Bread and Such

Having been recently inspired by a post about bread by Daisy and an ongoing debate about whole wheat bread at the homeschool boards, we decided to bake bread this weekend. Our search of the grocery store shelves turned up no contenders for whole wheat bread that was high fructose corn syrup free. We purchased whole wheat flour and yeast. Research on the net turned up this wonderful recipe for 100% Whole Wheat and Buckwheat Honey Bread. We just happen to have buckwheat honey in the cupboard from one of our shopping adventures last year with Gretchen. We were set, right?

Only, you know that saying about "too many spoons in the pot"? There were three of us working on this bread project: Myself, Julia, and Seth.

As I was kneading the rested dough, I reached for the bag of flour to add more underneath the ball of dough. Hmm, it was white flour. We'd failed to put any whole wheat flour in the recipe, at all!

The bread is quite yummy and makes delicious toast too. I'm sure the intended whole wheat version is equally good! Maybe next time we'll find out.

Julia and Seth did redeem themselves later in the evening by making individual, chocolate molten lava cakes. Chocolate covers a multitude of sins.

Reading and Watching

The weather looks tempting this time of year with the sun higher in the sky, but the frigid reality blasts you back inside soon enough! It's perfect weather for lazy afternoons reading and cozy nights huddled under a blanket in front of a good movie.

I've finished six Miss Read books now and am presently on Miss Clare Remembers. I am consciously slowing down my reading pace, hoping to keep the characters of Fairacre, Caxley, and Beech Green with me a good long time. I am always saddened at the end of a series. I truly miss the presence of the characters in my daily life.

Did you know that Enya wrote a song called Miss Clare Remembers? It is on her Watermark album.

I also recently read You Staying Young by doctors Oz and Roizen. It was a quick read with valuable info strewn throughout if you can stomach the silly writing style. I did learn that drinking Kefir is very good for osteopenia, which I have. That was a plus since I do like Kefir but haven't bought it for a while.

Another calcium rich food I've recently discovered is Greek yogurt. It is made by straining the whey out of regular yogurt. Such thick, creamy goodness!

Julia is actually finding time to read for pleasure this week. She is on break from her college classes. On her list is David Eddings book Enchanters' End Game from The Belgariad Volume II and The Secret Life of Lobsters.

Shawn has been reading Art and the Bible. Next up will be a Christian history book The Church of Our Fathers by Bainton, an out of print book which a dear friend gave to us a few years ago, and The Elements of Style. He just finished Perelandra. We will be studying it in depth with a Progeny Press study guide before he writes a lit paper for the book.

Now as for viewing, we've of course been watching the Sunday evening showings of the Jane Austen movies on PBS. Up tonight is part one of Sense and Sensibility. Earle, Shawn, and I have been watching them together. I must say, it is rather odd viewing company for Austen flicks! I'm so glad the menfolk are loving them as much as I am.

We also just came into possession of one of our all time favorite movies. We haven't re-watched it yet, but we are now the proud owners of Waking Ned Devine. If you haven't seen it before, you're in for a good laugh. If you have seen it before I have one short phrase for you: "naked old Irish guys riding bicycles"! I knew I could make you smile!!

Off to read. Miss Clare calls. I'll leave you with a short excerpt from the book.

"...They crossed a stile and made their way across a meadow high with summer grass. Some of the bobbing grasses stood as high as Dolly herself and she saw, for the first time, the tiny mauve seeds quivering at the grass tips. Ox-eyed daisies and red sorrel lit this sweet-smelling jungle that stretched as far as the small child could see. Above her arched a sky of breath-taking blue where two larks vied with each other in their outpourings.

In the distance the six bells of Caxley parish church chased each other's tails madly. A warm breeze, scented with the perfume from a field of beans in flower, lifted Dolly's hair, and she became aware, young as she was, of her own happiness in these surroundings. Sunlight, flowers, Mother, Father, Ada, and dear Emily were with her. Here was security, warmth, love, and life. Nothing ever completely dimmed that shining memory."

Photography Update

Since the weather has been rather uncooperative this week, we've decided to continue the "flying objects" photography theme through this coming week as well. I should have some pics to share by next weekend. Feel free to participate if you'd like to. Just leave me a comment if you put up any pics at your blog!

Here's a preview from Shawn's shots so far:

Friday's Feast

Appetizer:
What does the color dark green make you think of?

Soup:
How many cousins do you have?

Salad:
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how honest are you?

Main Course:
Name something that is truly free.

Dessert
Using the letters in the word SPRING, write a sentence.

My answers are in the comments. What say you?

Wordless Wednesday

"Hockey Puck Face"

...in lovely shades of red, purple, blue, yellow, and green.

The New Toy

We decided it was time to replace Earle's almost six year old Sony digital camera. It literally has a screw loose, missing even, and the memory stick is shot. No pun intended. He searched the net for a replacement stick to no avail. The Sony had been a surprise 40th Birthday present from me. It will always be special, but now it will take its deserved place in our old camera collection. It will be in good company there with the old Nikon 35mm and the Leicas.

The new D80

First shots with the D80. The semi-frozen pond at the park. The silly birds are lined up along the edge of the ice like they are on the edge of the sand at the beach sunbathing.

The photographer's assistant

The assistant's choice of subject matter.

The silly birds, revisited.

Since we are all equally excited about the new camera, we've decided to conduct a weekly photo challenge. We brainstormed photography theme ideas, wrote them on slips of paper, and relegated them to a basket. Earle drew the first one. All this week we will concentrate our photography efforts on fulfilling this theme. At the end of the week we'll share our best results and critique our photos.

Theme #1

Shawn, balanced on the deck stairs capturing a few of our flying friends which congregate in our yard in great abundance.

I'll share our results over the weekend. If you care to join us, pick up your camera and have fun!

Easter

This Easter was an unusual holiday for us. We didn't host a dinner for family members. We didn't drive out of town or out of state. We stayed home, attended church to celebrate our Lord's miraculous resurrection, and enjoyed a peaceful and relaxing day together, just our family. Today, instead of feeling that familiar "after holiday hangover", which has nothing to do with alcohol, I was rested and eager to begin a new week of homeschooling.




Here's what we did do on Easter:

Cuddled felines

Snuggled with daddy

Slow danced in the kitchen with my honey

Played with the new camera

And ate scrumptious dessert!

Good Friday

Christ on the Cross

Diego Velasquez

Museo del Prado, Madrid (250 x 170 cm, c. 1632)

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Y miré, y oí la voz de muchos ángeles alrededor del trono y de los seres vivientes y de los ancianos. El número de ellos era miríadas de miríadas, y millares de millares, que decían a gran voz: El Cordero que fue inmolado digno es de recibir el poder, las riquezas, la sabiduría, la fortaleza, el honor, la gloria y la alabanza. (Spanish: La Biblia de las Américas (1997))

Καὶ εἶδον καὶ ἤκουσα φωνὴν ἀγγέλων πολλῶν κύκλῳ τοῦ θρόνου καὶ τῶν ζῴων καὶ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων, καὶ ἦν ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτῶν μυριάδες μυριάδων καὶ χιλιάδες χιλιάδων λέγοντες φωνῇ μεγάλῃ ἄξιόν ἐστιν τὸ ἀρνίον τὸ ἐσφαγμένον λαβεῖν τὴν δύναμιν καὶ πλοῦτον καὶ σοφίαν καὶ ἰσχὺν καὶ τιμὴν καὶ δόξαν καὶ εὐλογίαν. (Greek NT)

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands,saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." (New American Standard Bible, Revelation 5:11-12)

In any language, the message is the same. The only way to Easter Sunday is through the cross of Good Friday and the only way to the Father is through the Son. The deed has been done; the debt has been paid. Blessed be His name.

Playing with Photoshop

So, this is my new addiction! I was playing around with Adobe Photoshop and just loved the results. I use Photoshop to adjust color intensity and lighting/contrast, but I hadn't really played around with the artistic media before. Now I'm hooked.

I love how this pic of Earle's mum turned out. I used the effect dry brush to achieve the painterly quality and then I intensified the colors and added a spotlight lighting effect. If I sent if off, electronically, to have it printed onto canvas it would look just like a painting. Earle is such a great photographer. He always gives me plenty of subject matter to work from. A good deal of my paintings that I've done from photos have been from his camera. We went down to breakfast over the surprise birthday weekend and the lighting was so wonderful that he immediately flew back up to the room for his camera to snap this shot.

I actually took this one myself. I wanted a new pic for my profile on the homeschool boards. Again, I used the soft lighting coming in through the window to soften the lines on this getting-older face of mine. This photoshop technique is called cutout.

Here's a more edgy version of me made with indexed mode. Earle likes this one. He is a big fan of black and white.

Another pic manipulated with cut out. I also intensified the colors and adjusted the lighting. It reminds me of a 1950's paint-by-number.

My little girly! I used watercolor effect on one of her graduation pics. Doesn't she look amazing? I think I might print this one out on card stock paper. I'll bet it would look quite close to a hand painted watercolor.

Another lovely pic done with the watercolor effect. Not as pretty as the flower just above, but still an nice pic.

After the usual color and lighting adjustments I used a brushstroke effect called ink outlines to achieve this look. I really like the faux paint/pen and ink look it gave the pic.

Wow, I need to get back to homeschooling! This has been a really fun little rabbit trail to go down for a while. I think I'll be using these techniques again. Have you ever played with your pics before? What results did you come up with? If not, give it a try. You'll enjoy it.

Wordless Wednesday

Percy, wondering if the Easter bunny feels as humiliated with the ears as he does...

Pysanky Workshop

As promised, I have some pics from the Pysanky workshop I held in my studio. Two homeschooled students, a mom and her three girls, my kids, and two of their friends participated in our three hour class. They learned that Pysanky egg decorating originated in the Ukraine and that its intricate patterns and colors are symbolic. They learned about the tools used in making Pysanky and the steps in the process. Then, each participant made their own egg as we followed a traditional pattern, step by step, together. After the first eggs were complete the students created free form egg designs of their own choosing. At the end of the workshop each person took home with them: two finished eggs, a kistka, beeswax, an instruction guide, and a catalog with which to purchase dyes if they wish to make more eggs in the future.




Pysanky is a wax resist process. Beginning with a fresh, white egg, you cover areas of the egg with melted wax using a kistka. When you dip the egg into the first dye bath, the places you covered with wax will remain white. After each dye bath, when the egg has dried, you cover the areas with wax that you wish to stay that color before proceeding to the next dye bath. When the design is complete and all the dyeing is done, you hold the egg close to a candle flame to remelt the wax so you can wipe it from the egg revealing your finished design. Removing the wax from the finished egg is like discovering hidden treasure!


If making Pysanky is something you wish to find out more about and perhaps try your hand at, here are some resources for you:

• Learn Pysanky: Step by step basic instructions, symbol and color meanings, egg designs, and many other wonderful bits of information.

• Ukrainian Gift shop: Where to buy your supplies.

• Two wonderful children's books by Patricia Polacco with Pysanky in the storyline:Chicken Sunday, Rechenka's Eggs

It was so nice to hold the kistka in one hand and a fresh egg in the other, to feel the soft melted wax flow onto the egg shell, and to smell the waxy goodness of burning candles and hunks of beeswax. There is something so comforting in working with low-tech tools on a traditional craft that has endured the test of time. Even though I have no Ukrainian in my family heritage, I feel a connectedness to the past and a gratefulness for those who are willing to share their customs with the rest of the world.

An 80th Birthday Surprise

We went stealth this weekend! Earle and I traveled to Maine and couldn't tell a soul. We were part of a master scheme to throw a surprise birthday weekend for Earle's mom who officially became an octogenarian on Saturday. We drove up on Friday, a ten and a half hour trip, celebrated the event with a dinner at an inn on Friday night and another on Saturday night. There was food, games, shopping, and visiting with relatives we usually only see once a year at Thanksgiving. Twenty three family members were able to come, much to the surprise of all. One sneaky young lady flew in from Minnesota and never even told her mother she was coming for her Grammie's surprise party! Many tears of joy were shed.

The crowd gathers for dinner at the inn on Saturday night

Happy Birthday, Nora Marie!

Nora and Gus with four of their five children. The missing sibling, Earle's brother Russell, was one of the only ones not able to make it for the celebration.

We pulled it off, we surprised the woman who slips open the tape on Christmas presents then wraps them back up snug again! Earle's sisters in Maine spent a lot of time planning and scheming and it was all worth the look on Nora's face when we all showed up, one by one, to celebrate with her.

An Entertaining Evening

Last Monday night we watched Shawn's fencing class. It was the last class of this round of lessons, so they had a class competition and they also held a melee, which is basically a fencing free-for-all! They had a blast. We watched from the balcony above the gym. Two of Shawn and Julia's friends, Seth and Ethan, came to watch too.

Shawn fencing Robin, a friend, during class.

After the fencing class we came back to our house where Shawn gave his friends a few lessons and they all had their turn trying on the equipment.

Ethan getting a fencing lesson from Shawn

Then we were treated to a concert. One of the kid's friends plays the piano and the other plays the violin. They are both fabulous musicians. We could have listened for hours, in fact I think we did! We were treated to everything from An Ashokan Farewell to The Orange Blossom Special to Vivaldi and Ravel. It was wonderful! Live music is such a special treat.

Seth tuning his violin

What a wonderful evening of entertainment and fun! We have it on video too so we can watch and listen again.

Wordless Wednesday

Trying to think warmer thoughts. It's snowing again this morning! Shawn built this Giza model on the beach in South Carolina a couple of years ago. My sister is there right now. Lucky duck!

Creativity Tag

Deb over at Creative Soul tagged me with an 8 Random Creative Things About Me meme. I enjoyed reading her meme musings and will comply, because as the Borg say, "Resistance is futile", and it seems fun!

1. I don't really have a favorite color. I love them all so much my favorites change. Some colors I adore more than others though, these include: periwinkle, red, white, tangerine, apple green....
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2. My creativity comes is spurts. I can work on a painting for days on end, barely thinking to eat, and then work on nothing for months. There have been times I've had to rein that tendency in when I needed to finish a painting for a client, but that is my natural creativity rhythm.
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3. Listening to classical music or music from other countries like Celtic or Aboriginal can really turn on the creativity spark. I don't play any instruments though and please don't ask me to sing! I love to sing when I'm alone, but my pathetic attempts are not for others' ears.
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4. When my creative soul needs encouraging and renewing, nothing works better than a stroll along a nature trail. Being out in God's creation brings back my creativity, it makes me feel connected to the Creator.
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5. My sister is always trying to encourage me to dress "artsy", but I like to blend in to the background a little too much. She is the extrovert and can pull it off!

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6. While I was still in high school, and deciding on a career path, my areas of interest were: art, math, and astro-physics. I almost decided to minor in math in college. I took Calc I, Calc II and Computer Science before abandoning math due to the time commitment. The art classes were too demanding of my time. I know I made the right choice.

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7. Going to museums is supposed to be inspirational, and it is now for me, but it wasn't always that way. I used to become very discouraged when I saw how far I still needed to progress in my art compared to the masters who hung in the museums. Perfectionistic tendencies are real creativity killers. They will paralyze you. Thankfully, I no longer feel that way, at all. I have been to museums across the US and parts of Europe and loved every minute of it. My favorite artist is Jan Van Eyke and my least favorite of the well know masters is Pablo Picasso.

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8. Winter is no fun. The lack of sunshine severely affects my energy level and my creativity level. thank goodness it's almost spring!Now, I suppose I should tag someone else, but I will leave it open ended.

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If you would like to participate and respond to this meme on your blog, I encourage you to do it! (and let us all know you did) Happy creating!

Flotsam and Jetsam

This place was a debris field this morning, inside and out. Over the last couple of days we've had snow, sleet, freezing rain, more snow, wind, cold temperatures....until there was a nice build-up of ice on everything, including the snow. Last night, when the wind began to pick up, the heavily laden tree branches whipped the side of the house sending shards of ice crashing into the windows and trickling down the slope of the roof, sounding like some percussion section gone awry. Several times throughout the evening and overnight I was certain a window would break and I'd be picking up scattered branches from the floor while desperately searching for a tarp to cover a gaping hole in the side of the house! This morning when I looked outside, the beaming sun was making diamonds out of the shards of glass that had fallen during the night. Sharp points of broken ice protruded from every near horizontal surface, looking like a virtual ice mine field. Branches were down all over the yard. In some neighborhoods entire trees were down, as well as the power lines that were under them. Although the commotion from the storm kept me awake a good deal of the night, at least we didn't lose power. Many others in our area weren't as fortunate.

Some of the downed branches and ice shards in our front yard.

Although the ice was a nuisance, it sure made lovely patterns on the garage door window for Shawn to photograph!

It also made amazing photo opportunities for Julia. Hopefully those beginning buds won't be impacted by their time in the deep freeze.

The studio is also littered with debris today, not of the icy kind though. Yesterday I held a Pysanky workshop in my studio. I taught nine students, kids through adults, the Ukrainian art form then we created lovely egg masterpieces. One of the participants, a friend of Julia's, took some pics of the event. When he has a chance to put them on disk for me I'll show you what we did. For now, the messy studio pics will have to suffice!

All those raw eggs and not one was broken even by the youngest students!

Tonight I am crashing like those ice shards! Shawn has continued making Pysanky, but I am properly positioned on the comfy couch with my feet propped and my lap top in front of me. It's been quite a weekend! Perhaps I'll be able to catch up on that lost sleep tonight.

Friday's Feast

I'm trying something new today. I've had my eye on the clever Friday's Feast meme for a while now. I first encountered it at Donna Boucher's blog, Quiet Life.

Here goes:


Appetizer:
If you could be any current celebrity for one whole week, who would you want to be?

Well, I don't like having attention drawn to myself, so being a celebrity would be very challenging, but if I had to pick someone I would be Meg Ryan. She always seems so vibrant and happy. I just love her cute little expressions.

Soup:
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how much do you enjoy talking on the phone?


If I'm talking to someone I'm close to and they are far away I would choose a 10, but otherwise I would definitely be in the 1-2 category.

Salad:
Name a charitable organization to which you have donated (or would like to).


The Great Commission Fund of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church. Isn't telling others what being a Christian is all about? Keeping it to yourself is like finding a cure for cancer and not telling a soul! You just want to spread the good news. While not everyone is going to be a missionary and go out into the world, there are other supporting roles to play that are equally necessary, like giving.

Main Course:
What is a food you like so much you could eat it every single day for a month?


Tribe of Two Sheiks Hummus with Forty Spices. I usually buy some every week. I like to dip baby carrots in it.


Dessert:
Have you or anyone in your family had the flu this year?

Thankfully, no. We have had the upper respiratory thing, but I'm not sure that qualifies as the flu. We don't really get the full-blown flu too often. Do you?


Care to participate? I'd love to hear your thoughts about the feast questions. Leave a comment with your answers or let me know you have participated on your blog.

Yummy stuff!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Wordless Wednesday and a belated Happy Leap Day! This little froggy was captured on film in Earle's parents back yard in Maine last year. Isn't he a cutie?

I know, I'm back early. More updates to follow when I'm not trying to be wordless.