Old Hatt

For the Boy today, another Day Out with Thomas. His last, I suspect.

He and I travelled to the Upper Hudson Railroad with friends from school. The youngest of our party was about three, closer to the target age for this event. The little fellow was excited to see Sir Topham Hatt (aka the Fat Controller) and Thomas, but for the Boy and his classmate Thomas was just an engine 'dressed up'. Disbelief was definitely not being suspended. I think we all had fun today but it's time (some would say high time) to move on.

The Girl, meanwhile, took the Man 'Dad and Daughter Bowling' at our local lanes, something arranged by her Girl Scout troop. Our dad and daughter then headed over to the pool shop and came home with a large inflatable island, so that will soon be fun (if I ever get my breath back).

Trailblazing

The kids' school is quite a small one, but it has a lot of land. At the moment only a small proportion of it is in regular use, but there's currently a scheme afoot to renovate some disused trails and open up new trails into the woodlands. It is going to require a lot of volunteer hours over the next few months (and probably, years). Work started today, and the Man and I joined the team.

There was chainsawing and machete-wielding to be done, but I stuck to raking. I worked hard, but it was pleasant enough as the weather was dry but not too hot, and anyway we were mostly under the shade of trees.

We cleared a good stretch of trail. Now a few classes of children just need to be sent cross-country running along it in order to tamp down the soil and deter the weeds.

Drive-in us crazy

One item at the recent school auction was the chance to let your kid be 'Principal for a Day'. The honour went to one of the Girl's classmates and today was his big day. He introduced a couple of well-received innovations, and my children bounced off the bus this afternoon eager to tell me about the extra recess and free popsicles all round.

Tonight the Boy has his buddy staying for a sleepover. They are hanging out in the basement with the train track. Meanwhile the Girl has been invited out for a genuine all-American experience: a drive-in movie!

The Man and I are rather envious. We've occasionally driven past our local drive-in (it's unusual to have one nearby - they're pretty few and far between these days) and thought we must give that a try. We didn't know it was open for business already (or even at all). Still, there's plenty of time, with a whole hot summer ahead of us.

Cool pool

For the last couple of days the temperature has dropped and the weather has been rainy, making the prospect of outdoor swimming not particularly enticing. But today was the day scheduled for our pool opening, and so it came to pass.

After the horrors of last year, we removed the cover first thing this morning with some trepidation. Happily, this time things weren't looking too bad. Not exactly gleaming water, but not a swamp. After a bit of tidying up and just a few hours running the water through the filter (which, to be fair, we spent all weekend cleaning) it already looks swimmable - last year it took two weeks to reach this point.

Not that I'll be venturing in without a wetsuit until the temperature rises again...

Dollars and sense

The highlight of the day was making costumes for the Boy's class for some African-themed extravaganza they are putting on next week. Fortunately the costumes were pretty simple - over-the-head tunics and tie-at-the-shoulder wraps - so my minimal dressmaking skills were not too badly taxed.

The Boy announced this evening that since we've been forgetting to hand out pocket money for a few weeks, he and the Girl were rounding off what they felt they were owed to, hmm, let's say about $100 each. He reckoned they were doing us a favour as probably we owed them much more, like maybe... $2,000?

He was very disappointed when we declined this 'generous' offer to 'save' us money. Alas for him, he'll just have to get back to rooting around under sofa cushions and raiding bedside tables.

Picture this

Capital District cowgirl.












Though his heart belongs to trains, the Boy still had a lot of fun driving this motorized tractor around the yard at the BBQ on Sunday.

Remember Memorial Day?

Memorial Day has come round again. Like last year, we went into town and watched the parade. We ran into friends and joined them sitting on the grass at the side of the road, and the children did their best to look appealing in the hopes of collecting extra candy. The Boy even went so far as to wave a little American flag someone gave him, a thing he would never normally do because 'we are not even Americans'.

Veterans went by, to general applause. Then there were classic Fifties cars, the Shriners in their fezzes driving go-carts, marching bands ancient and modern, local sports teams and Girl and Boy Scouts of various sizes. And fire engines a-plenty, polished to a mirror finish for the occasion. It was a good little community parade.

For the afternoon we mostly hung out at home, gardening and such, enjoying the sunshine and listening to the sound of neighbours out in their yards. National Public Radio (being pernickety about these things) won't agree, but for the rest of America the summer starts here.

Who could ask for anything s'more?

Today we had fun at a barbecue. Good company, dozens of kids, an excellent treehouse with rope bridge and zip line, and - as dusk drew in - a blazing fire in a pit on which to roast marshmallows. These ended up in s'mores, a s'more being a US campfire delicacy consisting of melted marshmallow and chocolate sandwiched between sweet crackers. Too much for me, I have to admit, but eating one seems to be something of a rite of passage here.

Climbing the walls

Here's the Boy getting a different perspective on our sitting room this morning, before we moved the borrowed ladder outside so we could clear a few gutters.

The Girl enjoyed a Mad Scientist birthday party at CMOST in the afternoon. It involved a liquid nitrogen demonstration among other delights. Meanwhile the Boy has been engrossed with his most recent purchases, a couple of Bakugan toys.

If you don't know anything about Bakugan, you might want to keep it that way. It's the latest craze for boys of a certain age, along the lines of Pokemon only with even more stuff to buy. The Boy bought his Bakugans after lunch and has been playing with them and talking about them incessantly ever since. I mean incessantly. He is desperate to get to school to discuss them with his friends. We're quite desperate, too. How ironic that this is Memorial weekend and he won't be at school again until Tuesday.

E5N1 and the Art of Cycle Maintenance

I got various jobs done at home today, including finishing off the room-painting at the top of a scarily high ladder (the room has a 'cathedral ceiling'). And I pedalled over to have lunch with Exile #2 and E5N1, which was very enjoyable. I even got a free trouser-wash thrown in courtesy of E5N1 and a wet tea towel.

My cycling is improving nicely. Yesterday I managed the hilly journey between home and Five Rivers without having to jump off and push, and I wasn't hyperventilating when I arrived either. But unfortunately my journey home today ended with a puncture, so I guess I'll now be needing to learn how to do basic cycle repairs.

The yard is also coming on nicely, creating pleasant spaces to sit and read a book.

Ice and queasy

It has been a very warm day. I had fun this morning with a class of first graders out on the trails at Five Rivers. They got into bug-hunting in a big way, and we spotted birds, a turtle and a frog too.

This evening we've all been up at school for Project Night. The Boy's class were demonstrating African-style weaving, and the Girl's class were making bows and firing Twiglet arrows (a safety-conscious homage to Native American culture). I took the chance to look in on the 4/5 (=UK Year 5/6) classroom to get a sneak preview of the type of work the Girl will be doing when she moves up there in September. Among other things, they've been creating puppets of inspiring historical figures (Lincoln, Gandhi, Rosa Parks etc). Though I daresay the kids would have relished making puppets of Spongebob Squarepants even more, you've got to get some history in there somewhere. Anyway, it all looked challenging and fun.

We finished up at a Stewarts Shop eating ice-cream. Half the school had the same idea so it was almost a field trip. A single scoop at Stewarts is what's known as a triple scoop where I come from. Going for truly excessive, one of the Boy's classmates ordered a 'design-your-own-sundae' featuring every imaginable sort of squirty and sprinkly stuff. It made me feel a little ill just looking at it.

Light fantastic

More room-painting today. A friend came over for lunch. The weather was perfect and we ate outside on the deck.

I came across this on the Guardian website this morning. I think you will agree, it rivals even Ginger Ertz. The Man and I haven't laughed so much in ages. I hope you will enjoy it too (make time for the Comments that come with it) and that you'll be inspired to come up with your own 'unique' crafting ideas to share.

Double Fudge Tuesday with extra Fudge

American houses have a lot of rooms. Being at a bit of a loose end today I started painting yet another one of ours. I ran out of paint halfway round, also I'll need to borrow a long ladder from our neighbours to reach the highest parts. Still, what I've done so far is looking ok.

I took a break in the early afternoon and cycled down to the library to collect an audiobook they had on hold for me. I was quite surprised when they presented me with Tess of the D'Urbervilles because actually I was expecting children's comedy classic Double Fudge by Judy Blume. I was borrowing it for the Boy. The librarian agreed with me that, fine though Hardy is, he would probably be a disappointing substitute in this case. Three librarians and a shelver then had to turn the library upside down in search of the required item, which had mysteriously gone missing. But in the end they did find it, and they even managed to throw in an extra audiobook from the Fudge series which they came across along the way. Bonus!

On a much more serious note, please consider signing this petition on behalf of Aung San Suu Kyi, currently on trial on a trumped up charge in Burma. How much good the petition will do is doubtful, but it's better than doing nothing at all.

Multi-tasking

I've been busy today, one way and another:

First thing, made sure the kids were fed and dressed and lunches packed before the bus arrived. After a quick breakfast got the Man to work, then went straight on to Five Rivers to teach a group of first grader 'Explorers' (highlights: goslings and swarming bees - wow!).

Just time to call in at home for a piece of toast before driving out to a jolly Food Not Bombs veg chopping session - mainly peppers and strawberries today. Then home to prepare for the weekly sewing class. Over to school to teach sewing class. The kids were reasonably engaged this time and for once I didn't feel a strong urge to sew half of them to their chairs.

Collected the Man on the way home. Dinner. Family trip to the library. Blog-writing. Putting kids to bed.

And that's enough for one day. Soon bed for me, too, I think.

Wild goose chase

The Girl had two friends to stay last night (much giggling). The Boy attended a fish funeral at his friend's house this afternoon (much grieving) and now has part shares in a replacement new fish called Buddy (great rejoicing).

This evening we made a family outing to Five Rivers in search of goslings. The last couple of times I've been there to teach, the classes of pre-schoolers have been excited to see the 'baby gooses'. So I thought I'd share the fun with my own kids.

We made a hike out towards the ponds. No geese, though plenty of evidence that we had to try not to step in. Then we came across two baby-less geese who steamed towards us across a pool with a 'Get lost!' look in their eyes. We skirted the water - and suddenly, right by a sign that read 'Goose Pond', we came across two families of geese. Hooray! Then round the corner, even more geese and fluffy goslings.

I think it ranks as the most successful wild goose chase we've ever been on.

Yard sale of the century

There were a million and one things going on in the Capital District today, but we didn't get to any of them because we had signed up to participate in a neighbourhood yard sale. That's what all the baking has been about this week. By first thing this morning we'd baked enough muffins and cookies to feed the whole of Albany (oh and just to put your minds at ease, the kids hadn't really sneezed into any dough. That was just my bit of fun).

We carried our groaning table of goodies to a friend's driveway, to be closer to the heart of the action. About six families were taking part including us, so there was a fair range of stuff on sale. Everyone was supportively buying from each other. Other neighbours also came by to say hello. Then there were the professional yard sale scourers, many of whom turned up at day break to snap up unrecognised treasure (they no doubt had it all posted on e-bay before most people had finished breakfast). Lastly were the cruisers, who drifted slowly past scoping out our stalls of junk from the comfort of their vehicles - which was a bit creepy of them, actually.

Needless to say any 'profit' our family made (how much had I spent on ingredients? Don't even go there. Sir Alan Sugar would have been appalled) was quickly squandered on other people's cast-offs, and we lugged home a sackload of books (Girl), jigsaws (me) and assorted battery-operated must-haves (Boy). And let's not forget the Man's newly acquired set of golf clubs??

More unhappy returns

The Man writes...today I finally sent off my 2008 US income tax returns - all 127 pages of dense figures and incomprehensible words. It's been quite a project.

My UK-based tax attornies insist that along with Federal and New York State returns, I also submit returns for every other State I have worked in during the year. An internet search showed that this is strictly speaking correct, but no American seems to do this. When I mentioned to a colleague that he should really do a return for another State if he ever worked there, he just looked at me as if I was simple and said: "How would they know?"

However, I did manage to convince my attornies that they were plane wrong to prepare a New Jersey return for me on the basis of the night I spent in Newark airport after being trapped for six hours on Frankfurt Airport runway. A good portion of what they had calculated I owed was a "penalty on underpayment of estimated tax", i.e. not predicting a year ago that this would happen! I'd like to have been a fly on the New Jersey tax office wall if that cheque had parachuted in out of the blue.

The way the cookie crumbles

It's been a blustery day. Not a day I'd have chosen to inspect a roof, but that's what the workman (who arrived as promised this morning) was detailed to do, and he gamely went up and took a look.

Not a day, either, for parking in a supermarket parking lot. The wind was whisking into those little pens where the trolleys get coralled and setting them free to trundle around, merrily bouncing from car to car.

This evening the children and I did some more baking. I'm not much of a baker at the best of times, and I have to admit I'm not one of those parents who loves baking with their kids. I wish it were different, but that's how it is. The way they manage to cover every available surface in flour, sneeze into the dough and end up with raw pastry on the bottoms of their socks just doesn't enchant me like I feel it should. Still, we produced several batches of cookies, and I even managed not to burn any of them, so it could have been worse.

The Weeder

It has been a lovely day here, sunny and warm. I spent the day at home, waiting in all morning for a workman who didn't show up (though he did call mid-afternoon to apologise and say he'd be along tomorrow). Although there were doubtless more pressing things I could have been doing I mostly sewed, read and did weeding. The latter I just do for the exercise, really. It's like weeding a rainforest - a whole new set of weeds always pops up overnight in the patch I thought I'd finished with.

D'you remember we had a dog to stay a couple of weeks ago? He was rather diffident and we weren't convinced he liked us much. So I was surprised this evening when I was sitting out on the front step with the Boy and this same dog came bounding over the grass to see us, all smiles and wagginess. His owner followed on the other end of his extendable lead. The dog seemed keen to get inside the house, but was persuaded to return to his own home for dinner instead. Perhaps he hadn't had such a bad time with us after all.

Re: cycling

The Man needed the car today, and I needed to get to Five Rivers. Instead of walking I decided to bike.

I haven't cycled for ten years. I don't know why, I just never got round to it.

The town where we live is generally quite flat and excellent for easy cycling. As luck would have it, the only hills are between our house and Five Rivers. Great going down, bit of a struggle going up. Still, I made it. As I arrived I noticed the Pre-K class from our kids' school bobbing about on the grass by the car-park. They just happened to be there on a field trip. I gave them and their grown-ups a cheery wave as I wheeled past, looking oh-so-green-and-lean, and only wheezing slightly.

But I'm into this cycling now, it cuts carless travel time down hugely. I pedalled into town after lunch and it only took about ten minutes, instead of the usual thirty or more. Two legs good - two wheels better!

Silly sew and sews

Today was one of those rare days when I've felt homesick. Maybe it was brought on by all that English scenery and British accents during yesterday's Austen-fest. Anyway, I mouldered for a bit, then got outside and dug some weeds. Very therapeutic. Later I went out and bought a Bill Bryson book.

I visited the fancy foreign-food-importing deli in Albany in search of Marmite, but no, just like Price Chopper they only had Bovril. Is there some international shortage of yeast extract, could someone please tell me? But what they did have was Lyle's Golden Syrup in an old fashioned tin, so I came away very happy with that.

I taught my sewing group in the afternoon. Some of the girls were in a highly giddy mood. They kept sewing dandelion stalks instead of felt, and a couple of them tried to stitch their own fingers together - a whole new take on 'hand-sewing'. I dread to think what they'll do to themselves if I ever bring the sewing machine in.

Pride and Prejufest

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the Darcy-out-of-the-pond scene is the only thing anyone really remembers from the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. And of course that's about the only scene that never actually happened in the book. Ah well. It's still cracking, as are the other five hours of beautiful costumes, gorgeous sets and sparkling dialogue, though watching it all in one sitting is probably not what the director originally intended.

A friend had organised the marathon DVD viewing session as a Mother's Day (yes, it's a different date in the US) gift to herself. Several of us gathered round her telly with a long afternoon's supply of snacks and drinks. Kids were banished, as were any husbands inclined to mock. At the end of disc 1 we regrouped briefly and grabbed plates of un-Austenesque mac 'n' cheese before ploughing on with the final three episodes.

Though most of us knew the whole story practically word for word that didn't spoil our enjoyment, or our appreciation of Elizabeth Bennett, English literature's most refined kick-ass heroine. Go Lizzie!

Fair fun

Well, in the end the sun shone on our little Fair Trade enterprise - so much so that we had to store the chocolate samples under the table for the first hour to stop them melting completely.


We set up a table on the patio of a local cafe, which also very kindly supplied us with FT coffee to serve. Despite our postering efforts we didn't get a huge turnout, but we hadn't really expected one so weren't disappointed by that. Most people who stopped to chat readily signed our petition pledging to prioritise the use of FT products, and we filled a couple of sheets with signatures. A Town Board member came by to find out what we were doing, so we'll have to see if he turns out to be a useful contact for us with our Fair Trade town ambitions.

The kids seem to have embraced the concept of a campaigning mother enthusiastically, and spent the morning designing posters which we put up behind the stall. They wore their I (heart) Fair Trade t-shirts with pride all day. And I don't think they minded taste-testing the chocolate samples, either.

Odds and ends

I revisited Q.U.I.L.T. today for the first time in a long while. There was a speaker talking about 'stash bashing', i.e. how to use up your leftover fabrics and scraps (every quilter has a vast supply of these). I came away with a few ideas.

When the kids got home from school we did some baking - chocolate choc-chip cookies, yum. But apart from trying a sample each we have put them all in the freezer until a week on Saturday. More on that in due course.

Other things I've been doing this week but haven't happened to mention: Insects training at Five Rivers (I was learning about insects, not teaching them tricks); and much preparation of one kind and another for tomorrow's International Fair Trade Day event. It's an outdoor thing, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will stay fine, although pop-up showers have been mentioned on the radio forecast (one of my favourite radio phrases here, after bottom of the hour).

Quick quilt

In between the Man going to the toxic waste dump and all of us going to the mystery non-solving party last Saturday, the Girl and I also managed an hour or two at something billed as 'A Day of Simple Giving'.

Essentially it was a fundraiser for a small local school, but alongside the silent auction, raffle and secondhand sale in aid of the school there were also a range of practical activities going on to benefit other local charities: making quilts for veterans, bird-boxes for a community garden, cookies for a children's club etc. I hadn't been to an event quite like it before, and was impressed by the imagination that had gone into it. It felt like a good response to this time of recession. Plus I like making things, so it was my kind of a do.

The quilts were being made by a particularly speedy method which inspired me yesterday to have a go at putting one together myself. It really was quick and easy - I finished it in half a day. For anyone interested, it's made from double-layered flannel with snipped raw seams which are fluffed up by washing and drying.

A trip to the dump

The Man writes...the previous owners had left behind a tub of swimming pool chemical which was too old to be useable. When I saw the town dump was running a special collection day last Saturday for "hazardous" household waste - paint, batteries, computers etc - I thought I would take it along.

The first sign that this was a serious business was a manned checkpoint two miles from the dump. A second roadblock a mile down the road re-confirmed my destination and purpose. Further down I was handed forms to complete. These were collected by a member of the Town Board, who also checked my drivers license - incredibly he recalled me immediately from a brief meeting at a BBQ on our second day in America.

I was now directed by teams of orange-clad people through hundreds of cones. Were there choppers overhead or did I imagine that? Eventually I entered a dark hangar, where dozens more orange suits and a reporter and cameraman from the local news descended on each car. It looked a bit like this. We were given strict instructions not to get out of our cars under any circumstances, and the tub was quickly removed.

After all this, I drove away with a slight sense of anti-climax. However, not before I was given a souvenir pencil and natty blue shoulder bag.

Lessons to learn, Maybee

I'd volunteered to be a driver for the Girl's class field trip today, not so much out of the goodness of my heart but because I was curious to visit the destination.

The Maybee Farm, near Schenectady, was built some 300 years ago by Dutchman Jan Maybee, and remained in his family until the 1990s. It is now open as a historical attraction, with an excellent schools' programme. The Girl and her classmates, plus attending adults, were directed to the different features of the farm and given explanations by costumed interpreters. The kids got to try their hands at butter-making, visited a blacksmith who showed them how he made iron nails, were introduced to the fife, drum and firearms of the militia, and saw how a 17th Century colonial family would have lived. They also learnt about traditional wool processing and, incidentally, met a chihuahua in a knitted sweater.

There was also a presentation by a Native American who explained how much healthier his ancestors' lifestyle was compared to that of the European settlers, who even that long ago had a shockingly bad diet and had forgotten how to live harmoniously with their environment. Not much change there, alas, plus we did a pretty thorough job of wiping out the people that could have enlightened us.

Toddling along

Emboldened by having successfully looked after a dog over the weekend, today I took on an even greater challenge: a toddler! Actually young E5N1 was delightful company for an afternoon. We took a leisurely stroll (you can't hurry a toddler, can you? I'd forgotten that), ate lunch, made a necessary car journey (during which he agreeably slept), then played in the yard. He accidentally strayed onto the springy swimming pool cover and got his trousers wet, but otherwise his visit passed without drama.

Then I went out to teach my young needleworkers, who have at times been more trouble than a whole roomful of toddlers. Today though they managed very well, everyone finished a project (we were making finger puppets), and they only went really wild towards the end of the class when it didn't much matter anyway.

My quilt was raffled off at the weekend and raised nearly $400 for the school, so I'm quite pleased about that.

Cat and dog tales

It has been a day of to-ing and fro-ing. The Boy had a play date this morning which involved filling an entire room with train track so obviously that was very enjoyable. At lunchtime I drove out to yesterday's party venue to pick up the Girl who had overnighted there (note I don't claim she slept over).

Mid-afternoon we all went round to visit another friend. While the Man and I helped ourselves to plants from the garden (with permission, of course), the kids had a lot of fun indoors with a couple of other children and a new kitten. At one point I crept upstairs to see what they were up to. There was a lot of giggling and I heard the ominous words 'kitty swimming pool', accompanied by splashing noises. The parent of the household soon put a stop to that, and the poor kitten got away relatively undunked.

We said goodbye to our doggy boarder this evening. Hard to say whether or not he'd had a good time with us. He certainly got waggier when he saw his owner again, and set off home without a backwards glance.

Mission impossible

Well, I don't know that you'd really call it a night on the town. I met a friend for a meal and a movie, so that was good. The flick was The Soloist. It was quite thought-provoking, though I have to admit that even as the self-appointed tiresome do-gooder of this parish that I've recently become, a film about schizophrenia and homelessness wouldn't normally be my first choice for a bit of Friday night escapism.

This afternoon we attended a mystery party for one of the Girl's friends. Dozens of kids worked in teams to try and solve a mystery about a seaside monster. The instructions were so complex that most of the adults present had no idea what was going on, never mind the children, yet the kids doggedly stuck at the task for a full hour and a half. In the end no-one got the right answer, but by then everyone was past caring and very happy to move on to the cake.

Speaking of dogged, we have a doggy house-guest for the weekend. Our neighbours are away and we're looking after their small fluffy pooch. He's fairly elderly. The Boy tried hard to teach him to roll over after dinner, but only managed to prove that it's true what they say about old dogs and new tricks.

Tree pictures

The Man writes...it's Friday night so Albaniana is out on the town. I daresay she'll tell you what she can remember of it tomorrow.

Here meanwhile is a week in the life of an Albanian cherry tree, which for at least two days was quite spectacular. Pictures were take on Friday 24th April, Sunday 26th April and Friday 1st May.