Vacation Fun this week

We’re on a trip this week and spent a lovely day with some old, dear friends in NH. 12 year old Talia is always up for a craft project when we are together. She has the magic combination of creative spirit, fearlessness and boundless energy.  Needless to say, when I visit her, we make stuff.  She was excited by my collection of newspaper bags so we tried weaving them together before fusing them (as seen in a previous post).  Zipped them into a tote bag on her mom’s sewing machine and she immediately packed it up with books and carried it off to school with her the very next day. She says she is going to try fusing some metallic bags she’s got…stay tuned.

Talia also showed me two things in her lunchbox that I wanted to share: a metal sandwich holder called a “lunchbot” and a reusable stainless steel straw.  One of my kids says he doesn’t use a straw at school for milk, but my other kid said she did. That’s 171 plastic straws per year we could save if I sent her to school with a reusable straw.   One straw can go in the lunchbox and maybe one should live in my glove compartment for the occasional milkshake at Richmond Dairy Treat?  Every little bit helps.

Our next stop on our vacation week tour was a visit to my mom and dad's home in Connecticut. Mom was getting her seeds started on the porch, in these nifty homemade pots made from newspaper.  Her "potmaker" pots go right into the ground and compost around her seedlings.

I'm also proud that her seedling labels were cut from old yogurt containers. Way to go, Mom.  And can I brag about her a bit more? We were together celebrating my birthday this week and she gave me an incredible basket that she wove from pine needles.(picture later!)  I come from a long line of crafty women and I feel very, very lucky to have learned many skills from them. Home in a few days to visit the Barn of Opportunity, and to start my own seedlings. Shouldn't our peas be in the ground already?