Sew proud

In addition to the standard core classes, Aidan also has an "encore" class each marking period - music, art, technology and FACS. His encore class this marking period is FACS, which is Family And Consumer Science; in other words, home economics. The main focus of this nine week session is learning the basics of sewing, and using those basic skills to make a pillow. I think making a pillow is a very smart idea, a gender neutral project that is useful.

Each student had to bring in fabric of their choice along with a coordinating color (or colors) of felt and a spool of thread. We had a fun time in Jo-Ann Fabric looking at aisle after aisle of fabric before he settled on a pirate/treasure map print.

Aidan has really enjoyed learning to use a sewing machine and I am proud to say that he had absolutely no problem with learning to sew. He has watched enough episodes of Project Runway with me to know that men absolutely do sew. Almost every day he came home with a story about what he learned, how he had to redo part of the pillow and how the project was progressing.

Yesterday he came home with the finished pillow:

 

Aidan did a great job on the pillow and he is [rightfully] very proud of it. Don't ask me why a pirate treasure map pillow has a duck applique on it because I don't know...quack marks the spot? It seems that each student had to make an applique out of felt and there were templates or stencils available from which to choose, and he chose a duck. And why not a duck?

Pumpkin tats

One of the many aspects of village life that we like is how many people decorate for holidays and Halloween is at the top of that holiday list. On my morning walks, I see orange lights, giant cobwebs with spiders, ghosts, tombstones, zombie hands emerging from the ground, and jack o'lanterns. Numerous jack o'lanterns.

We like jack o'lanterns but we don't like carving them, and haven't in several years. We don't like the mess, they never come out quite like we envision, and there is always the opportunity for someone to get injured. And by "someone", I mean me; my palm is still healing from an unfortunate mandolin accident about a month ago. Let's just say I have major trust issues right now with sharp kitchen tools.

So when James spotted these pumpkin "transfers", we knew we had our answer to pumpkin decorating:

 

Transfers, schmansfers - even the directions state "apply with water just like a temporary tattoo."

After dinner last night, James and I got to work on the two pumpkins we bought earlier in the day (Aidan was too busy playing his allotted computer time to help with something as silly as pumpkin decorating). The transfers are incredibly easy to apply, even on uneven pumpkin surfaces, and stand out well against the orange. We had enough transfers to do two different faces on each pumpkin for a Jekyll and Hyde effect.

Pumpkins, sides A:

Pumpkins sides B:

Although we can't light them and enjoy the flickering jack o'lanterns at night, we are still very pleased with the results and will take this pumpkin decoration route again. Thank you, Martha!

Best family camping trip EVER

We wanted one more family camping trip before storing the popup camper for the winter, so last weekend we headed out to West Canada Creek Campsites in Poland, NY. It was our first visit to that campground and we chose it because of its location - just outside of Utica - and excellent online reviews. It took just an hour and fifteen minutes to drive there and although we had to set up in the dark, we soon had the camper open and a campfire burning.

What a great weekend we had. The campground is very nice; the owners are friendly and helpful, the bathrooms are spotless, there is a large open area in which children can play and the sites are spacious and flat:

Aidan soon made friends and played football, kickball, soccer and everything else under the sun. The campground is set in a bend in West Canada Creek, so James had easy access for fishing:

Aidan joined James for some dad and son fishing time:

I was happy to stay at the campsite where I read Misery Bay by Steve Hamilton (one of my favorite authors) cover-to-cover, knitted and enjoyed the splendor of autumn in New York:

The weather was spectacular. The days were warm and sunny, and the nights were cool but not freezing, just cold enough to enjoy the campfire (and the heated mattresses in the camper!). We feasted on sausage gravy over buttermilk biscuits for breakfast on Saturday morning, hot dogs cooked over the fire for lunch, and steak shish kebabs and campfire cones for dinner. After packing up on Sunday morning, we stopped at a nearby diner for a hearty breakfast before making the short drive home.

The combination of excellent campground in a great location, fun together and fun apart in our own activities, and lovely fall weather made us all agree that it was our best family camping trip ever.

A place of his own

While Aidan and I were visiting my family in Michigan, James put the finishing touches on Aidan's treehouse:

 

In addition to being a place where Aidan can spend time alone or with friends, it is a work of art and the subject of much envy. 

Aidan has long wanted a tree house and I told James that if we were ever going to build one, it needed to be soon before Aidan gets too old to be interested in playing in a tree house. And while we have a line of trees on the border between our house and the house next door, it really wasn't feasible to build a tree house in a tree. We decided to build a freestanding structure near the trees and broke ground on April 27:

James - with assistance from Aidan and me - worked on it from late spring through the summer, with breaks for weather, vacation, camping trips and the MacKenzie-Childs barn sale. As the tree house took shape, we became accustomed to cars driving slowly by the house so the occupants could get a better view, walkers would stop to talk with James and ask about rent (!), and a photo even appeared on Instagram, although none of us have Instagram accounts.

This is not a plywood box on stilts; James took great care to make it sturdy and as weather proof as possible with shingled walls and a real roof. The windows have shutters that open out:

 

Inside there is a small shelf, a coat hook and a bench that provides storage and seating:

The storage bench also makes for a great place to hide:

One day Aidan got in, pulled the lid down and scared the life out of James, who did not know he was in there!

James added railing caps that have solar powered lights:

Glass blocks near the peak at either end also have small solar lights, which make the tree house look great even at night:

In case of a zombie apocalypse, you know where to gather:

The view from the front porch is beautiful:

 

We put a lock on the door and the ladder can easily be removed and stored in our garage, so that the tree house doesn't get occupied when we are not around. About the only things this marvelous tree house does not have are electricity and plumbing, but there is always next summer...

Envy

Today I received a wonderful package in the mail containing these lovely items:

Just what, pray tell, did I do to deserve such riches? I participated in a Top Chef Masters' pool on Ravelry, that's what. Prior to the start of the competition, each participant posted what item they were contributing to the pool and then that participant was randomly assigned a chef. Based on the order of the chefs winning or leaving the competition, each participant then chose what prize they wanted. The person who had the winning chef picked first, the person with the second place chef picked second...you get the idea.

My chef was Odette Fada and she was the fourth chef (out of fourteen) sent home. And while it usually isn't great to be the eleventh person to pick a prize, all the participants posted such great items that there was still good stuff when it came my turn to pick.

I chose the prize contributed by Susanna from Huntsville, Alabama and wow, did she put together a great prize pack. I received:

• a project bag in a fun chili pepper print
• Skein DK 100% superwash Merino yarn in the Envy colorway, which is a lovely turquoisy-aqua color
• a lavender lotion bar from Coyote Cove Farm
• a double bar of Icelandic chocolate (how did she know that I am fascinated by Iceland?) 
• a pair of scissors for my notions bag; and,
• a custom made friendship bracelet, which is hilarious if you happen to watch The Real Housewives of Orange County (not that I do. Ever.).

The yarn is gorgeous:

And should I share the chocolate, or squirrel it away?

Small world story: as I traded messages with Susanne regarding my address and her shipping schedule, I learned that she is currently not working due to the shutdown of the federal government (boo, hiss). She works at Marshall Space Flight Center and when I told her that Dad retired from a long career at NASA, she said that her dad had also worked for NASA, on the Saturn 5 project. How cool!

So now the fun really begins...planning how to use that luscious yarn. Today I prepared my own prize package for shipping (Three Irish Girls yarn, a project bag, a wine "sippy cup" and cocktail napkins) and I hope Jenn in Maine likes it as much as I liked mine.