Summer Sky: Learning as I go

Yarn Along + Wednesday WIP

Once again I've been posting over at The Magnifying Glass--we've made a mason bee nest and I've provided the instructions. Also, Dawn is hosting a fool's gold (iron pyrite) giveaway on TMG--check it out.

And, before I forget, be sure and come back here tomorrow for a giveaway for kids who love books.  I'm sure you know a few! So don't miss out.

 

Is it totally obnoxious to pair these two up--Wednesday WIP and Ginny's Yarn Along? Oh, well. So be it. A cup of tea and a window into what others are reading and knitting--that is the Yarn Along.  What could be better? I've been sitting on the sidelines but it's time to jump in.

 
What am I reading?  Well, I'm still trying (in vain) to keep up with Lifetime Reading Plan.; Even though I am deeply grateful that she is giving us plenty of time, I can't just "whip through" The Iliad or Gilgamesh. I'm still so happy I've committed to this, I'm trying to go easy on myself and giving it my best shot.

Up and Down Stairs--I started reading this last fall before the Downton Abbey craze.  My D (who knows me well) gave this to me as a gift a while ago.  It's a little meaty / historical--it is not fluff--and a good counterpoint to Downton Abbey which I love. (So glad there is a 2nd season--and even a holiday special--in the works!)

I'm also enjoying In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite--another rec via the Splendid Table--I have it checked out from the library and it must go back today.  My family travelled throughout Europe when I was a child, so I could picture myself in some of the stories about being a kid in a European restaurant during (what I assume) was the 1970's.  Except (sadly?) I was eating pommes frites and korv, not pickled herring or escargot.

And my knitting--well, my IRL friends are laughing right now--they have watched me try to start this sweater from Vintage Baby Knits so many times I could've knitted 3 of them by now.  For some reason, getting started is always hard for me but once I get past a certain "hump" I'm good to go.

Very last, I'm playing with the camera--I've been shooting in manual for a year but I want to take it to another level.  Sometimes the light works just so.  This photo is totally untouched--it came this way out of the camera--almost like a painting if I do say so myself.

I'll be back tomorrow for that giveaway...hope you'll join me.

For the New Year: reading to last a lifetime.

I love this time of year. I love the feeling of a fresh start. I love looking forward.

A bird my daughter made when she was 3. It hangs in our kitchen. (I'm also starting a 365 [photo-a-day] project for 2011. Wish me luck.)

I only had one overarching goal last year, and that was to declutter. A goal I didn't achieve. I made a lot of progress, but sometimes I feel like I'll never quite conquer clutter. I've analyzed this from so many angles I can't really talk about it here: I'm boring myself just mentioning it. In fairness, most of the clutter took 3 years to accumulate (for various reasons), so I'm trying to accept that it might take more than just 1 year to get rid of it all.

So, one goal for 2011 is: continue decluttering.

Day 2/365. Taken hastily not long before midnight just to get a photo in.

Moving on to more interesting (for me) topics, I have another goal that I'm a lot more excited about. I know it may sound grandiose--and some of you may say, I'd rather declutter (ha, ha!), but for 2011, I'm planning on putting a serious dent in reading 'the classics' of international (not just western) literature.

I've always loved to read. Growing up, I carried books everywhere, and for almost as long as I can remember, I kept right on reading even as I brushed my teeth and put on my pj's.  Flashlight under the covers, reading until I was bleary-eyed, yup, that was me.

 Day 3/365. Also taken hastily just before midnight.

While I was a voracious reader as a child, I didn't turn into a well-read adult. In terms of the "classics" of adult literature, I relied a little too much on what high school and college classes brought my way. So, I've ended up with quite a few gaps in my reading experience. Not just that I haven't really read The Epic of Gilgamesh or The Aeneid, but also that I haven't read The Tale of Genji, The Dream of the Red Chamber, or The English Teacher.  Most people I know haven't read these either. But I'd like to try.

As an adult, I also had to read massive amounts to get through grad school, which pretty much killed my reading appetite. It took me years to recover it, and not too long after that, we had a couple of kids.  I turned to devouring parenting and child development books of every shape and form. And while those books have their place, they don't tend to leave you feeling uplifted or edified.

I was inspired to read as many classic works as possible--only for fun, and never because I "had to"--long before all that. about 20 years ago, just as I was finishing college, I stumbled across a little book called The Lifetime Reading Plan by Clifton Fadiman, best known as the editor of the Book-of-the-Month Club.

There was so much packed into that little book. Divided into sections (early literature, the middle ages, plays, narratives, philosophy, poetry, history and biography), it didn't include the Bible because Fadiman felt that you should already be familiar with that great book before delving into the classics. For each author, Fadiman wrote up a bio together with his list of their best books (and why). The bibliography in the back was every bit as useful, with its comparisons of various translations and its suggestions for further reading.

I think what makes Fadmian's enthusiasm for the classics so infectious is his description of all of these authors engaging in a great conversation. In all likelihood there are scholars who find Fadiman's book amusing, but his goal was surely noble: to make these books accessible to anyone.

4/365 AND sneaking in my WIP Wednesday post. Another woefully neglected blogging obligation.

But loving my Three Irish Girls (Kate colorway in Gallenas Merino).

 

While I managed to read a few books from Fadiman's list over the years, in the meantime his book was updated in a 4th edition to include important classics of world literature, changing the focus of the original from purely "Western" classics. While apparently some were dismayed by this change, I was thrilled, and set off to buy The Epic of Gilgamesh right away.

I probably would have kept all of this to myself--after all, this is a goal achieved over a whole life, not just in one year--but to my delight I found a fellow Soulemama reader who also was captivated years ago by Fadiman's book. She's decided to try to read as many of the 'classics' on her own list as 2011 will allow. AND she lives in the D.C. area, AND she's a knitter. It's fate!

5/365.  The middle of the living room floor, about an hour ago. We love this game, called In the Country (sorry, no link!).  You get a "recipe card" (say, for apple cake) and then you grow your apples, grow grain to feed the chickens and collect their eggs, and grind the grain into flour, for example.

So I'm making it official--I'm participating in LifetimeReader's challenge to make 2011 the year of the classics. I will, really and truly, finish The Epic of Gilgamesh, and a few more books of international reknown while I'm at it. I have no clue how far I will get with this goal during the next 12 months, but I am determined to enjoy myself pursuing it.

If you also have some goals for the coming year--however humble or lofty they may be--feel free to share!

Before I forget...

I mentioned I found Ribbon of Sand a useful book for learning about the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I found it at our local library. It's divided into chapters that alternate, every so often, between ecology and history: sand, land, water, Blackbeard (the pirate), woods, flight (the Wright brothers), etc.

But this post is about another book, first published in 1955: The Edge of the Sea, by Rachel Carson.  Rachel Carson is, of course, famous for her book Silent Spring, which described the destructive effects of pesticides on the environment.  I had no clue, then, that Ms. Carson was a marine zoologist, and that her first love was the ocean, in all its diversity.

 

I picked this up by chance at the bookstore just before we left for the beach. Inside are what can only be described as lovingly written essays--two overviews of life at the edge of the sea; the creatures and plants of "the rocky shore" (the New England coast); "the rim of sand" (Long Island to Florida); and "the coral coast" (the Florida Keys).  There's also an epilogue, entitled The Enduring Sea, which she requested be read at her funeral (a wish unfulfilled, apparently).

The book is far different from a field guide. Instead of clinically describing each species of marine life in sequence, she chose to bring you fully into the experience of walking along the shore.  What would you encounter, if you were her companion, and saw this world through her eyes, with her fascination?  How does each bit of sea life interact with the others?

"Coming over the shoal, I saw spiraling up out of the sand, over the edge of a green undersea ravine, a looped and twisted strand--a tough string of parchment on which were threaded many scores of little purse-shaped capsules. This was the egg string of a female whelk, for it was June, and the spawning time of the species. In all the capsules, I knew, the mysterious forces of creation were at work, making ready thousands of baby whelks, of which perhaps hundreds would survive to emerge from the thin round door in the wall of each capsule, each a tiny being in a miniature shell like that of its parents." (p. 152)

Oh, to be able to write like that!

Bob Hines' magical drawings are interspersed throughout.

 

There is also a short appendix of classifications, but even this is a series of little essays organized by type of sea life, rather than dry facts.

By chance (pinkie swear!), when I took that first photo of the book cover, the camera caught the edge of a moon snail shell that E found when we were at the beach.  It's been sitting in our kitchen.  I've been meaning to photograph it; I just love the color, the ridges, the swirl, everything about it. It even had a little bit of sand left in it.

 

Something so small, but it brings such joy.

 

P.S. I don't get any compensation for the books--or frankly, products of any kind--that I mention in this blog. If that ever changes I will let you know. In case you were wondering.

Odds and ends.

Now and then there are so many loose ends knocking about that they need to be wrapped up together.

First off, Project FeederWatch is ending April 3 (it starts up again in November).  We've been entering our online data.  I had chosen to fill one feeder with safflower seed, because apparently gray squirrels aren't big fans. After a couple of weeks went by, I started to wonder if birds don't like it either, but since then we've been rewarded with cardinals, titmice, chickadees, and carolina wrens gobbling the seeds. The kids love watching the birds from the window and identifying them on the beautiful FeederWatch chart.

 

A sparrow of some kind, possibly a pine siskin, nibbling some seeds in our window feeder. I had no idea the birds in our neighborhood were so diverse!

Changing the subject entirely, I never did talk about how the Orangette book signing at Ceiba went. It was wonderful!  The signing was in a private room and because I had my (already devoured) book with me, I went in and directly stood in line to have it signed. Molly was so kind, she remembered my e-mails (touching, because I'm sure she's flooded with them), and she graciously signed my book. I then stepped away from the table and met a lovely young woman named Jessica (hi, if you ever come visit here!) and we chatted about Orangette and food and blogging and ate (too many) scrumptious flautas handed around on trays.  The pièce de résistance was a plate of Aunt Bills and Jimmy's Pink Cookies. I kid you not! Jessica and I split one of each so as not to be greedy. 

After a bit, Molly was introduced to the room at large by her brother (one of Ceiba's owners) and Molly took the floor.  She spoke about how her blog came about, a story of course quite familiar to Orangette fans and much touched upon in her book.  She talked about her father (her brother mentioned him too) and the importance of food to their family. She was so genuine and allow me to say, she can give a speech every bit as eloquently as she can write. Then she read the first chapter of her book, which was a delightful experience in itself and made me read as much as I could from her book all over again on the metro ride home.

Jumping from Orangette to sewing might not make much sense, but this post has no cohesion anyway, so here goes! If anyone was wondering, I did finish all the doll dresses. Here's a photo of the first set (I whisked the second set away before commemorating the moment):

 

I wish I had been patient and ordered fabric I loved--live and learn!

 

Next up? I've been working on a couple of kid crafts and my kids are beside themselves for me to finish them. I'm experimenting with some things I've never done (hence the title of this blog), so don't hold your breath.

First up, the seasonal felt tree that's been in The Craft Jar almost 2 weeks.

Because I'm not much of a free-hand artist, I took a clip art oak tree silhouette, scanned it, enlarged it, divided it into quarters in Paint (on anyone's PC), printed off the quarters, taped them back together to make a large tree, then traced the tree onto freezer paper. Then I traced the pattern with chalk onto brown felt. I did some "pruning" when I cut the felt because there were too many branches (which might still be the case). I may figure out a way to upload a pattern to the blog.

Last, I'm working on some kites for the kids. They are a little young (5 and 3) but I want to involve them as much as possible. We bought some rip-stop nylon (available online or at JoAnn's fabric). We shall see where this goes.

 

 

Orangette book signing

I posted before about Orangette coming out with her book--the official release date is today--and that she's coming to Washington, D.C. for a book signing at Ceiba on Monday, March 16.  The signing will be held from 5:30 to 7:00 pm, details here.  Molly has asked that those attending the D.C. Ceiba signing RSVP by next week, March 13 to: cheeseandchocolate (at) gmail (dot) com. I am planning on coming, so I hope to see you there!  A couple of days ago, Molly announced that this event is closed, but the link above will send you to info about her second D.C. event on March 17th.

  

     

Talking around, but not about, the Reading Basket.

I wanted to mention another feature on this blog, The Reading Basket, posted in the left-hand column. As I started to write, thoughts about reading with kids and using the library crowded in. So, I will talk in this post about reading with kids, then talk about ways to get the most out of the library in another post, and then finally will turn to the Basket on yet another day.

First, a word about reading aloud. I figure most parents realize a good way to instill a love of reading in a child is to read to them often, and to model the pleasure of reading by picking up a book of their own now and then. But some parents might also believe that once a child can read, that child should mainly be reading to himself, whether silently or to an adult.

 

For anyone who's a fan of Jim Trelease's Read-Aloud Handbook, you know what I'm about to say, which is that children continue to benefit from hearing an adult read aloud long after they can read on their own. Trelease believes the benefits never end, and would read to his teenage son while the boy did the dishes. (Ahem. Note to future self!) Trelease provides a helpful list of read-aloud suggestions, separated into categories and labeled so you can find age-appropriate books (in terms of the ideas).

After a child has a base vocabulary--most of the words adults use in every-day conversation--an even more important source of new words is an adult reading aloud. An adult conversational vocabulary is surprisingly small compared to the total number of words an adult knows, but rarely uses.

The key, of course, is to read aloud books that are above a child's current reading ability. You've probably noticed already that many picture books are a bit out of the grasp of most brand-new readers anyway, so for younger kids, you don't have to look very far.

  

But beyond that, interactive reading--with the adult asking gentle, specific questions--can make the reading experience more interesting for the child, while providing insight into their development. We don't do this every time we read because it's most important to enjoy a book purely for itself, to savor the lilt of the writing and the fascinating illustrations.

Other times--after savoring a book--we can go back and do some discussing. To guide interactive reading, I found these great online pamphlets from the National Institute for Literacy; their lists are detailed yet succint. They include the types of questions to ask a child (depending on their age), and goals for the adult to try to meet when reading with their kids. An example of the latter is, "I talk with my child about stories and make connections to things that happen in our own lives." It can sound inane if you already do this, but for others, it's a revelation.

I've provided the website versions of the pamphlets below; if you'd rather download them in PDF format, look here. (They have ones for older kids, too.)

Toddlers Get Ready to Read

Preschoolers Get Ready to Read  

Kindergartners Learn to Read

If you nose around the National Literacy website, you will find other great pamphlets on there with a lot of information packed into a few pages about reading as a family. I didn't link them here because most parents are probably already convinced about the merits of reading with their kids, but they're there if you'd like to see them.

Happy page-turning!

* To be continued (about libraries) another day * 

Note: links listed were updated August 2009

Outside

Well, today was the warmest day of all, like a nice spring day (and a little windy), which is just crazy for this time of year. Every year, in January or February, we will get strangely warm weather, a teaser, that vanishes as quickly as it comes. Sometimes (rarely) it tricks the trees into blooming a little, and then a hard freeze will destroy the buds (which is sad) but this warm spell is too early for that.

So we were outside almost all day long.

 

We went to TWO parks filled with moms and kids of every age enjoying the weather. And then we came home (see above) for another serving of outside time. Some plants are thinking it's time to wake up (no, sillies!).

We are very blessed in the Washington, D.C., area, and in Arlington in particular, with a variety of parks, many with play equipment, large trees for shade, and clean bathrooms (I consider that some kind of miracle and am grateful to whomever is kindly doing that for us). I might highlight some of our favorites (parks, not bathrooms) as it gets a little warmer.

Going outside with kids means, of course, collecting things. Here is one curiosity the kids found today:

 

I *think* it's a petrified dandelion.

Inspired by SouleMama, who keeps a 'nature table' in her home, we have a nature tray ($2 at Goodwill). Here the dried leaves, rocks, shells, and petrified dandelions have a place to stay, together with some magnifying glasses in case anything needs closer inspection. (Sadly, our tray has no acorns this year, due to their mysterious failure to appear last fall.)

 

I would be very remiss at this point in not mentioning our little Golden Guides. I discovered them because our co-op preschool had a dog-eared (chewed on?) one about insects and I was captivated by the lovely paintings (sorry about the flash glare). 

   

They are just the right size for little hands and my kids are fascinated by them. Now thanks to their guide on Trees, we know the difference between white and black oaks, and we know the oak tree in our yard is a southern red oak. I think.

   

Anyhow, we add to our collection of Golden Guides every few months or so. We have Birds, Pond Life, and Planets too. Joy in a little 3" x 5" package.    

Delectable, delightful, and

delicious.  Somehow I was a little late on the uptake--that Molly Wizenberg, of Orangette, is doing a book signing in Washington, D.C. Her book is being released next month:

 

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table 

Isn't that cover lovely? It was a little startling but so pleasing to see one of my all-time favs of her photos show up on the cover. The description and excerpt for the book promise a little bit of everything Orangette fans enjoy about Molly's blog: food, of course, interwoven with life; self-discovery; and a love story. With recipes.

Molly is coming to D.C. on March 16 to Ceiba, one of her brother's restaurants. I've been to Ten Penh and dear D has also eaten at DC Coast. But I haven't been to Ceiba (my downtown eating days are largely on hiatus since the birth of E, the month before Ceiba opened in 2003). So this will be a treat if all works out with babysitting. I plan to drag my foodie friend, Marissa, whose recipe inventions have been known to win actual prizes on occasion.  See you there!