Rhubarbsky

This is more of an “outtakes” reel.  She’s been practicing a whole lot with her coin tricks and is actually pretty darn good at the first one.  This video barely catches her doing it.  Mostly, she’s staring over my shoulder at her reflection in the window and acting mighty strangely!  She totally missed the part about magicians not sharing their secrets. . . so you might pick up a few hints on how to do these tricks yourself.   Oh, and no, she has NOT seen Arrested Development, but her Dad and I find Gob’s “illusions” pretty funny, so we taught her to say it like him.  Enjoy!

My sweet family watching a movie on netflix  in the afternoon.

We’re fighting off the sniffles and rainy day low-energy ughs.

I love music.  I love to sing.  I love to dance.  I love to listen to music. I adore music.  It’s in my blood.  It’s also in Tom’s blood and hence, it’s in Abby’s blood.  So, there’s a whole lot of music in our world around here.

When I envisioned parenting, I thought I’d avoid the whole genre of children’s music.  I thought I’d get away without a single album produced specifically for kids.  I was wrong.  I’ve heard some awful, AWFUL music for kids which was banished from my home faster than poop on a stick.  I’ve heard some stuff I could take or leave.  I’ve heard some music aimed at children that I find myself listening to even when Abby’s not around.  This, fair readers, is the kind of music I’m linking to today.

Behold!  A list of music for kids that does not suck (in my humble opinion, though, you are welcome to think whatever you want!).

Anything by Elizabeth Mitchell is awesome.  Folky, chill and awesome.

Ditto with Frances England
Not so chill, but equally awesome is the Jellydots

Bands that I already liked and then they went and made an album for kids, so they’re even cooler now:

They Might Be Giants has done 3 or 4 albums in the children’s genre.  They are my heroes.

Barenaked Ladies is another “grown up” band who’s chosen to do some children’s music.

Jerry Garcia and David Grisman make me happy.

Compilations that don’t make me want to poke my eyes out:

Albums benefiting good causes that also don’t make me want to poke my eyes out (both have several volumes):

So, there you have it.  Go forth and rock.

Amy Butler’s Wide-Leg Lounge Pants pattern has been on my mind for, uh, 2 years?  I’ve been eyeing pj pants made from vintage sheets for quite a while.  And, I’ve had A Foothill Home Companion’s “cheats” for this pattern printed out for ages.

Despite the fact that lounge pants made from sheets are SO last year, I jumped on board the train anyway.  If I haven’t made it clear here before, I should really tell you that I am *not* a sewist/seamstress/maker-of-clothes.  I dive into things, ignore all sorts of rules and most often end up with something that is barely wear-able.

Ahem.

These pants have so much going for them.  Who wouldn’t want to wander around in soft sheets-for-pants?  I love how wide they are at the foot, so there’s lots of room for my legs to stretch around.  I, however, underestimated the size of my rump and may have to surgically remove my undergarments from my rear if I wear these pants to bed.

Ah well.  I’ll chalk it up to sewing experience and find someone a wee bit taller and a wee bit thinner in the caboose to give these pants to!

So, if you feel like moving a bit, dancing in your living room or cleaning with a beat, crank up some of the Living Room Sessions brought to you by my friend Mattias, aka:  DJ ShmeeJay.

Each podcast is about an hour long.  You can stream it right from his blog or download the whole mix.  I *love* what Mattias mixes together.  Nods to some ’80’s alternatives (Erasure) and other stuff I feel like I’ve heard, but can’t place.  I guarantee you won’t be able to sit still.

You’re welcome!

This summer’s Orion Magazine had a fabulous article in it by Derrick Jensen.  He posits that “personal change doesn’t equal social change.”  Let me explain a little further.  The idea that changing all of our light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs or turning the tap off while we brush our teeth is going to *actually* ease the destruction of the earth is grossly overemphasized in our culture.  Simple living, on an individual basis, won’t actually turn around global warming, the loss of water supplies and the degradation of the natural world (“More than 90 percent of the water used by humans is used by agriculture and industry” not by individual homes).    What WILL start to make a difference is stopping the industries that actually do the most harm, stopping the bigger “machines” of our world, taking a political stand.

Jensen asks, “would any sane person think dumpster diving would have stopped Hitler, or that composting would have ended slavery?”  His point being that we need to think on a bigger scale, we need to look beyond just our personal car use and beyond our individual food choices and start getting involved in public transportation issues and what our local schools feed the children of our communities.  These sorts of venues make much larger chunks of change possible.

I’m certainly not saying that we shouldn’t turn the darn lights off in our houses when we’re not using them.  I’m all about feeding my family locally grown food, living with only one car and showing Abby the merits of composting.  What I am saying is that it’s time to get vocal folks.  It’s time to voice opinion, to start listening to local and national and international leaders!  It’s time to demand leaders who will fight for what you believe is right for your community.

I’ve spent the last few months working on my city council election.  Our deputy mayor is up for re-election and I’ve found myself in the midst of monitoring her website, placing campaign signs around town and generally spreading the word that she needs our support.  Dipping my toes into the local political stream has left me stunned.  I am simply amazed at how many people have *no* idea what is happening in our small city.  What’s more distressing to me is how many people just don’t care.

This is all to say that I really hope you vote today.  Non-Presidential year elections have a much lower turn-out than Presidential election years.  I was shocked to see that even last year’s Presidential election only brought out 56.8% of the voting age population, and 2006, a non Presidential year brought a measly 37.1%!!! (Thanks Marc for pointing out those numbers).  We have this fabulous right to tell our leaders what we want for our country, a right that a whole heck of a lot of people fought really hard for.  I really feel like it’s my privilege and duty to exercise that hard-won right.  I feel even more compelled to ask anyone I can to be sure and exercise their right also.

So, yes, by all means *do* recycle that soda can of yours, but more importantly, please vote for leaders that are going to hold industrial America responsible for producing that can in the first place.

After a rainy Halloween, Abby and I reveled in a bit of glorious fall sunshine.

Super Mom and Super Abby!
Wonder Purse can save the day:  Water, snacks, baby wipes, tissues, phone, bandaids, ibuprofen and a flask for good measure!
Hope you had a fabulous Halloween!

It seriously sneaks up on me every year, this end of the season stuff.  Darn it all, I feel like I’m just getting into the swing of these fall veggies.  I’m really glad I’ll be getting a Thanksgiving share in a few weeks.  Phew.  Even though this is the last of my CSA shares and thus, the last of my “Foodie Friday” posts until Spring, you’ll still hear from me about food.  Oh yes.  There’s no running away from my obsession with food!
So, you may have some tiny pumpkins around from the last few weeks.  And, I have some ideas for them and/or other winter squash you might have.  I used half of a Carnival Squash in the waffle recipe, plan to try out the soup recipe soon and am so excited to have found, perhaps, the secret to yummy roasted pumpkin seeds!

Pumpkin, Sweet Potato and Black Bean Purée

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Spiced Pumpkin Waffles

Random Superhero picture of my kid for no reason whatsoever!

Posting here has slacked off.  I know.  But, I am gearing up for a blast of new posts for the month of November.  I intend, ahem, to do a post a day in November as part of NaBloPoMo.  Eeeek!  Who knows what *that* will look like, but with this week being the last of the Foodie Fridays for the year, I feel like I need a boost to get my creative juices flowing.  I do have things to share with you.  A few hints:

• Headbands with awesome fancy feathers.
• The progress of my first attempt at knitting a sweater for myself.
• More updates on the Christmas Crafts post. (There are already some new ideas up.  I’m particularly excited about one!).
• Video of my daughter:  the coin magician. . . so sweet, really.
• I may have some things to say about politics and food and parenting and other controversial things.  I just haven’t decided how *in your face* I’m willing to be in this space.  We’ll see.

Thanks for hanging in here with me through the thin times.  More to come, I promise!