Happy Blogaversary!
Showing posts with label Dewey Squirrel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dewey Squirrel. Show all posts
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Beginning to look a bit like Christmas (Do-Vember #22)
Do-Vember
For most of the past many years, my holiday decorating rule has been to leave it all as late as possible. There were good reasons for this. We tried to keep Advent separate from Christmas, and it didn't help if we had too many Christmas things out too early. Later on, some years, we also put out decorations just before Christmas, but that was because people were busy or partly out of town, and we had to wait for everyone who wanted to help.Today I put out a few holiday things. I think it's the earliest I've ever done this much decorating, ever. Again, there are reasons for this. We don't have too-excited small children anymore, but we do have adult children who have flown the nest and who will be in and out at various times over the next month. It just seemed like it would be nice to have a few warming-up-for-Christmas things around the house.
Decoration we bought at Ponytails' school craft sale, a few years ago (made by one of the students)
A basket of vintage Christmas carol books
Working on decorating the front hall. I made the candle jar decoration out of scavenged odds and ends, and put some bits of fake evergreen in the white goblets. I'm going to add some mini red balls or berries to the goblets, when I find some.
A basket of old favourite Christmas books, in a basket that was formerly a six-sectioned wine basket (posted about that here). After not using the basket since finding it in August, because I couldn't think of anything to put in the six sections, I removed the divider and now have a perfectly good plain basket.
Dewey and Chippie relaxing in front of the fireplace. (They won't stay there long if it gets too warm.)
Monday, September 12, 2016
Friday, November 27, 2015
Something to sit on
A few weeks ago, I bought a bunch of upholstery samples at the thrift store.
I stood the pillow up against the love seat so you get an idea of the size.
Not bad for $2 for fabric (and $12 for foam).
Since none of them matched each other, I couldn't use them for bags. But I did think they would work well as pillows, or maybe as a large floor-sitter. I sewed eight of them together, four for each side, and Mr. Fixit bought a 30-inch piece of 3-inch thick foam for stuffing. We had to trim it a bit, but the two of us managed to get the foam into the pillow sleeve. I sewed up the last end by hand, after vacuuming the bits of foam off Mr. Fixit. (They like to cling.)
Here is Dewey trying it out.
Wednesday, December 03, 2014
Dewey's Link of the Day: Paper Snowflakes
Dewey says you should really have a look. Besides, you don't have to clean paper snowflakes out of your fur.
Friday, August 22, 2014
Monday, July 29, 2013
Time Saving, Space Saving
The Common Room has a post full of time-and-space-saving household tips, and wants to know what ours are.
All right, in no particular order:
1. Have a few meal-saving and/or leftover-using standbys either in the cupboard, in the freezer, or in your head. The ones in the cupboard or the freezer might include anything from a frozen whole casserole to some precooked rice or pre-grated cheese; and the ones in your head would be anything that quickly stretches, fills out, gussies up, or finishes off a meal without your having to run to the store. Joyce Radway might have depended on caramel junket, but I personally prefer chocolate or vanilla microwave cake if I need dessert, or the bottom half of a dessert, in fifteen minutes. Tightwad Gazette lemonade is another auto-pilot recipe that fills in when we want a drink that's fancier than water but don't have any juice around: 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup bottled lemon juice, 4 cups water. (You can easily make more, just keep the same proportions.) Of course nobody needs lemonade or cake; but sometimes a meal needs a little cheering up.
2. Invite Lillian Gilbreth to your house to do a time-and-motion study of your storage and home routines. Failing that, have a hard look at things yourself, and change things around even if you've been doing it the same way or putting stuff in the same place for fifteen years. This summer I did some mega-cleanouts and changed some things around...yes, in some spots, after fifteen years. One example: we have only shelf in our kitchen that's tall enough for cereal boxes. Over the past few years, the shelf gradually got taken over with tall cookbooks and kitchen binders, to the point that we kept having to drag the cereal boxes up and down from the basement cold room, or leave them out in the tiny recycling area by the porch door. So, duh...this summer I cleaned out a deep drawer that used to hold our biggest slow cooker (before it died prematurely), and put the cookbooks into the drawer. Now the cereal can live back in the kitchen again.
I also cleaned out a vintage kitchen cupboard in the cold room...I mean, really cleaned it out, with soap and water and all that...got rid of some vintage stuff in it like a sausage stuffer (really), along with some vintage crumbs and dust...and found that there actually was room in there to organize some previously un-organizable stuff. Now we have what amounts to a "holiday/party cupboard," because the top part is holding things like our ice-cream maker and popcorn, the surface down below has a basket with paper plates and other picnic stuff, one of the drawers has picnic-table cloths and clamps (the other drawer has canning supplies), and the cupboards on the bottom have things like turkey pans and cake plates.
And I finally got around to safety-pinning all the pairs of mittens and gloves together, in one bin. Think that's what King Lemuel meant by "when it snows, she has no fear for her household?"
3. Have a spouse or kid or buddy who likes to grocery shop with you. After this many years, I just have to laugh sometimes about the ruts Mr. Fixit and I get into, but you know what, sometimes the ruts are GOOD. I don't have to worry about picking up vitamins or fruit or tuna or bread or laundry soap: those are part of his mental list. He doesn't have to remember to get milk or vegetables or flour or toilet paper or coffee or...okay, you get the idea, those are mine. We meet at the end, double-check on anything unusual we needed, and that's it.
4. Laugh when you can. At Mr. Fixit's birthday this month, we were out of appropriate wrapping paper; even the tissue paper was gone. We all came up with different no-cost solutions. I stuck magazine pictures on a packing-paper package. Dewey Squirrel gave him a present wrapped in a Christmas gift bag and topped with a (yard-saled) sympathy card. The Squirrelings also came up with creative wrapping ideas.
5. One space-saving idea: we usually like lower-tech solutions for things, but there's one development in technology we do like: boxed DVD sets for TV programs (goes without saying that we like them even better when we can get them used or cheap). Of course for people who watch everything on the computer anyway, it doesn't matter. But if you've been trying to store, say, VHS copies of Mission Impossible or Star Trek or Fraggle Rock or whatever, where you get about two episodes to a tape, DVD sets are a huge improvement. Could we have imagined, years ago, that we'd go to Giant Tiger and bring back not only the whole first season of Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, but also the entire run of Ray Bradbury Theater, for less than the cost of family movie tickets and in packages small enough to fit into a purse? (Warning about the Ray Bradbury programs: they are interesting stories with a great cast, but they are also capital-C Creepy, and they're full of unexpected twists, so please please please preview before watching with kids around.)
All right, in no particular order:
1. Have a few meal-saving and/or leftover-using standbys either in the cupboard, in the freezer, or in your head. The ones in the cupboard or the freezer might include anything from a frozen whole casserole to some precooked rice or pre-grated cheese; and the ones in your head would be anything that quickly stretches, fills out, gussies up, or finishes off a meal without your having to run to the store. Joyce Radway might have depended on caramel junket, but I personally prefer chocolate or vanilla microwave cake if I need dessert, or the bottom half of a dessert, in fifteen minutes. Tightwad Gazette lemonade is another auto-pilot recipe that fills in when we want a drink that's fancier than water but don't have any juice around: 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup bottled lemon juice, 4 cups water. (You can easily make more, just keep the same proportions.) Of course nobody needs lemonade or cake; but sometimes a meal needs a little cheering up.
I also cleaned out a vintage kitchen cupboard in the cold room...I mean, really cleaned it out, with soap and water and all that...got rid of some vintage stuff in it like a sausage stuffer (really), along with some vintage crumbs and dust...and found that there actually was room in there to organize some previously un-organizable stuff. Now we have what amounts to a "holiday/party cupboard," because the top part is holding things like our ice-cream maker and popcorn, the surface down below has a basket with paper plates and other picnic stuff, one of the drawers has picnic-table cloths and clamps (the other drawer has canning supplies), and the cupboards on the bottom have things like turkey pans and cake plates.
And I finally got around to safety-pinning all the pairs of mittens and gloves together, in one bin. Think that's what King Lemuel meant by "when it snows, she has no fear for her household?"
3. Have a spouse or kid or buddy who likes to grocery shop with you. After this many years, I just have to laugh sometimes about the ruts Mr. Fixit and I get into, but you know what, sometimes the ruts are GOOD. I don't have to worry about picking up vitamins or fruit or tuna or bread or laundry soap: those are part of his mental list. He doesn't have to remember to get milk or vegetables or flour or toilet paper or coffee or...okay, you get the idea, those are mine. We meet at the end, double-check on anything unusual we needed, and that's it.
4. Laugh when you can. At Mr. Fixit's birthday this month, we were out of appropriate wrapping paper; even the tissue paper was gone. We all came up with different no-cost solutions. I stuck magazine pictures on a packing-paper package. Dewey Squirrel gave him a present wrapped in a Christmas gift bag and topped with a (yard-saled) sympathy card. The Squirrelings also came up with creative wrapping ideas.
5. One space-saving idea: we usually like lower-tech solutions for things, but there's one development in technology we do like: boxed DVD sets for TV programs (goes without saying that we like them even better when we can get them used or cheap). Of course for people who watch everything on the computer anyway, it doesn't matter. But if you've been trying to store, say, VHS copies of Mission Impossible or Star Trek or Fraggle Rock or whatever, where you get about two episodes to a tape, DVD sets are a huge improvement. Could we have imagined, years ago, that we'd go to Giant Tiger and bring back not only the whole first season of Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, but also the entire run of Ray Bradbury Theater, for less than the cost of family movie tickets and in packages small enough to fit into a purse? (Warning about the Ray Bradbury programs: they are interesting stories with a great cast, but they are also capital-C Creepy, and they're full of unexpected twists, so please please please preview before watching with kids around.)
Monday, November 14, 2011
When packaging (and love) make gifts special
Sometimes it's not so much what's in the gift as the concept behind it, and the way you present it. Remember the Dollar Store Santa Dollies at Old Days Old Ways? Even small, frugal or miscellaneous gifts become something special when the creative-giving muse is allowed to run free.
Valerie at Frugal Family Fun Blog has a perfect example of this: "Doll Bath Sets." Anyone can hand a kid some soap, an empty shampoo bottle, and a washcloth, and say "here, go wash your doll." But it takes imagination to put it together into more of a package deal. Valerie is very, very good at this.
Another example: Family Fun Magazine's Hot Chocolate Cones. Mostly hot chocolate mix with a few marshmallows and chocolate chips, but it's the shape of the package (cone-shaped clear bags) that turns it into something fun.
We've had a few successes along that line too: last year's custom Sculpey repackaging, and the clothespin doll kits the girls got a few years ago. Mama Squirrel has also posted gift basket ideas and other thoughts on gift-giving. And don't forget our squirrel's tips on giving "thwifted" books.
Valerie at Frugal Family Fun Blog has a perfect example of this: "Doll Bath Sets." Anyone can hand a kid some soap, an empty shampoo bottle, and a washcloth, and say "here, go wash your doll." But it takes imagination to put it together into more of a package deal. Valerie is very, very good at this.
Another example: Family Fun Magazine's Hot Chocolate Cones. Mostly hot chocolate mix with a few marshmallows and chocolate chips, but it's the shape of the package (cone-shaped clear bags) that turns it into something fun.
We've had a few successes along that line too: last year's custom Sculpey repackaging, and the clothespin doll kits the girls got a few years ago. Mama Squirrel has also posted gift basket ideas and other thoughts on gift-giving. And don't forget our squirrel's tips on giving "thwifted" books.
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Happy 5th Blogiversary to Us
On February 18, 2005:
It was discovered that the tsunami resulting from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake uncovered an ancient city near the coastal town of Mahabalipuram in India.
A man was arrested by Gardaà in the town of Passage West in County Cork, Ireland, after he was discovered attempting to burn sterling bank notes.
The UK Food Standards Agency orders the withdrawal of over 350 food products from sale following the discovery that a batch of chilli powder used to produce a batch of Worcestershire sauce subsequently used to produce processed foods was contaminated with the possibly carcinogenic dye Sudan I.
And we launched Dewey's Treehouse!
We've also seen our Squirrelings grow much bigger, the Squirreling parents grow a few years older, and Dewey lose a little more of his nose. We've had some rocky times. We've had many reasons to give thanks.
We've won a Homeschool Blog Award, and some lovely reader-nominated ones.
We've made great blogging friends, even those we'll never meet in real life.
It's been a blast.
Photo credits: Mr. Fixit and Ponytails
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Mrs. DHM and the Bad Squirrels: A Fable
Mrs. DHM was a little brown squirrel who lived in the tip, tip, top of a tall Common Room House. She didn't like to cook (well, sometimes she did), but she did like to move furniture and blog and teach her children, and she liked to sing while she worked.
Every morning Mrs. DHM made herself a bowl of crockpot cereal, and as she stirred it around she sang:
"Oh, I love to cook, I love to bake,
I guess I'll make an acorn cake and send it to Mama Squirrel."
Then she dusted her wooden toys and rinsed her mason jars and put her whole house in order.
At night Mrs. DHM climbed into her bed and looked through the topmost branches at the sky. She saw a million stars. She looked at her bookshelves and saw a million books, most pre-1985. It was very peaceful.
But one day a band of red squirrels came jumping and chattering to the Common Room House. Mrs. DHM was just putting her cake in the oven, when she looked up and saw a lot of strangers in her doorway. One, two, three, she counted, and one, two three more--six red squirrels. She didn't think they were there for the singing.
Then they told her she couldn't sell her used books online anymore. They drank up her whole winter's supply of Russian Tea. They broke her broom and threw out her mason jars. Then they chased her out of her Common Room house.
Poor Mrs. DHM! She didn't know where to go. And it began to rain. She scampered up the nearest tree with her laptop. Shivering and cold, she scrambled down a chimney and out of a hole in the chimney and into the attic.
There in the dusty, quiet attic she saw a beautiful sight. The whole attic was full of vintage children's books. Bound volumes of St. Nicholas Magazine. Entire shelves of Childhood of Famous Americans. First editions of Edward Ardizzone's Little Tim books.
"My, what a lovely attic!" thought Mrs. DHM. "What a shame there is no one to share it with me. It is so big!" She catalogued two whole bookcases on Library Thing.
Then she saw a box and opened it up. Well, what do you think she saw inside? A band of toy soldiers. They had been sleeping there for years.
"Thanks for setting us free," said the captain. "Is there anything we can do for you?"
"You could march to the Common Room," said Mrs. DHM, "and talk to those red squirrels who pushed me out. But, on the other hand, we don't want to use unnecessary force. How about you stay here instead and I'll read you stories."
"As long as we don't have to narrate afterwards," said the soldier captain.
Late that night the captain woke his men and gave them their orders. There were only five of them, but they were very brave, and their hearts were full of love. After all, Mrs. DHM had introduced them to The Bears of Blue River.
They marched to the Common Room and climbed through the window. The squirrels were making so much noise about government bailouts that they did not hear the soldiers until it was too late.
"This is Mrs. DHM's house," said the captain, drawing his sword. "Will you go peaceably, or must we fight?"
The red squirrels looked at the soldiers and screamed "Lead! Contaminants!" They ran out of the house as fast as they could and down the road.
"And don't come back!" shouted the captain.
Mrs. DHM was very happy to move back into her Common Room. She thanked the soldiers and made them promise to come for potluck dinners once a week. Then the soldiers marched off through the forest, singing The Cruel War.
That night when Mrs. DHM went to bed, she was very tired. And she still missed her Sadie dog. But she looked through the branches and she could see a million stars. She looked at her bookshelves and she could see a million books. And she looked through her blog comments and realized that she had...well, not a million friends...but a lot. And Mrs. DHM was very happy once more.
With Apologies to Miriam Young and her classic picture book Miss Suzy, copyright 1964 by Parent's Magazine Press, now classified as an illegal substance.
Every morning Mrs. DHM made herself a bowl of crockpot cereal, and as she stirred it around she sang:
"Oh, I love to cook, I love to bake,
I guess I'll make an acorn cake and send it to Mama Squirrel."
Then she dusted her wooden toys and rinsed her mason jars and put her whole house in order.
At night Mrs. DHM climbed into her bed and looked through the topmost branches at the sky. She saw a million stars. She looked at her bookshelves and saw a million books, most pre-1985. It was very peaceful.
But one day a band of red squirrels came jumping and chattering to the Common Room House. Mrs. DHM was just putting her cake in the oven, when she looked up and saw a lot of strangers in her doorway. One, two, three, she counted, and one, two three more--six red squirrels. She didn't think they were there for the singing.
Then they told her she couldn't sell her used books online anymore. They drank up her whole winter's supply of Russian Tea. They broke her broom and threw out her mason jars. Then they chased her out of her Common Room house.
Poor Mrs. DHM! She didn't know where to go. And it began to rain. She scampered up the nearest tree with her laptop. Shivering and cold, she scrambled down a chimney and out of a hole in the chimney and into the attic.
There in the dusty, quiet attic she saw a beautiful sight. The whole attic was full of vintage children's books. Bound volumes of St. Nicholas Magazine. Entire shelves of Childhood of Famous Americans. First editions of Edward Ardizzone's Little Tim books.
"My, what a lovely attic!" thought Mrs. DHM. "What a shame there is no one to share it with me. It is so big!" She catalogued two whole bookcases on Library Thing.
Then she saw a box and opened it up. Well, what do you think she saw inside? A band of toy soldiers. They had been sleeping there for years.
"Thanks for setting us free," said the captain. "Is there anything we can do for you?"
"You could march to the Common Room," said Mrs. DHM, "and talk to those red squirrels who pushed me out. But, on the other hand, we don't want to use unnecessary force. How about you stay here instead and I'll read you stories."
"As long as we don't have to narrate afterwards," said the soldier captain.
Late that night the captain woke his men and gave them their orders. There were only five of them, but they were very brave, and their hearts were full of love. After all, Mrs. DHM had introduced them to The Bears of Blue River.
They marched to the Common Room and climbed through the window. The squirrels were making so much noise about government bailouts that they did not hear the soldiers until it was too late.
"This is Mrs. DHM's house," said the captain, drawing his sword. "Will you go peaceably, or must we fight?"
The red squirrels looked at the soldiers and screamed "Lead! Contaminants!" They ran out of the house as fast as they could and down the road.
"And don't come back!" shouted the captain.
Mrs. DHM was very happy to move back into her Common Room. She thanked the soldiers and made them promise to come for potluck dinners once a week. Then the soldiers marched off through the forest, singing The Cruel War.
That night when Mrs. DHM went to bed, she was very tired. And she still missed her Sadie dog. But she looked through the branches and she could see a million stars. She looked at her bookshelves and she could see a million books. And she looked through her blog comments and realized that she had...well, not a million friends...but a lot. And Mrs. DHM was very happy once more.
With Apologies to Miriam Young and her classic picture book Miss Suzy, copyright 1964 by Parent's Magazine Press, now classified as an illegal substance.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Friends for Dewey?
My avid-knitter acquaintance Lady Tricotine is experiencing some wildlife in her backyard. Have a look.
Monday, May 21, 2007
All things squirrelly
Found on the Carnival of Education #119:
"Have you heard the one about the out-of-control squirrel that forced an entire campus to go into lock down? And was this squirrel an agent of some conspiracy unleashed by the Dark Gray Forces Of Evil? Read the testimonial and judge for yourself."
"Have you heard the one about the out-of-control squirrel that forced an entire campus to go into lock down? And was this squirrel an agent of some conspiracy unleashed by the Dark Gray Forces Of Evil? Read the testimonial and judge for yourself."
Monday, January 01, 2007
Saturday, December 02, 2006
A Holiday Meme, by Dewey Squirrel
This is my blog but I nevver get to rite anything bekuz Mama Squirrel is always hogging it. So today I am taking kontrol of the keeboard and I get to anser all the questions.
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Neither, I like root beer flotes.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? I am not suposed to tell.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? On my tree/house? All cullers and as many as Snoopy's doghous.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No, I like it for an apetizer.
5. When do you put your decorations up?Mr. Fixit puts them up for Dewey when he should be resting his tired bones in front of the television Hey wait a minit, this is my meem and I get to rite...Well, I did put up my own reeth on the door.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Pizza.
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Curling up in a warm attic with my fourtteen brothers and sisters.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I pwomised I would never never tell that he cheets at cards--oops.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I open EVERYBODY'S gifts on Christmas Eve becuz I cant stand the susspens. But don't tell them.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? I don't have one, I just share with the hummans.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I like it becuz it's eazier to see the cats' footprints and go the uther way.
12. Can you ice skate? I am a very talented squirrel. I can do a lot of things. I have even been on staje at church. But I cant ice skate because I don't aktualy have feet.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? The Chipmunks' Christmas Album.
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Keeping away from Uncle Louie for another year. [Uncle Louie is always after Dewey for that fifty bucks Dewey owes him...]
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?Boosh Butch Bûche de Noël (thank you Mama Squirrel). You no...Yool Log. Something about being a Squirrel, we have a thing for desserts made out of wood.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Riding along in the car and waving at people out the window. Sometimes they wave back.
17. What tops your tree? Well, I tried climbing up there once becuz I wanted to talk to that pwetty angel that the Apwentice made. But she wouldn't even say halo to me.
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving. One year I rode along with Santa and helped him give out all the presents. I am very good at going up and down chimnies.
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Chesnuts, Akorns and Walnuts Roasting on an Open Fire But It Wasnt My Fault!
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? They make my fur too stikky.
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Neither, I like root beer flotes.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? I am not suposed to tell.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? On my tree/house? All cullers and as many as Snoopy's doghous.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No, I like it for an apetizer.
5. When do you put your decorations up?
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Pizza.
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Curling up in a warm attic with my fourtteen brothers and sisters.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I pwomised I would never never tell that he cheets at cards--oops.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I open EVERYBODY'S gifts on Christmas Eve becuz I cant stand the susspens. But don't tell them.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? I don't have one, I just share with the hummans.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I like it becuz it's eazier to see the cats' footprints and go the uther way.
12. Can you ice skate? I am a very talented squirrel. I can do a lot of things. I have even been on staje at church. But I cant ice skate because I don't aktualy have feet.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? The Chipmunks' Christmas Album.
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Keeping away from Uncle Louie for another year. [Uncle Louie is always after Dewey for that fifty bucks Dewey owes him...]
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Riding along in the car and waving at people out the window. Sometimes they wave back.
17. What tops your tree? Well, I tried climbing up there once becuz I wanted to talk to that pwetty angel that the Apwentice made. But she wouldn't even say halo to me.
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving. One year I rode along with Santa and helped him give out all the presents. I am very good at going up and down chimnies.
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Chesnuts, Akorns and Walnuts Roasting on an Open Fire But It Wasnt My Fault!
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? They make my fur too stikky.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Neither does Dewey
We missed this post at Beth Spera in Domino from a couple of weeks ago, but thought it was squirrel-worthy enough to post here.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Birthdays, frugal and otherwise
The Deputy Headmistress has posted about her family's frugal birthday traditions. We do some things that are frugal, some that aren't, and some things that are just traditions. Some years the Squirrelings have had kid-parties, and some years they've opted for a family outing. Some years the birthday has extended over a weekend or a couple of days as we've celebrated with other relatives.
This week is Ponytails' birthday, and I should really be baking a cake right now instead of blogging. She's invited a couple of friends and her sisters to go mini-golfing with her tomorrow afternoon, and then they'll come back here for hamburgers and cake. Her birthday is sort of a Groovy theme this year; the girls are going to wear anything Groovy they can find, and we're making this Groovy Jeans cake. I don't do cakes that take a lot of skill with an icing tube; I like cut-up cakes or the kind that we can decorate with candies or plastic people or animals (NOT the kind from the cake decorating aisle--we usually use what we have in the toy box).
The best parties we've had are for Mr. Fixit--and they're almost always just for our own family, which is kind of a shame since they're usually very creative (if I do say so myself). The theme is always a surprise (unless he guesses), and it's usually based on whatever he's watching or doing that year. We've had a Dr. Who party (the Tardis was our hall closet), a time-travel-through-your-life party, a records party, a Junior-Monopoly-come-to-life party (when you landed on the Puppet Show, you got a real Puppet show and so on), and I can't remember what else. The most unusual was a Marvin the Star-Nosed Mole party which would only mean anything if you've seen the 13-episode run of the '80's TV series Four on the Floor with The Frantics. (Want to sign a petition to get it put on DVD?) We thought Marvin was wonderful so we made Mr. Fixit a board game starring Marvin and our own Dewey Squirrel (it was based on a Barbie Prom game I used to have), and a brown-dirt cake with a marshmallow Marvin coming out of a molehill. And brown streamers, of course.
Parties should be fun and have a bit of surprise to them, even if the presents are from the dollar store and we forgot to get balloons. That's pretty much the way we do it.
This week is Ponytails' birthday, and I should really be baking a cake right now instead of blogging. She's invited a couple of friends and her sisters to go mini-golfing with her tomorrow afternoon, and then they'll come back here for hamburgers and cake. Her birthday is sort of a Groovy theme this year; the girls are going to wear anything Groovy they can find, and we're making this Groovy Jeans cake. I don't do cakes that take a lot of skill with an icing tube; I like cut-up cakes or the kind that we can decorate with candies or plastic people or animals (NOT the kind from the cake decorating aisle--we usually use what we have in the toy box).
The best parties we've had are for Mr. Fixit--and they're almost always just for our own family, which is kind of a shame since they're usually very creative (if I do say so myself). The theme is always a surprise (unless he guesses), and it's usually based on whatever he's watching or doing that year. We've had a Dr. Who party (the Tardis was our hall closet), a time-travel-through-your-life party, a records party, a Junior-Monopoly-come-to-life party (when you landed on the Puppet Show, you got a real Puppet show and so on), and I can't remember what else. The most unusual was a Marvin the Star-Nosed Mole party which would only mean anything if you've seen the 13-episode run of the '80's TV series Four on the Floor with The Frantics. (Want to sign a petition to get it put on DVD?) We thought Marvin was wonderful so we made Mr. Fixit a board game starring Marvin and our own Dewey Squirrel (it was based on a Barbie Prom game I used to have), and a brown-dirt cake with a marshmallow Marvin coming out of a molehill. And brown streamers, of course.
Parties should be fun and have a bit of surprise to them, even if the presents are from the dollar store and we forgot to get balloons. That's pretty much the way we do it.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Squirrel Reading
Someone found our Treehouse by searching for "squirrel reading." Well, Dewey (like the rest of us) is often found with a book (when he's not out somewhere playing cards). For some reason they would not let him sign up for the summer reading program at the library, but he's keeping a list of some of his favourite squirrel books anyway. Here they are.
1. Babar's Children (Jean de Brunhoff): The squirrels save the day when little Alexander falls into their tree. [Update: Aha! Now I know why this was so hard to find online: it's also called Babar at Home. In French it's Babar en famille, so I guess either title is a fair translation.]
2. Chessie, the Long Island Squirrel (Sachiko Komoto): Chessie's life in the back yard, from babyhood through mamasquirrelhood
3. Squirrel Nutkin and Timmy Tiptoes (Beatrix Potter): Timmy Tiptoes, yes (some major resemblances there to Dewey). (You can read it online here.) Squirrel Nutkin: not so fond of that one (gives Dewey the shivers). (You can read it here.)
4. Attila the Angry (Marjorie Weinman Sharmat): From the inside flap: "Attila Squirrel gets angry at small things, big things, and in-between things. He gets particularly angry at other animals, dust, trees, scissors, toothpicks, and chicken pox. One day, Attila reads an ad. 'Do you have a bad temper?'" Anger management for rodents.
5. A Nutty Business (Ida Chittum): "Farmer Flint dashed for the closet. 'When I went to bed,' he cried, 'this heap of nuts was high as my head. It has shrunk to my shoulders. Now it has shrunk to my waist. Now to my knees! Madam, this heap of nuts is shrinking before my very eyes, or I am growing rapidly taller.' 'You have not grown rapidly taller,' shrilled Madam Flint. ''Tis the squirrels! There goes one, with his face full of our nuts.'"
6. Anything with nuts in it. Or food in it.
1. Babar's Children (Jean de Brunhoff): The squirrels save the day when little Alexander falls into their tree. [Update: Aha! Now I know why this was so hard to find online: it's also called Babar at Home. In French it's Babar en famille, so I guess either title is a fair translation.]
2. Chessie, the Long Island Squirrel (Sachiko Komoto): Chessie's life in the back yard, from babyhood through mamasquirrelhood
3. Squirrel Nutkin and Timmy Tiptoes (Beatrix Potter): Timmy Tiptoes, yes (some major resemblances there to Dewey). (You can read it online here.) Squirrel Nutkin: not so fond of that one (gives Dewey the shivers). (You can read it here.)
4. Attila the Angry (Marjorie Weinman Sharmat): From the inside flap: "Attila Squirrel gets angry at small things, big things, and in-between things. He gets particularly angry at other animals, dust, trees, scissors, toothpicks, and chicken pox. One day, Attila reads an ad. 'Do you have a bad temper?'" Anger management for rodents.
5. A Nutty Business (Ida Chittum): "Farmer Flint dashed for the closet. 'When I went to bed,' he cried, 'this heap of nuts was high as my head. It has shrunk to my shoulders. Now it has shrunk to my waist. Now to my knees! Madam, this heap of nuts is shrinking before my very eyes, or I am growing rapidly taller.' 'You have not grown rapidly taller,' shrilled Madam Flint. ''Tis the squirrels! There goes one, with his face full of our nuts.'"
6. Anything with nuts in it. Or food in it.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Uncle Dewey answers your squirrel questions
Someone found our blog by searching for "do squirrels like hot chili powder?"
Dewey says: "Only with refried beans and some good salsa."
Someone else was looking for "good places to start a treehouse."
Dewey says: "Try to pick a nice starter tree in a yard without any cats. Something with nuts is always nice, or maybe near a bird feeder."
Well, you wanted to know...
Dewey says: "Only with refried beans and some good salsa."
Someone else was looking for "good places to start a treehouse."
Dewey says: "Try to pick a nice starter tree in a yard without any cats. Something with nuts is always nice, or maybe near a bird feeder."
Well, you wanted to know...
Friday, June 03, 2005
Pink Crayons
Hi! This is Crayons. Did you know that I turned four? Well, there's a printer at our house. It goes out with paper in it. Well, we can print lots of colouring pictures!
I know what to do when I have a quiet time [She means naptime, not timeouts]. Play on my bed. I play with my baby toy apple. I play with my big polka dot ball. I keep losing some of my toys.
Did you know that I have some family? Did you know that I have my friend Uncle Dewey, and my koala and my bear are friends with me?
Well, I want to barbeque by myself [Crayons is starting to get silly]. (That says b-b-b-barbeque?) Well, I sing. I'm gonna sing for you now [Picks up Duplo microphone and starts to sing]. For down in my heart . . .
I know what to do when I have a quiet time [She means naptime, not timeouts]. Play on my bed. I play with my baby toy apple. I play with my big polka dot ball. I keep losing some of my toys.
Did you know that I have some family? Did you know that I have my friend Uncle Dewey, and my koala and my bear are friends with me?
Well, I want to barbeque by myself [Crayons is starting to get silly]. (That says b-b-b-barbeque?) Well, I sing. I'm gonna sing for you now [Picks up Duplo microphone and starts to sing]. For down in my heart . . .
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