Spring and such

Spring is here! One day at a time, so far. Today is gray and rainy, but we’ve had several sunny and warm stretches lately.

I love Ethan Currier’s stone sculptures. He’s been busy lately!

K. had a great Indian-themed birthday party. Store-bought carrot cake was a non-themed outlier, but we did have mangoes and ice cream and lentils and spinach and Gujerati green beans and chicken coconut korma and naan and basmati rice and now I’ve made myself hungry again.

And the next night for her birthday present, we took her to a Dar Williams show at the Triple Door. So lovely, funny, poignant, perfect.

I worked on a new beach blanket for 8 hours yesterday–it’s one of the few things we’re taking to New Zealand. Let’s see how many beaches these little owls can visit in a year!

Spring Break Staycation, Part II

Day Four (Tuesday)

Swimming at the B.I. aquatic center, making a giant pb cookie
Favorite moment: I’ll be honest here, a moment of peace in the adults-only hot tub!

Day Five (Wednesday)

The foothills of Mt Rainier! The Altimeter Cabin is tiny and very inspiring.
Favorite moment: hot tub in the snow

Day Six (Thursday)
Foothills of Mt Rainier!
Favorite moment: leaving a note in the cabin guestbook saying just how much we enjoyed our stay. Putting words to things crystallizes emotions, and writing words down does so even more.

Day Seven (Friday)
K’s 14th birthday!
Favorite moment: twofold this time: making K’s birthday dinner with B, and getting a good hug from K. Relationships take work, and we’re putting in the hours.

Day Eight (Saturday)
UW meeting, choir practice
Favorite moment: walking out of my seminar and finding the quad at UW positively alive with photographers and happy people amidst the sunshine and blossoming cherry trees.

Day Nine (Sunday)
Easter nests, socks
Favorite moment: Sophie coming home again!
I didn’t take any pics this time (Easter morning was extremely busy for me, no time for such things as cameras), but we’ve found that lovely, good-quality socks are far more beloved than Easter finery.

And there we have the bare bones of our successful staycation! More travels coming up later on the calendar…

Happy 5-month Birthday, or How to Enjoy a Lunch in Early March

1. Walk a mile with 3 kids plus one beautiful and outgoing puppy.
2. Order soup from Blackbird Bakery and eat it outside in the pedestrian zone.
(The tomato-artichoke soup with a GF herb roll is especially nice.)
3. Meet 20+ people who love Corgis and chatting.
4. Meet a family visiting Bainbridge for the day who get their beautiful 3-year-old Corgi out of their car to meet your puppy.
5. Meet a delightful and talented artist whose work is currently showing at the Director’s Gallery.
6. Meet a man who lived for a winter in Tasha Tudor’s house.
7. Take your dishes back into Blackbird, encourage the kids to view the sweets as an inspiration display for making their own treats later.
8. Walk a mile home in the crisp air and bright sunshine.

Notes on the Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra

First, a peek at a delightful book I spied last week when I taught music at Wilkes Elementary: The Philharmonic Gets Dressed, by Karla Kuskin and illustrated by Marc Simont.

Second, a quick review of yesterday’s matinee performance:

The Preshow:
Excellent! A table for making a paper-plate shaker, an instrument petting zoo (S. played a violin) demo table for make-it-yourself trumpets (garden hose, plastic water/soda bottle, tape), strange and beautiful old horns, young cellists concert.

The Program:
Mozart – Die Zauberflöte, K. 620: Overture
Bruch – Concerto for Violin No. 1 in G minor, op. 26 (featuring guest soloist Corin Lee)
Ravel – Ma mère l’Oye (Mother Goose) Suite
Nielsen – Aladdin, op. 34: 7 pieces (Selections)

The Bruch was the best of them all (I suspect the Bainbridge orchestra spent the most practice time honing this one in preparation for our stellar guest). Here’s Sarah Chang playing the 3rd movement:

The Guest Violinist:
Corin (Cory) Lee’s playing is immensely pure and lyrical. He graduated from Julliard, and is now in a Masters program at Yale. His encore was a variation on Vivaldi’s “Summer”–on electric violin, with a looping board. His bow started to seem like a magic wand, conjuring deeply textured waves of sound.

The Conductor:
Still fairly new to BI, Wesley Schulz is balletic in physique and movement. Graceful and precise. Great pre-performance talk regarding the program.

The Seats:
Front-row seats might seem like a fabulous idea if you’re taking children. It’s true, they can see every small movement of the cellists and violinists. It’s also true that in the BPA, the musicians can see every squirm and cough of the front-row audience.

Such a lovely walking speed

There comes a time in a child’s musical education when her musical capabilities actually provide listening pleasure to others during practice sessions. This is hugely gratifying for a parent.

There is the little problem of vicarious ambition, whose shadow lurks whenever parents set their children up with lessons of the sort they never had or never chose but would have if circumstances had allowed it. But mostly, listening to S. play her Andantes from Suzuki book 2, I’m just purely happy that in 9 months’ time of lessons, she’s able to pick up her guitar and make beautiful music.

Her teacher, J.D., who keeps a studio at B.I’s Island Music Center (and is kind of a big deal in other venues) is a warm and encouraging stickler for proper form. He’s one of the best role models S’s come in contact with.

Early Christmas present

Just look at this little pup, asleep in S’s lap. She’s a Welsh Pembroke Corgi, 8 weeks old yesterday, and as adorable as they come. We’ve thought about getting a dog for years, and now is finally the time. As of yet, she is unnamed though…

Mini-trip to the open coast

Are you fond of sand dunes
and salty air?
Quaint little yurts nestled
here and there…

Sleeping in a seaside yurt is a most cozy way to spend a November night, especially if it’s a hugely stormy night, with the roar of the ocean and winds swirling around outside.

A. wanted to go camping for his birthday trip this year, so we reserved a state park yurt for a night. They’re very popular at Grayland Beach State Park, and I was lucky to find an opening. The yurts are heated, sleep five on comfortable mattresses, and have central skylights that let in the bright moonlight and scudding stormcloudy view. In the morning, we all awoke rested right around 6:30, with the gradual lightening of the day pouring through.

bashful flimsy compromise

A couple of days ago, I chaperoned A. and the rest of the 2nd graders on their field trip to the Pacific Science Center. The butterfly house was the focus of the outing, the 2nd graders just having cared for their own Painted Lady caterpillars. We also saw the 3-D IMAX movie Born to be Wild. It’s quite good, even more so if you’ve got a 2nd grade hand to hold during the show.

This one rode around on A’s head like a living crown.

One of the kids in my little group was a natural with my camera–she got this shot of a butterfly hanging out on my sweater.

A’s 2nd grade vocab papers are cracking me up:

My akschage student mgiht be bashful. That’s right, we’re hosting an exchange student from China, who arrives in less than a week! I guess A. was listening when the coordinator met with us and explained that she might be shy at first because everything would be so new.

I had a flimsy balloon. The little “pop” is my favorite part. It’s brilliant to have students draw pictures of their new vocab words.

Sometimes my parents compromise. Best one yet: the dialogue balloons of me and B saying, “Aa!” and “Aag!” Nice to know we’re modeling mature, evolved methods of compromise.

And then there were two

The demise of the third chicken (aka Banker) occurred last month when a wily predator made her his meal. She was the oldest and plumpest, after all. We’ve since made reinforcements to the coop, and Helia and Redneck are growing more beautiful every day.

This was taken at the end of May, as the chicks were losing their fluff.

Various stages of the coop in progress:

The main benefit of this coop is that it’s moveable (it’s a chicken tractor!). So every few days we pick it up and move it to another spot in the backyard. Little cleaning necessary.

The chickens adore dandlelion greens. If you keep offering more leaves, they’ll take each one from your hand with a sharp little jerk of the beak, turn and drop it in a pile for later, and look right back at you with their intense birdy-eyes, ready for the next one.

S’s chicken, Helia. She’s light like the sun.

A’s chicken, Redneck. Yep.

Spring 2011

Chicks! We’ve taken on three Ameraucanas that are every bit as cute as the Rhode Island Reds we raised in Okanogan. These girlies (90% sure of sex–cross your fingers) will give us blue eggs and will eventually move house into the forest. For now, we’re giving them lots of attention so they’ll be tame and affectionate.

The plan is to construct a moveable house so they will have the forest floor to scratch around in and yet be safe from eagles, coyotes, cats, etc.

This hanging flower holder is a Mother’s Day gift from my A. and the posy was picked this morning by K. The vase looks a bit like an Ameraucana egg, no?

In the garden, the japanese maple is unfurling in its strangely crustacean, but very beautiful manner.

The rhubarb is finally looking established this year–since we’ve gone very low sugar in the household, I’m thinking of making a chutney or fresh salsa with it.