The Farm Report

  • 24-hour pass

    24-hour pass
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    24-hour pass for the grown-ups!

    It’s been over two years since I’ve seen The National perform, so it was fantastic to see how their show has matured. (Let’s all pretend I kind of know what that means.)

    Tidbits from this weekend:

    1. Ellery might have a teensy bit of my OCD overpacking gene.

    2. Our hotel room was directly across the hall from a room decorated from top to bottom with balloons, including some that were replicas of certain portions of human anatomy.

    3. That hotel room quickly became our former hotel room. Our new room was directly above said anatomically decorated room because someone in the Department of Hilarity thinks that makes for a better story.

    4. Everywhere we went in Indy was all on one street—dinner, concert, and breakfast. It was like hipster row. I have no clue what the rest of the city looks like, but I’m thinking we may go back someday.

    5. I almost cried when we found out the band didn’t go on until 10:45pm.

    6. I am officially the age where I really, really like sitting down at concerts. Sadly, as my feet and back will tell you, this was not an option.

    7. The band’s fan base is clearly 95% male. Or the universe did some sort of bizarre inversion. Either way, I felt like woman-kind had achieved some monumental victory as I walked past 20 men in line for the bathroom to discover I could pick from my choice of three empty bathroom stalls. (See fourth photo.)

    8. When Mary Poppins is performing in the adjoining theatre, the green room for a band is reduced to the size of a broom closet. Mary clearly has more clout.

    9. I desperately need an in-between camera. One that can travel in my bag, but has functionality that makes me smile. Will be researching that whole micro four thirds category…

    10. I love traveling with people who make all the restaurant decisions. Especially when they have great taste.

    Big thanks to Matt, John, and Vicki (and their friends) for joining us along our fun getaway, and to R&D and Papa Joe for making it possible.

  • Happy anniversary

    Nine years…can you believe it?

  • Souvenirs

    Souvenirs

    Chris just returned from his trip to southeast Asia. Before he left, the kids begged him to bring them back outfits. On his last day in the country, he pulled through for us.

    The kids are beside themselves with excitement, although they keep calling them their “Chinese clothes.” Which is not really true, because they were purchased in Thailand. (But I wouldn’t be surprised to discover they were actually made in China.) And, really, what are the distinct differences in outfits which are probably just made for tourists anyway? But I got out the globe and we had a discussion about Asian geography, carefully pointing out Thailand.

    And then then they asked if they could wear their Chinese clothes to Chipotle, and I remembered that geographic skills seem to be lacking in this gene pool, so I should just give up the fight and celebrate our evening of Thai/Chinese/Mexican culture. Hooray for multiculturalconfusionism!

  • Quiet

    Quiet

    The internet is a funny thing.

    You can sell something to someone two houses down on CraigsList or you can make a connection with someone clear across the globe. The fact that Barb and her whole crew just blew through these parts a few weeks back would have been impossible without the internet. She lives in a little town in Australia. We live in a little town in the States. Barring some exceptional travel plans and a strange twist of fate, we never would have connected.

    But we did. And after a flurry of emails, our house was suddenly full of boisterous Australians, and we really did adore them. The kids got along famously, and I’m contemplating if you can adopt a godmother, because I think I would like Debbie to be mine. And then everyone got sick and they boarded a plane to the next destination.

    And now? They’re on the other side of the world, of which we are reminded when we stumble across the leftover props like this yellow chair.

    Which a bit inconvenient in my book, because I think Barb is someone with whom I’d love to have a regular w(h)ine date.

    Sigh.

  • The Halloween store is open

    The Halloween store is open
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    After Kid Book Club, Tom broke out the moustaches he bought at the Halloween store. We turned our backs, and suddenly Neko had crafted and American Girl size moustache. (Which is clearly a marketing opportunity American Girl has missed out on.)

  • Voltage controlled oscillator

    Voltage controlled oscillator
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    I confess, I don’t totally understand this thing. But what I do know is that Tom made it out of an old travel kit. And it makes lots of weird noises. And yesterday he finally got it to work, which made him grin from ear to ear, which is a good thing all around.

    Noise music nerds around the world are gasping with delight.

  • What lies below…

    What lies below…

    We have these three kids. And, over time, those three kids have required a lot of stuff. But the stuff? It’s piling up. And then there’s all the stuff that bigger kids require. Where is all that supposed to go?

    And, really, I think walking to one’s fuse box without having to use mountaineering equipment is a right, not a privilege.

    Bottom line: our basement is beginning to look a bit like one of those episodes of Hoarders. And that makes me all kinds of crazy.

    Since there is spring cleaning, perhaps the flipside is fall purging?

    (On a positive note, while reviewing this photo, I just noticed the quilt that Christine made for Neko as a baby sitting under some snowpants. I’ve been wondering where that was! See…once I get rid of all the crap I’ll be able to find the things I really care about.)

  • Drawing at dusk

    Drawing at dusk
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    These children have a knack for beginning the most creative and inspiring activities about three minutes before bedtime.

    Tonight Shep and Neko gathered their sketchbooks and pencils and headed outside. I think they’ve been inspired by art class at school, where they made their own sketchbooks and now are hard at work filling them.

    Shep did a great rendering of the high tunnel and Neko did this drawing of the chicken coop.

    And then we peeled them out of the back yard and tucked them into bed.

  • Perfect fall day

    Perfect fall day

    If I didn’t have a three-year-old to be responsible for, I would totally have taken a nap in the hammock on this perfect day.

    On another note, happy birthday to my amazing mother. I. Love. You.

  • Breakfast

    Breakfast
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    The egg, not the chicken, people.

    I still get a little giddy every time we find an egg in the coop. It’s just like when seeds magically grow into plants—I get the scientific principle, but it still doesn’t stop me from wanting to tell every person that I see about the truly spectacularness of it all.