Introducing the Walnut Kids! I have created another short video montage from my Samsung Fold 3 phone motion photos – which now include sound! My new phone takes actual video snippets instead of just silent moving pictures, which makes it perfect for Youtube’s ‘video shorts’ format. If you watch on your phone you can expand these vertical videos to fill up your whole screen. In this episode: hanging out with all four kids and playing in the yard and on the tree fort swing set on a warm autumn day and collecting walnuts from our very old black walnut trees.…
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Autumn is fully upon us and sadly none of the trees here changed color, but they are all losing their leaves quite quickly now. It rained overnight the past two days and sparse is now the word to describe what was once verdant and lush. There are some yellow leaves, but most fall to the wind still green. It’s quite the change from living up north where there is always a riot of color (aside from the evergreen pine forest I grew up in). People come from all over to see the foliage change, and there are even websites that…
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In the past week the weather has finally turned cool enough that we need to wear a sweater in the morning while outside waiting for the bus. One day it was summery and the next the kids were out there in shorts and shivering! Now every morning is a sweater day. The bus comes just before 8am so it’s still at the coolest time of day before the sun has come all the way up and warmed the world. We don’t need heavy sweatshirts yet, but at least a hoodie keeps the crisp chill off enough to not have to…
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Kids and cats have a lot of things in common, and one constant is that they all LOVE to get in boxes. It doesn’t matter what size the box is or if they have to destroy it to make themselves fit – a box is an item of joy for kids and cats. We frequently get deliveries because, hello, online shopping is cheaper, faster, more convenient and less likely to catch you a contagious disease. We were always an online shopping family, the only thing we don’t buy online is groceries, and that’s just because only one supermarket delivers here…
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I don’t know what is going on with Ariana’s shirt, I think it is a sparkly panda donut made out of sequins, but I love it and so does she! As usual, she picked out her own outfit for school and luckily it’s a bit warmer today, but we still put on sweaters. Pretty soon the only way she’ll be able to wear her cute t-shirts is by layering them over a long sleeve. I’ve already gotten them each a set of thermals, which Ariana has already stole from Tookie, and I think getting a few more will be a…
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After having a cough and missing a week of school, it was picture day last Thursday and Ariana swore she was feeling better… so I let her go to school. Little did I know she still had a cough and was sent immediately home and told she couldn’t return until she had a negative COVID test or waited 10 days. Since she still had her cough through the weekend and on Monday morning, we waited to get her tested and just let her relax at home for over a week of school. Better safe than sorry, though other than the…
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The weather these past two days have finally, and unfortunately, turned to fall. The weather in the mornings is cool enough that sweaters are needed, and long sleeves as well. It is bittersweet, as fall is often my favorite season, but summer is a time of warmth and happiness that we would rather not have end just yet. Even down here in Long Island, where the weather stays warmer longer, it seems summer has finally slipped us by. Yesterday we didn’t have proper sweaters and spent the morning wait for the school bus huddled together for warmth, but today Alistair…
