One Solar Orbit in MA & countin'
Hard to believe it's been only one orbit since we moved into 154 S. Main St here in South Hadley Falls. We are very comfy here with all our Freecycle.com furnishings and with our sweet little girl joining us in January. One more orbit is about the limit for me though. This year I am going to explore Holyoke across the river and hopefully get out and meet more folk. Workin' from home is great but it greatly dimishes my contact with the public.
37 Seconds of Unbearable Sweetness!
Ambiana sure is fiesty. We can't believe it but she is easily bored with the same old toys and the same old spots in the house. When she is in such a cranky butt mood the best thing for all of us is to take her on a walk as she loves to be out and about. I took her on 2 such walks recently; one long on in the woods alongside the river and one yesterday through Holyoke. She became a little fussy at the end of the latter one and I sang to her "We're bouncin' as we walk, we're bouncin' as we walk..." and she began to bounce in the snugli. She is so sweet, I am surprised that at 7 months she recognizes words and can put into motion the corresponding action. She also loves dirt and sand just like her momma and will play endlessly in either picking it up and letting it run through her fingers.
Join Colleen & Ambiana in the garden!
We visited Gaelen in the afternoon on Sunday and took him to the local Stockbridge Pond we like so much. We built canals with bridges, tunnels and dams and had alot of fun making foam. Gaelen was very brave and made a few attempts to swim in the shallows; with a a big breath flinging himself forward into the water and putting his face under. He is afraid so he does it really quickly. I am trying to work with him on keeping his breath in his body & trusting his body to float but he goes at his own pace. Hopefully next summer he will have more confidence. Today he is going with John to NYC by train. They are going to stay overnight and visit the zoo and the planetarium. He is very excited.
Canoe Update
Colleen & Ambiana had an adventure day in Northampton while I satyed home and applied the fiberglass cloth and resin to the hull of our beloved canoe. I put the first coat on at 8:30am. The temperature was a perfect 70 degrees, optimal for the resin as it has a longer pot life and does not cure so fast. The 1st coat is the trickiest as I have to be sure the cloth lays smoothly and evenly and covers the hull completely. The foam brush i was using was a piece of junk and disintegrated as did my vinyl gloves. Thank goodness for epoxy resin as it is neither toxic nor irritating to my skin. While the 1st coat gelled I took a walk up the hill to Chicopee and bought a bristle brush and a big pack of latex gloves.
For the 2nd coat I doubled up on the gloves and that worked fine. The 2nd coat was easier and I spread the resin mostly with the squeegies. It was done by 2pm and I took a break on the blankie in the backyard. We had slept out the night before because I had to sand the hull and Colleen was worried about toxic dust infiltrating the house. It was a beautiful moon-filled night under the trees and stars and made me realize how much more I like living outdoors than indoors. A year indoors is definatetly damaging to my mental health. Colleen and Ambiana soon came home and took a long nap in the tent out back. I put the 3rd coat on at 6:30pm and by the next morn had a shiny glossy fiberglassed hull. The next task is to remove the canoe from the strongback, turn her over and remove the moulds and then fair up and 'glass the inside. then its gunwales, thwart and deck, finish up the seats and a'canoin' we a go!
