scaifea's thread #4

Hi, everyone! Welcome to Thread IV!

Art inspired in one way or another by some of my current reads:

In honor of Prairie Tale, Melissa Gilbert as Half Pint:



War and Peace:



An illustration from Ollie's Odyssey:



The Complete Sherlock Holmes:



One of Peggy Fortnum's wonderful illustrations for A Bear Called Paddington:



From the Introductions Thread:
I'm Amber, a one-time Classics professor turned stay-at-home parent/lady of leisure. I spend my time sewing, knitting, baking, volunteering at my son's school library and with the PTO, and, of course, reading.

My reading life is happily governed by lists, which means that I read a healthy variety of things across various genres.

I'm 41 going on 12 and live in Wisconsin with my husband, Tomm; our 8-year-old son, Charlie; and our two dogs, Tuppence the Border Collie and Mario the Golden Retriever.

The five-ish or so books I have going and the On Deck books nearly all come from the following categories and lists:

1. A book from the 100 Banned Books book (at least currently. As soon as I finish this list, I'll replace it with another, and oh, I've got tons of lists).

2. A children's book, for Charlie's library. I'm trying to collect books from various award lists, and I like reading them before reading them to Charlie or deciding to add them to Charlie's shelves. For this category, I’m currently working through three lists:
a. 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Die
b. The Newbery Honor books
c. Cooperative Children's Book Center list

3. A book from the Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List, in chronological order.

4. A book for the Presidential Challenge. Books for this category are read in chronological (presidentially) order.

5. A list I'm working through together with my best friend, Rob: The Hugo/Nebula/WFA/Bram Stoker (and other) lists (combined, in chronological order)

6. For this category, I cycle through 7 different stacks:
a. Agatha Christie's bibliography (in chronological order)
b. Neil Gaiman's bibliography (in some order other than chronological (don't
ask)).
c. Christopher Moore's bibliography (in chronological order)
d. Stephen Fry's bibliography (in chronological order)
e. John Boyne bibliography (in chronological order, sort of)
f. The NEH Timeless Classics list
g. The National Book Award list (in alpha order by title)
h. The Pulitzer list (in alpha order by author)

7. An unread book from my shelves.

8. A book from my Read Soon! shelves.

9. A book on Buddhism or from the Dalai Lama's bibliography.

10. Book-a-year challenge: Three years ago, along with a few others in this group (*cough* Paul *cough*), I made a year-by-year list to see how far I could go back with consecutive reads. I've since been trying to fill in the gap years.

11. A book from the couple of series that I'm reading together with my mom.

12. A full-on re-read through Shakespeare's stuff.

13. A read-aloud-to-Charlie-at-bedtime book (or two).

14. An audio book, which I listen to as I knit/sew/otherwise craft/drive.

15. An audiobook for the car.

16. This slot is reserved for books that just grab me and shout that they need to be read Right Now.

And on top of these, there will be a multitude of picture books and easy readers, which Charlie and I read together. I've decided again this year also to list our re-reads, but I'll just list them each day and not number them.

What I'm reading now:
-Old Path White Clouds (Buddhism list)
-(awaiting library hold) (Newbery list)
-The Hollow Hills (Mythopoeic)
-War and Peace (because Charlie wants me to)
-The Complete Sherlock Holmes (1001 Children's Books (sort of))
-More about Paddington (Charlie's bed-time book)
-Ollie's Odyssey (another Charlie bed-time book)
-Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell (audiobook, Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy list)
-The Odyssey (everyday audio book in the car)

Books On Deck:
-A Lear of the Steppes (books by year, 1870)
-The Full Cupboard of Life (series that my mom wants me to read so we can chat about it)
-The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare re-read)
-Andersonville (Banned Books)
-The Gods of Pegana (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy)
-The Worst President: The Story of James Buchanan (Presidential Challenge)
-Murder in Mesopotamia (Christie bibliography)
-House of Leaves (unread book from my shelves)
-The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (from my Read Soon shelves)

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (VERY slowly (read: I haven't touched them in months)):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1

Books Read

JANUARY
1. James and the Giant Peach (Charlie's bedtime read) - 9/10 = A
2. The Inverted World (BFSA) - 9/10 = A
3. The Cat Who Went to Heaven (Charlie's book club book) - 9/10 = A-
4. Don Quixote (from my unread shelves) 0 8/10 = B+
5. The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian (from my classics shelves) - 8/10 = B+
6. Prairie Tale (from my Read Soon shelves) - 7/10 = C+
7. A Bear Called Paddington (Charlie's bedtime read) - 10/10 = A+
8. The Dolphin Crossing (1001 Children's Books) - 8/10 = B
9. The Year of the Book (a book I picked off the shelves while volunteering at Charlie's school library) - 9/10 = A-

Charlie making dinner last week:



Tuppence on Christmas Day:



And an oldie but a goodie for Mario's photo today:

And the Bonus Question:

Charlie's friend is over for the afternoon to play, which reminds me of playdates when I was Charlie's age and the things my friends and I used to do together. What are some of your favorite memories of having friends over to play (or visiting friend's houses) as a kid?

Hi there!! Loving the pictures.

Making a table fort with sheets, and eating cracker sandwitchs of peanut butter and jelly.

I never really had "playdates" as such because my friends and I lived in the same neighbourhood and were at each other's houses every day. Nothing organized, just "Mum, can I go to X's?", even at a very early age.

Mostly I remember bikes and street chalk and skipping ropes. Could be outside an entire day skipping rope. And my best friend and I made up a very complicated version of hopscotch that included both a ball and our bikes. Bike racing in the ditches and through rain puddles. The swings on the playground.

I know we played with dolls and plush animals (playing zoo) but I mostly remember lego and playing cards and UNO.

>7 Berly: Hi, Kim! Thanks!

>8 beeg: Oh, sheet forts! I loved those, too, and makes them sometimes with Charlie.

>9 PawsforThought: I didn't have the luxury of neighborhood kids, as I grew up in the middle of cornfields, with the closest neighbors being a mile away.
Those made-up games and added rules were the best, weren't they?

>9 PawsforThought: Yep. me, too. You just hopped on your bike and went to find the action. Jump rope, kick ball, box ball, board games...

Happy new one, Amber!

Happy New Thread, Amber! Back to gloomy today. Boo!

>11 scaifea: I grew up in suburbia so tons of kids the same age. And a no-drive area so we could play in the streets without worry.

I wish I could remember the rules of that game, but alas. I do remember the "court" was a huge circle divided into sections (like a pie chart) coloured in with different colours.

>12 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie! All through my childhood I longed to live in town so that I could have that experience, too, but I actually had a pretty amazing life living on the farm as well.

>13 msf59: Thanks, Mark! Boo to the gloom! It's not exactly super-sunny here today, but it's better than yesterday's crazy fog, at least.

>14 PawsforThought: Paws: Very cool.

>12 Crazymamie: Yeah, board games.

I just realised I still like the exact same things as I did back then. Wasn't much for ball games (except a version of brännboll, which is related to rounders and baseball) but I'm still a big fan of bikes, lego (best toy ever), playing cards (but not poker because I can never understand the rules) and board games. I do rope skipping for exercise sometimes and swings are incredibly soothing.

>16 PawsforThought: Paws: On of the best things about having a child is getting to play all those games again! I love board and card games, and I'm so happy when Charlie and I spend an entire afternoon at them, or playing some crazy game he's made up. So fun. And hide and seek! I didn't realize how much I missed that game until Charlie came round, although Tuppence makes it difficult to play - she finds you first, always, and then just stands there barking as if to say, "Here she is, Charlie! Right in here!" Sometimes Border Collies are annoying...

>17 scaifea: Eh, you don't have to have a child to do that.

*whistles*

I'd much rather be reading a book even then or just be wandering around on my own. But when I did get out with other kids we'd go swimming in each other's pools. Whoever had one that is. This being SE FL, I'd say half to three-quarters of the houses had pools in our neighborhood. You didn't really need an invitation, just grab your towel and listen for the squeals.

Happy new thread Sunday, Amber!

Great photos as usual. I'm of the era when there weren't play dates. Like others have mentioned before me, we were on our own in finding kids to play. In Cleveland, we used to knock on doors and ask if so and so could come out to play. No luck there, try another door. We'd play Army with toy rifles and machine guns and Cowboys and Indians with silver guns and holsters from Uncle Bill's. (No orange bands on those babies) *sigh*
When my family moved to the burbs it was basically the same but pre-teen it was Barbie, Barbie, Barbie. My friends had a basement shower with pretty glass doors, perfect for a wedding chapel! Sometimes a nice size foil tin would come our way, Yeah, Barbie pool party! Ride bikes and roller skates that attached to you tennis shoes and would typically loosen while skating. Simple, imaginative stuff. Good grief, I'm soo old!

Happy new thread, Amber!

Childhood memories: our house was in a woods for a good part of my growing up, and near another one. We used to spend all day climbing trees, playing tag, making up adventures, and so on. It was great. I always feel good when I get back into a woods even at this age. We'd go out after breakfast, maybe grab lunch at someone's house, then back until dinner.

>19 Morphidae: Growing up in in a colder climate zone, I only know of two people in my whole town who have a pool. There are probably more but I'd be willing to bet they could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

>18 PawsforThought: Paws *grins*

>19 Morphidae: Morphy: Oh gosh, that seems so foreign to me. None of my friends had pools! I would have been pea-green.

>20 Carmenere: Hi, Lynda! Charlie has neighborhood friends, and all last summer they were out most of the day every day, riding their bikes, makeing up games, running through sprinklers,... We live on a cul-de-sac, too, which is really nice for the kids. I'm so happy that he has this experience.

>21 jnwelch: Joe: One of my good friends lived right next to a wooded area, and not far from her house there was a huge tree that had fallen. We played on that thing all the time; it was a giant octopus, a pirate ship,...

>22 PawsforThought: Paws: Yeah, only the super rick folks in my area had pools, so practically no one.

>23 scaifea: >20 Carmenere: Sounds ideal, Amber! Is Charlie keeping in touch with the friend who recently moved?

Happy new one, Amber. I love the illustrations.

>23 scaifea: Well, money is definitely an issue, but it's mostly a temperature matter. You could really only use a pool ≈2 months a year, if that.
One of the people who *do* have a pool live next to my old path to school and I remember being just 8-9 years old and wondering why they'd spend so much money on something they could hardly ever use.

>24 Carmenere: Lynda: The boy who's here today *is* the one who moved away! We and his parents work together to make sure that get to see each other as often as possible.

>25 BLBera: Thanks, Beth!

>26 PawsforThought: Paws: Wow, that's a pretty mature thought process for that age. I just daydreamed about how nice it would be to have one.

Happy new thread, Amber. I love the photo of Charlie making dinner. My grandson loves to cook too, which makes me very happy.

>23 scaifea: >26 PawsforThought: This was a middle to lower-middle class area. It's simply that just about EVERYONE had a pool. It's like just about everyone has a garage up north. It's necessity. And you can use it almost year round. Maybe one month a year it's "too cold." Growing up in Pompano, I playing in neighborhood kids' pools. In Coral Springs, it was one of the city pools. In Deerfield, we had a pool. In Boca, there was a townhouse community pool. There was *always* a pool. It's one of the biggest things I miss in Minnesota.

>29 Morphidae: I completely get that it's pretty much a necessity in places like Florida and California. It's just such a complete reversal of what I'm used to. And you don't need a garage just because you live up north! You just need an engine heater and an outdoors electrical outlet (a heater for the coupé is also recommended).
If you had a pool here, it'd be covered in snow for about 5 months...

Hi Amber! Just marking my place :)

Hi Amber, happy new thread my dear and I just love your thread toppers, I have been missing on here since Thursday so I have a lot of catching up to do. Hope you have all had a lovely weekend and send love and hugs.

>28 RebaRelishesReading: Hi, Reba! I love that Charlie likes to cook, too!

>29 Morphidae: Morphy: Meanwhile in Wisconsin, I always sign Charlie up for the July (read: lastest in the summer) swimming lesson sessions, hoping he won't freeze, and we still have some mornings that are so chilly that we rush him home and into a hot bath! Nuts.

>30 PawsforThought: Paws: A garage may not be a necessity, but I'd sure not want to be without one.

>31 ChelleBearss: Hi, Chelle!

>32 johnsimpson: Hi, John! Good to see you!

>33 scaifea: They must not heat the pool.

>33 scaifea: My parents have one but it hasn't been used for 25+ years. The drive is crap and makes it risky for the car and garage doors to drive in and out, and driving out in wintertime is impossible. Not to mention the extra shovelling that would be required.

Your description of Charlie's swimming lessons sounds like every encounter with an outdoor pool I've ever had! Kids here learn to swim indoors!

>34 Morphidae: Morphy: They sure don't.

>35 PawsforThought: Paws: Our attached garage is one of the things that the poor-grad-student part of me still thinks is an amazing luxury.

>36 scaifea: Theirs is attached, but it's in the basement so a steep drive down (a lot of people here have it like that); imagine driving up an ice path at 40° incline...

6. Prairie Tale by Melissa Gilbert (from my Read Soon shelves, 367 pages) - 7/10 = C+
A memoir from the woman who played Laura on Little House on the Prairie, this one kind of fell flat for me. I'd forgotten that she'd been engaged to Rob Lowe, and learning about her family's Hollywood background was interesting, but it felt too catty and petty in too many places. And the writing wasn't bloody Shakespeare or anything. So, meh.

Happy new thread Amber and congratulations on finished Don Quixote! Very sorry to read about the sump pump causing some seepage issues in your sewing room. Sad that some things were beyond salvaging. ;-(

Happy new thread, Amber! For your question, bikes and roller skates, long games of make-believe. Climbing trees and buying penny candy from the corner store.

>39 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori. Eh, it was just Spike and Cap'n Jack and a small bit of carpet. No big deal, really. Could have been tons worse.

>40 banjo123: Thanks, Rhonda! Oh, you've reminded me of every Friday night of my junior high years at the skating rink! Good times.

Happy new thread, Amber, that Charlie & Mario picture is so sweet!
Playing hide and seek and other games on the streets, but most of my visits involved dogs, as I wasn't allowed to have a dog. I went to people who had dogs and was thrilled to walk someone's dog.

Happy new thread!

When I was Charlie's age, we lived way out in the country, so visits with friends had to be planned and scheduled. I remember playing a lot of imaginative games when they came over. I had a trunk full of dress-up clothes that saw quite a bit of use, and we played outside a lot, under the big pear tree with the branches that dipped down to the ground making a secret hideout underneath. We also played in the chicken coop, which sounds weird and unsanitary, but the chicken coop was more like a barn, built to hold a hundred chickens rather than our little dozen or so. And going to their house (my best friends were sisters, one my age and the other a year or two younger) there was a horse, so that was exciting. I think we also played with Barbies and My Little Pony.

>42 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita!
I love that you've always loved dogs. Growing up on a farm, we always had a dog and I loved every one of them, of course!

>43 foggidawn: foggi: My parents' farm includes a big chicken house like that, too. It hasn't held chickens since before they moved there, and it has long since been a workshop, first my uncle's, who restored old furniture, and now my mom's who has her rug loom in there.

Zipping along through the threads you are. Love the Mario/Charlie photo. It's a classic.

I'm pretty much "meh" about the TV version of Little House on the Prairie. We didn't have a TV until I was 12, so it's a qualified dislike, but the TV show was just not the books. My grandma gave me those books for my 4th birthday, and I wore them out. For a while, nerd alert, I made tic marks on the fly leaf every time I finished. I stopped around 13. My favorite is still Little House in the Big Woods because for some reason I was totally fascinated by the pig butchering and the syrup making.

BQ - My main memory of playing with friends is just having the freedom to run all over the neighborhood until the street lights came on. We played hide and seek, or rode our bikes or roller skates, made hopscotches on the sidewalk. It was a good life.

Happy new thread!

Growing up, I didn't have play dates. We had neighborhood kids and we all played together outside at whatever. Until I was in late middle/high school, when most of my social interaction came through school and band.

Happy new one Amber.

Bonus Question would involve my brother and I going to a friend's house to play. My brother very politely complimented our friend's mom on her luxuriant moustache and we were quickly on our way back down the village and home.

>45 nittnut: Jenn: The tv show was so much unlike the books that when I was little, it took me years to put the two together - the books were some of my very favorites from childhood, too.

>46 drneutron: Thanks, Jim!
From junior high school on, band because my social center, too.

>47 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul!
Ha! You've reminded me of a scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation:

Ellen: "...your mom accuses my mom of waxing her upper lip..."
Clark: "Your mom waxes her lip?"
Ellen: "She has for years."
Clark: "Huh...it doesn't show."

On the agenda for today:
I have a bit of PTO business to take care of as school this morning, and then I'll come home for some treadmilling, laundry, writing and maybe I'll be able to get back into the sewing room to straighten things back out - we pulled a bunch of stuff out of the way to get that section of carpet up, and now I need to put it all back. Faaaaabulous.

On the reading front:
After finishing the Gilbert book, I started reading Old Path, White Clouds, which is wonderful so far.

The Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: "David Macaulay (Black and White, 1991 Newbery Medal) completed his first successful drawing when he was eight years old. It was of a fire engine."
"First successful drawing"? Wha? How can a drawing be unsuccessful? Strange...

What We Read Yesterday:
-Bits of Herobrine Scared Stiff and Anna & Elsa: All Hail the Queen
-Madeline's Christmas
-Chapter 5 of Ollie's Odyssey
-The rest of chapter 7 in A Bear Called Paddington

Morning, Amber!

>51 msf59: Morning, Mark!

Morning, Amber!

Oo, I'll look forward to hearing what you think of Old Path, White Clouds.

>53 jnwelch: Morning, Joe! I'm loving it so far! Have you read it?

Happy new thread, Amber!

There was a lot of Barbies when I was a kid. And if I went over to my friend's house who had video games (I think it might have been a GameCube?) we would play that. We weren't allowed video games at home when I was a kid (my parents weren't psyched by the violence level) so I was pretty terrible at it. I'd walk Donkey Kong off a lot of cliffs.

>55 MickyFine: Micky: I feel pretty young most of the time, until some whippersnapper comes along and says that the video game system around when she was a kid was a GAMECUBE. I grew up in the age of Atari. Yeesh.

I had Barbies, too, and my mom would make crazy-cool outfits for them. Amazing.

>54 scaifea: No, I hadn't even heard of Old Path, White Clouds. Looks like my cuppa if you end up liking it.

>56 scaifea: I grew up in the golden age of Nintendo. Game & Watch and 8-bit, woot!

I love the illustrations. They are beautiful.

>6 scaifea: We would always 'build' forts in the woods. We would take tree branches, leaves and rocks and build short walls. As we got taller the walls got higher. A slight wind and everything would crash down. LOL

I lived in a Barbie world. And I had everything Barbie. I had the car, the three-story townhouse WITH elevator, the wardrobe, the pool, and TONS of clothes. I was a popular playmate on rainy days.

Being dropped at the swimming pool by someone's parent and spending the whole day there with my siblings and friends and enormous floats and inflatable balls and plenty of imagination.... I have a idle hope that someone will come up with an adult swim fitness class using a similar idea!

>60 Morphidae: But did you have the pink Magic Motorhome with a detachable Fun Car?

I wish I could "like" everyone's comments because it's so great to read about childhood adventures and games. I keep saying "Yes, yes, me too!" to myself as I read.

>56 scaifea: Nope, I lied. GameCube was too late to be the one I'm thinking of. Did some googling and it must have been an NES. Hope that helps you feel less old. :)

I had a home-made dollhouse for my Barbies (it was built by my grandfather for my mom and they refurbished it for me when I was about 8). My grandmother also made some clothes for my Barbies including a rather fabulous lace wedding dress.

>57 jnwelch: Joe: I already think it's your cuppa!

>58 PawsforThought: Paws: Even that was slightly after my time, I afraid.

>59 cal8769: Hi, Carrie!
We never built tree forts, but we did play in the woods a ton.

>60 Morphidae: Morphy: Ohmygosh, the townhouse?! You galmour girl, you!

>61 charl08: Charlotte: Charlie and I go to the public pool a couple of times a week in the summer, and there are a few kids who are always there. I suspect they pretty much live at the pool all summer. Adorable.

>62 PawsforThought: Paws: My goodness, I've never even heard of that one.

>63 PawsforThought: Paws: I know, it's so lovely to read everyone's stories, isn't it?

>64 MickyFine: Micky: Oh, whew! Much better. Ha!

My brother, who is significantly older than I am and also a pretty amazing carpenter, made me a gorgeous Victorian-style dollhouse one year for Christmas. I loved that thing.

>66 scaifea: Sounds spiffy. :)

Mine was 3-storey house but more contemporary in style than yous. One of my favourite features (as an 8 year old) was that one of the rooms had wallpaper with jellybeans printed all over it. :P

>65 scaifea: I'd be interested in hearing about Old Path, White Clouds. Not someone I know that much about.

>67 MickyFine: Micky: Jelly bean wallpaper - cool!

>68 drneutron: I'll be sure to report back - so far it's excellent, though. I much clearer look into the teachings of Buddha than I usually find.

>65 scaifea: I had to google what it was actually called. I just called it the "pink Barbie van with the jeep" (but in Swedish, obv.) There are TONS of pics online and they're bringing back so many memories - the pink cutlery, the yellow chairs, the decorations. I still have that thing in storage and every single accessory is there - I take good care of my things.

Never had a Barbie house, only a regular doll house that I think is from a flea market. And my Barbies only had store-bought clothes but my baby doll had tons of outfits that grandma made for me.
My friend/frenemy had a 3 story Barbie house with an elevator. I wasn't envious of it, but definitely in awe. I couldn't take my eyes off it the first time I went over to her house.

Bonus question: A lot of my memories of playing as a child are solitary; I loved riding my bike, swinging, reading. But getting together with friends or cousins sometimes meant playing cowboys and indians, (we were brought up on a diet of TV westerns, y'know). I was pretty proud of my cowboy boots and cap pistol. We had a lot of territory to roam, and a lot of freedom. We played in the creek, and the woods, and invented games. If we were stuck inside, we played cards---rummy, war, slapjack---or board games. Parcheesi was my favorite. I had Barbie, Ken and Skipper, but didn't play with them much. I did sort of "collect" her outfits, though. And I had aunts who were Amber-caliber seamstresses; they made me lots of clothes for Barbie.

We never had 'playdates'. Whenever we got home from school, we would change into our 'play clothes' from our 'school clothes' and then all congregate outside to play. We generally ran as a pack without much adult supervision or direction. Played lots of different kinds of ball, croquet in one kid's yard, badminton over a fence separating two yards, snow forts, skating at a rink near school, board games if someone's Mom let us actually in the house. We were pretty good at inventing games, too.

We would have to come home when the street lights came on. Or you could hear some kid's Mom yelling for him to come home. Once a large enough group left to ruin the game, the rest of us went home, too. Then dinner, then homework or music practice. In my memory, it was fairly idyllic.

No one seemed concerned that we would somehow be abducted or seriously hurt. If you were misbehaving, it was accepted that you would get yelled at by whatever adult was nearby -- and your parents would know about it pretty quickly (often before you got home).

In retrospect, we all learned a fair amount of self sufficiency, inventiveness and the ability to sort our own battles because there were no adults interfering to mediate.

Of course, parents would likely get arrested for that now.

>70 PawsforThought: Paws: Ha! You and Morphy are frenemies!!

>71 laytonwoman3rd: Linda: I played alone most of the time, but I didn't mind at all. My crazy-big imagination took me all sorts of places. Plus, books.
Cowboy boots and cap pistol, you say?



Under-the-leg trick shot:



>72 michigantrumpet: Marianne: The over-protective mom in my shudders, I have to admit, but the kid in my thinks it sounds like heaven.

The footprint of our allowed roaming expanded as we got older. I remember reaching third grade and being able to go beyond a two block radius. It meant that I then had access to a ball field where all the 'big' kids played. I felt sooo grown up! Of course misbehavior could mean being grounded to the old smaller play area.

I have to admit to being befuddled and saddened a bit by modern era pay. My current neighborhood actually has far less traffic than my childhood one, and an equally large concentration of kids. Tons of mothers stay home, so there would be no problem running to someone's house if there was ever a problem. And yet, it seems NO ONE ever plays as a group outside. It will be a gloriously sunny summer day and we'll be outside gardening. We won't hear a single kid outside playing. It makes me sad.

>74 michigantrumpet: Marianne: I hope you're heartened to hear that neighborhood kids are out playing every sunny day (and some rainy ones) all summer here, Charlie included. His rules right now are that I have to be able to look out a window in our house and be able to see him - if I make the rounds of all the windows and still can't find him, he's in trouble. And I check lots.

And it's not just out neighborhood - when driving round town in the summer of after school on nice days, there are groups of kiddos playing all over the place. It's nice, really.

>73 scaifea: That lovely cowgirl, it that you, Amber? If yes, how old?

>76 FAMeulstee: Anita: Yep, that's me. I think I was around 3? One of my brothers was taking photography classes and often used me as a subject.

Although I, too, come from The Time Before Play Dates, I do remember my mother arranging for 3 little girls in my first grade class to come to my house after school to play with me. It was not a success, primarily because the last people that I wanted to see, in what I considered to be my free time, were my fellow inmates. My feeling was always "Why would I want to spend more time with those people than I already have??!!" I. Did. Not. Like. School. At. All.

There was a family of five children who lived next door to me - they were the only other children in the neighborhood - and they were my playmates. Nothing formal - we just kind of met out in the street every day. Summer afternoons were for bike riding and hours spent in their above-ground swimming pool and at night we ran around in the dark chasing fireflies. There was one winter when they had an ice rink in the back yard that we spent a lot of time skating on (badly in my case) and there was also a pool table in the basement. The mother of the five children trusted me to walk to the neighborhood grocery in the summertime to buy popsicles (sp?) and the like and her twin daughters (who were four years younger) were allowed to go with me. The two younger boys were allowed to go with their older brother, but Rita never let boys and girls go together because she knew there was a very good chance some stupid argument would break out and somebody would probably get hurt. Or run over. We spent all of our time at their house. My house was small and my mother was in it. 'Nuff said.

>78 Fourpawz2: Charlotte: Your neighbors didn't go to your school? Or was a different grade or class enough of a difference?

Oh, forgot to cover that. I went to a public grade school and they went to a Catholic one. And they were in opposite directions so we didn't walk the same way.

>49 scaifea: I love TNH!

And then some whippersnapper comes along as says that she grew up with Atari! We didn't even have television until I was in second grade. However, I did have a Barbie in my preteens. Not the original Barbie, but the second one, with the bouffant hairdo. Still have her, but I liked my Revlon doll better.

As a kid, I lived on a small farm just half a mile outside of town, but far enough (and on a major highway) that I didn't play with other kids outside of school unless they came over to visit or Mom took me into town to play with them. At home (and in the neighborhoods of our small town too) we played cowboys and indians or cops and robbers with our pistols and bows and arrows (wood with rubber tips--this was way pre-Nerf, although I bought the latter for my nephews and got to play with them too), racing through the fields, over the piles of straw bales, up in the hay loft. In town, we just raced through all the neighbors' yards.

>80 Fourpawz2: Charlotte: Oh, well that makes total sense, then!

>81 luvamystery65: Roberta: I know, right? Me, too.

>82 ronincats: Roni: Ha!
Oh, the hay loft! So fun, and smelled so good.

>73 scaifea: Ooooh....fancy! There's a picture of me somewhere with a cowgirl hat, but Mom must have it. I can't find it here. This is the best I can do. No boots in evidence either, but I had 'em....and I wore 'em. Constantly. My grandmother gave me new ones every Christmas for several years.

How I love visiting here! Thank you for such stimulating questions, wonderful book revommendations, and last, but not least is the fact that you have allowed our group to be a part of your life with Charlie!! It just doesn't get any better than this. Thank You!!!

>56 scaifea: My brother grew up in the age of Atari. This was extra special for him (us) as my mother was a marketing rep for the company. We'd get all the games and operating systems, including some games that were in beta test. I was a teen by that time, so I loved them, too, but my brother was really into them. He was even filmed for a news piece on Atari. It was pretty cool.

One year we had an event at the Dade County Fair. Some of my high school friends got into Pac-Man costumes and then a bunch of us danced around to "Pac-Man Fever." We then all handed out Atari merchandise - tee shirts, hats, stickers, etc. We all got merchandise for helping out as well as free entrance to the fair and free food. It was a LOT of fun.

>62 PawsforThought: I don't think they existed in the 70s from what I can remember/Google.

>72 michigantrumpet: We didn't have play dates either. You ran outside and a) if you wanted to play with someone, b) there was someone out there, and c) they weren't a mortal enemy that day/hour (unless in a group,) you played with them.

>86 Morphidae: No, I got mine in the early 90's.

>84 laytonwoman3rd: Linda: Adorable! And Spunky! I love it!!

>85 Whisper1: Aw, Linda, you always have the kindest words. Thanks, friend.

>86 Morphidae: Morphy: An Atari rep?! How cool is that?! The Atari in our house was my brother's, too, who was a teen at the time. He was cool enough to let me play on it, too, though. Frogger was my favorite, I think, but I loved Pac-man, too, and the pit one, whose actual name I can remember...

On the agenda for today:
Treadmilling, laundry, Latin-book-writing, and sewing (still working on those pillow covers). Charlie has his book club tonight at the library, so I get some guilt-free quiet reading time for an hour. Lovely! Chicken Korma for dinner tonight, I think.

On the reading front:
I listened to a bit more of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell yesterday while sewing, and I read a bit more of War & Peace, too. Both are going along quite nicely. And I listened to some Odyssey in the car, which I love, of course. That story so familiar to me that it's like a security blanket, and then wrapped in Lombardo's gorgeous voice... Oh, and I picked up The Dolphin Crossing from the library and started reading it, too. So many middle grade-type books of a certain age are set during WW2, which isn't surprising, I suppose. This one is pretty okay so far.

The Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: "John Schoenherr read Jane Yolen's manuscript for Owl Moon (1988 Caldecott Medal) with the intention of sending it back to the editor saying he wouldn't illustrate it. Luckily, he read the manuscript a second time and changed his mind."

What We Read Yesterday:
-More bits of Herobrine Scared Stiff and Anna & Elsa: All Hail the Queen
-Thunder Boy, Jr. by Sherman Alexie (public library book, picture book) - 8/10 = B+
-Chapter 6 of Ollie's Odyssey
-The first half of chapter 8 in A Bear Called Paddington

>73 scaifea: >84 laytonwoman3rd: Loving these photos!! I don't have my pictures from childhood. They are in a closet at my parent's home. I really should sort through them some day...

Morning, Amber! I have a dentist visit this A.M. and then a couple errands. The rest of the day will be books and I will begin to pack.

>91 Berly: Thanks, Kim! I'd love to see your childhood pictures!

>92 msf59: Morning, Mark! Good luck at the dentist's office - just a cleaning? And yay for books and packing!

That's so awesome that Charlie is already in a book club! You are growing such a great little reader!
Have fun with your guilt free reading tonight

>94 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle! He loves the book club - the children's librarians here are pretty amazing.

Good morning, Amber!

You are definitely not whopper-adverse in the book realm. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and War and Peace both are doorstop-size, and The Odyssey isn't a shorty either. Good for you! I can only do that every once in a while; it takes a commitment, doesn't it. I'm going to start Infinite Jest in the next day or two, and I've got my fingers crossed that I enjoy it.

>96 jnwelch: Hi, Joe!
Occupational side-effect: I'm not afraid of the door-stoppers and in fact generally love 'em. For me, Homer is more second-nature then intimidating. He's an old friend.

Hi Amber, so nice that Charlie has a book club to go to. While you are busy doing some sewing and it seems that you have a bit to do, Karen is busy getting some knitting done whenever she has a moment. Karen is doing a lot of baby knits at the moment and no sooner does she get one batch done and posts on Facebook than someone else gets in touch to see if she will knit something. Enjoy your guilt free reading time my dear, sending love and hugs.

>87 PawsforThought: Tricksy!

>88 scaifea: My favorite was Joust. And it was called Pitfall!

>98 johnsimpson: Hi, John! I've always got at least one project on the knitting needles, too (right now I have about 6 different ones), and I work on them every night while we watch movies (I can't just sit still and watch the tv - drives me crazy). I've seen some of Karen's handiwork on Facebook, and she's a crack knitter, just as she is with baking and, I suspect, everything else she does.

>99 Morphidae: Morphy: JOUST!! Ohmygosh, I forgot about that one!! And yes, Pitfall! I thought of it earlier today, out of the blue, while I was sewing. Ha!

Mind the rant coming up, folks; skip it if you're not in the mood:

Cursive handwriting. So many of my fellow moms are spouting off about how disappointed they are that They're not teaching it in school anymore. The underlying current of their grousing is that this is a sign of the deterioration of education and even, somehow, Kids These Days, and that sort of old nugget.

Gah. This strikes a nerve right in the heart of one of my biggest peeves: when something changes, it *always* changes for the worst and the old ways are *always* better, somehow. Even if these folks don't know it, they're saying, underneath this righteous indignation, that they're better, they know better, they're better because THEY know how to write in that style. Gah, I say! In my book, this sort of complaint is right up there with being outraged at the "10 Items or Less" signs in the supermarkets. Language is going down the tubes, apparently. No it isn't - it's simply changing. And that's what language does. It changes, or it dies.

And that's what's happening to handwriting; it's changing. Not for the worse; cursive isn't the apex of penmanship; it was simply the easiest way to write with a quill, and also the easiest way to write with a fountain pen. By all means, if you like writing with fountain pens (and I count myself as one of those people), keep on writing in a cursive style. But is it *really* necessary for children to learn it these days? Will cultured civilization die? What kiddo do you know who takes a fountain pen to school everyday, or a quill, anyone?

Fine, teach them how to write their names so that they can sign checks (but who will be writing those in a few more years?) and legal documents (and I betcha those will be electronic soon, too, and also, how many of us actually, full-on sign our names in cursive? Mine is always a combination of print and cursive letters), but for everyday writing, where's the actual need?

But how will people read old documents in the next generation? Well, really, how long would it take to suss out cursive writing when needed? Five minutes of looking at a letter comparison chart, tops?

Language - and the writing of it - changes, and that's okay. No, really, it's OKAY.

Footnote: For the record, I wouldn't be upset if it were still taught in schools; I'm fine with it either way. And also, for the record, Charlie asked me how to write his name in cursive over the summer, and since then I've been teaching him a few letters a week and he's enjoying learning it. So I'm not anti-cursive; I'm just anti-pedantic, petty, pointless beefs. Which this isn't, at all, of course. Totally pointy.

Rant over. On with your knitting.

(Sorry, that sounds a bit harsh up there. I've just had a bit of a frustrating day and it felt good to let loose on the old keyboard for a bit. Thanks for the understanding and the up-with-putting.)

>101 scaifea: BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN!?!?!

>102 Morphidae: *shakes fist at Morphy*

GAH!

>101 scaifea: We didn't learn to write in cursive when I was in school. Well, *technically* we were but it was the kind of "cursive" that just regular writing with little connecting dashes, not "proper" cursive (with the odd-looking R and all).
That was basically done away with ca 1990 (before I started school).
I completely get why they did it and can see that it's not a necessary skill these days, but I definitely wish we'd learnt it.
I did learn cursive by my own initiative but that was years later and it was harder than I think it would have been if I'd learnt it in the first few years.
Also, I've notised that people who can write cursive write "better" (more legibly) when writing block letters.

>104 PawsforThought: Paws: Good for you for teaching yourself. And it's interesting to learn that it's been gone from your school's curriculum for so long - Wisconsin is clearly not on the cutting edge of cursive reform (this is a recent change round these here parts).
And I don't know that I completely agree that there's a strong correlation between knowing how to write in cursive form and being better at printing, but I also haven't done an extensive study, of course.

>101 scaifea: I learned cursive in school. I write things in cursive practically every single day. I write cursive with a fountain pen. I write cursive with a ballpoint pen. (Heck, I even write cursive with a pencil!). I also read old documents practically every day for my job. And guess what? I want that cursive chart you mention, because most people back in the day had crappy handwriting.

I will say that I believe myself to be equally skilled in cursive and printing, and that I can write significantly faster in cursive. If I go fast enough with the printing, it all loops together into a kind of cursive anyway. But I don't know if that's just me or if cursive is faster for everyone once you're fluent in it.

I could see how cursive could be helpful for fine motor skills, maybe. Or art class. Then again, nearly all my high school art projects involved a hand lettered element just because I love handwriting and typography. I'm a nerd; so sue me. :)

ETA: If you're (generic you, not you, Amber) so concerned that your kid isn't learning cursive, there are lots of lovely people on the internet who will sell you workbooks to help out with that. How do you think the homeschoolers do it? Heaven forbid you should lift a finger to make sure you kid learns something you believe to be important.

>106 casvelyn: I'm not against people who know cursive, nor do I think it's not helpful or fun or any of those things. I just don't think written communication will die because it's being phased out. And lots of other things help fine motor skills. Honestly, I'm not even agains people thinking it's a shame that it's not being taught anymore; it's when they go that more step more into condescension and pedantry that sets me off.

And yes, I agree about the workbooks - stop complaining and teach them yourself, if you want them to learn it so badly!

Oh, and I agree that even knowing cursive doesn't always mean that you can read ye olde documents.

>101 scaifea: And that's what language does. It changes, or it dies.

I love your rant and completely agree, languages, writing, schooling, housing, gardening and even mountains change, that is life!
Who was the ancient Greek complaining about the present day youth? That is the only thing that hasn't changed ;-)

>107 scaifea: I know you're not against it. I was just pointing out that I am the pro-cursive lobby's dream and I still can't do everything they say knowing cursive allows you to do. :)

But let's go back to the fountain pens for a minute. I don't care whether you use print or cursive, but I'm totally a sucker for a good writing utensil.

>108 FAMeulstee: Anita: Woot!!
And yes, I think you're right - that's the only thing that doesn't change! Ha!

>109 casvelyn: Yes, fountain pens are marvelous! Love 'em. So do several folks here, I think, including Julia (rosalita) and John (johnsimpson).

>105 scaifea: Oh, I don't know if there's a strong correlation, but I have notised it. Could be a complete coincidence, but my suspicion is that people who've learnt cursive have had to put more work into writing and that's affected their block writing as well. But I don't know.

I was surprised that cursive wasn't taught in schools anymore, but when I was in school I wasn't using a computer to write essays either so things have clearly changed since then.

>101 scaifea: Agree. As counterargument I most closely agree with the one that says lots of people do still write cursive, that written communication still occurs, and there is a strong chance you'll be expected to read someone else's handwriting. But that argument is steadily losing force,

My nephews attended a school that took exactly the opposite approach: they skipped printing and learned only cursive. I'm not sure whether this is better or worse, but expect it's just different.

>103 scaifea: You know that I was joking, right?

I went to school when they were still teaching cursive yet I hardly use it now. The only thing I *always* use it for is my signature. I sometimes use it for forms and cards. As it is, it continues to degrade especially since I have essential tremors. If I have a letter to send, I type it up and sign my name. Even personal ones.

Yeah, of all the things to drop out of a full curriculum, cursive seems like a pretty easy one to let go.

I'm reminded of a time in college when I was volunteering at the library book sale with a bunch of older ladies. I had to make a sign for something or other, and one of them saw my writing and lamented how horrible it looked and how they don't teach people to write properly anymore.

The sign was printed, not in cursive. I just rounded my capital letters because I preferred their appearance that way (so the arch of a capital A was more like an upside-down U rather than a V, and a Y had a small u at the top rather than a v, etc.)

I was not impressed by the complaint, especially because it was a purely stylistic issue.

(Meanwhile, I started to be flattered last week when one of my students said that my board writing was really nice... and then finished up "...for a left-handed person." Hmph.)

>113 swynn: Hi, Steve! "...better or worse, but expect it's just different." YES. Why does everything have to qualify as better or worse? Agreed.

>114 Morphidae: Morphy: Of course, sister. And me, too, dontchaknow.

>115 _Zoe_: Zoe: Exactly. So many much more important things are being cut that should be lamented and fought for.
And see, that's exactly the kind of attitude that irks me no end. I'm sorry you had to be the object of it.
My board writing was generally abysmal, I think, so good on you have having nice writing, no matter how it's qualified.

Plus all these grumps are missing out on the fact we could have our own old people code just by using cursive. ;)

I agree with you on the cursive issue but the less vs fewer is a huge pet peeve, and I will defend the difference with my dying breath :-)

Hi Amber, I'm late to the cursive debate, but it is raging in my district. There seem to be studies supporting it from a developmental point of view. I'm not sure how I feel. Now tech, on the other hand... I have VERY mixed feelings -- and I'm the one responsible for teaching it!

As for who brings a quill pen to school... you might like to meet my daughter Marina. :)

I've got no strong feelings about cursive for sentimental reasons but until students start doing exams via computer or tablet it's a important skill to have. It's faster to write in some form of cursive (or at least semi-cursive) than print and young people who can't write fast are at a disadvantage in exams.

>117 MickyFine: Micky: *snork!* Exactly!

>118 katiekrug: Katie: I myownself like to use 'proper' grammar and try to do so, but I'm fine with other folks doing as they please. The only real rule in language is that you speak or write in a manner that can be understood. Do I understand what is meant by "10 items or less"? Yep, I sure do, so it works.

>119 AMQS: Anne: Tech is tricky, no? You're not the only teacher responsible for it but also with mixed feelings. I know a few others, too.
And aw, Marina! Adorable.

>120 SandDune: Rhian: Charlie is already taking almost all of his exams on a computer or tablet.

On the agenda for today:
Treadmilling, laundry, menu-planning and grocery-list-making, Latin-book-writing, sewing.

On the reading front:
I listened to more Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (so good), listened to a bit a The Odyssey (love it, of course), finished The Dolphin Crossing (more on that later), started reading The Hollow Hills and read a bit more of The Complete Sherlock Holmes (completely enjoyable so far). So, a pretty good reading day, really.

The Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: "Katherine Paterson received a letter from a teacher thanking her for making Gilly in The Great Gilly Hopkins (1979 Newbery Honor Book) such a good role model. Peterson doesn't think someone who cheats, lies and steals is a good role model."

What We Read Yesterday:
-Half of Talk! Talk! Talk! (Charlie's homework book)
-Happy in Our Skin by Fran Manushkin (public library book, picture book) - 9/10 = A-
-Chapter 1 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (a happy re-read with Charlie, because it's next month's book club book for him)
-Chapter 7 of Ollie's Odyssey
And we finished:

7. A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond (Charlie's bedtime read, 143 pages) - 10/10 = A+
We love Paddington here at Scaife Manor. That is all.

8. The Dolphin Crossing by Jill Paton Walsh (1001 Children's Books, 134 pages) - 8/10 = B
Two boys from different economic classes find themselves as friends in WW2-England. They take out one boy's father's boat, unknown to their mothers, and sail it cross the channel to help evacuate British troops.
A good-enough story, but the characters are a bit flat and the story isn't as gripping as it could have been, I think. Enjoyable but not spectacular.

Morning Amber! Happy Wednesday!

>121 scaifea: I am a bit old fashioned Amber but I am a bit disquieted about changing trends in teaching. Calculators in the exam hall was a debate in my day and the answer was no. Nowadays:

Standards in mental arithmetic are appalling because kids are not taught to calculate they are asked to press buttons

Standards in cognitive functions and especially memory are in decline because of reliance on gadgets. How many phone numbers can people remember nowadays as a result of having a function on their mobiles that allows them to store the same?

Ability in reading and writing are assets that our forefathers and mothers fought long to have as a basic right for their children. This will be slowly lost over time if computers take over.

Happy Wednesday. xx

>125 msf59: Morning, Mark!

>126 PaulCranswick: Paul: I'm a bit on both sides of that fence. For language study (for example), some memorization is necessary, of course, but in other aspects I frequently wonder what the value of rote memorization really is. Dates in history, for example: is it honestly important to know that Rome was (allegedly) founded in 753BC? Does that further my understanding of Roman culture? I'm a bigger supported of Big Picture learning, and leaving the details that can easily be looked up to be, well, looked up.


But, also, when I was teaching I didn't allow laptops in my classes; I was paranoid that they would be browsing the interwebs while I was lecturing...

In answer to your bonus question, Amber, some of my best memories are playing make believe games with my brothers and sister. Four of us were within born within five years (my youngest sister came ten years later) and we'd make up games based on movies or TV shows or stories we knew or whatever. Sometimes we did this just the four of us, and sometimes our neighborhood friends would come up with something (thus, playing Power Rangers or Jurassic Park when we hadn't actually watched either). We'd also get into all sorts of trouble crawling in the rafters in the upstairs of our cape (when Mom caught us).

As for teaching or not teaching cursive... I kind of wish kids still learned cursive but I admit it's more for my own benefit because I usually write in cursive and it's hard to remember that someone may not be able to read it anymore! More of a nostalgia thing than anything else, at least for my part.

I tend to agree with you that big picture learning is more important, and when it came to math I definitely did better once I could use a calculator to fix my computation mistakes (college), but I actually knew how to do all the equations (I'm talking about stats now), where a lot of kids just plugged them in to their graphing calculators and didn't have the same understanding of exactly what the process was doing. My mother is phenomenal at figuring out percentages off in her head, and I either have to multiply from 10% off or use the cheat sheet the stores helpfully put up.

>127 scaifea: My experience in the classroom as a student would be that anyone with a laptop was, um, multitasking ;)

>128 bell7: Mary: Love the story of your make-believe with your siblings!

Yeah, it's more the attitude of those bemoaning the loss of cursive writing than the actual loss for me. Your attitude is spot on for me. *grins*

And ah, there's (one of) the rub(s): if you teach understanding of the *process*, then lots of times the memorization is moot. But, generally subjects aren't taught that way. Silly. And that's actually one of the bases for the new Latin textbook that my friend and I are writing: Latin tends to be taught from the memorize-this-stuff-and-these-arbitrary-categories; we're approaching it from the methods and process side of things.

And yeah, no laptop for you, missy! Ha!

Morning, Amber! Your thread is taking me back to my childhood - I loved Barbie, but even more I loved her friends Francie and Skipper. And the Dawn dolls - remember those? Anyway, I had the Barbie airplane and the camper, which I loved. I passed both on to my niece, who also loved them. I can remember when one of my nephews was young, he was always stealing her pink Barbie jeep to drive around his G.I. Joe figures, which cracked me up because my niece was wanting to use it for Barbie. So the nephew says, Barbie can hop in and I'll give her a lift to wherever she wants to go, and the niece says, NO. Barbie can give Joe a lift to wherever he wants to go IF it is on her way. Clever girl!

>101 scaifea: When my kids were in school, which was years ago, I was asking then why they were still using school time to teach cursive.

>102 Morphidae: You made me laugh out loud, Morphy!

The memorized dates in history is an interesting topic - I hated memorizing this stuff in school, but as an adult, I so appreciate that when I am reading historical fiction or history or biography, I can set the story into its context of world events. Something I did not appreciate when I was younger. However, I learned these things not by memorizing the cold hard facts but by teaching them to my own children. History can be so much fun, and yet it gets buried under the dry and methodical approach that a lot of the classrooms used to take - the right teacher can make all the difference, so I am not saying all classrooms, just the ones that I experienced growing up.

>130 Crazymamie: Mamie: Oh, Dawn! I forgot about her! I had one, too! And I used to play with my brothers' old GI Joe stuff (and I mean OLD - the really tall ones with the giant jeeps and stuff). And now Charlie plays with them!

Sing it, sister! On cursive writing and teaching history! One need not remember dates if one can place events in context. And how can history be so dry in classes?! It's fascinating stuff! I shake my head at those who manage to teach it in a dull way. My students used to get amused at me when I lectured on Athens and the Persian War and the Athenians watching Aeschylus' Persians play while sitting in the midst of a city still half in ruins because of that war - I'd get so emotional, I'd show them the goosebumps on my arms.

Happy new one, Amber. It's great to have such a big help in the kitchen. He looks like a happy chef.

>132 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara! He loves to cook!

Amber, this article appeared today in NEA Today: http://neatoday.org/2017/01/05/a-case-for-cursive/?utm_source=nea_today_express&...

Thought I'd share:)

I'd prefer for cursive to still be taught. It's absolutely essential to be able to read it to read historic documents which I analyze on an almost daily basis.

>134 AMQS: Thanks, Anne. Still, most of the arguments cited could me made for writing in print letters, too.

>135 thornton37814: Lori: And I maintain that you don't necessarily need to be proficient at writing it to be able to read it. As >106 casvelyn: says, even knowing how to write it doesn't equate to ease in reading those older documents.

>100 scaifea:, Karen says thank you very much for the praise but wishes it were but true. She admits that due to arthritis in her fingers she is not brilliant at icing cakes and wishes she could sew like you but when she is doing something she likes to give of her best and obviously when knitting for someone it has to be perfect or it is unravelled and she will start again. We both send much love to you all my dear friend.

>137 johnsimpson: John: One of these days, I really, *really* want to sit down to a cuppa with the both of you...

>138 scaifea:, That would be a joy my dear, when we met up with Barbara (ameise1) in Bournemouth it was 3.30pm and before we knew it it was 7pm and we just wondered where the time had gone as we all got on like a house on fire and it was as if we had known each other for years as the conversation just flowed with no sticky moments or awkward pauses. We could have chatted all day and that still would not have been enough all thanks to LT for bringing us together like with you and all my other LT friends.

>139 johnsimpson: John: That has been my experience with the Iowa City Meet-ups, too! Just like old friends right from the start. I love it.

>121 scaifea: Charlie is already taking almost all of his exams on a computer or tablet. That's interesting. I don't know much about the US exam system. Is that the same for external exams when children are older. So will the schools have sufficient computers for everyone to take their exams at the same time?

>141 SandDune: By 'external exams,' do you mean those needed for college and such? Here, those (SAT's and the like) aren't given at school during the school day, but usually on weekends, for which you need to register beforehand. I'm fairly certain that those are computerized these days, yes.

>142 scaifea: I looked up how your SATs work in comparison to our exams and I think I can see why there is a difference. Here all children are expected to do at least 8 or so GCSEs at 16 whether they go to college or not. The exams are set by external exam boards (there are only a few of these) and the exams have to be sat by everyone at the same time. So for subjects like English and Maths which have to be done by everyone, every school would need a suitable computer set up in an exam hall for all its 16 year olds at once. Which would be expensive.

I do have to say that taking the GRE on a computer was a nightmare. I'm a competent typist and computer user, but I can't think clearly unless I put pen to paper. Blue book exams were always my favorite, and the massive hand cramp at the end made you feel like you'd done battle and emerged victorious. :)

>143 SandDune: Rhian: Ooof, yes, that would be tough to do.

>144 casvelyn: Ha! Yes, I have to say that I'm glad I took the GRE pre-computer days. And for the SATs, which, apparently, adjust each next question compared to how well you answered the previous one. That would unnerve me no end.

Just trying to catch up with you again, Amber. Your threads just zip along! I just got to the part on your previous thread where you said that you hate the look of the grass at this time of year when there is no snow on it because it looks so dead. I thought that is how I remembered it from when I grew up where the snow was down for a long time. Here, even though the snow was down for about a month and a half, the grass was still green when the snow went away. It kept on puzzling me when I looked at it because that didn't seem right, preferable but not right.

For the bonus question, I was brought up in a brand new suburban subdivision but across the road was undeveloped, deserted farm land. We loved to play there, make up stories and bring interesting things home. There was no adult supervision and we were supposed to be home in time for supper.

I don't know what to think about teaching cursive handwriting. It is probably good to have some knowledge of handwriting of some kind so that you can interpret original documents especially if you do historical research (that is if the hand writing is legible). The thing is that you will need to know more than just cursive handwriting - Secretary script is even more challenging. Prior knowledge of any type of handwriting probably makes it easier to learn a new type of script.

>146 Familyhistorian: Morning, Meg! You know, I called it dead grass, but ours is pretty green underneath there this year, too. Weird. And I was getting pretty sad about how things looked outside (only tiny patches a snow, bare trees, dreary and gloomy), and then yesterday 5 inches of the white stuff came floating down! Now everything is covered in white again and looks just as it should. *contented sigh*

I grew up surrounded by farmland (seriously, on all four sides), but was taught very early on never to play in it (because it was always in use, so not like that across the street from you). My dad taught me respect for other folks' things in a quiet and patient, yet incredibly, fiercely firm way. You don't think casually of anyone's property, because that property is his livelihood. One of my earlier memories is coming to my first realization of that, thanks to my dad; that respect for others and others' things was a primary thing, and that what I did could have an effect, good or bad, on others. Grateful for those lessons from him, I am, most certainly.

And your mention of secretary script is interesting - shorthand? Where does one learn that? They didn't teach it what I was in school at all. It must be a course specific to a major, maybe? Which, by the way, is what I think maybe should happen to cursive writing.

On the agenda for today:
Treadmilling, laundry, cleaning, some of the grocery shopping, and then my Thursday afternoon volunteering in the school library. Spaghetti for dinner tonight, I think.

On the reading front:
I listened to bits of The Odyssey and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and read more of Old Path White Clouds, all of which are wonderful so far.

The Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: "Ezra Jack Keats (The Snowy Day, 1963 Caldecott Medal) grew up in a tough neighborhood. A gang once ordered him to give them a picture he'd drawn. They admired it, then returned the drawing to Keats."

>147 scaifea: My mum can write shorthand too. I always envied her that but she's promised that I can have her old textbooks whenever I want to teach myself. One day...
She used to be a medical secretary and shorthand was part of the training back then (70's).

ETA: I also just remembered that I had a teacher at uni who recommended that we learn shorthand for note-taking purposes as it's so much faster to write in shorthand (and you can make up your own letters/signs if you need to, when there are words or affixes you use often - she used the example of -logy)

What We Read Yesterday:
-Bits of Herobrine Scared Stiff, Anna & Elsa: All Hail the Queen and Talk! Talk! Talk!
-The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My
-Chapter 2 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
-Chapter 8 of Ollie's Odyssey
-The first half of chapter 1 in More About Paddington

And last night we watched more of Season One of The Muppet Show, which we've been watching all week; we made a Family Decision to have a Muppets marathon, starting with the tv show and going all the way through all of the movies, too.

>149 PawsforThought: Paws: Yep, as long as no one but you need read it, why not just make up your own?

Oh, and I found out yesterday that I didn't get the library job, which didn't make me feel fabulous, of course, but it's not the end of the world, since I was going to turn it down, anyway (they changed/increased the hours after I first applied, and it just wasn't going to be doable for me and for our family right now). So, *shrug*. My Lady of Leisure status remains thus.

>151 scaifea: Well, it's surprisingly difficult to make up your own (and remember them).

How did you like the Moomin book? Moomin was a huge part of my childhood. Just reading the word "Moomin" brings back memories (and makes me hear the intro music to the TV series in my head).

>153 PawsforThought: Paws: Moomin was a re-read, many times over, for us (when I just give the title of a picture book and nothing else, that means it's a re-read). We love it, and I'd get more of them, but they're incredibly difficult to find here. I have read one of the chapter books, but that was a library book - I can't find it to purchase.

Sorry to hear you didn't get the job but YAY for being a lady of leisure!! Enjoy your day!

>155 ChelleBearss: Oh, how sad to have difficulty finding Moomin books. You nearly drown in them here (good way to die, I say).

BookDepository seem to have quite a few of them, if you're into buying books online.

>152 scaifea: Sorry you didn't get the job, Amber, rejection never feels good. On the other hand it was for the best, as they changed it into a job you wouldn't have applied to...

>155 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle! I'm definitely a fan of the Leisure status.

>156 PawsforThought: Paws: Thanks. A few years ago, when I was really looking, I couldn't find any; maybe I'll have another look now.

>157 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita. It's true that it wasn't the job for me right now, but you're right that my self-esteem didn't exactly skyrocket yesterday.

>158 scaifea: Yeah, but you're an awesome science class/guest presenter coordinator! :)

>147 scaifea: Secretary hand is a kind of writing that was used in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. I run across it in wills from that time period and it takes some getting used to before you can interpret it.

Funny that you are happy to see the snow back. We, at least I think most of us, don't want to see any more of that white stuff this year. We are much happier back to our normal green.

Too bad about the job and too bad they changed the posting mid way through - who does that?

I'm sorry you didn't get the job. Perhaps it wasn't so much that you weren't the right person for the job as you weren't this right person for the job right now. They might have felt your uncertainty. I'm sure that in the future if you were to apply again when you're ready, you'd get it in a flash! Because you are just that awesome!

Morning, Amber! Sorry about the job - and what Morphy said.

>159 drneutron: Ha, thanks, Jim!! I'm so excited about it!! You're The Best.

(Jim has fabulously volunteered to do a skype presentation to Charlie's class at school about his solar probe project - how awesome is that?! Now, if we could just get this scientists to run for office...)

>160 Familyhistorian: Meg: So different from shorthand, then? Very cool. Clearly I need to do some researching and learn more about it.
And bring on the snow - I love the stuff. Charlie and I were dancing around in it yesterday. Magic.

>161 Morphidae: Thanks, Morphy, that's so kind of you to say. I know all of the folks who work there (Charlie and I there A LOT, and I've done some volunteer presentations for them and such), so the interview was a pretty open and honest thing; they knew that I had applied for the page position, and when it changed to an Assistant Librarian job, the director called and explained it to me and asked me to come in for an interview anyway. They knew that I had some hesitations about the new hours, so yeah, I think that factored in. They've agreed to keep my application on file for the next page position that opens up, so we'll see. For now I'm content to keep doing what I'm doing - it's not as if I'm ever listless or bored or without a million things to do...

>162 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie!

I assume you will soon know who did get the job (if you don't already), and that might make you feel better about the "rejection" (which wasn't that, you know). Since the director knew this wasn't your ideal position going in to the interview, maybe he/she also knew the it was ideal for the person who got it.

Morning, Amber!

"Ezra Jack Keats (The Snowy Day, 1963 Caldecott Medal) grew up in a tough neighborhood. A gang once ordered him to give them a picture he'd drawn. They admired it, then returned the drawing to Keats."

What a story! I can just imagine it.

Your BFF-in-waiting Becca and I read the Moomin stories together a lot when she was young. I'm sorry to hear they're harder to get a hold of now. They weren't, then.

We had two Finnish girls visiting at one point, and told them, with our flat Midwestern pronunciation, that we loved the stories of "Toave Jann-senn". They looked at us, totally befuddled, then realized together what we meant, and said at the same time, "Oh, you mean Toe-vuh Yahn-son". We cracked up. Oops!

>164 laytonwoman3rd: Linda: Yes, I'm sure I'll know soon enough, and I'm already very happy for whoever landed the job.

>165 jnwelch: Morning, Joe!

Isn't that Keats story something? Reminds me of the story my mom tells about getting lost after dark in the 'scary' part of Chicago with my dad in their '81 Cadillac Coupe Deville (this was in 1992, on their way to my high school drumline competition): my dad saw a group of young men standing round at a street corner and decided to stop and ask for directions. As soon as he was out of the car, my mom locked all the doors (you can't save everyone, apparently), but when dad (an Indiana farmer in his early 60s, work shirt, bandy legs and all) told them what he needed, they couldn't have been more helpful, of course.

I love the Finnish gals story! So funny. And yes, I'm convinced that Becca and I would get on like a house afire, should we ever get in the same room with each other. At least I know I'd be pretty excited for the meeting...

Amber--I know it would have felt better to have been offered the job and then turned it down, but I think they could tell you weren't psyche by the increased hours. Don't let it bum you out!! We all know you are awesome and I bet they will call you up again when the original position comes up again. Or maybe another one?!

Hi Amber, sorry to hear you didn't get the job my dear but changing the goalposts about hours after the applications is not on, enjoy your time as a lady of leisure my dear although seeing how much you do I think that is a misnomer. I have my leisure days in between the housework while Karen is working but at the moment with this cool weather it is taking its toll on my back. Sending love and hugs.

>131 scaifea: It's back there a bit, but I expect the reason people complain about their history classes being dull is because many of the professors do Not get goosebumps while teaching. It's a whole different class with a prof who truly loves their subject.

Sorry, not sorry about the job. If you're going to give up lady of leisure status, then it's got to be the right hours and everything.

>167 Berly: Thanks, Kim! Ideally, they'll call in a year or so, when Charlie's just a bit older...

>168 johnsimpson: Thanks so much, John. I do feel that I'm never not busy as it is, but I do love the charmed life I lead.

>169 nittnut: Jenn: I honestly don't know how people who teach history don't get excited about it. I mean, honestly, it's pretty amazing stuff.
And thanks, you're absolutely right - it has to be a perfect job, really, to give up what I've got going for me now.

Hi Amber, I'm sorry you didn't get the job, though it sounds as though it would not have been a good fit schedule-wise. As you already know, you will never regret this time and how you're spending it.

Love Moomins -- they're the best:)

So on your rant a mile back up the thread, next time someone uses that appalled voice on you "they aren't teaching cursive now adays!!!" ask them when they first learned to type and tell them we've got kids on keyboards as early as first grade now. And frankly, how many people can read the cursive note they wrote hurriedly the month before anyway?

Love the Paddington! My fav picture is the one where he's all stuck together with treacle.

And had to laugh at your hide and seek comments. My hide and seek days were with an old Basset Hound. She'd lie in her spot in the sun right by my father's comfy chair, raise an eyebrow at you as you hid and then go back to sleep. I'm sure a border collie present would be a bit of a game changer!

>170 scaifea: If I were teaching history I'd constantly be going "Oh, my God! This is so COOL! This person was AWESOME!" And then go off on a tangent that is only marginally related to the era we were supposed to be learning. Because history from a history text book is boring a.f. "During the reign of Whoever the 5th, country X was engaged in was ninety-eleven times, ninety-ten of which were with their closest neighbour (run by the king's brother). In the battle of Boringville the king was gravely wounded".

There's so much more to history than that, but sadly those are the things that are often considered most important to learn. Why the battle happened in the first place (and why the neighbouring countries/brothers were fighting at all) is way more important than dates and years. Not to mention all the "soft" parts like cultural history with food, music, philosophical ideas, etc.

No, I'm not passionate about this AT ALL; why do you ask? *whistles*

>171 AMQS: Thanks, Anne. My first priority with applying for the job was that things would change as little as possible for Charlie, so yeah.

>172 cammykitty: Katie: Agreed. Proper typing teaches fine motor skills, too, of course.

And yep, we love Paddington! And Peggy Fortnum's illustrations are the best.

Ha! I bet the Basset Hound wasn't bothered in the slightest by your shenanigans! Border Collies are a completely different sort of beast.

>173 PawsforThought: Paws: Indeed. This is also why I don't generally go in for historical fiction written about the period of my field of study - nothing folks could write now could every compare to the real salacious details, honestly.

On the agenda for today:
After picking up the rest of the groceries this morning and then finishing up the cleaning that didn't get done yesterday, I'm treating myself today to a trip to the fabric shop in Dubuque, which has a pattern sale going on right now. I may even buy myself some lunch. Charlie's first gymnastics class of the semester is tonight, too.

On the reading front:
I listened to more of The Odyssey (those nasty suitors are complaining about Penelope's weaving habits), read some of The Hollow Hills (I liked the first in the series okay, but I'm hoping this one grabs me a bit better) and started The Year of the Book, which I picked from the shelves while volunteering yesterday and which seems good so far (the narrator has already referenced My Side of the Mountain only 5 pages in).

The Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: "Jerry Pinkney wanted to illustrate a book about John Henry, and he asked Julius Lester to write the story. John Henry became a Caldecott Honor Book in 1995.

Last night we watched a couple more episodes of The Muppet Show, which are really bringing back the memories. And I love that Charlie's loving them, too.

Happy Friday, Amber! Love all the cowgirl pics and I know I've got a couple too but they're prob in a box upstairs. Ha! if I can fit in my schedule I'll look for them.
Glad you're all enjoying The Muppet Show! So many great guest stars! My personal fave, Elton John.

Morning Amber! Happy Friday. Hope the week went well.

Morning, Amber!

Morning Amber!

I probably missed it - did you finish Jonathan Strange? Did you like it?

I'm liking Queen of the Tearling so far.

What We Read Yesterday:
-One Today by Richard Blanco (public library book, picture book) - 9/10 = A
-Bits of Herobrine Scared Stiff and Anna & Elsa: All Hail the Queen
-And Charlie finished Talk! Talk! Talk! by Kay Winters (Charlie's homework book, 24 pages) - 8/10 = B
-Chapter 3 in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
-The rest of chapter 1 in More about Paddington
-Chapter 9 in Ollie's Odyssey

>176 Carmenere: Morning, Lynda! Oh, I hope you find the pictures - I'd love to see them!

>177 msf59: Happy Friday, Mark! The week's had it's ups and downs, but overall it's been pretty good, I think.

>178 Crazymamie: Morning, Mamie!

>179 jnwelch: Morning, Joe! Finished it?! Ha! You must be crackin' wise. I just didn't have time yesterday to listen. I'll be listening to more today while vacuuming. I'm still loving it, though.

I need to add Queen of the Tearling to the list...

Oh I always loved the Muppet Show! I tried to get Chloe to watch A Muppet Christmas with me but she lost interest quickly. I will try again next year. I loved that the muppet christmas had Fraggles in it!

>182 ChelleBearss: Chelle: Charlie went through a phase of not really liking the Muppets, but now he's a big fan again, thank goodness! Have you seen the newest movie? It's one of my favorites - so funny.

No, actually. I didn't realize there was a new movie! I'll have to check it out!
We watched the movie Home (the one with Jim Parsons aka Sheldon Cooper) and we all really liked it. Chloe has loved the animated movies lately like the Bee Movie. "Bee moo, Mom! Bee Moo!!"

>184 ChelleBearss: Chelle: Ohmygosh, we LOVE Home!!

>174 scaifea: And fiction based on mythology. WHEW! Don't even get her started. ;)

>181 scaifea: I'll be adding Queen of the Tearling to next month's TBR.

>186 Morphidae: Morphy: Well, yes. It goes both ways; SOME popular kid's series are gawd-awful, but then there's the lovely Mr. Gaiman, who gets it right, every time.

I'm eager to see what you think of the Johansen, then.

>187 scaifea: 100% with you on Neil Gaiman. I keep thinking that one day I'll read something of his and not be totally in love with it, but nope. So far everything has been fantastic (both kids and grown up books).

>188 PawsforThought: Paws: Yup. He's the best.

Yikes Amber, I last checked in when you were talking about cowboy outfits, and so much has happened since then! I am also sorry about the job, but glad to hear you are so Danube about it. The comments about teaching history made me smile: I loved teaching it. It was a privilege.
Didn't like the increasingly onerous and sometimes big brotherish admin requirements though.

ETA Sanguine, not Danube....

>190 charl08: Thanks, Charlotte.
I loved teaching, too, but academic administrations are not fun, I definitely get that.

And I so totally think that we need to start using that as a new phrase: "Yeah, it's fine; I'm totally Danube about the whole thing." Ha! I LOVE IT.

>163 scaifea: That is too cool that Jim volunteered to do a skype presentation to Charlie's class. Love how well that goes with the joy of teaching history discussion afterwards. I think really, it is the joys of teaching/presenting anything that you are passionate about.

>192 Familyhistorian: Meg: Very true. If you're not passionate about the subject, why teach it?! And yes, Jim is The Coolest, and I'm so excited that he's agreed to do the presentation!

Happy weekend, Amber.

On the agenda for today:
A stay-at-home day for us. I'll be baking (Spiced Pear Bread, Devil's Food Cake, Butterscotch Brownies, and then some Buttermilk Biscuits to go with the Beef Vegetable Soup for dinner tonight), and then hanging out with the Scaife Men. There may be some board game playing this afternoon.

On the reading front:
I listened to The Odyssey and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, finished The Year of the Book (more on that later), and read a bit more of War and Peace. Reading life is pretty great right now - these are all quite good.

The Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: "Vera William's love for a new grandchild inspired "More, More, More," Said the Baby (1991 Caldecott Honor Book)."

>194 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara! Happy weekend to you, too!

What We Read Yesterday:
-Charlie read a few pages in his homework book, The Adventures of Max and Ned
-All the World
-Chapter 4 in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
-Chapter 10 in Ollie's Odyssey
-Half of chapter 2 in More about Paddington

And we watched more of season one of The Muppet Show.

9. The Year of the Book by Andrea Cheng (a book I picked off the shelves while volunteering at Charlie's school library, 146 pages) - 9/10 = A-
A Chinese-American girl read-walks through her 4th grade year, struggles with her introversion and with making a new friend, who is having her own family issues.
A sweet little book, nicely written, that captures the troubles of a 4th grade girl pretty well, I think. Plus, there are excellent references to the books she reads throughout the year, including My Side of the Mountain and A Wrinkle in Time. I think I loved it most because this girl was me at that age - she'd always rather stay at home and read her library book than go to a friend's house to play. Me all over.

Good morning, Amber!

>198 scaifea: That does sound like a sweet one. Makes me think of our lovely daughter.

>199 jnwelch: Morning, Joe!
Yep, I suspect Becca would love it, if she hasn't already read it - and it's the first of a series, too.

Morning Amber! Greetings from Goodyear. Hope you have a nice Saturday.

>201 msf59: Thanks, Mark! You, too!

I finished a pair of Gryffindor socks for Charlie last night:

Very cool socks! Morning, Amber!

Beautiful

>203 scaifea: Jeez, I used to think that our kids had the best mom ever, but now I'm starting to wonder . . . Charlie's a lucky guy, and I'm sure he knows it.

>204 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie!

>205 Ameise1: Aw, thanks so much, Barbara!

>206 jnwelch: Joe: Ha! Well, if Charlie turns out half so well as yours have, I'll say Tomm and I have done okay...

>203 scaifea: Nice socks!!! And how does your family stay so trim with all the baking you do?? Seriously! I will happily accept any leftovers. Just no nuts. ; )

Love the socks! I knit quite a lot but I've never had the nerve to try socks or mittens.

>208 Berly: Thanks, Kim! Well, I wouldn't say that I'm exactly trim these days, Charlie is an 8-year-old and can eat a truckload and burn it off in 30 minutes, and Tomm can't eat the cakes (gluten issues). Oh, I forgot to mention, though, that I'll also be making a quick batch of chocolate peanut butter fudge for Tomm...

And you'd be fine with the baking here - I don't like nuts in my baked goods, either!

>209 RebaRelishesReading: Reba: Thanks! I was nervous to try my first pair of socks, but really they're not difficult at all and actually pretty fun. The first time you turn a heel is a hoot, I have to say.

>210 scaifea: Wow, we need to work on your definition of "hoot"... :)

>211 drneutron: Jim: Ha! I assume you've never turned a heel, then... Don't knock it 'til you've tried it, mister!

>212 scaifea: I'm with you Amber! I don't knit that often, but the sense of accomplishment when you've finished a pair of socks (and in particular the heels).

>213 PawsforThought: Paws: Woot! There's something just a little amazing about watching the heel form, row by row, isn't there?

>214 scaifea: Hmm, wouldn't say it's amazing, more painstaking (which is why it feels like such an accomplishment).

>215 PawsforThought: Paws: Ha! Really? I love it.

Devil's Food Cake, anyone?

OH, yes, please...and a big ol' glass of ice cold milk?

Impressive socks and chocolate cake? Best thread ever. :D

Love the socks and the cake my dear, Karen made some flapjack this morning, sending love and hugs.

>217 scaifea: Oh yes please, I help myself with a piece of it.

>218 laytonwoman3rd: You're welcome to the cake and the milk, Linda!

>219 MickyFine: Ha! Thanks, Micky!

>220 johnsimpson: Thanks, John - those flapjacks sound wonderful.

>221 Ameise1: You're definitely welcome to it, Barbara!

Awesome socks!!! Me neeeed!! :)

Nate asked me to stop baking as we were both gaining weight. I miss having sweets in the house like that!

Still not trading Trudeau ;-) but if you send me griffindor socks and cake I might consider it

>203 scaifea: the socks look great, Amber! That's one knitting I haven't attempted yet. Can I hit you up for help if I get stuck turning the heel on my current project? :)

Can i please have the recipe for that yummy cake?

I'm in heaven. I attended a local library sale with Diane Kenoy, and also saw Bill (Weird-o) and his lovely friend Gig. It was a wonderful day and it was instrumental in getting me out of the slight depression I've had for a few months.

Then, I had a package awaiting me from a LT friend that included three Newbery winners that I've not read. WOW! How lovely. I now own The Dark Frigate, Shen of the sea, and The Trumpeter of Krakow.

I am in heaven...pure heaven. At the sale, I aquired 16 books for $16. Some of them civil rights books I've longed for.

Isn't it amazing how books and LT friends can cheer us?

I hope your day was a good one. It's been gray and overcast for a few weeks. Where oh where is the sun.

The socks you made for Charlie are incredible!

>223 ChelleBearss: Chelle: Ha! Somehow I don't think that's a very good bargain - that Trudeau fellow is worth a lot more than sock and a cake...

>224 bell7: Thanks, Mary! You sure can, but I suspect it would be easier to google a how-to video - there are so many great knitting videos out there now.

>225 Whisper1: Sure thing, Linda:

Devil's Food Cake
Ingredients:
• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour or 2 ½ cups cake flour
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• ¾ cup shortening
• 2/3 cup baking cocoa
• 1 ½ cups water
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs

1. Heat oven to 350⁰.
2. Coat bottom and sides of 2 9-inch round pans, or 1 13x9-inch pan, or 3 8-inch round pans with baking spray.
3. Beat all ingredients on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly.
4. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
5. Pour into pan(s).
6. Bake rounds 30-35 minutes, rectangular pan 40-45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Cool round pans 10 minutes on wire rack then remove from pans to rack; cool rectangle on wire rack.

I used a homemade chocolate cream cheese frosting for this one, and the cake recipe comes from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook.

>226 Whisper1: Linda: Oh gosh, it sounds like you had a wonderful time! And you'll love The Dark Frigate and The Trumpeter of Krakow, I bet - I sure did. I read Shen of the Sea, but I'm afraid I don't remember much about it.

I'm a huge Muppet fan and yes, I loved the last Muppet movie--chortled throughout! Glad you all are enjoying your binge.

Thanks for the recipe. I think I will make this with my three little neighborhood friends.

>227 scaifea: I only said I'd consider it ... while wearing cool socks and eating cake ;-p

The tweet Trudeau sent last night (#welcome to Canada indeed) made me want to hug him.
Love the cake and the socks, Amber. Are you and Tomm getting some too?

>228 ronincats: Roni: I've been working on my Constantine impression, and I've got it down pretty well at this point. Tomm just rolls his eyes, but I always get a giggle from Charlie with it.

>229 Whisper1: You're welcome, Linda!

>230 ChelleBearss: Chelle: Ha! Fair enough...

>231 charl08: Charlotte: I really wouldn't need much of a reason for hugging him, beyond the obvious...
And yes, I eventually want to make Hogwarts socks for Tomm (Ravenclaw) and me (Slytherin), too. Charlie now has a pretty complete set of Hogwarts knitwear: scarf, socks, hat, mittens, sweater. Tomm has requested socks and a scarf, and I'd love to make myself a full set, too. We'll see how much of that gets finished before next fall. Ha!

Morning Amber! Happy Sunday. Looks like sun and 70 today. Should be a beautiful last day. Stares off, a bit mournfully...

On the agenda for today:
We're treating ourselves to a little outing today; we'll be driving to a nearby little town (Mount Horeb, WI) to walk round the downtown area and have lunch at The Grumpy Troll ( http://thegrumpytroll.com/ ). I'm pretty sure there's a bookshop there, so I'm hoping for a little browsing time.

On the reading front:
I spent some time with The Complete Sherlock Holmes yesterday, but not much, I'm afraid. Too much baking and not enough time for reading.

The Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: "Soon after completing Chanticleer and the Fox (1959 Caldecott Medal), Barbara Cooney found herself shaping the characters from the book out of gingerbread to use as ornaments on the Christmas tree."

>233 msf59: Morning, Mark! Oh gosh, sunny and 70 sounds amazing!! Enjoy, friend!

What We Read Yesterday:
-Quit Calling Me a Monster by Jory John (public library book, picture book) - 8/10 = B+
-Chapter 5 in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
-Chapter 11 in Ollie's Odyssey
-The second half of chapter 2 in More about Paddington

And we watched two more episodes of The Muppet Show, with guest stars Ethel Merman and Kaye Ballard.

>232 scaifea: >231 charl08: How cool Hogwart outfits for all of you, Amber!
I am afraid if you finish next fall, Charlie will probaly need a pair of larger socks ;-)

Morning, Amber! Have fun on your adventures today.

>237 FAMeulstee: Anita: Ha! Completely true! I will very likely need to knit a new pair for Charlie by then! Yeesh.

>238 Crazymamie: Morning, Mamie! And thanks!

Good morning, Amber!

Micky said it for me: Impressive socks and chocolate cake? Best thread ever!

Hope it's a fun Sunday for you and the guys.

>240 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe! When is YBH coming back? Are you still flying solo today?

>239 scaifea: You don't have to make a brand new pair; I doubt he'll have worn them out already. Just unravel a bit in the toe section and add an extra section.

>241 scaifea: Still solo, Amber. She flies back Tuesday. No chores list today - I'm stoked! I mean, I miss her a lot.

She says, as she sits by the pool in beautiful LA weather, that she misses me, too.

>242 PawsforThought: Where's the fun in that?! Ha!

>243 jnwelch: Joe: Ha! Fonder hearts, and all that, eh?

Happy sunday, Amber. Have fun at The Grumpy Troll.

>244 scaifea: Well, some of us are more practical than others! :P

Oh, that chocolate cake! I'm glad I just ate lunch so I'm not feeling hungry or I would be tempted to lick the laptop screen. :-)

>245 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara!

>246 PawsforThought: Paws: Indeed.

>247 rosalita: Julia: Ha! It tastes just about as good as it looks, if I do say so.

Hi Amber, hope you have had a nice weekend so far my dear, we have had a lovely day with a nice walk around the Country park that has transformed the old Colliery site. Sending love and hugs.

>249 johnsimpson: Hi, John! We've had a lovely day here, too. The trip to Mount Horeb was fun, and Charlie and I have just got the Brown Rice & Lentils cooking for dinner.

If I ever get the courage to knit socks and successfully turn the heel, I promise you I will hoot!!

>232 scaifea: Which Constantine?

I bet you could mail cookies or bars just fine...

Just sayin'.

>251 RebaRelishesReading: Reba: Yes!! You can do it!

>252 Morphidae: Morphy: There's more than one?
And yes, I suspect some kinds of cookies would ship okay...

>253 scaifea: This is the one I'm thinking. I'm not so sure it's the one you're thinking.

>254 Morphidae: Morphy: *SNORK!* Nope, not that one, who, by the way, is a travesty of the original comic book character.

On the agenda for today:
Treadmilling, laundry, Latin-book-writing, sewing. I'll also try to get a new thread up and running today. And after I pick Charlie up from school this afternoon, we need to stop by the vision clinic to get his glasses re-adjusted - he's been wearing his old pair this weekend, because somehow his new ones got seriously skewed.

On the reading front:
I had a lovely couple of hours of reading time yesterday afternoon, and so I read a nice chunk of Old Path White Clouds, which is wonderful so far. A soothing read during demonstrably un-soothing times.

The Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: "Ed Emberly used only three colors - red, yellow, and blue - in creating the illustrations for Drummer Hoff (1968 Caldecott Medal). The other ten colors in the book are combinations of these three primary colors."
Two points:
1) Um, I'm no artistic expert, but I was under the impression that that's pretty much how other colors are got at...

2) Drummer Hoff holds a very special seat in my heart: it was the very first book I ever checked out of a library, on my first day of kindergarten, it was one of the first books I bought for Charlie after I found out he would be on the scene in a few months, and as a family it is one of our favorite books to read aloud.

What We Read Yesterday:
-Journey
-Quest
-Return by Aaron Becker (Charlie book, picture book) - 10/10 = A+
-The Adventures of Max and Ned by Mary K. Hawley (Charlie's homework book, 24 pages) - 7/10 = C
-Chapter 6 in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
-Chapter 12 in Ollie's Odyssey
-The first half of chapter 3 in More about Paddington

And we watched a couple more episodes of The Muppet Show, starring Don Knotts and Milton Berle.

Morning, Amber. On our way soon...sad face.

>256 scaifea: Love love love Drummer Hoff -- whose proper title is "Drummer Hoff fired it off" because I cannot say the name without completing the sentence.

>223 ChelleBearss: >227 scaifea: Nope, that bargain would never happen. We think we got the better deal with Trudeau and are keeping him!

Good morning, Amber!

Canada definitely got the better deal with Trudeau. I wish we had him or someone like him.

>256 scaifea: I'm guessing they're saying that Emberly used a palette that was actually only those three colors. Although of course all colors are ultimately arrived at from the 3 primary ones, usually an artist will have a palette which includes some other colors as well instead of mixing them all themselves from the basic three.

>255 scaifea: So back to my original question...

*grins*

>258 msf59: Mark: B.A.F., then? Well, safe travels today, anyway.

>259 swynn: Steve: Agreed. "But Drummer Hoff fired it off..."

>260 Familyhistorian: Meg: Think, nothing - how could there be any doubt?! I wake up every morning with a bigger knot in my stomach. Make no mistake, folks, things here right now are bad. Very, very bad.

>261 jnwelch: Joe: Agreed. We're in an awful mess.

>262 ursula: Ursula: Ha! Yep, I was trying that tongue-in-cheek thing that clearly I can't make come across when I type. There ought to be a special font.

>263 Morphidae: Morphy: You haven't seen the newest Muppet Movie, then? Oh, you MUST. You'll love it. I'm referring to this Constantine:

>264 scaifea: Ahhhh. No, I haven't seen the last several Muppet movies.

>264 scaifea: Yes ... a special font would do me a lot of good, both on the giving and receiving end. :) Or maybe I should stop reading the threads while I have my tea and instead do it after I've finished it.

>265 Morphidae: Oh, you really need to see this one, Morphy. It's close to my favorite of the bunch.

>266 ursula: *grins*

Okay, new thread's up:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/247657