happy halloween!

boo!

it's almost time for...

trick-or-treat! 

(are you ready?)

a morning walk and a... peacock?

 On this misty, moisty morning we went for a walk and spotted... a peacock!?

 Little one wanted to say hello and chased after...

But the clever peacock eluded him and ducked behind some hedges.

 

We consoled ourselves by gazing up into the branches of apple trees...

And admiring ornate gateways...

And exploring hidden gardens...

if i were

if i were a month i’d be october.

if i were a day i’d be friday.

if i were a time of day i’d be dusk.

if i were a font i’d be garamond.

if i were a sea animal i’d be an octopus.

if i were a direction i’d be north.

if i were a piece of furniture i’d be a writing desk with secret compartments.

if i were a liquid i’d be coffee.

if i were a gemstone i’d be a garnet.

if i were a tree i’d be a redwood.

if i were a tool i’d be a pencil.

if i were a flower i’d be a violet.

if i were an element of weather i’d be the wind.

if i were a musical instrument i’d be a cello.

if i were a color i’d be grey.

if i were an emotion i’d be longing.

if i were a fruit i’d be an apple.

if i were a sound i’d be humming a lullaby.

if i were an element i’d be oxygen.

if i were a car i’d be a Peugeot.

if i were a food i’d be a mushroom tart.

if i were a place i’d be home.

if i were material i’d be wool.

if i were a taste i’d be umami.

if i were a scent i’d be leaves on the forest floor.

if i were a body part i’d be hands.

if i were a song i’d be St. Clare by Suzanne Vega.

if i were a bird i’d be a dove.

if i were a gift i’d be chosen with care.

if i were a city i’d be paris.

if i were a door i’d lead to a hidden garden.

if i were a pair of shoes i’d be red cowboy boots.

if i were a poem i’d be the flowering of the rod by HD .

Joining in with Stephanie, Julie, Lisa, and Amanda...  If you join in, won't you let me know?  I'd love to read your list, too.

Music by Which to Paint Peg Dolls

The soundtrack behind my first book was Leave Your Sleep by Natalie Merchant, It's a Big World by Renee and Jeremy, anything by Jolie Holland, plus, weather permitting, some Yann Tiersen.  This is what I was listening to while I worked on that book.

These days, while working on the second book, I'm still listening to a lot of Jolie Holland. And since my older son has started taking cello lessons (my old cello has emerged so I can play along while he practices) we are listening to a lot of this.  However, I am searching for some new music by which to paint peg dolls... Help!!

What music would you recommend while painting peg dolls (and whilst stitching and sewing and typing away on the computer?)

Another Poem by Sara Teasdale

The Coin

by Sara Teasdale

Into my heart's treasury

I slipped a coin

That time cannot take

Nor a thief purloin.

Oh, better than the minting

Of a gold-crowned king

Is the safe-kept memory

Of a lovely thing.

Sara Teasdale

When I was in the 4th grade I had a teacher who assigned all her students to do something which seems quaint and old fashioned.  Each month she gave us a poem to memorize and then required every student to stand, one by one, in front of the class and formally recite the poem.  We had to first say the title of the poem, then the name of the poet, and then recite clearly, in even measure, the words of the poem.

We memorized Sea Fever by John Masefield; Oh Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman;  Eldorado by Edgar Allen Poe; Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost;  You are Old Father William by Lewis Carroll;  Adventures of Isabel by Ogden Nash; and Stars by Sara Teasdale.  Even now, I remember the first stanza of each poem, and can still recite, from start to finish, three or four of the poems we were required to memorize.

Of all the poetry we memorized, Stars was my favorite. Over the years, I have occasionally run across other poems by Sara Teasdale, but, until recently, had never thought to read more of her work. About a month ago I acquired a small volume of poetry called Stars To-Night. In this book I found such lovely poems. Below is one of my favorites.

On the Sussex Downs 

By Sara Teasdale

Over the downs there were birds flying,

Far off the glittered sea,

And toward the north the weald of Sussex

Lay like a kingdom under me.

I was happier than the larks

That nest on the downs and sing to the sky,

Over the downs the birds flying

Were not so happy as I.

It was not you, though you were near,

Though you were good to hear and see,

It was not earth, it was not heaven

It was myself that sang in me.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Do you have any favorite poems or poets?