Woodworking Weekend

Mama had a big weekend!  She was gone for more than 48-hours at a weekend-long woodworking class at Old Sturbridge Village.  She's exhausted--she thinks her arms will fall off--but she brought home a gorgeous "hope" chest.

See, even the cat likes it.

• It's bigger than I thought--3' long, about 2' tall, more than a foot wide.
• The instructor led them through the OSV collection and then a slideshow on the history of the chest to give them ideas for their own.  Points of interest:  long chests are probably older; chests then started to have a drawer underneath, then more drawers, then it was a "chest of drawers"; the backs weren't usually finished, because they were never seen; cabinetmakers made fancy furniture with polish and inlays and carpenters did rougher work.
• The course focused on historical woodworking, so there were no power tools and, when possible, they did everything by hand.
• While the instructor had cut many of the pieces beforehand, Mama still had to saw the legs all on her own.  And the details that she included with the legs, which included two overcuts and some lovely scrolls so that it kind of looks like a star.
• The nails were provided (apparently, nails are really hard--with the sturdy point and the head), but she made the rivets at a forge herself.  This turned out harder than she expected.  And she even burned her hand a bit.  
• She scalloped the edges with a chisel and made a molding along the top rim to make it fancy, both techniques she saw in the historical examples.
• There's a till, or little box inside. 
• And a secret compartment!
• And she sanded the whole thing by hand.  She desired a rustic look, including some rough bits and cracks, which don't affect the structure of it.  
• She made the paint herself--some parts shellac, some parts denatured alcohol, some parts red coloring, which is natural (the Prussian blue, however, was the first synthetic color; she painted the till blue.)
• And there are some mystery letters stamped around the box, only visible if you really look.  
• Finally, her maker's mark is on the lower right front corner.

We love it.  She's so proud.   (Though, she's not yet sure that it will be her new hobby.)

Now, only to find the perfect spot for it . . . . 

Birthday Weekend

It was a wonderful birthday weekend, made special by family and friends.  Thanks to Gommie, Aunt Banana, and Lambeth for calling with birthday wishes.  

Friday:
I had a little holiday coffee Friday morning, inviting many friends over for treats.  I don't like to be all alone around my birthday and have long hosted my own little get togethers.   Only a few friends could make it, but we had a jolly time together, setting the spirit for the whole weekend.

That evening was the annual big holiday party.  Mmm, mmm good:  

• Steak, green beans, baked potato, slab bacon, with Peter Luger sauce 
• chicken tikka 
• spinach dal 
• chicken taco 
• corn and mushroom taco 
•  Italian sausage pasta 
• spinach pizza 
• prosciutto, mint, and mozzarella pizza
• pesto orchiette
• Turkey and stuffing bread 
• porchetta slider
• cheese burger
• Smoked tofu noodles
• chicken sausage and pancake corn dogs 
• scrambled eggs with tater tots 
• s'more doughnut
•  cappuccino doughnut
• homemade Twinkie 
• homemade Ho Ho
• homemade chocolate cream Ho Hos
• Captain Crunch marshmallow treat
• Fruit Loop marshmallow treat
• homemade malomar bar
• Concord grape pop tart
• alcoholic creamsicle drink
• alcoholic holiday julep drink

Saturday:

We awoke early to head to Boston where we would see the exhibition, Class Distinctions:  Art in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer, at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.  I have always loved Dutch 17th-century painting and even minored in it as part of my graduate school studies, taking classes even with Simon Schama (who broke his leg during our semester!)   Genre paintings are my favorite and so knew there would be a lot to like in this show.

We got there around 11 a.m., and went straight to the exhibition.  It was crowded, as expected, but not so much as to be unenjoyable.  We talked to the kids about the 17th century, the rise of the middle class, Dutch trade and merchants, conventions of landscape painting (the brown-green-blue progression) and portraiture (pendants, status markers), and practiced "reading" what was happening in the various genre paintings.  There were many wonderful paintings--not only Vermeer and Rembrandt, but by Hals, Ter Borch, de Hooch, Steen, Maes, Metsu, van Ruysdael, etc.  The names meant little to the kids, but they liked some of the paintings.  Mama and I felt like we were walking through an art history text!  We had a midday snack before looking at some of the 20th century works by Pollock and Picasso at Sis's request and then browsing the bookstore.  Had to get the heavy art catalog!  

Then it was off to our second stop:  early dinner at the Publick House, where we'd eaten the before our Girl Scout overnight at Old Sturbridge Village in March (four days before my surgery.)  Again we sat by the huge and lovely fireplace, unlit in our remarkably unseasonably-warm December weather.  I had a full turkey dinner plate with butternut squash soup and Indian pudding; Mama and Bud had lobster pie and clam chowder and raspberry tart, while Sis had chicken pot pie with apple pie.  It was a lovely meal sitting in the old space cheerfully decorated for Christmas, setting the mood for our next outing.

Yep, Candlelight at Old Sturbridge Village!  We hadn't been since 2012, having been three years in a row, so it seemed new and unfamiliar to the kiddos.  But for Mama and I, it was much the same;  tastings of cider, gingerbread, plum pudding, roasted chestnuts; demonstrations of tinsel making (but we never found the cornucopia making); riding the horse-drawn carriage; and watching the roaring bonfire (and each practicing taking photos.)  I liked the carol-singalong, which was a first for us this year.  Sis and Bud loved watching the potter at work, making cups and candleholders out of lumps of clay.  The potter had a wonderful kinda grumpy rapport with all the kids standing around--saying that he wasn't an artist and only made things to be useful not beautiful, that no farmer wanted to find clay, that he would have rather been a sailor, and so forth.  All the while his fingers pressed and worked the slippery stuff.  We each got to select a free clay ornament:  teapot, bunny, goose, and heart.   

We stayed much longer than we expected, almost closing the place at 9 pm, which means we got home very late.

Sunday:  

We were up early for church; I was the assistant RE teacher.  After that, we had a seafood lunch and . . . Mama and I slept for 3+ hours while the kids played!  We didn't mean to nap the day away.   Later, we finished the day with dinner and the original Miracle on 34th Street.  

Advent Activities: Christmas-y Weekend

On Saturday, we went to the mall, our annual pilgrimage to the altar of American consumerism.  But not for the shopping.  Bud's kung fu team was doing a performance to entertain holiday shoppers.  We did do a little shopping at Hot Topics, with all its geeky Doctor Who and Star Wars stuff, more to distract Bud from his performance than anything else.

After a stellar event, and some Froyo, we watched that very traditional holiday film . . . Hunger Games.  Yep, the kids are knee-deep into the story of Katniss and Panem, plowing through the books and now starting the movies.

Yesterday was the kids' annual December holiday piano recital, which went off swimmingly with Sis playing "Hedwig's Them" and "Shake it Off," and Bud playing "Home Fried Potatoes" and something which title I forget ("Stepping" or "Swinging," something.)  They went first and second and were glad to be done, sitting quietly through numerous Christmas, pop, and classical songs and waiting patiently for the snacks at the end, including my orange poundcake, which was popular.

We headed home, counting Christmas trees as we went--we count all season and are up above 90 spotted on the roof of cars from the nearby popular tree farm.  We have an artificial tree, because of the cats, and have decided to put it up on the last day of school and making a celebration of it by staying up late decorating the house.

On the way home we also saw a holiday bazaar in an historic building and stopped to look around.  I picked up a Bucilla Christmas ornament kit exactly like the one my great-grandmother made for Aunt Banana and me when we were little, with kittens and mice in stockings.

And I took some photos of decorated doors on historic houses in the area, which really capture New England Christmas for me.  Makes me doubly glad we'll be doing Christmas by Candlelight at Old Sturbridge Village soon.

But first, we watched . . . Catching Fire.  Such cheerful holiday fare.

24-Hour Sleepover Special

1:30 p.m.  We arrived at our hotel in Sturbridge, MA.  It's close to Old Sturbridge Village, where Sis and I would be overnighting with the Girl Scouts, and has a cute poster of OSV in reception.  Mama took the kids to the Village to look around; I stayed back and stretch and rest.  It's going to be a long night.

While they're out, I got several emails with photos, particularly of them sledding down the hill and of the woolly sheep in the barnyard.  

Mama even gave it a whirl!

4:00 p.m.   We head to dinner at the Publick House nearby, which is an eighteenth-century tavern turned restaurant, inn, and banqueting facility.  A reception was ending as we arrived; a wedding ceremony was being set up as we left!  We ate next to the hearth in the tavern room and had traditional New England fare:  sweet buns, yeast rolls, pumpkin bread, lobster pie, chicken pot pie, poached salmon, turkey dinner with all the trimmings, Grape Nut pudding, Indian pudding, apple pie, and an almond raspberry tart.  Delicious!  And the historical ambience made it even better.  

Oh, and Sis lost a tooth while eating her pot pie!  That girl, teeth coming left and right these days (which is overwhelming our forgetful Tooth Fairy, named Meadow Larkspur.)

5:30 p.m.   We took a quick break before the evening activities, and then . . . 

6:30 p.m.   Our Hop Into History sleepover at Old Sturbridge Village began!  We had 13 girls and six chaperones, which is almost our full troop sans three.  We got our gear settled into our sleeping space (eventually because we changed places once) and started our evening activities.  I have to say that I loved the education building.  It was an open, airy, light space with dozens of semi-divided "classrooms."  Some had old-time kitchens with wooden tables for prep and hearths for cooking; some had looms, others had printing presses.  Everywhere there were hutches, redware pottery, tin utensils, and other period details.  Definitely an educator's paradise.  (Our sleeping space was in one of these homey kitchens.

7:30 p.m.  Our first activity was making Jumbles, or cookies.  They mixed them in a redware bowl with a birch whisk, using rosewater for flavoring (there wasn't any vanilla in the States in the 1830s, I believe.)  Then we baked them on cookie sheets in reflecting ovens placed before a burning fire.  They also made lemonade using powdery sour citric acid, lemon juice, sugar, and water.  All the girls tasted the citric acid and made pucker faces!  These two treats would form our late night snack. 

Next the girls moved to the painting area, where they outlined dogwood flowers on acetate with Sharpies and then colored them in with paints.  Meanwhile, the guide touched delicately on labor issues and had the girls commute how quickly they would have to work to make a dollar a day.  Sis did the math--one painting every twelve minutes for 10 hours at 2 cents each would earn the dollar.  And the girls didn't work anywhere near that fast!

After baking and painting, the group went on a one-hour tour of the village by lantern light.  I stayed back because it was uneven and icy (apparently it was also speedy and I would have had trouble keeping up regardless.)  I've seen the village by candlelight at Christmas so I didn't feel like I was missing much.  

9:00 p.m. Instead, I lay on my little mat and stretched and drew this mandala inspired by some of the early American art around me. See the 9 square and flying geese and Celtic rope?

10:00 p.m.  When they returned from their hike, we had our snack (I couldn't taste the rosewater) and got ready for bed.  This was the part that made me nervous, both for my own ability to sleep on the floor without messing up my back and also for the girls actually getting some sleep.  The former was easier than the latter!  I set up my mat near the entrance to our little area, with my chair nearby. Sis was on the other side of the chimney near her friends. The girls played cards for awhile and then giggled a lot longer.  They stayed chatty after lights out and the lead staff member reprimanded us a few times.  Of course, I'm such a rule follower that I was bothered by the noise--I would have been one of the quiet girls--but in the end, there's not much you can do to shush a bunch of ten-year-olds!  

11:30 p.m.  They fell asleep eventually (though we had one girl who got ill, but she got better quickly--and luckily her mom was with us)--and it was the girls from the other groups who were playing flashlight wars and running around in the dark back and forth to the bathroom (their chaperones were asleep in another section--not very smart, but then I guess it meant the chaperones got to sleep!)  Of course, I didn't sleep much at all.  I imagine I slept in fifteen-minute chunks, or so, listening to all the unusual noises and worrying about the sick girl (and the threat of more sick girls, ugh.  But no one else threw up.)  My bed was as comfortable as it could be and I moved back and forth between it and the chair, which is super comfortable.

6:00 a.m.  By the way, those noisy, wandering girls from the other group?  They woke up and started talking--loudly--an hour before wake-up time!!  The Tooth Fairy had visited Sis in the night, though she needed some help finding Sis, and then Sis didn't find the money.  I knew it had been delivered--how do you say that, though?  So I said I thought I'd seen the Fairy, digging deeper. . . . but it was only very much later that we found the money in her bedding.  I think, though, the proverbial cat is out of the sleeping bag.  (Though, I think it had been for awhile.)  On an up note:  I think all the short naps overnight kept my back from tightening up too much because I was pretty unharmed and barely even stiff after a night on the floor.  Not sure if it was preparation or a miracle, but I'll take it!

7:30 a.m.  We had breakfast--bagels, cereal, and Hasty Pudding (made in a crock pot with white cornmeal, salt, and water) served with craisins and sugar.  Kinda like grits, I thought it needed butter and cream!  No wonder it is a "hasty" meal.

8:15 a.m.  We hiked into the snow-covered village that morning to see a storytelling performance in the lovely old meeting houses.  The kids sat quiet and interested in stories about an old wise magic fish and another about a contest with Old Man Winter.  

 9:15 a.m.  We're packed and ready to go.  Al the girls return to their folks, many head into the village.  Mama and Bud pick us up and I get a quick shower before we head back to the Village.  Bud and Mama had driven around doing some Ingress tracking and then played some games in the hotel.  So not as exciting as our night, but they had a good time.

10:00 a.m.  We wandered around OSV, eventually running into our GS friends.  Sis and Bud enjoyed hanging out with them.  I liked watching the cooking demos, as usual--apple pie in the Parsonage and maple cookies in the Fitch House.  We also picked up some beer bread and maple soda in the little shop.

Then we went to the craft center, where Mama made a spile (the little wooden pegs you use to tap trees for maple sugar time) and I hand-sewed a little seed bag.

12:00 p.m.  For lunch, we went to BT's Smokehouse across the street from the Village.  The line was long, as was the wait.  And it was amazing barbecue!  We had brisket sandwiches, St. Louis ribs, pastrami on rye, smoked salmon, and all the fixin's--the very best collards ever, Texas caviar, mac and cheese, cornbread, cole slaw, and more.  Even Tagalong bread pudding.

And thus, at 3:00 p.m., a little over 24 hours later, we returned home from our special sleepover.  Exhausted, excited, stuffed to the gills.  Sis has already asked where we're overnighting next!

Advent Activity: History by Candlelight

 
On a whim, we headed up to Old Sturbridge Village this afternoon for their evening candlelight event, which we've attended several times (for instance, 2010 and 2011.)  Amazingly, we got a table for dinner in the tavern, lit by candles and fireplaces.  We munched on pounded cheese (which tasted subtly of cloves and orange peel) and crackers while waiting for lobster pot pie (Bud!), turkey dinner (Sis), clam chowder and roasted beet salad (Mama), and a cheese sampler to share as well as mushroom ravioli (me).

Then we headed into the Village to all the familiar spots.  We immediately realized that OSV would have been a great place to have watched the meteor shower--dark and with an expanse of sky.  It is dark and the kids marveled that the real 1830s would have been much darker still.  We sampled fruitcake and gingerbread and candied ginger and sugar plums (this time, candy-coated fennel--ugh!), watched cider being caramelized with a hot poker, made tinsel and cornucopiae and a mulling spice sachet, rode in the horse-drawn wagon, played with a Jacob's Ladder and whirligig, listened to singers and musicians (one on a bowed psaltery, of all things), admired the creche, and learned about the history behind traditions such as fruitcake, candy canes, the Yule log, Christmas stockings.

We had thought it would be hard to go tonight.  Mama couldn't even listen to carols earlier in the day, thinking of presents under the tree for kids who will never open them.  Those kinds of thoughts just up and smack us in the head at times.  But in the end, we welcomed the distraction and enjoyed the familiar festivity.

But we held a moment of silence before dinner and wished for all beings to be comforted.  Isn't that what this time of year--be it Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice--is about?  Remembering the light will return even during our darkest of days?

Advent Activity: Our Candle Night in Words

Friday night at Old  Sturbridge Village was superb, as their special candlelight program always is (we've been once before with the kids and a few times before them, once the night of an amazing snowstorm).  We had a wonderful time:

• admiring the gingerbread house competition entrants (I got a great idea for half-timbering with licorice and thatching with shredded wheat)
• tasting fire-roasted chestnuts and hearing about a blight on the very tall trees that left them functionally extinct in the 19th century; the kids liked the trees but not the nuts
• sampling gingerbread (softer than a cookie, denser than cake)
• making their own paper cornucopiae
• helping whisk the ingredients of fruitcake and tasting the finished product (that only Mama and I liked)
• making real tinsel with the tinsmith
• hand-stamping Christmas cards
• watching the roasting and grinding of cocoa beans
• admiring the creation of realistic marzipan fruits
• talking to Father Christmas about the symbolism of holly and ivy
• drinking poker-heated mulled cider
• listening to carolers
• watching the bonfire and being entranced by the sparks flying into the night's sky
• perusing a porcelain historic village
• listening to Full Gael sing "Soul Cakes" accompanied by period instruments
• watching a model railroad train
• wondering at a detailed nativity scene
• riding a horse-drawn carriage
• eating dinner in the old tavern
• and finally, meeting Santa Claus and talking about his favorite chocolate chip cookies (and when Bud asked for "surprises," Santa teased that his muddy boot would be a surprise!  They thought this was hilarious.)

Birthday Bonanza: By Candlelight

Historic New England dominates this Texan's Christmas ideal: snow, sleigh bells, a-wassailing, gingerbread, candles in the windows of old salt boxes. Sure, it's an idyllic combination of German customs, Currier and Ives imagery, Little Women story lines, and modern sensibilities, but it's how I like to picture the holiday. And so, on Friday, we visited a place that attempts to reify the dream: Candlelight at Old Sturbridge Village.

The evening started with dinner by fire and candlelight, traditional Yankee fare of roast turkey and the fixings, with cornbread in those little pones. Except Mama had prime rib and I had mushroom strudel, along with a tasty cheese plate of local artisanal offerings. There was mulled cider with rum and both heavily spiced apple and pumpkin pies. The kids were awed and subdued by what passed as fancy: dim lighting, candles, glasses glittering, cloth napkins. The wandering minstrel, first with bouzouki and then with mandolin, contributed to the 19th-century feeling.

We soon entered the village, after a stop in the shop--Sis chose a pink bonnet, Bud a straw hat--to get into the spirit. It was full dark by then and the candles showed the way to the green, where we spent 4 more hours visiting all the houses, absorbing all the period ambiance, learning new historical tidbits, and having a wonderful time.

Of course, I liked all the recipes. Each historic kitchen was at work: roasted chestnuts in one, "marchpane" in another, fruitcake and gingerbread being baked in the ovens of still other houses, all by interpreters in costume. Sis and Bud liked seeing how it was done, especially all the miniature marzipan fruits, but wouldn't partake. But Mama and I had more than one helping of the crunchy-topped, fruit-laden fruitcake delight. We did all enjoy the mulled cider--heated with a poker straight from the fire.

We made tinsel at the tinsmith's shop, twisting a strand of tin around and around and then pulling it straight to make a little icicle. We created cornucopiae for our tree out of shiny paper. We rode the horse-drawn carriage. We listened to carolers. We warmed ourselves by the bonfire while consuming Joe Frogger cookies (and blueberry muffins and chocolate chip cookies, too) and cider (and lemonade! Not everything was period). Bud loved the magician's show--"he turned balls in cups into potatoes!" Sis loved the creche.

And Santa. She had abandoned the magic show during the first trick and so I took her for a walk. We entered a building which usually has crafts only to find Santa Claus enthroned in his workshop. Usually reticent, she marched right up to him, sat on his lap, and proceeded to have a conversation about what she wants (Star Wars figures, Calico Critters) and how she likes school. He told her that he knew her teacher and knew her teacher loved her and was proud of her; she was thrilled that he knew her teacher. And he gave her a bag of candy. So she asked for one for Bud, but I said Bud would come back and she could introduce them. Then, she went right over to the letter table and penned Santa a note:"Dear Santa, Kan I have Star Wars, Calico Critters, and surprises." Proudly, she carried it right over to him and gave him a big hug. It was magical.

Later, Bud met Santa and was equally excited, talking about Star Wars and Transformers (?!) and How to Train Your Dragon. Also how he was a twin and how he picked on Sis and Sis picked on him. It was very cute. But because Bud hasn't been as timid and frightened of Santa, it wasn't quite the same.

We ended the evening by walking through all the houses, seeing real stockings hanging from mantles, admiring the small trees bedecked with American flags, wondering at sweet meats for a treat, and just exploring what it would be like to live in a world with so much less light.

On the way home, we listened to Little House in the Big Woods on CD, obviously not New England Christmas but redolent of Christmas past regardless. Sis had also gotten the paper dolls and fell asleep dreaming of recreating Laura's prairie cabin. Bud fell asleep clutching a groundhog. And they slept the whole way home, as Mama and I admired the snow which gently fell the whole way home, putting the icing on our day.

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all recipes from Old Sturbridge Village handouts:

"Marchpane," the Modern Method

1 lb almonds, blanched, peeled, and coarsely chopped

3 large egg whites, kept at room temperature

3-4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 to 2 tablespoons rosewater

Using blender/coffee grinder/mortar and pestle, grind the almonds into a fine powder. Place egg whites and salt in mixing bowl. Use the egg beater or mixer, beat egg whites and salt until they're frothy. Add the rosewater into the mixture. Sift in the first three cups of powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Knead the mixture after each addition. Add only enough of the fourth cup of powdered sugar to make mixture into a smooth dough, which should be pliable and not overly sticky. Divide dough into desired portions and wrap in plastic wrap. Enjoy at your leisure and store any uneaten portions in fridge, packed in an airtight container. If properly store, the marzipan should be good for up to eight weeks.

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Fruitcake, the Modern Method

1/2 lb raisins

1/4 cup brandy

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon mace

2 teaspoons nutmeg

1 lb currants

3/4 lb butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

6 eggs

2 tablespoons molasses to 1/2 cup

2 oz. citron

Soak raisins in brandy overnight. Preheat oven to 350. Sift flour before measuring. Sift flour with spices. Add currants and citron if desired. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating to blend after each addition. Stir in molasses and any brandy not absorbed by raisins. Stir in sifted flour with spices and fruits. Grease two 5 x 9" loaf pans, three 8" round pans, or one 10" tube pan. Pour into greased pans and bake 45-60 minutes.

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Mulled Cider

1 gallon sweet cider or hard cider*

9 whole cloves

9 whole allspice

6 cinnamon chips

Simmer the above for 3 hours over low heat, skimming the top as necessary. The cider should then be cooled and set for 24 hours. Before serving, simmer for 1 hour. Heat a poker cherry red and quench it in the cider as it is simmering. Do this once more immediately before serving.

(*If hard cider is difficult to obtain, use sweet cider and add 2/3 quart applejack and 1/3 quart brandy immediately before serving as the spirit will dissipate if heated in the cider.)

Note: To serve as a Yard of Flannel, add heavy cream and rum!

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Molasses Gingerbread, Modern Method

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup molasses

1/3 cup lukewarm water

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

4 3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, salt, and spices and set aside. In another bowl, cream butter until very soft. Add sugar and cream until light and fluffy. Beat egg and add to butter and sugar mixture. Add molasses. In a cup, combine water and baking soda. Stir into creamed mixture. Stir in dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Batter will be very stiff. Press batter into a greased baking sheet or jelly roll pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until a tester comes out dry.

Note: The interpreter said hers had been made without egg so that the egg version would be more cake-like (Mama called this one "chewy."). Also, she said if baked low and slow it would make gingerbread like a cookie.

Old Sturbridge Village

Birthday Bonanza: Busy Day

We left home around 1:30 to spend the afternoon and evening at Old Sturbridge Village for their Candlelight Christmas festivities. We've just gotten home, at 10:30 p.m., having driven through a snow globe the whole way. Yep, our first real, though light, snow of the season. A double happy birthday to me! More tomorrow . . . .

The Cowgirl and the Little Drummer Boy

We had a great day at Old Sturbridge Village this weekend, taking in their special Music and Art activities.

For music, we watched visitors learn 19th-century country dances accompanied by a fiddle and flute and then enjoyed hearing an introduction to antique instruments (that is until the musician blew a conch shell and scared Bud to death). But our favorite was the fife and drum display. Bud sat absolutely mesmerized by the skill of the drummer and the discussions about the music by the fife player. And then he convinced Mama to buy him his own regimental drum. He wanted to wear it just like the drummer and then wandered around the village counting 1-2-3 and playing his own beats. And I noticed something: every single man, particularly the older ones, would look at Bud making his music, loudly, and would smile a knowing, happy, even envious smile. The women would either offer pitying or sympathetic looks. Or, maybe it was "are you out of your mind?" Since then, at home, Bud has recreated the presentation dozens of times: I give the little talk (i.e. "the next song is an old English drinking song used by the miltia to call the soldiers together) and then he counts and starts to play; sometimes, I accompany him on the recorder (because I can't play the fife that Mama also bought, for her birthday, which you blow across like a flute). He also calls the drum his "fifing drum," not realizing that the presentation was of a fife and drum.

Sis got something, too: two oxen, which she correctly identified much to the delight of the shop clerk. But then, we'd just heard the drivers give a short presentation on the Village's oxen and Sis remembers everything. She even had us yoke them together at home with pipecleaners and popsicle sticks! In fact, Sis was playing with her oxen when an older couple approached us to interact with the kids. And then, addressing me, wondered if I was the grandma or mom. WHAT?? But after they left, Mama clarified--they thought I was the grandmother because they probably thought she was the mom. Just one more example of strangers recognizing that we have a relationship and being totally unable to identify it. Now, if you saw us, would you really think "oh, they're mother and daughter" (or, well, more often, son. Yes, it happens. Almost everytime the four of us are together on weekends. Seriously), instead of "oh, they're a lesbian couple." Come on, people.

Then there were the arts and craft: we made marbled paper. The kids got to choose the colored paint (washable mixed with water to the consistency of watercolor) which the volunteers would then drip into a tray of dense liquid (some kind of wallpaper paste/solvent added to water--I bet you could use water and will let you know). Then they swirled it with a comb and dipped the piece of heavy paper on the surface of the water, rubbing out the bubbles. It took almost 24 hours to dry but made these great colored papers.

Otherwise, I had a few proud mommy moments: both kids knew how to work the water well in the kids' hands-on area (you pour the bucket into the front part of the well, not directly into the carrying bucket!) and they knew to use a "toe toaster" by placing it on the floor and spinning it with your toe--Sis even placed bread in it first! Can you tell they've been on too many historic house tours already? And we're just getting started--I can't wait until we "graduate" to Deerfield or Plimoth Plantation or Colonial Williamsburg! Yep, I'm a fun "grandma."

Time Flies

It was less than two weeks ago that we knew Gommie was coming. It was less than a week ago that she came. And now she's heading home.

We had a great week.

We shopped at a local market, picking up a cart full of produce, which we almost managed to finish while Gommie was here--baked spaghetti squash, zucchini fries, salad, mashed potatoes, sweet potato fries, and tomatoes straight from the packet.

We had two picnics in different parks, enjoying sandwiches and strawberries, slides and swings, and the wonderful spring weather. Buddy liked throwing dandelions into the pond and thought it was funny that a duck kept trying to eat them. Sis mastered the up-and-down bridge.

We visited our new school and went to a fun birthday party. We shopped for clothes and ate ice cream at the dairy farm. We had new haircuts, with Sis in the taxi cab chair and Bud in the police car chair. Everyone likes the haircuts--"he's such a boy," "she's just like a doll." Oh, well.

We went to Old Sturbridge Village, where Sis loved to ride in the horse-drawn wagon and Buddy loved listening (and dancing) to fife and flute music. We churned butter (and tried some) and planted cranberry bean seeds. And I learned how to yarn sew. We tried on costumes and played house.

In the mornings, Gommie woke the kids up with "You are my Sunshine" and at night she bathed them, read stories, and tucked them in with a kiss and our family handshake. They often played outside on the "pirate ship" and made "fairy pools" with the (very cold) water from the swimming pool. Buddy did lots of counting and Sis "baked" numerous pies. There was dancing, skipping, chase, hide-and-go seek, and many renditions of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," "East Side, West Side (Sidewalks of New York)," "Let's Go Fly a Kite," and other Gommie standards.

Gommie marveled at all the talking. Buddy likes to say, "Wait a second" and "sure;" Sis likes to give specific instructions. Sis is a climber; Buddy is a dancer. Gommie noted, "They sure like to test you." Luckily, there were not too many fights nor too many timeouts. There were lots of hugs and cuddles and "uppy-ups." We talked to Pop everyday and also to Aunt Banana.

There were date nights, help with yard work and laundry and dishes, lots of downtime, free babysitting, lots of Starbucks, and many gifts of toys, books, and clothes. Good conversations too--about weddings, visits, family, compassion, listening, books, the economy, and politics. We bought our tickets for our summer trip for my sister's wedding and measured the kids for their special clothes.

And we took pictures of it all.

Goodbye, Gommie. And thanks for a wonderful week!

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Oven-Fried Zucchini Sticks



1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

3 medium zucchini

water or milk

1 cup fat-free or low-fat spaghetti sauce

cooking spray



Preheat oven to 450°F. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Place bread crumbs, cheese, and garlic powder in Ziploc bag and shake well to combine all ingredients. Set aside.

Cut each zucchini lengthwise into 8 pieces; cut each piece again in half lengthwise. Fil a pie plate with water; then dip each zucchini stick first in water, then into bag of crumb mixture. Shake until zucchini are coated on all sides. Place on cookie sheet. Repeat with rest of sticks.

Bake on cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes or until brown and tender. Serve with warm spaghetti sauce.

Note: Use 1 medium eggplant, sliced into thin rounds, instead of zucchini.

Eating Expectantly

Yarn Sewing

Supplies: 2 different color yarns, piece of fabric (I'm guessing about 18 count Aida), needle, heart-shaped cookie cutter, pencil, fabric glue

Seam the edges of your fabric (glue works). Trace the shape of the cookie cutter on the fabric seam-side up.

Tread your needle with about 18" of yarn for the interior of the heart. Working along the edge, make stitches perpendicular to the line about 1/8" long (needle should never end up on underside of fabric--I think this is a whipstitch??) . Catch tail of yarn under stitches (as in cross stitch). Leave a loop by not pulling yarn all the way through. Every 3-4 stitches, use needles to adjust size of stitches so they are all the same. Continue until you fill in the heart. Use the other color to work the outside of the heart (you can follow the contour of the heart, create lines, even using a staggered running stitch for a more varied look). You will work over the seam.

In the end, you'll have a pretty stiff piece of work, rather like a yarn coaster. Apparently, yarn sewing (which kind of looks like latch hook when finished, but loops not loose) was used to protect and thicken other fabrics, be it knitted mittens or store-bought hearth rugs.

And if these directions don't make sense (which I'm not sure they do), get to Old Sturbridge Village and pay $5 at their Hands-On Craft Building--it's fun! And you get to take it all home to finish.