This August I've been able to participate in an online pastel class given by Karine Bauch.  Her website is teachartathome.com.  It's been a lot of fun so far and I'm learning about some basics in using pastels.  I haven't had much experience with them so this is perfect.  I've finished two of the four locations around the world that she is using for her lessons. (Scotland, Canada, Italy and India)  She provides a reference photo, supply list, and step-by-step instructions to create each picture.  This session was a free one but she has some online classes, some lessons on CD and ebooks too, for sale.  In each of her monthly newsletters she has a free art lesson using various materials.  The children and I have done several of the projects -pencil, water color pencil, pastel and multi-media-and they work well for our family with such a wide range of age and skill.(My children are ages 3-16 right now)

     I look forward to doing more of her projects and hope to buy one of her CDs soon.

     Throughout the year I often feel that I don't spend as much time with my three year old as I should or want to.  So at the beginning of the summer I decided to ask a friend if she wanted to do some crafts on a regular basis this summer that were geared specifically for the younger set.  She has a four year old.  She agreed and we had a great time planning what projects we would do and who would lead which ones.

     We both have older boys-ages 11 and 15 at the time- and we knew they would be a big help when we needed extra hands and would probably even be interested in some of the projects once they had helped out.  Also my 8 yr old daughter would be helpful as well as wanting to participate.

     So the first project we did was an oldie but a goodie: egg carton caterpillars and painting rocks to look like ladybugs.  Add a face with a marker, two pipe cleaner antennae and some paint to half an egg carton and your little one has a new friend.  My childen named one Carl and one Joseph.   We added our families of six ladybugs (three in each family) to the garden and they look quite nice there.

     Next  we invited another family to make nature picture frames with us.  For $1 each we bought wooden  picture frames from the craft store and the children glued on tiny cones, bits of branches, fir needles, tiny rocks, leaves, mosses, lichens and twigs.  The results were beautiful.

      For our third project we made mosaic stepping stones.  I'm not sure if we should really step on them.  The day we made them my youngest stepped on his and it cracked.  I think it needed to cure a couple of days first.  The rest have survived and we will try to super glue his together.  Little bits of colored glass, flattened marbles in many colors, pretty pebbles, and broken pottery, along with handprints (in the case of a baby, footprints) made these projects colorful and fun.  We used quick set cement first.  Bad idea.  It set way too quickly.  My friend made a trip to the store and we tried again in the afternoon with regular set and then left them at her house.  She delivered them to us on Sunday at church.  This worked much better. 

     For our last project we were going to make tie dye t-shirts on Tuesday of this week.  My friend brought her goat over, due to having a vet appointment after our get together, and was so wrapped up in getting the goat in the van etc. that she forgot to bring her set of dye.  So we will try again next week.  We still had fun together, chasing the goat (he got out twice) and swimming.

     Will we do this next year?  We'll see.

     It seemed like it took forever for summer to get here.  A long, cold and rainy spring made us plant late .  Some things started to come up and then weeding began.  My  plan was for the children and I to go out and weed for half an hour each morning before it got hot.  We did the raspberries, the blueberries, the corn and other seedlings in the newly planted garden. Then all of a sudden hot weather was here.  And I mean hot.  Record breaking heat.   For nine days in a row.  Weeding stopped.  It was too hot even in the morning to do that and it became time to water.  With such a big garden and several different areas around the property to water it is quite a job to get everything watered in one day.

     I had such plans for this summer: still keep a little bit of school going, a preschool craft "class", lots more art (because we would have more time), read more books-aloud and on my own-, paint and rearrange the younger children's bedroom.

     But orthodontist appointments, guitar lessons, berries of various kinds, hot weather, two summer birthdays and a myriad of little things all contrived to keep me from accomplishing all of those plans.  Did I plan too much?  Was I unrealistic?  Probably.  And really we did the things that were the most important.

     Summer's not quite over and we have a few things planned: a three day trip in the motor home, church campout, taking care of and learning to milk our friends' goats, still another birthday and our anniversary.

     We've been very thankful for our air conditioning and swimming pool and using the sun to our advantage in line drying the clothes.  You know it's summer when your towels are crunchy!

     Fall doesn't look to be too much slower since we are starting a new activity.  An apologetics club has been going on in our church for a few years and we are going to have two of our children involved in it this year. I think the busyness will last for some years to come but I will try to keep it under control.  At least the things that I have control over.  For the most part I'll just work on trusting that God will take us successfully through what he has planned for us.

     In an Elizabeth Goudge's book The Blue Hills (1942)(aka Henrietta's House) a girl makes a list of books that would especially appeal to young girls.  Each time I've read that I've thought about what books I would put on such a list.  Now that I have children, and three of them boys, I've thought about which books I'd put on a boys' list also.  

       But I would need to list authors rather than just titles as some of the authors wrote sets that went together; Laura Ingalls Wilder and C.S. Lewis for instance.  And my two lists would share many authors or books.  With that said here's what I've come up with for a boys' list and a girls' list.

    Boys' Books

C.S. Lewis-Chronicles of Narnia

Laura Ingalls Wilder-Little House Books

R. L. Stevenson-Treasure Island,The Black Arrow

Johann Wyss-The Swiss Family Robinson

Daniel Defoe-Robinson Crusoe

Howard Pyle-The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, Otto of the Silver Hand, Men of Iron

Allen French- The Red Keep, The Lost Baron,The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow

Girls' Books

Laura Ingalls Wilder-The Little House Books

Lucy Maud Montgomery-Anne of Green Gables books and Emily books

Louisa May Alcott-Little Women (my favorite), Eight Cousins, An Old Fashioned Girl

Julie Edwards(who is Julie Andrews)-Mandy

Edith Nesbit-The Railway Children

Frances Hodgson Burnett-The Little Princess

Lewis Carroll-Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass

Carol Ryrie Brink-Caddie Woodlawn

 E.B.White- (Elwyn Brooks)Charlotte’s Web.

     I don't own a copy of the book (anywhere from $35 to $75 on Amazon) or have one from the library at the moment, so I can't look up her list.  I don't remember what she had on it but I remember agreeing with many of her ten or twelve choices. 

     I’ve been planning what we will study this coming year.  That’s a bit more fun than organizing and cleaning.  For history: The Middle Ages, and the Renaissance and Reformation periods using the Greenleaf Guides and some of the books they recommend.  I hope to find many of them at the library since we can’t afford to buy the all of them we’d like to read.  And we can’t read all that they recommend for each subject.  There are just so many that sound interesting and helpful and not enought time!

         This summer we finished reading Howard Pyle’s The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, which fits right in with our history this coming year.  It was a lot of fun with so many things being described as “merry” and words like “methinks” and the men engaging in a right rousing round of “cudgel play”.  Pyle’s Robin Hood is quite the trickster and though he usually comes out ahead he is bested a few times.

     The illustrations are splendid, done in black and white, detailed line drawings by Pyle; a superb writer and a superb artist.

  My only objection was that Robin Hood seems to be portrayed in the light of a hero.  And in some instances he really is.  But I can’t agree that someone that steals from anyone, even if the are “robbing the rich to give to the poor”, is a hero to emulate.  So my children and I discussed Robin’s motives, his means of achieving his ends and which acts of his were honest and Godly, and which deeds were dishonest.

     Now, I have heard from two other friends that other writers’ versions had a bit of a different take on that angle.  So I look forward to reading Paul Creswick’s version (which I’ve seen listed in the Greenleaf Press catalog) and at least one other to compare.  James Clarke Holt, D.K. Swan, and Joseph Walker McSpadden are just three other authors of this legend listed at our public library.  I will probably read these myself, unless the children have a strong wish for me to read one or both aloud.

    Also a curious point to me: Maid Marion was mentioned, but only in passing.  She did not have an onstage part, so to speak, in Pyle’s version.  Yet I’ve heard or read about Robin and company in the past, and Maid Marion seems to have played a more active part in other accounts.  So I’m looking forward to see how the other authors treat the character of Marion.

Added 1-29-09

After reading this entry a friend emailed me that she had read a version of Robin Hood by Henry Gilbert.She says, "Maid Marian is more of a central figure and the “old English” is very fun to read.  Just thought I’d throw another author’s version into the hat!   "

     I have been trying to organize and clean and declutter in various rooms of the house.  As I work on one room clutter seems to pile back up in the rest of the house.  I’m always at least a few steps behind the advancement of the piles.  It’s rather discouraging.

     Concentrating on Sarah’s room and trying to teach her to put things away when she is done with them kept me busy for several days, and will continue to be a project.    Learning to throw things away is another tough lesson and she is resistant to learning this.  Shiny items, decorative candy wrappers, bits of ribbon, rocks, and quite a collection of artwork take up space on her floor and book cases and under the bed.  Finding a home for as much of it and getting rid of as much as possible are the goals here.

     We’ve weeded through some piles in her room and attempted to gather like items.  We’ve labeled some boxes and stacked them neatly on her shelves.  She’s discovered many toys she forgot she had; it’s like Christmas.  We are finding clothes we forgot about too.  Some of them are too small now.

     Part of this process is to move Isaac into the room.  We’ve had his bed in there for awhile and sometimes he uses it.  But we’ve been making a point of putting him in every night and he’s been doing better and better about staying in longer and longer.  Sometimes he doesn’t come in our bed until four or five in the morning.

     To help make the room more Isaac-like I hung a green sheet on the wall by his bed to cover the pink paint.  It's just too girly for him.  And we cleared out a shelf for some of his toys.  I hope to move his dresser in the room soon too. Sarah is pleased by this transition and looks forward to the bunk beds we have told her we will get.  She has dibs on the top!  She has wanted a roommate for a long time.  I know she feels lonely at times and gets scared at night too.

     (Sarah is 7 now and Isaac is 2 1/2)

     I just wanted to officially state that I have not abandoned my blog!    Busy life, busy circumstances, but always the hope of getting online to write.  I write many blogs over and over in my head as I do other things: take a walk, take a shower, fall asleep, hold the baby.  But most often those words do not make it to computer or paper.  That's probably just as well, since I am not the most fascinating person in the world and all the little thoughts chasing around in my head can't be of much interest to the vast readership of my blog.  (ha, ha)

    But I do hope to drop in from time to time, to read other blogs, to comment on other blogs, and to add to my list of entries more details of my little life.

Bye for now!

As I sit typing my attention is drawn to the window.  Bright sunlight is reflected off the snow covering the ground.  Not a patch of green can be seen and mysterious lumps have appeared overnight where everyday things, like tree stumps or buckets, were yesterday.

     I sip my just-made coffee. If I close my eyes I can pretend I'm almost anywhere, Norway or Italy, sipping my coffee in some foreign, exotic place.

     Small, light flakes continue to fall even as water drips from the eaves and small piles of accumulated snow come thumping down to the ground periodically.

     At the moment the house is relatively peaceful.  My husband has gone outside to work framing the chicken house, or maybe chicken mansion, or castle would be more descriptive.  Palais des poulets!  My oldest son is outside also, probably helping in the construction after he gave his 2 year old brother multiple rides on the sled.  Littlest brother is now inside, warming up his fingers and munching on a slice of pear.  My second born, a son also, is done with his outdoor adventures for now and has come in looking for food, like a puppy begging for handouts.  My only daughter sits at the table, munching on her slice of pear and coloring in a booklet of her own making, creating memories of her six-year-old skills for her future self to enjoy.

     It's time for me to move on to other things now.  But I'll hold on to this peaceful, shining moment when I need it later.

  On October 31st (last week) we had our very first Reformation Party at our house.  We've been meeting with two other families for a Biology class and decided to do this Reformation Day instead of Biology on the 31st. 

   This year is the 490th anniversary of the day when, on October 31st Martin Luther nailed 95 arguments he wanted to discuss (called Theses) about the Roman Catholic Church on the Wittenburg Church Door.  The big double doors were like a bulletin board to the community, particularly to the educated, I believe, and announcements were often placed on the door. But these inflammatory points that Luther brought up were pretty much considered heresy and started what turned out to be the Refromation.  He really just wanted to reform the church, not cause a break or rift in it.  But the ideas were just too opposed to the Roman Catholic church of the time.  At his trial for heresy he declared that he would not recant, "Here I stand.  I can do no other."-now famous words.

     So we did some research and reading.  We fixed up costumes, made some potatoes and sausage and sauerkraut and decorated our house a bit as a church.

     Sarah said she would be Luther's daughter. She sewed a head scarf and had a fancy dress in her closet that had velvet on the top half.  I had a fancy headress that I made, trying to make a three dimensional object from looking at a flat picture. A small puffy cushion attatched to a scarf tied around my head and my dress from the Middle ages study we did 5 yrs ago was supposed to make me look like Luther's wife.  Benjamin and David went as citizens of a German town; Ben a merchant.  He made a hat of purple felt that we hoped looked like one in a painting and for David one of a paper bag.  It turned out quite good actually!  Benjamin wore a velvety purple blanket for a cloak and David wore one of Dad's big shirts for a tunic. For Isaac we had a hat that looked a little like the puffy hats we saw in the pictures and a long t-shirt of Benjamin's to look like a  tunic.  Isaac didn't wear the hat long, but long enough I think for the group photograph by the "church" doors.

     The three other boys from the other two families came as Martin Luther, John Wycliff and John Hus (sometimes changing identities to be Martin Luther).

     We painted some butcher paper to look like  old church doors and taped them first to the outside of our front doors.  These are French doors and lent themselves well to our "mini" church doors. Later after everyone was there, we brought  the paper doors inside and had a "Martin Luther" "nail" (tape) up a very long copy of the 95 Theses on the door.   Some stained glass windows we made (they were neither stained, nor glass, nor windows!) were on display on our large front living room window.  These were actually felt pen and paper but were quite effective when the sun shone through.

     We played some games: charades, guess whose name you have taped on your back ,and sang,"A Mighty Fortress is our God" which was of course written by Luther. 

     I had wanted to get the Doorposts book on how to do a Reformation Day Party but we were short of funds.  So I just looked on line for ideas and did a bit of research myself.  I think we ended up with a fun learning experience about the Reformation and who knows what we'll come up with next year?

     I just finished reading God Grew Tired of Us by John Bul Dau.  Reading it gave me an idea of the horror experienced by so many people in Sudan and elsewhere in Africa. John is one of the "Lost Boys", a label given to the many boys who trekked through Southern Sudan to Ethiopia looking to escape Communist soldiers from Northern Sudan.  Many arrived there safely to be chased off again  because of a change of power in Ethiopian government.  Many boys died before and after the stop in Ethiopia due to starvation, exposure, exhaustion, violence ,sickness and attacks from wild animals.  Most of the travelers were boys , but there were some adult men and women and some girls also. 

     From Ethiopia they had to go back into Sudan and then over to Kenya. There were still the same dangers to face along the way. 

     On the whole it sounds like each tribe or "nation" stuck together pretty well and helped each other by sharing food and clothing and protecting each other.  They formed new "families" and carried on tribal traditions .  Apparently John's tribe, the Dinkas, are a Christian tribe converted years ago when missionaries came and shared about Jesus.

     John eventually gets to America-New York City- and takes up life there.  The new surroundings, customs, expectations and goods available are overwhelming for many of the refugees at first.  But they are all thankful to be here and when they get jobs they send money back to Africa to their families or friends or fellow refugees.

     I love one line John says when he is being interviewed to be eligible to come to America.  They ask him if he's married.  He says, "No".  They ask him if he has children.  He says, "No".  He tells us that he couldn't figure out why they would ask both of those questions.  In Dinka society if one is married, one has children. If one has children, one is married.   That's how it works. The two go together.  It's not until quite a bit later after he has lived in America for awhile that he finds out these situations  don't necessarily go together in the States;a sad commentary about our country-really all of Western society. 

    Also I loved that he is a believer and has no problem telling us about his matter-of-fact faith. The Biblical principles he speaks of are so  obvious and true to him that John seems to assume others will hold his views also.  At least until he is told or sees for himself otherwise.  

     There is a movie of this also, a documentary.  I have it on hold at the library.  I believe I'm number 20 or so of 50.  I've moved up a bit since I first signed up.  I look forward to seeing it but I know it will be hard to watch at times.  Reality usually is.

     I blogged a few posts ago, which was many moons ago, about planting Purple Cherokee tomatoes, among other things.  It's fall now and the garden is done and the corn stalks pulled up.  Most of our tomatoes did not ripen.  Our days just aren't sunny and warm enough for long enough.  We did get some and they were delicious.  Also some yellow pear tomatoes and of course Sweet 100's. 

     Benjamin's corn went crazy.  He planted 8 rows that grew and we got at least 40 ears per row on the average.  We blanched and froze some on the cob and a bunch more cut off and put in the freezer.  I told him that amount was plenty and not to plant more next year!  I think we all got a bit sick of looking at corn.

     The potatoes did ok.  The russet grew the best, produced the most.  We like the Yukon Gold the best, and the Swedish Rote didn't do that great.  I won't be buying potatoes or corn from the store for a while. 

    I got a lot of Basil dried to use throughout the year and used some fresh too.  Very yummy.  I've got two Rosemary plants started in the window box and they are growing nicely.  Oregano doing well too.  I'll see how long the Oregano looks good and then dry it.

     We also have about 8 pumpkins, medium sized, sitting on the deck waiting to turn orange.  One is orange but the others are just a bit, mostly green.  They grew quite well here.

     The Yellow Delicious apple tree didn't produce such beautiful apples this year.  They have some brown spots on the outside but they don't appear to be damaged on the inside.  They tast alright though.  The apples from two other trees, that I don't know the varieties of, did very well this year.  They are beautiful to look at but one variety at least doesn't have much flavor.  All polished up they make beautiful table decorations! I don't plan to make applesauce this year.  It was a lot of work for just a little bit of sauce.  We'd like to get a cider press someday.  Maybe that would be more profitable.

     All in all it's been a satisfying growing season.  We hope to do better next year but last year we had nothing planted, so it's been great.

     Sunday afternoon for us means naps for a few,  a hike to the pond or creek and a later dinner than usual.  The boys are eager to get down to the creek and pick some hucklyberries that we saw there earlier.  We want to see if we can pick enough for a pie.

But they have to wait for Dad to wake up, and baby brother to wake up... and I just woke up too.

We've been picking huckleberries around our property, red and blue.  The blackberries are not quite ready, but the blueberries are still going and a few raspberries and marionberries here and there.  This is just on our property.  We didn't have many raspberries or marionberries this year.  But in a few years we should have enough not to have to buy from a stand and still make jam etc.

Mmm, we love berries!

Some of the books I've read since January:

Hostage Lands-Douglas Bond
All Things Wise and Wonderful-James Herriot
White Bird/Eagle Feather/Marco Moonlight-Clyde Robert Bulla (Good first chapter books, fairly easy to read and interesting even to boys)
The Joy of Snow-Elizabeth Goudge (autobiography) I was so excited to receive this from a dear friend and enjoyed reading it so much as E. Goudge is one of my favorite authors
A Tree for Peter-Kate Seredy
John Muir:My Life Wtih Nature-Joseph Cornell
Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity:Get Out the Shovel-Why Everything You Know is Wrong-John Stossell
The Shepherd, the Angel and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog-Dave Barry (yes, the humor columnist from the Miami-Herald has written a book.  Two I think.  Very funny, of course and warm and fun to read.)
A Taste of Magic-Andre Norton adn Jean Rabe (Andre Norton's last book.  She wrote the first three chapters, outlined the rest and asked Jean Rabe to finish the book after she died. She said she was too tired.)
Cricket Winter-Felice Holman

     I hope someday to write a novel.  I think I may have one in me.  Something in the Fantasy/sci-fi genre.  We'll see.  Someday.  But for now, short essays or "vignettes" (isn't that a lovely word? one definition given: A short, usually descriptive literary sketch) seem to be what I can do.  I'm not good at plot so that is what I need to work on.  But I like to describe and write little "slice of life" scenes.  So here goes:

     As Sarah and I set out down the muddy gravel drive with Isaac in the stroller the sun shone on us weakly.  After we checked the baby tomato and corn plants in the greenhouse we headed for the pond.  Sarah squelched in the mud near the edge of a big puddle and soon we found some sticks for Isaac to hold, then break and drop and say,"Uh oh!"  We searched among the thorny vines and wet grasses for the tiny yellow flowers that look almost like violets.  Trillum and the "fiddle heads" of  ferns starting to unfurl were plentiful also.  The birds sang out to each other here and there. 

     As the sun got warmer I closed my eyes, feeling safe, knowing I had plenty of room if I walked slowly before I would bump the stroller into a tree.  The warmth on my face, comforting and relaxing and I breathed in the warm, damp smell of rain washed grass, fir trees and gravel. 

     Sarah found a stick taller than me and did some math.  Equal or unequal?  What could we do to make the stick equal to Mom's height?  She related to me a short treatise on how a stick can be very useful, demonstrating each idea.  You can use it to fish worms out of mud puddles.  You can use it as a hockey stick to hit rocks with.

     Isaac reached toward the ground, a yellow dandelion attracting his attention.  I picked the fluffy flower for him.  He held it to his cheek, his eyes half closed and almost cooed, softly, enjoying the feathery sensation.

     On the way back to the house Sarah's stick was broken little by little as she tested its strength, cheerfully pounding it on the ground every few steps and shouting.

     The sun was quite a bit warmer now, so we went back to the greenhouse and opened the windows in the old screen doors.  I don't want dried out, yellow tomato plants after all the babying they've had in the house.  First we planted seeds in little six pack trays and put them in the light box.  The children and I made the light box for our Botany study.  It's just a big cardboard box covered inside with foil and a 15 watt bulb hangs through a hole in the top.  We leave the light on all the time and the light and heat generated help the seeds to grow. Then we moved the small plants to the garden window above the kitchen sink.  All the seeds came up;tomato, corn, some herbs and even some forget-me-nots. Next we took them out to the greenhouse.  We were running out of room in the window!  If all the plants survive and produce we may have a large crop of Purple Cherokee tomatoes! Purple spaghetti sauce anyone?

     I love words.  It's so interesting to search and then find the one that reflects just the right nuance you are trying to express.  It's interesting to see their history,so to speak, where they came from-their etymology.

Here's a new word to me: xeric.  I read it in Under the Tuscan Sun and had something of an idea of what it meant.  I was thinking hot and dry, from the context.

Xeric-like a desert
the online Merriam-Webster dicionary defines this word like this: Pronunciation: 'zir-ik, 'zer-
Function: adjective
: characterized by, relating to, or requiring only a small amount of moisture xeric habitat> xeric plant> -

Exude-Function: The online Merriam-Webster says:  
       verb
Inflected Form(s): ex·ud·ed; ex·ud·ing
Etymology: Latin exsudare, from ex- + sudare to sweat -- more at SWEAT
intransitive verb
1 : to ooze out
2 : to undergo diffusion
transitive verb
1 : to cause to ooze or spread out in all directions
2 : to display conspicuously or abundantly <exudes charm>

(like oozing charm?)

     Last night all six of us headed to town to listen to some music.  This is town about 45min to 1 hr (depending on traffic) away.  Our good friend was playing piano, tin whistle and singing in a community based band.  It was great!  The children loved it.  They loved the music and watching people play the instruments and they loved seeing someone they love on the stage being part of that.  We left after an hour, though it continued probably another hour.  We needed to get the children in bed and we had a long drive home first.  But we hope to go again, maybe in the fall when our friend takes this eight week music adventure again. 

     These people in the band had not met until eight weeks ago.  They got together through a coordinator, decided what songs to learn and then got together once a week to practice.  Then they performed last night.  There were four bands altogether with different kinds of music. 

    David saw someone play the violin and liked her playing.  He wants to learn that instrument.  Benjamin is learning guitar so he watched all the guitar players.  The other two just seemed to like the music and the experience of going out.

     Today we are cooking corned beef and plan to make Irish soda bread and potato pancakes and steam up some brussel sprouts.  Maybe not completely Irish, but that's OK.

   We've been reading the Christian Liberty Press book about St. Patrick's life, Saint Patrick: Pioneer Missionary to Ireland  by Michael J. McHugh.  We've started it in years past but not got very far.  This year we started 2 weeks ago!  so we'd have a good amount read by the 17th.  And for my 5 yr old's sake (well not just for her really) we read the Tomie dePaola version- with his wonderful illustrations- yesterday: Patrick:Patron Saint of Ireland.

     We've done a few small activities, coloring mostly, while I read.  If we do some bigger projects then it takes time away from other things we are trying to get done.  But I'm enjoying our mini-study and I think the boys are somewhat.  No complaints anyway!

    I've been getting excited the last two days as I start to plan our "Laura Tour 2010: Eastward Ho!"  Yes, it's three years away.  We want to save money, and wait until our baby is 4 1/2, hopefully an eaiser age to travel for long periods of time in the hot car across the countrty. 

    So far I've just marked out the Laura sites (I'm talking about Laura Ingalls Wilder of course) we want to see.  We just got the map yesterday so need to start planning the road route we want to take from the west coast where we live, to loop around the Laura sites and come back west, visiting other places we've never been along the way.  Then we need to figure out approximate travel times and how many days etc.

I'm so looking forward to this!

Just received some new Laura books that I ordered in the mail yesterday too.

Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder:vol.1 On Wisdom and Virtue  
                                                  and
  Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder                                                    Vol2On Life as a Pioneer Woman  ed. by Stephen W. Hines

On Feb. 7 this year we had a fun Laura Day.  Laura would have been 140 years old!  We made and ate cornbread, baked beans and a lettuce salad with vinegar and sugar sprinkled on top just as described in her books and recipes given in The Little House Cookbook.

     Three children's books that make me cry each time I read them:

       Now One Foot, Now the Other by Tomie DePaola

             Clown of God also by Tomie dePaola

      They Were Strong and Good by Robert Lawson

It's very hard to read them with my children because I'm trying not to cry so I have to stop for a few minutes and try to make the pauses seem like dramatic pauses for emphasis. (Ha!)

They are beautiful.  About love and family.

  I've just finished reading what I believe is the latest of the No. 1 Ladies' Dectective Agency stores by Alexander McCall Smith,Blue Shoes and Happiness.  I just love these books.  The characters are so warm, for the most part, and though sinful as we are, they are more wholesome.  The main character, Precious Ramotswe would probably say that she and other Motswana (the people are Motswana ,the country is Botswana) were wholesome because she followed" the old Botswana morality".  There are all kinds of immorality going on and Mma Ramotswe gets to the bottom of all these problems with help from her assistant Mma Makutsi and others.  But the immorality is not sensationalized and certainly not made to look attractive.  These people who do these things are shameful and bring shame to their families and their country. 

  Though not from a Christian viewpoint there is still much in these books that point to truth-and all truth of course comes from God.   Forgiveness, respect for poor and old, care of orphans, justice for wrongdoers and trying to keep marriages together are some of the truths shown in the cases brought to Mma Ramotswe's attention.

   I am currently reading Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes.  I saw the movie, just grabbed it off the library shelf awhile ago and liked parts of it.  When I saw in the credits that it was based on a book of course I planned to get it and read it sometime.  It's interesting to note that the parts in the movie that I did not like are the parts that are not in the book! 

    Basically the book is a four-year journal of the renewal of an old villa in Tuscany and the renewal of self for the author.  The movie also protrays that part well-that the house's renovation grows along with Frances' recovery from a "divorce that shouldn't have happened".  In the book, and her real life , she was not single but had a live-in boyfriend.  They act as if they are married.  They live in San Fransisco 9 months of the year teaching at University and then go to Tuscany for the 3 month vacation and work hard at fixing up this villa.  They spend lots of money, get to know some people, enjoy lots of sunshine and eat wonderful food.

     I am enjoying this book very much, just as I enjoyed the Peter Mayle books about Provence.  I love each of these authors' descriptions of their respective locations and they make me want to go there and eat the foods they describe and do many of the activities they take part in.  But I do not like hot weather, do not do well at all in it.  And many of the foods I really wouldn't like.  I'm not really all that adventurous when it comes to food.  So I think it's a tribute to their writing that I'm so intrigued by their descriptions that I almost think I want to go and have the same experiences.

   In reading Laura Ingalls Wilder descriptions of food I felt the same way.  I don't like turnips and stewed pumpkins usually don't sound good to me.  But when I read her paragraphs about these foods and the steam rising from them, the golden smell,etc. it makes me , at least for a few moments, want to try some of that too!