All in a day's work

Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day was April 25 but since New York state testing took place last week, James' employer, MacKenzie-Childs, delayed their event to yesterday, May 2. The national theme was "Work in Progress", sponsored by the National Association of State Foresters, and M-C planned a full day of fun for the children and/or grandchildren of employees. Aidan was very excited to participate and was one of 31 children there.

James dropped him off at the main building where the morning's activities included painting flower pots and making a plaster wall decoration:

Aidan decorated it with baubles used by the M-C artisans in some of their items. They had snacks, and visited with the resident Highland cattle and some of the farm's birds. Aidan is now on a first-name basis with the "boss cow" Molly, who leads the herd, Bruce the bull, and a goose named Simon. He also saw a peacock, who Aidan said is a widower. James then picked him up and took him to his workplace where he had an activity planned. James had Aidan locate items and record the country of origin and content. Aidan said it was like a scavenger hunt with freight! He also picked out my Mother's Day present. Hmmm...

There was face and body (!) painting, and lunch with James and the other children/parents. After the adults went back to work, the afternoon was filled with painting a mug, visiting with sheep, making and eating ice cream and then dancing around a maypole. Aidan admitted that he may have "accidentally" tied up a child or two while twirling around the maypole.

He brought home the plaster cast and a small serviceberry tree; the flower pots and mug are being fired and will be available for James to pick up later. Aidan was dirty, spotted with paint, and exhausted, and chatted happily about the activities and the new friends he made.

M-C provided a lovely day at the farm for the children, but I suspect that Aidan will never believe James again when he says that he had a hard day at work!

Knitworthy

Yesterday I enjoyed a celebratory birthday lunch with my friend Mary - her birthday was on Sunday and mine, of course, was last week. The first time we met we were amused to learn that not only are our birthdays only five days apart, we were born in the same year! It is always fun to spend time with Mary and yesterday's lunch was no exception: two hours of nonstop talking, hearty laughter and abundant sarcasm.

I was introduced to Mary on Facebook by our mutual friend, Betty. Mary and Betty knew each other as children in New Jersey, and I met Betty a gazillion years ago on a Windjammer Barefoot Cruise. When Betty heard that I was moving to Syracuse, she told me that I HAD to meet her friend Mary who lives in Syracuse. because she knew we would hit it off. We were Facebook friends (and Words With Friend foes) for quite some time before we finally decided it was time to meet in person.

Have you ever met someone for the first time that you swear you've known for years? That is exactly how it felt to me when I met Mary. It was such a pleasant surprise to meet someone with whom I had an instant friendship, and someone who gets my quirky personality and wicked sense of humor. Although we are very different in some ways, we are very alike in many other ways. We can be downright evil together and there is never a shortage of topics to discuss.

For Mary's birthday present, I knit a pretty little shawlette:

Here is a close up view of the feather and fan detail:

The yarn is Cascade Yarns Heritage Silk, which is 85% superwash merino wool and 15% mulberry silk. It has a lovely sheen to it and was quite fun to knit. I knew that Mary would appreciate the time, effort and workmanship I put into the shawlette because she is a very talented artist who puts her time, effort and workmanship into her amazing projects.She does illustration, graphic design, portraits, and fine art, and does it all very well.

And I knew that the vibrant red color would not scare her - Mary adores color and the more vibrant, the better. Her Color Can't Hurt You Etsy shop contains so-called "ordinary" items that she has made beautiful through color and design. Her birthday gift to me is one piece of Mary Art, either something she has already created or a custom request. Squeee - what to choose?

Mary has already given me a wonderful present - the gift of friendship, for which I am grateful. I am fortunate to have such a friend in my life, and she is very, very knitworthy. Thank you, Betty!