Is it time to leave yet?

Claire has been waiting for this day all summer. The First Day of School. Finally its here! She had her backpack packed and clothes laid out last night. This morning she got up, dressed herself and was waiting by the door at 6:30am. We don't leave the house until 8:15, and that hour and 45 minutes was probably the longest she can remember. And then, (finally!) we arrived at school and I stop her on the way in to take a picture. Annoying, I know, but I'm suppose to take a first day of school picture. And here it is. The official first day of the second year of preschool picture.

She's Four

Claire turned four yesterday, and since we had her party last week, the birthday itself was pretty quiet. We had a french toast breakfast with a few presents. In the afternoon we went to a wedding, where the following took place after the bride said, "Let's just be nice. I won't get you if you don't get me, alright?". Right.










It was a beautiful wedding, to say the least.











But anyway, I've sat down with Claire a few other times and asked her some questions. I don't know how enjoyable it is for anyone else, but I like to go back an see what she's said at different ages. And so, here are the questions and answers from a Four Old Claire.

What is your favorite color? Purple
Favorite book? The Missing Piece
Favorite animal? Dog
Favorite thing to wear? My green dress and pink skirt. Its the best dress in the world.
Favorite food? Spaghetti with sauce
Favorite breakfast? French toast with syrup
fruit pear
Favorite thing to drink? Chocolate milk
Favorite game? Balloon Lagoon
Favorite thing in your room? The big pictures mom put on my walls
Favorite thing to do at school? Art projects
Favorite art project? Painting
Favorite song? Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Favorite sport? Dribble Mania (soccer)
Favorite thing to do? Watch daddy play basketball at the basketball gym and also my favorite thing to do is when daddy helps me climb at the climbing gym, and I climb really really high.
Favorite place to go? Children's Museum
Favorite thing at the Children's Museum? The huge fire truck. I like to ring the bell.
Favorite movie? The one where Dora and Boots go to the Lost City
Favorite TV show? When the Packers are on.
Who do you like to win? The green Bay Packers and Brett Favre. He's my favorite Packer. He's number four. Just like I'm four now.

To be fair, I'm not sure she'd choose the Packers as her favorite TV show at another time. We just finished watching them win, so its pretty fresh. It was a special treat to watch them. I wasn't able to get the games last year, but somehow today, after spending a lot of time adjusting the antennas, I got it. Hopefully it lasts the season. One thing I noticed today, as I cheered by myself, is that I've never lived in a place where there wasn't at least one other person cheering within earshot. More than once I expected to hear a cheer or some kind of frustrated or disappointed groan from a neighbor. But in the end, it was only me.

Last week my parents (and Aunt and Uncle) were here. Since this was their second trip to Maine, everyone had a good idea of what they wanted to do. Most if it involved no schedules whatsoever, which is always nice on a vacation. As for Claire, Mike and I, we got all the benefits of being on vacation (trips to restaurants, getting to be a tourist, and a week of 'I don't have anything planned') and all the benefits of being at home. We did get to cross a few things off the 'List of Things to do in Maine' that were missed last year, such as the Bug Light. We had Claire's birthday party there last Saturday, and the park did not disappoint. It was a beautiful day. The skies were filled with kites, the harbor was busy with boats of all kinds coming in and out, and there was even a wedding. My family enjoyed watching all that was going on,














the kids ran around (mostly with Jaime),
















the Dads of the group played wiffle ball,



















and everyone else mostly watched.















There was even an obese wiener dog that kept trotting over from somewhere looking for pizza and cake.



















Definitely a successfully birthday party.

We of course had some repeats as well. A day at Old Orchard Beach, a day in Freeport, and lots of time on the Maine State Pier and in Old Port. These things were all much more enjoyable this year, since every day we enjoyed temperatures in the mid 70's and clear blue skies. Last year I think it rained all but one of the days they were here. Also on one of the beautiful fall evenings, Mike and I had a chance to go to a Boston Red Sox game (thanks again Jaime and John!). Unfortunately they lost, but I think on your first trip to Fenway Park, thats almost secondary.














It reminded me a lot of the evening games Mike and I would go to in Milwaukee. I didn't quite forget where I was, though, since I noticed that they did not sing "Roll Out the Barrel" and they did not have a Sausage Race. The entire stadium did sing "Sweet Caroline", however, and that was unlike anything I've ever heard before.

So. School starts for Claire on Monday. She'll be going three mornings a week this year, and has been looking forward to it since I broke the news that she wouldn't be going to school over the summer a week before her last day last spring. She's ready to go back. And I've been planning how I'll use the free time since I started taking pottery classes again. I'm about to see a lot more studio time every week!

Time

My computer is, I believe, permanently out of service. In short, the power cord melted itself and in the process I think something inside the computer was damaged as well, since my back up power cord won't work anymore. Initially, this was really bad news. I really liked my computer. It was always incredibly reliable and problem-free. But, it is about five years old, and lets be serious, thats up there as far as a computer's life expectancy goes. And I'd be lying if I said it didn't have its little quirks. So, yes, I really liked my old reliable computer and it stinks that I can't use it (now Mike and I have to share), but I can see this situation for what it really is, a chance to upgrade! I have my eye on an an iMac, and hopefully after a bit of money saving, I'll get to 'switch'.

Throwing Again

Tonight was my last night in an eight week pottery class I've been taking. And since after about six weeks I couldn't imagine not going to pottery class on Monday nights, I already signed up for the next session. Its been four years since I've been at a wheel, and I didn't realize how much I missed it. I really enjoy it. Really really enjoy it, more than any other thing I've studied or learned or tried. The whole process just makes me happy.

This past session, the focus was on Raku firing. Raku is a form of Japanese pottery in which you fire a glazed piece and then remove it from the kiln while its still glowing hot. Using the original Japanese technique, you'd take the piece out of the kiln and put it directly into water. We used the 'Western Technique', the main difference being that you put the glowing hot piece of pottery into some kind of combustible material to create a 'reduction chamber' around it. Its a lot to explain with words so I'll just show pictures.

First. Put your glazed stuff in the kiln and fire it up. Raku firings are usually around 1450 to 1800 degrees Farenheit.















After about an hour (by comparison, stoneware firings usually last about 16 hours), open up the kiln, but don't look at it! The first picture was taken only a few seconds before the second.












Take stuff out, put it in a pile of sawdust. Wait a few seconds for the sawdust to ignite, and then sprinkle more sawdust on top.










































Then cover it all up with the 'Reduction Chamber' (trash can) and wait for about 10 minutes. Then put all the pottery into buckets of water. After a few minutes, you can pick them up and see what you have.

The glazes themselves are special Raku glazes. Originally, lead-based glazes were used. Today thats not the case, but because of other reasons, Raku fired pieces are not food safe. A good thing to know when choosing which pieces to fire. The glazes are a lot of fun, and usually (but not always) do one of two things: be metallic or be crackly. They are always (not usually) a surprise.

Some crackly (surprise! pink!):











Some metallic (surprise! blue!):













The surprise:













I don't know what happened on the left side of that bowl. Its a surprise. Maybe there was too much oxygen, I don't know. One of the Rules of Raku is to never fire something you love because if it survives the thermal shock and isn't dropped, who knows what the glaze will end up looking like.

Oh, I also made a little votive holder. Its a metallic surprise glaze, but when in use, you can't see it anyway.












And in addition to all this fun Raku stuff, I also brought home a big batch of regular stoneware tonight. But I'm pretty sure I'm over my length and picture limit, so I'll save it for another time.

Claire's Doll House

Another project I'm marking down as finished. The inside has yet to be decorated or painted, but for all intents and purposes, this doll house is finished. It was quite a project, so it feels good to say that. I really wish I had a picture of the 'before' because it came completely unassembled in hundreds and hundreds of pieces down to the individual shingles for the roof and unassembled windows and porch railings.











Jim and Teresa bought it for Claire, and assembled the body of the house when they were visiting earlier this summer. After they left, I finished up the gluing (not a nail was used in the whole construction), stained the roof, and last night I finished painting the exterior. Even on a doll house a fresh coat of paint makes all the difference.


























I enjoyed picking out possible color combinations with Colorsmart at Behr.com. I think I had about five possibilities that I showed Claire, but once she saw there was a purple option she didn't consider anything else. And then last night as I did the final touch-ups, she sat back and said, "This is exactly what I wanted!"

another storage makeover

Up until last night, Claire's dresser was a $10 garage sale find that I let her paint when we moved in last year to keep her busy. It wasn't a very attractive to look at, and I finally got sick of it. Last night we painted it white and purple, naturally, (Claire helped again, she's improved her technique since the last attempt) and added some new drawer pulls that I found while browsing around Company C with Teresa last summer. I wasn't sure what I would ever use them for, but at $.25 a piece, they were the only thing I could afford in the entire store, and they were cool. Just like the paintings in the kitchen, these 'big blue diamond jewels' have finally found their place.

Storage Solution

I was standing in the kitchen the other day, and I realized that when we moved in, we just put stuff where ever it fit, intending to move it to a better place when we had the time. So its a year later, and stuff is right were we originally put it. It works, of course. The things that need outlets are by outlets and so on, but its just not as efficient as it could be. One of the problems is that there isn't a ton of counter space, and thats what I chose to focus on when I started my Super Sweet Kitchen Storage Solution. I've finished Stage One: Above the Stove. Before, it was a blank wall above an ugly stove:














And right in the center was this little door that opens to reveal an exhaust fan since there is no hood overhead. We've used it exactly once when I opened the door saying "Huh. I wonder if this thing works. Oh look, it does". So I didn't hesitate to put stuff in front of it. Stuff like three stainless steel utensil canisters, to hold utensils, of course. I rigged them up on an aluminum pole I found at Home Depot (Claire and I were at Home Depot a few days ago when it started down pouring. We wandered around while I considered different, less ideal options for this part of the plan, and stumbled on this pole, which was exactly what I wanted, and for just $3. I had no idea such a thing was even made). Then I added a narrow silver shelf above it to hold the stuff I use most often when cooking, stuff that was taking up counter space. And finally, I hung paintings of sage, bay leaves, and basil. I painted these months ago and they have been sitting in a box in the closet. I think this is the spot they were waiting for.

So, Stage One is finished. Everything is perfectly on-hand.

































The second part of my plan will have to wait until my dad comes to visit in a few weeks since it involves wiring new outlets. I can't wait.

Rhode Island

This past weekend we went to Rhode Island so Mike could participate in a tennis tournament. We had a really good time. Mike played well, and it was fun to watch him in an organized sport again. Maine's most popular sports seem to be alternative sports. Its not so easy to go watch Mike ride his road bike, so tennis was nice. We were also able to check out the Providence Children's Museum and the EcoTarium. They both were lots of fun for all three of us (the EcoTarium had a fantastic planetarium show), and it was a great way to break up the weekend, especially for Claire. I think it was much easier for her to sit through a tennis match when she knew we were going to a children's museum afterwards.











































Gotta love "The Big Lady". Sometimes, children's museums a strange item or two hidden in a corner.

Bread. Bread bread bread.

Yesterday Claire and I made four loaves of zucchini bread. I was really glad to be able to use up some of the zucchinis, but in the end, I still have a long way to go if I want to keep up with how many I'm getting out of the garden. I also need to check a little more thoroughly when I'm out picking them. I've been trying to not let them get over a foot long, but obviously those two huge ones snuck by me, probably more than once. Thats a whole lotta zucchini.










I'll probably plant fewer zucchini plants next year, and more beans and peas in their place. I could crunch on fresh beans all day. And yesterday I picked the first handful of sugar snap peas, and they were fantastic. Better than fantastic, really. I definitely wish I had more of those in the garden. I have really enjoyed the whole garden experience this summer (obviously).

But anyway. Today I found out what happens if you leave post-its out on the table....





































...an hour (maybe more) of quiet entertainment. Which is definitely worth the $.72 they cost.

Sunset

I've been meaning to post a picture of an amazing sunset Claire and I were lucky enough to see on Ferry Beach a few nights ago. I can't remember ever seeing a sunset as beautiful as this one was. The actual setting of the sun was not much, but after it sunk below the horizon, the sky completely filled with color, and was reflected in the water around all the sandbars and boats. It started out just slightly orange, but as we watched, it became darker and more intense until it was unbelievably red, and then finally purple before all the color and light faded completely. The colors were so saturated our skin, clothes, even the sand looked red in the light. I took pictures, of course, but not many. It was definitely something to sit and enjoy fully rather than through a camera's viewfinder.
































I also used this sunset as an opportunity to try out my camera's 'photo stitch' capabilities to produce a panoramic photo. It worked great, but now that I have it I have no idea where to print it. My usuals (snapfish and shutterfly) don't offer panoramic prints. Any ideas how I can print it?

'Frankly Scallop, I don't give a clam'.

This past weekend we went to the Yarmouth Clam Festival. It was just about exactly what Milwaukee's IrishFest would be if it were held in Maine. Where IrishFest would have music stages, ClamFest had art tents as far as you could see. Where IrishFest would have beer and brats, ClamFest had lobster and, of course, clams. Simple enough. We enjoyed a bag of steamers and wandered around a bit before we moved on to the next activity,








Which was spending the evening with some friends who happen to have a neighbor that begs people to come and use their (really nice) in-ground pool.




























And after swimming, we grilled our dinner and settled in for a nice game of Euchre. I've learned how to play so many times now, I really should be catching on. But so much time passes in between one time and the next, that I basically start over every time I sit down to play. Honestly, I was surprised to find people who know how to play the game here in Maine. I had never heard of it until I met Mike, and figured it was something unique to the UP. Needless to say Mike and I lost, and I think he is pretty serious about giving me Euchre lessons so it doesn't happen again.

And, our garden continues to grow veggies. This is four zucchinis, a cucumber and one of about three handfuls of beans I picked yesterday. The plants seem to have veggies in all different stages, so it looks like we'll have a pretty continuous supply. Its really amazing.















Anybody have a great zucchini recipe for something other than bread? If not, who wants a loaf?

Ceiling Fan Issues

Back when Jim and Teresa were visiting, we tried to put a new ceiling fan in the kitchen. What we thought would be a quick job turned into a half-day project which was ultimately abandoned. Until yesterday, we had just a few wires sticking out of the ceiling. But Mike and I were able to finally get the fan installed (and working!) with very little problem. I think the first time around we were in too much of a hurry to get on to other projects to really take the time to figure it out.














We have also continued to stuff ourselves with fresh veggies out of the garden. I don't have any pictures, so you'll just have to believe me when I say the tomato and zucchini plants have really taken over and are not even close to being contained by their planting boxes anymore. The watermelon plant heard me talking about its lack of growth, and has since spread out over the lawn just like the tomatoes. The bean plants have been producing enough that we have fresh beans with just about every meal, even breakfast. We got our first broccoli and cauliflower snacks as well. When I planted everything this spring, I figured we'd get a few beans, maybe a zucchini. I didn't expect it to be incredibly successful, just because I don't really know what I'm doing. I never imagined we'd have this much success.

With Pictures!

Another project crossed off the list: the basement stairs. We proved once a gain that a coat of paint makes all the difference. The white walls were all scuffed up from hauling stuff up and down, and the stairs really needed a fresh coat. Really the pictures don't even do it justice. In short, it looks great (before and after, if it wasn't obvious):
















Tuesday, we decided to take a quick camping trip with Claire, just to test her out and see how much work we have to do if we wanted to go camping with her regularly. Turns out not much. She did great sleeping in the tent, even when it was bedtime for her, but Mike and I sat out by the fire for a while longer. A fire that was fantastic. Its been really wet lately, and though it didn't rain Tuesday, the woods was still damp. We couldn't even find leaves that were dry enough to catch fire. But Mike was patient enough to start a fire that was hot enough that the coals were still smoking in the morning.












And then, when we got home we realized we had a cucumber ready for picking. Definitely the best cucumber I've ever tasted!

Green Thumb?

This year was the first time we've planted a garden. We've never really had the space, and though I wanted to plant something last year, I didn't have the time since we moved in during the prime planting days. The previous owners of our house, however, had built great planting boxes which were filled with strawberries. We were excited when they started ripening. We picked one barely red and bitter strawberry, and then over night they all disappeared, enjoyed I'm sure by the beetles.

I'm doing everything I can to prevent that this year. We have zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts, watermelon, and various herbs, all doing very well. The zucchini and tomatoes have kind of taken over. They are high enough you can't even see the rest of the stuff behind them. I have a feeling that if anything, we'll be eating lots of zucchini bread this fall. And so will everyone we know.


















Its going much better than I expected, actually. I was excited when they started flowering, and even more excited when I started seeing tiny little veggies. I'll really be happy the day I need a cucumber and can go out in the backyard and pick one. The watermelon is the only one that hasn't flowered. It sprouted quickly, but seems to have slowed way down. Mike's money is on us NOT getting a melon from the plant, but I think we might. I'm not really sure what to expect yet.










And I love this little tiny broccoli. Its taken a lot of willpower since I discovered it to not eat it. Its perfectly bite-sized right now. Claire's pansies are doing great as well.