Composer Study - Aaron Copland

This month Sophia and Olivia learned about and listened to six pieces written by Aaron Copland.

Background

Copland (November 14, 1900 – December 2, 1990) was an American composer; composition teacher; writer; and conductor of his own and other American music.

Photo Source

According to Wikipedia, "From 1917 to 1921, Copland composed juvenile works of short piano pieces and art songs. Copland's passion for the latest European music, plus glowing letters from his friend Aaron Schaffer, inspired him to go to Paris for further study."

When Copland returned to the United States, he was determined to make his way as a full-time composer. He rented a studio apartment on New York City's Upper West Side, which kept him close to Carnegie Hall and other musical publishers and venues. He stayed in that area for the next thirty years, later moving to Westchester County, New York.

Copland lived frugally and survived financially with help from two $2,500 Guggenheim Fellowships—one in 1925 and one in 1926. Wikipedia continued, "Lecture-recitals, awards, appointments, and small commissions, plus some teaching, writing, and personal loans kept him afloat in the subsequent years through World War II. Also important were wealthy patrons who supported the arts community during the Depression, underwriting performances, publication, and promotion of musical events and composers."

In 1939, Copland received large commissions for two Hollywood film scores: Of Mice and Men and Our Town. He also began composing music for ballet, including his very successful Billy the Kid (1939).

The 1940s were Copland's most productive years, and this was when he became most notable throughout the world. His two ballet scores for Rodeo (1942) and Appalachian Spring (1944) were huge successes. His pieces Lincoln Portrait and Fanfare for the Common Man are now patriotic standards. Equally important was the Third Symphony that he composed from 1944 to 1946, and which became Copland's best-known symphony.

Wikipedia noted that, "Copland exerted a major influence on the compositional style of an entire generation of American composers, including his friend and protégé Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein was considered the finest conductor of Copland's works and cites Copland's 'aesthetic, simplicity with originality' as being his strongest and most influential traits."

Sophia and Olivia's Response to 6 of Aaron Copland's Compositions

Danzon Cubano

=> Sophia said, "It was interesting. I like how the music went together. It reminded me of a Christmas song, but with a Christmas scene."

=> Olivia said, "It was really good. I liked it. I liked the percussion instruments."

Billy in Prison (from Billy the Kid)

=> Sophia said, "It's okay. I liked the first one better."

=> Olivia said, "It's okay. It's too quiet."

Allegro: Solo Dance of the Bride (from Appalachian Spring)

=> Sophia said, "It's great! It's quick. I like all the instruments."

=> Olivia said, "I like this one because it's fast and you can hear the percussion instruments."

Allegro (from Appalachian Spring)

=> Sophia said, "It's okay. It's just not my favorite."

=> Olivia said, "It's fast, but not as loud. It's okay."

Fanfare for the Common Man

(Note from the CD jacket: This was his most famous work. It was written in 1942 and intended as a spirit-raiser for the American forces during WWII.)

=> Sophia said, "It raises your spirits. It's joyful!"

=> Olivia said, "I liked that one! It's very good. It's loud."

The introduction - the first 1 minute and 40 seconds out of the 3 minute and 39 second piece - was the favorite part for both of the girls.

Circus Music (from the Red Pony Suite)

=> Sophia said, "Where have I heard this? I like this one. It's quick and lively. You'd hear it in a band. Well, maybe not a band. People play marches..not a song like this. I think of Mary Poppins.

=> Olivia said, "I like this one. It sounds like a band. It's fast.

3 in 30 April Goals - Update #1

At the end of the first week of the April, I have done the following towards my three goals in the 3 in 30 challenge:

1 – Prepare and host an Easter gathering. I planned the menu for 16 people, wrote the grocery list, shopped for the items, and began making some of the food that can be made ahead of time.

On Thursday, I made two loaves of zucchini spice bread with Olivia; and peanut candy bars. The latter was a new recipe and it turned out really well which made me happy.

On Friday morning, I hard-boiled a dozen eggs for the girls to dye as well as put some aside for deviled eggs. I'll be making banana bread, herb twists, and mounds bars later this morning and afternoon.

The bulk of the cooking and baking will be on Saturday and Sunday. All of it will be packed up at that time and transported to my mom's home that is 50 miles away.

I set two and decorated two tables at my mom's home as well as put some of her Easter decorations around her home. On Wednesday, Ibrought home the plastic Easter eggs from her home to fill with coins. These will be hidden around the front yard and hung from the crabapple tree.
More information about Easter, the challenges with the holiday this year, and details about the goal can be found HERE.

What's on the menu for Easter? With the exception of the items that have a * by them, I'm making the following: ham, BBQ ribs*, scalloped potatoes, sweet potato casserole*, vegetable casserole, croissants*, banana bread, zucchini spice bread, herb twists, applesauce, asparagus-strawberry tossed salad, lime-mint jello, and jello in the shape of eggs.

For dessert, there's cake in the shape of a lamb, lemon curd tartlets with fresh raspberries and mint on top, key lime bars, peanut candy bars, and mounds bars. There will be a variety of Easter candies and mixed nuts available as well.

To drink, there's a red punch, juice, and water.

 2 – Clean half my office. I cleaned two out of ten shelves in my closet. I removed everything from the top of the filing cabinet and placed the items where they should belong. Then I worked on cleaning about one-third my desk top by filing items or placing them back where they should have been put in the first place.

I also briefly went through one of my desk drawers in order to get my bill holder/clipboard in it. In the process, recycled at least a dozen catalogs that I didn't even realize I had in that drawer.

So far, I have one grocery bag of items to donate; two bags of garbage; and one bag of items for recycling.

3 – Clean the blue room. I did not work on this at all.

Take a Stitch Tuesday - Satin Stitch - Week 14

This week for Take a Stitch Tuesday (TAST), the featured stitch is the satin stitch. There are so many beautiful examples of this stitch on the internet. What should be a rather basic stitch - just sewing the stitches next to one another - for some reason I find difficult.

From left to right, I used yarn, six strands of embroidery floss, and

twelve strands of embroidery floss.

Next to the fly stitch (which I learned during the first week of TAST), the satin stitch has to be another one of my stitches that I am rather embarrased to show. In all honesty, I probably will never use this stitch again given the rather dismal look of the small samples I did.

Despite how small they were, they took a rather long time for me to do. Perhaps that's the other reason why I'll choose not to do this stitch again. I'm much happier with other stitches that either take a shorter time to do and/or may take longer but the result (based on my limited skills) is more pleasing to the eye.

As with past weeks, I've included the samples in my TAST embroidery journal along with a personal reflection, gratitude list, name of the stitch, and some images that reflect what I've seen this week. (Tulips are in the stores for Easter and the butterfly is similar to one that's on a pillow I purchased with a gift card my mom gave me this past fall. I finally made it to this store...after about six months.)

P52 Photo Challenge - Foolin' Around - Week 14

This week's theme for the fourteenth week of P52 is Foolin’ Around. Today, as I walked around the yard I noticed butterflies (the first ones I've noticed this season) sunning themselves on the bark chips under the plum tree; and flying around the plum tree and landing on its little white flowers.

Even though I'm not particularly happy about

the house and birdfeeder in the background,

I do like that the photo included both a butterfly and bee.

The butterflies were eagerly drinking the nectar in the blossoms - sometimes holding onto the petals upright, other times sitting on the blossom tops, and other times hanging upside down. If butterflies could be having fun, fooling around, and enjoying spring...the ones I saw today definitely fit this description.

Heartwarming Animal Stories - Sophie: The Incredible True Story of the Castaway Dog

For the fourth book in the Heartwarming Animal Stories 2012 Reading Challenge, Sophia found a book that she thought I’d enjoy reading since she noticed that I had been reading books about animals recently: Sophie: The Incredible True Story of the Castaway Dog.

Author Emma Pearse shares the story of Sophie, an Australian cattle dog, who was enjoying a boat ride with her owners (the Griffiths) when she accidently went overboard while around St. Bees Island. Despite an exhaustive search for her by the Griffiths, she was not found.

For several months following the incident, they assumed she had died – either in the ocean from drowning or from being attacked by predators; or on land from thirst and/or starvation. Concurrently, a few residents on these remote islands spotted Sophie who maintained her distance despite her growing hunger and thirst.

Since the inhabited islands prohibit domestic animals, it was imperative that Sophie be captured. Furthermore, one of the islands is home to many koalas that are not fearful of people or animal threats, and are the subject of research of this potentially-endangered animal. Although luring Sophie to a trap was challenging, it was accomplished.

Through word-of-mouth and some fortunate connections, Sophie was reunited with the Griffiths successfully where she easily re-acclimated herself to living in a safe, air-conditioned home surrounded by toys and her loving owners.

Sophie was a fascinating story about the determination, resourcefulness, and hardiness of a dog. It demonstrated the intense loyalty of Sophie to her owners; and showed the impact that a dog can have on humans.

Although parts of the story dragged on at the beginning, Sophie became more interesting once she was spotted on the islands and people became focused on capturing her.

It was interesting to read that when Sophie went into the water that her “survival instincts compelled her to keep moving – this is the only explanation that vets and dog experts can come up for how she managed to make it as far as she did [some estimates are 10-12 hours].

“For a dog to spend more than thirty minutes or so in a swimming pool or a lake, even a dog with the greatest affinity for water, would be a muscle-cramping feat. Put the dog in the middle of the ocean, swimming five, six, possibly ten or more nautical miles, competing with tides, currents, and the massive influence of the islands and reefs that the ocean bullies its way around – the feat is even more amazing.”

In addition to the main focus of the book, I enjoyed reading more about the koala research that is being on St. Bees. Apparently there were feral goats on St. Bees which had to be culled by the parks and Wildlife Service in 2007 since they were destroying the native flora and fauna. The goats had “all but devoured the seedlings of the blue gum and poplar gum trees, which the St. Bees koalas eat.”

So, when Sophie was spotted, she was potentially serious threat to the koalas – for different reasons – since she had not eaten in months by this time and could easily kill koalas for food; and could potentially bring disease to the healthy koala population on St. Bees.

As a side note, the koalas were not native to St. Bees. In fact, a gentleman named Lionel Berck purchased this island in 1907. He and his family “raised cattle and sheep there, built gorgeous colonial houses and brought koalas over from Proserpine, just south of Mackay – possibly as pets and possibly to save them from the then-popular sport of koala shooting.”

Since 1998, the koalas on St. Bees have been studied by scientists and an ever-changing group of volunteers who come from all over Australia and the world. “The Australian Koala Foundation estimates that there are 80,000 koalas left in the wild, possibly as few as 43,000, and there is research going on…with the hopeful goal of creating a national solution that will save the species.”

Between learning more koalas and reading about Sophie’s amazing journey and survival, I would recommend Sophie: The Incredible True Story of the Castaway Dog.

3 in 30 Goals for April

Each month this year I have done the 3 in 30 challenge by setting three goals to accomplish in a one-month timeframe. For April, I have the following goals:

1 – Prepare and host an Easter gathering. This year is a bit more complicated in that we’re all dealing with grief issues after my Dad died on January 5th of this year. So, it will only be 3 months since his death on Easter.

Generally, the three-month mark with grieving is a difficult turning point because the shock has worn off and the raw emotions of grief and loss are very present on an almost-daily (if not daily) basis. People who were there to support you right after the death have moved on and resumed their daily life. Yet, life for those grieving is ever-present and missing the person who they loved is a constant feeling.

Coupled with that issue is that my Mom is in a transitional care unit (at the same nursing home where my father died) as a result of a fall in her home on February 28th. After a brief stay in the collaborative acute elderly unit at a hospital, she was transferred to the T.C.U. on March 1st.

Her cast is being removed today, and physical and occupational therapy sessions will resume to five days per week (they were at three times a week during the past two weeks).

Easter will be her first visit home since February 28th. So, it will be an emotional day for her on many levels.
She will have to return to the T.C.U. after Easter dinner to complete the rest of her rehabilitation at St. Therese.

Given that background, I am hosting Easter at my Mom’s home for 16 people. It’s a little challenging in that Sophia and Olivia sing with the children’s choir at the 11:00 service at church. So, I have to prepare as much of the Easter dinner ahead of time at home, transport it to my Mom’s home, and then finish preparing and serving it there.

2 – Clean half my office. I debated about whether I wanted to set my goal as cleaning my entire office, but that seemed rather overwhelming given preparing for Easter the first week, and attending the multi-day homeschool conference during the second week.

So, my goal is to work on the half that has the closet with craft/homeschooling supplies and canned goods (peaches, pears, applesauce, and tomatoes that I can over the summer); and my desk.

3 – Clean the blue room. This is a room upstairs that has the girls’ costumes/dress-up outfits, toys, dolls, dollhouse, some books, and a bed.

I would like to donate what is no longer needed and that the girls don’t play with any longer; and toss/recycle things that are broken or can be reused respectively. After I’m done, then I would like to dust; wash the walls, fan, and windows; and vacuum.

Take a Stitch Tuesday - Mini-Challenge - Week 13

This week for Take a Stitch Tuesday (TAST), there were two mini-challenges. One was to combine 3-6 stitches in a sampler. I did this with my monthly Embroidery Journal Project in which I'm creating twelve 12"x12" embroidered quilt squares. I incorporated six different embroidery stitches into the quilt square: detached chain, running, chain, blanket, cross, and back stitches.

Since this wouldn't be going in the weekly TAST embroidery journal that I'm keeping, I wanted to do a couple more samples.

Couching, running, cross, and chevron stitches.

One of the samples I did in a more orderly and precise fashion using wool yarn from sheep that I raised. The wool was cleaned in Frankenmuth, Michigan, and then shipped back here to Minnesota. A spinner took the roving and made it into yarn.

This sampler used the couching, running, and

whipped wheel stitches.

The second sampler was (to me) more chaotic and random. It kind of reflects my life right now - how parts of it are in order and moving smoothly; and other parts have been turned upside down and I'm muddling through the days because of going through the first year after my father's death.

I chose a less colorful yarn to couch this time than I did a few weeks ago because it also reflects grieving and the darker moments of some of my days and emotions. The bright colored embroidery floss shows that - despite the sadness...the loss...the grief - there are happy and "brighter" aspects of each week.

These highlights I put in a "I am Grateful for..." list that I do each week. This list and a personal reflection are included in my journal entry for the week.

The completed journal pages for Week 13.

12 in 12: March Update

During 2012, Sophia, Olivia, and I are doing a special challenge that we've named 12 in 12. We are doing 12 different activities that help people in need, animals, or the environment. 

This is how we did during March: 

- Take 1 bag of food to the food shelf.

The girls brought a bag of food to the Lindstrom Food Pantry (a program of Family Pathways) as part of their 4-H club's service project for the month. The club members donated 46 pounds of food to the food shelf; and we were given a tour by two volunteers who also are members of the local Lions group.

Sophia and Olivia with a bag of food for the food shelf.

Last year, the Food Pantry served 1,738 households (which represents 4,994 individuals). 148,214 pounds of food was distributed; and 3,302 hours were worked by volunteers. Clearly, it provides a valuable service to the community of Lindstrom and neighboring areas.

- Volunteer 1 hour at a community organization that is chosen each month (can be the same one or different one).

On the 31st, the Olivia and I made cookies, bars, and biscuits for the April 1st social hour between church services. We made sugar cookies that were cut out in different Easter and spring shapes; meringue cookies; oatmeal bars; lemon-rose biscuits; and triple ginger cookies.

Olivia cutting out Easter shapes from the sugar cookie dough.

- Donate 1 bag of clothing to a second-hand shop.

We donated 7 bags of clothing to Goodwill this month. These were clothes that no longer fit Olivia or were ones that we had not worn in the past six months.

Olivia and Sophia in the car with donations

for Goodwill.

We also donated 2 big bags of clothing to Family Pathways on another day.

- Donate 1 bag of toys and other non-clothing items to a second-hand shop.

The girls went through their rooms again and we found 3 bags of toys and doll clothes that they no longer wanted. There were also two bags of curricula and teaching resource books that we used and no longer needed. These were brought to Goodwill along with the clothing and two bags of books.

Items for Goodwill.

During the third week of March, we continued to go through the house and found another bag of items that we donated to Family Pathways.


We also donated a bag of items to St. Therese Care Center. (This is where my dad spent the last three months of his life, and where my mom currently is in the Transitional Care Unit recovering from a fall in which she cracked her ankle.) Items that several departments could use were donated:

- Rosaries and other spiritual/religious items that belonged to my dad went to the Pastoral Care team.
- Puzzles went to the Activities team for use with seniors who are in 1 West (Alzheimer's/Dementia unit).
- Book with old-fashioned pictures went to 1 East (the palliative/hospice unit where my dad was).
- Transfer belt went to Physical Therapy (where my mom is spending a lot of time).

- Donate 12 books that we no longer read to organizations needing books.

We donated 46 books to Goodwill this month. (See photo above - the books are in bags in the back part of the car.)

Olivia and Sophia with books for the library.

Sophia is holding one bag.

The other two bags are behind the girls on the counter.

We also donated 60 books to the local library. The library uses donated books in one of two ways:

(1) If the book is in good condition and they don't have it, they add it to their collection; or

(2) If it isn't in great condition or they already have a copy (or copies) of the book, then they sell it. The proceeds from the sale of books supports the library (its operation as well as the purchase of new books).

Although it was (in a way) difficult to part with all the books, the reality is that we haven't read them recently and don't plan to read them again soon.

Ideally, I would do some type of yard sale and try to get some of the money back that I spent on books. However, in the age of e-books and Kindles the likelihood that the money earned would pale in comparison to the effort put forth as well as the advertising expense to sell the books.

We are keeping only the books that we have enjoyed, will read again, and/or have positive memories associated with them (the latter category are generally books that were read when the girls were babies and toddlers).

- Donate $12 to an organization that helps individuals, animals, or the environment.

The girls and I chose Northwoods Humane Society again this month. We were happy to see that - with the exception of a few cats and two dogs - there were all new animals this month.

The girls looking at two of the dogs that were

available for adoption.

Since Northwoods is a no-kill shelter, that means that all the animals who were eligible for adoption last month and are no longer there are all in new homes this month.

A very friendly cat who needs a new home.

- Write 1 letter to someone who has made a difference in our lives.

I wrote a letter to the human resources director at St. Therese Care Center to let her know about the good work and positive impact one of their employees has had on our family.

Throughout the entire time that my dad was at St. Therese and now my mom (who is in the transitional care unit there), one of St. Therese’s employees (Nichelle) has stood out as providing exceptional care and compassion to both my parents as well as me.

Dad and Nichelle at St. Therese.

(Taken on November 12, 2011.)

It is rare that you see someone radiate joy and happiness when she is doing her job. When these things are shown, especially by someone in the healthcare field – like Nichelle - it is truly inspiring.

So, not only did I write the letter to the human resouce director, but I also sent a copy to Nichelle so she could read what I wrote. With her letter, I included copies of a prayer and homily that my dad wrote (the former in 1996 and the latter in 2005 - most likely when he was in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's Disease).

Both referred to the importance of serving and helping others which Nichelle demonstrated repeatedly. Because she knew my dad only when he had Alzheimer's Disease and didn't have adequate words to express himself, I wanted her to "hear" him when he was himself and able to share what he believed. (She knew that I found a big file of homilies and prayers that he wrote as I have been cleaning his offices at home after his death.)

One part of the prayer was, "We are truly thankful for the...opportunity of service, for it is serving others that we also serve You. .... We thank you for bringing us together...and to recognize those among us who have given much and have demonstrated a willingness to help other people."

The homily included this paragraph: "The reign of God is big, but made up of many tiny things. Mustard seeds. Yeast. Not much in themselves. A quick thank you note. An understanding smile or greeting. A reassuring and comforting touch. A word of praise or a word of encouragement. When ammassed, we can see a committed relationship, a happy marriage, a warm and loving family. The little things we do, almost unnoticeable, are never little things in the reign of God and in our relationship with caring, loving, and service to others."

- Donate 1 bag of pop cans to places that collect them to raise funds.

Sophia and Olivia putting cans in

Northwoods Humane Society's can collector.

Both Sophia and Olivia are committed to helping the animals who arrive at Northwoods Humane Society find homes. To help Northwoods, they donated another bag of pop cans this month.

Zorro needs a new home.

- Donate 1 bag of Purina Kitten Chow (dry) to Northwoods Humane Society (where Gretel was adopted).

Northwoods was very grateful to receive the Kitten Chow this month.

Sophia and Olivia by the counter where they donated the Kitten Chow.

The cat at the counter was very interested in the food as well.

The volunteer who accepted the donation said that next month there will start to be many kittens since this is the time of the year when many are born. They are running low on kitten food, so this was a timely and needed donation.

Gelbman is waiting patiently for a

new person or family to adopt him.

- Spend 1 hour outdoors doing projects that help wildlife.

I trimmed some of the lower branches on the trees in a forested area in the northwest section of the pasture. With the larger branches, I created areas where small animals and birds could get some shelter and/or protection from predators.

One of the areas that can provide shelter or protection.

By late-spring and summer, this will be enclosed in leaves.

I also filled all the bird feeders on the 31st of March. Some of the feeders were empty or close to being empty. However, some still had quite a bit of seeds in them.

With the mild winter and early spring, the ground has thawed, worms are being found by the robins; and insects are already crawling and flying around. This makes it much easier for the birds and creates less dependency on eating from bird feeders.

One of the feeders that I re-filled.

Within ten minutes, the dark-eyed juncos found it.

They returned frequently, and often times looked for seeds

that other birds had tossed onto the roof.

- Make and randomly drop off 1 toy for a child to find as part of The Toy Society.

This month I hand-embroidered a toy in the shape of a squirrel. The toy is made from 100% wool felt, stuffed with wool from sheep I raised, and sewn together/decorated with 100% cotton embroidery floss.
The pattern is from a Japanese craft book, so all the instructions and descriptions on the diagrams are written in Japanese.

Toy made for someone to find.

This month, we picked the Target store that is a bit north of Minneapolis off 35W. We put the toy (that was in a bag along with a note and label that said "Take me home") by the drinking fountain that was lower to the floor. In this way, we thought that a child would be more likely to find the toy.

The squirrel toy waiting to be discovered and

taken home by a new owner.

- Share 1 time the gift of music (piano and/or harp) or singing with others.

This is the month of practicing...and no performances (the first month in a long time where the girls haven't had to sing or play an instrument).

Although the girls did not publicly sing with the children's choir this month, they will have several opportunities to sing during April. Next month they will be singing on April 1 (Palm Sunday - 2 church services in conjunction with the adult choir), April 8 (Easter - 1 church service), and April 15 (the week after Easter - 2 church services).

They also have been practicing for their piano recital that is the first weekend in May. They not only need to know their piece, but have it memorized for the performance.

Embroidery Journal Project - March

For March's embroidery journal project I adapted parts of four different patterns into a new one.

The four parts are:
- the outline - from Badbird's Embroidery Patterns
- the two birds - from Badbird's Embroidery Patterns
- two green clovers - this was from a machine embroidery pattern I saw on the internet. I tried to search for the link again, but can't find it.
- a willow branch - from a German American newspaper clipping circa 1900.

Each month I am doing a different design on a 12" x 12" piece of white cotton fabric that is imprinted with white leaves. At the end of this year-long project, I will have 12 different hand-embroidered designs that I will incorporate into a quilt.

There were 15 different colors of cotton embroidery floss used for this design. I tried to pick colors that were light; and reflected spring and some of the colors I'm seeing this month.

For the quilt squares for the past two months, I have simply done the backstitch. This month, I added some new embroidery stitches that I learned or built upon through the weekly Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge.

Stitches shown: Detached chain, running, chain, blanket, cross, and back stitches.

There are six stitches used in this piece:

- Detached chain - the five gold stitches in each corner.
- Running - the two pastel lavender lines in each corner.
- Chain - the two dark green clovers.
- Blanket - the two purple sections of stitches by each bluebird.
- Cross - the two sets of three "x"s by the leaves.
- Back - everything else that isn't done in one of the above-mentioned stitches.

Each part symbolizes something in this piece:

- Two bluebirds - many birds are migrating through and/or back to Minnesota. Last week, I saw a bluebird sitting on top of the butterfly house and then fly to the nature trail area.

- Willow branch - the willows by the pond area went from the soft, fuzzy gray stage to the blooming stage literally in less than a week. The weather is so atypical this spring that the plants, bushes, and trees have gone from their winter state to late-spring state in less than a month. Despite the brevity of this process, I was able to see a few in the gray stage earlier in the month.

- Clovers - St. Patrick's Day is a holiday that Sophia and Olivia enjoy celebrating. They spend time planning and building a leprechaun trap and putting out shoes for the leprechaun (who is a cobbler) to repair. The leprechaun has fun during the night re-arranging - and not fixing - the shoes, writing a greeting with the coins the girls leave out ("Hi"), and leaving some dollar gold coins and gold glitter sprinkled around the table.

We have Irish soda bread for breakfast and other green-colored items for the meals that day (e.g., pistachio fruit salad made with green pistachio pudding mix, coleslaw).

- Leaves with three "x" s - The perennials have started to emerge from the ground. The leaves are showing, but no flowers yet.

- Five gold stitches in the corner - These shapes remind me of the buds and blossoms on the trees. The apple trees are beginning to bud now while the northern magnolia bush is in full - and very fragrant - blossom.

- Purple and blue stitching in the four corners - This month I helped both the girls re-paint their rooms in colors that they chose. Sophia wanted a purple room and Olivia wanted a blue room.

In the process, I patched the walls where there were holes and where the sheets of drywall had come apart from one another slightly. They are both thrilled to have rooms that reflect their color preferences and look like they are in good condition.

One-fourth of the embroidered quilt squares are done already. Where have the past three months gone? It seems like time goes by so quickly.

P52 Photo Challenge - Details - Week 13

Details is the theme for the thirteenth week of P52. During the past week, the unseasonably warm weather coupled with periodic rain has transformed winter into a beautiful spring.

Although it is March in Minnesota, it looks like May - with perennials emerging from the ground; bright green grass growing taller by the day; trees budding; and flowering bushes and trees blooming.

One of my favorite bushes here is the northern magnolia. I planted the bush when it was a couple feet high. It now stands well over six feet tall and has about a five foot spread. In the spring, the bush is covered with delicate - yet large - fragrant white flowers.

The bush was covered with white buds on March 21st. Within two days, the majority of the buds were in different stages of blossoms. Today, the bush is still covered with flowers.

I'd like to see if I could trim a few of the branches and try to root them in water. If I could get them to successfully root, perhaps I could plant more of these beautiful bushes around the farm. It certainly would be worth a try!

3 in 30 - March Update - Week #4

This is the final week for the three March goals that I set for the 3 in 30 challenge.  This is the progress I made during the past week and my progress towards meeting the goals for the month:

1. Do "Shaking Off the Bonds of Stuff...for Lent." As with last week, there are some things that were easy to do, another that I had already done, a couple that I chose not to do, and one that I need to do at another time because it is too labor-intensive to do at this time.

For example, one day there was an activity that didn't take long to do:

Dispose of chipped and broken dishes. Go through your dishes and glasses. If you have complete sets, give away the pieces of incomplete sets. I have no complete sets of dishes, so there were no incomplete sets to give away.

Of the dishes that I have, there were 11 chipped plates, 8 chipped cups, and 2 chipped bowls. Getting rid of the chipped dishes also freed a lot of space in the cupboard so now everything fits in there and no clean dishes are left stacked on the counter.

Another activity I had already done prior to this week:

- Go through all the magazines in your house. Sort them into three piles based on use. The only magazine subscriptions I have are Taste of Home which is focused on cooking and recipes; and Family Fun. About a month ago I went through all the magazines I had by the side of my bed (well over a half dozen from November 2011-January 2012 - when my dad went on hospice care and then died).

Clipped the recipes to try and articles I wanted to reference (for homeschooling and activities to do with the girls) and put them in my recipe binder or filed them. It was such a good feeling to have not only these magazines recyled, but the recipes and ideas in the places where I could reference them.

There is another activity that I will do at a later time:

Throw out anything that has been in your freezer for more than six months. If you don't know how long it has been there, throw it away. This activity seemed rather wasteful. For example, the girls and I pick strawberries and blueberries each June and July respectively. We freeze the berries so we can use them throughout the year until the next harvest is ready (this saves a lot of money because fresh berries are so expensive during the off-season). The berries have never lasted 12 months, but certainly they do last more than six months. I can't justify throwing away perfectly good food just to say "I met this goal."

So, instead I modified this activity to dispose of any food that has been in the freezer for a year; food that I know I won't use, or food that has been damaged (e.g., freezer burned). I want to take my time doing this and not rush through it. In order to do that, I need to this activity at a future date.

A couple activities I chose not to do:

- Set aside one bag of plastic bags from the grocery store and recycle the rest.
- Set aside one bag of paper bags and recycle the rest.

I use the plastic bags for collecting trash in several small wastebaskets around the home. I also use them for cat litter.

The paper bags I use for recycling. Since I make three meals a day, there are a lot of items that can be recycled (e.g., food boxes, cans).

With the exception of a couple of labor-intensive activities that will be done at a later date and a few that are almost done, this goal was met!

2. Finish taxes; and determine a budget for homeschooling curricula and supplies for April. 

I worked on the taxes during the first week of March. Submitted them during the second week; and the CPA finished electronically submitted them during the third week.

Based on the net refund, I have a budget for the homeschool conference, curricula, and supplies. A good percentage of the refund will, unfortunately, pay for hotel lodging and conference fees. So, as I did for this school year, I plan to continue to use as many materials as I can that I already have on hand and limit what I need to purchase.

Keeping the budget in mind, I needed to look at the key parts to next year's curriculum where I wanted to invest money. So, I decided on these main elements:

- Math textbooks from Rod and Staff. I have used the math books from Rod and Staff since the girls were in Kindergarten. These are no-frills, one-color math books that focus on the basics and have quite a few story problems in them. The images in younger years focused on farming and nature (which was an interest for the girls); and the story problems generally relate to real life and situations that a person could encounter.

- Language arts curricula from Simply Charlotte Mason.  I have not used any curricula from Simply Charlotte Mason before, but have incorporated elements of Charlotte Mason's philosophy in this year's schedule (e.g., nature study, picture/artist study, poetry). There are a couple of resources that I want to try to see if the girls learn and enjoy using this method as it relates to language arts (e.g., Spelling Wisdom and English for the Thoughtful Child).

- The instructor guides/schedule for Sonlight's history/geography/social studies program. However, we would use the free books available at the library instead of purchasing them. Although this is a bit more of a hassle (and certainly not as exciting as receiving a box full of new books), it is the reality of living on a limited income. 

- The entire science program from Sonlight. The girls can use the same level of science which is an advantage with Sonlight (and it saves money!). The topics this upcoming year include electricity, magnetism, astronomy, light, color, microscopes, inventions, chemistry, and modern technology. There are hands-on experiments and ways to learn; and the girls are always excited to do science lessons.

They have been asking to do Sonlight's science program all year long (I took a break from it this year to do several multi-week science units from In the Hands of a Child [I had these on hand and was trying to save money]. They didn't care for IHC or seemed as enthused about it like they have the Sonlight science program.) Needless to say, when I told them we were going back to Sonlight for science, they were thrilled!

The rest of the subjects I either have the curricula or resources already on hand; or can check them out of the library. Some of the subjects are taught by others (e.g., piano lessons, harp lessons).

The other subjects that the girls do as part of homeschooling are listed below. (Note: not all these subjects are covered each day. Some are only covered once or twice a week.)

- 4-H (variety of projects and activities)

- Art

- Current Events

- Geography Unit Study (multi-disciplinary unit study using Cantering the Country which I already have. This will be the second year of studying each state in the United States. In 2011-12 we focused on the New England, Great Lakes, and Midwestern states. In 2012-13, we will focus on the Mid-Atlantic, Southwest, and Rocky Mountain States.)

- Girl Scouts (may join as independent scouts this year; otherwise will just use the badge books for ideas for learning activities for different themes)

- Handicrafts

- Language Arts (Grammar, Latin - looking at root words, and Vocabulary)

- Literature

- Music (Choir, Composer Study, Instrument/performance [piano for both girls, harp for Sophia, and Olivia chooses a band or orchestra instrument])

- Nature Study

- Penmanship 

- Physical Education (still trying to determine what sport/activities they enjoy. They are going to try a couple new ones this summer - synchronized swimming and equestrian vaulting - to see if these might be activities of strong interest)

- Picture Study (Study about six artists and six pieces of art each one created)

- Poetry

- Theater

- Typing

As for writing out a daily schedule for the school year, I am going to wait until after the homeschool conference in April. At that point, I'll have all resources in hand and hopefully have some new ideas about the upcoming year that I can incorporate into the schedule.

This goal was met!

3. Trim trees before spring. I trimmed the lower branches of one of the apple trees in the backyard on Tuesday. My goal was to get rid of the branches that were growing upward rather than down or out.

Since this is the girls' climbing tree as well there were a couple of branches that were rather large size that were growing up. These, I was told by Olivia, should remain on the tree because they helped her get up into it.

There was one rather large branch that I began working on. If I had a good saw, it wouldn't have taken too long. But, I don't. So, this became more of a challenge than anticipated. It ended up taking all 3 of us to get that branch sawed off and then carefully pulled through the tree without damaging other branches and buds.

Sophia and Olivia pulling on the branch.

Alternately, I would saw the branch.

Eventually, it came off and I was able to pull it out from the tree.

Also took off some of the lower branches off the tree so they wouldn't be at face level when I mowed. (I did this also on another tree in the backyard that had branches at eye level.)

Two piles of branches trimmed from

two trees in the backyard.

Next February, I will have a tree trimmer come out and trim the higher branches of the apple tree as well as other ones.

I chose not to trim the double-grafted apple tree which blooms white on one half and pink on the other during the spring. In November 2010, the tree broke in half when there was an ice storm. Rather than get rid of the fallen part, the girls asked if it could be kept since they play on it (they use it like a beam to walk across or they sit on it and read).

Last spring and this spring, there are branches growing up from the part that fell. More out of curiosity than anything, I'm interested in seeing what happens to this tree if it stays as it is:

- Will it grow another central trunk or will it just grow lots of branches?

- If it just grows branches that grow upwards, will the trunk that is parallel to the ground be able to support those branches?

- Will any fruit be produced?

Sawing off a small branch from a tree in the forest area.

In the pasture, I trimmed branches that were eye level (of the girls, horses, and me) along the pathways in the little forest area.

Olivia with Bailey.

(Bailey is a Pony of the Americas.)

Although I went out to trim the trees alone, before long I was joined by Olivia, Bailey, and Hoss who were all interested in the changes being made to the area.

Hoss with Olivia.

(Hoss is a miniature horse.)

As a side note: Bailey and Hoss were adopted in 2008 from the Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue Foundation. Both of them were from neglect situations and underweight. They were not use to being in pastures, so it was a very slow and gradual change from being in a confined area to being able to gallop in the pasture.

Bailey and Hoss also did not know one another prior to coming here. However, they are now inseparable. Right after adopting Bailey, we also found out that she is blind in her right eye and has vision issues in her left eye. Despite this, she and Hoss enjoy racing and playing in the pastures.

This goal was met!

Y is for Yogurt Cups - ABCs of Homeschooling

This week Sophia made Yogurt Cups from the Alpha-Bakery children's cookbook. The cups were a clever way to hold the yogurt, and made them feel as if it were a healthy dessert.

The Yogurt Cups would be especially good to make during the summer when there is fresh fruit available at the berry patches and fresh mint in the garden. Having fresh fruit and mint to garnish the Yogurt Cups would add a special touch.

Yogurt Cups

Ingredients

3/4 cup flour
1/4 margarine or butter, softened (we used dairy-free butter)
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
2-3 teaspoons cold water
1 1/3 cup yogurt (any flavor) (we used dairy-free yogurt for 2 of the yogurt cups and dairy yogurt for the other 2 yogurt cups)
Fresh fruit for garnish (optional)

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix flour, margarine or butter, and powdered sugar until crumbly, sprinkle in water, 1 teaspoon at a time, stirring until dough forms.

Press about 3 tablespoons of dough in bottom and up each side of 4 ungreased 6-ounce custard cups to within 1/2 inch of top.

Bake until golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes.

Carefully remove from cups with a small metal spatula. (Note: After Sophia ran a knife around the edge of the cup to loosen it from the glass custard cup, I turned the cups over on a plate since they were still hot and tapped the underside of the cup. After a few seconds, it released itself from the cup.) Let cool completely on wire rack.

Fill each cup with 1/3 cup of yogurt. (Note: One of the cups holds about a half a single-serving of yogurt.)

Garnish with fresh fruit if you like.

Makes 4 cups.

Shaking Off the Bonds of Stuff - Update

Over on Love My Little Flower, the author has a Shaking Off the Bonds of Stuff schedule for the 40 days of Lent. The plan was originally written by Dale O'Leary, a freelance journalist and radio talk show host.

Here's how I've done for the past week:

Day 23 (Monday, March 19): Throw away all notices and announcements for past events and events you have no intention of attending.

Generally, I put the information right into my calendar so I don't have loose papers laying around. I'm also more likely to remember the event if it's in my calendar. I did have a couple of flyers and advertisements that were from the newspaper that I copied into my calendar so I could recycle those papers.

Day 24 (Tuesday, March 20): Take all the address labels and notes, enter the information into an address book and throw away the originals.

I do this each Christmas when I receive cards. Also, I updated and/or added people to my online label file (I don't have an address book) when I received cards in January after my dad died.

Day 25 (Wednesday, March 21): Throw away all broken appliances. Give away or sell those that work but you no longer use.

I have a microwave that broke in January and a scanner that no longer works. Both appliances are in the hobby shed waiting for the local heavy metal + applicance recycling day in May.

I found a juicer and yogurt maker that I no longer use. These were donated to the local second-hand store.

Day 26 (Thursday, March 22): Toss curtains you have replaced because they were ugly, faded, or worn.

I only have curtains in one room. At this point they are fine to keep up.

Day 27 (Friday, March 23): Get rid of or repair broken furniture

The covers on the two couches had seen much better days. So, on Monday I purchased new covers for both of them. I threw away the ripped and damaged covers; and replaced them with the new ones.

What a change! It looks like the furniture is brand-new now which is wonderful. I should have done this a long time ago.

Day 28 (Saturday, March 24): Go through all the magazines in your house. Sort them into piles:

- Keep for reference (only if you actually reference them)
- Toss after six months
- Toss each month
- Toss immediately

The only magazine subscriptions I have are Taste of Home which is focused on cooking and recipes; and Family Fun. About a month ago I went through all the magazines I had by the side of my bed (well over a half dozen from November 2011-January 2012 - when my dad went on hospice care and then died).

Clipped the recipes to try and articles I wanted to reference (for homeschooling and activities to do with the girls) and put them in my recipe binder or filed them. It was such a good feeling to have not only these magazines recyled, but the recipes and ideas in the places where I could reference them.

What's coming up for this week?  These activities:

Day 29 (Monday, March 25): Dispose if chipped and broken dishes. Go through your dishes and glasses. If you have complete sets, give away the pieces of incomplete sets.

Day 30 (Tuesday, March 26): Throw out anything that has been in your freezer for more than six months. If you don't know how long it has been there, throw it away.

Day 31 (Wednesday, March 27): Set aside one bag of plastic bags from the grocery store and recycle the rest.

Day 32 (Thursday, March 28): Set aside one bag of paper bags and recycle the rest.

Day 33 (Friday, March 29): Set aside one shelf for disposable plastic and glass containers. When it is full, throw away the excess.

Day 34 (Saturday, March 30): Give away clothes your children have outgrown.

Take a Stitch Tuesday - Barred and Alternating Barred Chain Stitches - Week 12

This week for Take a Stitch Tuesday (TAST), the featured stitches are the barred chain stitch and alternate barred chain stitch.

To do this stitch, you need to know how to do the chain stitch and twisted chain stitch. Barred chain stitch is a sequence of these two stitches alternating each other.

Chain Stitch (top row) + Twisted Chain Stitch (middle row) =

Barred Chain Stitch (bottom row)

I did the chain stitch several weeks ago as part of TAST. However, I had not yet learned the twisted chain stitch. So, I needed to look that up and learn that first.

According to Stitch School, "Here's regular chain:



"And here's the twisted variation. Can you see the difference?



"Begin as you would for chain stitch by bringing your thread to the front. Now, instead of inserting your needle into the same hole where your thread emerged, insert it slightly to the left. Take a small slanting stitch and come up on the drawn line. Your thread loops over and then under the needle.


Photo Source

"Pull the thread through until it tightens and the loop rests on the emerging thread. This is the first link in the chain.


Photo Source

"To begin the second link, take the needle from just outside the loop down to the drawn line. Again, keep your thread under the needle or it won't twist. With regular chain stitch you would take your needle down inside the loop not outside of it—that's the difference.


Photo Source

"Continue making links in the chain and when you come to the end take a small stitch to tack the last loop down."

Once I practiced doing the twisted chain stitch, I looked for step-by-step tutorials for the two stitches this week and found one at Sarah's Hand Embroidery Tutuorials. There's one for the barred chain stitch and the alternating barred chain stitch.

Although conceptually I understood the process, I had a lot of difficulty with the alternating barred chain stitch. The left side I could do, but for some reason the right side wasn't twisting like it should. Honestly, at this point I was going to give up since I kept having to take out and re-do the stitches. There are several right twisted chain stitches in the swirl sampler that I simply left because I didn't know how to correct them.

So, I went back to In a Minute Ago, and looked at the image of the alternating barred chain stitch there. From the picture, I could figure out how to do the right hand side of the twisted chain stitch.

Alternating Barred Chain Stitch

On the swirl sampler, the dark blue section (the starting point) is riddled with errors. On the next two shades of blue, I started to understand how to do the alternating barred stitch. On the three green and three yellow shades, I varied the length of the twisted chain stitch to see what it looks like.

I think there's a lot of potential with this stitch and ways that it could be embellished with beading and other embroidery stitches. Since the sampler is going into my TAST embroidery journal, I can't add beads to the pieces or the journal wouldn't close.

As a side note, the fabric used for the samplers was white cotton that I spray-painted with fabric dye and then squished together to create random patterns. Nine shades of cotton embroidery floss were used on the swirl; and three colors were used with the "math equation" sampler.

As for the layout of the journal page, I chose images that were spring-like since during the past week:
- the grass has emerged and is a bright green;
- the northern magnolia bush is in full bloom;
- the spring peepers and other frogs are singing in the pond;
- migrating birds are returning (including a bluebird I saw earlier in the week, lots of robins, and black phoebes which aren't typically here - or perhaps they are but I haven't noticed them before); and
- trees are showing buds and small leaves.

This is typical of late-May in Minnesota - not March. It's an early and very welcomed spring.