Labor Day Hike

Sean had to work today so it was just the girls and me. Since Quinn is used to getting up early we were all up before 6 even though I would have preferred to sleep in until 8. We had a nice breakfast of Zucchini bread (isn't everyone eating tons of Zucchini bread this time of year?) and headed down to Reservation road to Hike Pawtuckaway's Boulder field.

There are tons of caves, and the girls enjoyed some spelunking in them. The rocks are huge and of varying levels of difficulty for climbing. Most of the climbing is the free climbing sort - no ropes required. Quite a few, in fact I'd say all of the good rocks have chalk residue from previous climbers.

This is Ali on top of the Lower Slab (yup we New Englanders sure can pick romantic names for things can't we) Check out the next picture for some perspective. Ali's in the same spot, can you see her?
We turned around after these and did some more cave exploring, and then we came home. Next time we're taking Dad 'cause he'd be able to give Ali some boost up to better rocks and maybe free me up from Quinn carrying duty enough to pack a lunch and some drinks and we could picnic up there.

Pawtuckaway is such a neat place. There are so many glacial deposits, every trail is a winner. I love it there!

Goodwill score for Ali

Ali had her inaugural goodwill shopping spree today. Around here the good children's clothes are found at specialty children's consignment shop, and we've shopped those her whole life as well as hand-me-downs she's real big on hand-me-downs. But she's outgrown children's clothes, and she's the same size as her cousin, and Sam-me-downs don't come as often as they used to when she used to live here. Soooo I took her to goodwill today.

The loot:
Fake fur full length coat (she looks like a bear)
a hot pink fun fur hat (to go with the bear coat)
6 wicked awesome shirts
a pair of shoes
a pair of slippers
2 belts and
a pair of corduroys

All for less than $50! And that included an overstock pkg of socks for yours truly.

Good Deal no?

So after we hit up Goodwill, we went to Jo-Ann's and got some coordinating material and some pretty ribbons to make some headbands. We also got a couple pants patterns - the fleece is cheaper at Ben Franklin so we'll pick that up later, but the pattern we got is suitable for both fleece and rip-stop nylon so her fleece pants and rain pants for the environment camp will be all set. It's a teaching pattern too so that'll be great for Ali to learn on.

It's not often I go shopping, and we got terrifically lucky, so this was a good day.

Green Autumn Mittens

Well they aren't green, and it isn't Autumn yet but boy are these fun!

I can't put them down. They're like a new toy. Thank you Jared! These are spun with Molly's fleece, and will be for Ali's camp layette. She wants them fuschia so we'll dye them after they're finished (I couldn't wait to get started on them). Oh fun, fun fun!

Decisions, Decisions

Please Lord, help me to make a prudent decision. I am weak Lord, I need the strength to stick with the decision you help me make....

Ok so it's not that bad really. Nothing earth shattering certainly. But I have a tendency to want to do everything and participate in every challenge that comes my way and I get overextended and beat myself up for not being able to do it all.

It's Barbara Chlorite-Ventura's fault. She was the one who sent the notification that the new site for the MS4 was up. I signed up this morning.

I already have multiple shawls in my mental queue. I have already committed myself to knitting Ali the Environment Camp layette, I have 1/2 a sweater another pair of socks, a hat and a pair of mittens yet to go and it all needs to be done before the last week in October. Poor Quinnie keeps asking "Quinnie socks?" and I keep telling her that when Ali's stuff is all done then Quinnie will get some socks and a sweater. Granted her socks will take me like an afternoon, and a sweater, maybe a week, but still...

Also, I tried the MS3 last year - I was able to keep up all right, but I never finished it. I didn't like how it went asymmetrical and I don't really like stoles anyway, I prefer big comfy climb inside shawls. And it was in the Summer, not the fall. Fall is traditionally busy.

I signed up for the Growing challenge and how many posts have I made to update that? Alright I did do the challenge stuff, but failed to post regularly about it.

It's lace...with beads! OH! how can I say no? We'll see how it goes. I can always just print out the clues and knit it later, but then it won't be a surprise...Oh I can't decide.

Help!

Camp sock progress

Been plugging away at the socks Ali needs for camp. Let's take a look at the progress shall we?


As you can see I'm doing pretty well. I have to finish the second sock on this pair and then I have one more pair to go. The local hardware store has started carrying this new to me sock yarn. Let me just say that any sock yarn the hardware store sells is worthy of purchase, no matter what the brand or the material content of the individual yarn. I think it's wonderful that a hardware store carries sock yarn at all so I want to encourage them to continue to carry sock yarn and the best way to do that is to buy it. However, I've got to say it's not torture, nor do I feel I'm lowering my standards at all with this yarn. I normally dislike the Red Heart brand even among other acrylics because I find the yarn too squeaky and it makes me grind my teeth. This yarn, however is completely different from any Red Heart yarn I've ever used before and I really like it. It's 70% wool (that's probably why) 30% nylon - compared to Regia, 75/25 wool/polyester or Opal 75/25 wool/polyamide. It feels almost exactly the same. I love it! I'm not really feeling any effects of the aloe, but maybe Ali will have softer feet when she wears the finished socks. I mean come on, only the very tips of my fingers and the left hand ring finger touch the yarn while I'm knitting so it's not like I'd get baby smooth hands anyway. Herrschners has it for $5 a ball, in case your hardware store doesn't carry sock yarn (and if you ever see a ball for sale there buy it!). It's a real bargain.

An actual argument

I have two autistic boys on my bus this summer and what follows is an actual argument they had this morning...

K - "Hey guess what? Did you know..."
E - "not now"
K - "that the.."
E- shoots K a nasty look
**short pause**
K -"Oh, I'm sorry"
E - "I was reading. You interrupted me."
K -"I'm sorry, E. I was just exited about this new book I have. Do you forgive me?"
E - "Yes."

We should spend as much time coaching our non-autistic children on how to behave civilly as we do our special needs kids. The world would be a much nicer place to live if we did.

Visit with Sammie

Ahhh summertime. I'm not going to say the living is easy - far from it in fact with a very headstrong, very mobile, two year old. But today it was a little easier because we went to visit with Sammie. Sammie is the swim instructor at the Nottingham town beach.

This beach is actually on the same road as we are but over the town line. So Sammie's been doing this for a few years now and has built up quite a rapport. We go down there occasionally to chum up the sister after her lessons are all over with. We had a great time swimming there today.

It's a twister! It's a twister!

Wow!!

So we had a tornado on Thursday. My family was safe, as were all of the kids on my bus (a couple of them live really, really close). I still haven't heard from my boss or the people at base, and I'll take a drive up there later today as they just opened the road. I know my boss is OK though, 'cause one of my co-workers who I spoke to saw her on TV, and I'm assuming the damage to the buses was minimal 'cause the news would have been all over it otherwise.

One of the little girls that came to Ali's Birthday party last night lost most of her house and her next door neighbor. Here's a picture of her Dad from the Boston Globe:

Interestingly, this is the fourth deadly tornado to touch down in Deerfield. Wow!

I'm glad it's over.

Coming up for air

Briefly taking a pause to give some updates on life at the O'Brien household. Ali has turned 11.

We had a really hard time deciding what to get her until I heard about a benefit concert that Pete Seeger will be performing for the strolling heifers in Brattleboro VT in September. So we got her 2 tickets and she and I'll be going to the concert and attending the reception afterward. It's going to be a fun night, and I hope she remembers it always.



We spent the day at Grammy and Papa's boat. We had an Om put on her cake 'cause she'd just finished yoga camp.

My gardens are is doing well and I finally got all my tomatoes in the ground. I still need to find something cheap to hill my potatoes in (cheap mulch hay anyone?) . I got some fence sections for my birthday last month and Ali and I spent Saturday putting up the first 3. They look awesome - much better than the old fence, but they'll look even better once I slap a coat of paint on them and plant a nice little perennial garden in front of it.

I've gotten both sleeves and a third of the back of Ali's Peace sign sweater done, and I'm nearly done with the second of her purple and yellow striped socks done - 2 more pairs of socks left to go, and the remainder of the sweater plus a hat and some gloves and she'll be all set knitwise.

We'll wait until next month at least before we start in on the pants - been doing a summer school run and I actually have less time at home between runs now than I do the remainder of the year.

I'm not dead

I have been so wicked busy and I am so looking forward to school vacation. So what the heck have I been up to? Well....hiking, knitting, planting, lots of field trips, swimming...My plants are almost all in - just a few more to go (no pictures regrettably - I'll get on that soon I promise). I made birthday presents for both my sister and my Mom who have birthdays coming up this summer (no public pictures until they receive their gifts). Here's a peek at some of the highlights of May and early June...

Aren't they gorgeous? Quinn and Daddy hiking at Bear Brook State Park on 4/23/08 - Sean and my 14th anniversary.I saw the Yarn Harlot in North Hampton MA with my Mom - We had a blast!We finished the NETA Afghan. I blocked it and delivered it to Sheryl Amaral of Spin-A-Bit for it's raffle tour.We got some chicks - Quinn LOVES them!And lastly, Ali will be going to environment camp this fall and needs some gear. So I've started making some things...she'll need a hat, some mittens, some fleece pants and rain pants (we'll buy a rain coat), another wool sweater, some more socks (of course). I'm going to have a good time getting all this stuff made up for her (and I'm hoping she'll help with the pants - she likes to sew).

Hopefully I won't be away for so long again.

First hike of the year

Yesterday was glorious weather. I wanted to work in the yard. Sean not being around and Quinn having some massive roaming urges prompted me (after the umpteenth temper tantrum at not being allowed to walk down the road) to load the kids up in the car and take them out for a hike. Quinn loves hiking. It's truly her thing. Granted, she's 2, and her legs aren't that long so we don't usually go too far. But no matter how bad her day was, if she gets out into the woods for a little hike all becomes right in the world again. So off to the boat launch we went. I was sure the ground was dry enough after my visit last Saturday, and I thought Ali would like to climb that big boulder so that's where we went. The water was low, slow and unimpressive - so I didn't take any pictures of it, but I got some lovely shots of the girls in Quinn's element.

Ali's yarn and other updates

So I've been a bit busy lately. I joined the totebag swap that Rhonda Jean had going and made my partner Christine a nifty-galifty tote bag that folds up into a little wallet that she can keep in purse so she always has one available when she needs it. The material for the main bag part caught my eye and so I copied the motif in felt applique. It came out alright, but if I had to do it again I'd lower the motif by a centimeter or two.

Next on the list is Quinnie's hand. I'm happy to report that her hand is (mostly) all better. It's still a little tender when she falls on pavement but she doesn't need bandages or medicated cream anymore. And the biggest plus is that she can take a bath - boy did she have a blast when she finally got in the tub. I didn't think she'd ever get out.

And the yarn. Scroll down to the end of the last post where I showed you folks the easter egg dye experiment. I spun it up and it looked like this.

Then I plied it and it looked like this.

The barber pole effect kinda mutes the colors but it feels divine and it'll make same fantabulous socks. I plan on starting them later today while I watch Torchwood.

Happy Birthday Quinnie

This is Quinnie 2 years ago today. Note the IV taped to her hand...


This is Quinnie today. Quinnie has boo boo hand again on her birthday.


On Sunday, I had to go pick Sean and Ali up after they had stayed at the Old Salt (restaurant my sister in law works at) well actually they satyed at Lamies Inn which is attached to the Old Salt, but anyway we had to go there to pick them up so we were going to have brunch there as well. Ali called me on the phone and said something to the effect that we're up and come on down, so I finish doing Quinnie's hair and go downstairs to iron my shirt and once that task has been completed I set the iron on the kitchen table as it is a much more stable place than the ironing board, and I don't want Quinnie to topple the iron onto herself or have the iron set fire to the house or anything like that so I tell Quinnie "no touch, hot hot, lets go find your shoes" and proceed to turn away. I get aproximately 10 feet away when I hear a blood curdling scream and I know instantly Quinn has burned herself. I cannot even express how awful I felt about having my poor baby burn her entire right palm. On something I was trying to be careful with too. It was awful. The burn didn't look too bad at first so I put some bacitracin on it and wrapped it up and took her to get her Dad, and later on that day when we were changing the dressing it had gotten significantly worse so I took her to the emergency room. I got the most acusatory, demeaning attitude from the doctor who not only implied he thought I had done this to her, but that I was also tying to circumvent my own doctor by coming to him (it's sunday night BTW) and then rewrapped the burn exactly as I had it and charged my $50 to boot. Long story short, we went to our doctor on Monday and were treated fairly, and they de-roofed her blisters and sent us away with some medicine for it and instructions to change the dressing twice a day.
The boo boo looks a lot better today. And the birthday girl is happy.



We got Quinnie her "big" birthday present. A fish - well it will be a few fish but the guy at the pet store suggested we start with one 'cause we don't have any beneficial bacteria built up yet so he suggested we come back in 2 weeks for the remainder. Quinnie loves her fish.





So in between fish tanks and boo boo wrappings, Ali had colored some eggs, and I, of course took advantage of the leftover easter egg dye to dye some roving. I wound off balls that looked like they might fit in the dye cups and put the whole thing in the microwave for a couple minutes and this is what I had.
I let it soak while we were out getting the fish and setting the tank up and stuff and a while later I rinsed it and this is how it came out. I made mittens for Sam (when she was about 4 - so 15 years ago) with easter egg dyed yarn and they are still bright and cheery. I think these might become socks for Ali - well at least that's what the roving whispered to me when I was hanging it up on the curtain rod. We'll see.

Big Girl Bed

Quinnie got a Big Girl Bed yesterday! We got the bed off Craig's List last November and it's been sitting in "Sam's room" ever since, but yesterday, after the latest in the great crib escape escapades I decided to get Sean to help me move the bed upstairs. Now one of the joys of living in an antique colonial is that they have quirky stair wells. Neither of our 2 stair cases is a straight shot so we went with the wider of the two, which also happened to be in closer proximity to both the bed and Quinn's room. Unfortunately for us, and the bed (and the walls) one of the drawbacks to secondhand furniture is that it comes preassembled and in this case that meant pegged and glued. So when the bed inevitably got stuck in the stairwell, we had a tough time disassembling it in situ. I was in the hall end and able to work at waist height, so my end came apart tidier than Sean's end, which was also the end that was stuck, and one of the things about modern furniture is that it's comprised mostly of particle board, which I admit is very strong and very dense, but when it breaks it's also more difficult to repair. So we had a slightly more difficult time reassembling the bed than we should have. Several hours later, Quinn's bed was all assembled and made, the crib was in the attic, her room set right, and the flared tempers tempered. We had a late dinner and started Quinn's new bedtime routine. Gone of the days of drop and go bed times, now they must be orchestrated carefully to avoid having a stressed out Mommy and a resentful, non-sleeping toddler. So I tucked her in and read her a couple of stories and turned on the music and started to leave, and it took her all of 2 minutes to run screaming and crying come get me in my room. So back I went and sat with her while she adjusted to the new bed situation, and after about 15 minutes she was out cold.

Ali's Doll

Yesterday Ali was bitten by the creativity bug and wanted to learn how to make a doll. So I got out a saucer and traced it on some material, and then drew lines for the body and arms and legs. I helped her guide the fabric through the sewing machine while she worked the pedal.
Ali stuffed the doll with some of Eva's fleece I had banging around (washed but not carded), and I showed Ali how to make a wig and attach it to the doll's head. She got the doll nearly finished when we decided to take a break from the doll and go shovel out the new batch of snow.
It was such a nice day out there that we ended up staying outside sledding for the rest of the day.

Ali finished the doll this morning,

and gave it to Quinn.

Manure drastically reduces development of lung cancer

Wow! If this is true I've got it made. Sometimes it feels like I'm up to my knees in poop.

In all seriousness. My kids do have particlarly well developed immune systems. I don't keep a very clean house. I don't use bleach if I can avoid it. I let my kids play outside - even (gasp) get dirty. I've often wondered if the fact that they're exposed to so many germs might have something to do with that, this article goes right along with that thought trail. I'll be interested to see what developments the study finds.

Harry Potter Movie

Today is Ali's 10th birthday and in honor of the event I wanted to make the day special. She had invited over 3 girls for a sleepover but only one could come so I took them out to see the new Harry Potter film tonight. We didn't get there in time for the IMAX version so we watched on the traditional screen. It was pretty good though you could tell what would have been 3d in the IMAX. I think we'll go back for the other version later this summer.

I printed out the 4th installmant of the MS3 this morning and I feel kind of ashamed that I'm still on the second clue, and haven't even started the 3rd yet. I'm hoping that I'll get them both finished before clue 5 comes out in 2 weeks, but I have a really good book going right now (New England Year by Hayden Pearson) and the new Harry Potter book should be arriving at Miss Ali's doorstep tomorrow, and I can assure you the world will come to a grinding halt while we delve into that. I'm quite looking forward to reading it with Ali this summer. Hopefully Quinn will cooperate with us more than she has been for my knitting on the MS3.

Happy Birthday Ali!