See Spot Run!

If you are of a certain age you will remember the Dick and Jane books.

Years ago when Miss Is was just a wee girl

we visited Prince Edward Island

and met a very nice mother and daughter.

The mother sang the praises of the Dick and Jane books.

I was surprised because they seemed so repetitive and frankly, boring,

and so backward...

I did not want Isabel learning all about that pre-women's lib behavior;

I am such a child of the 70's.

Long story short, this woman went on and on about how the books helped her

daughter learned to read.

So I searched used book stores and found 7 or 8 books.

We read them together but they were boring, just as I remembered.

It was fun as a flashback,

but wasn't really the thing for me or Miss Is.

So we went back to our daily ritual of reading aloud two or three

wonderful books

with interesting stories

and beautiful illustrations.

And these books sat untouched on the bookshelves

for years and years.

Until the other day.

Miss Is is always buying and selling textbooks on Amazon

What a brilliant idea.

Often I am going to the post office for her

and then the Eureka moment!

Sell those Dick and Janes.

Check out the illustrations below

and see how

Dick and Jane grow

with each revision.

Within 24 hours I had sold one

then another 5 days later

and another 5 days later

The ones that sold were the revised Dick and Janes from the sixties:

the kids are grown up and

and

the vocabulary is a bit more advanced

and

the layout of the books was different.

So I guess that is why these were the first to sell.

Check out the names - just like Madmen!

except this mother seems a little more maternal.

I have four more listed on Amazon.

Bye Bye Dick and Jane

snow fatigue

even for me, a hardy New Englander

We shovel paths all around the yard

to give our dog Libby some room to run

and to get to grill, the kindling stash, up the back stairs

the front door, the back door

All these paths remind me of a childhood game my sisters, brother and I

created

called Witch

We would spend hours raking leaves in the autumn

to create paths in the back yard and to make houses

then we would play...

it was like tag; you could only run on the paths

and you were only safe in your house

if you were caught at a dead end

off to jail you would go and could only be rescued by being tagged.

Hours of fun...and a little raking too.

this path to the wood pile,

where two roads diverged...which one one to take...

and a few loops for extra fun

the snowy world from Libby's eyes

as she runs down a corridor of snow

that's the garden - you can just see the tops of the fence posts

and more snow next week!

Yikes

My house on Christmas Day 2010

January 27, 2011

We haven't had snow like this since 1995

beautiful whiteness this morning

blue dawn

sounds muffled

coffee ready

Garden shed today and a month ago

Someone told me recently to look up and look out,

there is beauty all around us.

This morning I saw the lovely meringue cap on the lamppost above

see how the top twirls up to a point.

lovely

I thought it might be fun to chart the snow piles with the weathervane

Early December above - then it all melted

one week ago - January 19, 2011

look in the center of this photo

see the post sticking up out of the snow mound

January 27, 2011

You cannot even see the weathervane

Looking from my perch as I compose this entry;

the lattice has a whole new design.

Look up and look out;

there is beauty all around you.

The peacock is the ancient symbol of eternal life in Christianity

and the national bird of India.

This particular guy was walking around the grounds of a retreat center

where I enjoyed two peaceful days.

Pickles (yes, that is his name) perched in a tree

watching over us.

His colors were spectacular:

brilliant blue with the shock of white on his head

and vivid iridescent green eyes on the plumage.

I did not witness the fan

and could not capture the beauty of the colors with my camera,

but pickles was a beautiful sight.

Peacock imagery below

via Habitually Chic

Coco Chanel Coromandel Screen Detail

The days were bright and cold.

Rhododendron leaves tightly curled,

sound of crunching snow,

feeling frozen nose hairs,

all signs of temperatures in the single digits.

It was like winter camp for the soul.

I loved every minute.

Contrasts of cold and natural beauty

with

warmth, wisdom, welcome

The theme was balance.

Words of wisdom:

Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.

Monogrammed frames

where a big hit again this past Christmas season.

Here are a few...

Enjoying the winter hibernation,

when I am not busy doing my other work.

The google doodle often sets the tone for my day...I like to figure out what the doodle is about, especially if it is not obvious.

Today is the 50th anniversary of JFK's inaugural address; a speech that I will never tire of listening too.

Yesterday, Sargent Shriver, first director of the Peace Corps, died.

So many good programs have grown out of the Peace Corps, all with the idea:

"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can for your country" JFK

Peace Corps - " a program that builds peace and friendship by sending Americans to work for human dignity and human welfare in the third world." Peace Corps website

So today, a nod to the spirit of volunteerism.

pomegranate season is ending.

oh i am sad.

for the last 3 months these delicious seeds have brightened up my cereal in taste and color

i am hoarding them now.

you can keep them in the fridge for a month or more.

and do you know the easiest way to decant the seeds?

cut in half

tap the outside edge with the back of a wooden spoon and presto the seeds tumble out into your bowl - tip courtesy nigella lawson.

and persephone

do you know that story+

6 pomegranates and doomed to hades for 1/2 the year - hence the dark winter -

But the end of pomegranate season means

that spring is on the way.

Another new year resolution, (which has been on my list for years now)

read Edith Hamilton's Mythology.

I read D'Auliers Book of Greek Myths to Miss Is as a little girl

and we read another book, Classic Myths to Read Aloud by William Russell

and we listened to myths on tape...

Perfect background for understanding all the references in her english, history and art history classes - As a student, my knowledge of mythology was sorely lacking...but there is always room to grow.

Very exciting

close to finishing a project

close up

this is going to the dorm room in Massachusetts

so I better get cracking

I started this throw 2 1/2 years ago

with my knitting friends,

the knit wits.

We all decided to do the same project, click here,

but in our own colors of course.

Most everyone finished.

My progress has been slow and and not so steady.

I hope to finish by month end.

New Year's Resolutions

If I write them down

and

share with the world at large,

then just maybe I will succeed.

Get my projects finished.

One knitting project per month

Get through one magazine per week (I have stacks)

Read one book per month

Hard to read and knit and work and do chores...

but where there is a will there's a way.

Work on more happiness every day.

No more procrastination.

And last but not least,

develop more MRR Design business.

~~~

Remember to be grateful.

Trust in my faith.

Trust in myself.

Another snowstorm

about 18 or 20"

shoveled the driveway

& off to the office I went

I really wanted to stay home by the fire

and finish my knitting projects

here are a few that are waiting, waiting, waiting to come off the needles

well some haven't even been started yet

fingerless gloves

just lost my pair this weekend

lime green cashmere mittens for my goddaughter

never finished them last year

color much better in person

scarf started in October...

Sweater that has been almost finished for years

gotta make this a priority

lots of yarn for socks

lime green cotton for dish cloths

ends of cashmere for neck warmers

left over from my mother's stash

I think this will make a nice small scarf

reminds me of shoelaces

still not sure what to do with it

made this suede-like wrap

and then tried to take it apart for a long scarf

just figured out I can double it and

it makes a nice neck warmer.

Miss Is will take this back to school

and speaking of Miss Is

here is the baby sweater I started 20 years ago.

I have a thing about not finishing???

I will get this done and save for the grandbabies.

The first thing I see when I get out of bed in the morning

baskets of my stash.

That ought to motivate me.