« September 2010 | Main | November 2010 »
This is going to be a busy week.
There's lunch today with a dear, dear friend,
plus attending a book lecture tonight with Sweet G and Auntie O.
Then the week rolls on from there,
with two stints at the book fair
(which I am so happy not to be running),
a visit to Little e's classroom,
and so much sewing to do it makes me a little faint.
It should be a good week!
Ah the life of a cat.
Sunbeams to worship, carpets to shed on, claws to sharpen,
children to dominate, toy mice to kill, cobwebs to eat,
laps to own, things to rub against, human minds to control.
Yes, life as a cat is good...
if only some darn human would stop taking my picture,
doesn't she understand her place in my world?
This year we're going to do a book, like we did last year.
It will be a pre-sale item (meaning it's sold before the auction).
I like the book idea for a number of reasons.
First, every parent has an opportunity to own a piece
of the auction project. Parents who can't afford to go
to the auction, can still contribute to the school.
And there are no hurt feelings (or fist fights) by families
who are outbid.
Second it makes a great gift, (Hello Christmas/Hanukkah)
so many parents buy more than one.
Last year, when we auctioned off the art used to make
the book, we made more than twice as much from book
sales than we did from the sale of the quilts.
Yes, I've just talked a lot about money and sales,
verboten though that might be.
Another advantage, a purely non-monetary one,
is that the students become authors when they write a book.
They go home with knowledge that they wrote and
illustrated something that people liked so much
they paid money for it. (Damn, circled back to money again.)
Honestly, it is fabulous mojo for a child to publish.
There is pride. Such pride.
Last year, sure the students liked seeing the quilts
they made, but they LOVED holding their book and listening
to it being read and seeing their work in the pages.
When I first showed them the finished book and read it
to the class; they glowed.
As an added element to our project, we will again
enter the finished piece in Scholastic's Kids are Author's.
It's a contest run by Scholastic.
Every entry gets a certificate, and that bit of paper
makes the book more real, if you know what I mean.
(Last year our book did do quite well, but that was only the cherry, on top of the chocolate sauce, on the ice cream, on top of the cake filled with love and rainbows, if you know what I mean. It made a wonderful project even cooler, but wasn't the purpose.)
I have just begun my holiday market sewing,
which means I'm very, very late in my beginning.
So I've been trying to find my makin' mojo.
Since I'm only doing one show this year,
I don't have to produce a huge amount of merchandise,
but if I don't find my zone soon, I won't have a full table.
In the past, I've used books on tape to keep me on track,
but this year they aren't cutting it.
Between my children listening in, and asking questions
("Are they kissing? Why are they kissing?")
and my children talking at me through the audio,
("Hello? Yes, I am listening to something!")
it just wasn't working.
So, this weekend I did what my children do,
and used the most rockin' technology from the 1990's.
I borrowed Sweetheart G's diskman and Little e's
big headphones, and plugged in, so I could tune out.
I spent all of Saturday immersed in a chick lit novel
(a quilting, chick lit novel. I know how indulgent!),
and I Got Stuff Done with minimal interruptions.
Amazingly, having earmuff style headphones on
tells my children that I am doing something,
and that I cannot hear them, at all.
Instead of barging in, they tap me on the shoulder
and (prepare to be shocked) wait patiently.
I made and canned 4 batches of grape jelly,
made apple pie filling for the freezer,
made beef stew, cleaned the kitchen,
AND got some sewing done.
Totally awesome, man.
I've been lusting (yes, lusting) after antique
typewriters for some time now.
I'd started bookmarking typewriters for sale on Etsy,
and eyeing ones in local shops.
And, I couldn't tell you exactly why I wanted one.
I just did.
Oh, sure I have ideas about how I'd use one.
They are all artsy, undefined reasons,
like I'd use it to write things to use in stuff, like collage.
There is also the aesthetic of a typewriter.
The little chrome coated arm that pushes the carriage back
and advances the paper, and the sound that makes.
The black carrying case. The keys. The font.
And then, about a week and half ago, while with my mom,
in the midst of my lingering cold, I found one.
Oh happy dance! Isn't it LOVELY?!
Even the Tank is smitten.
Well.
Here I am crawling out from under the rock where I've been hiding.
I am (finally) feeling better. (Yay!)
I've been busy, just not very bloggy,
but here, I catch you up.
Fall is here, and I am so very glad.
This morning was brisk and foggy, and as the girls and I
walked to school a big flock of geese went over us.
There was enough fog to make the merging V's look ghostly,
and their calls sounded disproportionately far off.
It was a good walk, after a hectic morning.
It was a long weekend, which (apparently) means
we are even less likely to get things done on time.
Both Little e and I realized this morning that we'd
flaked on our responsibilities, so there was a flurry of
Monday morning form filling out and question answering.
Sweet G was the only one on the ball.
Friday (our no school day) I hosted another class.
With the kids in school now, I thought maybe a relaxed
class might be a nice option. There was less theory
of food science, and more freedom and experimentation.
Oh, and I threw in a bit of non-edible art as well.
With Little e joining our group of four 10 and 11 year olds,
we started class by making three batches of pizza dough.
While the yeast partied and did its thing in the kitchen,
we moved to the dining room and learned about wool
and needle felting. I demonstrated the basic technique,
pulled out a big box of colored wool, gave project ideas
and left them to explore while I readied the kitchen
for the next round of food prep.
After an hour of felting, hands were washed
and dough was kneaded. Part of the dough was enriched
with butter (folded in like you would with puff pastry)
and left to chill in the fridge.
Each student was given a portion of plain dough
and free reign with toppings (pesto, tomato sauce, two kinds of cheese, ham, salami, and cooked chicken breast)
to make their lunch.
After lunch, I gave examples of what could be made with the enriched dough: cinnamon rolls, apple tart, chocolate buns. Sweet toppings were provided (apples, brown and white sugar, cinnamon, and mini chocolate chips), and each student was given a piece of rich dough that could be used as they wished.
While the sweets baked, the felted items were finished up.
There was just enough time to sample their sweets before parents came to claim bites of their own, and to take them home.
It was a very good time,
and I am absolutely feeling better.