Market day

I've had a full, busy day, involved with another Fair Trade market.  At a different church (Methodist) this time, but most of the same vendors from last time. 

The event went well.  Not the huge crowds and big spenders that we attracted in the run-up to Christmas, but still a good turnout, and we ended with the general plan of doing it all again next spring.

One of the best parts of these events for me is getting to talk to people, and watching as people make connections with each other.  Over here, a shopper listens with interest as a vendor explains the origins of a necklace - the Indian village it came from, the artisan's story.  Over there, a local teacher discusses with a Guatemalan fair trader designs for a unique product range to sell at her school.  A couple of longstanding FT advocates sip coffee and strategise on how to keep on growing the movement.  A woman from Kenya explains to a volunteer from Taiwan about the soapstone carvings she's selling, decorated with scenes from African daily life, and they chat about their respective home countries.

Much of what appeals to me about fair trade is the connections that it makes between people: between producers, vendors, purchasers and advocates.  All these different people are brought together, to become part of a friendly revolution.  It's a movement I feel very happy to be involved with.

Princesses and poetry

So, what did you all think of The Wedding then?

I wasn't even sure I was going to watch it, but since the Man and I woke up at 6am anyway we decided we would.  In fact, we'd first been woken up at 4am by the shouting of a roving  BBC World Service reporter, getting wildly over-excited interviewing not very interesting members of the crowd along the Mall - but we'd switched her off and managed to sleep for a couple more hours.

Well it was all very lovely, wasn't it?  Beautiful dress.  Good service.  Liked the indoor trees.  Nice to see the guest list included every British person known to Americans - the CNN live-cam lingered lovingly on Posh 'n' Becks and Sir Elton, and also Helen Mirren in that yellow top hat (what's that?  Not Helen Mirren?  Oh, that was the actual Queen...).  Presumably Ricky Gervais was also lurking around in the background somewhere. 

The Girl and Boy were up in time for the balcony scene, including the kiss(es) - yuk!  The Girl proudly sported a Union Jack on her T-shirt when she set off for school, but the Boy kept a lower profile.  I had genuinely expected that the other parents I usually see on the morning school walk would, I don't know, congratulate me or want to shake my hand or something - but no, despite the massive media build-up over here, no-one seemed the least bit interested.  I guess they don't want us back to reign over them again, after all.

We've noted that the happy couple have opted for the title Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, rather than Albany, which was the other hot favourite, and given that we have connections with both we wonder if we're meant to take that as a sign.

In other news, our own Princess had an achievement today, scooping 2nd prize in the local library's annual poetry contest.  Great work, Girl!

Jersey Notes

The Man writes...

1. It's illegal to pump your own gas in New Jersey. The only other State which has this law is Oregon. You might think petrol would be more expensive as a result, but it's actually 10% cheaper than New York.

2. In North America a building has a 1st Floor or a Ground Floor, not both. Except for our hotel in Cape May. This is how by booking a 2nd Floor room we ended up one story/storey higher than we intended.

3. Getting to our 2nd Floor room wasn't as challenging as climbing the 199 steps to the top of Cape May Lighthouse. The view from the top was worth it though.

4. The view of lighthouse at sunset was particularly special. Living on the East coast it is a rare to see the sun set over water.

5. At several places on the beach, a hurdles race for giants had been set up. Or maybe not. We never found out for sure. Suggestions?
 

The big reveal

Much of my day has been dedicated to working on a new leaflet for Friends of Five Rivers.  This included taking a walk at 5R itself, for inspiration purposes.  I saw plenty of geese, and little birds in their brightest come-hither plumage, signs of much beavering in the Beaver Tree Pond, plus I had an encounter with a tiny, fearless chipmunk. 

After what has seemed like weeks of cold and rain, two days of much warmer weather have brought on the foliage no end.  It's been humid too (my hair is a good humidity gauge - today it's all over the place).

You are no doubt all on tenterhooks about the Girl's mystery animal, so without further ado (drumroll)...

It's a squirrel!  It was in the zoo.  We never said it was a "zoo animal". (Unlike the Mute Swan, which was definitely an exhibit, with a board which described how in Britain most swans belong to the Queen).

Arms, legs and teeth

As chronicled previously in this blog, I am blessed with a small mouth, which has caused me all sorts of dental woes over the years.  Unfortunately I have passed on this wonderful gift to my kids, the Boy in particular.  Today, rather dreading what I was going to hear, I took both children to see an orthodontist.

Orthodontistry is big business in this country, where just about everyone aspires to a perfect smile.  Every other kid you meet has a mouthful of metal.  I just assumed both my children would be prime candidates - so I was surprised and relieved when the Girl was dismissed from the chair with a "Not too bad, maybe braces further down the line, but for now we'll just observe."  Yay!

For the Boy, alas, a different story.  He needs remedial intervention now, possibly multiple kinds, and it ain't gonna come cheap.  But ah well, surely the sacrifice of an arm and leg will seem worth it one day when our son flashes us his knockout Hollywood grin...

You have another day to squint at the Girl's animal challenge.  Though methinks some of you aren't taking it entirely seriously.

Bit of an animal

It wasn't supposed to be a day off school, but the Girl took one anyway - she had to really, as she'd been sick in the night.  She felt fine after the event, as usual, and she happily embarked on a reading marathon as soon as I got back from the library with a stack of new books for her.

A few days ago, at Cape May County Zoo, a healthier Girl snapped this mystery picture as a challenge for you blog-readers.  Can you spot an animal?  She says that if you can you will earn her greatest respect (and let me tell you, that's some prize).

Off to a tee

We spent much of the day at home.  There was an Easter egg hunt in the morning, but although the kids love the treats I fear the whole exercise is more about indulging their mum these days.  Too bad they're in such a hurry to grow up.

The Man did a good job of painting our recently-stripped downstairs loo, and was eager to get out after that.  Library and YMCA were ruled out - closed for Easter Sunday - but the driving range next door to Hoffmans Playland was open for business.  Man and kids had fun bashing golf-balls about while I stood by - tennis elbow and my historically unreliable temperament around golf clubs precluding my participation.

Hoffmans was looking on the sad side, virtually empty in the drizzly late afternoon.  This can't have been much of a holiday week for them.  But at least the Easter Bunny put in a cheerful appearance, waving at passing cars, and eliciting a few beeps in return - even a quick friendly waa-waa from a police car.

No more bank holidays over here for a while - not like you lucky folks in Britain, with a Royal wedding and May Bank coming up, after another day off tomorrow.  Jammy lot.

Grin and bear it

We woke up this morning to cold driving rain and a power cut.  Marvellous - welcome back, ha ha.  The rain continued all morning, but fortunately the power cut only lasted an hour or so.

In the afternoon we took the Girl down to Five Rivers, where an Earth Day event was in full swing.  It was supposed to be happening outdoors, but the weather had forced everyone inside.  Perhaps also on account of the weather there weren't huge numbers of visitors, so without any queueing at all the Girl got to meet reptiles, make paper in the shape of a fish and try out different tools replicating bird beaks. 

Good old Smokey the Bear (symbol of the US Forest Service) was also there, reminding us that "Only YOU can prevent forest fires".  Endless rain can't hurt either, I suppose.

The kids dispersed to friends' houses, and the Man and I headed to the DIY store for more supplies.  An older guy and and a younger guy were working in the paint section.  The older guy was singing along to the '50s rock 'n' roll background muzak ("Sorry, but it's the music I grew up with"), and got curious about what his younger colleague had grown up listening to.  It turned out to be the Beastie Boys.  I suddenly started wondering about the music of my generation.  What will I be forced to sing along to one day when I'm in a nursing home?  Wham!?  Depeche Mode?  Frankie Goes to Hollywood?  It doesn't bear too much thinking about.  Especially as I actually spent my adolescence listening to Henry Hall and Ambrose on a wind-up gramophone.  Always the tearaway, me.

Easy on the eyes

The temperature today was 20F or so cooler than yesterday (which was 20F cooler than the day before), so quite chilly down on the beach and in fact just generally.

We had planned on returning home today anyway.  On our way we stopped off to spend the afternoon at the Cape May County Zoo.  It's very good, about the right size and with an interesting variety of creatures, most of them not looking unhappy.  As an attraction it's all the better for having no entry charge, so that we didn't feel obliged to force any members of our party to get their money's-worth by spending half an hour looking at the giraffes, when they really wanted to press on and see the zebras...

...or do a spot of (not too challenging) birdwatching. 

And then, the long drive home.  It's funny, whether you go away for two weeks or two days, coming back feels much the same - like you've been gone so long, and yet no time at all.

Seaside special

We've had a good day, starting early with the first of several shell-picking expeditions.  The beach has been lovely again today - not too hot, not too cold, and practically deserted all day long.  We've all had a healthy dose of sunshine and sea air.

We drove over to the Cape May Point lighthouse in the afternoon and climbed the 199 steps to the top for views of the bay.  Then the Man and children made the long walk back across the sands while I brought the car back to base. 

We've dined out well, and ice-cream has featured.  We've played mini-golf without too much angst.  Tonight's sunset was, if anything, even more spectacular than last night's.

We've also done a spot of grockling in the gift shops along the way.  But the most fun has definitely been finding so many free gifts from the sea: huge whelks and clams, pretty shells and shards and sea-glass.  We have sackloads to haul home.

April in May

Here's last night's post, delayed due to dodgy Wi-Fi.

We're at the seaside! Yesterday we drove south for five hours, away from the shivering cold rain and hail of New York's Capital District to New Jersey and the pleasant breezy warmth of the Jersey Shore.

Cape May, at the southernmost point, has claims to be the oldest beach resort in the USA, and it's all Victorian elegance. Like Brighton, but smarter. It's still off-season here, and it almost feels like we have the whole place to ourselves.

The beach-front itself is beautiful - a long, long stretch of pale sand. Too cold for swimming in the sea, but there are shells and other sea-treasures to collect, and last night we watched the sun set behind a lighthouse.

Oh, we do love to be beside the seaside!

Back to stripping - after all these years

I haven't been called on to do any stripping for quite a while.  When the Man and I first started living together I seemed to be doing it all the time, it was almost like a second job (though of course, I never did it for money).  But you know, the years go by and one way and another I'd rather fallen out of practice.

So today when I learnt there was going to be some stripping action I was a little uncertain.  A girl can get rusty at these things - had I still got what it takes?

Oh yeah!  The Man and I, we had the downstairs loo (bathroom) stripped of wallpaper in no time!  There were some fiddly bits (aren't there always?) around a light fitting and a mirror, but otherwise - no problem.  Amateur stripping at its finest!

And otherwise, we took the Girl and her friend to the Albany County Hockey Facility skating rink, which is just about to close for two months. It is handily near the airport so the Man and the Boy were able to hang out and watch planes and enjoy the rather nice "Keeping Time" exhibition, while the rest of us had fun on the ice. 

Sunny delight

It's raining again tonight, though the rest of the day wasn't quite the wash-out we'd been led to expect.  In fact it was bright and clear this afternoon when the Man (who is off work) and I visited the DIY store to stock up on paint supplies.  We then had a choice of painting the deck, or the hall...  As the sky started clouding over we opted for the hall, and enjoyed slapping sunny yellow on the walls.

Meanwhile the kids had a friend over and among other things they watched the DVD of the Girl's school musical, so now we've got all those songs running through our heads again.

We sang some in the car this evening when we went out for a meal at the shiny Capital City Diner (we've been there before when it was under different management), where we all fed well and some of us so fully that I'm not sure I even want to look at food ever again.

Spring cleaning

Another quiet day here in Albanianaland.  We did some clearing out of the Boy's bedroom and chucked away a lot of stuff, so that was an achievement.  The Man and Girl had less success on a furniture-buying expedition - who'd have thought that beanbags and director's chairs would be so hard to come by?

It has been cold again, with rain this evening, but we can't really complain.  At least we're not being battered by violent storms and tornadoes, unlike other parts of the country. 

That's royal

With one thing and another I've had quite a busy week, especially yesterday, so I'm happy that today has been quiet and uneventful.  Less happy that the weather has been cold, turning to cold and wet - not the most promising start to the Spring vacation.

According to the supermarket tabloids here, the soon-to-be-royal bride is pregnant already, and if the baby's a girl they're planning to call it "Diana".  Yeah, right.  Is that the news in Britain, too - or would they chop your head off for suggesting such a thing?  The royal wedding is certainly prompting a fair bit of interest over here.  How does everyone feel about it back home?  Is it doing its job and taking your mind off the recession?  Can't wait to watch it, or can't wait for it all to be over?

What's the scoop?

Five Fair Rivers Trade-off

Wearing two volunteering hats, as I do with my Fair Trade and Five Rivers work, can sometimes be quite complicated - especially when I try to wear both at the same time.  Today I found myself at a local school's Earth Day celebration, a gathering of various Green-ish groups presenting displays and activities for kids on an environmental theme.  For one reason or another I had ended up responsible for running both a FT and a 5R table.

Luckily I had other volunteers lined up to help me out...but when one left me in the lurch at the last second there was a frantic spell when I was leaping between tables, one moment explaining where chocolate comes from and why cocoa farmers deserve a better deal, the next demonstrating fly-eye lenses and encouraging kids to handle honeycomb and a real tarantula ("Is it dead?" "Well [with a bright smile], it's inside a paperweight - what do you think?").

Fortunately a friend showed up to run the FT table, guiding the kids as they designed their own chocolate wrappers, and another appeared on schedule to do the afternoon shift for 5R, so all was well, a good time had by all etc etc - but it was, all in all, quite a tiring day.

I'm history!

As regular readers know, I'm very loyal to this blog and post something here almost daily (and I usually have a good excuse if I don't).  But I also occasionally blog elsewhere, on a forum for local readers.  It's on a much more ad hoc basis.  Anyone can contribute pretty much anything as long as it's vaguely local, but my pieces tend to be issues/events-oriented.  So my style there is less chatty and, between you and me, sometimes quite insufferably worthy and sanctimonious.

Anyway, tonight someone had organised a semi-formal gathering so that other bloggers on the same forum could get together and meet with each other and "our public".  So, along I go to the library to meet my blogland compatriots and find... that apart from the organiser and the blog moderator, er, I'm the only panelist.  Could it be that the other bloggers are all shrinking violets, too shy to come out from behind their screens?  Does the fact that I showed up at all mean I'm just a completely outrageous exhibitionist?

As it happened, the blog-reading public weren't there in their droves either - which was kind of a pity, as the blog-moderator had some interesting things to say.  One of which was that young people hardly blog at all (they're all too busy on Twitter) but that women between the ages of 35 and 54 blog like crazy.   And another thing we learnt is that no blog entry on this particular forum is ever removed once posted - it's there for posterity.  We bloggers, and the people who add comments on our postings, are writing the historical record of our era for future generations...

That is an awesome but also slightly appalling thought.  But not to worry - future generations won't be interested in reading anything longer than a tweet.

Gripping stuff

I mentioned the other day that I was "losing my grip".  This wasn't just a figure of speech.  Though there isn't a great deal to be done for tennis elbow, the doctor did recommend that I try some physiotherapy, so that's what I went to do this morning.  When the physio tested the strength of my grip it became clear that my right (problem) arm is now considerably weaker than my left.

She made me do various exercises, some of which hurt more than others.  She did some ultrasound treatment on my elbow, and wrapped it in a hot pad for a while. All of this may or may not have done some good, I don't know yet. 

But there was one truly magical treatment (and I may mean that literally).  She had me try to grip something, and I couldn't do it well.  Then she said "Now I will point this low-level laser at your elbow, and when I've finished you will be able to grip easily..."  And it was true!  I could, and - for that instant - with no pain at all.

The thing is, when she spoke she sounded like a hypnotist (and I know about this because I once underwent a course of hypnotherapy - on the NHS, can you believe it? - to try and cure my lifelong haemophobia).  So was the laser actually achieving anything?  Or was it just the power of suggestion?  In which case I'm more suggestible than I used to be, because despite all that hypnosis I still faint at the sight of blood.

Snail mail and inky fingers

A few weeks ago Insanely Livid sent me a letter.  A real one, hand-written on proper writing paper, posted in an envelope.  I found it in the mailbox - how lovely! 

And on Friday, at the fair trade conference, I needed to write something down and I was lent, for a moment, a beautiful ink pen.  The weight of it in my hand, and the wonderful smooth flow of the ink onto the paper took me aback, and made me happy.  They had us use ink pens at school because they said it made for better handwriting - and I think they were right.  More careful writing, anyway (though our fingers were always ink-stained).  But it's years since I used a real pen.  The last time I owned one was eighteen, maybe nineteen years ago.  It was a gift from a friend, and I did love it, but alas I lost it - it fell out of my pocket in a marketplace in Grenada.  Well, if you're going to lose something as intrinsically romantic as an ink pen it had better be somewhere exotic, I suppose. 

Vanishing arts - handwriting, and letter-writing.  Why did I need to borrow that pen the other day?  To jot down an email address, of course.

Oh my...

The temperature just tipped past 80F today, so that was rather summery of it.  I did some yardwork, and noticed that our blossom trees are beginning to think about putting out blossom - and only a week ago we were walking on a frozen lake.

Look what's appeared in our yard...  Worthy of the Omi Fields Sculpture Park.

Ultimate boredom buster

The sky was blue, the air was warm - it felt like planting weather.

I already had some seeds, of course, but we still needed potting compost and so on.  So the main outing of the day was a trip to buy garden supplies.

Before heading home we dropped in at the Miyako Japanese restaurant in Guilderland (just outside Albany) and bought a noodle lunch - being sold there today in aid of the Red Cross earthquake and tsunami relief fund.  There was a yard sale going on, too.  We were happy to support them in doing their bit for Japan.

This afternoon we planted lots of seeds in pots - now we just have to wait and see what comes up.

Later the kids were complaining that they were bored.  I gave them an ultimatum - come up with something to do in the next two minutes or...tidy your rooms.  Surprisingly enough they instantly realised that in fact they weren't bored at all and had many extremely pressing things to attend to.  Funny, that.

Albany's best kept secret...

...is its excellent Tourist Information centre.  Sorry, I should give it its proper title, the Albany Heritage Area Visitors Center.  It's in Quackenbush Square in the historic heart of the city - where pretty well nobody goes - so just like the Huyck Preserve last weekend, we had the place to ourselves.

I tried visiting it before once, but it was closed.  Today the Man and I were luckier.  We got to look at a rather nice exhibit exploring Albany's history and industries (did you know the modern billiard ball was invented in Albany?  No, me neither), and we poked around the gift shop admiring Albany-themed souvenirs (postcards of Nipper and suchlike).  Then we stocked up on maps of New York State, and tourist brochures for local sights we've still not seen - there's a stately home or two we haven't visited yet.

We had to do our reconnaissance quite swiftly, as we were advised when we arrived that the place was closing in five minutes - at three o'clock.  To be fair, on weekdays it's open longer, until four.  As noted above, it's not in a "high traffic" area, so I guess there's not a lot of call to be open later than that. 

Also in the building is the Henry Hudson Planetarium, but that's only open to the public every third Saturday, which today wasn't.

Before they locked us out we managed to pick up a leaflet detailing a walking tour of downtown Albany.  Unfortunately we had to get somewhere else, otherwise we would certainly have done the tour and, I'm sure, enjoyed the historic buildings.  Still, it gives us a good reason to revisit downtown sometime soon.

After all, this has been "our" city for three and half years now - it's probably time we got to know the place...

Good night, Siena

Tonight - the last performance of the Musical.  I didn't go to watch, though I went in to help clear up at the end and caught the final finale.  The kids took their bows to wild applause - but it still wasn't quite all over for them.  As soon as they were out of their costumes they went steaming along to the cafeteria for an exclusive cast & crew party.  Much noise and mayhem - but they certainly all deserved their special celebration.

I'd spent the earlier part of the day at a Fair Trade Conference, a sort of mini-version of the big event I attended in Boston a few months ago.  I didn't have to travel far for this one - it was hosted by Siena College, which is just outside Albany.  Siena is proud to have been designated New York State's first Fair Trade University (it's only the third FT Uni in the whole USA).

It was a good day.  Informative sessions, and a useful networking opportunity.  I came away with a couple of new ideas to work on for promoting fair trade in schools and the local community.

Showtime!

Tonight's 5th Grade Musical performance - The 1890 Music Hall Revue - was a triumph!  The kids, all of them, did a wonderful job.  Three months of rehearsals and hard work has certainly paid off in a show to remember.  No doubt the cast will perform with just as much gusto tomorrow night, too - before collapsing from exhaustion.

Highlights?  Some wonderful ensemble dance routines.  Boys cavorting merrily in grass hula skirts (don't ask).  The drop down screen displaying photos of teachers (including the female Principal) wearing handlebar moustaches.  Boys and girls on stage attempting to link arms without actually (ugh) touching each other.  But don't get the wrong idea.  This was a really professional production.  The utterly awesome music teacher had high expectations of these children - which they more than met.

And of course there was a certain Girl, sashaying across the stage, participating in all her song and dance numbers with great animation and delivering her one line with aplomb (and a distinctively British accent).  She was clearly loving every minute of it.  She's come such a long way - we're as proud of her as can be.

The roar of the greasepaint...

I spent the afternoon at school, helping out in the girls' dressing room as the 5th Graders prepared for the first proper performance of their musical.  The show was being filmed (out soon on DVD!) and the whole of the rest of the school was there to watch and enjoy.

Preparations went pretty smoothly as the kids found their costumes (just the odd hat or pair of tights gone astray - soon remedied) and had their hair done and make-up applied.  A little flouncing of skirts and foofing of wide-brimmed hats was all in order, given the excitement of the occasion.

Because the Man won't get to see the performance until tomorrow night I'm not allowed to say much about it.  Only that his little Girl will make him proud.  And that I'm fearful there may be structural damage to the school building:  when the music teacher, who has put her all into directing this show, joins the kids on stage to take a bow the roar of the audience may just take the roof right off the auditorium.

Spring greens and pearly whites

Spring doesn't quite happen here in upstate New York, or at least not in the same breathtakingly magical way that it happens in Britain, and not at this point in the year.  After the snow melts there's a period of leafless dreariness, some blossom for a day or two, then, blink, and it's summer - that's more how it seems to go.  However, I noted some signs today of what passes for spring: crocuses in our front yard.  There should be a few daffodils, too, in a week or two, thanks to my efforts in the fall.

The main event of the day was the kids' trip to the dentist.  They survived the usual cleaning ordeal and what-not, and were once more (to my astonishment) both declared cavity-free.  In celebration we, very wickedly, decided not to hurry straight back to school.  Instead we stopped off at a diner for a late breakfast (well, we had all had to get up terribly early in order to make the appointment, and sitting around with your mouth open makes you very hungry).  Half and hour, a huge muffin / pancakes and bacon later, and two very full and cheerful children were ready to rejoin their classmates.  See, going to the dentist can be fun!

Here's a waterfall photo from our walk at the Huyck Preserve on Sunday. We think we've got the eery video working now as well...

Losing my grip

I'm having a spot of mouse-related bother.  But, for once, not that kind of mouse...
 
Since sometime in January I've been having trouble gripping plates as I lift them out of cupboards, and lots of odd twinges in my elbow, especially when skating.  It was all manageable enough, until the other week when I tried to play badminton with the Girl and found it just hurt too much.  I made an appointment and today went to see the doctor.

She was very nice.  Came into the room saying, "So, trouble with your right elbow, is it?  We haven't met before, have we?" and she shook me by the hand in a way that was friendly, firm and, to be honest, quite painful. 

It didn't take her long to diagnose lateral epicondylitis, or put another way, classic tennis elbow.  Not caused by tennis (obviously), but very likely by too much mouse-clicking at the computer.  There's not a whole lot to be done about it, but it's the sort of thing that should get better eventually - especially if I'm careful and take pain-evading action, such as switching the mouse to my left hand and avoiding things like ironing (every cloud!), playing racket sports and, of course, shaking hands with doctors.

Nature notes and musical notes

We all survived the night, and only the Girl was left with a bit of a "sleepover hangover".

The Man and I took a hike at the Huyck Preserve in the afternoon. 

Nearly all the snow near home has gone now, so we were quite surprised to find lots of the stuff here, especially in the woods.  We enjoyed trudging through it to the still-frozen lake, then back again past a rushing waterfall.  Apart from one other couple and a dog we had the place to ourselves - as usual.

On our way back, strange noises as we descended the the hill near the start of the trail stopped us in our tracks.  There was a shrill squeaking sound, which we thought might be a red squirrel in the pine trees, but turned out to be a falling tree-trunk rubbing against a branch.  And an odd whoo-whooing - just the wind in the trees?  It sounded like a ghostly harmonica player.  We've tried to capture it for you here:

A word on the new look of this blog:  inspired by the Exile, who's recently remodelled his, we were tinkering around yesterday with different blog templates.  I wasn't wholly committed to making a change but...in a moment of distraction I pressed something and completely lost the old format.  So here we are.  Hope you like it.

Seven-eleven

When we moved out here, the Girl was only seven. 

Today she turned eleven.

She celebrated with five other girls who are now "sleeping over". Tomorrow we'll probably all feel a year older.

Forget-me-not

During the week the weather forecasters had been making dire predictions of heavy snow today (up to a foot!), ice, falling trees and branches and widespread power outages...  But in the end we had a bit of snow in the morning, followed by a lot of drizzle.  Not much of a storm at all, in other words - and thank goodness for that.

So there was nothing to stop us getting out this evening to Java Jazz for a Quiz Night reprise.  This time the cafe owner, who has become a friend, was running the event as a fundraiser for the same Dominican Republic school we collected for at our party in January.  Between us we'd drummed up seven teams of (mostly) four and the tiny cafe was packed.  Great atmosphere! 

The Amnesiacs were back together to defend their title...only I had to jump ship at the last minute to boost numbers on another team ("Fools Rush In").  But even one person short, the "forgetful" ones - including the Man, with his rather shocking command of celebrity gossip - were still triumphant (which makes me wonder if I was just excess baggage all along?).

The most challenging round of the evening?  Had to be the hula-hoop.  Some women friends of mine aged 50-ish turned out to be remarkably good at this - but me?  Hmm, not so much. 

All in all a fun night out, and it raised around $400 for a good cause.