I am a 11yo who loves Redwall, gerbils and Lord of the Rings. I make my own bows out of bendy sticks that I find (or break off of trees) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Tue, 16 Jan 2007 18:19:00 -0600 Tue, 16 Jan 2007 18:19:00 -0600 It was below freezing outside yesterday (and still is). The car was a source of constant amusement and icicles to Cornflower, who is collecting them in a tupperware container and keeping them in the freezer. Sheets of ice covered the windows and snow was collected on the front. The house next door has no one living in it and their driveway was solid ice. Up we went on the grass...Whoosh! "Ow!" "Get off!" Cornflower held mine and Mariel's hands and slid down on our tennis shoes and boots. Mariel discovered a frozen puddle by the curb.  She slipped and slid on it. Today in the back yard... "I'm a squirrel today, Triss." "Well, so am I." "I'm going to be a dormouse." Mariel the dormouse stayed on one side of the backyard and Cornflower and I stayed on the other. I taught her the "Rules of Ice". "These ones...Cornflower, look at them... these are fighting size. This little diamond is a calling size. Watch." I buzzed Mariel's blue hood with the inch-wide piece of ice. She stood up and threw one back before turning back to the frozen-solid puddle she was trying to break. "And these are shattering size." "Shattering size?" "Watch." A foot-long piece of ice sailed through the air and hit the fence. It shattered into calling size and fighting size. Mariel threw a calling size at me, quickly followed by a fighter. I threw one back. It hit her hood. She hit Cornflower on the back of the jacket, who threw ice randomly about. I hit Mariel's jacket. She returned one which missed. I then chucked one that I intended to go right over her head. It hit her leg and she threw one at me. "Ouch!" The "ice-cube-fight" slackened off. Then the sun came out. We glanced at it for two seconds, then realized what it was going to do. "The ice!" Hoods came off. Everyone pitched in to gather the ice. Shatter and Fighters went into the bunny hutch. Calling Size went into a bucket. Then Mariel complained that her ears were cold. Cornflower (who is pretty smart for someone her size) solved the problem by switching jackets with her. Cornflower's hood did not come off. She used a big white cap and Mariel used her hood. Of course everyone knows what happened then... Two minutes later I was reading about Albert Einstein. Posted by Trisscar Swordmaid http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/270177/ Tue, 16 Jan 2007 18:19:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/270177/ Have you ever been to the Happiest Place on Earth? No, it's not Disneyland. The real one is a camp called (drum roll) HARMONY HILL. Here is a morning I had there last year... One evening there, Little Turtle had a cot and I had an air mattress, so we switched. I woke up in the Girl's Sleeping Area at what I thought was 6 am to a beautiful sunrise over the wooded edge of the Hill. Little Turtle woke up when I touched her and we stared silently at the sight. Mariel rolled over on her air mattress and woke up, waking Little Pavlova in the process.  They watched too. Mariel turned around and noted that Mother Auma must have gone off to take a shower, because Cornflower was sleeping alone. The latter suddenly rolled over off of the mattress and onto the gravel. She opened her mouth to cry and sat there with it opened, watching the sunrise. Bzzz, bzzz. "Triss, Turtle, there's a wasp by our bed," stammered Little Pavlova and Mariel simultaneously, jumping over a pile of boards to the cot. Mariel gasped. "Our bandannas and notebooks!" Two pink and purple bandannas and two purple and pink striped notebooks lay on the mattress. A tiny yellow and black body propelled itself over to them. Cornflower sat on the cot, shivering. "It's the middle of June! Why is it so cold?" "It's early morning," answered Turtle, who was putting on her red robe and making plans with me. A turquoise robe and a red one cautiously approached the mattress from either side. The plan: if the wasp stings, he can't sting both. Two grabs; two bandannas and two hats lay on the cot. Mr. Wasp became bored and buzzed away. Probably to the Pavilion to see if there was sugar for the cereal still left out. Turtle checked her watch. "Oh no, Triss," she said, pushing the watch towards me. I checked and groaned. "5:45? We must have gotten up..." "At five," she finished with me. "Well, there's still fifteen minutes. We can get dressed and everything. Come on Cornflower, let's hurry." Fifteen minutes later... "a-GAIN from CALM and SWEET re-POSE I RISE to HAIL the DAAWN; a-GAIN my WAY-king EYES un-CLOSE to VIEW the SMY-lin' MORN," sang the Office. "Breakfast is ready. If you'll bow with me..." So, there you have it. If you ever want to go, ask Mother Auma for directions. Turtle and I are always jumping around in the back seat visiting about the Happiest Place on Earth when we go. I never know when exactly it is. Second week in June or something. Posted by Trisscar Swordmaid http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/268501/ Sat, 13 Jan 2007 09:18:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/268501/ (To tune of Good Night, Ladies)   Ad-di-tion's Fine Mul-tipli-cation's Boring Division is Sort of Fun but I... Hate... Subtraction!   I've memorized multiplication Been addicted to addition Devour-ed division  BUT I.. Hate... SUBTRACTION!   I sang this to let off steam when I was doing math.   Posted by Trisscar Swordmaid http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/219751/ Fri, 13 Oct 2006 22:19:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/219751/ I have made funny-looking dolls before I got them to look like humans. The main thing is to think of them as people that you want to make perfect. (However, it will take you a while to get a really pretty one, unless you are a *super* sewer.) Please remember that this will take about a whole afternoon and don't get frustrated. Take a break before attatching the arms so that your back doesn't hurt from sitting so long.First, you'll need: *Two socks *The right color of embroidery floss (a color for the eyes, pink for the mouth, etc.) *Yarn: brown, black, yellow. This will be for the hair *Batting, yarn, cotton balls, something to stuff her with *Of course you'll need the basic stuff, a needle, thread (preferably white or off-white), scissors.   Cut the first sock to make legs. Cut from the top to where the funny patterned part stops. Then you'll want to stuff the inside from the toe to the heel until it is the right thickness. Sew up the legs- not together, sew the front and back together. Make sure your knots are really tight and won't come out. Then stuff it. (You may end up stuffing the heel of the sock when you do this. Use a pencil or something to stuff it all the way in.) Sew up the ends and then tie a piece of thread around the bottom of each leg about 1/2 inch from your seam. This will make it look like little squarish feet. (This is where that break comes in.) When you come back you will sew on the arms. This is where you use that other sock. You cut off the patterned part and cut it in half longways. Sew each half like the legs and sew the bottom up. Stuff them and then you can sew them *tightly* to the sides. If you want you can tie them like the feet to make hands. Then sew on the hair. This is kind of tricky. First, cut a lot of pieces of yarn all the same length and as long as you want the hair to be. Sew them to the top of the head. Don't just sew back and forth, get inside the hair and make small stitches. If you are really patient, sew over each individual piece of yarn. Then cut more pieces of yarn. These should be just a little longer than the others. Sew half the pieces to one side of the head and sew the others to the other side. (This way your face won't look weird because it has no side hair.) After this you embroider the face on. The mouth isn't hard as long as you take small stitches. The nose is the big problem: you don't want it to be the most prominent feature but you want it in there. Finally I figured it out: sew horizontally with white thread where you want the nose to be. This will cause part of the sock to stand up if you pull it tight enough. This makes the *cutest* nose! The eyes: just satin stitch until it looks like little eyes. You could sew a small circle and satin stitch in the middle if you want.   You've Finished!   I just thought of something. If you want her to have little short close-to-the-head hair, cut short pieces of yarn, sew them on at the top like you did the other way, and then sew it again near the end. This will make the hair stay close to her head and make it look like it is curled outwards. For curly hair unravel the yarn before sewing it on. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/97379/ Thu, 9 Mar 2006 17:18:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/97379/  Chapter 9: Saturday Ivey woke up. She looked at the clock. It was eight! “Oh n- wait, we had movie night last night, so today is Saturday! Phooey, an hour of – ok, a half hour of playtime wasted. I would have used at least half an hour for getting dressed, putting in contacts and cleaning my room.” 15 minutes later the squirrel was out in the backyard in an Indian costume. Little Warrior (Ivey) was helping Little Swallow (Allie) and “Big Chief Daddy” (name submitted by Little Princess (Lauren)) take the playset to bits. The rickety structure’s slide had come off the other night. When it had come down, Little Princess, Little Swallow, and Little Warrior looked sadly at the pile of wood and the bucket of screws, nuts and bolts that had once been a castle, a pirate ship, the Swallow or the Amazon, Redwall, a house or a hotel and just plain a playset. Allie grew bored of Indians and said, “Can we play ‘Mom and Kid’?” This game had many variations. You could have an Indian, Middle Ages, 1800’s, modern, busy or calm mom and kid(s). 1800’s was chosen, and so Ivey got into a lot of slips and skirts for a full skirt look and put on her colonial outfit and cape, Allie found a green plaid shirt, over which she wore her cowboy vest, and Lauren’s green skirt. She put on Ivey’s blue cape over it (Ivey was wearing Lauren’s white one) and Lauren was wearing a multicolored leotard and a pink silk skirt with Ivey’s white cape with the gold stars on it. (See how many more outfits you can find when you have sisters!) Allie and Lauren’s room was chosen for the "house” and the squirrels got busy. Pillows and a quilt transformed Allie’s upper bunk into a bedroom while toys were set on Lauren’s bunk – the playroom. Allie’s breakfast-in-bed table had a baby blanket thrown over it and set with Lauren’s Pooh Bear tea set. Capes were hung on the “coat rack in the hall” – Lauren’s dresser. The closet doors were the end of the house at first, but Lauren – “Julia”- needed to get her doll, and then Grover, and then Pooh, and finally Allie said it could be the attic. Ivey, “Willow”, cut up an apple and put the slices on the plates for breakfast. No water in open cups was allowed in the bedroom, so Allie, “Edith”, and Julia’s water bottles sat on the table. Three small forks were taken from the kitchen while Mom was blogging, and also three shallow Tupperware dishes for bowls and plates. After breakfast Willow decided that they were going to do housecleaning. Julia, not having a very good opinion of housecleaning, announced that she was sick. Edith wanted to get sick too, but Willow said she couldn’t take care of all of them and the housecleaning, and promised her that that as soon as Julia was better she could be sick. However, they finished the housecleaning and Julia was still sick, so Willow got some of her perfume (see recipe at bottom) and sprayed it on her head. Then Julia had to be better so Edith could have a turn. Edith got over it quickly. She had to, because Mom called, “Girls! We’re going Christmas shopping!” The outfits were quickly stowed in Allie and Lauren’s hanging cubbyholes. They were out to the car in a few minutes. Foley’s was a while away, so there were books in their owners’ paws. Ivey had Marlfox, which was a very absorbing book and would keep her busy for a while. Allie had a book about Wilbur and Orville Wright, the two otter brothers who had invented the airplane. Lauren had a book of Christmas stories and poems. Foleys was crowded. It was filled with Christmas shoppers. The squirrels bought matching plaid flannel nightgowns, an origami calendar for Sister Rachel, the mother of a mouse family that had recently joined the church, and a tie for Goggy, their grandfather. While they were in line to pay, Mom’s phone started ringing.  It was Goggy, who wanted them to take him to see the “real Santa”  at Stonebriar Mall late Sunday afternoon, and then “take him to the ice rink so he could watch his ‘beautiful little grandsquirrels’ skate”. Mom pretended to hesitate, and asked the squirrels, “Do you think we might be able to do that Sunday?” “Yes!”  Ivey, Allie and Lauren almost yelled. “Shh,” said Mom, as she turned back to the phone. They went outside. Their car was parked near the bottom of the kid’s favorite grass slope. So, while Mom and Dad tried to walk down without slipping, the young squirrels ran down the slope, each in her own way. Allie turned somersaults (which she regretted when she got down to the car and found that she had grass stains all over), Lauren looked almost as if she was flying, running with her arms outstretched, and Ivey felt as though she were flying. She ran and jumped down the slope, called “galumphing” in the Arthur Ransome “Swallows and Amazons” books. The ride back home was filled with eager conversation and laughter from the back seat. Lauren and Allie were discussing with Ivey what they were going to play outside when they got home. Ivey had no doubt about it. They were either going to play Redwall or castle or searats or privateers, (which was only searats reversed and the privateers capturing the searats) since those were the games that they usually played. Lauren didn’t want to play privateers or Redwall, and Allie was bored of searats, so as Ivey had no objection to any games, they decided on castle. They sat composing the background. “Hmm. Oh, I know! There was a fire where the queen lived before, and the castle burned up, and so she had to run to another place to escape the flames. When she came back, all her people had left as well, and had settled in a wide open plain. The queen built a new castle and lived in it with her knight and her maid/squire. How does that sound?” Allie piped up. Ivey and Lauren liked that. “I get to build the castle!” Ivey said. She picked up her notepad and drew a plan: “The balance beam is on top of the Big Black Box and the table, the slide is balanced on the balance beam. “Oh, that’s neat,” said Allie. “Which way is the Big Black Box facing?” “Inward,” answered Ivey. “I would have drawn the door, but that would have gotten all over the slide.” They pulled into the driveway. The squirrels ran inside and dumped their stuff inside their rooms, and ran to the backyard. The castle was quickly built, according to Ivey’s plan, and Allie stood on the balance beam. “Hey!” Ivey looked up from where she was sitting on the “throne”- an old green camp chair. “Hey, there. Hay is for horses, don’t hay me,” she answered, which was a silly thing that Dad said. “What is it?” “I can see the sunset from here!” There was an immediate scramble for the balance beam. “Wow!” Everyone sat down as they watched the rose-colored, lavender, orange and pink sunset disappear beyond the treetops.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/96716/ Wed, 8 Mar 2006 16:07:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/96716/ <center></center>   These are the two sock dolls I have made. The one in black is called Amy. I made her a long time ago, before December. The one in the flowered shirt I made this week. She is called Alicia. So far Alicia has ridden on my bike, in a cupholder in the car, has been shown to several people at church (thanks to Mother Auma, who is very proud of the doll) and something silly: sat on the birdhouse patio! Our birdhouse has a little area bordered by the birdhouse on one side and a little short fence on two others. It's for putting seeds up in, but there weren't any and I set her up there. She was so cute! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/96706/ Wed, 8 Mar 2006 15:38:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/96706/ These are poems from my poetry book for this term. They were written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.   The Secret of the Sea   Ah! what pleasant visions haunt me As I gaze upon the sea! All the old romantic legends, All my dreams come back to me.   Sails of silk and ropes of sandal, Such as those in ancient lore; And the singing of the sailors, And the answer from the shore!   Most of all, the Spanish ballad Haunts me oft, and tarries long Of the noble Count Arnaldos And the seaman's mystic song.   Like the long waves on a sea-beach, where the sand as silver shines, With a soft, monotonous cadence, Flow its unrhymed lyric lines:-   Telling how the Count Arnaldos, With his hawk upon his hand, Saw a fair and stately galley, Steering onward to the land;-   How he heard the ancient helmsman Chant a song so wild and clear, That the circling sea-bird slowly Perched upon the mast to hear,   Till his soul was full of longing, and he cried with impulse strong,-- "Helmsman! for the love of heaven, Teach me, too, that wondrous song!"   "Wouldst thou,"--so the helmsman answered, "Learn the secret of the sea? Only those who brave its dangers Comprehend its mystery!"   In each sail that skims the horizon, In each landward blowing breeze, I behold that stately galley, Hear those mournful melodies;   Till my soul is full of longing For the secret of the sea, And the heart of the great ocean Sends a thrilling pulse through me.   Isn't that beautiful? and then this one is also one of my favorites:   Daybreak   A wind came up out of the sea, And said, "O mists, make room for me."   It hailed the ships and cried, "Sail on, Ye mariners, the night is gone."   And hurried landward far away, Crying, "Awake! it is the day."   It said unto the forest, "Shout! Hang all your leafy banners out!"   It touched the wood-bird's folded wing, And said, "O bird, awake and sing."   And o'er the farms, "O chanticleer, Your clarion blow; the day is near."   It whispered to the fields of corn, "Bow down, and hail the coming morn."   It shouted through the belfry tower, "Awake, O bell! proclaim the hour."   It crossed the churchyard with a sigh, And said, "Not yet! In quiet lie." http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/77679/ Thu, 2 Feb 2006 21:10:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/77679/ San Francisco is in California. Cable cars go down the slanting streets. I can see the bay and smell the sea smell as I walk around. A car goes over the Golden gate bridge. The huge bridge is really not golden, but reddish orange. Cars zoom over it and sightseers with cameras walk on the sidewalks and take pictures of this amazing marvel. There is a stand to buy tickets for a ferry cruise, so I buy one and get on. Another bridge looms up near me. The Bay Bridge attracts my attention as the ferry sails by the large gray bridge. The ferry stops at a town across the bay called Marina. I wander around the decks for a while, looking at all the boats. One looks like the Taj-Mahal.  There is a restaurant nearby. I have dinner there. The sun is just beginning to set as I return to the ferry. A seabird wheels overhead. All is quiet except for the low murmur of other top deck passengers talking together. The sun goes down. As soon as it is completely down, I see the lights of San Francisco, far across the bay. But closer, I see the Golden Gate Bridge. It is lit up and looks like a flock of stars have settled on it instead of seabirds. It is beautiful and amazing. San Francisco is closer now. You can see the lights of the city- restaurant signs, window lights, and more- and some of the most important CA buildings- the building that looks like a fire hose, the Museum of Art. And, of course, the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/62855/ Mon, 2 Jan 2006 20:45:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/62855/ Chapter 8: Ivey's Dream Ivey had gone to bed. She lay there thinking on what had happened that day. They had had church. Very nice, but it went as usual: Church, lunch, kid’s bible study, and then playtime outside. That, too, had gone as usual. She and Jessie climbed their favorite tree, Aaron had attempted to climb it and ended up in the tree next to it, and Jessie had gotten stuck in the tree. Again. The squirrel rolled over. After church they had had the entire afternoon open, so they went shopping for Christmas presents. Mom had to get some books for the church party, so they went to Border’s Books. There, in the young adults section, Ivey had found the Redwall book Triss. She had read to about page 46, but then they had to leave. Ivey had been haunted by the question “What happened next?!?” for the rest of the day. She rolled over again and fell asleep. For a few minutes she dreamed she was Eowyn. That lasted for about five minutes. Then a confused dream followed. She was Triss, fighting – Orcs?? That didn’t make any sense, and then the dream completed its change and she really was Triss. And this dream was the most realistic one she had ever had. She was Triss, and everything happened exactly as in the book – until she finished what she had read. Then a small voice seemed to float past her – “The rest is up to you…” dying away to an echo. Ivey-Triss stood confused for a moment, and then realized fully what the voice had said. “The rest is up to you.” That meant that she was who made up the rest. She looked around for an inspiration. Somehow she was on a beach that seemed deserted except for a ship. Suddenly a hedgehog’s head poked out of the ship. It looked surprisingly like Samuel. “Come on, Triss, we need to get going.” She went into to the ship. It began to go. She was about to ask Samuel where they were going, when it caught her that she was supposed to know, and that Samuel probably had a different name. She saw a vole closely resembling her friend Angela, who solved her problem by talking to Samuel and calling him “Matthias”. And so Angela was? “Songbreeze”, she heard Samuel-Matthias call her. Who else of her friends was on the ship? Garret suddenly appeared. “Songbreeze, your turn to steer,” he called. Songbreeze answered him as “Deyna”. Suddenly Triss realized something. Each of her friends was an animal from the Redwall books, and so was she! Triss was from Triss, Matthias was from Redwall, Songbreeze from Marlfox, and Deyna from Taggerung! If Jessie was there, Ivey thought, she would be … Mara from Salamandastron, Bella from Mossflower, Auma from Mattimeo, or… Lady Cregga Rose Eyes from The Long Patrol. It turned out it was Auma. Triss found out by hearing Matthias ask Deyna, “Is it Auma’s or my turn to be on watch?” “I’m not sure, go check the list. I just know that Auma and Triss are supposed to be on the same watch. Triss on the starboard side, Auma on the port.” (Better get this straight right now. Facing forward, starboard is right and port is left.) Matthias ran below to check the list. Triss, who had been exploring the deck of the ship, heard him call, “Auma! Where are you? Hello?” Jessie (Auma) came cautiously up the ladder to the deck. She winked at Triss, and whispered, “I slipped around him without being noticed and when he comes up, you and I’ll be on watch and he’ll wonder how I got up here without him seeing me.” She moved to the side of the ship. There was a loud bump, and a muffled exclamation from below deck, followed by a half angry, half laughing yell.  “Sloey! Come back here!” Lauren shot out on deck, laughing, and as Matthias ran at her, she slipped around him and ran below. Matthias ran after her. “What just happened?” asked Triss. Auma giggled, and replied, “I think Sloey jumped out on Matthias and he fell over, that was the bump, and something like a pillow must have fallen on him, that was just as he said something, and Sloey bolted.” She laughed again. Triss went back to her own side of the ship. She saw a shadow on the horizon. It came closer and closer, and suddenly was – “Land!” she yelled. Everyone rushed to the side of the ship but Songbreeze, who was still steering. Matthias, Auma, Sloey, Songbreeze, Deyna and Triss stared at the island, which slowly grew to a peninsula with a river running into it. “I know that place!” said Auma. “That’s the river that goes right past Redwall!” It was agreed to go to Redwall, and Triss kept a lookout carefully, for she had never seen the place. Besides, her friends and she were from different times and books, so she wanted to know if Redwall had an Abbess or Abbot and also which one they were. The stream flowed on almost lazily. Auma and Triss still had watch, but everyone was out on deck, even Sloey, who sat up in the prow on a blanket “keeping watch” but soon grew bored and set about trying to make a tent out of a pole and the blanket. She finally succeeded and curled up inside. Auma watched the trees go by. Triss was on her side, and they pointed out certain trees to each other, saying, “Do you think I’d get stuck in that one?” or “How high do you think we’d get in that one?” Matthias was swinging around in the rigging reading a book. Deyna was in the crow’s nest, when suddenly Triss, who had just climbed up the rigging, exploded into a shrill “Redwall! REDWALL AHEAD!!” Ivey woke up yelling, “Redwall! Red-“ She had woken herself up with her yelling. Allie had climbed up the ladder and was trying to put her paw over Ivey’s mouth. “Be quiet will you? Your clock says it’s 7. Good thing you yelled. Mom thought you got up already!”   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/55725/ Tue, 13 Dec 2005 20:04:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/55725/ No one really liked having to give up George Washington. He had been a good president and everyone loved him, but he didn’t want to be in charge any more so they had to let him go and they appointed John Adams in his place. Everyone followed the late president to his home. When he had gone inside, a large sob broke from the crowd.             The French were upset because of the Jay Treaty. They threatened to attack America if it didn’t give it a large sum of money as a bribe and they wanted something else too. I think it was to repeal the treaty. John Adams sent an ambassador named Pinckney to France but he was not received at all even when two more ambassadors were sent to France. Many Americans talked of war with France.             The French, however, didn’t want war. They just wanted to get something for nothing from the United States. When they saw the spirit of the nation they switched and tried to make peace, but the Americans were so upset they wouldn’t cooperate so John Adams quietly sent to France and solved the quarrel.             Then everyone got upset with John Adams because everyone was saying that he had made peace with France for all sorts of bad reasons. John Adams was rather upset and said, “When I die, write on my grave, ‘John Adams, who took upon himself the responsibility of peace with France.’” He could think of no better epitaph.             Then Tennessee joined the Union. First it was its own republic, under the name of Franklin. Then it became part of the union, but it was very uncivilized and unprepared. There was hardly anything but it grew into one of the most beautiful cities in the world. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/52499/ Mon, 5 Dec 2005 21:37:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Eowyn/52499/