october break

simple good eats

Yogurt (we use goat milk), sliced bananas, dribble of maple syrup, sprinkle of cinnamon and cardamom

upcountry sights

gardening day

I joined my friend Udeya, pictured below, to prepare a future garden bed for the tulsi (holy basil) plants that I am growing. She lives in a rainier, more jungle-y area than we do. I had so much fun being a farmer. I was really in my element.

Udeya holding a cutting from a lush tulsi plant she discovered that grows in a remote area of our island. She has heard that this variety propagates easily from cuttings and we are hoping we can grow this variety on her property. This will avoid the need for starting from seed, which is tricky.

Susie, her friend helping us clear the land for the future tulsi garden.

Udeya's veggie garden

gamekids

The girls are joining a production group called Gamekids that meets right in our town. Gamekids is an educational television and internet show which encourages young people to play with creativity and imagination. The program features games, activities, recipes, fashions, folk-lore, digital storytelling, and much more! The kids rehearse a couple of times a week. They do singing, theater shows, spontaneous acting, a little bit of modeling and some dancing, although I am not sure the girls will want to do the dancing numbers. The group is run by a sweet pastor. His background is in film and television.

The group consists of kids ages 8 - 13. I am so impressed with how sweet and humble this talented group of kids is, how the older kids teach the younger ones the dance routines, and help one another out. Pictured above is the group being filmed in a park for an episode on playing running games in a park, and telling riddles. It was Sky and Annabel's first experience, and they had a lot of fun. http://www.gamekids.com/index.html

swiss family robinson froghouse

The kids found a tiny frog in the backyard and since we don't have any pets and they REALLY want a pet, anytime they capture an animal from the wild they instantly make a home for it and beg to keep it as a pet. They made this habitat for the frog with rocks and leaves and moss and bark and wood and ferns and food - lilikoi. The little froggie himself is not pictured. This was right before he moved in.

I thought it was a beautiful work of art.

Like the famous artist Christo, who wrapped the perimeter of entire small islands in pink cloth and did a gorgeous piece called "Running Fence," a cloth fence that undulated over hills in northern California for miles, the froggie home too had a short life. But honestly it was as beautiful and balanced artistically as the works of art fellow students made when I was in art school.

It remained in the backyard for a few days. Ah, the creative children I live with. They are a constant source of inspiration.

sky is 12!

This is hard for me to believe. I can remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. She is such a sweet girl. I feel honored and proud to be her mom.

Sky enjoyed helping me make her cake --vanilla cake with lilikoi frosting made from fruit from our garden.

She had a sleepover party and invited her friends from school.

Young lady Skylar

lilikoi harvest

It went from this fragrant beautiful flower...

growing on this hearty vine...

which became this...

that we then harvested!

This is my first tropical crop - lilikoi, or passionfruit. The kids eat them plain after biting open the thick shells. They are a bit sour, but so good. I like to add a small squeeze of agave nectar to take off the edge. We have so many that we are sharing them with our friends. The vine was loaded with green fruits when we left for our summer trip in June. I wasn't expecting to get such a long crop, but they are still coming strong, and it's almost September. Ah, the miracle of nature...

plankton for president?

This was a conversation today between Shawn (age 5) and Gary:

Shawn - "Dad, was Plankton ever president?"

Gary - "Plankton? No."

Shawn - "But you told me two days ago that Plankton was president!"

Gary - "Shawnie, no one in Spongebob has ever been president."

Shawn - "But Dad, you told me Plankton used to be president!"

Gary - "Plankton...Plankton...(looks confused)........Oh, Do you mean Clinton?"

Shawn - "Yes, that's what I meant, Clinton!"

mom look at me!

After we had been home one day, Skylar took Shawn outside for a while and the next thing I knew she came running in, out of breath, yelling excitedly, "Mommy, Shawn can ride a two wheeler, come quick!"

Oh course I ran out, and saw this...Shawn going around in circles, as steady as can be.

You never saw a boy more proud.

He's only five. I recall learning this skill around nine. Maybe eight? But five. Oh boy. What are we in store for? I can't wait to see!

we're home

And this, by the way, is pretty much our backyard. Well, actually it's a 3 minute drive down the hill...

farewell to new york

We had such a great time. Thanks so much Mom and Dad, Jill and Keith, and all of our friends. Thanks also to Maureen and Chris for the awesome rental. Goodbye Erie Canal! Goodbye ducks! Goodbye Abbott's Ice Cream! We'll see you all next summer.

jenn and company

I met Jenn during my college summer break. We were lifeguards together at a local country club. She is now a married mama with the sweetest family. We visited them for dinner at their home in beautiful Webster, NY. Thanks guys!

Jenn, her husband Dave, Michael, and Macy

adorable Macy

goofing off

my oldest friend

There is nothing like a friend who has known you your entire life. This is Kathy. We were next door neighbors since we were as young as I can remember. We played together - swimming, dolls, doing craft projects, playing four square and tennis in the street, having dinner at each others' house. She was my neighbor until we both went to college. She recently moved to a town next to my parents'. She has four children, and this summer we got to visit with them. The kids had a blast hanging out in their fort, riding scooters to get ice cream in the nearby village, watching the boats on the Erie canal. It rained, it was sunny, it was a glorious typical east coast summer day. Kathy sent me home with a jar of her homemade raspberry jam. Love you Kath!

Kathy, her husband Nick and Joseph, Sarah, John and Daniel

the Marks and DiSalvo kids

my dad

I guess you'd call him "rock man." He constructed this pathway for my mom which I think is a stunning work of art. He has been collecting rocks and stones from all over the United States. Many rocks are connected with a story, which Dad is happy to recount!

close up of rock path

Dad's collection of rocks. When you wet them they come alive. They almost look like candy!

my mom

This is my parent's home. They have about 3/4 of an acre. My mom is the gardener...My dad is the flag putter-upper...and, check the next post...

Mom's gardens

I never realized how much I loved gardening until I had a home of my own. It's funny, my mom never sat me down and taught me gardening as a child, but I must have learned just by being around her. Now I ask her advice all the time...

One day my mom and I were able to steal away for shopping and lunch. Then I painted her mailbox for her. It was so much fun and it turned out really nice.