Taking advantage

What with all this snow we’ve been having, my kids have decided to take advantage of the situation and go live in it.

They used the same materials and methods that Mr. Handsome and I employed when we built our adobe house in Nicaragua: a mold, a packable material (like mud or snow), and the block-building techniques they learned as toddlers, and that’s it. It’s much easier to build a house than people realize, but don’t tell anyone. I wouldn’t want to put Mr. Handsome out of work.

This house is rather sturdy, with thick walls studded with peep holes to let light in and provide a small scouting range. It’s insulated in there, too. I know because they never answer me when I call them from the Big House.

I really like the turrets. My kids have style and flair. I am so proud of them.

Miss Beccaboo looks like she’s stepped straight out of our Material World book, posing by her little home. She looks so hearty and durable and a bit squinty, like people who live in snowy climates always seem to end up looking. She’s a natural.

See, here’s a true-blue family from Uzbekistan.

Note the snow and the thick, heavy coats.

And here’s my daughter. That she’s from Virginia, you would never guess.

In order to make a roof, they stole some wood from the barn.

They stole a bunch of blankets and old rugs to cover up the door and to carpet the floor.

They sit out there and have a blast.

I think Miss Beccaboo might be slowly freezing.

Oops. There she goes. She passed out.

In Uzbekistan they huddle under green blankets, too. Maybe draping themselves with green helps them to dream warm, summery dreams.

Even I have gotten into the frigid spirit of things and have taken to harvesting snow as a major source of food for our daily diet.

It’s really quite practical. I just open the kitchen door,

swipe a bowl of white stuff from the great outdoors,

drizzle it with a mixture of cream, vanilla, and sugar,

stir it up,

and dish it out.

We call it Snow Cream. It does not fool anyone, but it’s still fun.

About one year ago: Lemon Tart