Ups and downs

Ups: our first trip to the beach this trip. The kids had all but forgotten about it until our beachside visit to Four Seasons for lunch on Sunday, but since then having been begging for more. The beach I chose — near the house of our gardener, to whom we gave a lift on the [...]

Thought/quote of the day

From Sense and Sensibility:
“[B]ecause they were fond of reading, she fancied them satirical: perhaps without exactly knowing what it was to be satirical.”

Island life

The weather hasn’t been typically tropical, unless you’re talking about hurricane season, which is supposed to be over and done with. The Christmas winds have turned into Valentine winds, starting long after they should have finished and considerably stronger than usual. Our first few days were quite nice but rather breezy, and the second half [...]

Four meme

Because I owe Maitresse a meme and four is ever so much easier and shorter than 15 lol, especially over the holidays and while getting ready to leave on a trip. La Mai, I’ll give 15/Books my best shot after returning and unpacking…
And because four is my favorite number (and if I tell you [...]

New homeschooling blog

A homeschooling, invisible online friend of mine has a new blog, Kitchen Table Learners. Not only is Frankie a dedicated homeschooling mother to her son, but she’s also den mother to his cub scout troop. The kind who doesn’t flinch at painting 100 popsicle sticks blue for centerpieces for a den banquet. [...]

Alive and well, though wet and windswept

We arrived safe and sound on Sunday the 15th, after two full days of travelling. The first surprise was learning that my parents, who had changed their arrival date several times already — they had planned to arrive at their home before us for a proper welcome– weren’t going to arrive the next day but [...]

Island School: All dressed up and nowhere to go (until tomorrow morning, that is)

The end is in sight. Which is a pity, because now some of us are left with not a lot to do, in order to keep the house tidy. Next time we go, I’m contemplating sending the kids out to a hotel until it’s time to leave. This morning I actually found myself suggesting that [...]

Vote early (if not often)

If you’re Canadian, you can start voting today in the federal general election. Go Green, enjoy your ability to vote socialist with the NDP (Tommy Douglas lives, well, sort of), give the Liberals a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, or try to the keep the Conservatives on the back benches. Just [...]

Is it just me?

In between banishing dust bunnies, putting out new sheets and towels (hey, says Tom, is there room for a couple of halogen spotlights for your dad and our friend the Caribbean chicken farmer?), examining science experiments in the fridge (oops, and don’t forget the camera!), and reading my email, I’ve spent the better part of [...]

Mixed bag o’ links

With apologies, because I have time only for links, and not all of them, right now:
According to The Sacramento Bee earlier this week, It’s Hip to Be Gramatically Correct. Doesn’t that make you feel better? Reporter Gina Kim wonders if the “language-maven type: the one with a sharp pencil in her bun who gasps in [...]

BoB time

Because procrastinating by reading blogs is more fun than packing, I found out that some of my favorite blogs have been nominated for Best of Blogs (BoB) awards: Melissa at Here in the Bonny Glen and Maitresse at Alexander’s Maitresse, and Doppelganger at 50 Books. Congratulations! Voting to come, I think.
Here’s the page [...]

Another great Wednesday post

Doppelganger at 50 Books has wonderful post on writing well, about George Orwell’s essay Politics and the English Language, which I think should be required reading for all high school students (along with lashings of E.B. White, with and without Strunk).
And if you like that one, try Orwell’s Why I Write.

Schooling with the tides

Melissa at Here in the Bonny Glen has a brilliant post on Tidal Homeschooling today:
The truth is, I couldn’t find any label that completely fit my family, so I made up my own. I call us “Tidal Learners” because the ways in which we approach education here change with the tide. Now, this doesn’t mean [...]

The value of a dollar

Or ten. Or, in which Calendar Girl, Bionicle Boy, and Twinklette go shopping.
The kids each got $10 from an aunt and uncle for Christmas, and over the holidays the money was definitely burning holes in their pockets. Usually we ask that they save their money — they don’t get allowances, mainly because until recently [...]

Hockey Day in Canada

It’s the annual Hockey Day in Canada on CBC today, and wouldn’t you know, it’s actually snowing outside. First time in months, and great big fluffy flakes at that. We’re going to celebrate by undecorating the tree and playing outside in the snow…

Trivial and liberal

For Christmas I decided to treat myself to some of the items that had been languishing on my Amazon wish list, items whose purchase I couldn’t much justify because they were just for me, or just for fun, or just nice extras rather than necessities. Pitiful, isn’t it? Things like the Sam Cooke [...]

Irving Layton, 1912-2006

Before moving to Canada, I didn’t know much about the vibrant and prolific poet Irving Layton and his writing except for the fact that he had been nominated twice for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Layton, larger than life for most of his life and full of the fullness of feeling, died [...]

The Word of the Week is "Confiscate"

The day after Boxing Day I started confiscating the kids’ favorite toys, clothes, and books, to aid my packing efforts. A week from Saturday we’re departing Alberta for sunnier climes (and donkey spiders, flying giant cockroaches, and mosquitoes that require half my family to take extra-strength Benadryl) to visit my parents for a month. It’s [...]

New Year’s day

“Hockey on the Pond” by Silvia Armeni
As I sit here at 11 a.m. in my pajamas in front of the computer with my mug of coffee and no plans to make (and therefore break) any resolutions, New Year’s day has started off marvelously well, with a breakfast of pancakes and bacon (not cooked by me) [...]