Inexcessable?

So, Hallowe'en proper has finally come round, and we've been out trick or treating again. This time we joined up with friends who live some distance away and trawled their neighbourhood for candy. The friends' mom had explained in advance that we really didn't get American Hallowe'en at all if we didn't embrace the excess of it. The neighbourhood turned out to be bigger than I'd realised - we were out for about an hour, and the Boy in his trusty ghost outfit was virtually on his knees by the time we got back to base, both because of the distance and number of houses covered and the weight of sweeties in his swag bag.

The Girl and Boy were invited by other friends to move on to trick or treating on our own street, but they opted out because they felt they 'already had enough candy.' Bless 'em - everything in moderation, how English they still are. Just like last year, they had at least as much fun handing out lollies at the front door.

Bright and breezy

It was a bright sunny day so I went out to rake leaves in the backyard this morning. I soon gave it up as a bad job, though, because it was so windy, and the wind was so cold.

Raking season will be over pretty soon, anyway. Most of the trees round our house are practically bare already. For many months of the year this is such a leafy part of the world, and it all looks quite different (and much less attractive) once the leaves have gone.

Ah well, no doubt we'll be walking in a winter wonderland before we know it - with all that lovely snow shovelling to look forward to.

The Governator

I've been out this evening at the Five Rivers Fall Festival debriefing. As the event was such a resounding success we devoted some time to patting ourselves on the back, but also discussed ways to make the festival even better next year. Just the kind of meeting I enjoy!

On the theme of positive thinking, I was very impressed by Arnold Schwarzenegger (of all people) who was on the radio this afternoon talking about California's environmental policies. California is way ahead of the rest of the States in its efforts to reduce carbon emissions, promote Green energy etc. What so impressed me about Arnie was his grasp of the subject and his enthusiasm for tackling the challenges of global warming. He really seems to be bringing people along with him and making them want to be part of the solution - exactly what a person like him with political clout (he is Governor of California, as I'm sure you know) should be doing. If only the Presidential candidates were talking like him. If only more Republicans, and Democrats for that matter, were as right-on and liberal as he seems to be.

The Man can't understand me suddenly gushing over Arnie like this and suggests I go and have a little lie down.

Say it isn't snow...

The first winter storm of the season has been passing through all day. Wind and rain and even a bit of snow, and tonight freezing temperatures and the threat of more snow. Not much will fall round here, and it won't last, but it's a little taste of what's to come. But I gather parts of the UK have been having a winter preview today, too.

Due to the awful weather the kids didn't have any outdoor recess today, which became very apparent this evening as they couldn't stop leaping on the furniture. I'm coming down with a cold, so my tolerance threshold for bouncing, giggling children has been low - I've had a rather irritable time of it with them.

More positive aspects of the day: Exile #2 dropped by for coffee this morning, bringing the daily-more-delightful and fully toddling E5N1 with her. Then later I replaced the canvas on a director's chair which one of our summer guests had had a hand (well, not so much a hand) in destroying.

Knock knock

Anyone there?

A pot-luck supper up at school was the main event of the day. Other than that, just chores and such.

The children have been making up jokes. The Boy is particularly hopeless at it. Please send in your best jokes (knock knock or otherwise) asap.

Scaredy ghosts

We were visited in the night by the Candy Ghoul! Apparently this is a neighbourhood tradition. Someone, unknown, leaves a small bag of sweets on your doorstep after dark, with instructions for you to do the same for three other neighbours. The bag also contains a drawing of a ghost to tape by your front door to show that you have already been visited.

Needless to say, the kids were thrilled, and just as excited to be the Candy Ghoul themselves. But when it came down to it, one of the houses they chose to visit was just too spooky to get close to after dusk, so they ended up throwing the sweets onto the drive and running home as fast as they could.

Generally speaking these days, if the kids aren't at school they are at a Hallowe'en fancy-dress party. But when by chance they find themselves at home they like to devote time to the domestic arts. The Girl continues to cook with enthusiasm (though she's still not at all interested in food), and serves up cups of tea given the least bit of encouragement.

Meanwhile the Boy has taken up sewing in a big way and is proving very adept at cross-stitch embroidery. He has spent hours working on a sampler today - here's a sneak preview of his work-in-progress. Apart from needle-threading and knotting he gets on by himself, and we sit together with our sewing like a couple of nice old ladies - except that from time to time my companion breaks into songs about toilets, which most of the nice old ladies I know tend not to do.

'Twas a dark and stormy night...

...and still is, as I write. Just the night for a Hallowe'en party at a Victorian house on top of a hill in Troy, which is where we were earlier. Nice party, but a nasty drive home through the lashing rain.

Fortunately the Man had arrived home safely last night - it's good to have him back. While he was out on a shopping mission with the Boy this afternoon I suddenly came over all hippy and created this: Albaniana's Patented Peace Pumpkin! I took it as a gift to our hosts this evening.

Speaking of gifts, yesterday the bus driver awarded the Girl with the promised prize for brushing her hair. It's a packaway hairbrush, and a small cuddly squirrel. But if the hair doesn't stay brushed, the driver is going to take the squirrel back. So the Girl is going to keep brushing! I'm speechless. If only I'd known before how easily she could be bought.

Star turns

Today there was a special assembly to celebrate the man for whom the kids' school is named. For purposes of this blog I'll just call him Bob. He died rather young, but lived his short life well and is regarded as an inspiring figure in our little community.

Every child in the school, from Pre-K to (through) 8th Grade, appeared on stage at some point or another, in small groups or as part of whole-class extavaganzas. Music, artwork, poetry and drama all featured. Bob had a wide range of interests and everything got a mention: a couple of acts craftily managed to incorporate his love both of Shakespeare and soccer, which was pretty good going. There was a jazz homage, worthy of any I've listened to endlessly of a Saturday night on the local Public Radio station. There was a short interpretive dance by the three year-olds representing wind blowing leaves. There was even an acrostic rap - not heard one of those before.

Far and away the star of the show, though, was young Exile #4 - but I'll leave it to her proud Dad to describe her moments of glory.

Funny bunny

I've spent much too long on the computer today, getting buggle-eyed trying to design T-shirt order forms, researching other school fundraisers and the like. I had a happy break in the afternoon - a cup of tea with Exile #2. And when the kids got home from school we did a bit of crafty stuff. Otherwise I've just been staring at a screen.

So I'm going to stop now, and tomorrow I will try to do something more blogworthy.

The Man adds...

When we took off from Albany at dawn on Monday the Captain gave me a hint of what was ahead. "If you're going to Chicago it's 50 degrees," he said. "Las Vegas: 55 degrees, Burbank: 46 degrees. And if you're going to Oakland...get yourself a new travel agent."

Guess where I was going?

I was allowed to leave the plane for five minutes in Las Vegas - it's astonishing to see the Gates full of slot machines - but otherwise it was ten hours, one plane, three stops, no entertainment or proper food, until the flight assistant cheerfully announced: "To those of you who have made the journey all the way from Albany you've finally arrived!...Welcome to Lima, Peru."

In fact, only 2 of us made the full journey. After this I was looking forward to some good nights' sleep but as luck would have it, there was a fire in the hotel. We spent an hour standing in the car park at 2am while the fire fighters put it out, but my floor still smelt heavily of smoke the next morning.

However, it must be said that Berkeley is a very appealing town, with lots of bustle and unusual shops and restaurants. The weather - sunny and 80s - has been perfect and the view from my workplace - the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory - across the Bay to San Francisco, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, is beyond description - or the limited abilities of a camera phone.

Tufty strikes again

A sad farewell to Mum and Dad at midday as they set off towards Boston then back to England. It has been great having them to stay and we'll miss them.

Meanwhile the Girl and Boy were already at school, and having their photos taken. The Girl, hair groomed and glossy, was a self-styled 'vision in purple'. The Boy was dressed in his best shirt and least holey trousers, but later reported that he had pulled a face for the camera (his favourite, the 'ugly pug') so we'll look forward to seeing that when it's developed. Sigh.

A week or so ago I entered the seasonal spirit and decorated our front steps with mums (floral kind), carved pumpkins and assorted gourds. Quite pretty. But over the last few days the gourds have been going missing, in part or sometimes entirely. Something has been munching on them. I thought it might have been deer (they like to wander through people's yards in search of decorative shrubs etc), but then yesterday we saw a shifty looking cat hanging about round the steps - could he be the phantom nibbler?

But no, I spotted the real culprit this afternoon - a squirrel, hopping about in the backyard with half a mini-pumpkin in his thieving paws. Darn those pesky critters!

All part of the service?

The weather has been a bit bleak for Mum and Dad's last full day here, making a final walk in the woods or the hills a not very attractive prospect. We went into Albany and they did some last minute shopping instead.

The Girl tells me that the new bus driver has offered to give her a gift if she'll keep her hair brushed 'til the end of the week. I'm getting to like this lady! The Girl is somewhat disappointed with me that I'm prepared to hand over a parental responsibilty such as her hair care to the bus driver, but says she will give it a go until Friday in order to see what the gift is.

The bus driver has also promised a reward to the Boy if he'll stop sucking his thumb (he just can't kick the habit), but he reckons that it'll most likely be something to do with Power Rangers so he's not going to bother.

Rakish behaviour

A painfully early start this morning - up at 5am, because the Man had to catch a flight to California. I left him at Albany airport and some hours later heard that he'd got as far as Las Vegas. Whether he then flew on, or decided to stop and gamble away all our savings I shall no doubt find out eventually.

My Dad has spent the last few days labouring in the yard, raking up leaves. The weather has turned considerably colder recently, and the leaves keep falling almost as fast as he can clear them. Still, he has raked up an impressive pile by the side of the road and now we're waiting for the municipal Noo-noo to come along and scooch them up.

We all like sheep...

'...except me!' announced the Girl, which was a shame because we had just arrived at the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck.

There was more wool/yarn/fleece/felt than you could shake a stick at - barnloads of the stuff. And then more barns. It was all a bit overwhelming (or should that be 'overwoolming'?).

And there were barnloads of actual sheep, too, all nicely washed and groomed for show.

Luckily for those in our party not mad keen on sheep or wool, there were also a few other diversions. Frisbee-catching canines for example. And the children were particuarly tickled by this guy and his dummy act - awesomely funny, if toilet humour is your thing.

All in all it wasn't quite the event we'd hoped for - so often 'less is more', and there was just too much at this festival. Still, it was a day out, and it gave me the opportunity to resist buying a book called 'Knitting with Dog Hair' (can you imagine loving your dog so much that you'd want to wear it?). And Dad bought me a pair of alpaca double thickness mittens which should help my freezy fingers survive the winter - thank you Dad!

Can anyone identify the classical/Biblical misquote in today's title?

Can't say Fairer than that

As I was arranging the tombola table last night a small girl came up, pointed to a painting of a ballerina and said 'I've got that picture in my room!'. 'Not any more you don't, kiddo!' I nearly replied, but thought better of it.

I'll admit to having had some last minute qualms about how the whole tombola experience would go down in my host country. For a start, what, if anything, would be donated?

I needn't have worried. There was a plentiful supply of 'regifted' items, most of rather higher quality, frankly, than you'd find at your average British village hall event. But the milk-and-sugar servers shaped like Friesian cows were spot on.

Now, what makes a tombola so popular back home is, I think, that it so neatly encapsulates the experience of being British. By no means is everyone a winner. You take a chance, you get your hopes up, and more often than not you're disappointed. And even if you do win something, usually that's quite disappointing, too. How was I going to sell this set-yourself-up-to-fail concept to Americans?

After a slow start, I definitely won a receptive audience. In fact I fear I have sealed the fate of at least five kids who will now certainly go on to become hardened gamblers - they couldn't get enough of it! And towards the end, as the prizes dwindled, there was a rush of teenagers vying unaccountably to win a can of tomatoes. I was cleaned out by 2 o'clock, a good hour before the rest of the Fair ended. Result!

Though of course, it won't be until we run it again next year that I'll find out if the tombola has truly been embraced. When that Friesian milk-and-sugar combo makes a reappearance, then I'll be satisfied that my work here is done.

Fair do

My day has been spent on school Fall Fair related business - the big event is tomorrow. I helped set up the gym this evening, and it's looking quite Fall-y and Fair-ish, decorated with pumpkins and hay bales and with tables prepared for fun and games (including - oh yes! - a tombola).

A couple of days ago it was our car's 'birthday'. I only know this because the car dealership sent it a birthday card. With the card was a broad hint that it should be getting its owners (us) to treat it to a pampering session, or valet service as they call it. Ahem, at $99 I'm thinking not.

Not so merry Cherry Hill

Today we took a tour of Historic Cherry Hill, a house I have passed many times on my way in and out of Albany.

We were the only visitors today (and perhaps the first in many days?), so we had the tour guide to ourselves. The whole experience was a little intense, but that was rather in keeping with the mood of the house, which was claustrophic in spite of its size. The last family to own Cherry Hill regarded themselves as social elites, above the vulgarities of the modern world, and even into the mid-20th century they kept up a more-or-less 18th-century lifestyle. Then they all died out and the house became a museum.

It was hard to feel much sympathy for them as they sounded pretty snobbish and awful, yet we all came away feeling a little gloomy and sad.

So Mum and I cheered ourselves with another trip to Indian Ladder Farms followed by a quilt shop, and we found a new wool shop too - bonus!

Kayaks and Cooking

A guest blog from the Grandma... Today the Grandpa and myself set off to find Moreau Lake, just north of Saratoga. Imagine "On Golden Pond" and you have the picture! We walked the two miles around the lake and then were offered a chance to try a new skill on the mirror-like pond. The magnificent fall colours were reflected to perfection in the water.

For the third evening running we had kitchen help and waitress service at supper. The wine waiter was superb at iced water and the food and hot drinks were served with style (not to mention the acrobatics and cabaret around the table). This Callisthenic Restaurant is highly commended.

In true US spirit-of-enterprise fashion, tips were not only gratefully received but actively sought after.

An unexpected benefit of this tip-seeking effort is our discovery that certain US Quarters commemorate the different States - so far we have North Carolina and New Mexico. No doubt the Boy will make others available at $1 per State of your choice!

Seeing the wood for the trees

Today Mum and Dad and I visited Landis Arboretum - just can't seem to get enough of trees at the moment. It's less than an hour's drive from Albany, in the countryside of Schoharie County, and really worth seeing at this time of year. Many lovely trails through and bordering woodland, fine views across the valley, hardly anyone else there, plus we had glorious sunshine for our visit. The colours were, of course, magnificent.

In nearby Esperance we lingered for a short while in a quilting shop. Then we headed back to town, stopping only for a snapping turtle which had decided to cross the road. A nice man in a shirt and tie had pulled his car over and was directing traffic to allow the huge mucky creature to drag itself from one pond to another. We were able to manuoeuvre round it and drive on, but a line of trucks and cars was forming in the other direction while it took a little nap in their lane.

The Girl has taken an interest in cooking over the last couple of evenings (only cooking, not eating), and tonight helped Mum prepare a meal of salmon, rice and asparagus followed by apple pie. She has also embarked on a career in domestic waitressing after my Dad left her a tip last night. When the Boy found this out he thought it might be to his advantage to help too, so he served drinks (whether or not we really wanted them). All in all service was very attentive, not to say persistent. They earned their reward of small change.

Highly colorific

Today was Columbus Day - a celebration (according to the Man) of a 1970s TV detective.

The kids enjoyed yet another day off school and Mum and Dad took them to Hancock Shaker Village. By all accounts they were enthralled by weaving, spoke shaving and pig feeding.




Meanwhile the Man and I took ourselves off to Thacher Park to explore a trail we hadn't tried before. Fall colours have hit their peak on the escarpment - as ever it's hard to do them justice digitally, but we had a go.

Zero gravity

We went to a party today.


It was great!

Crunch time

The Girl ended up on a playdate this afternoon. It was a beautiful day, so the rest of us decided to try out a new walk, at Hollyhock Hollow, headquarters of the New York State Audubon Society. Given that this is a fairly significant organization, they keep pretty quiet about themselves. I'd only found out about this place a couple of days ago, although it's not fifteen minutes drive from home.

It is mostly woodland, and with it being autumn the trail paths were covered over with dry leaves which were excellently scrunchy. In spite of this fact the Boy was a reluctant hiker (what's new?) but did enjoy a daring escapade on a log and some rock climbing. And when he and the Man fell behind he also had fun phoning me about a dozen times to check what direction we'd gone.

The Fall colours are really superb at the moment - my parents have picked just the right time of year to visit.

Not in my front yard!

I've been struggling to stay awake all day, having slept rather badly. Still, I managed to get to school assembly, buy some warm outerwear, shop for groceries, visit the library and put the car in for its annual safety test. And I collected Mum and Dad from the station after their very successful trip to New York City.

The other day I saw a bumper sticker exhorting me to 'Practise random acts of gardening'. Now, my Mum does a bit of this in her neighbourhood - adopts neglected municipal roundabouts, weeds them and plants spring bulbs. But random acts? I think that's just asking for trouble. Randomly plant dahlias in my lawn, for example, and frankly I won't thank you.

Not fast enough?

The kids had another day off school - for Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. It is the day on which you should try and make it up with people you've fallen out with. It's also a day of fasting.

Girl and Boy were both in crafty mood this morning, and did a cutting and sticking project at the kitchen table. Then friends rang and invited us to join them at the local play park, which was where we realised it was really quite a hot day and nice to be outside. The friends happen to be Jewish, so the moms were looking a little pale on account of the fasting.

This evening we have been having a frustrating time trying to organise a trip for the upcoming long weekend (includes Columbus Day on Monday). Seems we are not the only ones wanting to book a place to stay for a couple of nights...

Closure at last

Much of the day was devoted to closing the pool for the winter. We haven't swum in it for quite a while (too cold, 54F), but today was the earliest I could book the pool guy to come round. So, I was up at the crack of dawn to scoop out leaves and frogs, vacuum, take down the fence etc. The pool guy turned up with his mate and finished off the winterizing process, adding chemicals and making sure no water was left in the pipes to freeze and cause damage.

The Man had come home from work, and together we fixed on the safety cover, which should stop foliage and small children from falling in until next summer. Within an hour this was covered with fallen leaves - we've closed up not a day too soon.

Stationary

I took Mum and Dad to the station this morning - they're off on an adventure by themselves for a few days. The train was late arriving, and even after it pulled in it seemed as if no-one was going to be allowed down onto the platform. Eventually I had to abandon my parents because I needed to get the Boy to a dental appointment, so I don't know the end of the story.

Anyway, where do you think they've gone (assuming they are not still at Albany Station)? Here's a clue.

Face to face

The last couple of mornings have felt a bit chilly, so after dropping the Man at work this morning I nipped into a store and bought a cosy dressing-gown.

I also had to drop in at the Party Warehouse on school Fall Fair business. It's the first stop for all your theme-party accessories - Hawaiian leis, Mexican sombreros, pirate patches etc etc. At the moment of course the shop is all decked out for Hallowe'en, but I wasn't tempted by the mummy outfits or scary clown costumes, and I'm not planning on planting any fake gravestones in the front yard (though some people round the corner from us already have).

But we are getting slightly into the seasonal spirit. The Boy had a farm field trip with his class today, and came home weighed down with just-picked apples and a pumpkin. He and my Dad set to work on the pumpkin with a saw and other sharp implements, and here's the result.

Cross streams

This morning Mum and I drove up to Schenectady for a quilt show, which was enjoyable.

Then I introduced my parents to the neighbours opposite, who gave them a tour of their rather lovely garden. This was followed by a family outing to Thacher State Park and that old favourite, the Indian Ladder Trail. Part of the trail involves crossing a stream, and it was running relatively fast and deep today. The Girl immediately set about arranging stepping stones so that she wouldn't get her feet wet. The Boy took advantage of them too, with success, then made the mistake of crossing and recrossing the stream a couple more times and inevitably he fell down on his bottom in the water. Ah well. We still all managed to have a good time.

A bit of leaf-raking in the yard, then to round off the day the Man, the kids and my Dad went off to the YMCA for a swim. They came home hungry, so we all sat down for dinner followed by more corny jokes and raucous laughter.

The Gondoliers

This morning we checked out a neighbour's yard sale, came away with some treasures and still had change from $2 - not bad going. Then we picked up a couple of secondhand books at Tea and Tattered Pages before embarking on the main adventure of the day, a trip to Gore Mountain.

The mountain is close by North Creek, where the Boy had his Thomas Day Out earlier in the year. The journey should take under two hours, but we hadn't banked on running into 'the World's Largest Garage Sale'. It happens annually in Warrensburg, and apparently it really is the world's biggest, though a lot of the stalls looked more like regular traders flogging cheap stuff from China than townsfolk offloading their jumble. Not so much a yard sale as a three mile flea market. Traffic crawled along, bumper-to-bumper, for what seemed like ever. Having already had our dollar-deal fun for the day we were not at all tempted to jump out and join the thousands of bargain hunters.

At last we got to Gore Mountain. The Boy started preparing to dig in his heels and refuse to walk up it - until we revealed that actually that wasn't the plan anyway. We rode up in a gondola, admiring the spectacular Adirondack view. My parents and the kids then rode down again, while the Man and I stomped and skidded down the trail.

After coffee in North Creek we were just about to set off home (by a scenic route avoiding Warrensburg), when the Upper Hudson Railroad train pulled into the station. A happy way - for one member of our party in particular - to end the day out.

Out of this world

I went to a book group meeting this evening at a house around the corner. We were discussing Beyond the Sky and the Earth by Jamie Zeppa. It's the story of a young woman who left her native Canada to teach in Bhutan for several years. I don't normally enjoy reading travel memoir type books, but this one is well written and has brought back to me all sorts of memories (happy and otherwise) of my own much briefer experience teaching in Burma.

When I got home the children were busy entertaining their grandparents with magic tricks. They had also been putting on a comedy/dance show, which apparently was quite something:

Mad scientists

This morning Mum and I headed out to Indian Ladder Farms for some seasonal provisions - gourds, pears, apple chips and the like. Then we rejoined Dad and walked to the local restaurant for lunch.

We spent the afternoon quietly, reading and dozing (I tell you, jet-lag really is catching), before the children got home full of noise and energy. Dad managed to channel some of the latter into various kitchen science experiments involving fire, water, baking soda and (most importantly) really big goggles.

Just before bedtime the Girl got out a joke book and regailed us with old'uns but corny'uns. After nearly every joke the Boy threw back his head and laughed uproariously, then, still chuckling, repeated the punchline before adding, 'I don't get it.'

Scouting for girls

The Girl has been keen to join the Girl Scouts for some time now, and tonight she attended a small meeting held at the local library. She seemed to fit right in from the word go, and I get the impression she held forth with gusto. She has even agreed to take part in a performance they are putting on at the end of the month.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, two rather sleepy visitors (my parents) have arrived from England. The Boy was so excited to see them that after jumping into their arms he raced around like a yappy puppy pretty much until bedtime (his and also theirs).