Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Hemming


I've had Emma's long black skirt
since early October when Dec. 1st
Concert date seems miles to go. 
It does feel like Robert Frost's 
"Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy 
Evening." 

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep....



The promise is to hem this skirt so she can sing 
tomorrow night. All pinned up. Ready for my needle 
and thread. Quite a lovely concert with this song by 
Eric Whitacre: Lux Arumque ( Light and Gold)


Monday, November 28, 2011

Books for this Advent



Advent arrived right as Thanksgiving Dinner ushered family back to their place in the world.
Place meaning apartment or college dorm room in our case with our sons.

Second son is planning his wedding for early March. That seemed to be here so quickly
from his engagement last Christmas. NOW to look on my shelf to start a Christmas
Devotion and Christmas Stories. Postings soon.

Any suggestions?

Dorcas gathered her old brown cloak firmly about her, as though the balmy southwest wind were a savage northeaster, and peered out from the recesses of her brown beaver bonnet like an owl from the shelter of a hollow tree. Nevertheless there was the hint of a smile upon her usually grim mouth. For though she did not admit it, she was enjoying this expedition in search of the erring Polly. The sharp tang of the seaweed lying in shining coils on the sand below her was delightful. The sparkle of the sea in the sunshine raised her spirits. Turning to look at the little town, she found she had forgotten how pretty it was with its steep cobbled streets climbing the hill, its old red roofs all higgledy-piggledy and the plumes of smoke from the chimneys azure in the clear air. (p. 28)

Saturday, November 26, 2011

When you have computer problems...


You have to  CALL upon a husband, several children who actually are grown: 22, 19, and 14,
and you have to take it to the store to get a new card so this computer can get to the Internet.
All done today. I'm thankful to each. 

Otherwise, all is well. My sister's   birthday celebration on 
Sunday  in Durham at Duke Chapel for worship, lovely French restaurant for lunch , and seeing The Rockette's Christmas Show.
Then the house has filled up with sons, a daughter-in-law, girlfriends and friends to eat, talk, eat, and talk!

The weather outside is mild.

What was your best recipe on your Thanksgiving table?


Thursday, November 17, 2011

Over in England


"Recording is as important to me 
as the actual  making." Ann at Journaling the Journal  writes as she prepares for an 
Arts and Crafts Exhibition in Whichford, England to raise money to restore windows for  St. Michaels Church:

A good luncheon can evidently be obtained at The Norman Knight, opposite the Village Green, and Whichford Pottery is well-worth visiting. We're raising money to restore the windows in the Church; there is stained glass dating back to medieval times, and the village itself existed long before the de Mohuns were granted land here by William the Conqueror in 1086.


 I hear a sigh.
Mine is echoing in yours. 
 

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Ann Patchett opens Parnassus Books in Nashville

"Ms. Patchett said that she is counting on her store to drive home a sharp, tough-love message to book lovers: buy books at independent stores, or the stores will go away."

Read about it at the NY Times and on NPR.

I loved TRUTH AND BEAUTY: A Friendship. 
Ann wrote Bel Canto. 

Her newest book: State of Wonder.

Need a road trip. 

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Back to Dictation

It is  such a good tool for learning vocabulary, spelling,and punctuation. Dictation.
Great time today thinking about where commas go,
how to spell "sententious,"and what is a bromide! 
All in a dictation lesson.


We are using the "parvum opus" of Strunk and White: The Elements of Style. 
We are also loving " Eats,Shoots & Leaves." There are picture books that are priceless byLynnTruss that even my high school students loved. Laughed. When a writing ends in laughter, it reminds me of 
Billy Collin's poetry. 
   I found an old English author in a Parent's 
Review: Edwin Abbot. There are lots of 
Google books online.  Logic and a training
to examine a word and its uses are learned.
Then there is remembering what they read.
Good teaching on both sites. Good books 
on writing.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Time


We had a long weekend just
over the Appalachians to Knoxville
to see our 3rd son Evan. 
He's job hunting and taking online
post-grad classes. CPA ahead for him.
It was fun. Very fun to thrift store
shop:  Van Gogh print and a drafting
desk that I wish I had! 
Lovely drive and Autumn still had 
her gay scarf on with gold and reds!



Today is Monday. You know Monday is
the start to the week after the Sabbath.
How's your week starting? 
Here the weather has a warmth to it 
which brought shorts out for my daughter!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Energy Bars




I have two batches of
River Cottage's :
Honey and Peanut Butter
Booster Bars

cooling .
Easy. I used the Flax -Peanut
Butter ( you can add flax which
I did add what I had in the house)
from Trader Joe's.

I love the River Cottagecookbooks
from Dorset, England.
It was started in a 17th
century farmhouse in Dorset:
River Cottage.




Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Bison?


I loved to be inspired.
I am listening to a new
sound: Bison.

Group is from VA.
Playing at IAM next
Friday night
in NYC.

Not closeby.
Great words.
Biblical.
Celtic, folk, classical.
Makes me smile.
Clap my hands.
Thinking some sons would
like the sound.
Thinking how beautiful
is music.
It's different.
Sounds a bit European.
Not American.
Definitely not what's on
mainline radio these days.
Doesn't that say alot for
just listening to them tonight!


Monday, November 7, 2011

Jane Eyre.....or Janet


Mr. Rochester called Jane
"Janet." We had a most
lovely brunch and skyping
a friend in Austria for our
Book Club on Saturday.
See my friend's post
on Janet.

Such a rich and lengthy
discussion that we only
got half of the book covered!

Do reread it.
You will marvel at Bronte's
insight and rich language.


Thursday, November 3, 2011

Quotes for my Commonplace Book



From Miss Charlotte Bronte's
book: Jane Eyre

Mr. Rochester to Jane:

" You never felt jealousy, did you,
Miss Eyre -- your soul sleeps , shock
its yet to be given which shall waken
it. -- You will come some day to a
craggy pass of the channel , where
the whole of life's stream will be
broken up into whirl and tumult,
foam and noise; either you will
be dashed into atoms on crag points,
or lifted up and borne on by some
master wave into a calmer current--
as I am now."

" You want to read the tablet of one's
heart."

" We know that God is everywhere;
but certainly we feel His presence most
when His works are on the grandest
scale spread before us: and it is in
the unclouded night sky ,where His
worlds wheel their silent course,
that we read clearest His
infinitude,
His omnipotence,
His omnipresence.
I had risen to my knees to pray for
Mr. Rochester."

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

November!


Crept in to my life so fast
today.
Did it to you?

I liked writing October.
November brings in the
holidays and then we turn
into another year older!

I'm reading Jane Eyre again
for our Book Club on Saturday.
I am struck so deeply by her
language and humanity of the
characters. She read and read
as a child at home in their
library. She caught down deep
language. She caught attention
to syntax and vocabulary.
And she caught what love looks
like within Jane.