Monday, November 29, 2010

More About Vintage Toys and Grandkids

Here's that area (described in the post below) like my grandparent's and aunts'. All the cupboards are filled with vintage toys. We're making 2-D shapes from geometric shape blocks. I'm making characters, S is making flowers and Dylan, a robot.



Dylan doesn't know it, but he's also learning about geometry.

This is the first time Sophia has shown interest in Auntie Sylvia's dolls. There are old Scandinavian handknit sweaters and matching hats knit by Sophia's great-grandmother and me, her grandmother, and hand-sewn doll clothes by the two of us. S entered her fantasy world and played by herself with her "children" and then without being reminded, packed them all up in the suitcase and carried them back to the room where they are stored.

Making Grandparent Progress

The grandkids are becoming more and more enjoyable for me as they gain in competence and skills. I've always liked collecting blocks and using them. Now the kids are able to use lots of my collections. This gives me great pleasure and I'm delighted that their parents no longer feel they have to bring the kids own toys to keep them from being bored. Bill Ding was always one of my favorites. S and D are starting to see his possibilities. Checking on line I was surprised to see that this set is still being manufactured and sold. I'm tempted to get a third set which comes with multitudinous diagrams of positions he can hold.

I've made up a toy area in the living area that mimics the one my aunts and grandfather had when I was a child, in the library of their home outside of Phila. One of the cabinets under the books, held the toys that my mother and her siblings had used. My cousins and I never considered these toys boring nor old and "less than" more modern toys. In fact, we were fascinated with them. There was an old orange metal Dusenberg car, a felt hand-sewn Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, a round chalkboard with letters on tracks surrounding the slate.

Just like that area, all my vintage toys are in under cabinets behind a large Oriental rug to play on. There are child size hardwood flat blocks that help stabilize buildings. You can't see the cupboards in the above photo because of the contrast.
We can also play cards with them now! S wants to play SNAP as soon as she is up in the morning. She learned the game quickly and we don't have to hold back too much to let her win! Knowing she needs to learn to lose as well, we do manage to let that happen occasionally. And when she is winning, she often gives us half her cards so we won't feel bad. Games are great.
Almost five, S now wants to assist in the kitchen and at meal times too. She helps set the table and dry the dishes. At one point she sat down and covered the dish she was drying with the towel right there on the floor. It's best to let her do it her way, rather than discourage her by teaching her the "right" way, I think.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

My Two Owl Mugs

My two favorite mugs; owls; one British, one Japanese. Are you jealous?


Saturday, November 13, 2010

Walking Uphill

T and I were reluctant to spend a moment inside today, as the temperature soared to over 60 degrees F. Along the road to Morrison Heights there was a group of loose hens and roosters who clucked and clucked at us, but did allow me to take their pictures. There were still a few leaves left and the way the sun hit them today, they stood out as the most vibrant of the season. There is a lot to be done inside as I leave in two weeks for the winter and won't return till April. Still, on a day like today there is nothing to do but live outside.



At the top of the hill, we dipped into T's brother's house for an espresso, slice of cake and human clucking. We didn't accomplish much, but we sure spent our time well.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

We Always Have Enough

Spending time outside is so essential to my sense of well-being. While Sophia was at school and Cindy was at the gym, Dylan and I decided to spend OUR morning in the Blue Hills. I was struck by how much he has matured and how comfortable he is outdoors. He took great pleasure in examining leaves and dried flowers, collecting small stones and observing the flow of the little stream feeding into the pond by his house. I felt such companionship with him and the day that had been given to us.



Wednesday, November 3, 2010

One out of Three

My collection of used, imperfect cashmere sweaters has grown to the point where I needed to use it or lose it. I have been wanting to create a new sweater from old ones for years so finally I bit the bullet and chose three to cut up and reconstruct.

First there is the Ebay argyle V-neck that Beth gave me a few years ago. It was in good shape, but I didn't use it much. Next there is the pink V-neck Lisa gave me when she found it at her local Drippin' Springs, TX thrift store. It had moth holes, but even so, I wore it a fair amount in MX where I received it in 2008. Lastly is the ribbed turtleneck that was worn out around the seams and edges and accumulated last winter, 2009, in Los Gatos at the Happy Dragon. The buttons are all random from a big, junky collection I bought solely for some kitty buttons amongst the lot that I used on a sweater I knit for granddaughter, Sophia in 2007.

This is how it looks with the turtleneck buttoned up. It's toasty and comfy because it's cashmere and it really doesn't itch.
And this is how it looks with the collar open.
If you look closely you can see that it is completely hand-stitched together. It was a lot of work. The hardest part wasn't even the sewing, but the laying out and fussing around trying to get it to fall right and come together. As with most things, it looks simple enough, but it was nowhere near as easy as it looks.
Yes, I made a cute little label for the inside, from some pink fabric that illustrates Paris sidewalks.

If any of you are thinking, "I want one! I want one!" Please help yourself to the idea, but don't ask me to make you one. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel differently, but right now I don't think I'll do this again. Of course, there MIGHT be a matching hat in the offing.

The Bodhi-softas are a whole lot more fun to create. I'm going back to them.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Moving Toward Winter

On a bulletin board at a local small college was this tiny bag (2"x3"?) ziplock bag and inside was a tiny red hand, a golden flower painted on it and a section of paper doily behind it. I was intriqued but didn't feel free to open it up and examine it. Now I wish I had. It will always be a mystery because I didn't examine it more closely.

The color has been extraordinary around here. Yes, yes, the leaves are splendid, but that is not all. I get rhapsodic over the hydrangea bush whose blossoms have transformed again and again for the last two months. That is a lot of bang for the buck.


Our neighbor has his kayaks all stacked up at the end of their most useful seasons. They are a very pretty family of four, aren't they?
I thought you might like to see the Honeysuckle Popper in action, though in this photo you can't see the pedestal that swivels and upon which my foot sits. To see a video of its use by its manufacturer (a very clever man, Mr. Honeysuckle), click on the Honeysuckle link. It's an impressive device, though just carrying it from the garage to the woods is a strain for me.
We're frantically making use of every sunny day in this part of the world, knowing that soon we'll be inside for most of the day. I have been wanting some indoor workshop time, but it's not to be had just yet, as that October sun has been shining on us creating 60 degrees F daylight hours.

Monday, October 25, 2010

The Honeysuckle Project

A big part of my landscaping project is removing the invasive plant, Honeysuckle, from the woods. No, this isn't the sweetly scented, dear little trumpet vine that I knew as a child as honeysuckle. It is a sturdy, fast growing, weedy, invasive, take -over-the-woods, I'll-eat-your-children-if-I-can bush. If you can tear it out by the roots when it is young, it's easy. Usually you aren't aware of it till it's taken over. I can tear out a fair amount of it by pulling and pulling, terrier style. Failing that, plan two is using a heavy garden fork. Lastly, you bring in a honeysuckle popper which is a six foot crowbar on a pedestal, that is inserted under the crown of the plant and pried out. In the worst cases, I have to call in T's help, but that has only happened about a half dozen times out of hundreds. My neighbor, I'll admit, has resorted to a tractor and before that used a wench.

That green fuzz is honeysuckle bushes making passage impenetrable through the woods. It isn't even hospitable to wildlife, in fact, disruptive.
You can see the line where I've stopped for the season. The foreground used to look like the background.
These woods previously looked like the top photo. Now they're clear all the way to the lake and off to the neighbors.

What I love is partially that it is total grunt work. I don't have to think at all. I just get in there and dig, grunt, dig, grunt. It's great physical work, and I am exhausted at the end of a few hours. Plus I lose weight, maybe because hours go by without a thought to eating.

Sometimes I work with only the natural sounds around me. There are lots of birds, including loons and ducks and geese on the water. Other times I listen to podcasts from This American Life, Radio Lab and The New Yorker Fiction. Either way, it's completely enjoyable and rewarding. I get such obvious results!

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Getting to Eight

The transitions between seasons seems a bit frantic to me, as I think of all that needs to be done in our landscape. In the fall, there is pruning to be done for many shrubs, digging up and dividing of those garden perennials gone wild, and then relocating them, compost to be distributed, bulbs to be planted, holes to be dug for new plants, watering to be done, summer furniture to be put away and so forth and so on. This year I'm working around the new patio and wishing I had a clear vision of how I'd like it to look eventually. I'm not a planner by nature.

I worry less when I am outside about what needs to be done, than I do when I'm inside looking out. Being in nature is so soothing and calming, it's nearly impossible to worry there. One comes back to one's stronger self, connected to the bigger world. It's a predictable sedative.

I can picture my Aunt Thelma working lovingly in her garden and yard in the fall in her plaid Pendleton jacket. Indeed, she taught me the names of the shrubs which still roll across my tongue and mind -arborvitae, euonymous, andromeda. I think of Maggie who loved the fall but not gardening. Together we gathered basketsful of horse chestnuts on our weekend trips in New England to bring to the chidlren in our classrooms. I never knew just what to DO with them, but I bet she did.

Just being outside is bracing and reaffirming of how good it is to be alive. The cooler fall air seems to go deeper into my lungs and the winds that lick my shoulders make me shiver with delight. Above, you can see the tiny floating dock that was covered often with birds drying their wings a month or so ago.
The sky is bigger this time of year and the hue of blue is steely cold, intense, and the perfect background for the yellow beech leaves which you can't see here.
Apples aren't ordinarily the size of grapefruit in my experience, but we have a few that are immense and approaching that size. My hand is barely able to enclose this one which I am about to eat.
Sliced into eighths is my preference for apple-eating, but the slicer-corer couldn't move any further down than 1/10 of the way on this baby. I finished with a conventional knife on the appointed divisions, put the crescents on a plate and added a tablespoon of peanut butter for dipping and called it lunch. This magnificent apple came from Francis Fenton's apple orchard of heritage varieties many, many years old.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Phungus Phase

Apologies, dear readers, for not making it out of the woods with





Phungus Phase

Apologies, dear readers, for more on fungi. This little treasure delighted me, growing all in one bundle, little shoots shorter than my fingers. I am boring you with three photos to emphasize scale. I'm tempted to start a terrarium, or would have been in earlier decades.



Friday, October 8, 2010

More Walks in the Woods

Red Maple Carpet - shockingly crimson and abundant



Two fungi, so clearly body parts. Lisa and DH, what ARE they called?

and the fungi of fairy tales. I checked: no gnomes underneath

Thursday, September 30, 2010

LRRH con't'd

Readers: What kind of date do you think Big Bad Wolf has in mind?

(Spots by Pascal Lemaitre in Sept. 27, 2010, The New Yorker)

Wouldn't Mag have loved this? (See this post) as do I!

Friday, September 24, 2010

Fungi

T and I took a fall hike into the hills in Montville, the Frye-Hogback Section of the George's Highland Path. Fungi was abundant. It was a lovely day for a seven mile hike. As T said, "Delightful lunch (he packed it), delightful woods, delightful weather and delightful company." Because we need a new roof, we are unable to take the Spanish/Portugese hike we had planned so instead we're capitalizing on what's close by. Besides, we got away from the pound-pound-pound on the rooftop at home.





Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Passé

HEY TAVI!!!


Having another sleepless night, I turned to a newly discovered blog . It thoroughly depressed me. It is hip and funny, clever, smart, compelling, savvy and stylish. It is driven by the same blogging unit I use- blogger- and yet it is in a whole different league. It doesn't appear that any money has gone into design, just creativity and knowledge. Here's the killer: The blogger is FOURTEEN years old, the magnificent Tavi. She's au courant at 14 and I'm passé at 65. Check her out.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Two Big Handfuls

Syl and family moved from their 3,200 sq ft house with 5 br/4.5 ba to a modest 2 br/1 ba house this weekend. I helped for the payment of photo of me with the boys. I'm not sure which was harder; rustling the boys to stillness or packing up and moving. Any activity involving these rascals is fraught with constant motion. This was the best we could do.

Monday, September 6, 2010

T's FIFTY-NINTH!

We did a ton of grocery shopping in Freeport and Portland, ran into an old friend I hadn't seen since the eighties, picked up Pete at the airport, met Steve and Patti at Street + Co. for a birthday bash for dear T. Pete, T and I shared the lobster diavlo and still had leftovers for lunch today. Now T is in the same decade I am, at least for a few years.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Queen Bees Take Third Place!

Our spelling bee team, Queen Bees, went down on "sacrilegious." Don't you love a guy who will go in drag for the sake of the team?? That's our TOMasina!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Newly Installed Clothesline

I did it myself (well, almost)! Following Martha Stewart's step-by-step instructions, I bought the hardware and installed this clothesline with pulleys and line separator and line tightener. My motivation was to launder and air out four European damask duvet covers and pillow shams that had been sitting in an old building for at least a decade and smelled rather moldy, actually VERY moldy and mildewy. Dryers work no miracles on these babies.

The part I did not do myself was the biggest of all, sawing down the obstructing, no-account tree between the two chosen ones. T obligingly did that this morning at 7 a.m. I hope the neighbors didn't mind.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

First Time Boutonniere-Maker

The requests of the bride for more and more floral accessories for her local wedding grew and grew. Finally the self-employed part-time florist/friend/neighbor asked me for help. I showed up at her house on Friday morning with no experience but not exactly clumsy fingers. She demonstrated how to make a garden flavored boutonniere from a marigold, eucalyptus leaf and a sprig of either rosemary (for health) or sage (for wisdom). I took to it like a ....well, you know. It was a fine morning indeed, working in her outdoor space, while she worked on table arrangements; one of the loveliest days of the summer; gabbing, clucking, tittering, guffawing and configuring eleven of these little gems for the lapels of the gentlemen in the wedding.