Brooklyn Feed

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.

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.

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?

This is the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center as I saw it last week. It fits in oddly well into its New York City surroundings. Actually it reminds me of a Buddhist temple in a weird way.

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. We chose to stay in Brooklyn this year and celebrate with friends who invited us over. We didn’t have to get into a car because they live a few blocks away from us. On Saturday morning we were going for a walk and noticed how relaxed everyone on the street looked. And then it dawned on us that these were the folks who didn’t pack into their cars and drive a zillion hours to visit relatives. We had the relaxed glow all weekend as we ambled around our neighborhood going to the movies (Where the Wild Things Are) and the playground.

After we bought our movie tickets, we still had some time so we decided to go for a walk to a nearby toy store. We are in the midst of figuring out what to get Lindsay for Hanukkah, Christmas and her birthday. It’s a tough time of year that can easily turn into a feeding frenzy of gift giving and opening. We want the gifts to be meaningful and useful, instead of the kind that get 1 hour of play and then forgotten (and worse, thrown out). While we were looking around I noticed these stickers. No, they aren’t a joke! They are made by Dover, who usually publishes wonderful, and often educational, books and coloring books. I think I need to write them a letter. What are we teaching here?? And no, there aren’t overweight kid stickers included in the book.

We also watched the movie Food, Inc. over the weekend (actually the night before Thanksgiving!), but that will be another post.