Drama, eggcetera

As a treat for the Girl I'd bought tickets for a performance of 'Laura Ingalls Wilder', a short musical about the Little House on the Prairie author. In the end I think I enjoyed the show more than the Girl did, but still. It was also an excuse to see a production at the Egg, Albany's strangely shaped theatre. Although it looks more like a bowl on legs from the ground (or, from some angles, a fat man's trousers) from the air it does actually resemble an egg.

Meanwhile the Man, Boy and our visitor explored the New York State Museum and environs.

After a week of fine weather, today has been variable, with some heavy rain and thunderstorms this evening. It'll do the garden good. The vegetables we planted the other week are sprouting up nicely now, as are my shady wild flowers.

A visitor!

At assembly this morning there was a demonstration of African drumming by a bunch of kids who have been studying it in an after-school class. I was impressed. Oh, and we all sang 'Home on the Range'.

I hadn't planned on going to assembly at all, but we had an urgent call from the bus company soon after waving the children off, to say the Boy was in a state because he'd left Blankie at home. And then I realised the Girl had forgotten her trainers (sneakers) and Friday is a PE day... So I made that mercy dash. I certainly wouldn't have bothered taking Blankie if I'd realised the only reason the Boy was making a fuss was because he was afraid I'd wash the filthy thing. Hmm, wish I had now.

This evening the Man and Boy set off to the station to meet a British friend who is making a detour to visit us for the weekend. One of those Nobel Peace Prize laureates, as it happens, and we're glad to welcome him. I understand Albany's main rail station is a bit underwhelming. Grand Central it ain't - it looks more like a Tesco Metro - and only one train through it in half an hour. Still, the Boy was satisfied to have seen it at last.

Sports report

Among things I did today were:

some quilting; walking a mile there and back to book the kids in for a week of 'outdoor detective' camp during the imminent lo-o-o-o-ng (three months!) vacation; fixing a toilet flush (sorry America, but your toilets really are rubbish); making some tomato and basil soup (but is that t'marto and baz'l or t'maydo 'n' bayzil?).

This evening the Boy invented a strange vaguely football- (soccer-) related game on our deck. It involved trying to kick a basketball under chairs (goals), but if the ball rolled down the steps apparently it was a 'home run'. He has clearly inherited all the ability he has to understand sports from his mother, much to his father's chagrin.

The Penguins are fighting back against the Redwings. I expect you were anxious to know that.

Cut and "come again?" (2)

The Man writes...At the weekend, Albaniana turned to me and said: "It's not your fault, but because those dandelions weren't cut back before they seeded we're going to be overwhelmed by them next year."

Maybe someone could please clarify for me what the words it's not your fault mean in this context?

Taking the hint, I assembled and fired up the new mower. This required fairly close reading of a rather intimidating Operator's Manual. "Warning!" it proclaims. "The engine exhaust from this product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer..."

Lucky we live in New York!

"Important!" it continues in bold type. "Engine is not equipped with a spark arrester. It is a violation of California Code Section 4442 to operate the engine on any brush-covered or grass-covered land."

Slight drawback for a Lawn Mower would you say?

Cut and "come again?"

Went to get my hair cut today at another cheap place (the cheap place I went to last time appears to have closed down). The hairdresser was a surly young woman. I asked her to cut my hair "Dead straight, no layers."

I can only presume that what she heard was, "Not too straight - you know, layers", because that was how she decided to cut it. I couldn't see what she was doing because she'd sprayed my glasses with water so I'd taken them off.

By the time I put my glasses back on it was of course too late. It's not the style I was expecting, but it looks ok.

And what about those Redwings, eh? They shut out the Penguins twice, would you believe it?

No, I've no idea what I'm talking about either. Feel free to hazard a guess.

Memorial Day

...in America marks the unofficial beginning of summer. We managed to neatly bookend the long closed season with another trip to Grafton Lakes, first visited back on Labor Day when last summer 'ended'.

We had, in the meantime, also made an icey mid-winter visit, when we skated on the lake. Although it was a warm sunny day today the water felt like it had only just melted - bitterly cold. That didn't stop the Man and the kids rushing in and splashing about. They looked to be having a lot of fun, so obviously I didn't participate. I was quite content just to sit back on the sand.

Of course the serious side to Memorial Day is commemoration of those who have died in defence of the US. This morning we attended the local Memorial Day Parade, which included veterans and marching bands, a good contingent of fire engines, Boy and Girl Scouts. Also 'Shriners' (Masons) in silly hats.

And there was the obligatory handing out of candy. Our Girl amassed quite a collection then remarked, "I expect there'll be a dentists' float along soon handing out toothbrushes". What a brilliant idea! I'm going to suggest it to my dentist next time I see her, and who knows, if she tries it and manages to sign up a few new clients she might even cut a deal with me - some reduced-rate root canal work, perhaps?

West Winging it

After our trip north yesterday, we decided to stay closer to home today. There was some lawn maintenance to be done (I'd noticed our gardening neigbour looking askance the other day at the meadow of gone-to-seed dandelions that passses for our front yard), and other odd jobs to attend to.

The children both had friends over to play after lunch, then we joined others down at the Town Park. The Girl's visitor invited her back for a sleepover, so I drove her to that, with the Boy along for the ride, and we all ended up staying for dinner, and I enjoyed chatting with an Icelandic house guest who used to work with Bjork's ex-partner.

Before and after dinner the Boy made good use of our friends' trampoline, so I'm hopeful he'll get off to sleep promptly so that the Man and I can settle down to enjoy multiple episodes of The West Wing (second season) on DVD.

Toot, toot..

A grand day out with Thomas at the Upper Hudson Railroad in the Adirondacks...

Hitting the Bar

The Man writes...Having no other option, I watched this week's Champions League Final sitting at a bar. The regular American clientel quickly recognised the true expert among them and I enjoyed answering their questions...yes, soccer is a game of two halves (but with overtime); no, the final is not a best of seven games series; no it was not being played in Moscow in order to introduce soccer to the Russians.

"But that's what I can't take - the Blue guy runs into the Red guy and they both go down like they've been shot," cried the Bartender, as the screen showed the replay of a sickening clash of heads.

Another pan-European item that is equally unfamiliar here is the shandy. I'm very partial to one myself - my favourite being a nicely chilled mix of Kaliber lager and Hooch lemonade. On this occasion a colleague ordered an IPA shandy to go with the footie. "Sure" said the barmaid, but brought back only a straight beer. My colleague then ordered a lemonade and a spare glass. "Sure" said the barmaid, but brought back what we would call a lemon squash back home. My colleague gave up.

Many years ago I did once obtain a shandy over here by explaining laboriously how I wanted a glass half filled with beer and then topped up with Sprite. The barmaid was so surprised she made one to try for herself. "Wow!" she exclaimed, "That tastes just like champagne."

Trowels and tribulations

Bit of a nothing day, really. It rained a lot in the morning. I bought a load of socks, and a trowel to replace a cheap one I got a few days ago that turned out to be made of tin foil.

The Girl was invited to a Laser Tag party after school and seems to have enjoyed it. Never too young to start training as an intergalactic warrior, I guess.

The Boy meanwhile nearly had a playdate, then changed his mind and went out for an ice cream instead.

Blankety blank

The school bus was a little late arriving this afternoon, on account of a near-miss disaster - Blankie got left at school as the bus was about to set off for home! The bus driver was ready to keep going, but the Boy's bus buddies rallied round and forced her to stop - "He can't sleep without it!!"

Later the Girl and Boy watched a Charlie Brown DVD in which Linus dreams his sister has thrown his blanket out of a spaceship. Linus wakes up in a sweat, grabs his blanket (not lost after all!) and plunks his thumb in his mouth. Our Boy, the mirror image of Linus, gave a sigh of heartfelt sympathy and relief.

Meanwhile the Man is very stoical about the latest football disappointment. Life's a (blank), he says

Lettuce prey

We planted some seeds today in our little vegetable patch. Peas, carrots and lettuce. The Man is keen to have fresh lettuce for his sandwiches, inspired by the gardening success of our friend in Saratoga Springs. The Boy is equally keen to grow lettuce - so that we can attract bunnies. We actually saw a rabbit in the yard yesterday, so he may well get his wish.

Also today, I was caringly patronised by my new dentist. We were meeting to draw up a plan of action for my extensive dental repair work.

"How are you today?" she asked gently.

"Fine," I said, "In the circumstances."

"It was an effort just getting through those doors, wasn't it?" she said solemnly.

"Well, not as bad as last time..."

We prioritised the treatment. The dentist kept reassuring me that I can have as many painkillers and sedatives as I feel I need - even when I see the hygienist.

"I admit I'd got myself into a state last time we met," I told her, "but that was because I'd convinced myself you'd be wanting to pull my teeth out. I have had fillings before. And come to that I've done childbirth twice. I think I'll probably cope with having my teeth cleaned."

But whether I'll still be feeling so bold when I visit again next month for the first actual treatment (three fillings and a crown) remains to be seen...

Boy Story

The night was punctuated by the sound of a Boy heaving - yes, another bout of that. It didn't seem to bother him too much and in the morning he was full of good cheer, but of course no school for him today. Meanwhile, for reasons best known to herself, the Girl set out in her old English school uniform dress.

The Boy and I pottered about at home, and among other things read the whole of Enid Blyton's Five Go off to Camp. It has a picture of a train on the cover. It was actually the first time I'd ever read a Famous Five book in its entirety, though I'm all too familiar with the abridged versions on CD.

It was terrible in many ways - all this 'almost as good as a boy' stuff, idiot yokels and ugly nosed poor people and the obsessive listing of food (though since it was written during rationing, perhaps I'll forgive Enid that). But I have to admit I found the utterly predictable storyline strangely compelling. In fact, in its way it was a jolly good read. Smashing!

Those kids in the Famous Five do have a tendency to eat chocolate immediately before bed, though. I bet they lived to regret the youthful neglect of their teeth. I know I have - today I received in the post the summary of the work my dentist plans to embark on. Now if only I could stumble across some buried treasure...

Road kill

You know you're in a different country when you don't recognise the road kill.

I've passed many a dead critter while out driving here, and am only just beginning to feel I can identify any of them with confidence. It still surprises me when I see a dead raccoon at the side of the road. The kids saw a defunct skunk the other day and claimed they could smell it from inside their school bus.

Oppossums are the most common victims. These animals are mainly famous for playing dead when scared, but all I can say is that the performances I've seen have been a little flat.

Anyway, as far as I know I haven't been responsible for any of this creature carnage, and I certainly wish the local animals no ill-will (except one squirrel, just a bit). But say I ever wanted to rid my yard of a particular critter, I'd now know what to do. At a garden centre I've found something I've never seen in Britain: a humane raccoon trap. It can also be used for catching armadillos, apparently - but if I caught one of those round here that really would be a surprise.

Mucking about in the yard

Today we visited our local cooperative extension office. This is part of a national system of agricultural public education offices related to universities, in our case Cornell. Among other things they build demonstration gardens (in fact there's one at our kids' school) and they are a great source of information on all things horticultural. Once a year ours holds a plant sale, and today was the day.

It was not unlike the annual plant sale in Linton - bargain plants a-plenty - though here each one came with a very informative label telling you exactly how and where to plant it. As at the Linton sale, early birds nabbed all the best stuff, but I still came away with a box of good seedlings for our front borders, and the Girl rated the refreshments highly: the cooperative extension hotdog goes straight in at number two on her top ten chart.

In the afternoon we dug some dirt in preparation for a small vegetable patch. We found a small hairy creature in the yard, but she turned out to be quite handy with a trowel, so that was good.

By the way, we skyped with Royal Rockfish and her boys this morning and according to her our kids sound so American they are almost unrecognizable. We don't hear it (well, only a bit) because we are surrounded by much stronger accents, so I was quite surprised. Are we really turning American? You gotta be kidding me!

That's dandy

The Man took the day off work and we got a few things done, including buying our own mower (the one the Man went to mow with last weekend was borrowed from the Exile).

Unfortunately by the time we got the thing home it was about to rain, and in fact it has been pouring down all evening, so it might not be until Sunday that we get to mow our fine crop of dandelions (not that you can actually mow them as they seem just to lie down for a bit then pop up again nicely reinvigorated).

Present laughter

It was a treat today to have a skype session with a bunch of bookfest friends in Linton - great to hear voices and see faces I haven't heard or seen in all these months. Sorry I remained an international woman of mystery and didn't show my face...

Tonight after dinner we were talking with the kids and for some reason discussing how it'll be when they're a bit older, and that they really won't want to live with us forever. 'Stop talking about the future!' the Girl cried, 'I want to talk about the present!'

And of course her parents answered immediately and in unison 'Who said anything about a present?' We all fell about laughing, with at least one of us ruefully acknowledging that the Man's sense of humour has, alas, taken over the whole family.

Birds, bees etc

They always hit you with the complex questions just as they're supposed to be going to bed. The Boy often chooses this time to quiz me about death and related matters, but tonight it was time for 'Where do babies come from?'

Ok, then. As he brushed his teeth I explained the basics as simply as seemed appropriate - but however you put them, the 'facts of life' are always going to sound a bit ridiculous, aren't they? So I don't know what he'll have made of it all. My slight concern is that he'll now go away and discuss his findings with his good friend at school - the friend who recently told him that if you get a sore eye and go to the doctor's, the doctor will take your eye out. Not an altogether reliable source of information, in other words.

Ah well.

Sew on and so forth

Today I've mainly been cutting up pieces of fabric and sewing them back together. Very enjoyable. This is how the project is looking so far...





I shall leave you with the Boy's Thought for the Day (not prompted by any ongoing experience, I hasten to say):

It'd be good if headlice weren't nasty, wouldn't it? Then you could have pets on your head.

Net Personal Irritation

I'm feeling a little grumpy. This is to be expected, as I've discovered today while reading Gross National Happiness by Arthur C. Brooks. According to Brooks I am not cut out to be a happy person at all.

This is mainly because I practise no religion, and would describe myself as a moderate liberal - two factors that get me off to a terrible start, apparently; and although I'm married (which is in my favour) I have kids, which statistically reduces my general happiness; I don't have a job and I'm a bit of a tight-wad; and as if all that weren't enough, I'm European.

Brooks really has it in for Europeans. As with secular liberal Americans, it seems our only redeeming feature is that we don't tend to breed very much and will therefore soon die out leaving more room for happy religious conservatives, who reproduce a lot because their religion and conservatism cancel out the unhappiness caused by having children.

Strangely enough, Mr Brooks is a man of faith with conservative leanings. So I guess he's feeling pretty happy. You might almost say smug.

And now I think I'll just go and wallow in some good old-fashioned secular liberal angst.

Mothers' Day

Spent a peaceful morning pottering about in the yard with the Boy while the Man slumped in gloom in front of the computer reading the football (soccer) commentary in real time. Alas for his beloved Chelsea and Reading.

Having missed out on the best Festival (one last name-check!) of 2008, we had to make do with Albany's 60th annual Tulip Festival. If you are familiar with the Big Day Out in Cambridge (bands, stalls, amusements), it was a lot like that but with added tulips. The likes of Vonda Shepherd (of Ally McBeal fame) appeared on stage. There was also the crowning of the Mother of the Year, since today is Mother's Day in the US. Strangely enough, they didn't pick me...

Stranger still were the crowds. In all the months we've been in Albany I've never seen so many people altogether in the same place. There were long queues (lines) at all the attractions and refreshment stalls - very peculiar! Where did they all come from? Where are they the rest of the time?

Then on to collect the Girl, who had had a most wonderful weekend with her friend and had bonded with the friend's mother, too - she's originally from London and has a fondness for Enid Blyton, Marmite and the Wombles, and other such things only a British heart could treasure.

One Man went to mow

The Boy sat me down and read me a book this evening. It was one from the Little Red Train series. Of course he stumbled over some words ('when' and 'where' are foxingly similar, after all) but had no trouble at all with the likes of 'station', 'freight' and 'diesel engine'...

I wonder if his sudden interest in reading is prompted by the absence of his sister, who is sleeping over at a friend's house tonight? The friend in question, a doll-like looking eight-year old, won her black belt in tae kwon do this morning. So we'll be staying friends with her if we can possibly help it. The Girl was invited to the tae kwon do event, too, so we're now looking forward to seeing if she's developed an interest in breaking bricks with her bare hands.

The Boy had a classmate over to play in the afternoon, and they ran a complicated experiment on the deck. Not sure what they were trying to prove but it involved a lot of water and empty cardboard boxes.

The Man meanwhile borrowed the Exile's mower and gave the yard a long-overdue short front, back and sides.

Saratoga party

Exile #2, E5N1 and I drove up to Saratoga Springs today to celebrate the birthday of our friend and fellow expat, L. S and son also joined the party. L prepared a delicious lunch for us, and we had the chance to admire her recent wedding photos - I'm not sure I've ever seen such a smiley bride!

Then over to school to pick up the kids, and the Girl's teacher informed me that my daughter had just hiked for over an hour around the extensive school grounds with her trouser pockets full of rocks. For reasons best known to herself.

She has always been a habitual gravel collector. But these were BIG rocks. In fact I'm thinking of turning them into a garden feature.

The Man adds...a photo taken in a gas station on my recent road trip. Each pump had its own television. Mine was tuned to the evening news - presumably designed to be a distraction from the shocking gas prices, which have now reached the equivalent of 49 pence per litre.

Stay-at-home mom

I cleared away a patchy section of grass under a maple tree today (took forever) and planted shade-loving wild flower seed. I'll let you know if anything comes up.

Halfway through doing this Exile #2 and baby E5N1 dropped by for a coffee and a crawl, respectively, and it was nice to see them.

The Boy lost another tooth after dinner. This to add to a catalogue of woes - last night we realised that two woodlice recently installed in the Bug Habitat had died. How long is a woodlouse supposed to live? Was it our fault?

The Man got home from his work trip.

And I never did get my bike out. Ho hum. One of these days...

Stepping out

Saw the kids off on the bus this morning, and the Man off in the car - he was heading out of town with work.

The morning was warm and bright, so I did a couple more hours of hard labour in the yard with the usual barely perceptible results.

Car-less, I could have spent the rest of the day at home but after lunch I decided to set out on foot instead. Since I had some overdue items to return to the library I headed in that direction. It was a thirty minute brisk walk, door to door - not bad.

On the way home I called in on a friend and had a glass of water and a tour of her fruit-and-veg garden, and a discussion about the culinary uses of dandelion leaves. I was home again in time to catch up with the latest Linton Bookfest news online just before the school bus rolled up and delivered the children.

After dinner, to my great surprise, the kids insisted on scootering to the library themselves. So I had another hike. I should sleep well tonight. Meanwhile the Man has rung to say he and the car won't be back until tomorrow. If the weather stays fair, who knows I may just dust off my bicycle and see how far it'll take me...

Hot shots

A lovely sunny day today. I had a go at the backyard. The current task is to dig out several hundred dandelions from a border. The yard is a whole lot bigger than our garden in Linton and it's demoralising how little impact I ever seem to make on it, but there we go. Officially no-one does any planting here until Memorial Day (last Monday of May) so as to avoid the risk of frost, so I have a couple of weeks left in which to prepare the ground.

The children had their final Hep shots this afternoon. The Girl took it in her stride of course. The Boy got a bit tearful, though mainly because he didn't like the nurse's choice of bandaid.

To celebrate we strolled out later for 'dinner' at our local cafe - the kids had actually already eaten their dinner but didn't mind a reprise, especially one involving hotdogs and ice-cream.

Cyclone Nargis

So, poor Burma is back in the headlines again, and as ever the news is not good. For people whose lives were already intolerably difficult it must seem the ultimate injustice that nature should come and give them a kicking now, too. There is a grim inevitability about the rising death toll.

But in the midst of such calamity, maybe there is some reason for hope. The military junta, which for so long has held the world at bay, now has no choice but to accept international aid. Maybe this natural disaster will mark the painful beginning of political change in Burma, which no amount of human protest has seemed able to bring about.

I don't know if any relief fund has been set up where you are, but if it has, please give what you can. It may be that our support will ultimately aid even more than the immediate desperate need for shelter, food and water in Burma.

May the Fourth be with you

The Man writes...I'm your host tonight because Albaniana has dolled herself up and gone out to the annual school benefit dinner and auction. I think her main motive is to view the fate of her quilty secret, but she has taken a brand new check (cheque) book with her. I trust her (I think) but all I know about this particular event is that last year a friend bid $1400 dollars for a dinner (admittedly for 8) and lost. Let's face it: that's even more pricey than a motorway service station.

This afternoon we all visited the highly unusual Albany Pine Bush Preserve. Here we found pine trees, shrubs and grasses growing on extensive sand dunes, around five miles from downtown Albany. The smart new Discovery Center explained how the dunes were formed when a large lake that covered this area after the last ice age drained away.

As is usual over here, we had the swanky Discovery Center completely to ourselves for over an hour (and saw no-one else at all on the trails). This meant the kids could make complete fools of themselves in the "video box" doing (in the Girl's own words) "really, really stupid stuff". They also discovered how easy and fun it was to draw arrows in the damp sand around the trails.

Snail's place

Well, they didn't find any woodlice in the end for the new "Bug Habitat", but there was a very small snail. Luckily the Boy managed to convince himself, Tiggerishly, that actually snails are what Boys like best. Its name is Shelley. As exciting pets go it's not far off a pet rock.

Man and Boy then made a quick trip to the local railway model shop to collect a mended engine, and got home in time for some lengthy train-play with a visiting classmate.

And that's about it for our day. No Roundheads and Cavaliers on our streets, but unlike Linton we weren't launching a Children's Book Festival today. Best wishes to all involved with that in the week ahead, we'll be thinking of you.

Lousy ambition

I seem to have been busy all day, but not with anything worth reporting on. Domestic chores, mostly, and a trip to the supermarket.

The Boy has been more cheerful today and seems reconciled to the tooth-loss thing, which is just as well as there's another one ready to fall out any minute.

He received a 'Bug Habitat' today through the mail from my brother's family, and he and the Girl are looking forward to spending the morning catching pillbugs (woodlice to you and me) to put in it.

'Hooray!' he was shouting this evening, running round in small circles of excitement. 'I've always wanted a pet woodlouse!'

The tooth will out

The Boy was fretting as he brushed his teeth this morning. I asked 'Do you have a wobbly tooth in there?'

'No,' he replied, spitting a tooth into the basin. My children are very pedantic.

He then burst into tears of grief and horror. Obviously he'd had the wobbly tooth for quite a while, but was completely in denial about it. I fear he sees this tooth-losing business as just one more step along the growing-up road, and he's a rather reluctant traveller.

And then the dental disaster was followed by his first visit to a US dentist which by coincidence I'd booked for today. The Girl came too. They both did pretty well in fact, although they were hardly enthusiastic patients.

This evening saw us all up at school for 'Project Night'. In the Girl's class we were treated to a demonstration of water pollution in action and a fine display of collaborative art and written work describing the history of the Hudson River. In the Boy's classroom we viewed bird puppets and nests, Mexican-related artwork and crafts and writing about spring.

Kind parents of classmates kept hailing the Boy with, 'Heard you've lost a tooth!' He replied with weary sighs. Even the thought of possible tooth-fairy money was not enough to cheer him up at bedtime, and he has elected to keep the tooth.