Tea party on the kitchen floor with “Pooh Bear” (the bear to the left: I know, he doesn’t look like Pooh to you, but he does to her!), Caillou, and (outside the picture) Gloria (another bear) and Roo (her kangeroo). It was a rainy afternoon but I didn’t have to turn on the light, or …
Author Archives: kaat
Pumpkin Compost
Yesterday our first pumpkin orphan was brought to us! Amie and I were just coming up the street froma beautiful Fall walk/bike (can you believe this weather: it’s 9 November and 60F!) and we saw an elderly man cradling a big pumpkin approach our mailbox. He put it down so gently near the sign we …
Requesting Pumpkins for Composting
Tomorrow we’re dropping these leaflets in every neighbor’s mailbox. I should have handed them out as we went trick or treating – ah well, next year. We’re sure to snag a couple of pumpkins and leaves this time around, tomorrow we’ll also get a nice Fall Walk out of it, and Amie and I had …
Riot Update on Trash, and Compost
Trash Trying to establish our trash baseline for the Riot was pretty easy. I weiged the garbage as it was being transferred from the small pail under the sink to our boxes outside (handy for taking to the landfill once a month). In one week – and it was a pretty typical week – we …
Off the Market: Freecycle
My DH can be a funny one. This morning when happening to pass by this here blog (he was so nice to install the new WordPress for me, and that gimicky category cloud to the right), he caught a glimpse of the post on the War on Consumption. And he said: – What? You passing …
Sit a Spell
I just submitted this picture to the Sit a Spell pool at Flickr (started by SouleMama and Blue Yonder). This is where I sit (in the larger of the two chairs) while my daughter draws or writes. I play with her, we chat, or I read my own book, or just look outside at the …
The War of Consumption and What to Say to Friends about “the Good Life”
Yesterday one of the headlines in Google was “Economy Contracts as Consumers Retreat“. There is a nice rhythm to that phrase, don’t you think? And, also like a good line of poetry, it says a lot in the most subtle of ways. The bellicosity of this phrase reveals what we all really know about consumption …
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Riddles for the Novel (Potboiler)
Anyone want a peek at what’s on my desk these days? The novel is nearly finished: just a few sections to be completed and then a good final read. Some of the passages that need work are the riddles, like the one in the picture. They are the most fun!
Sewing for Beginners
Amie has taken up sewing. So far we’ve kept it simple: I fold a piece of thick paper several times across and along the folds I cut some holes. Then I put some colorful yarn in a huge plastic needle, tie a knot at both ends and off she goes. She’s not always sure where …
Pumpkin Carving
Over the weekend Amie watched with fascination as a friend carved this big pumpkin. Isn’t it spooky! She couldn’t wait to carve one herself. We compromised: she could “design” the face (draw it on the pumpkin) but Mama would do the actual carving, under her direction of course. Compared to the skullish one, hers looks …