Kirst Afloat

Dr Jean C. Avery

Must be feeling a bit nostalgic today.  This article was written about my grandmother.  She was an amazingly intelligent (every morning she would whiz through all of the crossword puzzles in the Boston and local papers in PEN) and very opinionated woman.  She was also a talented doctor and a gifted diagnostician.  She also delivered me!

The Eames Red House

Stumbled across this today.  This is the house that I grew up in (at least from the time I was in first grade through the end of middle school;  I also lived there one summer during college).  It didn't look as nice as it does in this old photo.  (We also didn't move the carriage house or the wing that included the summer kitchen.) The author never mentioned that the house was set on fire TWICE after my father bought it and before the house was moved.  Unknown arson, no one ever arrested.  (One of my parents must have the original "video" of the move: it was quite an undertaking.  Phone and power lines had to be taken down, the house slowly moved.  It's a BIG house, by the way.  I was one at the time and there is footage of me in a big blue pram.)

Initially (I'm guessing it was for over a year, possibly closer to two years), we lived in the house without running water.  No heat, either.  And Massachusetts gets cold in the winter.  In fact, during the Blizzard of '78 we didn't have any heat to lose!  When everyone else was freaking out about not having any heat, it was life as normal for us.  Minus the electricity of course.  (And the electricity was provided by extension cord from my paternal grandparent's house which was next to us.)  My mother cooked for several years on a Coleman camp stove (she was scared of lighting it so often Bg or I did that for her) and in an electric frying pan.  The first winter we lived there, the upstairs was blocked off with plywood.  We all lived in the "living room" at the time:  my parents on the hide-a-bed and my brother and I on mattresses on the floor.  We had a coal burning stove, fireplaces in every bedroom (except mine)...an interesting childhood.

I'm guessing that it's due to this that I've never been camping.  (And haven't felt like I've been missing out on anything.)

Halloween 2007

  This was a really fun Halloween. It was the first year that James really understood the entire concept and looked forward to trick or treating.  He dressed as a skeleton for the real event (he was Batman at school earlier in the day).  Claire made up her own costume: she was Spider Web Girl complete with blue wig, spider web shirt, cape and gloves.

It was cool and wet on Halloween. There weren't as many trick-or-treaters at Floral Villas as in past years.  (That also may have been due to the fact that security was "checking" that people knew someone that lived there.  "Lisa" who lives "around the corner and near the tennis courts" was expecting us.  It is always an odd experience to go trick-or-treating here.  Many of the residents are Australian (I didn't spot any Americans, actually) and a lot of people who answer the doors are Filipino helpers.  Floral Villas is great for Halloween, though, as many people decorate for the holiday.  Both of my kids got a kick out of saying "Trick or treat", Claire was the best at remembering to say "Thank you" and James liked to end the interaction with "Happy Halloween".

After a successful candy gathering venture, we drove back to Clearwater Bay (we passed a water buffalo lying on the grass next to the road somewhere in Sai Kung Country Park) and had a quick dinner at the Club.  Claire and James sorted through all of their candy to the amazement of the staff and other guests.

Nastiest Candy Ever!!!

I will write a Halloween post soon.  However, must post about the absolute most DISGUSTING candy ever---and it's related to one of the BEST candies around.  White Rabbit.  We love the original White Rabbits (for the uninitiated---White Rabbit is a chewy Chinese candy).  Very delicious.  However the kids received White Rabbits for Halloween that had slightly different wrappers AND the rabbit appeared to be pooing.  I thought perhaps the candy would be nut flavored.  However I've discovered what the mystery poo actually represents.  RED BEANS!!!  No matter how long I live in Hong Kong, you will never convince me that red beans and sweet corn are dessert products.  They just aren't. 

Red bean candy:  YUCK!  Much worse than red bean popsicles.