's life, as well as quotations engraved on the walls. In the centre of the room are two dinosaur skeletons, a Brontosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus Rex, which tower into the vaulted roof.

It's not my sort of museum, but the families of the little Bart Simpsons running wild, and the little Bart's themselves looked as though they were enjoying it. We had booked tickets for the Hayden Planetarium, and were treated to a vast video spectacular on the ceiling of the auditorium, with a show entitled 'Cosmic Collisions', which was as much a history lesson as a preliminary lesson in astro-physics.

Before leaving the building we had to negotiate the five different gift shops in order to get to the exit. All manner of over priced clutter and trash in there, from glow in the dark stars for your ceiling to astronaut freeze dried food - I was semi-tempted with the 'Indiana Jones' hat but, but not alas in my size, and besides they didn't have any whips to go with it.

We took a cross town bus to 5th Avenue for a leisurely stroll, to 'Jack's 99c Store' for garden supplies. Alas no buckets, but I did get a dish cover for a microwave oven that will make a neat bird feeding platform, as it has two steam vents, so I inverted the dish, opened the vents and fastened it to the top of the railing. Not only does this keep it steady, but it also allows and rain water to drain away - yeah I know I missed my calling I should have been on Blue Peter.

So tomorrow is gardening day, time to finish off the work and officially open the terrace........watch this space.

The Lure of The Brooklyn Library

After several errors on the subway system I finally arrived in Brooklyn. The museum, botanic gardens and library are almost adjacent to each other. The Library has an impressive facade - the main entrance is pictured here. If I didn't know what the building was I would feel drawn to go inside to see what was inside, if the outside was that impressive. I sat outside and watched classes of children arrive and stare in wonder at the entrance and they all went in excitedly. After a drink and some lunch and watching the Brooklyn drive, walk, cycle, or skate past, I walked back a block to the museum. Saving the temptation of the botanic gardens for another day.