"Gaea" (our cat),by Imogen
It was all gravy, every minute of it.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
'Pooky Stuff
Little Ims is so excited about Halloween this year. She's been talking a lot about "'pooky houses" and "trick-or-treat night."
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
'I Hided Myself'
A Seattle 4-year old nearly became the victim of a violent sex offender sent to her family's home this summer by a company hired to install fireplace doors.
Flu Shots
Imogen got the seasonal flu shot last week and H1N1 mist this morning at Clallam County Public Health. Because she is 3, boosters for both were recommended in a month.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Field Trip: Tree Farm
Imogen has snack this morning on our co-op preschool's field trip to a Christmas tree farm
One Hand in the Dishpan
Photographer Imogen Cunningham said during the mothering years of her professional life, she had "one hand in the dishpan, the other in the darkroom."Imogen's twins Rondal and Padraic Partridge, 1922
Image: Imogen Cunningham Trust
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Sew Sweet
This morning Imogen told me she wanted to sew. I thought she was skilled enough for a real needle--a big darning needle with a blunt tip--so I threaded it with pink embroidery thread. She tried sewing felt, but the needle was too big, so I put cross-stitch fabric in an embroidery hoop. Imogen sewed all by herself with no instruction!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Life Without Vinyl
Avoiding Vinyl Products At Home
What products are made of vinyl, and what are the healthy alternatives?
Shower curtains: choose curtains made of cotton, polyester, or nylon.
Toys: avoid soft plastic toys, such as plastic squeeze toys and soft plastic dolls, as much as possible. Healthy alternatives include plush and cloth toys, and bath toys made of fabric (such as animal-shaped bath mitts).
Rain gear: choose waterproof outerwear coated with polyurethane and rubber boots (check tags on clothing and avoid any item that contains vinyl, or PVC).
Flooring: choose linoleum, cork, bamboo, or wood instead of vinyl.
Wall coverings: choose zero-VOC paint, paper-based wallpaper, or wood paneling.
Windows and doors: the healthiest choice is wood, especially from certified sustainable sources.
Plastic wrap and food containers: plastic bags, plastic food storage containers, and cling wrap for residential use are made of PVC-free alternatives. Commercial-grade cling wrap is usually made of vinyl (PVC). If you buy deli items such as cheese that are packaged in cling wrap, cut off a thin layer where the food contacted the wrap and store in waxed paper or a food storage container.
Other products that can be made of PVC include: siding, electrical wire coatings, packaging, piping, garden hoses, fencing and decking, inflatable furniture, shutters and blinds, mattress covers, and notebook covers.
There are so many vinyl products to avoid, where should I start?
- If you have children, start by replacing vinyl toys that they mouth, chew, or play with regularly. Soft plastic toys such as bath toys, squeeze toys, and dolls are commonly made of vinyl. Learn more about safer toys and explore a searchable database of over 1000 toys at www.HealthyToys.org.
- Replace vinyl shower curtains with cloth curtains.
- Choose cloth lunch bags instead of vinyl lunch boxes. Lunch boxes made of plastic are typically made of vinyl.
- Don’t allow children to drink from garden hoses of any type.
Source: Washington Toxics Coalition
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Collector-Redistributor
Immy's in what I call the "Collector-Redistributor Phase." Today, she nearly emptied her dresser and dress-up box and relocated the contents to the bathroom.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Patch Work
Before: Second-hand patchwork blanket
with avocado-green acrylic yarn ties
After: Refashioned with pink fabric discs
and embroidery-thread ties
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
H1N1 Vaccine
Below is a sample of H1N1 vaccine recommendations with respect to pregnant women and children only (the websites have recommendations and rationale for the entire population):
The United States Centers for Disease Control recommends that pregnant women and all people from 6 months through 24 years of age receive the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine.
Public Health Agency of Canada advises that pregnant women and children 6 months to under 5 years of age will benefit most from the H1N1 vaccine.
The World Health Organization recommends that priority for the vaccine should be given to pregnant women, followed respectively by people over 6 months of age with chronic health conditions, healthy people age 15 to 49 and then healthy children.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
What You Need
“You can't always get what you want,
but if you try sometimes, you might find,
you get what you need.”
The Rolling Stones
Roots
“We are not separate tribes of Latinos and whites and blacks in America.
Edward Ball, author of "Slaves in the Family"
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Synchronicity
"The wardrobe department for The Wizard of Oz unknowingly purchased a coat for character Professor Marvel from a second-hand store, which was later verified to have originally been owned by L. Frank Baum, the author of the novel on which the film was based."
Image: Huffington Post
Put the Baby Down, Genius
Last month, when the MacArthur Foundation made its surprise phone calls to people awarded the no-strings-attached $500,000 grants, the caller instructed the recipients "to take the phone where they could be alone, to take the call while sitting, and, if they happened to be holding a baby, to put the baby down."
Source: The Seattle Times
The Role of the Father
A father-to-be smokes a cigarette and reads a magazine as he waits to meet his baby, from the book "A Look at Birth," 1978
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Repair
This dress was a hand-me-down that had a stain. To cover it up, I painted a snail (from a design I found online) with fabric paint on a piece of lightweight canvas. I added the ruffle to fix an unraveling hem.
When I tried to put the dress on Imogen today, she refused because green and orange are "not really beautiful colors." Only pink and purple are beautiful, she reminded me, then wore a white shirt and brown pants all day. Sigh.
Rewind
Even in 2009, I don't think there's anything simpler for recording and editing sound than an old-school tape recorder. Imogen, her cousins and I have taped ourselves reading books (with improvised sound effects) and yesterday, Immy's almost-10-year-old girl cousin interviewed her.
At the Port Angeles Goodwill, the cassette recorder was $3, the microphone was $2 and brand-new tapes were $.29 each.
Redress
I made this dress for Immy from a pattern I had used before. The halter-top fabric was given to us by our friend Laura who used it as gift wrap. The other fabrics and ruffles--even the threads--are second-hand.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Our Many Colored Days
I repurposed a thrift-shop ashtray into a shallow watercolor bowl (with handy paintbrush rests!) for Imogen.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
One Hundred Years of Habitude
More than half of babies born today in well-off countries like the United States and western Europe will live to 100 years, a new study has found (BBC).
Immy with Great-Gramma Cleo
October 2006
See Globally
Look here to find out when you might see the International Space Station flying over your Washington town.
Satellite Image of Western Washington:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center,
The SeaWiFS Project and ORBIMAGE,
Scientific Visualization Studio
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