Book Spine Poetry

I was alerted to the blog 100 Scope Notes and the concept of Book Spine Poetry via the lovely Anna B.  The samples of book spine poetry posted over at 100 Scope Notes are laugh-out-loud funny and not to be missed.  Of course, after having a look, I was compelled to try this out and have discovered that creating book spine poems is an addictive pastime.  My first attempt turned out to be R-Rated (and not exactly appropriate for this blog.)  Above, you can see a sample of one of my subsequent attempts...

If you're of a mind (and have time to email a photo), I'd love to see what you come up with!

A Guest Post at Twig & Toadstool

Starting today at Twig & Toadstool there will be a weekly Monday link-up party called All Spunk... No Junk. Along with the weekly link-up party, there will a featured guest-blogger, and guess who the guest blogger is this week?  Likely you've already figured that one out... it's me!!

So, please stop by Twig & Toadstool to have a peek at the tutorial for my Fields of Butterflies Picture Lantern (and don't forget to share what you've been doing this week by linking up...)

Cheers!

Birthday Cake

There are those who demand their slice of birthday-gateau topped by the pink sugar-frosting rose from the bottom left-hand side of the cake. I prefer my slice of birthday cake topped by a few extra rocks...

 

And an oak-leaf, or two, for good measure...

We've been practicing, you see. Little Mr. has a birthday coming up in a week, and my wee Bloom will be turning 2 the first week of July.  Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear children, Happy Birthday to you...  Now, do you think we can blow out all those candles?

This all reminds me of Bunny Cakes by Rosemary Wells.  If you're in need of a smile (or a good laugh), you might give this book a try...

Walking to School

In the mornings when we walk to school...

 

The light is beautiful...

What do you do?

We don't raise our children in a vacuum.  Unless one lives in a  remote area, choosing to shun contact with the outside world, a certain amount of exposure to wide-spread, popular media and culture is inevitable. I don't live in the wilderness.  I am raising my children in Silicon Valley, birthplace of the silicon chip and the internet, home of Apple, Facebook and Google.

I am more restrictive than most parents locally regarding how much access my children have to media; and here, I'm really talking about my older son because my toddler has no access to any of the computers or other electronic devices in the house.  Although we don't own any dedicated gaming devices (DS, Wii, etc...) I do allow my older son some access to games on the computer via the internet.  Even the limited access I allow him sometimes makes me uncomfortable.  I have enforced breaks from his access to the computer for weeks and even months at a time, however, a total media ban in our milieu, in our world, in our culture creates a feeling of imbalance also. And so I strive towards helping him (and myself) find a balance we are both comfortable with regarding the presence of popular media in our home and in our lives.

The thing that grieves me is this -- today my son told me that he has a few friends at school who spend their playtime talking about their computer games.  Because my son is not current with the latest computer-game trends, he has nothing to add to the conversation and so has been feeling left out.  On the one hand, I am appalled that children would spend their recess sitting around talking about computer games instead of running around and playing, and on the other hand I feel sad that my son is in this position.

The dilemma now gnaws at me: do I relax my standards and allow my son more access so that he can "keep-up" socially, or do I hold to my feelings and beliefs about media access and children?  I know that there is a grey area of compromise someplace in the middle, but I find balancing these matters tenuous and tricky.  An "all-or-nothing" approach would be so much simpler, but an "all-or-nothing" tactic is not really an option.

How do you handle such things?  What do you do?  Do you know of a way to balance such matters?  Any thoughts, ideas or feelings would be most welcome...

Across the Years

Across the years, across the miles,
happy, happy birthday, my dear!

xo

Mother's Day

To you who were brought to birth by your mother, to you who have been loved by your mother...

And to those of you who are mothers, too...

Happy (slightly belated) Mother's Day...

I spent the best part of my weekend preventing my younger (born under the water-sign of the crab) from fearlessly flinging himself into the sea, and watching my older (born under a sign of air) run wild with the wind.

How did you spend your weekend?  Wherever you were, whatever you did, I hope it was wonderful.

My Favorite Bowl of Soup

Last night I read that Maurice Sendak, author & illustrator of the books Chicken Soup with Rice, Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen and so many others, had died.  Faith Pray of the blog Sacred Dirt has written a lovely post in honor of Mr. Sendak, and below I offer my meager tribute -- a re-post of something I wrote back in October:

________________________________

 

This October 

I will read

A book so fine, 

it's pedigreed.

Maurice Sendak's 

famous creed:

Reading once

reading twice

reading chicken soup

with rice.

I've lost count of how many times I've already read this to my wee Bloom today, and I expect to read it a few dozen times more before the day is done.  He stands by the rocking chair and pats the seat, indicating that I should sit down.  He chants, "BAH-bah-bah," which means he wants me to read a book with rhymes, and then he hands me one of our tired, battered, ancient copies.  And so we begin again...

Reading once

reading twice

reading chicken soup

with rice.

_______________________________________

Thank you Mr. Sendak.  You will always be remembered... with love.

Fairy Garden Contest 2012 at Magic Onions

 Last year Donni of Magic Onions hosted a Fairy Garden Contest. My older son & I decided to participate and we created a garden...

We planted our little fairy garden in a terracotta pot beneath some smaller pots of herbs...

This year, my Wee Bloom helped me refurbish our fairy garden...

 He was as helpful as only a 22 month old toddler can be!

 

You may notice that our welcome sign and flag banners from last year have been replaced by beaded lanterns. A small turtle & tiny bluebird have taken up residence; they seem happy in the garden & I hope the fairies will be happy with the renovations, too...

Note: This post has been linked to Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia and the Friday Nature Table at Magic Onions.

A Coffee Cup Cosy

I had been intending to make one of these for a long time... 

I usually drink coffee at home; however, I find myself, every week or two, at my local coffee vendor, picking up a pound of coffee.  They always offer me a free drink, and who am I to turn down a cup of something warm, aromatic and caffeinated?  I always compost or recycle the paper cups, however, there is the added issue of whether to use the optional cardboard coffee sleeve.  I don't like burning my fingers on a hot cup, but neither do I like creating an extra piece of waste... Hence, my long unfulfilled intention.

So, last week, I got out some size 3 knitting needles and a ball of pretty pink & beige, hand-spun which I picked up here several years ago.  Then I made 2 more coffee cup sleeves as gifts for my brother (he lives in Seattle, which is coffee-house mecca, as far as I'm concerned.)  The ones I knit for my brother were made from Malabrigo Worsted Merino (Black Forest) and Manos Del Uruguay, Wool Classica (Coffee) on size 7 needles.

 My pattern was very basic -- for the thicker yarns, I cast 42 stitches on my size 7 needles, went back and forth in a k2, p2 ribbing, bound off and sewed up the seam with a mattress stitch.  Done.  It could also be knit in the round on a set of double-pointeds, but I didn't feel like it. For more ideas you can head over to Ravelry and do a search for "coffee cup cozy" or "coffee cup sleeve."  You will find endless ideas and free patterns...

These work well, too if you like to drink your coffee from a pint-jar...

And it's always nice to have a second one lying around in case a friend drops by for tea...

A Dream Come True

 I had a realization a few weeks ago.

 We were at the grocery store.  I was watching my older son playing with his brother who was strapped in the grocery cart.  My Little Mr. was tickling his little brother and making him laugh... hysterically...

During the years we struggled to grow our family it was painful for me to watch children at the grocery store -- the baby in the cart and the older child dancing around, making the baby shriek with glee while the mother fussed at the older child, "Stop it! Be careful!  You'll tip the cart!"  I wanted this for my older son (and for the child I feared I'd never have.) That relationship... someone to tease and play with, even at the grocery store.

So, it happened the other day... toddler in the cart laughing at the antics of his brother.  Only, I wasn't fussing at them.  I was smiling and laughing because I realized that the moment had arrived in my life... the one I had longed for and wished for.  Seeing my children laughing in the grocery store was a dream come true for me.

Pirate Supplies

Did you know that San Francisco has it's very own Pirate Supply store?  Really!  You can buy mermaid bait, a bottle of Scurvy-Begone, a treasure chest, a hook (in case you're missing a hand) or even a glass eyeball (in case you're missing an eye due to shoddy swordsmanship or foul play.) 

The store is part of 826 Valencia, founded by the writer Dave Eggers, and benefits free writing & tutoring programs for children ages 6-18 at 826 Valencia and schools all over San Francisco. To learn more about the programs, you can have a look here.

In case you're in need of some Scurvy-Begone (or a glass eyeball) but cannot make it to San Francisco any time soon, they do have an online store (modern pirates, these ones are...)  Even if you don't need any Scurvy-Begone, the online store is a fun place to browse...

Arrrrh, Matey!

Hats

 The other day my Wee Bloom and I were looking at pictures in the book Children of the Forest by Elsa Beskow.  My little fellow pointed to the round, red toadstool hats worn by the children in the book, then patted the hat on my head, patted his own noggin and solemnly intoned, "Hat." He looked at me with anticipation when I asked him whether he would like to have a red hat, too, so we went upstairs to conduct a search.  Perfect... here is one I knit up for his brother 4 years ago.

 He also tried this hat (originally knit for his brother while I was pregnant.)  I'm afraid, however, that Wee Bloom was not a fan.

 He found this hat... tolerable...

 This one was clearly the favorite!

Happy Passover

Happy Passover to you and yours (and if it's Easter you celebrate, Happy Easter to you!)

Poisson D'Avril (and a most peculiar peg doll)

I'm not sure where I first heard of Poisson D'Avril... the origins of this odd observance are rather obscure.  One theory I came across credits Pope Gregory for creating confusion when he set up his eponymous "Gregorian Calender" in 1562.  When Pope Gregory instituted the calender, the start of the new year was moved from April 1st to January 1st, and those who persisted in celebrating the start of the year on April 1st were called "April Fools."  What this has to do with fish (and French fish, for that matter) I have no idea, but Google and Wikipedia seemed to think that, somehow, the two are linked.

The one place I was able to track down a story linking fish and April Fool's Day was within the book All Year Round by Ann Druitt, Christine Fynes-Clinton and Marije Rowling. According to the authors of All Year Round, the celebration of April Fools Day commemorates the birthday, on April 1, 1752, of Olaf Toyou, the first born son of Hungarian fisher folk.  The story goes as follows:

When Olaf was 6 months old, a strong earthquake struck far out in the Mediterranean. Olaf was sleeping in a cradle slung from the branch of a tree while his mother worked nearby.  The earthquake caused the sea to race up the beach so quickly and quietly that she didn’t notice the waves had carried Olaf away until it was too late.  She ran to save her son, but all she found in the cradle was a small fish.  Olaf's mother ran to find her husband, crying that their baby was gone, and while her back was turned, a second tidal wave miraculously removed the fish and returned the baby to the cradle. When the husband looked inside the cradle and found his son, he berated his wife as a fool.  She, however, remained convinced that her son had the power to turn himself into a fish at will!

To this day, people in France must beware of turning their backs on April 1st.  They may later discover a paper fish pinned to their jacket and realize with embarrassment that they have become the ‘Poisson d’Avril’(‘April Fish.’)

Hungarian fisher-folk? French fish?  Again, I'm a little confused.  And what, pray tell, does all this have to do with peg dolls?  Well, last year, I hosted a peg doll swap and my friend Caroline signed up to participate. She couldn't decide what type of doll to create for the swap but told me that, because of her love of cooking, she felt her inspiration would surely come from a recipe.  I glanced over at her  four shelves full of cookbooks and came up with some helpful (okay, appalling, if truth be told) suggestions for her peg dolls: Poached flounder with butter & herbs? Chicken vindaloo? Shrimp ceviche? A cheese & mushroom omelet? Needless to say, she did not take any of my suggestions.  I, however, have decided to rise to the challenge.  I submit to you a Flounder Peg Doll... my very own Poisson D'Avril.

Have you ever come up with a creative idea, so peculiar that you simply had to see it through?  This sort of endeavor reminds me of the beer milkshake, dreamed up and desperately craved by the character Doc in John Steinbeck's book Cannery Row.  Perhaps, even at this moment, you are feeling inspired by my Peg Doll Flounder.  Is it time for you to try to out-do me and create the most dreadful peg doll ever? Something even uglier than my flounder?   Now that will be quite the task...  I dare you!