Skate-date with a great mate (second straight)

Someone in our family can't get enough of rollerskating. After a skate-date with a schoolfriend yesterday, he was eager for the Man to take him again today. This time his best buddy went too.

I have not been to Guptill's, but evidently it's the best skating arena around, and the biggest in the world! Though it wasn't too busy yesterday, the Man reports that today it was packed out. So that's where Albany goes on a cold Sunday afternoon... Crowded or not, our guys stayed and skated for a good two hours.




Meanwhile I was at home, where the Girl had her own play date going on. I turned out a few more Hearts for Haiti (our school sale goes on - we topped $400 this past week). This time round I've been adding a little peacenik twist to my efforts.

Freeze a jolly good fellow

The Man writes...as predicted it was a cold, sunny morning - in fact it was just below the magic zero degrees Fahrenheit at 7am.

I went along to the local Five Rivers Preserve to try to photograph cold. This was the best I could do. (My hands were frozen).



Meanwhile, both children had a great time skating - ice for the Girl, roller for the Boy.

Zero tolerance

It has been bright and beautiful and, as promised, very cold today. It didn't get above 16F (around -9C). A gusty wind made it feel even colder, and I didn't spend too much time outdoors. Cross-country skiing was cancelled for lack of snow (we've had a little snowfall since Monday's rain, but it hasn't amounted to much), so I went shopping instead and bought myself a snug down jacket.

Tonight the weather forecaster is issuing dire warnings of frostbite for anyone foolish enough to venture outside with exposed skin. We'll likely be down to 0F (approaching -18C) overnight. Even with a new jacket, I'm not planning on going anywhere.

Hot and cold

I spent the third day in a row at the keyboard, pulling together fair trade campaign affairs. It's quite satisfying to review all the FT activities and events we were involved in last year, and all the endorsements we've managed to attract from various quarters of our town. Nearly there now...

I went into school mid-afternoon to help out in the library. At home-time the Boy was a sorry sight. He'd had a headache all day and was starting to feel shivery. I knew he wasn't kidding when he chose to wear his coat in the car and actually asked for medicine (which he cannot stand). Sure enough he was running a slight temperature. However, a small dose of acetaminophen (that's paracetamol to UK readers) had a magical effect, and he was soon bouncing round the furniture again and throwing off his socks and sweater.

The wind is getting up tonight as the temperature outside starts to plummet. Tomorrow we're due for extreme cold plus biting wind chill factor. There's always something.

Local politics

In the interests of research I attended a Town Meeting tonight. It was an educational experience - reassuringly dull for the most part but with revealing interludes of contentious, even somewhat heated, debate.

However, disagreements notwithstanding it was all over in less time than many a Linton playgroup committee meeting, so that was a mercy. I was home in time for tea.

Compost mentis

The other day I received an email from a friend here. She had been sorting out food scraps into what was compostable and what was only fit for the garbage. She had the sudden realisation that what went in the compost was all "real food", as opposed to processed stuff and/or what can be termed "edible non-food substances". And she admitted, with dismay, "I feed my compost pile better than I feed my family."

That could probably be said in our household, too...if we even had a compost heap. How are you doing on the green and healthy lifestyle front?

Anti-freeze

My young friend E5N1 came round to keep me company this morning, so that was very enjoyable. Then I had to attend to some Fair Trade matters before pulling my sack of sewing gear together and driving through the pouring rain to school.

It has rained and rained today. Coupled with temperatures in the 50sF it has felt, in the midst of winter, like a monsoon. Steam was rising off the remains of the snow. The not insubstantial homemade ice-rink in our neighbour's backyard has been melting all day into our backyard, which now looks like a swamp.

I was rather sad to watch so much snow disappear over the course of the day. We could well see more before the season's out, though. There will certainly be low temperatures again - we should be back below freezing by the end of the week.

Zippity doo dah...

We've rather taken to cross-country skiing this year. The Man, the Girl and I took ourselves off to Pineridge again for an afternoon in the woods. (The Boy opted to hang out at his buddy's house instead.)

With temperatures in a rising trend, the snow was stickier than on previous visits, which made uphill climbs much easier, and downhill slides a little less terrifying. I think a few lessons have helped, too. I definitely felt more confident today - and my butt suffered a lot less. As for the Girl, she's thoroughly comfortable on skis these days and zips down slopes like she's been doing it all her life.

For the Man it was a cherished ambition fulfilled - skiing with one of his kids. I may have mentioned before that winter is a long season here so, as people constantly point out, we might as well try to enjoy it. Today we totally succeeded.

Keeping busy

Such a full day, yesterday.

It started first thing with a special event at school, an hour long interaction with a panel of local environmental experts, some serving at state level. They fielded questions from the assembled children. For the younger kids it was probably a bit overly long and serious, but thought-provoking points were raised which I'm sure will lead to interesting classroom discussions.

I rushed from there to my skating lesson. Then home to prepare a document for an evening meeting, but I had to work fast because soon it was time to hurry back to school to drive a carload of kids to our cross-country skiing session.

Home once again for a mouthful of dinner before the evening event - schmoozing with the newly-instated Town Supervisor. It was a long but interesting evening of political discussion, and I had the chance to talk about the possiblity of a Fair Trade Town resolution. The Supervisor is in general favourably disposed, and I now have a plan of action mapped out.

So, quite a demanding day, and not surprising that I felt pretty tired by the end of it.

And so to bed

I've had the busiest day for a long time. Between meetings and activities and more meetings, I haven't really stopped for breath since getting up this morning. It has been interesting and at times quite demanding, and right now I just need to switch off. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

Hearts and crafts

My sewing group came through with some lovely hearts for Haiti. We displayed them today at the school's front desk, along with bead bracelets made by the Girl's class, and we did a roaring trade. We were asking for donations of a dollar plus, and within just a couple of hours we'd raised more than $130.

We'll keep on selling for a few more days, then we'll be sending off a cheque to Save the Children. The kids feel rightly proud of their efforts and achievement.

Lucky Man

The Man writes...Jiminy Peak has become one of our favourite summer destinations, but last night I was lucky enough to make my first trip of the winter.

I set off after work for the hour long journey along winding roads. When the snow and fog descended, it seemed like I was embarking on a foolish venture, but at the mountain the visibility was fine. In fact the mist in the bright lights, combined with the eery quiet, only added to the ethereal quality of the experience.

The snow was powdery perfection, the pistes were broad and largely empty, there were no queues at lifts or ski rental, and the temperatures were comfortable. It was over all too soon.

The local pixies were very friendly too.

Who needs a Wii...

...when you've got a wind-up gramophone?

While the Man has been off skiing with colleagues tonight, the kids and I have amused ourselves with some good old-fashioned stay-at-home fun: sewing, cardboard modelling and gathering round my HMV gramophone listening to 78s. We don't often take it out, but this evening we decided to crank it up and spin some scratchy discs.

Ah, there's nothing like a nice bit of dance band with authentic background hiss! No offence to our Exile friends, but it really does beat Rock Band any night of the week.

Not in front of the children

There was new snow for the Man to shovel off the drive this morning. The temperature has been above freezing all day, however, so much of it has melted already.

It was Martin Luther King day - no school. The Girl spent it with friends, playing, skating and birthday partying. The Boy and I hung out together at home, with a brief visit from one of his friends. I got on with yet more crafty projects.

Tonight we finished watching Little Women, which we'd started last night. Unfortunately in the last half hour of the movie there's a lot of "soppy kissing" which some in the family considered "disgusting" - so much so that they had to hide under a blanket. What is it with children that makes them so Puritan?

Cape crusader

Tomorrow the Girl is going to the birthday party of the classmate who comes to me for private sewing lessons. While not everyone appreciates a home-stitched gift I'm pretty sure she will, so I spent this afternoon at my sewing machine.

From the picture on the pattern the doll's cape looked simple, a ten minute throw-together. Of course it turned out to be a task of immense and time-consuming complexity. Yet I enjoyed the three-hour challenge - even dealing with welts, pleated hood and a full lining - and by following the instructions (not something I always think of doing) I made a good job of it.

In fact so lovely is it in all its luxurious woollen gorgeousness that I almost wish I could shrink to 18" and wear it myself.

Trash or treasure?

The kids managed to get themselves invited round to houses where they feel almost as at home as, well, home - so that left the Man and me unexpectedly free for the late afternoon/evening.

After a rather desultory look round Huck Finn's Furniture Warehouse in Albany, which was having one of its frequent (permanent?) "humungous" sales, we ended up round the corner from Huck's, visiting At The Warehouse - an emporium of secondhand...stuff.

The place is packed with a mixture of grand mantelpieces, theatre seats, hunting trophies, children's books, fur coats, religious statues and all sorts besides - such as a horse escaped from a carousel, and an unusual deer-hoof coat rack. Junk or collectables, depending on how you look at things. Eclectic at any rate. Alas, the only two items I fancied taking home - a half life-size zebra and a foot-high cast iron Nipper - were not for sale, so we left empty-handed.

Winter Friday

It's Winter Fridays season again at school. For six Fridays in the new year the kids do a special activity, as a treat during this coldest time. In our first year here the Girl and Boy did the odd combination of skating and bowling (on alternating Fridays, I hasten to add). Last year the Girl picked swimming and the Boy supposedly did Circus Theatricks (though I never saw much evidence of it). But this year, at last, they have both been persuaded to try out cross country skiing. I get to go along for the fun.

Last week was their first attempt. The Girl decided she loved it, her brother wasn't convinced (though he enjoyed warming up in the hut with a candy bar afterwards). Today they both managed very well, pretty much mastering hills - up as well as down. Even the Boy conceded he'd had a good time, even if a can of soda in the hut was still the real highpoint.

They came home from skiing with formidable appetites and of course they've used up all their energy - which must explain why they are currently careering round the house and shrieking at the tops of their voices. Sigh.

Heart-felt endeavour

A disaster like the Haiti earthquake leaves us all feeling helpless.

Out of a need to do something, this afternoon I've been making these little brooches - "Hearts for Haiti" if you like. I'm going to see how many of my sewing students would like to help me out, and we'll sell what we make at school, in exchange for donations to Save the Children.

As a fundraiser we'll just have to see how it goes. If nothing else, I hope the kids who take part will realise that they can put their new skills to some good use, because that's not a bad lesson to learn.

Thieving little Tufty

For all those of you out there wanting cute squirrels...


I aim to please.

We are not alone

No sooner have our house-guests left than new ones have moved in. Last night we left a mince-pie out on the counter. This morning the Man noticed that it had moved onto the cooker. We're assuming that it didn't do this by itself - and that must mean our tiny four-footed friends are back. What fun.

Meanwhile our front yard has turned into squirrel city. So much for our "squirrel-proof" bird feeder, the pesky critters are taking turns to pull it apart to get at the sunflower seeds. There's a whole gang of them - I took this photo of all their footprints in the snow.

Owl of despair

And so, after a quiet morning with just a short outing to buy gifts for folks back home, Mum and Dad pulled out of the drive one last time and headed back to Boston and thence the UK.

The house of course felt very quiet and empty suddenly, but to stop myself feeling forlorn I set to work making up a new project for my school stitchers. Here it is. One of my students declared it looked "like a real toy, made in a factory!", and I took the compliment as I think it was intended. The children were enthusiastic and worked hard on their owls, and it was a good session all round.

On the way back from school with my own kids we collected the Man from work and ended up all going out for dinner. There was much wistful talk of Grandma and Grandpa. As I write they may not even be airborne yet. We wish them a safe journey home (with no frozen pipes awaiting them).

Touch of the Blues

The Man and I took advantage of a free hour-long cross-country skiing lesson during the Pineridge ski-fest weekend, and followed it with two and half hours skiing and falling over on the trails.

We revisited the Green ('easy') trails we took last year, then challenged ourselves with some 'more difficult' Blues. Plenty of hard uphill work, and quite steep and winding descents. Even with the training (which did help) I fell on my backside more times than I care to mention. But it was great fun, and though it was well below freezing all day we really didn't feel the cold.

Meanwhile my parents had the company of their lovely grandchildren for the day. They took them skating at the park then out to the shops for one last spoiling. Alas, Mum and Dad will be heading home to snowy Britain tomorrow.

Cold, colder...

We're having another cold snap. Frigid temperatures notwithstanding, we insisted on taking the whole family out for a hike this afternoon. We drove up to Thacher Park. You can see how much everyone enjoyed it. In the end we didn't stay out long - by the time we left it was about 14F (-10C).

Expensive Steps

Tonight's guest bloggers are the Grandparents:

Today we visited the NY State Capitol Building. A splendid edifice built by British stone masons using granite from Scotland, leather from Spain and so on. It has two magnificent stairways - one, the Evolution, has carvings showing all the phases in the evolution of life from amoebas to man - guess which is at the foot of the stairs. The second is known as the "million dollar stairway" because that's what it cost back in 1890.

The building houses the New York State Governor, its Senate and its Assembly. It is therefore the engine of the State legislature. Significantly the building is still not finished and it would now be impractical to attempt to complete it using the original materials. The design of the existing building was prepared by at least three different architects so it's an eclectic mix of styles from "Spanish Alhambra" to "British Empire Gothic" with various in betweens. Our Guide was excellent and tactfully dealt with the "British Question" while making sure we knew who won the War of Independence.

To our surprise the hour long tour cost not a cent - but the available on street parking nearby certainly did! Meters eat quarters in Albany just like they eat 20p's in UK.

After this cultural experience we spent some time looking, successfully, for BBC DVDs - "Blue Planet" and "Prehistoric Planet" in one of the large book stores. (The latter is a great hit with the Boy who rates it "Cool".)

We returned home to find my [i.e. Grandma's] "left-behind-in-England" driving licence had arrived by registered mail after taking 20 days to make the journey!

Homecoming quilt

Mum and I have just got back from a Schenectady Q.U.I.L.T. group meeting. We made the half hour journey specially because Mum had something to show them.

When my parents were here in October 2008 we visited their quilt show, and Mum bought a bag of scraps left over from a magnificent quilt that was being raffled. She took the pieces back to one of her own quilt groups and they put together a rather lovely wall-hanging. So Mum thought the Schenectady quilters might like to see it.

She showed the quilt and told the story and received a round of applause. At a later point in the meeting one of the two sisters who had made the original raffle quilt introduced herself, obviously thrilled to bits to see the new quilt made from leftovers. Photos were taken, addresses exchanged and all in all it was a very happy and worthwhile trip.

Back to nature

It's a while since I've done any teaching at Five Rivers. This morning I was back there for a refresher course in instructing Outdoor Discovery. With plenty of snow still on the ground we were spoilt for choice when it came to discovering tracks - mice, voles, squirrels, rabbits, deer - plus there were lots of other signs of animal life such as deer-grazed evergreens and beaver-chewed tree stumps. It was all lots of fun, but I came home shivering. Not that it was particuarly cold out (just below freezing, which passes for mild and balmy this time of year) but I must be coming down with something. Well, that's January for you.

Meanwhile, Mum and Dad made a visit to historic Hudson. Unfortunately much of it was closed for the day, and some of it for the month. Soon after they got back they set out again, with the Girl, to the Albany Art Room to cash in a time-and-materials voucher I'd given them for Christmas. I think they had a good time.

The Girl also wangled some orange soda and a doughnut out of them, so I think it's fair to say that she was very happy indeed. Grandparents are so much more fun to go out with than parents.

Didn't we do well?

My parents and I were driving up towards Saratoga Springs this morning when we suddenly took a fancy to visit Ballston Spa. In all the slush it wasn't looking quite as handsome as when I last visited, but we enjoyed a snack in Coffee Planet and Mum picked up some new ideas and fabric in the quilting shop (while Dad was being diverted by a chatty assistant).

Then we pressed on to our original destination and had lunch in Uncommon Grounds (butternut squash and apple soup - on the sweet side, but tasty).

This evening the Man and I did a quick run to Price Chopper and were rather surprised (so was the cashier) when the end of the conveyor belt suddenly opened up and ate our bag of potatoes. And a jar of tomato sauce. There was a packet of grated cheese in there, too, which wasn't even ours. (No cuddly toy though, alas.) It took three people to release all the food from the rollers.

Anyone else had a moderately interesting experience in a supermarket recently?

Renewable energy

Mum and I had a long session ransacking JoAnn's craft store today. If you are thinking of going there yourself I'd wait a few days for them to restock - we didn't leave much behind.

Despite going to bed in good time the kids got to sleep horribly late last night. I was surprised that they managed to get up at all this morning, never mind in time for the bus. But they did, and seem to have had a great day back at school and they are still full of bounce and backchat even at bedtime.

Such energy, it's exhausting to be around. It'd be good, wouldn't it, if you could convert it to power a kettle or a couple of lightbulbs.

Shovel-ready project

We weren't quite snowed in today (my Dad made sure of that), but it was very cold and made colder by the wind which blew the sharp fresh snow around like sand in the desert. Some members of the family ventured out to the library and the Man made it to the supermarket and the YMCA, but otherwise we've kept at home in the warm.

...Except for a little light sledding, that is. Not the kids, who claimed the conditions weren't quite to their liking, but the Man and I took a few turns down our neighbour's slope.

As you can see, I take my pleasures very seriously.

Taking a wintery Huyck

It's a while since we've been to the Huyck Preserve at Rensselaerville - the last time was probably this occasion.

The Man and I set out there today, better suited and booted this time around for a landscape of deep snow. The pine trees creaked eerily in the woods, a deer galloped in the distance and the snow drifted over our footprints as we explored icey waterfalls and the snowy wasteland of the lake. It was very beautiful - and we had it almost entirely to ourselves.

Gliding into a new decade

I drove out to collect the Girl this morning. It had been an excellent sleepover apparently, involving very little sleep but featuring a late-night snowball fight followed by ice-cream sundaes, party poppers at midnight and some of the guests getting up at 3am to play with the Wii. You'd think she'd have been exhausted, but as soon as I got her home she insisted on going to the nearby outdoor ice-rink to skate for an hour.

My parents, meanwhile, went on a snowy hike in the morning then accompanied me to a neighbour's small party this afternoon. No Wiis or ice-cream sundaes for us, but other refreshments and interesting company made up for that.