Some of her pictures are quite good and a few are pretty amazing.  Though for every good one, there are 50 shots of her toes, the floor, or somebody’s butt (one of her photographic obsessions…the other one being taking awkwardly posed pictures of herself that I delete directly from the camera, lest we get arrested).

None of the photos below are edited in any way.  I often crop, adjust lighting, remove red eye, and so forth for blog pictures, but not here.  Miriam is 3 years and 9 months old.  She’ll turn 4 at the end of February.

Being smaller is sometimes an advantage.  The unusual angle makes the picture. Compare this picture of Michael cutting pumpkins to the cropped and lightened version I used in the blog entry for pumpkin puree.

Michael cutting pumpkins

Miriam colored the book with chalk then composed a picture documenting it.

Miriam's aunt Connie holding a Clifford the Big Red Dog coloring

This isn’t the prettiest shot but Miriam loves her computer pictures.  And it’s one of the few photos of me that isn’t awful.

Cyndi at the computer

The cats are some of Miriam’s favorite subjects.

Hope waiting for the door to open

Miriam and her cousin Jaiden took about 100 shots with my camera the day after Thanksgiving.  This is Miriam’s best.

Cousin Jaiden

Household objects are a common theme.  My parents brought this ceramic lion home after a trip to Europe in the 1960′s.

Lion face

This styrofoam box has been colored, pitted, used as a hat, and, of course, filled with rocks.

Rocks and rubber band in a styrofoam box

One in a long series of Melanie photos (she being the most patient of the kitties).

Melanie on the couch

This is my favorite of all of Miriam’s photos.

Closeup of Melanie

Turning the camera in on herself.

Miriam self portrait

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

“Goodbye old car!  Thanks for taking good care of us all these years! We’re going to miss you!”

Miriam repeated words like this many times today.  I don’t know why I get sad when getting rid of a car.  Am I doing the right thing??  How can we just leave it here to be scrapped after it did so much for us?  Fortunately, I get over it pretty quickly.  Miriam on the other hand is maybe scarred for life.

This old car means more to Michael than it does to me.  It was a gift from his grandparents back in 1989.  Six months later, he moved to London for grad school and had to sell it.  The friend who bought it never kept up with her payments to Michael so, when they reconnected about 10 years ago, she just gave him back the car.  We were glad to have it.  My car was a stick shift (which Michael can’t drive) and his van was giving out.

Two years ago, the car failed its smog test.  We spent $700 getting it fixed.  It passed the smog test and, a few weeks later, one of the 4 cylinders died.  It wasn’t worth fixing at this point and we bought a used car as a replacement.

We found out about a program California has to take older cars off the road.  If you fail a smog test, you can turn in the car and get $1000, which is about what this car was worth running decently.  Unfortunately, you only qualify at the time of registration.  We spent two years kicking ourselves for not doing this then.  All the while we kept the car registered and insured and Michael drove it every month or so to keep the battery charged (he still had to jump it a few times).  Although you register a car yearly, you only do the smog test every two years, so we had to wait.

Our chance came a couple of weeks ago.  Michael took the car in and it failed massively, as we expected, and was labeled a gross polluter.  That’s about when we learned that the state doesn’t buy cars just for failing smog, they have to be gross polluters, and this car was not one two years ago.

Last night we stripped the car of anything loose and Michael removed the radio this morning.  Then he went to the DMV, turned in the plates, and filled out forms.  Miriam loves to ride in the car so Michael transferred her car seat and gave her one last slow ride up to Windsor, about 30 minutes away, while I followed behind them.  After endless paperwork, we got our check.

As we drove away, Miriam called out her final goodbye and insisted we each do the same.  Goodbye old car and thanks.

1989 Honda Civic Sedan

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

Sukkot occurs 5 days after Yom Kippur, in late September or October.  It reminds us of the time when the Jews wandered in the desert in the years between leaving slavery in Egypt and entering the land of Israel.  The Sukkah (or Succah) is a temporary hut reflective of the ones carried through the desert during the Exodus.

It can be any size: big enough for one person or for a crowd.  You spend the 8 days of the holiday taking your meals in it, or sleeping there if you wish.  One wall can be a building and another is open (or partially open).  The other two are made out of just about any material.  Our two side walls weren’t as sturdy as the article linked to above say is required, but they worked.

The roof needs to be of materials grown from the ground.  We used mulberry branches from the tree in the pictures.  You should be able to see the stars but not have gaps that are too large.

I organized the Sukkah building party (for Sunday, just before the start of the holiday Monday at sundown) before I had a clue what we were going to use as materials. Then our tenant built a raised bed for my garden.  I said it was too tall and he said, no problem, I’ll just cut off the top.  When I saw the leftover wood, I knew immediately that was the Sukkah roof’s frame.  It was small but I figured it was big enough for our family to eat in and we could each spend some time standing in it for the gathering.  I also considered the mulberry tree to be an extension of the Sukkah roof.

So, here’s how we started: one wobbly wood frame, an open space in the driveway (dig that new gravel we put down a few weeks ago), an old garage door we’re painting this year (so I don’t care about screw holes), some scrap wood, the chuppah poles from our wedding (6 foot long dowels wrapped in ribbon), and some miscellaneous tools and fasteners.

Sukkah Frame

First, we reinforced the frame with some extra nails.  Then we cut some scrap wood and nailed a piece across each of the 4 corners.  This was to serve as a stop for the poles.  Next, we turned the frame over, put the poles so they were on top of the scrap wood corners, and held them to the frame with pipe clamps.  Finally, what you see in the picture, is someone pre-drilling the holes in the frame for screwing the frame to the garage.

Building the Sukkah

Did I mention that both the batteries for my electric drill and circular saw (interchangeable batteries) were dead?  Yes, I’d charged them, but they’re old.  Couldn’t find our hand saws either.   We borrowed a circular saw for the scrap wood but had to use hammer and nails for the hole pre-drilling and brute strength to screw the frame to the garage door.

Putting the Sukkah up

We did it!  Our Sukkah was a 4′x8′ wooden frame screwed to a garage.  With 6′ poles on all corners, helping support the weight and create the structure.  A friend loaned us the clothes for the two side walls and I tacked an old sheet up for the back wall.  The floor was an old area rug and we covered the roof with freshly cut mulberry branches.

The round glass-top table was inside the Sukkah most of the time but we pulled it out for our celebration potluck Wednesday night.  We added some more tables to hold food and other items.

Our Sukkah decorations were minimal but we had some Stars of David Miriam made in Synagogue over the High Holy Days, beeswax candles from Bloomfield Bees, and half a dozen pumpkins from Peterson’s Farm.

Our dinner was the cornbread challah I invented for the occasion, ceviche, a couple of salads, wine and seltzer.

Celebrating Sukkot

All in all, I’m very proud of our Sukkah (and no telling me how pathetic it was…it doesn’t look like the pictures you see in books but it met the religious requirements and was a lot of fun).  Maybe soon all those bricks will be my long-dreamed of patio and we’ll eat outside all year round.

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

But one item I know she wanted is a piano. She refers to grandma’s and grandpa’s (my parents) place as “the house with the piano” and pianos are the first thing she gravitates to if one is available. She played a cheap electronic one as an infant, until it broke. I was going to set up my electric one but I can’t find it…I know exactly where it was in the garage, but I suspect it was stolen.

Every so often, someone will post to Freecycle to give away a piano. I usually write in to ask for it, but it’s one of those things that goes fast…within minutes. So when I saw a Kimball Spinet (a good solid brand in the size I wanted…small) listed right here in town, I wrote but didn’t expect anything. But I got it! We picked it up today. And it’s gorgeous.

I paid two friends to move it for me but, other than that, it was free (I thought I’d need to tune it but it seems okay, say two musicians who came to check it out). I really wanted a real piano, not an electric, but the real ones are out of my financial reach. So this is amazing.

I’ve always thought that Miriam had musical skills (as an infant she’d pick at the little electric piano with one finger of her right hand, while banging with the entire left hand and singing) and she seems pretty determined when she plays now, but of course that’s a mom’s view. But several other people have said it too and asked if there is piano in her blood. Why, yes, there is…that would be my paternal grandmother, Miriam’s great-grandma Miriam (of course).

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

We sanded the bubbly spots, washed off the dust, and re-varnished. It came out pretty good, as you can see. A few hours of ozone this morning then we put it all together. And now Miriam has a bed. All she needs is a mattress (we have a piece of foam, but it’s too narrow, too long, and too toxic).

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

She can on occasion read the word when we write it out or see it somewhere, but she generally has to be reminded to say the letters, then she recognizes it.

Miriam loves to “write” and will scribble happily and tell you it’s a certain word (or picture) and she enjoys her refrigerator magnet letters and will arrange them randomly and say they have particular meanings.

But today she said she was going to write the word “off” and then she did it! I didn’t help at all and it was her idea, not mine. The letters were all over the place and she moved them up out of the way and brought down the ones she wanted. Never mind that it’s backwards (she couldn’t understand why I said it was “F F O”), it’s a word I tell you!

And here’s a bonus picture from a couple days ago. I couldn’t resist!

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I got a wooden bed frame with drawers from Freecycle December 9 to use for Miriam. It is quite old and solid wood with some plywood. It was pretty filthy, since it was sitting in a walled-in porch for years. I spent a couple hours yesterday scrubbing it all down. When it was wet, it had a slight smell that was like stale cigarette smoke. I didn’t get sick really but it was unpleasant and seemed toxic. The person I got it from doesn’t use pesticides or air freshener but he had used mothballs in the drawers many years ago (not since) and I’m guessing it was exposed to smoke, though I didn’t ask. I remembered that, back 5 years ago when I bought my floor varnish from AFM, I also got a gallon of Acrylacq which is similar but made for furniture and for sealing. There it was in my garage, unopened with a rusty top.

So I opened it. It was not only still good but it hadn’t even separated. Since I had all the pieces of the bed sitting on cardboard/newspaper in my driveway, dry and clean, I decided to go ahead and “paint” them.

There was very little smell and, despite using it for 1.5 hours, I didn’t really react (very slight background headache). The stuff is like a thick watered down milky (whitish color) but goes on easy, even though much of the wood was on the rough side.

You have to wait 4 hours inbetween coats, and they recommend 2-3 coats. I did the inside and outside of all 3 drawers, except for the fronts, and the front and sides of the bed, the part of the bed where the mattress goes, and one side of the footboard and headboard.

When Michael came home a few hours later, I asked him to put a second coat on the inside of the drawers, the part of the bed where the mattress goes, and the front side of the bed (drawer surround). And to do the other side of the head/foot boards and the front of the drawers.

I think some of it will be okay with one coat and the rest with two. We’ll take a better look at it tomorrow and decide if anything needs an extra coat. Michael had some leftover sealer so he also did our junky wood coffee table.

And, as a special bonus, I lightly sanded the top of my dryer where the cat pee had rusted it out, and applied a coat of sealer to that.

The sealer dries clear but with a yellow tint. I only noticed this on my white dryer. On the wood it is invisible. The wood is darker where sealed, though that may disappear as it cures. I consider that a plus as I like the look and it helped to hide color imperfections.

This is an experiment. So far I really love the stuff but I need to see how it wears. If it peels off or cracks badly, that will be a problem. I was thrilled with how low-toxic it was.

I’ll give it a month or more. If it still looks good, I’ll start covering more wood items in my house. It works on metal too so I might tackle some of those as well.

(The bedframe looks pretty good. Nice even color with a good sheen. The headboard, footboard, and one drawer are not yet installed. And you can see peeling varnish on the drawer to the left.)

Later that evening:

I am quite pleased with it. I can smell it some though. We just moved the bed in from outside because we’re afraid it will rain and we’ve been getting a lot of dew in the morning and some frost too. Miriam’s room is also the computer room, though that will change at some point (she LOVES having her own bed and swears up and down that she’s going to sleep in it, but we’ll see

So far, it’s stayed dark and even. Looks really really good.

EXCEPT…

When I varnished, it was 48 degrees outside (sensor in the shade but I was in the sun, so I am pretty sure it was warmer) and sunny and early afternoon. When Michael did it, it was an hour or so before sundown and a bit cooler and the driveway was in the shade.

Everything I varnished that we left one coat on looks fabulous.
Everything I varnished that Michael added a coat to looks fabulous.
BUT…most everything he did the first coat on is peeling (white when separated from the wood).

That is a disappointment. I am guessing that it was just too cold and damp for a good cure. And I hope that a light sanding and revarnishing on a sunny day will fix it. Fortunately, the bed frame itself came out perfect, because that one is a PITA to move outside. The peeling parts are the bottoms of the fronts of 2 (of 3) drawers (very easy to move and carry) and the backsides of the headboard and footboard, so we can’t bolt them in quite yet.

When we first went to pick up this free bed, my heart sank as I looked at a worn out piece of sh*t. But the cleaning and varnishing has made a huge difference. It doesn’t look new, but new wasn’t what I was after. It looks nice, at least if you don’t look at the peeling parts.

Now we just need a mattress for it!

(The drawers came out well. Only the fronts (varnished late in the day) are peeling. I wanted the insides sealed because of the lingering odor…which seems to be gone.)

Update Dec 18:

After bringing it inside, I realized that the smell was soon overpowering. We ozoned that room overnight and it made a big difference, though there has been some lingering smell for the week. It’s mostly gone now.

It’s been raining nearly every day since I wrote the Dec 12 entries. I was hoping to post this when everything was finished, but that might be a while. My hope is that if I lightly sand away the peeling bits and reappy the varnish, that it will look as nice as the parts we did in the sun do. I not only need dry days and nights but a nice sunny day so the first few hours of the cure occur in perfect conditions.

I’ll post again when I’ve tried this out.

(These are the pieces that could be better. The sides and inside of the drawer, and the flip sides of the head and foot boards are all perfect. The white peeling bits are the sides that got their first (only) coats of varnish late in the day. Everything that was varnished in the early afternoon looks great, even those with a second coat added later. These pieces are sitting on the junky coffee table I mentioned above. Doesn’t look so bad now. It came out well even though it had a first coat late.)

Update February 10, 2008:

Go to Miriam’s New Bed – Part II

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.