Poetry Friday: Mushrooms

It’s still Friday around here, for another two hours and 50 minutes, so technically I’m not late. It’s been a busy week, with swim club starting (requiring us to be in town four afternoons a week), an art lesson (we had just about forgotten what the art teacher looked like), and a make-up singing [...]

The latest from the tar sands

From The Edmonton Sun, May 5, 2008:
Despite a public apology from Syncrude following the deaths of 500 ducks in one of the oil giant’s tailing ponds near Fort McMurray, an investigation by the province will continue, Premier Ed Stelmach said yesterday.
“I certainly thank them for the apology they gave the print media, but we will [...]

It occurs to me

that I didn’t post any “before” window project photos. Here are a few before and during shots.
Before, inside (with apologies for the crummy quality):

Before, inside, with Davy:

Before, outside:

During, just after they removed the old window, and the wall:

During, with the new build-out framing:

During, getting ready to install the windows with some very brief snow [...]

Hopefully

“To plant a seed is a hopeful deed.”
– unknown gardener
It didn’t take more than a week, living with the new enormous south-facing window in the master bedroom, to realize that what I had was not a large sunny window seat but the perfect seed-starting greenhouse. I planted some seeds in early April — from [...]

Water water everywhere…

When Tom and I heard the news earlier this week about the hundreds of ducks killed earlier this week when they landed on a Syncrude tailings “pond”, we both immediately thought of an article we had read late last year in albertaviews magazine; the article was “The Ponds” by the Calgary investigative journalist Andrew Nikiforuk, [...]

Big Birthday Bash week: February 11

“Faith, as well intentioned as it may be, must be built on facts, not fiction — faith in fiction is a damnable false hope.”
Thomas A. Edison
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
Thomas A. Edison
Many happy returns to Thomas Alva Edison, born February 11, 1847.
(And [...]

Oscar Peterson (1925-2007)

Oscar Peterson, the Canadian jazz piano virtuoso whose Christmas CD we played only yesterday on our tree hunting expedition, died yesterday evening of kidney failure at the age of 82. He died at home in his sleep.
Many thanks, Mr. Peterson, for so many years of pleasure.

Lockdown

If we lived around Edmonton and if the kids were older and attended public school, we might be dealing with the following situation next week, as described in this excerpt from a letter from the principal sent home yesterday with students:
An Important Notice to the [School] Community
Five weeks ago, a student reported to a teacher [...]

Latest from art lessons

Laura’s been taking art lessons for about a year and a half now, and Daniel since September. Since I’m playing with the digital camera, I thought I’d try my hand at their latest efforts, completed this month:

Cowboy and horse by DanielThis is his second or third project since September; heused a grid and acrylic paints, [...]

Relief

1) The cold snap seems to have snapped and we’ve enjoyed two days so far, with the promise of a few more to come, of very mild winter weather. Which here means around 32F, a far cry from the 0F to -40F we’ve had for the past month or so, along with howling winds and [...]

Boo! II

The spooky and scary children’s author Neil Gaiman in today’s New York Times (should work without the free registration; otherwise try Bug Me Not):
When I was growing up in England, Halloween was no time for celebration. It was the night when, we were assured, the dead walked, when all the things of night were loosed, [...]

Ever eager to help separate Gentle Readers from their money…

If you or your kids are keen on good quality colored pencils, the fine folks at the Canadian company Lee Valley, who sell some nifty woodworking tools, hardware, and garden tools have an even niftier autumn mail order special, not available at any of their stores; I get no kickbacks, discounts, or other remuneration. Just [...]

"Do you home school?"…

asks Jennifer Armstrong, author of the new children’s history book, The American Story, I mentioned on Tuesday, the date of publication:
I’m going to make sure that when my new site is up and has the classroom history contests it makes provision for a home school family or group to participate. Maybe a homeschooling family [...]

The Country Fair is back

The sixth Country Fair is up.
My favorite post so far is from Karen, in part because I’m delighted to discover her blog, lightingthefires, by another Canadian homeschooler. Which I know because she has posted recently about a free online Canadian history program and the Sir John A. action figure that I wrote about the [...]

Late summer catching up

It’s been another busy week, and besides the usual weeding of the thousand trees it’s been dry enough to start watering the garden, because the beans and cucumbers keep coming, the tomatoes have started, and the corn is on its way. On Saturday we enjoyed a wonderful party celebrating the 50th anniversary of a dear [...]

I am trying very hard not to drool on the keyboard

because I discovered tonight that The Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich which I find so wonderfully delightful and delightfully wonderful was released in June as an unabridged audio CD; while my ideal audio version would include narration by a grandfatherly Viennese gentleman, the prospect of Ralph Cosham seems promising.
This it strikes [...]

Homeschooling meme

I’ve been tagged for a homeschooling meme by Lissa in her Lilting House, and though we’re still enjoying summer — it’s still warm, hurray, and I’m still battling weeds in the shelterbelt trees and now a sneaky mole in my raised bed vegetable garden — the project seems like a good way to start making [...]

Happy birthday, Laura dear

who is a very nifty nine today. May all your dreams, with and without horses, come true.
He stopped again.“Would you tell me what you want most in the world?…Would you tell me that?”He was looking at her.“Horses,” she said, “sir.”“To ride on? To own for yourself?”He was still looking at her, as though he [...]

Book meme

I saw this first at Rebecca’s Gypsy Caravan, and then Kelly’s Big A little a and decided to play since it’s cool and cloudy today and I need a break in between washing the kitchen floor and cleaning the fridge. And this reminds me that I owe LaMai a book meme, too, which I’ll have [...]

Carry on…

We’re making the most of the last of the season, enjoying summer (and summer must be enjoying us, too, because we’re having another heat wave). My sister-in-law and her two little boys are here for a visit, the garden is exploding, the chicks and ducklings and other farm babies are getting bigger and eating more [...]