Sweet!

So, as their reward for having to spend a couple of hours in a fascinating museum in Pittsfield yesterday, the kids also got to visit a certain store we'd read about somewhere.

As with our trips to Jolly's, it was very thrilling for us ex-pats to be surrounded by familiar fare: chocolate buttons, curlywurlies, Rowntrees fruit pastilles etc etc.  The kids got quite giddy and loud with excitement, sounding like...well...like children in a sweetshop.  We stocked up, rather too enthusiastically I fear - but it's been such a long time since we've had custard creams or jammie dodgers in the cupboard, and will likely be a long time again.

The Boy was disappointed by the (temporary) absence of Hula Hoops, but not so bothered when the shop's owner (from Sheffield) volunteered that he had himself just polished off the last packet of pickled onion Monster Munch.

Brits 'R' U.S is also decked out with many icons of British culture, in cardboard cutout form.  Harry Potter, Dr. Who's Tardis, Will and Kate.  Is there anyone/thing else you think should be there?

Getting in the frame

What with the Man being away so much this year and one thing and another, it seems like a long time since we had a proper family outing.  We made one today - to the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, which we first visited back in 2008.

Our party may have changed a little bit since then, but the much of the museum still looked familiar, including Wally the Stegasaurus. 

However there were several new special exhibits that were impressive - one about bats (which are under threat in the North East from white nose syndrome);  a collection of Ansel Adams photographs (which the Man in particular appreciated); and an intriguing display of photos by Andreas Feininger likening seashells to architecture.

Although the kids were not entirely in a museum frame of mind, apparently they didn't mind being framed at the museum:

Our further adventures in Pittsfield will feature in a future blogpost...

Friday dining

The Girl is not very given to cooking, but has occasional bursts of interest.  Today she announced that she wanted to bake mini cheesecakes, from a recipe she'd tried at school.  They are certainly mini, yet also quite rich and filling, and tasty - she did a good job.

Since there were no lunchboxes to prepare this morning, the kids fended for themselves during the day and the Man cooked dinner tonight (stir-fry), I haven't had to deal with food much at all today except to enjoy eating it.  And though I am, these days, quite given to cooking, it's good to take a break once in a while.

Into the woods

We've been having a spot of mouse trouble (again).  The current lot are clever little dudes who have somehow sussed how not to tip the humane tipping traps, while still getting away with the bait.  So I did some research, and the other day sent off for some alternative traps.  I was excited when they arrived yesterday so that I could try them out.

These ones have a one-way swing door arrangement.  The mouse goes in and the door swings shut behind it.  And - success!  We found two fat mice inside the traps this morning.

They came along for the drive (still in their traps) when I took the Man to work this morning, and I released them under some trees in a small park beside the Hudson River.  Cheerio, rodent friends, and good luck in the wild - your nights of free peanut-butter nosh-ups chez Albaniana are at an end.  But no doubt we'll be meeting more of your relatives over the next few days...

The Girl also had an outdoor adventure this afternoon, with her Girl Scout troop.  One of the dads took the half dozen of them into the Normanskill Preserve to do some trail clearing.  They worked hard and got pretty filthy lugging old pipes and rusty oil-drums and about 50 breeze-blocks out of the woodlands.  The Girl is up for doing more of the same (elegant on an ice-rink she may be, but she's also not bothered about getting grubby when the need arises) only next time she plans to wear work gloves and proper waterproof boots. 

Big reveal

Much of the morning was taken up with postering all the local community noticeboards to let people know that Friends of Five Rivers is recruiting new volunteer instructors, and free training begins on April 16.  If you are local enough for this to be relevant, here are more details.

And a good chunk of the afternoon was spent down at school, where the sets for the musical are nearing completion.  Not long ago the big backdrop looked like this.  Now - ta-da! - you can definitely see what it is:

Well rehearsed

The Boy had an extra-long day at school today.  Band practice meant he had to get there an hour early, and from lunchtime onwards he was involved with an epic six-hour rehearsal event for his school musical.  Song and dance practice and voice projection exercises, followed by not one but two complete run-throughs of the whole production, in full costume and make-up. Wow. 

Oh, and ice-cream - mustn't forget the ice-cream.

The Boy seems to have enjoyed the day very much, though he came home (at 6 o'clock) quite tired and hungry, not to mention eager to scrub his make-up off. 

The eyes have it

I met the Man at Albany Airport close to midnight last night - safely back at last from his travels.  He had enough sleep to sustain a long day at work today, but now he's conked out on the sofa.

My day featured a trip to the opticians, rather long overdue.  My eyes are healthy enough but I need new glasses, as I expected.  I'll be getting "progressive" (varifocal) lenses, and they won't be ready for a couple of weeks, so until then I'm watching this space (and squinting a bit).

The Boy joined me at set-painting this afternoon, where we worked on a covered waggon and some railway sleepers.  There's not too much time left to get everything done - the first big dress rehearsal is tomorrow, and the show itself will take place the week after Spring- [who are they kidding? Easter-] break. Yikes!  I just hope my new specs are ready by then.

Graphic challenge

The Girl has been hard at work all day on a major school project, for Social Studies.  She's not quite in the "essay crisis" zone (she still has a couple of days before the hand-in date) but it's an ambitious undertaking - a graphic history of the Fugitive Slave Acts - so it's likely to take all the spare hours she still has available.

She's making very good use of old and new technologies - hand-drawing, inking and colouring the storyboard, but then scanning the pages and adding in photos and maps.  I've been very impressed by her skills and her diligence today.  After all this effort, I just hope her teacher is too!

Three, two, one...

This morning I took the Girl to Troy for a skating competition.  It was a return to the Garren, at the RPI rink, where last year she took gold (but there was only one other skater in her group). This year she came third in a strong field of seven, and we both agreed that it was a greater achievement.  She skated well and was rightly proud of herself.

After that I spent some time in Albany, helping two lovely young friends register for the teens' work placement scheme that the city runs in the summer.  There were pages of forms to fill out and sign in advance, but registration itself only took a few minutes, which surprised and pleased us all...

...Especially me, as I then had to dash back to my own suburb to pick up one Boy from Chess Club. A friend had persuaded him to go and he seems to have had a good time.  He even beat a 7th Grader in only five moves - not bad on his first time there.

The Man adds...I have briefly stopped off in England on the way back from Germany to visit my Mum and Dad. Today I had an enjoyable walk round Henley in falling snow. The Thames was running fast and had breached its banks in several places.

These guys outside the River and Rowing Museum were stone cold. They looked vaguely familiar as well.

Inside, the museum was an unusual mix of the natural history and social history of the Thames, together with the history of rowing. It also had plenty for small kids, including a large "Wind in the Willows" exhibit, and a moving temporary exhibition about a local children's hospice. Altogether rather eclectic but very interesting.

 

Whale done!

This morning, an invitation to the much-anticipated 5th Grade Whale Museum.  The students had arranged themselves in the school cafeteria, and the parents poured in and admired all the wonderful whale models and posters.  The kids in the Boy's class had produced PowerPoint presentations about their whales, too, with enjoyably fancy special effects (whirling cubes and honeycomb fade-ins etc etc).

It was hard to pick a favourite among the models. I'm obviously a bit biased towards my own son's efforts, but really they were all great.  Here are a few more, to give you an idea:

 

 

Stuff and nonsense

"Careers" has been a bit of a theme of the week at the Girl's school.  She and her fellow 7th Graders were treated to a careers day on Tuesday, when they got to listen to presentations by various parents about their lines of work - everything from medical doctor to "dog butler" (professional poop scooper).  The Girl didn't provide a parent for the occasion (well, one of them was away, and fun though it is "pillar of the community" isn't really a paying career), but she'd managed to rope in her Indian Ladder friend, whose presentation on farming was well received, I believe.

Today the Girl came home and announced that she'd taken a career survey, with...interesting results.  Software programmer or video games designer I can kind of see as possibilities for her future.  But taxidermist??  Where did that come from?

Pulled every which way

The day started slowly, but somehow turned hectic the later it got, and at one point I was trying hard to be in three places at once, which didn't quite work out for me.  Still, I got the Girl to the local summer camp fair so that she could help out on the Indian Ladder Farms table; and I got to the meeting I had to attend (though I arrived late, then had to leave early to pick the Girl up again); but I didn't get to stay at home and skype with the Man, who is currently in Germany.  Bother

The Man adds...it has been snowing for a couple of days here in Dortmund, but the sun came out this afternoon.

And through the windows  of the restaurant, there was pink cherry blossom and bright blue skies (even though it was 10:30 at night):

Wise choice

So, we had some more snow.  No so much overnight that the kids got to miss any school, but mid-morning it started falling heavily again and I reckon we ended up with 4-5 inches. 

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring, ha ha.

I stopped in at Five Rivers in the afternoon, to say hello to the new owl.  She's a beautiful bird, a barred owl, just a year old.  She was found injured on the road and is missing an eye, so even though her wings are fine for flying she would not be able to survive in the wild.  Now she's set for an easy life, with juicy mice delivered to her on a plate (literally), as funded by Friends of Five Rivers. 

The Boy approves of her name - Athena - which he considers a very proper name for an owl.  He never could understand why the last owl (R.I.P.) was named Aries, which "made no sense at all" (you have to hand it to him, he does know his Greek mythology).

"Some are more equal than others"

Nearly everyone I talk to these days complains "I am SO done with winter..."  Unfortunately, winter is not yet done with us - we're expecting heavy snow again tonight.

I've had a busy day, with a couple of meetings, a scamper round Five Rivers, more set-painting,  and a certain amount of ferrying people about.  The school musical's backdrop is beginning to look like something recognisable (but you'll have to take my word for it as I forgot to bring my camera along today).

This evening I've been introducing the kids to a classic - Animal Farm, the 1954 animated version which we have borrowed from the library.  The Girl, who grasped the allegory more rapidly than her brother, is now keen to read the book.  We also watched a bit of the DVD's special feature about the making of the film, and (trivia alert!) we learnt that one of the producers, Joy Batchelor, came from Watford.  Just like me, fancy that.

Legs a-leapin'

Well, top o' the evening to ya - I write in the closing hours of another St. Patrick's Day, which as I may have mentioned in previous years is a whole bigger deal over here than anywhere else in the world such as, for example, Ireland.

The Girl celebrated by getting together with some of her dancing classmates to perform a few Irish jigs and reels at a local assisted living place.  All the girls danced well and were enthusiastically received. The elderly audience members (many dressed in green to mark the day) seemed genuinely disappointed that the show did not go on longer. 

This was only the dancers' second public performance, and the first in front of a non-family crowd.  From diffident mid-teen to gap-toothed tiny they did themselves proud, so they did.

I say, I say, I say...

A German, an American and an Englishman get in a car and drive down to Newark...

And, er, that's it really.  By now (as I write) they should be at the airport, waiting to board their transatlantic red-eye.  The Englishman is my Man, of course, off again on his third trip of this still short year.

The Girl is a bit red-eyed herself after another so-called sleepover (thankfully not at our house) last night.  The Boy spent half a day at a car show with his buddy and now has all sorts of grand ideas about getting a second car - though for the next few days, one is all we're going to need anyway.

Gold Mine

Quiz for you:  what do all these items have in common?

Around the world in 80 bites

Tonight the Girl was eager to get to her school's annual International Food Festival.  Last year, if you remember, our contribution to the global feast was a plate of chips [fries] with vinegar.  This year we took another classic British favourite - balti curry.

About thirty countries were represented, and the Girl - rapidly turning into quite the adventurous eater - sampled something from every one (except Australia, but only because whatever it was from there had already been eaten).

As I munched my way around the room I ran into a few people I knew, and we exchanged brief conversation between mouthfuls (if you don't move fast at this gig, you go hungry).  And the Girl ran into some of her friends, and one of them squealed at me, "You have a British accent!  That's so cool!!" and I replied with a self-deprecatory smile, "Yes, I know."

Concerted effort

The Man and I celebrated our fourteenth wedding anniversary by taking our daughter to a concert.  We didn't take our son, because he was playing in it. 

It was a much grander affair than the usual school concert because the band (me, I'd call it an orchestra, but same difference) was made up of 5th Graders from all the district's five elementary schools, and they were joined by all the High School instrumentalists.  It was, in fact, a gala event laid on by the local Music Association, complete with a guest conductor.  It took place in the High School gym, and the audience watched from the bleachers.

The Fifth Grade massed band played two pieces (quite impressively); the High School wind ensemble played a Mendelssohn concertpiece with clarinet duo;  then the High School bands assembled to play a sinister piece called The Inferno by Robert Smith and a medley from Les Miserables.  To finish ALL the players joined together for one big finale.

I paid particular attention to the percussion section in each piece of music - now that we have a young percussionist in the family my ears tend that way.  I was happy that the drums and xylophone and other bangable instruments were showcased rather well.  Whether our Boy played especially well it's hard to tell, as he was half-hidden behind a music stand, but he says he enjoyed the experience.  I don't know if he realises how lucky he is to have had this excellent musical opportunity.

Broad canvas

It has been a busy day for everyone, one way and another: early morning skating, band practice and rehearsal, work, Five Rivers meetings, set-painting and a last minute emergency shoe-shopping trip.

The backdrop for the school musical is coming along nicely. Mostly my art/craft projects are on a small scale, so it's fun working on an enormous canvas for a change.

Deep and crisp and even...quite warm

The day of the ice show was one of the few days we've had in months when it felt warmer outside than in - especially when "in" was an ice-rink.  After the show the Man and I decided to enjoy some outdoor-time, and we drove over to the Huyck Preserve.

It's never exactly busy there, and on Saturday we had the whole place entirely to ourselves, even though it's not much more than half an hour from Albany.  The waterfalls were looking rather magnificent.  We followed the path that others before us had trudged into the snow.  Once we got into the woods, at the sides of the path the snow was knee-deep.  No-one had stepped out onto the lake, and the snow stretched unspoilt over it all.

The sun shone down warmly.  It was wonderful to walk through such a snowy scene with, for once, no need for gloves.

Getting moving

OK - here's that video I promised you yesterday.  Sorry, it's very small, but it gives you an idea at least.

We've had a beautiful day today - warm sunshine shining on the remains of Friday's snow.  The Man and Boy took full advantage and went skiing at Willard.  The Girl and I stayed behind, but a least we walked to the library and back (a half-hour stride each way) and enjoyed the weather that way.

The Man adds...it was certainly Spring-like at Willard mountain, where the Boy and I enjoyed T-shirt skiing alongside what seemed like just a few dozen fellow enthusiasts.

The lifts were stopped suddenly about 5:10 - we were told it was not judged worthwhile switching the floodlights on for so few people. The snow itself was inevitably heavy and slow by afternoon, and a single run could make your legs ache. But these are minor gripes: it was a wonderful day to be out and a pleasure to enjoy the mountain and the views in such conditions, which were so different from some of the bitterly cold afternoons we have spent there.

Blossoming Skater

The Girl took part in her fourth ice show today, skating to music inspired by Japanese cherry blossom.  We reckon she did pretty well - but you may be able to judge for yourself tomorrow when we hope to upload a video.

Boxed in

We suspected the kids would get a snow delay today, and they did.  Yay: a lie-in!  Then, as the snow kept on falling, the delay was upgraded to a full-blown snow day.  More yay!  I think we ended up with about six inches of white.  But it won't be around for long - in fact as soon as it stopped falling it started melting, and we're set for a warm weekend.

We used at least part of the bonus day creatively.  The Girl and I had some fun with bits and pieces we found lying around. 

A couple of boxes become....

Girl's Desert Scene withTumbleweed and Alien

Albaniana's Undersea World with Turtle

And the Boy finally got round to varnishing some bird boxes we painted a couple of years ago, so if proper spring ever does decide to arrive the local birdlife will have some colourful housing options.

He who DAREs...

Not content with inviting the car in for a recall every other month, yesterday I received a call from the Toyota dealership requesting that I bring the car over for a spot check on the last recall...  Something to do with wheel suspension vs Albany potholes.  I duly went in today.  All seems to be well, so it felt like a waste of time, but it least it gave me an excuse to drop in at the Salvation Army store to buy a new old jigsaw.

The other event of the day was the Boy's D.A.R.E. assembly.  You remember DARE - the Girl went through the same school programme a couple of years ago, learning about alcohol, drugs, smoking and bullying.  Judging by the essays read out this morning, the message the kids took away this year seemed to be less on potential alcoholic comas and more about learning to evaluate situations, make reasoned decisions and stick up for yourself - all useful lifeskills, you have to hope. 

Our memories are fried

A while ago I wrote about our family day out at the Big E, and the fact that although we didn't exactly enjoy it, we suspected it would turn out to be a day to remember. 

True, apparently.  When the Boy was recently given a school assignment to write about a special memory for a book called "Our Class Memoirs" what did he choose?  One of our visits to the Air and Space Museum in DC?  Surf-jumping in Cape Cod?  Whale-watching off the coast of Maine?  Nope - he remembered the sign for fried Kool-Aid at the Big E, and how weird and disgusting he thought that sounded.

The kids in the class were all asked to end their memoir with a hope or wish for the future.  Of the Big E the Boy wrote:  "I hope we never have to go there again."  In this case, his wish is my command.

Little women

Scarred but undeterred I returned to school for more set-painting action today.  Finished those steamboat chimneys.  White-washed the backdrop flats - after first dragging them out from where we'd propped them and lying them down on the stage.  It was just me and yesterday's shorter-than-me woman again, hefting vast wood and canvas constructions, many times our size.  I have to say, we were entirely awesome.  Never underestimate the power of really quite small women.

Splinter group

For this go-round of the 5th Grade musical I have volunteered to help paint the set.  The first painting meeting was this afternoon.  Not many people showed up.  Myself and an even shorter woman who is coordinating operations attempted to move a massive backdrop from the stage to the floor of the gym, and I was quite impressed that we managed it without either of us getting crushed.  However in the process I picked up a whopping - whopping - splinter in my finger.  Seriously, it was plank-sized - and I couldn't get it out.

I managed to catch the school nurse just as she was locking up her room.  She kindly sat me down and went at my finger with a pair of tweezers.  It took her about ten minutes to wrangle the thing out, by which time - aaaaagh - I was predictably fainty and useless. The nurse let me lay my head on a table and gave me a wet towel for the back of my neck.  What a lovely nurse.  I'm in awe of nurses.  How would people like me ever survive without them?

Anyway, I recovered enough to help paint primer on the foamboard that will become the covered wagon, and black paint on one of the lengths of drainpipe that will become the steamboat chimneys.  We're on our way to the Wild West - though the journey looks set (geddit) to be hazardous.

Of geeks, guys and pies

So, it seems as if the Girl had a good time at her geekfest yesterday. She was back there for more today, and came home with a souvenir T-shirt.

Meanwhile the Boy invited a bunch of friends round.  Their plans to produce a music video didn't quite work out, but for several hours there was a lot of fun-being-had noise from the basement, plus some loud rampaging in what remains of the snow in the backyard.

I spent an entire afternoon baking a sweet potato pie.  If I'd read Jamie Oliver's recipe more carefully in the first place I might never have embarked on the project - the potatoes had to be pre-baked, the pastry had to rest in the fridge, then rest again in the freezer before being blind-baked...and on and on.  It took for-bloomin'-ever before anything looking like a pie ended up in the oven.

 

However, it is a pretty nice pie after all that - even the Man says so, and he's not much of a one for vegetable-based desserts. 

Geeks invade Troy

The Man is back!  I picked him from the airport around midnight.

While he slept in this morning, I took the Girl to join some friends who were heading over to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy for the annual Genericon - "a weekend-long geek convention" for those who love all things anime and sci-fi.  We'll perhaps be able to give you a review of that tomorrow (the Girl won't be home until late).

Then I went on to an inaugural meeting of refugee mentors - we've agreed it will be useful to get together occasionally to share concerns and advice about this line of volunteering.

The rest of the day has gone by quietly, spent mostly indoors except for when the Man and I slipped out and had a, to be honest, fairly miserable walk in Thacher Park.  It was bitterly cold up there in the wind, and there's still plenty of snow underfoot which we were not shod for.  Brrr.  We didn't stay long.

The Man adds...the Girl returns at midnight, talking excitedly about having spent the evening watching "Cosplay Chess".  Apparently this involved people dressed as various fantasy and sci-fi characters playing live action chess "for survival in a post apocalyptic world".  Which you must admit, you don't see every day of the week.   

Two blues

Two blue whales, in all their glory:

 

The baby is called Baby Blue.  The big whale is called Big Blue.  "Or maybe we should call it Kid Blue," suggested the Boy with a sly smile, "And we'll make another even bigger one!"