Category Archives: misc. ramblings

Greenwood Cemetery

Posted on by

Contrary to what you might think, Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn is a lovely place to spend a fall afternoon. We decided to go there this weekend to see if we could find any hen-of-the-woods mushrooms. These mushrooms grow under oak trees in the fall, and I thought there would be many old oaks there. I was right, but the place offered so much more.

We saw the fabled monk parrots when we first arrived. Their story is that escaped from a container at Kennedy airport and have taken up residence at Greenwood. You can see photos of them here.

We actually saw very few mushrooms considering the vast quantities of rain we’ve had. There were a few hen-of-the-woods, but they were old and woody and uprooted. I think the groundskeepers are too efficient to let big mushrooms grow there. But the day was beautiful and it was like walking in a lovely park.

FacebookTwitterGoogle+StumbleUponShare

Still hanging in there

Posted on by

I thought it might be the heat, but after having a fever last night, I guess I actually am sick. I’ve been so run down lately that I have contemplated going back to sleep right after my first cup of coffee.

Although I haven’t been posting I have actually been doing things.

Mushroom Hunting (and eating)
Although we’ve recently gotten rain, it has been so stinking hot that there weren’t many of the expected mushrooms in the woods last weekend. This plant is called Indian Pipes and isn’t a mushroom. It is a plant that lost its chloroform through some weird evolutionary decision. It needs other plants (and that’s generally a mushroom called a russula) to bring it the nutrition it needs. There were no russulas to be found nearby. I did find some bright orange boletes that sautéed up nicely.

Knitting

I made this blue shawl for Lindsay. She’s going to be a flower girl this month and the bridesmaids colors are royal blue. You can find the pattern here.

We have friends who are expecting a baby girl in September. I made this sweet little cardigan for her. You can find the pattern here.

FacebookTwitterGoogle+StumbleUponShare

Winter Fun part 1

Posted on by

If you live in most of the US, you will probably be surrounded by snow. It’s easy to grumble about how hard commuting, parking, etc. is. I am guilty of it as well. Here’s a video a friend of mine made with his kids. They live in Minnesota and when we spoke to him, the temperature was -27F. And, no, that’s not with windchill factored in. Kind of puts whining about 18F in perspective, eh? We tried it on one of our coldest days and it mostly worked. Take a peek.

His daughter says it’s steam, but I’m pretty sure they made snow.

Cold Weather Fun from Martha Lazar on Vimeo.

FacebookTwitterGoogle+StumbleUponShare

Birthday Fun

Posted on by

Yesterday was Lindsay’s 7th birthday. We celebrated at a local bowling alley with a big group of her friends. It was fun chaos. Lindsay asked for a bowling ball-shaped cake, so the blue ball was just for her.

And to continue the silly fun, here’s a ridiculous video that we’ve been laughing over.

FacebookTwitterGoogle+StumbleUponShare

Beautiful Dusting

Posted on by

After a lot of talk of 20″ of snow and school closings, we got much less. They said we got 9″ in Central Park, but I think we got about 6″ here in Brooklyn. Much to my daughter’s chagrin, school wasn’t closed. She was told that if she slept with her pjs inside out and a spoon under her pillow, there would be a lot of snow. She felt totally cheated this morning. But the walk to her school was beautiful.

My chickens hate this weather. They don’t like standing on the snow, which is seriously limiting their range. I’m going to have to dig my way out to them later this morning.

FacebookTwitterGoogle+StumbleUponShare

Sad Snack

Posted on by

Have you ever seen such sad and depressing snacks in your life?

Tweety doesn’t look nearly as happy as he did before he was frozen solid.

And seriously what sick-o came up with this idea? Clear-cut candy. Really it will be fun for the kids! And the poor rabbit running for its life because all its  habitat has just been destroyed by the pipe-smoking lumberjack isn’t depressing. It’s cute and appropriate for children.

FacebookTwitterGoogle+StumbleUponShare

Spring Colds, etc.

Posted on by

All winter-long, we have been congratulating ourselves on making it through the entire winter without getting sick. I’m sure you can guess what’s coming…pride comes before the fall, and all those other pearls of wisdom.

Neil brought the cold home, then I got it and now it looks as though Lindsay has it. Although at the age of 6, she’s cluing into the whole “if I’m sick I won’t have to go to school” thing, so I’m not sure exactly how sick she is. I thought I was better and then yesterday I got sick again. Don’t ask me what it is, I have no idea. We usually say we’ve been bitten by the tse-tse fly when we get one of these mysterious illnesses. Achy joints, tired and probably a bit feverish. Today is better, but I’m still mostly flopped on the sofa. I’m even watching daytime tv, which I’m not sure helps to make one feel better.

I decided to watch the Martha Stewart show because next tuesday I will be in the audience. They are doing an urban farming segment (and I think its even specific to chicken keeping) and they want all audience members to be urban farmers. The even asked if we would bring a chicken with us to sit on our laps. The thought of having a chicken struggling and pooping on my lap for 2 hours isn’t too appealing, so I think I’ll go solo. I’ll figure out when the show airs so I can see if they pan to the audience.

The other thing I didn’t do while I was sick was to hold my book giveaway. So today I would like to announce that the winner is Jess. I will be in touch with Jess to get her address.

Thanks for the comments. I love hearing about unusual wildlife interactions. I think I posted in the fall about our stand-off with a raccoon. We had friends over for dinner and were eating in the garden when a raccoon climbed down the ivy on the side of the building next to us. It kept trying to eat my chickens and they were running around freaking out. The little bugger was determined and not scared of us at all. We were spraying it with the hose and tossing bricks near it, but it was determined to eat chicken that night. In the end it gave up and left, but it came back several more times after that. I’m sure we will see it again now that the weather is warming up and we’re trying to eat outside more often.

FacebookTwitterGoogle+StumbleUponShare

Birthday Party Favors

Posted on by

partyfavor

I keep wanting to start a petition to abolish the goody bag at kids birthday parties. But then I think about about the zillion other causes that should probably take precedence like world hunger, human rights, animal rights. Oh you get the idea. Then there’s the fear that people will think I’m a total grinch. What really gets me about these party favors is that they are usually a bunch of junk bought for less than $5 and have about 10 minutes of glory before they get tossed in the trash. The sheer quantity of this plastic junk overwhelms me and ultimately makes me feel guilty about tossing it out. The kids aren’t really excited about the junk either, but they are so accustomed to getting a gift bag at the end of the party, that it’s hard to do without it.

So instead of abolishing the gift bag, we try and come up with inexpensive items that won’t get tossed out immediately.

Here are some ideas and please feel free to add your own.

  • books. Lindsay is in the early reader phase, so you can buy a paperback book for $3-4.
  • flashlight. We just had a pretend sleepover party, so the kids picked flashlights of different colors and used them in the fort we made. We were able to get a decent quality flashlight for about $4.
  • homemade cookies. Cute shapes and colors make them even nicer.
  • cookie cutter. This could tie in with a party theme.
  • art supplies. Markers, crayons, glitter glue, stickers are all fun. You can buy Dover sticker books for about $1.50
  • t-shirts. You can buy packs of undershirts and the kids can decorate them with fabric paint as part of the party activity.
  • flower pot. The kids can paint the pots and you can either give them seeds, or they can plant their own plants as part of the activity.
  • balls. Superballs or even a set of jacks if you can find one in the right price range.
  • magnifying glass
  • finger puppets
  • magnets. Kids love to play with them.
  • playdoh. You can get the small containers and give 2 colors.
  • rubber stamps.
  • yo-yo
  • colored shoe laces.

I think some of the nicest ones tie in with the party. Make and take, so to speak. What the child makes becomes a lot more meaningful than a plastic smiley face ring. You get the idea.

FacebookTwitterGoogle+StumbleUponShare

Unseasonably Warm

Posted on by

Almost every year we can expect our first frost by the end of October and by the end of November the ground is pretty well frozen. It is now December and not only have we not had one single frost yet, it is over 60 degrees fahrenheit this morning. I am definitely not a fan of the cold, but this doesn’t seem right.

When I went out to let the chickens out this  morning, even the worms felt that spring was in the air. In case you’ve never seen it, here is some worm lovin’. Don’t you just love their lack of commitment as they keep their heads (?) in their respective holes?

worm sex

FacebookTwitterGoogle+StumbleUponShare