Baby steps

So, our caustic river water continues to flush lead out of our aging pipes, and we're routinely in the top 3 for homicide rates in the US, BUT: a new grocery store has opened to replace the Kroger that closed just a few blocks away! Yay! Now when we need two items for the recipe we've just started, we won't have to get on the freeway.

Hat regained

 Seven Lakes park in the early Autumn.  You can't beat it.  (If you live in Flint, that is.)

 Off we trot

 ...over rustic stick paths

 ...winding through woods, until

 what's this?  Lord of the Flies?  No - it's just a hat.  A hat that was last seen two posts back being used to smuggle turtles.  (And 20 odd years before that, to keep Granny cool while gardening in Chapel Leigh.)  I must have dropped it last time and some kind hiker made it obvious for this time.

 DEFINITELY not Lord of the Flies.  A nest of spiders, in fact.  Sorry gang, you get dumped out - I want my hat back.

 And on with the trot.

 Scenic lakes.  (As you can see, I went crazy with my fave camera filter again.  Looks good small, not so good embiggened.)

 A long walk off a short pier.

 Or not.

And so to the car, and back home.

Water, water everywhere

As has been reported here, just over a year ago, Flint switched its water supply from Detroit (who were charging an arm and a leg, partly to get $$$ to pay for their own bankruptcy) to getting it from the Flint river.  (The long-term plan is to have a new pipeline and get it from Lake Huron, but (a) that has to wait for the pipeline, and (b) you don't care.)  This made the water taste disgusting, so sales of bottled water have skyrocketed.  To add insult to injury, our water bills are also among the very highest in the country.  Now it turns out that the water's poisonous.  Ah yes, we did indeed choose well by living in Flint.  Long story short, we decided to get a new super-duper water filter system.

This involved some destruction in the basement.

And strange giant black tubs.  And bags of strange stuff.

And these extra filters to make water that is not only lead-free but actually potable, and the pipe leading from these goes up to...

a special new tap on the kitchen sink.  Modern life, eh?

Freedom for Turtle #3

The first hint of Autumn is upon us, so it's time to release the last of Thomas's turtles into the wild. He got them a few years ago, and as reported on an earlier blog, the female was released long ago, as she was getting way too big. The two remaining, one male and one female, lived together peacefully until earlier this year (or was it last year?) when one of them turned up her wee turtle toes and had to be buried in the back yard. Since that time, the other one has been looking lonely (there may be some projection involved, as all turtles always look just like grumpy old men) and made a memorable break for freedom a while ago (as Jami will relate below), so I decided, after much stalling from Thomas, to take matters into my own hands (as nobody else can bear to pick the damn things up). As you can see: first signs of Autumn.

I smuggled him in in my hat:

We decided to release him in one of the smaller lakes in the woods.  Frederick leads the way.

Ah, the perfect spot.

Here we go:

The break for freedom that Simon is referring to took place about two weeks ago.  Thomas came home from school and noticed that the turtle was not in his house.  This was amazing and alarming as the aquarium top is about four feet off the ground so we all (me, Simon, Thomas and Jimmy) looked about the place, very much expecting to find a turtle on its cracked open back.  What we did find was exactly nothing--no sign of him--until we looked in the next room (Thomas's blue room) and poked around under the bookshelf.  Well, Simon did and got hissed at for his troubles.  None of us can figure out how the turtle managed to leap out of the aquarium, scuttle down its side, leap down on to the floor, make his way across the floor into the next room, drop down a 6" step and then scamper across the room to hide under the bookshelf---all the while avoiding the bone crushing jaws and grasping claws of two very Turtle Curious cats.
So the non-human head count in this household at this time: two cats, two ducks.  Who will be next?

Frederick Heads Back to School

Finally the day Frederick has been waiting for since May--the start of school! Of course Frederick was seeing Emily practically every day all summer, but that wasn't school and so wasn't the same at all. So today we headed out with his backpack stuffed with new pencils, a ruler, glue sticks and a scissors along with all the other supplies he needs. We really didn't do a good job recording everything he did in school last year. This year, we will be much better. Here is just a very very tiny sampling of all the work he did. First thing to note is this short story binder that he and Emily put together last year. Each story was about 4 or 5 pages long. The stories tended to feature Frederick as the main star.Here we see Frederick heading off on a train to somewhere we can only imagine.Here is Frederick in the winter--happy as usual. Next I would like to point out the expansive collection of science books Frederick put together. Each one featured information about the theme of the week. Here is just a small sampling. Here is his book on lightning. Did you know that when lightning strikes it makes a hole in the air called a channel? Here is his cloud book. Did you know that cirrus clouds indicate that the weather is going to change soon? Here is his book on air. Did you know that when warm air flows up, cold air rushes in below--that is what makes wind! Here is his book on whales. Did you know that whales sleep with only one eye open, and with half their brain conscious at all times? Imagine what that's like!Frederick also brought home a project each week. Here is a lantern he made.Here is a wind chime--I think this must have been during Air week. Here is a rabbit sitting on his bedside table.Here is a giant crocodile (this was during crocodile/alligator week).A stegosaurus, of course. Dinosaurs are always a favorite. And here is a drawing of a frog (frog week, naturally). We loved this drawing so much we had it framed and it hangs in the stairway on the way upstairs. The woman who framed it said it was the best piece of art she had ever worked on.What's in store for us this year?

Homemade things

I have tried to make homemade yogurt before and it never worked. I think our kitchen is simply way too cold in winter, and way too some other sort of problem at all other times. I saw this little gadget on line and all the reviewers swore up and down that it was foolproof. So, given that little pots of Greek yogurt are between $1.50 and $2.50 each these days (and given that Simon, Thomas, Jimmy and I were eating 10 or more total a day) we needed to find another solution. So I sent off for this and gave it a try. It comes with 7 very cute little jars. I ordered a set of 10 yogurt starter sachets but (again, going by the immensely satisfied customers) once you have made one batch, you can use one of the yogurts to make the next--and so on and so forth to create the eternal yogurt. Next to one of the jars is a small jar of homemade pear preserves. Emily and Frederick went for a long walk last week and found a pear tree loaded with fruit. Apparently Frederick insisted that they pick all that they could possibly carry. The obvious solution was pear preserves which, it turns out, tastes really good when added to the yogurt.

Someone's in a good mood today

The other day I was helping Frederick get ready to go to Emily's. We were standing in the little bathroom just off the livingroom and I said (as we got ready to brush teeth), "I love you!" He turned to look at himself in the mirror and said, "I love my iguana shirt" (which is the shirt he is wearing in this picture).