Everyday Life for Four Seasons

I have the best sister ever! She created such a wonderful gift for me, it is beyond words. I'll try my best to sum up my appreciation here, but no matter what I say, deep down I am just speechless.

She took the two years of my blog and had them printed out in book form!


They're not just regular books, they have beautiful, glossy pages with full page photographs. Wow! I have often wondered what would become of my blog down the road - as technology changes, as servers crash, as server space fills up - what will happen to it? What if my children want to view it in 50 years? Then what? Now I know.


She gave me a wonderful, wonderful gift. Thank you Jennifer!

Our little family is home! Just us! Today we skipped the service at our UU church because we want to have some cozy laying-around time. Our lives have been very busy these past few days and we're ready to slow it all down today. Yesterday we did our usual swimming lessons & farmer's market routine and then went to Vermont to celebrate our friend Amy's birthday. All of these photos are from our trip to their home. It was a nice get together. Our children play pretty well together and we adults have been enjoying each other's company for years now so our visits are quite nice.

My sister and her children came to visit a few days ago and we had a very good time with them. They have lots of energy and they wear us out, in a good way! We hit the gym and Jennifer introduced me to the rowing machine. Wow, that's a great workout! A little tough on the sore shoulder, but still a great form of exercise all around.

Jennifer gave me the most wonderful gift ever and I can't wait to photograph it and show it to you.


'A' had her first ballet class on Friday. I stayed to watch - something I will not be invited to do for any of the other classes, I am told (and I think it's just fine). She really enjoyed it and I thought she did a great job of following along with the moves. It's interesting to watch her in situations where she and a group of children follow the teacher. She's a great listener - she listens to the instructions and likes to follow them. During the class, the teacher said, "Now everyone watch what I'm going to do, and then we'll do it together." She started to do a few moves and as she described them, the other kids got up and started doing them too. 'A' was the only one left sitting. I thought, "why isn't she moving around too?" and then remembered that the teacher said that she was going to show them the moves and then they would all do it together. 'A' was still following the original rules!

Anyway, it seems like a good class. We'll see how she likes it as time goes on.


Friday night we went to a potluck dinner for our Northwest Earth Institute discussion group about our food system. It was wonderful to get together for an evening of good food and conversation. I love the discussion group and I'm sad to see it end.


This week: trips to the library to pick up books about composting; a haircut for 'A'; gymnastics, yoga and ballet classes; a trip to the Hyde Collection (for the children's program and to see the current exhibit, An Enduring Legacy: American Impressionist Landscapes from the Thomas Clark Collection); a trip to the Schenectady Museum; and some play time outside. Looking forward to it!

Like everyone, I get scatter-brained or preoccupied with things and I don't focus and live in the moment as much as my mind and body want me to. I often don't notice until something tips me off. Yesterday and today, I went to the grocery store and both times I forgot to bring my reusable grocery bags. That is not like me at all! It's a sign that I'm being forgetful and unfocused instead of living purposefully. And I'll tell you, it's been so long since I've accepted a bag at a store that I felt like criminal when I needed to use them.


Maybe it has to do with our visit to 'H's neurologist today to talk about her passing-out spells. I got no concrete answers, just reassurance that it's probably breath-holding and an appointment for further testing. We'll see what happens.

My sister and her children arrive tonight for a quick visit. A sleep over! We're looking forward to it. Off to finish up the beds....

I read through a book Jeff got from a co-worker called Let It Rot: The Gardener's Guide to Composting, and though filled with tons of good info about composting, it didn't clearly address my specific issue of needing to start a new pile in the middle of a snowy, cold winter. I think it's okay to start the pile in the woods, I think it's okay to leave it uncovered, as long as there is good drainage beneath, and I think we won't be attracting wild animals... but it looks like I'll need a few more books or some more talks with my father and sister (who are both composting experts) to really know.

Gosh there is so much to know about composting! I guess you can either learn about all of the bacteria and living organisms, about all of the nutrients that are released, and about the right way to heat and turn the pile, or you could ignore all of that and just hope for the best. I've decided that I will learn about it (Jeff is going to be so pleased - he just loves all that chemistry and biology stuff) and as I learn it, I'll share it with you. That way when you go to build or add on to your own pile, you'll have some good info under your belt.


The girls and I took the decorations off the Christmas tree today (finally!) and I brought the tree outside to our deck where it will remain in its stand until May or so, green the whole time. What started as a half-joking discussion between Jeff and me a few years ago ("It's a shame to throw this nice tree away. Do you think we could just put it up on the deck for just a little longer?") has grown into a family tradition. It looks so nice outside! Just the right amount of color for this time of year.


I just love these toys that Santa brought. The house turns into a room full of furniture! The little elves, gnomes, fairies, or woodland people, whatever we happen to be calling them, are so adorable. They're tiny little things, just right for tiny little girls.

I've been giving some thought to Santa lately. 'A' asked me how long Santa has been alive, which lead to me get the book Christmas: A Candid History from the library. Santa's been coming for about 200 years, and the hype around his visit has been getting stronger and stronger as the years go on. There are many things about the Christmas holiday that have pagan roots, such as the celebration of lights, honoring the green branches of the pine trees and mistletoe, celebrating with a harvest feast, playing music, and exchanging gifts. These things make sense to me. The consumerism and the hype around Santa has never really felt right, and now that I have children, it really doesn't feel right. This year we let Santa bring all of the gifts for our children and we didn't wrap anything up for them from Jeff and me. Next year we're going to do things a little differently. Santa is allowed to bring anything that will fit in the stocking, and everything else comes from us, to be unwrapped later in the day. That seems like the perfect solution. I don't want to take away from his magic, I just don't want his magic to be all there is to Christmas.


In case you're wondering about the toys Santa brought.... click here and here.


Black-eyed peas for dinner tonight (not just any black-eyed peas! I'm cooking Creole Hoppin Jean from the Vegan Soul Kitchen) with a side dish of roasted kohlrabi. Mmmm... food is wonderful.

:: Flying Squirrel ::

The girls and I went out in the yard to follow some tracks today. Finding animal tracks in the yard is fascinating and a bit unnerving too. Standing in the very spot where an animal stood just a few hours ago has so much meaning. On one hand, it makes me feel even more in awe of all that Mother Nature has created, and on the other hand, it creeps me out.


:: White-tailed Deer ::

I found a dog-like track and spent some time flipping through my Scats and Tracks book trying to determine if it was a red fox, grey fox, or coyote. I decided it was a red fox, based on the fact that it walked in a straight line, with the hind print placed directly inside the front print, the stride was 32" long, and the claw marks were showing. Also, I have seen red foxes in my neighborhood, so it wasn't something that surprised me. I followed the trail from the woods behind our house to the front yard, where there were quite a few smaller prints running all around the place, and then the fox trail abruptly turns around and goes back in exactly the same footprints to the woods behind the house. Dinner, anyone?


:: White-tailed Deer dinner leftovers ::


:: Activity of some sort, and I didn't have enough time to check it out ::


The girls and I went to the library today to pick up a book that was on hold for me, The Good Soldiers. I've seen so many reviews of the book in so many places, and I finally decided to check it out for myself. Now that I have children and so many things to do all the time (things I want to do, so yes, I bring it on myself), I'm not a "cover to cover" reader anymore. I skim to get the gist. That's what I plan on doing with this book too. Hope it's a good, easy read.


The girls have a lot of books checked out right now, including: Grandmother Winter, Good Night, Fairies, Snowmen at Night, and Elmer in the Snow. Those all have great stories and great illustrations. I love reading reading them stories that appeal to both their literary and artistic imaginations.


What's for dinner? I have a few minutes to put it together before we go to the gym. I have zero imagination or creativity in the cooking department today. On hand, I have beets, kohlrabi, spinach, carrots, potatoes, brussels sprouts, cabbage and kale. Maybe a rice dish?

Hi there. I told you yesterday that I signed up to participate in Hip Mountain Mama's One Small Change project. It didn't take much thought to see that I need to address the issue of compost in our house. Over the summer we bought a big black compost bin and put it in our sunniest location. Fast forward several months later, and the bin is full. It's winter here, which means lots of freezing weather and snow, and our compost pile isn't moving along as quickly as we would like. The pails we fill in the kitchen are piling up with nowhere to go. We're at a compost crisis point - what do we do? We have to start a new pile, obviously, but where? In the woods? Covered? What about our animal friends - the deer, racoons, squirrels, foxes, coydogs, black bears? Will they want to start spending all of their time in our backyard? What happens when the real snow comes in - the foot deep snow? Will I want to trudge back to the woods?


What about our current pile? How often do we turn it? What is the right balance of things to add? What will the quality of the compost be? When might it be ready to use in the garden and on the lawn?


These are some of my questions, and you've got a month to follow me as I post the answers here.


In the meantime, I was out shoveling the snow from the driveway this morning and saw something I never thought I would see - droppy, sad-looking snow on my car. Maybe it wanted to be on the ground with the other flakes?


While I was outside, the girls were inside staying warm and drawing pictures of dinosaurs. They also made "a piano" out of some glasses and water, and used markers to tap the instruments and make music. I just love my girls! They are so creative!

A snowy day here again. Library books about animal tracks and photography have been fetched, the bird feeder has been retrieved from storage and cleaned, and black oil sunflower seed has been purchased. Today we woke leisurely, skipped church, played with blocks and dolls, read stories, and then headed out to the hardware store and the library. We meant to take the Christmas tree down this weekend, but a bit of laziness got in our way, so it's still standing.

Today I signed up for Hip Mountain Mama's One Small Change project, where I will make 1 "green" change in my life for the 4 months leading up to Earth Day (April 22). I'm going to think about my January change and let you all know what it is tomorrow, and you'll have a chance to hold my hand as I work through it. Parts of my life are pretty solidly environmentally-friendly, and other parts could definitely use some work. I mentioned yesterday that I want to learn more about water and electricity conservation and about composting, so those are three topics right there that I can work on. I'll sleep on it. You'll be the first to know!


Jeff returns to work tomorrow after a long weekend off. We've enjoyed spending so much time together over the holidays and now it's time for us to return to some degree of normalcy. I'll be happy to have my routines back.

Check out this happy place I found on the internet today.

Christmas... the New Year... all has come and gone. I enjoyed it all immensely. I made many of the gifts we gave this year and it gave me so much pleasure. A beach blanket, a clothes pin apron, cuddly cozy lap blankets, doorway puppet theater, and some other goodies. Did I take photos of any of them? Of course not, that would be too simple! I'll have to shoot them in use over the coming year.


I'm not a resolution-making type of person, but I do usually have a running list in my head of things I want to learn, do, do better, or truly embrace. Here are a few of the things on my list:

Make myself a fabulous purse to replace my too-big-these-days-and-certainly-too-heavy diaper bag

Make some puppets to go with the puppet theater

Pick up some blue ornaments on sale this week and have the girls make some snowman handprints (thank you Julie for the idea!)

Start feeding the birds in the backyard again

Get a book on animal tracking from the library and track in our woods. Yesterday I took the pamphlet we got at the State Park on a short walk with me and found fox, deer, squirrel and bunny prints. I wonder what else is out there, and what their tracks mean?

Learn more about photography and find some new inspiration

Go ice skating with my family

Keep going to the gym

Continue to eat as much local, organic food as I can

Learn more about water and electricity conservation

Continue to be bad at multitasking and good at focusing and living in the moment

Tune into my cats a little more and listen to what they are telling me

Learn more about composting

Visit more museums in our area


2009 was a wonderful year for my family and I can only hope that 2010 is half as good. Cheers to you and your family!