Sunday in my Kitchen

A cool, rainy Sunday meant lots of cooking.... snickerdoodles for afternoon tea.
A rustic apple tart and a pork roast for dinner.
This was the scene at one end of my kitchen.

A cool, rainy Sunday also meant crafting.
This was the scene at the other end of my kitchen.

alas... my needle-felted pumpkins are now balls of orange dust-bunnies.
I decided we needed something new to grace our seasonal table.

First Nels and Helen cut down a beech sapling (nice pajamas, Helen).
Our woods are just aglow with the beeches right now.

Liz and Nelson then chopped and sanded.


We all gathered with fleece, felt, sharpies, and a glue gun.
To make these fun little guys.
They just need some lanterns...I'll happily skip Halloween and look directly to Martinmas.

I hope these don't turn into dust bunnies too.

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Lost

Little did I know, as I was reading comments on my "Loosening the Apron Strings" post yesterday, Helen was getting lost.

Helen is taking a class at our local art museum and was to walk there from school yesterday for the first time. She got there early and asked the museum guard where she should be. He took one look at her and shepherded her off to a conference room where she took a seat. Slowly the room began to fill....with Dartmouth students, not the senior citizen art museum members she was expecting.

Her heart sank. She was trapped. In walked the professor. Frank Stella, recipient of the National Medal of Arts. She happened to know who he was because she and I had recently attended an opening lecture about his exhibition at the museum.

There she was. Age 14. Sitting at the table in a senior-level, ivy league college art seminar with one of the world's pre-eminent modern artists. Trying to hold it together. Interested and sort of wanting to ask a question just because ...how cool would that be? Realizing she actually knew a tiny bit more than some of the students. At the same time freaked and trying to figure out how to quietly leave without being....well....rude.

So, she managed to slip out after about 1/2 an hour, called me, found her other class where she got to examine and analyze some cool art. And...is slowly turning a freaky experience into a pretty funny story.

Yup. Loosening those apron strings is a good thing.

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Loosening the Apron Strings

Living in a rural area means that our kids seldom get the chance to be in town without us. Because we have to drive them everywhere, they rarely go off on their own to find their way around, talk to shopkeepers, buy things, and all the other things that town kids just do.

Last spring, as Helen was getting used to the idea of going to High School, we decided to send her (and a friend) off to town on a scavenger hunt. We wanted them to become comfortable with moving about town on their own and more familiar with some of the offerings the community has for teens. We let them take the day off from school for their big excursion! It was a grand success and they now feel much more comfortable moving about town on their own. Helen confidently walks from the High School to the library, art museum, bakery, etc., now and negotiates around all the Dartmouth kids without a problem.

Here's what they had to do--

• Get lunch at the Coop. You have a $5 budget. What did you buy?
• Find the Teen Room at the library. What is a new book on display that looks interesting to you?
• Search the catalog for a book on William Shakespeare. Find the book. Photocopy page 30.
• Find the computer space. Find out three factoids about the women you are researching for your paper this apring.
• Go to the Hood. What is on exhibit? Buy 2 postcards of your favorite works of art.
• Buy a cold drink at either the College Deli or the Dartmouth Bookstore. What did you get?
• Find out what live music is playing in April at the Hop. Which show would you like to see?
• What movies are playing at the Nugget?

Yesterday, Liz had a similar opportunity at the MOST FUN BIRTHDAY PARTY EVER. The party was a giant scavenger hunt about town (different town). Teams of 4 kids went from shop to shop. They had to read their clue to the shopkeeper to see if they were in the right spot, complete a task, and then get their next clue (written in tricky limerick form). Rather than bring birthday presents, the kids each brought $5 which they pooled together in their team. Tasks included:

• Buying a pastry at the local bakery
• Saying "Thank You" to the local ski shop owner for all he does for the school
• Buying a book for the birthday girls at the local bookshop
• Buying penny candy at the general store
• Reciting their morning verse to the local Waldorf toy store owner (they hated that!)
• Buying a small funny gift at the local variety store
• Having tea and a wee rest at the home of one of the kids

When they all got back together, they pooled all the candy and everyone got to take some home. The twins each received two books chosen by their friends and two funny gifts. They all met at a local park to give the twins their gifts, eat cupcakes, and play a final game of soccer.

Just as I want them to feel so comfortable on their own in nature that time floats away, I want them to be confident on their own in town. Loosening the apron strings is so important--all too soon, we'll be cutting them.

Edited to add: Check out the next post, Lost. Helen got lost on the day I was writing this.

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Go, sit upon the lofty hill,

Go, sit upon the lofty hill,
And turn your eyes around,
Where waving woods and waters wild
Do hymn an autumn sound.
The summer sun is faint on them --
The summer flowers depart --
Sit still -- as all transform'd to stone,
Except your musing heart.

Hear not the wind -- view not the woods;

Look out o'er vale and hill-
In spring, the sky encircled them --
The sky is round them still.
Come autumn's scathe -- come winter's cold --
Come change -- and human fate!
Whatever prospect Heaven doth bound,
Can ne'er be desolate.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

We capped off our Columbus Day Weekend with a picnic up a local mountain.
Glorious.

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Another Glorious Fall Weekend

We have had another weekend of reveling in all that is autumn.
We completed some seasonal chores that somehow make you feel that all will be well with the world--chores that feed your soul, in a way.

We picked the final bits from our garden and turned over the soil.

Lou and her buddy cleaned the cars (with the amount of driving I do in this rural area, a clean car before winter is a must).

Nels finished loading the porch with wood for the winter.

Helen and I went to our Coop's case-lot sale to replenish our pantry.

We bought pastas, beans, couscous, rice, tomatoes, crackers, tortilla chips, peanut butter, stock, Annies, mandarin oranges, frozen peas, and frozen strawberries.
I wish we could say that we had put up a lot of our own food this year, but it just didn't happen. We managed to freeze blueberries and make jam, chutney and maple syrup.

Our pantry is not as picturesque as this, but it still feels....cozy. Bring on the storms!

On Sunday afternoon we headed into the woods for what turns out to be one of the girls' most very favorite activities we do as a family (as I overheard them telling friends).

An autumn campfire and picnic.
We began by raking leaves from the firepit.

Nels built a new bench to accommodate our neighbors.

Jacknives always add to the fun.

The menu included--pumpkin soup, bread and cheese, apples baked in the fire with cinnamon, fingerling potatoes in the fire with salt and butter, sausages on a stick, rustic apple tart, and s'mores. We sat by the fire and cooked and visited all afternoon. Sadly, I forgot to get a picture of all the yummy food and it was so picturesque with tablecloths, baskets, and pretty colors.

We even got in a little crafting by the fire.
These little pumpkins are now living on my kitchen island.

Best of all? We still have another day off!

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Michaelmas!

We celebrated Michaelmas a little late due to a big storm.
It was a glorious autumn day, filled with music and pageantry.
Lou is now one of the big kids--everywhere at once with the music.

There were sweet little gnomes forging St. George's sword.
Sniff, both my girls once wore those hats!

And, of course, a tamed dragon.

We all gathered after the pageant for pizza baked in the dragon oven.

This season of Michaelmas is dear to me. Somehow, my inner dragons are more apparent to me this year. I see myself wrestling with them throughout the season. It's a good thing, for I know that I will embrace the time when inner lights brighten and spiral inward even more sweetly.

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World's Fair

Our local agricultural fair has always been known as "the World's Fair." It is in a beautiful setting, down in a little valley surrounded by rolling hills.

While there are rides and arcades, cotton candy and fried dough,
there are also plenty of local foods.

My favorite building is "Floral Hall" which features the vegetable people, canned goods, and pie contests.

There is always a costume parade.
Here are some Dartmouth sheep.

We stroll through the agricultural barns and dream of the day when we might keep bees and raise chickens. We enjoy the artwork and collections, often submitted by kids we know.

It isn't fall without a trip to the World's Fair.

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