We've had a good season, despite the strange weather. The boys helped quite a bit this year, and are pretty proud of themselves.
Ollie loves to munch out of the herb garden.
A farmer boy has to catch a bit of relaxation somehow:
Thursday, August 27, 2009
harvest
We've had a good season, despite the strange weather. The boys helped quite a bit this year, and are pretty proud of themselves.
Ollie loves to munch out of the herb garden.
A farmer boy has to catch a bit of relaxation somehow:
Monday, August 24, 2009
summer fun
My mom was just here for a nice long visit between moving out of one Manhattan apartment and into another. We did all kinds of fun stuff, starting with the Co*mo Zoo and Como*to*wn.
They have an amazing butterfly exhibit right now.
By strange coincedence, Sparky the S*eal died two days after I took this picture.
We took our time, ate a nice lunch, and then Omie treated us to a trip on a sternwh*eeler boat down the Mississippi.
It was the first time in their conscious memory that they'd been on a boat, which they'd been asking about forever. Ollie now claims that Omie will take him on a submarine someday. I've tried to emphasize that a subway is more likely, but he's not entirely convinced his dream will never happen. We'll have to straighten this out in November, when we go to New York for Thanksgiving (and see the new apartment!),
The next evening, Grandma and Grandpa came over. (Sorry, Steve --I got no good pics of you that day).
The front yard is a popular place these days.
Here the boys are "making a map", mostly out of the contencts of their nature basket, which is filled with items from our walks.
No*ah scoots himself along like this by raising and lowering his rear.
Trike jam.
Shucks.
This was the view from our front steps on National Night Out, a block party night where the streets get blocked off. It was very well attended, and the kids loved the visiting fire truck and being able to run in the street.
2 Sunds*seths on a log at Minne*haha Creek, a creek near our house that feeds into the Missi*ssippi. In a few days, we're heading up to It*asca State Park to camp and wade in the headwaters of the Mississippi.
Totally random picture- but I love it because I love how the boys will sit quietly and draw or read books together. They also do their share of wrestling and hollering, but they seem to enjoy finding some peaceful moments together these days.
"Look, Mama! For our nature basket!"
We went on a summer hike to the wildflower garden with my mom too. A few weeks earlier, Joe*l and I and the boys went to the Quak*ing Tama*rack Bog in the same park, and Ollie fell into the muck. He was completely submurged, and I pulled him out by his arm - kind of scary, because what if we hadn't seen him fall in? It was much deeper than it looked, and he can't swim. But he was ok, if sputtering. Ollie has a great attitude, and being carried back to the car in just my sweatshirt he was already saying, "that wasn't funny at the time, but it's kind of funny to think about now!" I was still pulling muck out of his ears and hair a couple of days later.
Wishing you just a little more time to run around in the sunshine!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
we are four: everything is hilarious
--including carrots, apparently. You never do know for sure what's coming when you tug on those green carrot tops - could be 7 inches long, or one. This simple fact caused so much laughter picking carrots this afternoon that they were crying.
This about sums up where we're at right now - much enthusiasm for life, much wonder, much silliness and boisterousness. I have a lot of photos to catch up on, but that will have to wait for another day.
I do want to say that we came waaaaay too close to a tornado that hit Minneapolis yesterday. The boys and I were coming back from their piano lessons in our station wagon, and a tornado hit on one side of the highway we were on (94, by 35 W and right near where it hit the Elect*c Fet*s Music Store), then bounced down again on the other side of the convention center, 2 blocks the other side of us. And we were oblivious to the reason for the big sheets of rain and greenish sky until we heard on the radio where a tornado had touched down just before, when we'd been stuck in traffic. Only then did the sirens go off. About 40 houses were damaged in S. Minneapolis, some pretty badly, and many trees were uprooted or snapped off.
There's debris everywhere in some places, and power was out to 7300 people, but not a twig was out of place on our block or the one where Jo*el's parents live. Me*agan and Phil's block was hit, though - but they and their building are OK. Tornados are very strange that way - leaving devestation or major damage in one place, and not touching another. Other tornados touched down in a suburb and in nearby Wisconsin. But no-one was hurt, and I'm sure some people were at least brought together in the community spirit I love my city for, so I'm counting my and our blessings. I hope you have many to count this summer as well.
We're positively drowning in vegetables - canning, eating as fast as we can, freezing, and giving some away and to the food shelf. It's been strange weather, but a good growing year nonetheless--I honestly don't know how this cold summer with feast-or-famine precipitation ended up being my best tomato year ever, especially for those big, meaty heirlooms we wait all year for. Will try to catch up with more pictures (including of my mom's visit a couple of weeks ago) soon.
This about sums up where we're at right now - much enthusiasm for life, much wonder, much silliness and boisterousness. I have a lot of photos to catch up on, but that will have to wait for another day.
I do want to say that we came waaaaay too close to a tornado that hit Minneapolis yesterday. The boys and I were coming back from their piano lessons in our station wagon, and a tornado hit on one side of the highway we were on (94, by 35 W and right near where it hit the Elect*c Fet*s Music Store), then bounced down again on the other side of the convention center, 2 blocks the other side of us. And we were oblivious to the reason for the big sheets of rain and greenish sky until we heard on the radio where a tornado had touched down just before, when we'd been stuck in traffic. Only then did the sirens go off. About 40 houses were damaged in S. Minneapolis, some pretty badly, and many trees were uprooted or snapped off.
There's debris everywhere in some places, and power was out to 7300 people, but not a twig was out of place on our block or the one where Jo*el's parents live. Me*agan and Phil's block was hit, though - but they and their building are OK. Tornados are very strange that way - leaving devestation or major damage in one place, and not touching another. Other tornados touched down in a suburb and in nearby Wisconsin. But no-one was hurt, and I'm sure some people were at least brought together in the community spirit I love my city for, so I'm counting my and our blessings. I hope you have many to count this summer as well.
We're positively drowning in vegetables - canning, eating as fast as we can, freezing, and giving some away and to the food shelf. It's been strange weather, but a good growing year nonetheless--I honestly don't know how this cold summer with feast-or-famine precipitation ended up being my best tomato year ever, especially for those big, meaty heirlooms we wait all year for. Will try to catch up with more pictures (including of my mom's visit a couple of weeks ago) soon.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
outside
On the 4th of July, illegal fireworks in our neck of the woods (and their attendant noise and air pollution) go off in every direction. We took a peaceful walk in a nearby bird sanctuary and garden and wore the boys out, and thankfully, it worked: they slept right through explosions 2-dozen feet from their heads.
The boys are still fearless climbers, but they're also good at it.
Earlier that day, we also stopped by the children's garden that is run by their school, because it was our "week" to caretake the garden. I was so impressed by what we found there. We watered, weeded, and composted.
There are edible herbs, a "shiny things sculpture", and "hopping stones" so the kids can get right in the middle of everything.
This hangs in the garden to give parents and kids a little inspiration:
It's kind of hard to see in the pictures, but the childrens' painted rocks line all the garden beds:
The "secrets box", as the boys call it. (Click on the photo to read the text):
The logs are used like blocks, for looking at the bugs underneath them, and for making the outlines of "houses", among other things.
As I've mentioned before, the boys have their own garden this year, but they enjoy almost every part of our yard. How kids enjoy outdoor space is something that really interests me, and how we use our small space is always evolving. I try to make sure they have some hiding spaces that are private and cozy, because I loved those as a child. I have such fond memories of playing outside alone or with my brother as a child, and what all my favorite places--our backyard in NY, my grandmother's beautiful garden, the tiny patch of woods near our house in California-- had in common was a combination of openness and privacy, formality and wildness, the ability to notice tiny things and also move my muscles and use my strength. I am happy that this is possible even in our own small yard, as the boys hide behind the raspberries or under the spirea bushes, then launch themselves off of their play structure onto a giant plastic ball and vault onto the lawn. Sometimes, they run circles through the front garden and around the crabapple tree, then roll down the hill onto the sidewalk, stopping to look intently at an anthill for several minutes. They have some ownership over being able to grow things in their own space. To help them to be able to observe something of the natural world, we have several bird feeders and pay close attention to the insect life in our yard. Both boys can tell a weed from a vegetable, and will pull pig weed, crabgrass, and clover for the chickens to eat. They can dig in the dirt, and forage, and just generally play in a natural, spontaneous way. Sometimes, I'm right in there with them, and we do quite a bit of talking about it all, but more often I'm doing my own yard work near their play, or even making dinner and glancing out the back window on occasion.
The preschool garden gave me so much inspiration, and gratitude that we've found a school that values some of the same things that we particularly value. The preschool garden is an even smaller space than our backyard, and yet it is such a magical space. Perhaps the boys and I will do some rock painting this summer, or make a "shiny things sculpture" to keep the birds off of our raspberries, or build a bridge out of a plank and some firewood. Perhaps next year we'll put an herb garden in the boulevard and, as I've seen in other neighborhoods and we are doing at church, put up a little sign offering some of our bounty to any neighbors who want to take some. The possibilities are endless, right in our own yard.
The boys are still fearless climbers, but they're also good at it.
Earlier that day, we also stopped by the children's garden that is run by their school, because it was our "week" to caretake the garden. I was so impressed by what we found there. We watered, weeded, and composted.
There are edible herbs, a "shiny things sculpture", and "hopping stones" so the kids can get right in the middle of everything.
This hangs in the garden to give parents and kids a little inspiration:
It's kind of hard to see in the pictures, but the childrens' painted rocks line all the garden beds:
The "secrets box", as the boys call it. (Click on the photo to read the text):
The logs are used like blocks, for looking at the bugs underneath them, and for making the outlines of "houses", among other things.
As I've mentioned before, the boys have their own garden this year, but they enjoy almost every part of our yard. How kids enjoy outdoor space is something that really interests me, and how we use our small space is always evolving. I try to make sure they have some hiding spaces that are private and cozy, because I loved those as a child. I have such fond memories of playing outside alone or with my brother as a child, and what all my favorite places--our backyard in NY, my grandmother's beautiful garden, the tiny patch of woods near our house in California-- had in common was a combination of openness and privacy, formality and wildness, the ability to notice tiny things and also move my muscles and use my strength. I am happy that this is possible even in our own small yard, as the boys hide behind the raspberries or under the spirea bushes, then launch themselves off of their play structure onto a giant plastic ball and vault onto the lawn. Sometimes, they run circles through the front garden and around the crabapple tree, then roll down the hill onto the sidewalk, stopping to look intently at an anthill for several minutes. They have some ownership over being able to grow things in their own space. To help them to be able to observe something of the natural world, we have several bird feeders and pay close attention to the insect life in our yard. Both boys can tell a weed from a vegetable, and will pull pig weed, crabgrass, and clover for the chickens to eat. They can dig in the dirt, and forage, and just generally play in a natural, spontaneous way. Sometimes, I'm right in there with them, and we do quite a bit of talking about it all, but more often I'm doing my own yard work near their play, or even making dinner and glancing out the back window on occasion.
The preschool garden gave me so much inspiration, and gratitude that we've found a school that values some of the same things that we particularly value. The preschool garden is an even smaller space than our backyard, and yet it is such a magical space. Perhaps the boys and I will do some rock painting this summer, or make a "shiny things sculpture" to keep the birds off of our raspberries, or build a bridge out of a plank and some firewood. Perhaps next year we'll put an herb garden in the boulevard and, as I've seen in other neighborhoods and we are doing at church, put up a little sign offering some of our bounty to any neighbors who want to take some. The possibilities are endless, right in our own yard.
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