My beautiful sisters!
Been reading some blogs with beautiful handmade items! Ladies are so talented!
However, i wanted to warn about an idea that LOOKS adorable but is VERY VERY dangerous--lacing ribbon through the edges of crocheted or knitted blankets (or anything that a baby or child might use, to be honest).
While the idea is just as cute as it can be, these can create loops, just like how a drawstring purse works, and create a strangulation hazard for a child or baby! Even if a baby is not strong enough itself, the ribbon can snag on something, creating a loop.
One time I saw that someone said "Well, we will just watch the baby and make sure", but these blankets are usually so adorable that they are handed down to others...who might not be as vigilant. It is not work the risk. No amount of cuteness is worth danger to a baby!
Ok, soap box is off now :-)
Monday, April 6, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Older Women Paintings
My Wondeful Sisters in the Lord!
I LOVE going to other women's homemakey blogs and seeing all the wonderful artwork. I think the pictures of darling young women in beautiful flowing dresses peeling apples or reading a book under a tree appeal to our longing for gentleness, for femininity.
But there is one thing I have noticed....where are the older women who are not the "supporting cast" of the painting but are the HEART of the painting, the subject of it? Where are the middle agers? Our society is obsessed with youth, and there is a lot to be said for the fresh face of innocence, the round cheek, the delicate features without spot or wrinkle. Youth is beautiful...but it might be only surface beauty. What about the beauty that comes from life, from wisdom, from being a Titus 2 woman, who has lived long enough and diligently enough to the Lord to teach the younger women?
For example....
Where are the paintings of a "just past youth" mother in glowing color in her late 30's who is repairing a beloved stuffed toy or watching the studies of the grade school children?
Where is the painting of a beautiful feminine woman in her 40's, shown leaning against a flowering plum tree, gazing into the distance with those wonderful laugh lines crinkling around her dancing eyes as she smiles at a long ago memory.
Where is the 50 year old smiling in delight as she races in flowing garments to embrace her weathered husband?
Where are the paintings of the noble, lovely, God fearing 60 year old, shown in beautiful feminine clothing with a look of sweet, knowing understanding on her face as she listens to her 30 year old daughter who has a troubled look on her face, trying to figure out if the baby is ok?
Maybe you have seen these paintings and I have missed them. If so, please link me! I look in the mirror and see a few sags, a few wrinkles, a few pounds and think "But I am still a woman". I look at my wonderful, blessed mother in her 60's who is the picture of tact and fact, southern grace in every bit of glory, who is beautiful and wonderful. Where is her painting?
I think of the poem my darling cousin wrote for her mother, about the loveliness of her mother's feet. Her mother is an old woman, but is one of the most genteel, graceful women I have EVER EVER met. Her very speech is warm, light, and languid, like a summer day with a gentle breeze. My cousin talked about the beauty of her feet, how the brought the Word, how they walked in soft green grass, how they are a treasure to her. Those are the paintings I long to see. I know what youthful beauty looks like--Precious heart is on the cusp of womanhood. :) I want to see femininity in ALL its ages, from toddling babies to wise old women.
I wish I could paint. I would paint these. But I must rely on those who can, as I do not have the ability to do so.
We women do not stop being feminine when we hit 30 xsmilex. Let us look for, and encourage others to look for, paintings that show that, while charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Let us find the art that shows women who have put on the beauty of the love of God, who might not be the newest peach in the orchard, but time has made the sweetest.
I LOVE going to other women's homemakey blogs and seeing all the wonderful artwork. I think the pictures of darling young women in beautiful flowing dresses peeling apples or reading a book under a tree appeal to our longing for gentleness, for femininity.
But there is one thing I have noticed....where are the older women who are not the "supporting cast" of the painting but are the HEART of the painting, the subject of it? Where are the middle agers? Our society is obsessed with youth, and there is a lot to be said for the fresh face of innocence, the round cheek, the delicate features without spot or wrinkle. Youth is beautiful...but it might be only surface beauty. What about the beauty that comes from life, from wisdom, from being a Titus 2 woman, who has lived long enough and diligently enough to the Lord to teach the younger women?
For example....
Where are the paintings of a "just past youth" mother in glowing color in her late 30's who is repairing a beloved stuffed toy or watching the studies of the grade school children?
Where is the painting of a beautiful feminine woman in her 40's, shown leaning against a flowering plum tree, gazing into the distance with those wonderful laugh lines crinkling around her dancing eyes as she smiles at a long ago memory.
Where is the 50 year old smiling in delight as she races in flowing garments to embrace her weathered husband?
Where are the paintings of the noble, lovely, God fearing 60 year old, shown in beautiful feminine clothing with a look of sweet, knowing understanding on her face as she listens to her 30 year old daughter who has a troubled look on her face, trying to figure out if the baby is ok?
Maybe you have seen these paintings and I have missed them. If so, please link me! I look in the mirror and see a few sags, a few wrinkles, a few pounds and think "But I am still a woman". I look at my wonderful, blessed mother in her 60's who is the picture of tact and fact, southern grace in every bit of glory, who is beautiful and wonderful. Where is her painting?
I think of the poem my darling cousin wrote for her mother, about the loveliness of her mother's feet. Her mother is an old woman, but is one of the most genteel, graceful women I have EVER EVER met. Her very speech is warm, light, and languid, like a summer day with a gentle breeze. My cousin talked about the beauty of her feet, how the brought the Word, how they walked in soft green grass, how they are a treasure to her. Those are the paintings I long to see. I know what youthful beauty looks like--Precious heart is on the cusp of womanhood. :) I want to see femininity in ALL its ages, from toddling babies to wise old women.
I wish I could paint. I would paint these. But I must rely on those who can, as I do not have the ability to do so.
We women do not stop being feminine when we hit 30 xsmilex. Let us look for, and encourage others to look for, paintings that show that, while charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Let us find the art that shows women who have put on the beauty of the love of God, who might not be the newest peach in the orchard, but time has made the sweetest.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Good news for cottage industries
Read this on the HSLDA website. The HSLDA has been talking with the CPSC about these new lead rules that have cottage industries worrying as to whether they will be able to continue.
This discussion sounds promising that cottage industries do not have to be afraid to continue. Excellent news in this economy!
http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/200902100.asp
This discussion sounds promising that cottage industries do not have to be afraid to continue. Excellent news in this economy!
http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/200902100.asp
Monday, March 2, 2009
Clicks for Homeschooling
My beautiful sisters in Christ!
We homeschool and belong to the HSLDA. There is a page on their website that shows the stores that will support HSLDA if you click through HSLDA's website. I had not seen the list of merchants, but it is HUGE! Everyone from barnes and noble to walmart to bass pro shops is on there.
Please consider clicking through HSLDA's page before online shopping. That is all you have to do. The retailer does the rest. Not only is this good for HSLDA, but also good for showing retailers that homeschoolers are a group to be supported. This might come in handy if (when) homeschooling is threatened at some point. We know that, frankly, the government (local to national) listens to money more than they listen to people. We could use retailers' support.
http://www.hslda.org/clicks4hs/default.asp
We homeschool and belong to the HSLDA. There is a page on their website that shows the stores that will support HSLDA if you click through HSLDA's website. I had not seen the list of merchants, but it is HUGE! Everyone from barnes and noble to walmart to bass pro shops is on there.
Please consider clicking through HSLDA's page before online shopping. That is all you have to do. The retailer does the rest. Not only is this good for HSLDA, but also good for showing retailers that homeschoolers are a group to be supported. This might come in handy if (when) homeschooling is threatened at some point. We know that, frankly, the government (local to national) listens to money more than they listen to people. We could use retailers' support.
http://www.hslda.org/clicks4hs/default.asp
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Mt Redoubt Eruption Tracking
My beautiful sisters in Christ!
For those of you who are homeschooling OR are just interested, we have a volcano in Alaska that is about to blow. It is Mt. Redoubt. Here are some very interesting links that you can click on to watch the show. They are not sure when it is going to blow, but it is VERY active right now. The glaciers on the mountain are melting and getting larger holes in them.
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/webcam/webcam.php?cam=Redoubt - CI
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/webcam/webcam.php?cam=Redoubt%20-%20Hut
http://twitter.com/alaska_avo
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/webicorders/webicorder.php?volcname=Redoubt
The last shows the seismograph of the area with LOTS of activity. you read it left to right, just like a book. Each vertical line marks one minute (30 minutes across the graph). It is UTC time, not alaska time, so this is current, but it looks like it is from tonight.
(BTW, this is far from me! We are not in its path.)
Thougt it might be neat to track! Volcanoes are one of my fav things. I was in the NW when Mt. St Helens blew. I was a child and I remember it being black as night at 3 pm in the afternoon. The next day ash was everywhere, and everything was so very still. No wind, no birds singing, just still and grey.
We were to stay inside as much as possible because the ash is bad for the lungs. School was cancelled. You had to wear a mask when you went outside. I was young but remember being so worried about my mom and uncle who were outside trying to shovel the ash. I carried a little bottle of the ash on a necklace around my neck for a long time. It was fine and soft as flour.
~smile~ When I was young, I was very concerned about forces of nature (still am passionate about studying them and preparing for them). Mom said that I had asked if there were volcanoes or tornadoes in Washington State before we moved there. She assured me that there wasn't, but we ended up having BOTH! She did not realize that two extremely rare events would occur!
I have been through many natural disasters in my life. Let me take this moment to strongly encourage you to consider what disasters can occur in your area and prepare for them. It is not unreasonable to prepare, AS LONG AS you put your FAITH in the Lord, not your preparations (something that is very easy to miss doing!). If the Lord has provided for you, consider putting some by so that you can be a blessing to your family AND those who could not prepare. You will have the opportunity to show the grace of the Lord if you can help others during a disaster, as opposed to requiring others to help you. :)
Pray about it and see what the Lord says. Do NOT stress or be anxious. It is like house insurance--you do not quake in fear that your house is going to burn down, or get hit by a tornado, but you carry insurance just in case.
Being prepared with food, medicine, warm clothing, battery operated lights (or solar lights for those of you who actually HAVE sun during the year hee hee!), safe heating and alternate cooking supplies will just be some "insurance", not your lifeline. The Lord is our lifeline :-) Preparations and knowledge are the blessings He gives to help us.
God Bless you all! :-)
For those of you who are homeschooling OR are just interested, we have a volcano in Alaska that is about to blow. It is Mt. Redoubt. Here are some very interesting links that you can click on to watch the show. They are not sure when it is going to blow, but it is VERY active right now. The glaciers on the mountain are melting and getting larger holes in them.
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/webcam/webcam.php?cam=Redoubt - CI
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/webcam/webcam.php?cam=Redoubt%20-%20Hut
http://twitter.com/alaska_avo
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/webicorders/webicorder.php?volcname=Redoubt
The last shows the seismograph of the area with LOTS of activity. you read it left to right, just like a book. Each vertical line marks one minute (30 minutes across the graph). It is UTC time, not alaska time, so this is current, but it looks like it is from tonight.
(BTW, this is far from me! We are not in its path.)
Thougt it might be neat to track! Volcanoes are one of my fav things. I was in the NW when Mt. St Helens blew. I was a child and I remember it being black as night at 3 pm in the afternoon. The next day ash was everywhere, and everything was so very still. No wind, no birds singing, just still and grey.
We were to stay inside as much as possible because the ash is bad for the lungs. School was cancelled. You had to wear a mask when you went outside. I was young but remember being so worried about my mom and uncle who were outside trying to shovel the ash. I carried a little bottle of the ash on a necklace around my neck for a long time. It was fine and soft as flour.
~smile~ When I was young, I was very concerned about forces of nature (still am passionate about studying them and preparing for them). Mom said that I had asked if there were volcanoes or tornadoes in Washington State before we moved there. She assured me that there wasn't, but we ended up having BOTH! She did not realize that two extremely rare events would occur!
I have been through many natural disasters in my life. Let me take this moment to strongly encourage you to consider what disasters can occur in your area and prepare for them. It is not unreasonable to prepare, AS LONG AS you put your FAITH in the Lord, not your preparations (something that is very easy to miss doing!). If the Lord has provided for you, consider putting some by so that you can be a blessing to your family AND those who could not prepare. You will have the opportunity to show the grace of the Lord if you can help others during a disaster, as opposed to requiring others to help you. :)
Pray about it and see what the Lord says. Do NOT stress or be anxious. It is like house insurance--you do not quake in fear that your house is going to burn down, or get hit by a tornado, but you carry insurance just in case.
Being prepared with food, medicine, warm clothing, battery operated lights (or solar lights for those of you who actually HAVE sun during the year hee hee!), safe heating and alternate cooking supplies will just be some "insurance", not your lifeline. The Lord is our lifeline :-) Preparations and knowledge are the blessings He gives to help us.
God Bless you all! :-)
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Alaska Weather
My BEAUTIFUL sisters in Christ!
Well, I guess with me it is feast or famine...after so long of posting nothing, I have so much I want to talk to you about!
This post is going to be about the recent cold weather in Alaska. Did I say cold? I mean SERIOUSLY cold. I have not gone to town in about two weeks (except to take the folks to the airport). Our coldest was -56 (or somewhere around there) and the warmest has been about -35.
What can you do at those temps? Ummm....Well you can do the "tourist tricks" for one! You can take a cup of HOT coffee (make it as hot as you want) and toss it up in the air. It will "POOF!" freeze and blow away in a cloud of frozen vapor BEFORE it hits the ground. No, seriously!
You can also take a balloon filled with air outside and poke it with a fork and it will stay inflated. You have to do this quickly, because if you wait too long, the air in the balloon condenses and makes it hard to stick a fork in. If you take it back inside, it will just sort of deflate. At no time will it "pop". OH and you can make pretty designs on the balloon itself by lightly pressing your finger tip on it--it makes little star bursts in the latex itself.
You can also chip ice away from the INSIDE of the triple paned windows. You can drive on square tires (your tires get frozen when you park, and when you drive, you can feel the "cathunk, cathunk" of flat sided tires until they warm up and round out). You can freeze a thermometer (I thought we just had a warm spot in our yard, but apparently the thermometer had frozen up....some how that just seems so ironic to me!).
We have something called "ice fog"--it can get incredibly thick and very dangerous. Remember the hot coffee tourist trick I mentioned? Same sort of thing, but this does not blow away. It is made from car exhaust, exhaust from chimneys, etc. The air get so still and so cold, that all that moisture from the exhaust just stays there, near the ground, and builds the more cars that drive. It sure makes the sky pretty though! It diffuses the sun so the sun looks HUGE, and also makes everything have a very soft edge. The scenery is painted in a pale blue light, with hints of pink and yellow and lavender. It is pretty amazing looking.
Here is a link to a webcam that is in Fairbanks where they have a LOT of ice fog. If you look in the next couple of days, you should be able to see it, though they are supposed to be getting warmer temps at some point. http://www.newsminer.com/arcticcam/
We do not have very much daylight yet, so it is hard to catch when it is light there. But if you can see it, it will be one of the coldest looking views you might have ever seen!
It is too cold to snow, btw. I have never lived anywhere where it had to WARM UP to snow. That is still just weird to me! hee hee!
That's it for the Alaska weather report! Stay tuned to this station 4 months from now when we will still have snow and ice (though hopefully not be on the wrong side of zero degrees!)!
Well, I guess with me it is feast or famine...after so long of posting nothing, I have so much I want to talk to you about!
This post is going to be about the recent cold weather in Alaska. Did I say cold? I mean SERIOUSLY cold. I have not gone to town in about two weeks (except to take the folks to the airport). Our coldest was -56 (or somewhere around there) and the warmest has been about -35.
What can you do at those temps? Ummm....Well you can do the "tourist tricks" for one! You can take a cup of HOT coffee (make it as hot as you want) and toss it up in the air. It will "POOF!" freeze and blow away in a cloud of frozen vapor BEFORE it hits the ground. No, seriously!
You can also take a balloon filled with air outside and poke it with a fork and it will stay inflated. You have to do this quickly, because if you wait too long, the air in the balloon condenses and makes it hard to stick a fork in. If you take it back inside, it will just sort of deflate. At no time will it "pop". OH and you can make pretty designs on the balloon itself by lightly pressing your finger tip on it--it makes little star bursts in the latex itself.
You can also chip ice away from the INSIDE of the triple paned windows. You can drive on square tires (your tires get frozen when you park, and when you drive, you can feel the "cathunk, cathunk" of flat sided tires until they warm up and round out). You can freeze a thermometer (I thought we just had a warm spot in our yard, but apparently the thermometer had frozen up....some how that just seems so ironic to me!).
We have something called "ice fog"--it can get incredibly thick and very dangerous. Remember the hot coffee tourist trick I mentioned? Same sort of thing, but this does not blow away. It is made from car exhaust, exhaust from chimneys, etc. The air get so still and so cold, that all that moisture from the exhaust just stays there, near the ground, and builds the more cars that drive. It sure makes the sky pretty though! It diffuses the sun so the sun looks HUGE, and also makes everything have a very soft edge. The scenery is painted in a pale blue light, with hints of pink and yellow and lavender. It is pretty amazing looking.
Here is a link to a webcam that is in Fairbanks where they have a LOT of ice fog. If you look in the next couple of days, you should be able to see it, though they are supposed to be getting warmer temps at some point. http://www.newsminer.com/arcticcam/
We do not have very much daylight yet, so it is hard to catch when it is light there. But if you can see it, it will be one of the coldest looking views you might have ever seen!
It is too cold to snow, btw. I have never lived anywhere where it had to WARM UP to snow. That is still just weird to me! hee hee!
That's it for the Alaska weather report! Stay tuned to this station 4 months from now when we will still have snow and ice (though hopefully not be on the wrong side of zero degrees!)!
WHEW! Back! And some music notes (get it? Music notes? hee hee!)
My beautiful sisters in the Lord!
I have been gone for so long and I apologise (and I also apologise for the dreadful pun in the title of this blog entry)! Lots of things going on here...my folks came to visit for a few weeks (WAY too short!), The Wonder Sweetie left for a trip and came back, and of course there was Thanksgiving, Christmas, Etc!!!
But things are settling back down now and I am eager to get blogging in earnest!
So how was your CHRISTmas? Mine was wonderful! My parents were here, as I mentioned. We got slammed with temperatures in the minus 40's and 50's (yes, that is 40 BELOW zero) for almost two weeks. It was nice though because, as my mom put it, we all just did little projects and it was like living on the prairie. Dad was watching the game or reading, the kids built legos, mom embossed cards, TWS was making lingerie chests in the garage for me, I was .....hmmm...what WAS I doing? lolol--I can't remember! Probably cooking or doing handwork or playing on the dulcimer.
OH! That reminds me! We got a wonderful thing at our house! A Music Maker harp! It is a very small child's harp, but it does not sound AT ALL like a kids toy. I had gotten one for one of my ADORABLE nephews for Christmas (as well as an accordion for another nephew....not sure that SIL is going to forgive me for that one hee hee!). Anyway, a couple of days after Christmas my brother called and held the phone for Jeninlaw to play such a sweet, wonderful tune for me!
First of all, I was SO touched that they thought to call me up and play for me! Secondly, I thought it sounded wonderful! So I ordered one for myself. It has cards that slide under the strings so that you do not have to read music, you just pick the string that is directly over the note. IMMEDIATELY you can play songs like "Jesu, Joy of men's desiring" and the like. Talk about instant gratification! I just ordered a ton more music packets (hymns, patriotic, russian folk, etc). I cannot wait for them to get here!
I would recommend this highly and without reservations. Be prepared to possibly tune it when you get it, but that is not difficult, especially if you have a chromatic tuner or know someone with a good ear.
I also got a glockenspiel (something I got for my third adorable nephew!). I have not bought myself the accordion yet though hee hee.
I mentioned my dulcimer....if you have not tried one, please look into one. If you can pick out a tune with one finger, you can play the dulcimer well enough to play for people. My dulcimer is a 4 string, but two strings are REALLY close together and you play them like 1 string. These are the melody strings (where you pick out your tune). The other two strings are "drone" strings, and you do not have to do anything but pluck them or strum them (until you get really good, then you can do chords, etc, but you do not need to be able to do that to play wonderful songs).
I am better at picking the dulcimer instead of strumming (I have more fine motor skills than ANY sense of rhythm). So with one finger of your left hand, you hold down the string at different places on the neck of the dulcimer, and with your right hand you pluck strings "1-2" then string"4" then string "3". The 3rd and 4th string never change pitch (unless you get more advanced), so you really only have to worry about one string. How easy is that!
Now, if you get REALLY good you can do some amazing things with the dulcimer--things that boggle my mind, frankly. Youtube has several really amazing videos of people playing the dulcimer and making it positively dance. BUT I am not there yet :).
Anyway, those are two instruments that I can say that I would recommend, especially if you are looking to round out a homeschool music program or are looking to amuse yourself with being able to play something.
(this is getting long, so I will stop for now....)
I have been gone for so long and I apologise (and I also apologise for the dreadful pun in the title of this blog entry)! Lots of things going on here...my folks came to visit for a few weeks (WAY too short!), The Wonder Sweetie left for a trip and came back, and of course there was Thanksgiving, Christmas, Etc!!!
But things are settling back down now and I am eager to get blogging in earnest!
So how was your CHRISTmas? Mine was wonderful! My parents were here, as I mentioned. We got slammed with temperatures in the minus 40's and 50's (yes, that is 40 BELOW zero) for almost two weeks. It was nice though because, as my mom put it, we all just did little projects and it was like living on the prairie. Dad was watching the game or reading, the kids built legos, mom embossed cards, TWS was making lingerie chests in the garage for me, I was .....hmmm...what WAS I doing? lolol--I can't remember! Probably cooking or doing handwork or playing on the dulcimer.
OH! That reminds me! We got a wonderful thing at our house! A Music Maker harp! It is a very small child's harp, but it does not sound AT ALL like a kids toy. I had gotten one for one of my ADORABLE nephews for Christmas (as well as an accordion for another nephew....not sure that SIL is going to forgive me for that one hee hee!). Anyway, a couple of days after Christmas my brother called and held the phone for Jeninlaw to play such a sweet, wonderful tune for me!
First of all, I was SO touched that they thought to call me up and play for me! Secondly, I thought it sounded wonderful! So I ordered one for myself. It has cards that slide under the strings so that you do not have to read music, you just pick the string that is directly over the note. IMMEDIATELY you can play songs like "Jesu, Joy of men's desiring" and the like. Talk about instant gratification! I just ordered a ton more music packets (hymns, patriotic, russian folk, etc). I cannot wait for them to get here!
I would recommend this highly and without reservations. Be prepared to possibly tune it when you get it, but that is not difficult, especially if you have a chromatic tuner or know someone with a good ear.
I also got a glockenspiel (something I got for my third adorable nephew!). I have not bought myself the accordion yet though hee hee.
I mentioned my dulcimer....if you have not tried one, please look into one. If you can pick out a tune with one finger, you can play the dulcimer well enough to play for people. My dulcimer is a 4 string, but two strings are REALLY close together and you play them like 1 string. These are the melody strings (where you pick out your tune). The other two strings are "drone" strings, and you do not have to do anything but pluck them or strum them (until you get really good, then you can do chords, etc, but you do not need to be able to do that to play wonderful songs).
I am better at picking the dulcimer instead of strumming (I have more fine motor skills than ANY sense of rhythm). So with one finger of your left hand, you hold down the string at different places on the neck of the dulcimer, and with your right hand you pluck strings "1-2" then string"4" then string "3". The 3rd and 4th string never change pitch (unless you get more advanced), so you really only have to worry about one string. How easy is that!
Now, if you get REALLY good you can do some amazing things with the dulcimer--things that boggle my mind, frankly. Youtube has several really amazing videos of people playing the dulcimer and making it positively dance. BUT I am not there yet :).
Anyway, those are two instruments that I can say that I would recommend, especially if you are looking to round out a homeschool music program or are looking to amuse yourself with being able to play something.
(this is getting long, so I will stop for now....)
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