Talk about "rusticating"!

Our lovely rented home has no bathtub in the part we're staying in, and Willa vastly prefers a bath over a shower, so I came back to what is becoming my mantra for our time here: What would Maine homesteaders do? And I went searching (online) for an old-fashioned galvanized washtub. No plastic. No parts. Just a steel tub that I hoped would be big enough for a kid.

It came today. It worked really well.


(Maine has always been a place where people "from away" came to get back to nature--the first waves of tourists who came up to hunt and fish with traditional Maine Guides were called "rusticators." Hence, my post title.)

Also today: received a Chanukah gift from Aunt D'vora, who sent the much-requested Colorforms set of Willa's dreams. Willa, who has not been known for her talents at representational art, made this on her first-ever Colorforms try:

I was super-impressed, I must say. And then we had to put all those teeny tiny vinyl pieces away.

Rob's in Louisiana, comes home Thursday. I can't wait for a full week with every member of our family in the same place! It's been, let's see, about three weeks since that happened.