That's news to me

Our 4 year old neighbor came over to play with Dorian yesterday while I finished hoeing the garden. (It's done! Sort of.) As usual, she had no shoes on despite the 39 degree temperature. She fell off our swing and was crying which led to a runny nose. I went inside to get her a tissue so she would stop using her shirt. (No coat either, of course.)

I wiped her nose and she said, "We don't really believe in these tissues. And we don't believe in toilet paper either. That's because we're Jews. I'm a Jew."

Is there something about this in the Torah?

Why I don't have two kids one year apart

Yesterday I watched 2 year old Davy for Amanda and Nathan while they closed on some land in Marlboro. (Congrats again!) Everything was going smoothly until we were almost done with lunch.

Davy announced he needed to poop. I take him to the bathroom and place him on the toilet. So far so good.

Dorian yells that he needs something. I step out of the bathroom (which adjoins the kitchen) to cater to the almost 3 year old. Finishing that, I turn back to the bathroom to find...

Davy has fallen in the toilet! He's just a head and feet sticking out. He didn't yelp or anything! Suppressing the urge to laugh, I pull him out and dry him off. Just as I get him settled on the seat again, I hear...

"Mama, I need to pee! I mean, I did pee." I return to the kitchen to find wet pants and a puddle. I take Dorian into the bathroom to clean him up and put him on the little potty on the off chance he still needed to relieve himself a little.

The scene ends with the 2 toddlers sitting side by side on their potties yelling, "Conk on the ___!" (insert anything you can see, ie. shower curtain, sink, towel, floor)

It's squashtastic!

I think I went a little overboard at the farm yesterday. When I got home, I had 6 delicata squash, 2 butternut, one buttercup, and a pie pumpkin.

We won't be lacking for vitamin A this fall, that's for sure!

I'm so glad I moved...

Two blocks away. My neighbor stopped by the bus stop yesterday afternoon to tell me that she found 9 bags of heroin in her parking space over the weekend. Her parking space used to be my parking space.

Dorian ist ein Berliner

Dorian asked a question this morning to which Jeremy answered "Nein." (Why not?)

Dorian: Nine?

Jeremy: That's German for "no".

D: Nine?! Eight.

J: Eight?

D: Eight is German for "yes".

Sounds like he's ready for a trip to Auntie Kathrin in Luneburg...

A trip to the basement

Yesterday, I went down cellar to take care of a few more weatherization woes plaguing this old house. When you're almost 130 years old, a few cracks are going to start showing. And some of your cracks may go clear through your foundation. So I got some spray foam and went to work. Just in case you can't see the grass through the crack above, I thought you might like to see how much light comes through.

Our chimney was unusable, so we had to install a power vent to avoid being killed in our beds by carbon monoxide. Now we have a giant pipe running from the oil furnace under the original part of the house into the crawl space under the first addition. The exhaust is pulled by a fan attached to the outside of the house near where my kitchen sink is located.

Over the years, this house has had every major heating fuel. Originally, there were wood stoves, one upstairs and one down. Then, there was coal, evidenced by a cool old control in our dining room (left). They also had gas at some point and left the old meter behind when it was disconnected (above).

And while I was downstairs, I found all of these jars. One lid still has a slogan for Kraft mustard. I like to imagine the women who used to live here putting up their food for the winter in the same kitchen in which I have been canning. 128 years of sterilizing and filling jars is pretty awesome. The heating fuel may change, the variety of the fruits and vegetables may change, but the process is still the same.

Blanket update

I finished the gray section at the top yesterday. Even with the complicated cabling, that section was less than 2 hours of work. If only I could devote 2 hours a day to this blanket, I could finish in about 2 weeks. (Don't forget that it needs a border.) Right now, I'm just hoping it can be done by Christmas. It would be a really nice gift to myself to be done!