Luckybeans

Important Things

Somewhat random, albeit. 

The girls have a new AP Environmental Science book. They are thrilled. They came home and spent two hours doing exercises from it the first day. Would that i had their enthusiasm for my text books.

We discovered Netflix has Tintin cartoons on instant play, which grants a much-needed reprieve from Sgt Frog.

The barn is down next door, but the garden trellises are up.

And perhaps most importantly of all, Asher had his spring music performance at school. He was the wolf in Peter and the Wolf!

He got to play the much-coveted mini-bongos which are both everyone's favourite and had the trickiest rhythms to follow. He did an excellent job. He has always had a deep sense of rhythm, and I think his years of listening to African drums (sometimes all. night. long. ahem) served him well. I was very proud, and so was he. It was great fun watching him play, as he was so intensely focused. He did not look at me or smile once, intently watching the teacher for cues or his drums. With his spiky hair, he looked a bit intimidating, really (that is especially funny in light of what we did on our way home-- hold on a minute).

First, we inspected the stream that runs past the school. They do a lot of habitat restoration work here in conjunction with OSU, and consistantly find salmon fry in it. This year they tested the cleanliness and found it extremely clean-- safe to drink even! This is exciting as we are in an agricultural area with many potential non-point pollution sources). 

Then we stopped to investigate a spring near the road. Such sweet water! We want to come back with bottles to collect some.

And to take photos of the beautiful wild irises.

And to run in this field of meadow foam, in the golden haze of light heavy with the hum of bees. The flowers smell light and fragrant, and oh! it is magical. He does not appear quite so intimidating in this context, does he? Incredibly silly, yes, the both of them.

Also, the poppies are blooming.

And the Japanese maple has leafed out, forming the perfect cavern to tuck yourself into with a book and not mention just where you have gone (especially when it is creeping close to bedtime, you are at an exciting bit, and it is still both warm and light out).

 

 

Er, Happy Naw Ruz?

Some of you may recall that last year, Naw Ruz greetings meant children outside in front of a lush green field and a crepe party. Ha. Imagine having time to take photos of children. Imagine lush green outside. Imagine being able to take a day off.

This year, we are buried beneath an avalance of exams and end of term papers, and snow. Yes, this Naw Ruz you get a snowman, not quince blossoms. 

A while ago, there were a few patches of sunshine. Enough to give us glimpses of violets and bursts of gold forsythia. But this week has been keep your head down and bundle up well cold, bitter wind and biting sleet, and of couse (lest we forget) snow. 

I had thought to get photos of the sweet new lambs for you today. But they are clever and have not been out in the field all week. Far cleverer than some of us who have endlessly trudged back and forth to library and class in such foul weather.

But still. There is a little boy who has read his first chapter book all by himself, and snuggled up next to his daddy by the fire to hear more.

It is the season of ghastly chocolate bunny rabbit marshmallows.

Our candles (just!) lasted through to the last day of Fast.

And we did manage to fill our cones and bring a wee bit of colour and joy inside.

It is spring and a new year. Anything is possible. I have only one more paper to write. Simon didn't have to go to Ghana after all this week (no visas to be had). And March may have roared in like a lion, and remained stubbornly leonine thus far, but lambs have been born and the weather may change yet...

And So It Goes

Not quite what was expected, but still, there it is.

A day spent entertaining a boy who is sick with not one, but two ear infections. 

I missed Spanish, but caught up on other, far more useful skills (bun-licking, tea-sipping, slap-jacking, board-gaming).

And the birds (chestnut backed chickadee, bushtits, lincoln's sparrow) .

Am also enjoying watching these two together. The dynamics among the three of them are forever changing and fluid. This, right now, is nice. 

One foot in front of the other, day by day.

I am off to a Linguistics exam. I am actually excited about it. There is no excuse for such abundance of dork, so I will not even try.

 

Good, Better, Absolutely Best and Utterly Fantastic

1. The Good Thing about this week is that the children have been home for three days due to weather that has gone utterly mad. Two for snow and icy roads (their school is in the foothills) and one for flooding (the bus goes over a river which burst its banks today). Which means lots of fun and more chores done. Well, perhaps not that last bit quite so much. 

After the worst of the water receded today, Asher discovered the joys of scootering through puddles. 

Our house is high and dry, but it is exceptionally disorienting to go driving about and find the usual landmarks submerged. 

2. The Better Thing is that my dearest sister-in-law probably spent her days by the ocean eating magoes because she and Lukas have moved to St Lucia where he is working for the National School of Music. Well, better for April and Lukas anyway. It is still better for us because April has started a blog, although I have put in my complaint for More Updates. Twice daily would be excellent. 

3. The Absolutely Best and Utterly Fantastic Thing is that my extraordinarily talented brother (see above) has just released a CD.

I do not think the world realizes how fortunate it is. It is a Bossa Nova album, recorded with wonderful Brasilian musicians in Rio, then produced here in the US.  You can listen to "Samba de Mais Notas" (one of his original compositions) on youtube here. I will confess that I am not the world's biggest jazz fan. But this I pump up and listen to and do not get tired of. It is sweet and mellow, and meticulously crafted. In fact, you should go and buy yourself a copy. And I am not just saying that because he is my little brother. I would tell him if it stunk, albeit probably not quite this publicly. Ahem.

Go, go, shoo. Get a copy. What are you still doing here?

Seriously, though, I am immensely proud of him. He has worked so hard, and with so much love, and it truly shines through.

 

The Tomten is on the Move

This past week's weather and change of the calendar meant that Asher felt quite strongly it was time for his tomten to make a more prominant appearance. Perhaps it is because of the book, "The Tomten and the Fox", but Asher definitely associates cold with tomtens. So he and I spent a few minutes alone together (it is always delicious to get the opportunity to do something special with just one little, isn't it?) setting up a new nature table. Of course there were tomtens and a fox, fresh cedar and wool snow. Oh, and do note the tomten's "flute" Ana carved for him.  The cedar smells so good, it brings a smile to our faces; we even had to add a swag to the bench in the dining room (with pomegranates, of course).  Asher is quite pleased with it all. My sweet, tomten-loving boy.

(I ought to add a special thank you here to Auntie Lynne for introducing my children to the magic of the Tomten who does, in fact, live in her barn when he is not off on his travels).

Nature Table Updated

November has been bustling around us with fog and mist every morning, sharp frosts and gray skies and chill. Asher is always quick to note the turning of the calendar, so I was not entirely surprised to find that he rearranged the nature table and updated the picture and books when he was home sick last week.

You can tell is was Asher, by the peeking foxes, hedgehog under toadstool, squirrel in a home and the tomtens with a chicken (that must be a very safe chicken). 

We have moved from outside to in, a transition that we have not yet mastered, having lived in places where one is always out. I try to ease things with tea and applesauce and roasted chestnuts. It helps.

 

 

 

Pssst

Guess what happened around here? Someone has been keeping the tooth gnome busy!

Eight

Someone is eight tomorrow (although he did not want his picture taken). We celebrated his birthday this past weekend with a lot of friends at our house. Lots of children make a lot of noise and sure have a lot of energy! It all makes for a rollicking good time.

 

There were lots of balloons and food and we made gak and played games like musical blanket (fold the blanket smaller every time the music stops and see how small you can get it with everyone still fitting on) and pin the missing tooth on Asher and egg and spoon and freeze tag. He had a cake (chocolate made by Bella, filled with nutella and iced with whipped cream-- he added the sprinkles and chose the candles himself).  People lingered, and the only tears were from the one who had to leave early. A simple, straight-forward birthday with no themes and frills, but fun had by all. Which is what it is all anyone could ask. 

We do love this boy. He has good friends and a good heart. We are grateful to have him.

 

Tomorrow we are running away as a family to the Coast for a long weekend. Yes, it is likely to be dismal and wet and grey. No, we aren't particularly bothered. Reports when we return.

Fall-ish

It was a grey sort of day, with just he and I. He slipped out the back gate, two warm pear-spice muffins in his hands, red-boot shod.

I hurried after him, because I did not want to miss

 

an encounter with a squirrel

checking the conker-tree

 

a chance to view this Japanese maple

 

a hood full of treasures

 

or a walk with this boy.

 

Today I am sneezing and still cocooned in grey, inside and home with a girl. We just watched Emma (her first time) and will drink tea. She and I: she who writes chalk poems in the night when she can not sleep, and I who write scratches here.

 

Sea Side

It is nearly mid-July and we had not made it to the coast yet. This was a sorry state of affairs, so we rallied and headed out to day. Actually, Bella ended up going to a friend's instead, but she is forgiven as her friend is about to move cross-country. So my salty companions were Ana and Asher. And they are good companions, indeed.

Asher had decided that he really wanted to try his wheel-less skate board on the dunes. So a boy and his board headed out into the sand...

Unsure of what to do, he at last realised that he must become one with the sand and let whatever may come, come.

We hunted up and down the shore, finding things that we documented for Daddy:

a rock with a face, a rainbow of rocks, kelp to twirl, a shell with a hole in it, a shell with a rainbow in it, a rock with lots of holes in it, a bit of dead something, a feather with mist drops clinging to it, a crab claw, a periwinkle shell, a bit of polished orange shell, a seagull skull (we brought that home).

I tried to take pictures of Ana, but she only made this growly-exasperated sort of face at me:

Nevermind.

We also found a beautiful fallen birch tree, half-buried in the sand, the holes that fed sapsuckers still clear, it's trunk showing signs of both moss and kelp.

The photos are not perhaps as spectacular as they might have been due to dirty lens issues. This normally does not bother me, as I would rather simply document than worry about the lens. But I do wish this photo hadn't been mucked up:

Ah well. The good news is that the camera seems to be just fine now after the splash from the creek, although the macro lens does not work any longer.

In any case, it was a  good, good day. And oh, I will sleep well tonight.