Crafts ... and a mischievous cat

The girls help me with work-related things on occasion. They enjoy crafty-type projects and at 10- and 12-years-old, they can do as good a job as I can now (and sometimes better). So when they offered to make another lollipop tree for the Raising Maine info table at the Bayside event this past weekend, Contest-essa and I took them up on their offer. The girls made the tree on Friday night and woke up the next morning to lollipops all over the rug because our cat Lupus decided to knock out at least half the pops. Apparently lollipops sticking out of styrofoam are like the pipecleaner toys L. made for him -- something to be smacked around, a lot. We should have named Lupus (which means 'wolf' in Latin and is the namesake of a character from the Roman Mysteries book series that the girls like), the "mischievous-good-time-boy" instead. He entertains us a lot with his playfulness but the girls were not so amused with his latest antics. Lupus was duly scolded by the girls but he did not appear to be remorseful. In fact, he jumped around the living room playing with his pipe cleaner toys and sneaking peaks at the girls fixing the tree. He was definitely making a new plan of attack. But the girls put a stop to his plans when they fixed up the tree and immediately put it in to the car. No more fun with lollipops for Lupus. And the tree made it to the event without further incident.

A rainy walk-about on Peaks Island

My girls helped some of their older 4-H friends with a GPS/mapping project on Peaks Island on Sunday. The girls would have preferred to ride their bikes but umbrellas were a necessity to protect the camera and GPS unit so we were left to hike the mileage instead. Luckily we found plenty of interesting things to admire that made walking nearly 6 miles in the steady rain more enjoyable (we had to backtrack a bit to get the waypoints the kids needed). Like the giant maple leaf L. thought made a good umbrella. The random 'parking' of a vacuum cleaner on the side of the road. The detailed natural art we found on a trail through the center of the island (our crew admired the workmanship and mystery of it in the middle of the woods). And the flowers .... oh they were glorious and in full bloom. We also learned some interesting tidbits about the island as well. Like the fact that there are quite a few horses living on the island. (But I don't envy the owners who have to pay to have the horse's hay and grain shipped over on the ferry.) And the 8th Maine Regiment building is a real gem. One of the 4-H families we were with are descendants of the 8th and invited us to eat our lunches (we packed our own) there and tour the building. My girls wanted to stay overnight at the 8th because they wanted to be part of its living history. (It's a lodge with facilities to accommodate overnight guests that is actually reasonably priced - I couldn't find an operational website but you can call 766-5086 for more info.) We hope to return to the island so the kids can finish up the mapping project and then explore more our bikes. The girls have other 4-H projects they're working on but this one has a special appeal, even in the rain. I saved the track we walked Sunday with my GPS unit as a reference for the kids when they get to actually plotting the waypoints on their map. I'll post the final result when the kids are done with everything later this summer. Peaks Island at EveryTrail

Family favorite berry recipe

With strawberry picking season around the corner which is followed by sour cherries then raspberries and blueberries, I thought I'd post one of my family's new favorite berry recipe (we tried it last year after picking a bunch of sour cherries - which is in season about a week after strawberry season starts).  

CHERRY BERRY COBBLER 
Recipe
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons corn starch
3 cups sour cherries (pits removed)
1 cup strawberries (or you can use blueberries)

Add all above ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until it bubbles and thickens then transfer to baking dish.

In a separate bowl, add the following ingredients and mix just until combined.

3 Tablespoons shortening
1 cup flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk

Drop spoonfuls of dough onto the warm cherries and then bake at 400 degrees for about 15-18 minutes. We'd love some new recipes for this year's season if you want to share them with us!

Dance costumes and garbage bags

It's recital week for us at our dance studio and with that comes the craziness of photos and dress rehearsal. Yesterday afternoon, evening and later-evening was spent at the studio for the first of a two-day photo shoot. We don't buy all the photos because to do so would require us to rob a bank and I don't have time to coordinate that right now. But the girls would be really upset to miss being part of each of their class shots so we tough out the long hours to make it work for them. Each of the girls has three costumes and I have another two this year so we needed a crash course on how all the parts of each costume were supposed to be worn. Luckily for us there was a mom at the studio who had this information and got us up to speed just before each photo. But the devil is in the details and keeping track of all those darn little extra costume parts is our biggest challenge every year. Of course there were other moms and girls at the studio with many more costumes than we had so I should not complain about this. But to offer a somewhat lame defense, my girls only perform at recital so they don't have the same kind of organizing practice that the competition team girls do. Unfortunately this year we had detail trouble. We forgot a key piece of one of G.'s costumes. And oh yeah, we forgot to bring bobby pins and hair elastics to make her a bun too. My next lame excuse? I had a busy day at work and made a mad dash to the studio in time for the first group shot so I didn't do a double-check on all the costumes before we threw them in the car. And makeup and hair stuff is not part of my daily life (it's a big day when I get a comb through my hair) so I chronically forget these things for recital pictures. After six years I'd think I could get a handle on this but I miss the makeup/hair boat every year. Thankfully, one of the fabulous moms at the studio made G.'s hair in to a bun in record time (thanks Lynn!) but we weren't sure what to do about the missing costume piece - a black choker neck thingy. Then the studio owner with a lifetime of experience performing and a real knack for being thrifty, came to the rescue. A black garbage bag tie. G. was skeptical but bless her heart, she didn't argue about it. "You won't even be able to tell in the photo. It will blend in with all the others," G. was told. And you know, Ms. Vicky was right! Today we're going to find a ribbon replacement for the neck thingy and make sure we have each costume piece accounted for before dress rehearsal on Friday afternoon, evening, later-evening to maybe midnight. But I know if we fall short of our goal to be better organized, someone at the dance studio will come to our rescue with some ingenious idea.

Playing with money

We've got geocaching travel bugs and Flat Stanley so we're plenty busy tracking and plotting those adventures on the map. But we also, on occasion, track dollar bills. Where's George is website that allows people to track dollar bills that are marked with the website's name. We recently ran across a bill marked with a Where's George stamp so we logged it on the site when we got home. It turned out it was newly registered and traveled to Cumberland all the way from .... Westbrook (we've run in to several bills originating from this city so we know there's a big Where's George fan living there). Most of the money we have logged on the site has been from Maine but we don't always play the game (mostly because cash doesn't seems to hang out long at our house). The girls think the game is fun, especially since they saw the National Treasure movie with its reference to conspiracy theories about the American dollar bill. We found a website - MoneyFactory.gov - that offers up lots of facts about American currency and what each symbol/notation means on the bills as well as the history behind it. The kids were fascinated (and so was I). But tracking dollar bills isn't the only fun we have with currency. L. also collects state quarters. She checks the USMint.gov state quarters program minting schedule periodically so she knows when the next state quarter is coming out (then she tells her grandpa so he can look for them for her). And I admit that it is a bit addictive as I often catch myself looking at quarters to find new ones too. (I had a penny collection as a kid and never did manage to fill up every space with the appropriate penny year. I can't shake the feeling that it should have been complete before I lost track of it. I guess L. is going to reap the benefits of me helping her find these coins so she feels a sense of completion with her collection.) L.'s been collecting the quarters since 2005 (along with the Westward Journal nickel series) and with only three more quarters to go, she's getting a little anxious to complete the collection. Yet at the same time she really doesn't want it to end because she loves it. But she doesn't need to worry. After visiting the Treasury's website recently, we learned about a new penny redesign release program AND a D.C. and US Territories quarter series coming in 2009. Her coin collecting days are far from over. And I guess mine aren't either.

A preview to fair season for 4-Hers

We spent Saturday at the Cumberland Fairgrounds for the 4-H June Jamboree. June Jamboree is like a practice preview for Cumberland County 4-H kids, especially the ones showing animals during fair season. The 4-Hers bring their animals to the fairgrounds and participate in a show like they would during the fair. The adults judge their animals and offer suggestions and tips on how the kids can improve their skills and enjoy the showing experience. The kids who enter projects in the exhibit hall also do all their entry forms/paperwork required at fair time and receive feedback on how how they might improve their projects. It's and educational, low-key day at the fairgrounds for all the 4-Hers. Jamboree also includes workshops and the girls were particularly excited about the horse rescue demonstration (no, we don't own a horse but the kids love them). L. was excited to have been chosen to help pull the metal horse into a trailer at the demo and I heard in great detail how to help an injured horse and neutralize it's 'weapons' (i.e., hooves). Unfortunately, I missed the whole thing because I was prepping the food booth for lunch. Both of the girls' 4-H clubs (their shooting sports and general club) were in charge of the food booth at Jamboree this year. We volunteer every year during the Cumberland Fair to transform ourselves in to short-order cooks for an afternoon. It is not easy work but we always have a good time (and some of the characters who stop by the booth keep things interesting). The Jamboree menu is simpler than fair time with only hot dogs, chips and soda. So when the clubs were looking for volunteers, Fino and I agreed to work the booth for a couple of hours because our kids really wanted to do it. They love working in that food booth. The girls and two of their fellow 4-Hers were responsible for taking orders and handling the cash drawer. They all handled it like pros with little supervision counting money and change. (And later I reflected again on the many practical skills my girls have learned since joining 4-H and how much I appreciate this program.) Fino was in charge of filling the orders and I was responsible for making sure the hot dogs and buns were replenished in the steamer as needed. The girls also had a chance to take a break from the booth for a few minutes and see how they did with their projects in the exhibit hall. They received some positive feedback about their projects and were pleased with their ribbons for the day. L. has new plans on how to present her flower fairies based on feedback from the judges at Jamboree. It should be interesting to see how she's going to work out her 'big plans' in the next couple of weeks. And G. has some more plans of her own with her cow project as well. By the time we got home not only were we tired, we were also hot. After the many pleas to go swimming on the way home, I decided to indulge the girls with a quick dip after dinner at the river. The first fair of the season is less than a month away. The Houlton Fair opens the season on July 3. (You can get the full schedule of fairs here.) We really enjoy fair season - which fair is your favorite?

A Flat Stanley visitor and our busy day

A young friend of ours sent us his Flat Stanley to host in Maine for a couple of weeks for his kindergarten class. The girls were enthusiastic to do it since it's been a while since we've hosted a flat friend. We started exchanging Flat Stanleys as a way to get my reluctant writers interested in journaling a few years ago. We spent several years hosting Flat Stanleys and sent out our own for adventures (he was our first traveler of the continents). During the Flat Stanley exchanges, G. developed a real love for photography and both of the girls decided that writing could be fun (the photos were key in providing the writing prompts they needed when we first started). So even though it's been a while, we reverted back to our former Flat Stanley routine (although our own Flat Stanley did join us in Acadia last weekend) and tucked him in to my backpack so he wouldn't miss all the 'action' of our busy Sunday. Our day began with an early morning trip to the farm so G. could work with her cow Sparkles and do her farm chores. L. and I were charged with taking a photo of Stanley with the cows but it was a little tricky. Whenever we put Flat Stanley near the cows, one of them tried to eat him (which was reminiscent of our experience with the pigs a while back at Wolfe's Neck Farm). But we did manage to get a shot with a cow that was a little less hungry. Then Flat Stanley came with us to photograph the Old Port Festival parade and hang out at the MaineToday booth. It was one of those busy days for us so our afternoon activities moved from the Old Port to a sand pit in Gorham to do some skeet shooting with the girls' 4-H shooting sports club. G. gave the skeet shooting a whirl but the kick of the shotgun was a little stronger than her .22 rifle at the gun club so her shoulder was sore after two rounds. Fino loved it (of course) and hit a couple of clay disks. Then I was my turn and he and the girls made a point to get a couple of photos of me trying to hit the clay disk (emphasize the 'try' part - I'm lucky to hit a non-moving target). By the time we got home from our busy day, slugging out on the couch with a movie was in order. I'm pretty sure Flat Stanley stayed awake for "Her Majesty" before turning in the for the night, which is more than can be said for me.