Wordsmith Wednesday: Hist Whist

Happy Halloween!  We have been enjoying a book I bought a few years back at a little book shop in the Lancaster public library.  

It has lovely illustrations by Deborah Kogan Ray for the poem, "hist whist" by e. e. cummings:

hist      whist

little ghostthings

tip-toe

twinkle-toe

little twitchy

witches and tingling

goblins

hob-a-nob     hob-a-nob

little hoppy happy

toad in tweeds

tweeds

little itchy mousies

with scuttling

eyes    rustle and run     and

hidehidehide

whisk

whisk     look out for the old woman

with the wart on her nose

what she’ll do to yer

nobody knows

for she knows the devil     ooch

the devil     ouch

the devil

ach     the great

green

dancing

devil

devil

devil

devil

        wheeEEE

 Caedmon and Owen both love to help say it along with me - especially "whEEE!"

This evening after some warming and yummy chicken soup, we went out with a motley assortment of people and critters

 for a bit of trick-or-treating

 in Lauren and Steve's neighborhood.

It Takes A Village: GrandParents

Being so close to family is really, really wonderful.  We have enjoyed being close enough to go the Ring family dinner nights every week and to visit my parents, brothers, and family frequently this last year.  The last two weekends we have been especially grateful for our parents (and the boys, their grandparents).  

Last week, Grandma Sharon came up and looked after Owen and Caedmon while Abram and I slaughtered and processed another 24 chickens for the freezer.  I haven't a single picture as I was elbow deep an offal and feathers.  You needn't imagine Abram's and my work.  

Sharon kept the boys busy for hours and hours with masks to color, temporary tattoos, and books.    We couldn't have gotten it done without her help.  She went home very tired I am sure.    

This weekend, Anne and Granddaddy arrived with what I believe to be a zillion boxes of tomatoes from Chandler Mountain and boxes of quart jars.  Although we had intended to go out to Cannonsburgh Village for a picnic and to see demonstrations of metal working, quilting, and other "old timey" activities, the weather was wet and cold, and we stayed in and did our own homesteading weekend.  

Saturday, we canned 73 quarts of tomatoes.  (We also dried some, and there are more drying and to be dried as I write.)  Again, I was elbow deep in tomatoes, so no pictures of the event - just the stack of boxes later.  

 Sunday, we sorted the feathers and down that I saved from the chickens.  It took the better part of the day,

 many hands,

and some sustenance to keep us going, but

 from the feathers of 24 chickens, we produced 1 pillow.*

 And then we sent them home, very very tired.  It's like a vacation to work on a dude ranch; we're going to start hosting weekend work stays on our farmette.  Please contact me for an application.  

Thank you to Grandma Sharon, Anne, and Graddaddy for getting us ready for a long cold winter with plenty of food in the freezer and in the basement!  Chicken cacciatore, anyone?

* I put the feathers into several pillow cases, tied them tighly with yarn and washed them in the washing machine.  Oops, one of the yarns slipped off, and Abram saved the day by unclogging the washing machine pump that was full of feathers.  I took those smelly, wet cases of feathers and put them each into another case and sewed them shut.  Then I washed them again several times in really hot water and dried them on hot.  We have a really nice pillow, but it was a serious booger to make - not sure I'm gonna do that again. I've checked "make a feather pillow" off my bucket list.  

What To Do With All Those Creations

My kids like to paint A LOT.  They also like to color, but mostly they like to paint.  So, we have lots and lots of paintings.  

We have an art wire on our wall for hanging some of their creations and we give it away but not nearly often enough.  

You can, of course just give it as is.  I have also printed Christmas letters on Owen's art from the year.  Here's another way to give away some of Owen's and Caedmon's art - cards:

We took a watercolor done by Caedmon,

traced around a card (just 1/2 a piece of card stock folded in half) and cut it out leaving a little room around the edges,

used lots of glue,

and had a lovely birthday card for a special girl.

Wordsmith Wednesday: A House Is A House For Me

As you may very well know, I am re-reader.  I have a collection of favorite books, and I tend to go to them again and again.  Right now, Owen and I are reading one of my favorites for his first time and my zillionth, and I am loving it.  

By chance, however, quite a few new books have come to us lately.  Last week, an unexpected package arrived on our porch.  What a wonderful surprise it held - a gift from Shannon, A House Is A House For Me.  This book was new to me and the boys, and we sat down right away on the porch swing to check it out.    

It is rhymed and has a fun, catchy meter.  It also has really lovely and detailed illustrations.  It starts off listing homes for a variety of critters:

A hill is a house for an ant, an ant.

A hive is a house for a bee.

 but gets progressively more far-fetched and silly:

A box is a home for a teabag.

A teapot's a house for some tea.  

If you pour me a cup and I drink it all up, 

Then the teahouse will turn into me!

Owen's favorite page was the tea page with illustrations of the Mad Hatter's tea party with Alice, the March Hare, and the Dormouse.  

I think this is going to be one of our favorites - catchy and silly with illustrations that you can study and see new things every time you look.

Nifty Thrifty - Shoes

Bare feet are best, but soft, thin-soled shoes are the next best thing for our feet and our entire skeletal system.  It is really hard to find good and affordable shoes that are also good for little feet.  

Owen recently grew into a pair of brand new Minnetonka moccasin boots that I found at Goodwill when he was two.  The price was still on them:  $2.97.   

He was thrilled when they came out with the seasonal change of clothes from the attic and they finally fit.  They are his first pair of tie-up shoes since he was a little one.  He did have a pair of these same shoes about six sizes smaller when he was about two.  He has gotten quite a bit of practice tying them himself over the last week or so, and my fashion-conscious young man is really proud of his "real Indian moccasins."

Around the House

We missed the patchy frost this week so the zinnias are still blooming,

and I collected a whole jar full of seeds for next year.  

 The marigolds are also still looking cheery, but the touch-me-nots are done.  They will reseed themselves.

 What you can't tell from this picture is that Caedmon just peed on the basil which is still hanging-on along with the oregano and thyme.  Maybe there won't be one more batch of pesto for the freezer.

 He's a little sprite sometimes!  Like a good little yard sprite, he likes to play with the flowers, (Thank goodness for zinnias and marigolds that can keep up with my boys' flower demands!) and a line of flowers is good for. . .

 dancing around!

 Creepy crawlies are still out.

 The garden is at its close,

 and Cademon and I picked the last of the tomatoes this week.

 Summery flowers and fallish pumpkins

 Bangers and mash (with caramelized onions and crunchy sauerkraut) for dinner

Unschool

maps

sharing

physical education

biology

life skills

Wordsmith Wednesday: Dolly's Imagination Library

We won't discuss how long it's been since my last Wordsmith Wednesday post.  Most of "my" reading these days is to the boys.  Owen, who has always been pleased to listen to us read aloud, is now enjoying mostly chapter books read by us as well as audio books.  Caedmon has just recently begun to enjoy hearing books read.  He prefers lots of very short books right now.  He will gladly listen to a stack of books as long as you will read (and re-read them), but he won't listen to one longer book along with Owen.

Today, I'm not sharing one book with you.  I'm sharing a whole collection of books.  Soon after we moved back home to Tennessee, I signed Owen and Caedmon up for the Rutherford Books From Birth program.  It is part of the work of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library and the Governor's Books From Birth Foundation.  These programs (in Tennessee, across the US, in Canada, and in the UK) provide children from birth to five years a book each month regardless of income.

The boys have really enjoyed getting books each month in the mail, and we have been pleased to receive some old favorites such as the Little Engine That Could and The Snowy Day as well as some new ones such as Little Pink Pup and Little Owl's Night.  

Sunny Day (Nanny's Vacation Part 4)

Tuesday dawned a much nicer day.  We prepared breakfast for everyone (omelettes from our eggs, sausage, and a fruit buffet).  Then Abram and Dad took the boys out for a while, and I finished getting chili into two large crock pots my aunts had brought.  

I insisted on my own trip back out to the beach later, and there we no protests.  

 The stormy weather and the spring tide had brought in lots of tiny shells.

 I collected an assortment for a special project.  My favorites are the totally asymmetrical oysters and the symmetrical scallops.

 Owen and Graddaddy went way out into the ocean.

 That evening, we all celebrated cousin Tommy's birthday with decorate-your-own cupcakes.

Wednesday we spent a little time on the beach before heading out.  The rest of the family was staying a couple more days, but we needed to get back to look after our chickens (who had been fed and watered by some sweet neighbors who collected the eggs as payment).  We are so glad to have been able to be a part of Nanny's Vacation this year.  What a legacy for her to leave - all those folks getting together and having a good time together.