April

Today is Tuesday, April 2. ​It is the beginning of a busy week, after two busier ones.  

Yesterday, the kids went back to school after a two week Spring Break.  April 1 is a bit of a tradition in this house, though.  For the past four or five years, I have served a joke dinner as my contribution toward April Fools.  This year, it was meatloaf and peas and carrots. It all sounds rather hearty, until you learn that the meatloaf was made of crushed cocoa rice crispies, and the peas and carrots were Jelly Belly candies.​

​candy meatloaf

​You don't have to clean your plate to get dessert!

​Never were the kids so happily obliging to eat meatloaf.

We had two kids as guests for dinner, and, unlike normal meals, there was very little complaining, except for me and one son: he didn't eat and I felt a little sick afterwards.  This is the price I pay for fun!

Two weeks ago, the five of us drove up to Minnesota for weekend at the beginning of break.  I got to visit the American Swedish Institute and their current exhibition on the Sámi, called Eight Seasons in Sámpi, the land of the Sámi People.  If you are close, please check it out!  It is excellent:  the same exhibit Seattle's Nordic Museum had last year, most of it on loan from ​Ájtte, the Sámi museum in the Northern part of Sweden. The ASI had a new component, however:  they put out a call for local people to bring in other Sámi artifacts which could be put on display.  As a result, they got a lovely collection of textiles and handcrafts that showcase the handiwork of a wide area of Sámpi. 

crocheted hat

​woven belts and laces

Through it I also got to meet a new friend, Eleanor.  She has collected Swedish and Sámi textiles ​over quite a number of visits to Sweden.  Most of the Sámi display cases contributed by local people come from her collection.  She brought many more for me to see.  We toured the Sámi displays, ate lunch together, and generally had a great time meeting one another for the first, but hopefully not last, time!

Eleanor

​Sámi sawtooth knitted mittens

More on our trip to Minnesota next time!​