Pondered In My Heart

Needle & thRead: The Black Linen

I'm joining Elizabeth and friends again for her weekly online sewing circle.

Back to that black linen I mentioned in my last post...Lydia had a music performance coming up and I actually realized ahead of time that she didn't have anything to wear. She was to play a piece her brother composed for harp, performing at the college in his composition recital. As musicians customarily wear black, and finding a suitable dress to purchase was so unlikely I wouldn't even try, I got it into my head to make her a dress. And as Lydia is not a synthetic fabric kind of girl, I knew at once it had to be linen. Classic black 100% linen.

Finding a pattern was a bit of a challenge. Lydia's sense of style required something simple and modest yet elegant and including these once popular but now obscure arm covering devices called sleeves. We liked the style of this dress I found on Etsy, although its slim sleeves and close fitting bodice wouldn't do for comfortably playing musical instruments. We settled on Vogue 8555 which has a similar cummerbund waist with flared skirt, and it just needed some slight modifications (such as longer sleeves as Lydia requested) to make it work.

I first made a 'muslin' out of some cotton floral fabric I had on hand. I was pressed for time so I made only the bodice (with nobbut one sleeve!); someday soon I'll finish it into a nice little summer frock.

As you can see, I raised the neckline of both the front and the back of the bodice by quite a bit:

And here we have the finished dress:

Would you believe I don't have a single picture of Lydia wearing it that night?! Next recital I'll get a photo, for sure.

As for reading, I never did get anywhere in Tolkien's letters that I mentioned last time; my library request became available and you know how you have to read your holds first. So Lydia, Anna and I are all reading The Bluebird Effect, with a most grateful hat tip to Tonya at Plain and Joyful Living who recommended it. We were going to take turns but the allure of this treasure of a book took over and we all dived in at once. It is such a delightful read and spring is the perfect time to indulge in these wonderful stories of 'uncommon bonds with common birds'. Julie Zickefoose is a naturalist and rehabilitator whose love, knowledge and intimacy with birds shine through on every page. She is also an artist and her own illustrations, from field sketches to watercolor paintings, make the book lovely to look at as well. It's filled with the kind of stories that are so endearing to birders - the little daily encounters and rare opportunities when one gets to connect with and sometimes influence the lives of our feathered friends. Zickefoose clearly loves birds, yet she doesn't succumb to excessive sentimentalism or worse, anthropomorphism. And her knowledge of the natural world remains willing to admit that in nature absolutes can be rare and surprises frequent. We have the book from the library but I surely think we need our own copy.

(watercolors in above picture are by Lydia)

Thank you again to Elizabeth for hosting!

Some Favorite Gifts

 Now that it's three weeks past Christmas I thought I'd get around to posting some of the favourite gifts as Bridget suggested. Since I'm so late I can be sure they are really favorites, see?

Like Bridget, we tend to get practical gifts and I figure that the gifts the kids make each other are the fun stuff. I try to get in some fun stuff too of course, but I can't really compete with their cleverness and creativity and ability to delight and amuse each other. I do almost all of the shopping online and just about everything came from Amazon (books!), Sierra Trading (basics like wool socks) and Dick Blick (art supplies!).

The books are listed in my sidebar on the left and I think they have all been read by now. The color fairy books were a big hit - we've since added The Yellow and The Pink Fairy Books, purchased with Christmas gift money. Definitely a favorite genre around here. I was delighted when I finished writing that post with the fairy books in it I clicked over and saw that Auntie Leila (now Grandma Leila) had just written about the importance of fairy stories. Alas, she has taken the post down for now, but not before I saw her recommendation for some of George MacDonald's fairy stories. We have long been fond of The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie and The Light Princess, but somehow these other books had somehow escaped my radar. You know how it's always so exciting to discover new books by a favorite author - I quickly ordered up The Wise Woman,  The Gray Wolf, The Golden Key and The Light Princess. They are really lovely volumes with beautiful type and pleasing covers.  I have started reading The Wise Woman aloud to the whole family in the evenings and from the very first sentence it is simply delicious. We are enjoying it immensely.

Mary Rose also bought the BBC Narnia movies with her Christmas money. I realize many people despise these, but we watched them recently for the first time and were very amused. I think after seeing Voyage of the Dawn Treader in the theater we were all delightfully surprised to find Narnia movies that actually follow the stories in the books, and we found them quite entertaining. (Josiah reviews them here.) The Silver Chair is particularly nicely done and Puddleglum is as charming a marshwiggle as you can get on screen. And that eel stew is something to behold. Ew. (It's like the complete opposite of Eowyn's soup.)

I got everyone stainless steel water bottles from Sierra and these have all been in use daily. Jonathan especially likes to have a water bottle when he goes off to college or off to sing in church and he is happy to stop using the crinkly plastic kind. I got mini bottles for the little girls and also one for my purse.

I made these wool covers for the bottles to make them more pleasing to hold and so we could tell whose is whose. Don't laugh at my primitive needlefelting skills - Lydia makes it look so easy (did you see her barn owl?)  I thought I would give it a try. ahem. The boys just have their initials (in elvish). (you can't see Mary Rose's apple tree - I had to add apples to the 'tree' because it looked like a haystack...)

.

Another practical gift is these hankies I made for the girls. They each got half a dozen in these cheery cherry prints - I just chose some clearance fabrics in thin soft cotton and edged them on the machine. Naturally these are a big hit and in use every day.

Eliza's had to get some new music of course and I was happy to give her Cake for Dinner. I first heard of Scythian on Alice's blog, and then I was delighted to learn that their mother Mrs. Fedoryka (may her soul rest in peace) was a friend of Bridget's, and then I found out that our favorite local musicians have performed with them as well. I love how the internet lets you discover little connections like that. Anyhoo, the little girls absolutely love it and I enjoy the Eastern European flavor to much of the music (being just a bit akin to a gypsy myself).  In our quieter moments we are also enjoying Mary Kate's new CD of mostly solo harp, Mirabilis.

And finally, another small sized gift that has been a big hit is the little book of meditations, My Daily Bread. I first learned about this gem from Christine. I started out with two copies that we were sharing, but some children asked for personal copies so I was happy to get two more. The book is arranged into brief but powerful daily reflections, and I find it's just perfect for mid-afternoon when I need a bit of targeted meditation to re-focus. It is very blunt and straightforward and we like it. Example (in the voice of Our Lord):

 Knowing all things, I know your most important needs. I want you to gain the perfect and unending joy of Heaven. For this reason I will place you at times in a spiritual darkness of doubts and confusion. Then again I will let you enjoy the light of My truth and joy. One day I will console you, and on the next day you may find life hard and sorrowful. But through all these changing conditions, remember that My hand is leading you on toward Heaven.

Follow My Will in all things. Be just as ready to experience suffering as to have joy, just as glad to be poor and needy as to be well off. If you prefer My Will in all these things, you will be preferring the Perfect Wisdom and the Highest Good.

God made me for the perfect life of Heaven. Whatever He sends me is sent with this goal in view. Some things I can remedy and improve in my daily life, while other things are beyond my control. After I have done my best, I should accept the results as God's Will for me. Be it hard or easy, pleasant or disagreeable, I can always be sure that God knows, wants and permits what is good for my soul.

Goodness, methinks that's quite enough linkiful rambling for one Friday night - from the mundane to the meditative!

Yarn Along

 
This is my first time joining Ginny and friends for her weekly Yarn Along - a single photo combining one's love of working yarn and reading books. These are some handwarmers I just finished today as gifts for my three oldest girls (we are still within the Octave of Epiphany!). The pattern is here: Easy Victorian Shell Mitts. The deep purple ones are of course for Lydia, the royal blue are for Anna and match the embroidery on her cloak, and the leafy green are for Mary Rose- I just liked the green color and they seem to be a fine reminder that someday it will be spring again.

The book is The Silmarillion which my family in general and Jonathan in particular have been trying to get me to read for ages. I have a hard time squeezing in personal reading, but I am finally making some headway. It is a beautifully written book and I enjoy reading it, though it's very complex and I find myself reading and re-reading (and re-reading) frequently, hence the slow going. Also pictured is the lovely bookmark Lydia painted for me featuring a helpful list of the Valar on one side and the genealogy of the Houses of Finwë and Bëor on the other, which I refer to often. But my favorite part is the Two Trees of Valinor, with the glittering gold of Laurelin and the shining silver of Telperion, courtesy of a little shimmery watercolor.

Visit  Ginny's to see so many other lovely projects from so many lovely ladies. Don't forget your cup of tea!

An Uncommon, Sensible Guest

We had a sudden opportunity to have an unexpected guest for brunch on Sunday. This was someone we had never even met before, yet we were all filled with excitement and anticipation at the prospect of his coming. Here's a little hint:

  

I got a phone call from an acquaintance the other day, a fellow local homeschooler. She said something to the effect of Hello, how are you, I'm fine, are you guys into Chesterton?

Well sure we are! And yes, it would be fabulous to take Dale Ahlquist to Mass on Sunday and have him over for lunch and give him a ride to the airport!

Dale Ahlquist is the President of The American Chesterton Society and the creator and host of the Apostle of Common Sense Chesterton series on EWTN. He is also the author of The Apostle of Common Sense and Common Sense 101, as well as coauthor of and commentator on several other Chestertonian works. He was in town giving a talk at a conference, and we were jolly thrilled to be called upon to help out with hosting him.

Josiah stayed up cramming in some new Chesterton the night before. He greatly enjoyed The Man Who Was Thursday (I think he started it around midnight), but was so tired the next day he couldn't say much about it.

 
Nevertheless we all enjoyed our brief but memorable visit. It was great fun to take our famous guest to Mass and casually introduce him to all the Chesterton fans at coffee and donut time.  Go say hello to Dale Ahlquist! Dale Ahlquist is here? Yes, he's down at coffee. What's he doing here? How did he get here? We brought him here! 

It's always interesting extending hospitality to a total stranger, but of course there was much common ground for discourse. However we didn't just talk about Chesterton.

Any male who visits our house who has the slightest interest in history or literature gets a showing of the chain maille, and Mr. Ahlquist was rightly impressed with this er, hefty specimen and weighty topic of discussion.

And his talk of filming projects both amateur and professional led him to be offered a screening of Josiah's latest movie, which he graciously obliged. Here he is seen holding one of Josiah's miniatures (and if you've seen Josiah's movies you know if the city falls, all is lost, but fortunately Mr. Ahlquist didn't drop it).

  

Of course any guest, and most certainly such a famous scholarly guest, has to write in The Book.

  
  Again, Mr. Ahlquist kindly obliged,

 

although he was quite distracted by the strawberry shortcake and the mountain of Lydia's freshly whipped cream placed in front of him.

 

We learned how much he loves tomato juice (at least to look at) and how fond he is of red squirrels, and how Chesterton and the Pope can be a wonderful start to the vocation of Holy Matrimony. He told us of his travels to Chesterton's birthplace and childhood home as well as his travels to California and the spotting of certain, um, famous locals.

 
Kateri rightly thought he was a nice man and made herself quite at home with him.
And all this Chesterton talk has naturally inspired a resurgence of interest in, what else, but more Chesterton. We had great fun meeting Mr. Ahlquist and hope to see him again when returns east for this year's Chesterton conference.

Happy H and Interesting I Weeks

Along the Alphabet Path the past couple of weeks, Kateri and Eliza have completed  H and I weeks.

Some of our favorite things start with the letter H, as H is for Horses! I have several Horse-loving girls, so there were oodles of horse books and model horses and beanie horses to choose from. We read some of the classic Billy and Blaze series, and the girls painted horses. Lydia gladly drew the outlines for them, and as you can see Kateri chose Blaze for a model-

While Eliza chose to copy a dappled gray-

Huzzah for the artists!

H is for Hedgehog!

We read several classics about Hedgie like The Hat and The Mitten. For our Hedgie craft the girls made these fuzzy Hedgehogs. I printed out these hedgehogs on brown paper from author Jan Brett's site, then glued them onto cardboard to make them sturdy.

We cut yarn into fuzzy snippets and covered Hedgie with his fur, dark brown for his back and a lighter brown for his belly.

Hurray for Hedgie!

H is for Harriet the Hamster!

We also enjoyed reading Harriet, a sweet tale about a mischievous but timid Hamster who escapes from her cage and has quite the nature walk out in the big wide world before finding her way back Home. I've always liked the charming watercolor illustrations in this book, so I decided to let my little learners watercolor some of their own. We did some quick sketches with a fine Sharpie,

and then let the artists at them with watercolors,

using the book for reference.

 

Both girls love to paint, and giving them outline pictures allows them to work on skills like copying the colors and staying in the lines.

Harriet is also a fun story for re-telling so we got out the beanies and acted out the story.

H is for Hazel!

I also have to mention another favorite 'H' picture book, Hazel's Amazing Mother, one of Rosemary Wells' best. The whole town is in the habit of pampering coddled little Hazel, but when she makes a wrong turn and ends up in an unfamiliar part of town she is confronted by a bunch of bona fide bullies. It's definitely not a sanitized children's book, as the meanies have their way with poor Hazel's doll, but Hazel's mother comes to the rescue and restores justice and order and peace and all is then right with the world. This has been a favorite read-aloud of both Michael's and mine for many years, and we have a grand time with all the assorted voices that call for one's best booming, roaring, rumbling and even an opportunity to laugh thunderously (bwah ha ha ha ha ha!). 'It's my mother!' is a favorite endearing line around here, as well as the perennially wonderful theme of the power of a mother's love.

And moving on to I Week-
 
  I is for Iguana!

I do love having resident artists who love to oblige my every need for pictures. You can find loads of coloring pictures of just about anything online, but you can't use watercolors with them as regular printer ink runs. Enter my dynamic drawing duo and their Incredible Indelible Ink!

These little students have it so good - hand drawn Iguanas to paint!
  
 

Indescribable!

I is for Insects!

We did thumb print drawings of Insects a la Ed Emberley, only I had them use paint instead of stamp pads for more colors and easy wash-up.

I is for Instructive Ice Cream!

I made this counting Ice cream activity out of colored construction paper for the girls. I cut out the cone and thirty scoops of ice cream with numbers on them.

 

I can set them out and they can practice number recognition and counting, or they can try placing the scoops themselves. They can also use them for counting down backwards, or flip the scoops over and just use the colors for patterning practice.  

There's a cherry to put on top when you get all the way to thirty!

G Week was Great!

Along the Alphabet Path, we finished up with G last week. We missed some school days here and there and took two weeks to cover G, so I thought I'd post just one letter rather than wait for H which we've just started.

G is for Gardens!

We enjoyed some of our favorite garden themed books, like Flower Garden, Who Is in the Garden? and  Inch by Inch (The Garden Song).

The girls made these garden collage pictures  and they came out so pretty and cheery I stuck them on my kitchen wall. We started by making the grass out of a strip of green construction paper:

I marked a line along one edge of the paper and had them cut up to the line to make the 'blades' of grass. This is excellent fine motor and scissors practice, as they have to control the cutting enough to be able to stop and not cut all the way through the paper, and also be careful not to cut off the blades they have already made. Kateri said it was 'really tricky' - look at that concentration:

and Eliza was able to manage it with a little help as well. (We also made grass like this for the farm pictures in F week. )

Then we glued the 'grass' onto one edge of a piece of light blue construction paper. We glued on green yarn for stems and then added tissue paper flowers. I helped them cut little squares of colored tissue (great re-use for bits of tissue paper from gift bags),

and they scrunched them up to make the flowers, one for the center and a contrasting color for the petals. They glued them on top of the 'stems' with regular white Glue. Again, all that scrunching of the little bitty squares with the finger tips is a great fine motor/finger strength work out.

 
We added more yarn for leaves, and finished them off with a few garden themed stickers for embellishment - little lady bugs and butterflies and birds and all.

I do think G is the hardest letter to write, so for handwriting practice we made block paper with G's to trace over. As always, for Eliza these needed to be Giant G's, larger than anything I could find in a ready-made work sheet. So, if you have need of Giant G's here you Go:

Download Gray Box Paper Small - G 

Download Grey Box Paper Large - G

While making Garden pictures it's Good to sing the Garden Song:

We also made these jolly paper hats (idea found here). Start by painting a paper plate green - I gave them each a few squirts of blue and yellow so they could mix their own Green right on the plate. I used two regular paper plates glued together for added strength.

Then you cut slits in the center of the plate, like you're cutting a pie, bend up the points and glue a paper flower on each one. Add ribbons to the back or sides for extra pizzazz. These Flower Garden Hats work for F, G or H weeks! I commented that they are most appropriate for Girls, but someone said they look like Frank the Flower hats, and they don't even cost $29.95. Indeed they do look very much like the picture of Frank on the cover of our vintage copy of The Pushcart War. :-) Don't they look Gorgeous!

But Michael says Eliza's actually makes her look just like a certain Miss Doolittle. I think she looks Grand.

And finally I must give special mention to one of my very most favorite picture books, The Gardener. We've enjoyed this book for years, and we still have the little Lydia Grace doll that Nana bought to go with it back when my Lydia Grace was a little girl. It's the beautiful tale of Lydia Grace who goes to live with her Uncle Jim because of hard times during the thirties. The story is told entirely through the letters she writes to send back home, and the delightful, detailed Caldecott-winning illustrations. It's true that a cake can be worth a thousand smiles, just as a picture is worth a thousand words. The rich lessons in this story about love and sacrifice and beauty and joy and contentment and friendship and learning are to be savored over and over with each reading, and we never grow tired of studying the beautiful pictures that tell so much with so little. Just today I read the book again out loud to the little girls, but everyone else also stopped what they were doing to listen to this well-loved treasure. It's too special of a book to 'discuss', to add extra words where none are needed, but we re-read it together from time to time and just soak it all in with deep pleasure and satisfaction. That's how it is with a really good picture book.

Love to all, Lydia Grace

Edited to add all the things my Gray matter forgot: G is also for Goat - The Three Billy Goats Gruff lends itself very easily to re-telling with beanies or acting out in person, get a big brother or Dad to be the (cave) troll. We also enjoyed this video on milking goats. G is for Green Grasshopper - you can make egg carton grasshoppers like the ants we made in A week. G is for Granola - we made some really good granola - I'll try to get the recipe up on my cooking blog later today. We also read Silly Little Goose. and cuteThe Great Gracie Chase (ploop ploop).

Shakespeare Summer

Hear my name and tremble! Thou villain!

It's 10:30 pm on a Thursday night and I've just come downstairs from putting the two littles to sleep. It was hard to get them to settle as we overheard frequent outbursts of shouting and laughter and I kept wondering what on earth was such a hoot down there. And now I know - it's my five older children having an impromptu Shakespeare reading.

  

They've all taken parts and are doing a very dramatic rendition of one of their favorite scenes from Cymbeline. They proceed to draft Michael and me to join in, and then switch gears from swords and battles to dreamy summer love and Cupid's potions. We do our best at Pyramus and Thisbe, the play within the play, including my most masterful performance of Wall. (ha)

We are having a Shakespeare summer, though it's been as impromptu as that reading I mentioned. We started out with high hopes of going out to see the world famous Front Lawn Players in May for their performance of As You Like It, so we naturally read the play. It turned out we couldn't get up to Long Island for either show due to other obligations, but our appetites for Shakespeare were set off nevertheless.

From there we moved on to Cymbeline, as a free outdoor performance was available as part of a local festival. The children enjoyed the show so much they insisted we go back and see it again for the final performance.

We've since read Cymbeline again, along with Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, and we're currently on Twelfth Night. I read the plays out loud during our daily tea time, and the rest just happens. When I can't find my big girls and I go knocking on closed bedroom doors, I invariably open the door and find them each with a hefty tome 'doing scenes'. Or they'll be sprawled on the couches in the living room, each with her own copy of the collected works, reading in parts. They pore over the pictures in the enormous illustrated edition I've had since high school, playing at guess the character and laughing uproariously at some of the unlikely depictions. The guys amuse each other with quotes and quips sprinkled throughout their day. The younger girls dress up and act out scenes; even the little ones like to be 'show people' and do their part. They particularly enjoy being Celia and Rosalind, and it's quite charming to hear Eliza telling Kateri, I pray thee Rosalind, sweet my coz, be merry! Mary Rose walks through the grocery reciting her Phebe lines she taught herself for fun. Josiah naturally runs to put on the Mendelssohn while we're reading. And on and on it goes - you know what homeschool kids are like. Shakespeare is really unlike any other author - the language and the characters and the plots just naturally draw us in and we get swallowed up whole by the delightfulness of it all.

It's been lots of fun to just sit back and watch them run with it, soaking it in and savoring it all. We have the Charles and Mary Lamb book which really has lovely retellings, but they want none of it. They complain if I try to read it out loud for a bit of clarification - they apparently just want the real thing. Jonathan did go to the library to get The Quest for Shakespeare which he promptly devoured as well as Lear to go with it. Josiah has also enjoyed an online course in Macbeth, and it's handy tthe classes are recorded for later listening by the rest of the family.

As for the real thing, we did get to see a recording of the Front Lawn Players' performance of As You Like It and those kids are the real thing! They did an outstanding job of putting on the full length unabridged play and the children's performances were superb. What a wonderful experience for all of those involved! We also watched an old black and white movie version (1936) of As You Like it starring a very young Laurence Olivier and the charming Elisabeth Bergner. We all greatly enjoyed it, laughing and laughing at the old fashioned costumes and filming techniques and overly theatrical acting - we found it highly entertaining and we watched it twice before returning it to the library. Good stuff.

And finally if you're looking for more Shakespeare resources, the spring issue of Mater et Magistra is entirely devoted to Shakespeare. I picked up a copy at the FCL conference last weekend but I haven't gotten a chance to read it yet - it looks chock full of wonderful ideas. I've also heard tell that Elizabeth has posted some Shakespeare lesson plans as well, but I haven't gotten to peruse them yet either. For now, I'm just reading the plays as long as they keep asking for them. That's fine with me as of course, All the world's a stage...

Soup and Celery!

My gang greatly enjoyed reading Lissa's post on Book Quotes We Use a Lot. They all huddled around the computer to read the quotes and contemplate their sources, laughing out loud at the ones they recognized. They  harr-ed and ho ho-ed at the thought of someone else saying things like 'Reshpeckabiggle!' and 'Call in Mr. Pye!' And then of course they wanted to come up with our own family list.

I liked a lot of the quotes in Lissa's combox as we also like to practice with a string bean when we can. We often use For keeps and no backsies, And do you know what your job is?, Hello, is that you? This is me, I am sad and lonely here, eating prunes and rice, goodies- in-the-hamper time, along with a slew of others. One of my favorites is Some girls never do get tea sets, said in that knowing voice when faced with disappointments large and small.

More picture book favorites -

It's my mother!

Love to all, Lydia Grace.

Jewollopers! cried the Cook.

And some easies-

Feeling a little eleven-o'clockish

Gaity, song and dance, here we go round the mulberry bush.

When we can't hear each other Michael and I say, What! Isn't it?

And the very useful at times, We can't all and some of us don't.

My Ann-with-an-a calls everything from math to Brussels sprouts unromantic.

But if Lydia doesn't like something she is more likely to declare, Horrors and efreets!

 When someone is attempting to use persuasive speech we say, There is no sun, there is no overworld, thrum thrum thrum...

And when someone makes a particularly astute observation (not) we say, Well said, Chief. Powerful wet stuff.

Hoom, hoom, let's not be hasty, when patience is called for.

Fool of a Took, when the milk is spilled or the likes thereof..

Sing hey for a bath at the close of day, that washes the weary mud away, a loon is he who will not sing, O water hot is a noble thing..is often quoted in its entirety at shower time.

Also, What's taters, Precious? and Longbottom Leaf! Finest in the Shire! and Proper fourteen-twenty! are popular culinary remarks.

Here, take some candy!

If someone asks for a story someone else is likely to rattle off, Once there was a GIANT - he had THREE HEADS and he lived in a BRASS CASTLE. 

Or perhaps, Once there was a boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubb and he almost deserved it.

Whenever we run out of something someone can't help but say, What! No soap! So he died. And she very imprudently married the barber.

My swordsmen are likely to declare, The vorpal blade went snickersnack.

But when drawing a sword it's more appropriate to say, Shrive thyself, for thou wilt have no time for shriving when I am done with thee!

It was a short dagger with a very long hilt, is another boy's favorite.

After a good sermon or blog post, These Romish priests are deucedly sly.

I am likely to say in my best Pa voice, These things happen, but Mary Rose prefers, I dinna ken.

He forced a belch into the silence. It was a very gusty belch, and it was followed by another even louder. (No explanation for that one other than I have teenage boys.)

More random favorites:

Bake me a bannock and roast me a collop for I'm off to seek my fortune.

That odious boy with rose colored knickerbockers.

The little chickens run around rapidly, and stuff themselves full of green grass.

Over the misty moor came Grendel gross and grim, famished for flesh.

When the siege and the assault has ceased at Troy.

And one of Jonathan's: This is a whole note. See?  It's round like a doughnut... Ho hum, am I ever fatigued...Cut the comedy, drip, and play me the G-major scale. 

It looked doity and it choimed like a squoip.

It wath a joke.

Better drowned than duffers if not duffers won't drown.

Plumptrees Vitaminized Nerve Food and could it be made with distilled water.

And whenever we are making a slow and dragged out departure I am likely to say, Let us go then, you and I, when the evening sun is spread out against the sky, and Michael will finish, like a patient etherised upon a table.

And on that note I will stop this endless list. Do leave your guesses in the combox and let me know if you post your favorites!

Bottles and battledores!

The Sibley Guide to Birds

Book Review - Guest post by Lydia

I just got a new book for Christmas from Nana. When I opened it I was very happy to see it was a fabulous field guide!

The Sibley Guide to Birds is by David Allen Sibley and is full of useful features and information. In most ways I think it's better than our last field guide (though to be sure it's bigger and bulkier to carry). Our old field guide, National Audubon Society Guide to North American Birds is a good guide, but the main advantage of Sibley's is its many labeled illustrations. For nearly all of the 810 included species there are lots of pictures by the author. The different pictures show all manner of plumage variation. Adults are compared with juveniles, different color phases are shown. Even the differences between birds in different parts of the country are shown because Eastern birds will sometimes look different than Western ones of the same species, or Northern birds from Southern ones.

 

Hello Amazon box, goodbye Lydia

The way all the different variations are shown and compared is what I like best about the book. Often at the top of the page are pictures of the bird in flight, views from the side or above and below. For raptors especially, the guide explains how to identify flying birds. It describes how each different kind flies and how the shapes of the wings and tail can help in identification. I've never seen other field guides have so many details about that.

Another good thing is that usually the very similar species will be shown right next to each other and Mr. Sibley points out the different ways of telling them apart. The new field guide also describes more of the various calls and songs and random noises the birds make. This also is very useful because it makes it easier to learn to identify the birds by their calls.

One thing the old field guide has that the Sibley guide doesn't is nesting habits. Sibley's doesn't give a description of nest and eggs; the Audubon guide does and so will surely come in handy in nesting season as it even includes the length of the incubation period and number of eggs. However, as I said, I think that The Sibley Guide to Birds is an improvement from our other bird guides. It is quite a grand field guide and I like it very much. I'm looking forward to identifying more of the birds we see around here.

Today's Filming: Aslan's Camp

I love looking out the window and seeing sights like this.

The children are squeezing in plenty of fun during these last bits of the summer hols.

The director knows the green scenery he needs won't last forever.

And soon Peter will be too busy with college for such shenanigans.

Stop your fussing. You look lovely.

He betrayed them, Your Majesty.

Don't worry, Beaver. I won't let Peter turn you into a hat.

Swallows and Amazons Forever!

This is what is meant by 'summer reading' around here.

 

It had gotten to be midsummer, and no one had read any Gulps and Amazons as they are sometimes affectionately called in our house. I thought it was a bit odd to not have everyone off on sailing adventures as is their summer tradition.

But then Josiah got them out, flying through the stack of twelve familiar stories in about a week's time, and of course everyone else followed him aboard ship.

First published in the 1930's, this beloved series of books tells the adventures of  four siblings and the acquaintances they make while spending their summer holidays camping and sailing together. From the very first moment we encounter seven-year-old Roger, tacking up the lawn to greet his dear mother, we are drawn into the story and born away on a breeze to a quiet lake in the English countryside. For Mother truly does have a telegram from Father in her hand bearing the charming message:

BETTER DROWNED THAN DUFFERS IF NOT DUFFERS WONT DROWN

Which of course means, yes, the adventure is on and permission is granted for all to embark on the holiday of their lives. Alone. On an island. Hurrah for daddy! indeed. Mother, the darling, most well-loved native of all, assists with preparations - Ship's Articles, provisions, maps and gear are purveyed. She's even finished making the tents! "You'll want a kettle first and foremost," said Mrs. Jackson, the farmer's wife, who was lending the things. (I like that woman.) Soon all is ready and John, Susan, Titty and Roger are transformed into the Swallows: Captain, Mate, Able-seaman and Ship's Boy - finest crew of the finest fourteen foot dinghy in all of children's literature. The ensuing tales are full of adventure of the most delightful sort. Swimming before breakfast, sighting  cormorants, rowing over to the farm for milk, and plenty of use of that dear kettle - what a life! But it's not all buttered eggs and tea of course - there are pirates and battles and mysteries and Amazons to meet, oh my!

These books are beloved treasures in our family, telling stories of the kind of life that is quite out of reach for most of today's young readers. But that's what books are for, of course, to take you to far away places in the delicious pages and leave you neither a duffer nor drowned. In our family living books are the books that get lived, and it's been a delight to watch my children live these dear books over and over throughout the years.

Having no English lake at hand Jonathan set his sails on a more commonplace vessel - the scooter. You can see the fruit of his creative labors in this vintage picture from 2004:

He couldn't see where he was going and could only sail downhill, but the effect was priceless.

When I got my sewing machine last year I had two very gallant boys who carried it upstairs and unpacked it and set it all up for me - just so I could make them semaphore flags!

But that was only the beginning. Jonathan set out to make an entire set of signal flags, which now grace his room in all of their nautical glory:

 

Lacking a mast, the ever resourceful Josiah rigged up a pulley system so they could fly the flags from the corner of the house.

 

They also sent up a signal light to use at night, with a can to cover it and thereby use Morse code.

One year Josiah made a terrific little highly detailed craft out of popsicle sticks. It had a proper sail and was quite sea (creek) worthy. 

And on it goes. If you've never sailed aboard The Swallow I highly recommend you take a journey soon. Don't worry that summer's ending, after all there's Winter Holiday! At the moment I have two girls on board sofa ships, wearing apron life jackets and punt poling with their vacuum cleaner tubes for dear life, giggling and shouting about the dangers sighted starboard. My Mary Rose is taking her maiden voyage with these books this year and it's been delightful watching her encounter these family classics for the first time. She has taken to answering my every word with Aye aye, Sir! I love it.

Here are a bunch of links to augment your reading adventures:

The Boats of Swallows and Amazons

Nautical and Semaphore Signal Flags and a Translator function for both

Semaphore Alphabet

Free Paper Boat Models - These are really cool yachts, but there is also a little dinghy at the bottom of the page. I made the dinghy one year to stick on Jonathan's birthday cake along with mini nautical flags spelling his name.

Sailing Terms

Pirate Vocabulary

Swallows and Amazons Trivia Quiz

Label the Parts of a Ship  Answers Here and Here

See Pictures of Coniston, the lake area where Arthur Ransome spent his holidays as a child and the inspiration for the books.

All aboard and three cheers for the stay-at-homes! (Singing Spanish Ladies is optional.)

Favorite Books: Tom Playfair Series

You've heard the expression, 'love it to pieces!'

Our beloved Tom Playfair books have been loved to pieces. I distinctly remember giving this set of "Fr. Finn's Famous Three" to Jonathan for his eleventh birthday. He subsequently read all three books three times in that first year we had them. I naturally had to read them myself to see what the extraordinary appeal was all about.

Written over a hundred years ago, the series tells the story of the boys of St. Maure's boarding school. That is where our beloved hero Tom is sentenced to as a consequence for 'going the limit of one's tether'. Yes, the story starts off with Tom as a lazy, undisciplined, unmotivated, sneaky boy - always in trouble with no one to help him find a way out of his wayward ways. The adults in his life don't know what to do with the insolent boy, so off he goes to St. Maure's to 'make a start'. There he meets up with a myriad of other boys, good and bad, and Tom must find the determination to make his way. His well worn crooked paths must be straightened, hard work must be befriended, and his faith must take root in order to blossom and grow.

The story is full of adventure of the most definitely boyish sort, and the antiquated vocabulary used in its telling only serves to enhance its charm. For though the details and daily routine of life at St. Maure's are obsolete, the human nature of the characters are of course timeless. As Tom discovers who it is that he wants to become, he makes friends and finds mentors who will help him on his way. As is always the case, the heart searching for truth and goodness is naturally drawn to genuine holiness, and the beloved and wise Mr. Middleton brings out the best in Tom. I think that's a large part of the appeal of the books; we all have some immature, rebellious Tom in us and we long for the right Mr. Middletons and George Keenans and John Donnels to inspire and nudge and tug and help us in our clamoring journey to higher ground. That and all of the ball games and Latin class and lightening and scap'lars and pranks and First Fridays and tree climbing and so many other things near and dear to a boy's heart make the books an entertaining delight. There is heroism and sacrifice, repentance and rebirth, friendship and fidelity, tragedy and triumph. And as in real life, there are those who continue on in evil despite every opportunity to change for the good.

The endearing characters return in Percy Wynn, in which a boy is made of him who has spent his whole life coddled by his ten sisters. The scene of the catechism class in the middle of this book is a most memorable recounting of the infinite mercy of God that every young reader would do well to always remember. Harry Dee is the third book and has a slightly different flavor to it as it is a murder mystery. These books are 'family classics' in our house that get read over and over again. Numerous lines from them are part of our every day speech, and even Tom's favorite stance - legs apart with hands thrust deep in his pockets, calls to mind that faithful merry chap we all know and love. Just thinking about him, I can hear him now, "Here, take some candy!"  You can't help but respond in kind to this fresh faced jolly fellow, just as reading Tom's stories will leave you with a light heart and satisfied spirit.

And you're sure to smile at the cover illustrations as well! ;-)

Random Caspian Commentary

And I mean random.

• You should see Edmund's pocket torch! It's huge.
• You can tell some of the music is absolutely the same as the last movie. When they get into Narnia they play the same exact "We got into Narnia" music. When you see a picture of Mr. Tumnus on the wall it's the same ""Tumnus" music...
• When Prince Caspian blows his horn it is sort of dumb.
• When they attack the castle Peter says "For Narnia!" the exact same way he says it in LWW only he doesn't say "And for Aslan". (shocking!)
• The Minotaur and the gate are right out of The Red Keep.
• Susan is like Legolas.
• Mice play bagpipes. And they have really long tails.
• When Lucy dropbottles Trumpkin his wounds don't go away but Edmund's do in LWW.
• Susan throws arrows in battle. It doesn't work - you can't really throw arrows.
• When there is Prince Caspian music the way it starts is like the first three notes of the Gondor theme. (It goes up a fifth but that's nothing special - a lot of Bach fugues do that.)
• There is lots of blue scale armor that looks strange.
• There's no Gwendolyn and no nurse. No Bacchus of course because he's too wild.
• Aslan is a bit unreal because he's been inflated.
• The centaurs look awful and look like they've been growing mold since LWW. (?)
• There was a kid centaur.
• The badger was awful and slithy and really weird. He was skinny and fat and he waddled.
• The dwarves were better than in LWW.
• They had really complicated catapults.
• The river god was awesome.
• I could make lists of the things right out of LOTR.
• Cornelius was too fat and too tall and too wonky and he wore pince-nez.
• The attack on the castle was really wrong as they couldn't possibly win. It was not Narnia style warfare.
• Aslan's Howe was very well done.
• Reepicheep is not as valiant as in the book.
• They got Destrier very right. (I wonder if Kateri the horse lover agrees?)
• The characters are flatter. There is no dialogue worth repeating or acting out like we do with LWW.
• Susan hits everyone with her arrows and she never runs out of arrows.
• There is the Legolas trick of jumping onto a centaur. But no one is supposed to ride a centaur until The Silver Chair.
• (note no one would even mention the you-know-what between Susan and Caspian)

They all liked the movie and are anxious to see it again, this time with me. (Not sure how we're going to arrange that one but it does sound tempting.) After reading various reviews I was really hesitant to let Mary Rose go as she is easily frightened by movies, and I had her half convinced to stay home. But when Michael arrived home to take them all out he said she had to go. It was also very endearing the way they big kids all said she had to go as well, so off she went. She's nearly eight and had never been to a movie theater. She said she hid her face in Michael's sleeve when it got too scary, peeking out to check when it was safe to watch again. She said it was a horrifying awful scary movie and she really liked it and wants to see it again. Tomorrow. :-)

As MacBeth has said in her review, it's not like the book. But the children knew that going into the movie, so they didn't really expect a true representation of their beloved book. They have seen LWW over a dozen times, and though they didn't like a lot of it at the first viewing, they got used to it.  They've learned that a movie is not like a book even if it has the same name. The boys also greatly enjoy the LOTR movies. I think they see movies simply as a form of entertainment. As MacBeth also noted here, the spiritual richness and beautiful way Truth is presented in the book are omitted in the movie, but my family expected that after the LWW movie.  Jonathan noted that sitting in a movie theater in front of a giant screen with a bunch of strangers eating popcorn is not a place he expects to encounter great spiritual truths. The intimacy and privacy of a book may be a more suitable venue for discovering what Lewis so delightfully presents to us through his Chronicles. But we don't watch many movies. I find it ironic that in this interview director Andrew Adamson states, "I've decided not to use these films as a platform or springboard for my own beliefs. I was very much expressing C. S. Lewis's story and allowing people to take from it whatever they took from the book." Yet he is clearly promoting his own ideas by what he has omitted from the movie. How he thinks this movie is "staying true to the book" I don't know. But that is what we've come to expect from him and from a movie.

So enjoy the great adventure film for what it is but also use it as an excuse to re-read and savor the deliciousness that is the book.  Everyone here had devoured the whole familiar series before the movie and most are going through them again now. After all, no one ever wants to leave Narnia after a visit, because you never know when you will ever get to go back again.

What did you think of the movie?

They're Off

To the movie of course.

We've been beside ourselves as well. We are serious Narnia fans here. It hasn't quite been 1,300 years but at times it has felt like it as the children have anxiously awaited "PC Day" for so long.

And it's finally here. Susan has heard the call of her horn and off they go.

You can find reviews here and here and here. 

I'm eagerly awaiting the return and opinions of the real critics:

Lovely Mud

In honor of Mud Season I present Eliza 'reading' Mrs. Wishy Washy. (Just click on the little 'play' arrow at the bottom.)

:-)

The Hiding Place

We recently finished reading The Hiding Place. It felt like visiting with an old friend whom I hadn't seen for a long time- I knew all of the stories she would tell and the things she would say but it was a delight to sit down and hear them all over again.  The book tells the story of Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch watchmaker who ended up in a concentration camp after being arrested for helping Jews escape from the Nazis. The book describes the life of this family with the faith so solid that the ravages of Ravensbruck only served to strengthen it.

The story starts off with a delightful and delicious description of the watch shop's hundredth birthday party. I've read this book so many times I can practically smell the coffee alongside Nollie's buttery cookies and hear the little ker-plinks of five sugar lumps dropping into Pickwick's coffee cup. I can picture all the rooms and squeaks and creaks of the Beje and its twisted stairways. I can smell Eusie's pipe and Betsie's soup and I can see the little Alpina triangle in the window. In my head I can hear Peter playing the piano and the bicycle wheels turning to power the headlamp and Mary Itallie's wheezing. I know all the characters so well in my mind - practical Corrie and her beloved Betsie, who could 'make a party out of three potatoes and some twice-used tea leaves'. Dear Father, so kind and gentle and wise and faithful. I love them all dearly. The stories are so familiar to me that they form a standard repertoire of object lessons in my mind, frequently called upon for their wisdom and nail-on-the-head accuracy for so many situations in life. The traveling case, the train ticket, the broken heart, the fleas. Oh, the beauty of the fleas.

So much of what we want in life is beautifully portrayed, like a lavish feast to be savored, in the stories in this book. How to love beauty. How to choose joy. How to know and love God's word so deeply that it flows in you and all you do, giving life as it courses through you. Trust. Love. Forgiveness. Unselfishness. That I Thessalonians 5:18 really is the secret to all joy and happiness. That I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me finally becomes real when we are faced with something we Absolutely. Can. Not. Do. And then we let Him do it through us. Grace. Encouragement. Little gifts from the Father's hand to give us a glimpse of His tender, loving care for us. Knowing Truth really does set us free.

Lent is a good time to re-read this book and reflect on the darkness of this life on earth and how we are called to be light. As Holy Week approaches and I contemplate the cross I marvel at the mystery that we are invited to enter into suffering with Him, and some of us greatly so. Suffering takes us right to the cross, right to Him - if we let it. It is through suffering that we are most intimately and expediently united with Him. 

I want Him to always be my hiding place.

Wordless Wednesday: Sisters

That Football Game...

...is one of a great series of books we enjoy, written about a hundred years ago by Father Francis Finn, S.J.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. You didn't really think I was going to post about sports, did you?

Christmas with Charlotte and Martha

I've hinted quite a bit here (and here and here and here) about how much my girls love the series of books about Charlotte and Martha, Laura Ingalls' ancestors, written by Melissa Wiley. Mary Rose is especially enamored with them and reads them over and over (and over and over). It leads to quite interesting conversation at times as she daily asks if my clothing is made of wool or cotton or flax and things like that. Just yesterday she was explaining to me how we could cook up some of the roots of the hyacinths we planted to use as a poultice to cure our boils. Not that we have any boils at present, but you know, just in case. The most startling conversation was when she solemnly inquired if I had my funeral garments already prepared because, after all, that is a wife's first duty.

Mary Rose so loves to be Martha that she was hoping to get a spinning wheel for Christmas, and that would satisfy her until she could also get a loom when she is a bit older. In an effort to make it clear that she wasn't getting a spinning wheel I got her a drop spindle as a little gift in November.

As you can see, she was thrilled! I knew to have the camera ready ahead of time for when she opened it. (It was also fun to have Dad ask, 'Um, what's a drop spindle?' Mary Rose was happy to enlighten him.) I purchased a handmade drop spindle that came with instructions and some wool roving for getting started. Ours is a bottom whorl spindle, and you can easily find them on Etsy or eBay. It is also very simple to make your own spindle; find directions here at The Joy of Handspinning site. They also have a video demonstration you can watch for learning to spin.

In November we also visited friends who are skilled in fiber arts. They even raise their own sheep:

It was fun to visit the sheep in person as we so enjoy A New Coat for Anna and A Symphony for the Sheep. Mary Rose was delighted to examine their collection of spinning wheels.

And our friend kindly gave Mary Rose some instruction in using the drop spindle.

She also had the opportunity to try her hand at carding the wool.

Mary Rose was just thrilled to experience all of this firsthand after reading all about it so often in her beloved books. For Christmas, Lydia thoughtfully made some gifts for Mary Rose to go along with her love of all things Martha (Morse, not Stewart!) and Charlotte. Lydia is very creative and clever at thinking up gifts that she knows will delight the recipient. Here we have Charlotte Tucker's Copybook, a quill and pretend jar of ink, the Blue Back Speller and an ABC book.

The Blue Back is filled with spelling words on every page, and the alphabet book is beautifully illustrated all the way from apple and bull...

...to young lamb and zany.

We don't have to worry about any 'blockheads' here!

The children like to do all of their Christmas crafting independently and we have a regular 'house full of secrets' like Laura did. But Jonathan and Josiah were thinking along the same lines as Lydia. Jonathan carved some wood to make some reproductions of classic historical toys - the cinch knot puzzle and a catch-the-ball-in-the-cup gadget seen below. Josiah made a drop spindle for Anna Ruth and one for Lydia, and Jonathan made one for me!  Josiah painted cute tiny sheep around the edges of his.

Jonathan decorated mine with pretty woodburned leaves and vines.

Now the girls can all spin together!

Lissa has kindly compiled all of her Little House blog posts on one page where you can find more activities and sites to visit as you enjoy her wonderful books. I also have to mention one more 'resource' recommended by Lissa - our new favorite CD:

This collection of Scottish folk songs is so lively and engaging we all just love it. The little girls dance and the boys play along on their folk instruments and the parents carry on with quite a bounce and skip in their step whenever this CD is on, which is often as 'elbow room' is one of Eliza's top requests. You can preview the songs on the Amazon site to see if this music is your cup of tea. Enjoy!

Mary Rose has informed me that we simply must have bannocks again tomorrow. Just this afternoon she was teaching Eliza and Kateri how to make a peat fire...

Oh, Charlotte!

It lay in pieces, and the molasses made a sticky pool on the sand.

Charlotte stared at it, horrorstruck.  -Little House by Boston Bay (Little House), p.179

Actually, Kateri pointed at it with delight and said, 'Mess!'

Way Cool

Can you guess what this is? I sure couldn't. Hint: it's a Christmas gift made by Jonathan for his friend.

Give up?

Taa Dah!

I made his friend open it up because I wanted to see what Jonathan had made. This is one result of my sewing machine being kidnapped and held hostage in Jonathan's room. I had no idea what he was making. He even made the hanging chain out of leftover maille rings.

Pretty cool.

Of Mice and Girls

Question:

So, you are on an outing with your five girls, the menfolk having been left at home watching The Return of the King, and you've planned to get some ice cream and such after doing a little shopping, running errands and procuring provisions. You finally pull into the parking lot of the restaurant at an hour that is too late to mention here and as you park the car you see little mice scurrying up and down the sidewalk outside the restaurant door. Do you:

A. Shriek and yell Eeeew! and drive away from this unnamed restaurant as fast as you can because you cannot bear the thought of eating at an establishment with rodents in such obvious close proximity or

B. Roll down the windows and let your big girls hang out of them while watching the cute little mice scamper to and fro, alternately nibbling at some delicacy on the sidewalk and bolting away to hide in the shadows, only to come slowly creeping out again when the coast is clear. Note that the man in the car next to you is also entertained by the charming mouse antics. Recount the story of the mouse that fell from the rafters right into the soup tureen and subsequently was ladled up into Allan Morse's soup bowl.  Eventually decide to go inside for your late night snack, noting it should be safe as you aren't planning on having soup. Realize the two little ones have never seen a real mouse and pause so they can look and see and watch the wheels turn as their brains note the diminutive size and skitterish movement of the creature and they practice saying and signing 'mouse'. While having your snack hypothesize whether the mice will still be there when you leave and consider if they will abandon their cheese tidbit to sample a French fry or bit of ice cream cone. When you leave the restaurant strategically scatter said fries and observe that your speculation was correct as you watch the mice scuttle gleefully away with their prize. Giggle and point and watch them some more and then go home and let your girls draw a picture or two of the jolly mice. Ponder how you just never can predict when or where or how funny family memories (not to mention nature study, narration, scientific speculating and art) will be made, and then of course blog about it.

Good books...

are just irresistible!

Does this count for effective 'strewing'?

Lonely

Regina Doman, I want my husband back.

Your latest frigate has carried my beloved off leaving me to fend for my family on my own. Just tonight I had to venture off with my five girls in tow to far away lands the grocery store to obtain provisions (eight gallons of milk) whilst my dear husband sat reading, unable unwilling to tear himself away from the pages. Even now he lies awake in the wee hours pressing on.

He didn't even know the title but Regina Doman's third novel was at the top of Jonathan's birthday wish list. Happy to oblige, though knowing full well my folly, I purchased the desired treasure. Michael got to it first.

At least he should be finished soon, and then I'll have my true love back.

Until the time comes for me to leave him. Not soon enough - alas, I'm third in line.

Just Wondering

If you tell your seven year old daughter to settle down because she is chasing her two little screeching sisters up and down the hallway causing all three to run frantically and giggle wildly while you are trying to comb their elder sister's freshly washed hair and she replies that she'd rather drink fish oil than act like a proper young lady do you reprimand her for being fresh or do you commend her for quoting fine children's literature?

Living History

Josiah, like his brother Jonathan, is a bit of a US history buff. Here is a sampling of his self-selected pleasure reading for the past couple of weeks:

Just a few tidbits, I'm sure recognizable to most of my readers.  The Genevieve Fosters are old favorites he likes to re-read periodically, preferably the whole series in order. We have a couple of the History of US books picked up at book sales, and they make for quick and entertaining breakfast reading. The old  American Junior Heritage Libraryseries are also favorites for straightforward coverage of a variety of history topics.

But the book at the top of the pile is a new favorite. Somehow this classic had escaped our radar during all those years when the boys were obsessed with the Civil War. When we were visiting Nana last week I saw it on her kitchen book stack and the simple title caught my eye. I pulled it off the shelf and showed it to Josiah, who dove right in. Nana kindly gave Josiah the book, so he has been re-reading and savoring favorite parts.

Written in 1888, Hardtack and Coffee is the first person account of a Union soldier's daily life in camp. The text is liberally sprinkled with informative and entertaining pen and ink drawings from another member of the Army of the Potomac. Covered are such interesting topics as enlisting and recruits, tent living and army rations, recreation and daily life. Probably not suitable for younger readers, it does include such unpleasantries such as how deserters and spies were dealt with. But it is a truthful tell-all and tell-it -like-it-is tome of tantalizing tidbits of knowledge. You will learn really useful information such as:

It was no uncommon occurrence for a man to find the surface of his pot of coffee swimming with weevils, after breaking up hardtack in it, which had come out of the fragments only to drown; but they were easily skimmed off, and left no distinctive flavor behind.

Isn't that nice to know- no distinctive flavor left behind!

Or perhaps some of you could more easily relate to this:

How often, after being completely jaded by a night march, - and this is an experience common to thousands, - have I had a wash, if there was water to be had, made and drunk my pint or so of coffee, and felt as fresh and invigorated as if  just arisen from a night's sound sleep!

Find recipes for hardtack here. Jonathan made a handy hardtack poker, though Josiah hotly disputed the placement of the nails. Proper hardtack is perfectly square so it can be neatly stacked in wooden boxes for storage, and the piercings should be uniformly spaced.

I will close with the classic hardtack joke-

A soldier complains to his comrade,  There's something soft in my hardtack!

Ugh, is it a worm?

No! It's a nail!

Disclaimer - neither the writer of this blog nor any of her associates will in any way be held responsible for dental damage incurred from the consumption of insufficiently dunked hardtack. Choking hazard - keep out of reach of small children. I'm sure the orthodontist would forbid it as well!