Kidbits

Bud has been playing with Legos again, this time experimenting with different projects in a Lego Builder book.  He has made a sphere with green and blue legos, not unlike the earth.  I suggested he make another one, in grays and blacks:  a mini-Death Star!

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Sis made an entire batch of Snickerdoodles on Friday during the rainstorm.  All by herself.  I only took them in and out of the oven.  She is quite a capable baker.

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Bud found directions to make a bracelet with beads and safety pins and soon he was in the midst of stringing light and blue beads.  He persisted until he was done and wore it to school today.

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Last night during the Tony awards, Bud heard the music and came into our room to check it out.  We told him what the Tonys were and sent him back to bed.  Little did we know that he snuck back into the hallway to watch the Tonys.  We caught him twice!  I promised we'd show them the musical numbers from the show today.

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The kiddos are obsessed with pop music right now--"Firework," "Dynamite," "Call Me Maybe," "Mean," "Trouble," "Stronger," "Ever Get Back Together," "You Don't Know You're Beautiful," "Some Nights," "Perfect," "We are Young," "We Found Love in a Hopeless Place," "Perfect," and so many more.  I've made them a CD for the car and playlist for the iPod; they're even having a dance party for their birthday party.  We've also had several home dance parties, with the kids even devising performances set to music.  Sis even wants a poster of Taylor Swift for her birthday.  "Eight" is a totally new age.

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The kids are as witty and entertaining as they've always been but, in the greater chaos of our days, I forgot what they've said more often.  And sometimes they just aren't anything I want to put on the web.

Thoughts and Prayers

My father-in-law is in the hospital, having gone to the ER violently ill.  They suspect some kind of infection, from his blood tests, and have admitted him, I believe.  Mama is on her way down.  We don't know much--and haven't told the kids anything yet--but are not sure it's related to his cancer treatment, which hasn't really started beyond the initial mapping and simulations.  We hope he feels better soon.

Partying with a Penguin

We celebrated the kiddos' birthdays a little early yesterday with a special Penguin Encounter at Mystic Aquarium. We'd wanted to do this for years, since the kids were but toddlers and we could watch others up close and personal with the penguins from outside the Discovery Room.  Bud had been smiling for two days in anticipation; Sis, who prefers bunnies, was also excited about meeting a penguin.

Yesterday, it was our turn.  We sanitized our hands and disinfected our shoes and then took or places inside.    We were introduced to our penguin, Yellow Blue, a 17 year-old female African penguin.  She was relatively shy and didn't come towards us much.  Though, she did try to hide behind my skirts and pecked at the folds of it.  We knew to only touch her back, which was very soft; she was also very firm and strong--all 6 lbs of her (a lot like our cat Hermione in size, as well as color.)  While she wandered around, her handler told us all about penguins, their nesting habits, their environmental adaptations (like the bodily-temperature-controlling featherless eye-patches), and their training (they are taught certain behaviors to help with their own medical care), plus how they trained as penguin handlers.

We each also got a chance to sit next to the penguin and listen to her chest with a stethoscope, though only Sis heard anything.  She concentrated so hard, was so serious, as she examined Yellow Blue and petted her back and wing.  Bud grinned and glowed the entire time.  And Mama was so gentle and friendly, like she is with the cats.

It was a delightful hour of penguin-ness.  And a great way to celebrate two special kids.

Lovely Luncheon

We hosted a thank-you luncheon for our historic-house docents earlier this week, a simple affair with wraps, potato chips, pickles, and salad, followed by my almond cake with fresh berries.  But the director of the house made it elegant with her china and linen, which looked beautiful in the historic house setting.  How fun to eat in a 300+ year-old house!  Imagine all the dinners that had gone before.  Very few with potato chips, I imagine.

At the luncheon, one of the docents, who is a frequent and generous baker, brought to me a copy of a recipe for her delicious Apricot Bars that I'd requested--and she had hand-printed it on a lovely recipe card.  How often does that happen?  I expected an email in Arial or Times New Roman, just as I send out my own recipes to friends--it was another lovely touch.

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Orange Poppy Seed Dressing for Salad
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
dash salt
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
3 tablespoons orange juice
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Whisk the honey, vinegar, mustard, salt, poppy seeds, and orange juice in a small bowl.  Slowly whisk in the oil until the dressing is thickened slightly.  The dressing may be refrigerated for several days if desired.

Serve with strawberries, mandarin oranges, and pecans over spring greens.  Or with candied cranberries:

2 cups cranberries
1 tablespoon (cup? measurement missing) sugar

Preheat oven to 350F  Spread cranberries in a shallow baking dish and sprinkle them with sugar.  Cover the pan slightly with foil and bake for one hour stirring occasionally.  They will shrivel and appear soft. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate until well chilled or up to two days.

Miss C.A.

Norwegian Apricot Bars
1 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour
2 eggs
2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
confectioner's sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Rinse apricots.  Place in saucepan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes or until tender.  Drain well.  Cool--cut into small pieces.

In mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, and 1 cup flour.  Blend until crumbly.  Press into bottom of greased 9" square pan.  Bake for 15 minutes.

While crust is baking make topping.  In a medium bowl, beat eggs and gradually add brown sugar.  combine 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder.  Add to egg mixture with vanilla.  Fold in nuts and apricots.Remove crust from oven and spread topping over.  Bake 30 minutes more.  Cool.  Cut into squares, sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.  Enjoy!

Miss P.K.

Yo-Yo, Mom!

There is a new obsession here:  yo-yos.  The kiddos had seen the NED show--"Never give up.  Encourage others.  Do your best."--months ago, and, though they got yo-yos then, didn't show much interest.  Bud, who is very persistent with new-found pursuits (like string games, magic tricks), picked it up again a few days ago and hasn't put it down since.  And amidst our stack of books, he found one with tricks.  So he's doing all manner of yo-yo maneuvers.  And making up his own.  My favorite of these is the Race Car, where he throws the yo-yo away from him and it travels across the floor.  He's even tried to teach me; I've managed some of the basic up and down, but he is very encouraging.  He and Sis even yo-yo battle, since Mama told them yo-yos were originally weapons (which is debated on Snopes.)  At the very least, they can easily make yo-yos into weapons themselves!  It's a good thing it's summer soon, because I've noticed on these rainy days that yo-yos are just not a good inside toy.

Another Year in Girl Scouts

It's been a busy Brownie year, though with fewer field trips than last year.  But we did do our Brownie Quest Badge, culminating in planting the colonial herb garden at the historic house.  We also:

• made scarves for the local community center
• collected books for statewide literacy program
• sang and entertained residents at senior center
• hosted a cookie booth sale
• helped Daisies "fly up"
• attended an evening campfire experience with a hike and s'mores
• made birdfeeders
• had a baking day for Mother's Day
• attended a performance at a local theater
• had a pool party
• attended a "field day" of games with another troop
• attended "Disney on Ice"

Next year, we hope to do more outdoor activities, so I'll be taking "Food and Fire" training.  And we'll continue to increase our community service and badge-work.  We also hope to go on an overnight.  It'll be my fourth year as a Girl Scout leader . . . and in many ways it just gets better.

The End

Odd what hospice people learn.

Did you know that one of the signs of near-death is the dehydration of the earlobes, causing them to crease and "drop" (meaning, when a person's head is on a pillow, his or her earlobes fall against the head, when otherwise they would stay in place)?

My hospice patient's earlobes have dropped and her breathing is irregular--rapid and loud then it stops for awhile.

She only awoke a few times but did smile at me.

I don't think I will see her again.  For her sake, I hope not.

Making Campfire Memories

I smell of wood smoke and marshmallows, if you can smell of marshmallows, more like I "feel" of marshmallows, being sticky from s'mores.  This evening Sis's Brownie troop went to an outdoor evening with a hike, fire safety lesson, s'mores, and a puppet show.  The only thing we didn't really do was sing, except "Taps."

I love to sing around a campfire.  It is, hands down--even more than crafts (though I love tie-dye and telephone wire bracelets and ice candles in milk cartons and plaster of Paris objets d'art)--my favorite Girl Scout activity.  I remember singing at campfires almost every evening as a camper at Camps Robinwood, Agnes Arnold, and Casa Mare, and as a counselor at Mira Sol and Strake, plus various day camps in both capacities.  Oh, the songs, which I once listed here.  Most of the time, we didn't make s'mores, maybe once a week.  Sometimes we made banana boats (split banana in peel stuffed with chocolate chips and marshmallows, wrapped in foil til melted) or foil packet dinners (what is it about ground meat and potatoes and onions and carrots and bell pepper and salt and pepper that is so good?) or maybe hobo stew, if there was time and a pot (ground meat, potatoes, cans of corn and maybe green beans and tomatoes and salt and pepper, maybe.)  But we'd always sing, alternately boisterous and quiet, sometimes with stories or skits in between (almost never ghost stories--I'm sure the counselors didn't want to cause trouble for themselves by upsetting us.  Smart.)  I love the look of stars above the light and smoke of a fire, all ringed in by pine trees (usually).  "The stars at night are big and bright". . . .

Tonight, I stayed around the campfire, not up for an uphill hike, hearing the lessons about kinds of wood (kindling, tinder, and wood, I think), types of fire (square for charcoal for s'mores), and safety--the bucket of water, the fire ring of stones.  I should have just started singing.  The fire refused to light, repeatedly, and we resorted to paper, which even then took quite awhile.  The leader suggested that smart Girl Scouts always dry their wood under tarps, gathering it the first day of camp so that it's ready by the last night.  She didn't reveal the firestarter secret I learned:  the inside of maxi-pads catch fire really easily, as do tampons (sans applicator, of course), and Girl Scouts of a certain age always have those when camping.  We did eventually get it started . . .and then no one knew the "smoke follows beauty" saying as the smoke wafted around.

The girls had a great time, as did my outdoorsy co-leaders . . . so there will no doubt be more campfires and more chances to sing in the future.

Decline

My hospice patient is declining and it is so much sooner than I expected.  A month or so ago when I first met her, she was sitting up and oh so chatty and friendly.  Today, she is immobile and non-vocal,  only waking some, with raspy breathing on occasion.  It's not long now.  I sat with her, held her hand, sang several songs, was just present with her since we couldn't have a conversation. And oh she smiled!  She has such a marvelous smile that lights up her face.  And let me know I was getting through, that my visit was important. Before I left, I said my goodbyes to her in one of her awake moments, something the chaplain I worked with alongside my last patient suggested, thanking her for our time together, telling her how glad I was to get to know her some, and wishing her peace if she had to go before I saw her again.  She mouthed, "thank you."

You know what the hardest part about hospice is for me?  It's not the dying, because that's what they're doing. That's their job, so to speak; mine is to accompany them a little bit on that journey.  It's leaving the room each time that's so difficult, knowing that quite possibly, no one else will sit with her again today, hold her hand, talk to her, be with  her, except to try to feed her or change her diaper or do other physical caretaking, which is, of course, valuable--and they are chatty, friendly people, usually, but there's a busy-ness, a rush to it because the staff are always stretched very thin.  Visitors are rare in these places; families don't come everyday necessarily (my last patient's son did, though, for lunch, but that still meant she sometimes went 24 hours between visits, until the very end.)  So, I'm not criticizing either staff or family, just noticing one way of dying.  People think hospice means round the clock care, and it can close to the very end, but oftentimes there are months before that. I just think it must be so lonely to die in a nursing home (I haven't had a hospice patient at home yet.)  And, though in some ways I wish I could stay all the time, until they die, I can't.  I just hope her family is there in the very end.

Oddly, and this surprised me as much as the leave-taking being the tough part, I remember the blankets--the quilts wrapped around my very first patient, the pastel afghan always covering my second because she was always cold, and for this one, both the pink quilt she had made herself that once covered her bed and has now been put away and the purple single-crocheted afghan which I think she also made that covers her now.

Funny, it reminds me how I can still recall most of the babies' blankets we had and their wonderful scent.  Blankets of the dying are more bittersweet and not at all sweet smelling, even if much of their world regresses to the infant-like, and again we wrap them in comforting cocoons of pinks and purples, yarn and fabric.

Cool Confections

I haven't been detailing our purchases during these last few trips to DC and Philly, but we are suckers for a museum gift shop, I tell you:  books, decorative household items (candlesticks, pots), historical toys, historical candies (especially at Old Sturbridge!).  And Mama always likes to get a patch or enamel pin for her collections.  Sometimes, I pick up a magnet for our large magnetic chalkboard in the kitchen.

But unbeknownst to me, Sis and Mama found a really cool souvenir this last time:  a bag of colonial candies!  They are packaged by Cool Confectionaries, which has a store in Harper's Ferry and also sells Civil War-era goodies and treats enjoyed by African-Americans in the 19th century.  There was a whole slew of candies, including candied rose petals, an actual licorice root, fennel comfits, dragees (like Jordan almonds), Turkish delight, brown sugar candy, candied tamarind, a macaroon, and a chocolate stick.  It was great fun to share the treats and have a little taste of history.

Our Colonial Bit of Earth

Our Brownie troop planted a colonial-inspired herb garden at the historic house recently.  And they had such fun getting dirty, though they were oppressed by the heat. So now the house has a raised bed with several herbs in it:

• Costmary (chrysanthemum balsamita tanacetoides)  Gray-green serrated leaves used as bookmarks to repel bugs, hence nickname “Bible Leaf.”  Infusion also used to treat coughs.
• Lavender (Lavandula vera) Oil and dried flowers used for perfumes, sachets, and even baked goods.  Also used for pain and to repel mosquitoes.
• Marjoram, Sweet (Marjorana hortensis) Leaf used for flavoring many foods, in perfumes and sachets, and as an infusion for headaches.
• Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) Needle-like leaves used for flavoring teas and food.  Also used for digestive ailments and headaches, as well as to fight germs.
• Sage, Garden (Salvia officinalis) Gray-green leaves used for flavoring poultry stuffing, pork, or in making a medicinal tea to aid digestion.  Native Americans mixed it with bear grease to treat sore throats.
• Savory, Winter (Satureia Montana) Smooth and shiny leaves used for culinary purposes, or to relieve bee stings.
• Thyme (Thymus vulgaris or serpyllum) Leaves used to flavor foods and as a tea.  Oil of thyme is still the basis of a patent cough medicine.

Sis planted the thyme herself.  

My goal is to search out some more obscure herbs--like my favorite, costmary or "Bible Leaf," which we received as a gift from another local historic house.  My wish list includes feverfew, angelica, yarrow, tansy, comfrey, lovage, lemon balm, valerian, chamomile, and the like.  But that will be next year.

We hope to have the girls sign up to take a week to water/weed the garden and then we'll return in the fall to help with more gardening.  We're not the most talented gardeners--our house volunteer noted that the girls didn't know to weed out the dandelions!--but they are enthusiastic.  

It's great combining my two volunteer activities--the girls got to do a major community service project and the house now has an herb garden to share with visitors (which will include all the girls on their third-grade field trips next year!)  I'm not a great gardener,, as you know, but I'm very enthusiastic about an historical garden.  

Now if I could just translate that to our yard!

Nuts!

The kids always like to nibble after church on whatever is served in fellowship hall--fresh fruit, cookies, cheese, crackers, almost anything.

Almost anything without nuts.

Now, they aren't allergic, but, because they were sensitive to dairy, wheat, eggs, and soy until they were almost 3, we didn't give them nuts.

And now they won't eat them.

Trust me, we've tried, both directly and, well, indirectly.

So I kept my mouth shut tight as Sis got a piece of cake at church that I knew to be almond-flavored.  There were no nuts in sight, though, and she probably couldn't identify the flavor.  She loved it!

And so I sought out the congregant who'd made the cake, especially because I liked it, too.

Lo and behold, it's right off the Solo almond filling can!

I'll be making this again soon, but solo, so they don't catch on.

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Solo Almond Bundt Cake

Almond Glaze Topping
1 cup confectioners sugar
1⁄4 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoon light cream

Cake
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
3  eggs
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 can Solo Almond Cake and Pastry Filling or 1 jar of any other fruit filling
1⁄4 cup milk

Chocolate Glaze Topping (no chocolate on the one at church)
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa
1⁄2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoon buttermilk or low-fat milk

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour 10-inch tube pan or 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside. Beat butter and granulated sugar in large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in almond filling until blended. Stir flour, baking powder, and salt until mixed. Add to almond mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.  Beat until blended. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on rack. To make glaze, combine ingredients in small bowl, and stir until blended and smooth. Spoon or drizzle over top of cake. Let stand until glaze is set. Or top with fresh fruit and whipped cream!

Metamorphosis Continues

It began with Bud sleeping in the guest bed in our library after a tiff with Sis.

He hasn't gone back to "their" room.

Then, touching my mother's heart, they decided to have a sleepover in her room and giggled and talked just like old times . . . until another tiff sent him back to his room.

Sigh.

Today we continued the process whereby his room looks a little less like our library and a little more like his own room.  While I cheered her on and the kids helped where they could, Mama relocated two huge bookcases with about 700 books from Bud's new room to ours.  And to do that, she put my desk in Sis's room where Bud's dresser had been, which she also moved to Bud's new room.  We've gotten the second floor back in order as best we can, though there are bags and boxes holding the contents of what used to be my desk.  And some random things in piles that need to be distributed.  We just ran out of steam.  Just watching Mama made me tired.

There are still about a thousand books to move, which are in the built in shelves in Bud's room, and the contents of a closet.  But it's good for now.  Eventually, we'll move the futon to the basement and the glider to . . . somewhere.

It's still a bit bittersweet having them separate, though it was always the plan.  Kinda one of those getting-older milestones.

I just hope the sleepover works out eventually.

I want them to stay friends.

Living History Today

Sis practicing her yarn sewing at the historic house.

I was as giddy as a child on Christmas Eve yesterday as I prepared for our open house event at the historic house.  I gathered supplies, bringing along faux food for children to cook in the 18th-century fireplace as well as real cookies to share with the volunteers.  I checked and double-checked clothing, both our costumes (I wore my maroon long-sleeved bodice with my yellow floral skirt and a new navy overskirt, with all the proper accoutrements like pockets, mop cap, and shift) and our extra clothes for afterwards.  I printed copies of our mailing list and family workshop sign-up sheets, which I had totally forgotten to do until late last not--I definitely felt out of practice in presenting a museum program.  And I packed my basket.  Have you ever noticed that costumed historical interpreters carry around baskets with all of their things?  I had a little bit of knitting, some embroidery floss in case I needed to dress my paddle loom again, and a bit of yarn sewing I'd started years ago at Old Sturbridge Village but had never finished.  You know, just some fun stuff to do and demonstrate if the time arose.

See, it was my first non-tour-based experience at costumed interpreting, in other words, inhabiting an historical space and casually conversing with visitors about the time, place, lifestyle, activities (as opposed to lecturing on a prescribed tour route.)  I was so excited because I have always loved costumed interpreters.  The interpretation is third person, meaning I'm a 21st-century educator explaining another time period, not someone in the first-person pretending actually to inhabit another time period as a real individual.  I'd like to try that sometime.  Later.  It takes a lot more knowledge of a specific character and their unique historical point of view as well as considerable acting skills.

We had lots of volunteers at the house today, which was good because the trickle of visitors while not overwhelming was relatively constant, picking up as the day wore on.  We had volunteers out front welcoming visitors, docents giving shortened tours of the house, and Sis and Bud (though mostly Sis because Bud had kung fu for the first half) demonstrating games like graces and hoops outside and cat's cradle inside as well as playing with the faux food in the fireplace with the young visitors. They were both naturals as docents!  Sis tried her hand at yarn sewing and paddle loom weaving but preferred to play kitchen or graces (i.e. 2 people playing catch using little hoops and sticks.)  Bud liked showing everyone cat's cradle.  We had instructions and cat's cradle strings to give away, as well as self-guided house tour pamphlets, colonial activities pamphlet for kids, docent recruitment flyers, and summer family workshop flyers.  We had a fair number of visitors, several of them friends and neighbors of ours, which delighted us all.

Mama was, as usual, immensely helpful behind the scenes, lugging the cooler with ice and water plus all the above-mentioned items, as well as taking the kids for lunch, and keeping an eye on them when they were outside and I was inside.  And no, she didn't have a costume.  Not yet, anyway.

The only downside was my back, which chose the day to be testy, probably after last Sunday's spasm and Thursday's extraordinarily busy day.  I found I couldn't sit comfortably to demonstrate any of the fun things in my basket but was more comfortable walking around.  In fact, I think my favorite part was actually demonstrating the yarn sewing to Sis, who then tried her hand at it independently, as shown above.  It was great fun to play with her in the house--with the sewing, at the fireplace, out watering the herb garden, and playing graces out front.  I think she really enjoyed it, too.

Because I'm pretty sure she's caught the history bug.

Happy Birthday to Gommie!

Happy birthday to Gommie today, who is celebrating in style somewhere near the Grand Canyon!  I hope you have a great day and a wonderful trip.  I love you!

At Home

Bud is at home today.  After overheating on his field trip yesterday, he was sick last night.  He feels much better today--iPads and Clone Wars DVDs help.  It's another hot day so it's better that he's resting at home.

Fabulous Field Trip!

Today, I was a chaperone on the children's first school field trip to a local historic farm.

And after my experiences a week or so ago with poorly behaved teachers and chaperones on my own historic house tour--the teacher talked through the whole tour, not noticing when her kids misbehaved and not stopping when I privately requested she do so (besides that, we've had chaperones talk and text on their phones, teachers and chaperones abandon their classes and wander off, and more)--I wanted to be a model chaperone.  And I think I was--helped the kids follow instructions, kept them all together, and never distracted from the docents.  Though, perhaps, I spoke up a couple of times enthusiastically--"oooh, kids, you won't get to touch a 200 year-old loom again!" or "wow, just imagine cooking on that stove!"  But I didn't dominate or ask too many questions (only  one or two, on the side) and I never answered them.  (Yes, I wanted to.  But I didn't find any fault with any of the tour.)

We had a wonderful time!  The kids learned about blacksmiths and "jobbing", getting to try their hands with "frog-lip" tongs and "duck-billed" tongs.  They planted green bean seeds in containers to take home.  They fed sheep and chickens.  They helped weave a floor rug with fabric scraps on the aforementioned loom.  They made and ate cornmeal pancakes, after looking at an old wood-burning stove, and got to touch ice in a real icebox.  They carded and then spun by hand yarn from the sheep, tying it into a bracelet to take home.  It really was a fabulous tour--well-paced, well-structured, well-timed, with a diversity of information and hands-on activities with enthusiastic and engaged docents.  As a fellow museum educator, I was impressed; as a mom, I was grateful.  Because I know how much effort went into the tour.

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Cornmeal Pancakes

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup ground cornmeal
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup melted shortening or vegetable oil
1 egg, well beaten

Add together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and sugar.  Then mix in boiling water.  Stir milk, shortening, and egg into batter.

Drop large tablespoonful onto a hot, well-greased frying pan or griddle.  Turn the heat down and cook the cakes until they are brown (and begin to bubble.)  Then flip them over and brown on the other side.  Eat and enjoy!

Morristown Monday

On Monday morning, after revelry and celebration the night before at Iron Hill Brewery where Bud loved both the fisherman's stew and mussels and the rest of us liked the pommes frites with rosemary-garlic mayonnaise (also, the Kennett Square mushroom soup), we headed home.

But not without a little hiccup:  in the middle of the night, when I got up to check on Sis who was wimpering a bit in her sleep, I pulled a muscle in my back.  At first, I feared it was the disk and I'd have lots of trouble; but while there was pain and discomfort, I could still walk and sit and stand.  Meds, ice, and my brace (which I always travel with) made it better than it would've been.  And I could travel by morning, taking it slowly and carefully, with the above-mentioned help.

And so we stopped at Morristown National Historic Park.  We enjoyed the museum display of artifacts of the privileged classes--spinnets, game pieces, shaving implements, the thinnest knitting needles, and the like, as well as the reconstruction of the soldiers' hut with its numerous bunk beds.  We also liked exploring the farmstead, with its 18th-century house and extensive kitchen gardens.  The kids, by now, are experienced historic house tourists and so know about the expense of glass windows, how they cooked on an open hearth, what the root cellar was used for, etc.  But they still get grossed out by privvies and chamber pots.

Of all things, the kids were least impressed by the fact that George and Martha slept there!

Kung Fu Sunday

On Sunday, we all--including beloved uncle, Goo (thanks for making the trek down!)--went to a local high school to cheer on Bud and his kung fu academy teammates at the tournament.  Bud performed three forms--fist form, broadsword, and staff.  He won a gold in the former, and honorable mentions in the latter.

And he was unhappy.  Another competitor, a teammate, actually dropped his weapon in one of the forms and still scored higher than Bud, which Bud didn't understand.  Teachable moments, however valuable, are not fun.  It's what makes competition hard for young kids--understanding that sometimes, competitors will do better than you will and win, or not and still win.  Sometimes you have your best day and you win; sometimes you don't.  And sometimes, you make mistakes and don't do your best.

The disappointment dispersed soon enough and he could enjoy the other performances, especially of one of his teachers, who can do all manner of flips and jumps.  It was inspiring.  And so, before the day was out, Bud was planning his next weapon--either straight sword or nine-link chain.

We are proud of you, Bud, for both your gold medal and your lessons learned.

But if you talk to him, just talk about the gold medal.  He doesn't need to learn these lesson over and over this week.

History Saturday

We did our annual pilgrimage to Philadelphia this weekend, taking in the sights over Memorial Day Saturday before Bud's kung fu tournament on Sunday.  We're reveling in nearby excursions again and look forward to adding more places to our Boston-NYC-Philly-DC repertoire in the future (where else is there, you say?  Small places with interesting attractions, like Newport or Mystic or Litchfield or Northhampton.)

We started at the Independence Visitor Center, where I met a friendly and interesting first-person historical interpreter who portrays 18th-century draper, Sarah Milton.  We talked about knitting--especially on large needles--and she shared with me a pattern for a cowl (given from memory, but too complicated for me.)  We also talked about Betsy Ross's house, Elfreth's Alley (the preserved colonial street), and the like.  When I told her I volunteered at an historic house, she broke character and we discussed the business--first person vs. third person interpretation especially in a place like the Visitor's Center.  It was intriguing and got me thinking about doing some first-person interpretation at our historic house.  And the kids and Mama were very patient.

We actually did start at Betsy Ross's house, on a self-guided tour through the tiny building that she actually shared with others.  The kids, being 18th-century house experts by now, made it through rather quickly, enjoying best of all the reading of the labels with the flip-cover Q&A.  They also enjoyed meeting Betsy Ross, who taught them how to cut a five-pointed start with only a few folds and two snips.  But most of all, I think Sis relished playing in the kids' kitchen in the basement, where a dramatic play area is set up, complete with recipe for turkey pot pie.  She diligently followed all the steps and had such a wonderful time.  I love that she still enjoys playacting and is so un-self-conscious about it.  I definitely want to do more areas like that at our historic house.

Yes, in ways, this was one big professional research trip for me!

After Betsy Ross's house, we went to Benjamin Franklin's print shop, which is just not as much fun as it used to be--several aspects of it are closed, due to construction or the Sequester, so there's really only one room. It's really a shame.

We headed to City Tavern, the restored 18th-century restaurant with period food and costumed wait staff. Oh, what a lunch! Anadama bread, Sally Lunn bread, sweet potato biscuits (Jefferson's favorite!), mushroom toast, mushroom barley soup, West Indian pepperpot soup, duck sausage with sauerkraut, lobster pot pie, turkey pot pie, homemade kielbasa with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes, tofu (a la Ben Franklin) with linguine, spiced raspberry pie, Martha Washington's chocolate mousse cake, and raspberry shrub to drink!  The kids were fascinated to learn that George Washington had eaten there several times, preferring a corner table in the next room.  I love that they get excited about stuff like that and also that they are game to try all that food.

But the best part happened next:  we were upstairs using the restrooms when I spotted the chef, Walter Staib, in his office.  The door was open and so I pointed him out to the kids, who have watched his show, "Taste of History," with me on television.  Soon enough, Sis was in there saying hello and the kids posed for a picture with him  He even gave them a copy of his DVD on the first five presidents.  Luckily, he was talking mostly to them because I was probably too excited to act normally--they saved me from gushing too much about his show and his food.  

After lunch, we headed back to the Visitor's Center, by way of a gift shop and the outdoor exhibition on the President's House, which details 18th-century slavery.  And we watched the protesters--on one hand, a group of 2nd amendment gun toters (and yes, right there in the middle of Philly, they were all legally carrying concealed weapons!), and, on the other side, a much bigger rally of people protesting Monsanto and GMO. Very disparate groups, with not a lot of overlap.  But they did give us an opportunity to talk to the kids about democracy, free speech, and the right to gather.

Tuckered out, we opted to head to our hotel to rest and regroup before Bud's big day on Sunday, which I'll post about next.