Outstanding!

I led another class at Five Rivers today, some kindergartners from Schenectady. When it came to maples they were the best-informed class of 5 and 6 year-olds ever. Wow, they hardly needed me there at all. Still, I think they had a good time - I did.

Breaking news from the UK this evening: Linton Children's Book Festival has just received an award and is now officially South Cambridgeshire's most Outstanding Festival! I feel like a proud mum or something. I bet there'll be a few people walking round the village with big smiles on their faces tomorrow, and deservedly so. Bookfest team, you're awesome!

All part of the service

It has been chucking it down with rain all day. At the car dealers', where I'd taken the car in for a service, the desk guy was joking with a customer - "I'd like to say we've given your car a complimentary wash, but actually we just squirted some soap on it then left it outside for a bit."

"Complimentary" - that's a good one, like you don't have to pay for those "little extras" somewhere in the final bill. Though in fact today I didn't have to pay for a thing. Really! I even made a small profit, thanks to judicious use of money-off vouchers. The Man was very pleased and asked me to marry him.

Taking the car in for a service is the only time I get to watch "Let's Make a Deal!" and "The Price is Right!", two gruesomely fascinating shows that don't make me long for a telly. Today on Price is Right someone called Meredith appeared to be about to win Scotland...but the price was wrong (she guessed too low) so she didn't.

Going on a bear hunt?

I was teaching little ones again at Five Rivers this morning. For fun I had them look out for nuts nibbled by squirrels as we took the route between the maples. They found plenty. One boy got interested in the nuts to the exclusion of everything else, and went into flights of fancy about how the nuts came to be abandoned - maybe the squirrel saw a bear and ran away?

I can imagine his parents' puzzlement later as he told the tale of the squirrel and the bear, which I'm sure by tea-time would have become completely real and a scene he'd actually witnessed.

Mom and Dad must be wondering what kind of dangerous field trips they take kids on at that Five Rivers place.

Bowled over

I've been stitching quite intensively this weekend, trying to get my latest quilt finished so I can hand it in to school where it will be raffled. I enjoy hand-quilting, but it doesn't half wreck your fingers (temporarily) and I'm having to type tonight with my most needled fingers at strange angles to avoid pain. However, I'm very nearly done with the project - just a binding to add tomorrow.

I did break off from sewing to accompany my son to his friend's bowling party. Most of the kids there were about seven and bowled accordingly, though there was one wunderkind, only six years old, who bowled like a pro. He got at least three strikes and five or six spares. His mom looked dumbfounded. He was utterly nonchalant. Beginner's luck? Or raw talent? It was hard to tell. If talent, is that worth nurturing? Can you make a living at ten-pin bowling?

Cohoes Falls

The Man writes...prompted by a recent visit by the Exile, I took myself off this morning to see the Cohoes Falls.


I was barely aware of the existence of these falls, even though they are only fifteen minutes from downtown Albany and are of considerable scale: roughly 1000 feet long and 100 feet high. Since 1831 their power has been put to industrial use: first for cotton mills then for hydroelectricity, and their value as a scenic spectacle has been secondary.

Approaching from Albany you see a small sign at the last minute, turn off and park in a residential street of Victorian houses, and then find yourself on your own looking at this natural wonder from some distance over barbed wire.


In 2008 a new park opened affording a closer look, but sadly it is closed until May 1st. With the Falls at their most impressive due to the Spring thaw and under brilliant blue skies, this was a pity. I certainly hope to return in the Summer.

Eggsplosion at the Y

Though I'll have a lesson tomorrow, today was my last chance to free-skate at the YMCA this season, so I took myself down there for a final session. As I arrived I was concerned to see numbers of people standing outside the building, in a manner that suggested a fire drill.

In fact there actually was a fire, or at least some exploding eggs. A teacher in the YMCA pre-school had started boiling eggs for the children, then forgotten about them - with disastrous consequences. As soon as the alarm went off someone whisked the pan off the stove and that was the end of that, except that of course by then everyone had evacuated the building and fire-fighters were on their way.

Very magnificent they looked, too, arriving in a shiny engine and striding into the building all geared up in their protective clothing to switch off the alarm. The pre-schoolers were delighted - obviously a close encounter with a fire-fighter trumps a boiled egg any day.

Memorable maples

I took a turn at teaching the Maples lesson at Five Rivers today. I had a group of lovely pre-schoolers and their grown-ups and it was lots of fun. Because I don't spend much time around very small children these days I had forgotten how little they know - they really are like blank slates. Lucky them, they have their whole lives before them to fill up their heads with knowledge - only to reach about my age and have it all start trickling out again (like sap from a maple tree).

The most useful thing I've learnt from training at Five Rivers is this: students remember 10% of what they hear, 30% of what they read, 50% of what they see and 90% of what they do. At Five Rivers, hands-on activity makes up the largest part of every lesson - today, for example, I had the kids pretending to be trees, drilling holes, tapping in spiles, tasting sap and syrup and giving a tree a hug. That should have given them lots to remember.

Incidentally, I had to refer to my notes for the exact details of those memory statistics - obviously they'd slipped into the 90%-of-what-I-hear-I-forget category.

Riddle Me This...

The Girl writes...
Okay, I have never written before and probably never will again, but if you like this, do tell me!

I love riddles and today in maths we had some logic puzzles. I also love jokes. I also love codes. So today I am putting together a bumper puzzle edition! Lets start with some jokes.

What is green, grows in a field and has ears?
Grass, it was a mistake about the ears!

What has keys, but opens no doors?
A piano!

Teacher: How was your holiday?
Child: Great. I had fun burying my brother in the sand.
Teacher: That sounds great!
Child: Yes, its been much quieter at home since we left him there!

Kid 1: Why don't you like peanuts?
Kid 2: Have you ever seen a skinny elephant?

Okay, now for the riddles! They will not be answered now. You will have to wait.

A man walks out of a bar wearing all black. A car is coming. The car does not have its headlights on, and there are no streetlights, but the car driver sees him and stops. How?

There is a very smart man. Another man puts him to a lot of tests. The last test was a room of fake flowers, with one real flower somewhere among them. He could not tell by looking, because they were all amazingly made and smelling would not help, because the room was full of scents. The smart man thought a bit, then he opened the window. A few seconds later, he knew which flower was real. How?

Okay, code:

Red This Mirror Blue Is Cart Dragon Pink My Follow Name Green Favorite Girl Boy Brother Yellow Code

Over and out.

It ain't over...

With the kids off doing one thing and another on Saturday afternoon, the Man and I had a couple of hours to ourselves. Before taking a riverside stroll (see yesterday's Normanskill photo) we dropped into Java Jazz, a cafe in Delmar, and discovered that they do very good veggie sandwiches there. Some without cheese, which is rather novel. We shared a wrap full of yummy healthy stuff like salad, hummous and tabouleh. I happen to know that the manager favours using locally grown produce where possible, so that's also very good.

We sat outside - and there's another novelty for this part of the world as there doesn't seem to be much of an outdoor cafe culture here. And Java Jazz's outdoor seating is beside the parking lot, so not that scenic. However, with temperatures in the low 70sF why sit inside?

The weather is definitely more seasonally chilly again now - there's even a bit of snow in tonight's forecast. We haven't quite seen the back of winter yet, it seems.

Wheels in motion

I've had a productive day, but not doing anything particularly bloggable. So here are a couple of pictures from the weekend, back when the weather was fit to be out in (now it's cold again and pouring with rain).

This is down by the Normanskill in Delmar on Saturday afternoon:


And here are the kids having some wheelie good fun in the neighbourhood:



Also, on this World Water Day, here's a link to the Story of Bottled Water video - well worth watching if you've eight minutes to spare.

Cocoa co-op

Today I had the privilege of meeting two fair trade cocoa producers from the Dominican Republic. They are in the US at the invitation of FT company Equal Exchange and are on a speaking tour of our region. This morning they were at the Honest Weight Food Co-op in Albany, and I joined a small group which gathered to hear them.

It was quite inspiring to learn the history of their cocoa-growing cooperative. From modest beginnings in 1988, CONACADO now includes a quarter of the small-scale cocoa farmers in the Dominican Republic, and through fair trade premiums enables farming communities to build resources such as clinics and schools as well as invest in business development. CONACADO farmers were the first cocoa growers in the world to receive organic certification for their crops and their cocoa is regarded as some of the finest available.

For me, it was just great to meet people from the production side of the fair trade equation. One reason I got into the fair trade movement was a growing consciousness that generally these days we have little or no connection with the people who grow or make the things we buy - and that bothers me. Today was a chance to make connections. It was a good experience.

Green ambitions

We spent the morning at school once again, this time for a parent-oriented event, a presentation explaining the school's expanding environmental programme. It's all quite exciting, with plans for more outdoor teaching (making use of all the trails we helped blaze last year), emphasis on exploring alternative energy sources, outreach to other schools etc etc. After the talking we were allowed to play with some of the science equipment the kids get to use in their lessons - model wind turbines, mini solar panels and the like.

In spite of the gloriously warm, almost summery weather, a great part of the Girl's day was devoted to wintery pursuits of one kind another: skating lesson, followed by "Frosty Fun" badge work with her Girl Scout friends. Helped by a Japanese mom they made some amazing 3D snowflakes from origami paper.

Meanwhile the rest of us did other things - but maybe I'll save some of that for another less busy day.

Work and play

We all went to school today, for "student-led conferences", which is when your kids show you what they've been doing at school for the past few months. It was fun. We were impressed by just how much work goes on in the Girl's classroom, and enjoyed finding out what her brother has been up to lately, too (generally he's rather vague when we ask about his school-life).

Then it was work for the Man and a day off for the rest of us. We turned our backs on the lovely weather for a half hour of cold and ice (only a week to go before the local rink closes!). The Girl zipped around and received compliments from several senior citizen skaters. And after that we hung out at home, in the yard much of the time. It was so warm the kids ended up putting on summer tops and shorts.

This evening I've been ploughing on with my quilt - it's coming together well so far...

Stick with me

The other day out in the front yard I found myself picking up lots of sticks and twigs. They had broken off our trees when we had the heavy wet snow just a few weeks ago. As I piled them up by the side of the road I got to wondering if I could find a more interesting use for them than sending them off to the municipal compost facility.

And so here we have today's school sewing project. I'm quite pleased with it, especially the bird's feet. Finally, a neat use for a modern scourge - those annoying pieces of plastic-covered wire that make shop-bought toys impossible to get out of their packaging

Spring greens

Top of the evening to you (as I write this, anyway). St. Patrick's day has been round again. My neighbour (who is not Irish but teaches at a Catholic school) was dressed for the day in an emerald green tracksuit and a big badge saying "I'm a GIANT leprechaun".

It has been another gloriously sunny and warm day. I spent the morning at Five Rivers, where Marvellous Maples teaching has begun. I had an excellent time observing a class of pre-schoolers as they learnt all about sap and syrup - it'll be my turn to teach next week.

Still computer-free, I made good progress on my latest quilt project in the afternoon, then played out again when the kids got home. Though the trees are still very bare, it's exciting seeing the odd sign of new growth in the flowerbeds. The forecast says it will be cold again come Monday, but for now I'm loving the nearly-Spring.

Pieceful day

Day 2 without the computer. Very productive - I started piecing a quilt together. It was a shame in a way to spend most of the day indoors sewing as the weather was beautiful. But I made up for it when the kids got home and we all went out to play. I even got a little bit of gardening done, for the first time this year.

Unmonitored time

The computer monitor packed in sometime late this morning, leaving me in effect computerless. That was a bit of a blow - I had a couple of documents to work on and some emails I was planning to send, not to mention all that time I could have filled googling random thoughts that popped into my head. Or taking a virtual stroll round Linton on Streetview.

Instead I took myself off to the rink and skated hard for an hour. On getting home, I drafted my documents in the old-fashioned way, in a notebook with a pencil, and instead of just googling ideas I set to work on one and managed to turn a cereal box and some toilet rolls into a rather nice elephant mask with an articulated trunk.

The kids were predictably disappointed not to be able to play on the computer when they got home, but pretty soon decided it would be just as much (maybe more?) fun to play outside on rollerblades and a scooter, even though it was rather cold. And then the Girl rang a friend and invited herself round, while the Boy and I cuddled up and read together.

Hmm, perhaps there's something to be said for a less technological life. Could be. And now if you'll excuse me, while I've got the Man's laptop I must just check my email...

Spring forward

I slept in this morning. On top of that, the clocks had gone forward which meant I got up incredibly late.

The Girl has become the lucky owner of a pair of rollerblades which her friend has outgrown. We went out and bought her knee and elbow pads today, before heading down to the park. So here she is, in the gear...



...and in action.

Scent to try us

After a week of fair weather, clouds and rain have rolled in for the weekend and there's a nasty damp chill in the air.

Man and Girl went off on a father/daughter shopping and cafe outing this morning. Then while the Girl and I had our skating lessons after lunch there was a chance for some father/son bonding on the running track, the basketball court and in the swimming pool. After that the Girl went to a friend's house and tried out in-line roller skating, which she took to very well by all accounts.

Here's the Girl with one of the latest must-haves among her peers: a scented pen. Can you guess the smell?

...and a piece of Pi

I started the day up at school, where Pi Day was being celebrated with a special whole school assembly. There were songs, fun facts and sketches with a mathematical flavour, performed with varying levels of skill but plenty of enthusiasm. Inevitably there were also lots of punning pie references - the Girl put in an appearance as a silent apple pie in one mystifying skit. I was pleased to notice that three middle schoolers who yesterday invited themselves to hang out in my sewing class (apparently sewing is the new cool) were all sporting hand-stitched felt pie badges.

This evening I've been out at another school, touting my fair trade message (and having my accent appreciated). I was there along with other local pillar-of-the-community types as a sort of side-event to a talent show going on in the main hall. I was asking kids to add comments to a poster which posed the question "How can we make a fairer world?" They managed to cover most of the big issues, being keen to stop poverty, hunger, pollution and cruelty to animals. One young teenager hovered for ages trying to remember what it was she wanted to put an end to: "Global....global...what's it called? Umm, oh yes! Global warming!"

A pizza cake

You'll no doubt remember that last Thursday the kids in the sewing class asked me to design them a piece of cake. Well, I did, but it turned out to be a trickier project than some of them will be able to manage yet so I'm going to hold it back for a few weeks.

Meanwhile I presented them with this savoury alternative, which looks quite fiddly but in terms of sewing skills actually is... a piece of cake.

Yarning on

It has been another beautifully sunny day, and even warmer than yesterday. I drove over to Altamont where my favourite yarn shop, The Spinning Room, is having a sale - hooray! I enjoy yarn and fabric shops like foodies enjoy a good deli, so I was in there quite a while inspecting all the wares (the colours! the textures! the lovely woolliness!) and came away very pleased with a small bag of bargains.

Wander Woman

I went a-roaming today. I was looking at a map of our area, and for the first time noticed Schodack Island State Park which is not far away at all - a little bit south of Albany, on the east side of the Hudson. I decided to check it out.

Schodack Island isn't really an island, though I think it used to be. Now it's more of a peninsular jutting into the river. Going by all the warning notices at the head of the trail, it can be a hazardous place:




And as if ticks, terrorists and tidal waves weren't enough, a third of a mile down the trail I found this:


Undaunted, I continued along the path and met with nothing more disastrous than muddy feet.

It wasn't exactly a peaceful walk - sounds of traffic and industry were always audible (though come spring and summer a few leaves on the trees might help with that) - but it was pretty, and I was happy to be visiting somewhere new. On my way out I read another notice explaining that the park is a preservation area for several bird species - then I looked up and right on cue saw a bald eagle flying overhead.

Melting momentum

Here are some pictures from our sortie to Five Rivers yesterday. As you can see, snow and ice are melting away fast. The torrent gushing under the piece of boardwalk we're standing on is usually a mild-mannered little creek.



It seems incredible now that the Man took these photos just a few weeks ago.

Girl Scoots and Boy Scoots

The Man wasn't kidding around when he said I was out partying last night. It was the 53rd anniversary of Ghana's independence, so I put on my poshest frock and took myself off to the local Ghanaian Association's celebratory dinner dance. Like you do.

It was very nice. Sit-down meal, live music, lots of people wearing fantastic national dress, and an awesome selection of dancing shoes. Going by this party, I think the fair trade chocolate-themed event I'm planning to hold with the Association in a couple of months' time will be lots of fun.

As for today, the weather has been Spring-like. We didn't take full advantage as some of us have colds and are feeling a bit grotty, but scooters came out for a while, and we made it down to Five Rivers for a squishy scamper round the pond.

Changing menu

The Man writes...it's Saturday night and so Albaniana has slipped on her LBD and gone out partying. This has given me the chance to catch up with a few jobs...like cleaning the kitchen floor.

It has been a bright, sunny day of up to 50F, but winter habits die hard and favourite indoor activities have been pursued: ice skating lessons for both Albaniana and the Girl, roller skating for the Boy.

Albany County recently made it compulsory for chain restaurants to post calorie content on their menus. This seems like a good idea, although nutritional information (e.g salt and fat content) would be helpful as well. A commenter on "All over Albany" gave a link to an article on the the most unhealthy restaurant meals in America, some of which are quite awesomely bad. These include a 3000 calorie main course, and a 1800 calorie kid's dish with more saturated fat than an adult should eat in four days.

Vegetable magnetism

I've had an active and sociable day. I met up with a friend for a long skate at the rink, then went on for a nice-cup-of-tea and enjoyable chat with Exile #2 before hoofing it home. It was a great day for walking - relatively warm, and blue skies. As I neared home I was able to pass the time of day with neighbours lured out onto the street by the good weather. Looks like hibernation may be over for another year.

Yesterday's sewing class had a fruit and veg theme, with a magnetic twist. I think the kids enjoyed the project. It got them thinking about what other "food" they could make from felt, and by popular demand I am now tasked with designing them a sewable slice of cake. Watch this space...

Read Across America Day

Another great RAAD today - one of my favourite annual school events. Lovely puppet show, funny and thought-provoking tales from a storyteller, writers talking to kids about their craft and of course the costume parade around the gym. Here's the Girl in her chosen outfit.

For me the most interesting event was a presentation by author-illustrator Matt McElligott. I watched him with a class of five and six year-olds. Using a smartscreen to show the pictures, he had the children help him read one of his stories. Then he explained, in terms the kids could understand and with excellent use of powerpoint, the process of creating, editing and publishing a book. There was a sharp intake of breath in the room when he revealed that the whole process usually takes about three years - more than half a lifetime for most of the listeners!

My own kids had been madly excited about this day, and the general sense of enthusiasm around school was palpable. When it comes to fun literary events there's not much to top RAAD - with the exception, of course, of Linton Children's Book Festival...

ERring on the cautious side

The first thing I have to do is apologise to my son, who would prefer that I did not tell this story even though it doesn't reflect at all badly on him. But tell it I will, and I can only hope that one day when he's older he'll forgive me.

We spent a long part of last night in the Emergency Room at Albany Medical Center. We'd been to the YMCA swimming pool, and in the changing room our Boy fell off a bench, cracking his head on another bench on his way down. There was blood, quite a lot of it, and I rushed him along to the medical room where they dabbed the injury with gauze and held an ice-pack on it and I tried not to faint.

At that point we would probably just have gone home, if only one of the YMCA staff hadn't said at least eight times that it was up to us but we might want to consider taking him to the hospital for a second opinion, just to be on the safe side. Well, once an idea is put in your head...

Off we went, hoping that it wouldn't take too long. So much for that. As far as I could tell, there was only one doctor for the entire ER. Consequently we spent at least an hour and half sitting on a gurney in a rather dismal corridor waiting to be seen, while this over-stretched doctor whistled by occasionally on her way between patients in far greater need.

We finally got home just before 2am after not the very best night out we'd ever had. But thankfully all is well, and everyone has been just fine today (if a little sleepy).

Late for the post

An unexpectedly very late night and I am REALLY tired. More tomorrow.

Pokemoan

Long-term regular readers of this blog have probably been thinking "It's a while since Albaniana's been to see the dentist. Didn't she use to do that, like, once or twice a week?"

Well, that may have been true once-upon-a-time, but these days I just go for a six-monthly check-up. In fact my dentist is so satisfied that she's done all she needs to do to me that she has relegated me to a secondary dentist. It seems I am no longer a cash-cow - my teeth (I was told today) are doing fine.

The kids are planning their costumes for Read Across America Day later this week. The Girl wants to go as Puck from the Sisters Grimm series - happily a not too complicated costume. Her brother, meanwhile, hopes to be that well-known "book" character Pikachu...