so cold!

hermione greets me in the morning now from the nature table . . half of which she has taken over.

it was incredibly cold today and this evening! it honestly felt like antarctica outside. it was so windy and cold my fingers were numb just from walking jack halfway up the block. and his pee blew all over . . oooohhh not nice.

chanda and i played the hobbit game while listening to the wind howl.

thank goodness it moved along a little more quickly this time! 

we're becoming more familiar with the rules . . 

though there are still sections that need to be clarified . . 

at the end you count all your jewels. chanda won by having three more jewels than i.

snowy days at sturbridge

 greg sent pictures from his phone of sturbridge today. it looks beautiful in the snow!

 morgana dipped beef tallow candles at the freeman farm. she's looking forward to making george washington cake on monday for president's day.

sometimes when the pond freezes over they have ice skating. morgana brought her skates, but, sadly, it wasn't quite frozen enough. i wonder if they have historically accurate skates for the costumed historians to use?

valentine's day on saturday

korrina had a package delivered this evening from a friend in california. it was an edible arrangement. chanda and i are enjoying helping her eat it. i love chocolate dipped strawberries!

i made a special recipe from the new italian country cookbook again. this one was polenta and chicken with olives and fresh rosemary.

a funny friday

greg and morgana left today for connecticut. they'll be staying with my sister and her family while commuting to sturbridge for morgana's internship. korrina and chanda went on a field trip to the tenement museum. they did a workshop about the roles of a building inspector and a landlord. i stayed home and cleaned up the kitchen after everyone left. the animals did not leave me alone. jack wanted water, and xena wanted food from the frig.

valentine's day

i found this picture of the girls with jack . . i'm amazed that they are all dressed in matching nightgowns. i thought it looked very valentine-like! jack is probably two or three years old in this picture. it was taken about nine or ten years ago.

happy valentine's day!

morgana read about abe lincoln . .

and together with chanda we read about st. valentine . . 

and about valentine's day . . 

our favorite story was about a town in loveland, colorado, where they crown a miss valentine and a cowboy cupid! the book says he wears a cowboy outfit and carries a bow and arrow, like cupid!

working on geometry . .

parallelograms . . 

we paced off the perimeter of the bed in the living room, and the kitchen.

chanda drew nesting squares . . 

and then morgana sang her hymn to aphrodite again . . it sounded very pretty.

i finally finished my liesl today. i needed to shorten one of the sleeves . .

and sew on a button.

korrina sewed a skirt! and then ran off to a guys and dolls rehearsal.

chanda and i wrapped deychen's birthday gift. she had a party this evening to celebrate her half birthday as she is always in vermont and away from her city friends for the real birthday!

a homeric hymn

morgana worked on a hymn to aphrodite this morning.

 

the words are from homer, and the music is a five-tone scale built on a dorian mode. in ancient greece flutes and zithers were tuned to scales different from today's major and minor scales. the modes expressed different moods and children were encouraged to learn songs in modes that evoked courage and steadfastness, rather than slackness or softness as in those modes that were found at drinking parties (according to plato).

a late birthday celebration

this evening while chanda and morgana were at ballet, and korrina was at rehearsal, i met my friend at meme on hudson street to celebrate her birthday.

her birthday was january 27th . .

the waitress brought chocolate mousse with a candle.

as we sat in the restaurant, dusk came and we watched the lights come on in abingdon square.

back at home we had lentil and rice soup with crostini for dinner from a new cookbook.

it's the book i found on sale at barnes and noble, and so far all the recipes i've made have been very good!

a puppet show for valentine's day

morgana put together a puppet show today for the children she takes care of at a parent steiner study group. she took the story from the juniper tree puppets february newsletter (it's a very nice newsletter to get each month in one's inbox and she always includes a seasonal/monthly story). it's a tale of two friends searching for the perfect valentine gift for each other.

missy mouse and bitty bunny

along the sea coast of a northern village, two dear

friends live along the edge of a blueberry farm. 

missy mouse and bitty bunny each have their own cozy

little homes nestled deep in the roots of the green-leafed

hedges that frame the blueberry fields.

 one frosty february morning, missy mouse woke up  in her cozy
nest tucked under a hedgerow root and looked outside. 
the winter fog was lifting and sunshine was starting to shine on
the red buds of the blueberry bushes.

'oh my', missy mouse said to herself, 'when the red buds grow
that means valentine's day is near. red, like the valentine
hearts!  i must do something special for my friend bitty bunny!'

 

further down the hedgerow, down an earthen hallway, deeper
under the roots lived bitty bunny. she scampered up to peek out
at the day. as the fog lifted and the sun shone on her sweet
bunny face, bitty bunny said to herself, 'ah, the sun is warming,
warming sun means warming hearts. heart day is coming soon,
i must think of a valentine gift for my best friend missy mouse!'

neither knew that their friend was thinking the same thing
as they were.

the two friends started to look here and there for something the other
would truly like. something to make their friend smile with joy. 
for isn't that what you do for a friend on a special friendship day?

 

missy mouse first looked for a beautiful stone for bitty bunny to put
on her shelf to look at.

 

bitty bunny looked for some soft moss to put in missy mouse's nest
to sleep softly on.

mo, no they both thought, that is not quite the right gift.

then missy mouse thought, 'i will sing a friendship song for
bitty bunny,'  but could not think of a tune.

and bitty bunny was thinking, 'i will thumpity thump with my back foot
so missy mouse can dance.'  but then remembered missy mouse did
not really like to dance.

no, no they both thought, that is not quite the right gift.

 then missy mouse thought, hmmm, bitty bunny's little house
is full of winter dust and cobwebs. i will clean her house til it
shines. i will Spring Clean! that will made bitty bunny very happy.

 back in her house, bitty bunny was thinking. missy mouse loves to
eat my pies.  i will bake her a carrot pie with the last of my winter
carrots.  carrot pie, her favorite!  that will make missy mouse so happy.

 yes.  yes!  they both knew just the right valentines gift to give.

so they both set to work on valentine's morning.

bitty bunny baked the carrot pie, and when it was piping hot
and fragrant, carried it to missy mouse's house.

at the exact same time that bitty bunny was delivering
the carrot pie, missy mouse took her broom to her friend's
house, and swept out all the dust and cobwebs, out of the
passageway, leaving a shiny clean home.

imagine their surprise when they both returned to their homes
and found their valentine present!

 'how perfect', said missy mouse, 'and ever so tasty'. then she took a
large bite of pie.

'how sparkly clean', said bitty bunny, i am ready for spring now!

'happy valentine's day', they called to each other down the
rooted way of the hedgerow.

how both were smiling with twinkling eyes!

for that is how a good friend makes you feel!

the end!