52 books :: book 4 &5 :: The Well-Educated Mind & The Well-Trained Mind

This week I have been reading two books. Every day, I read a bit from both. They are:

"The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education" by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise and "The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had" by Susan Wise Bauer. Both are excellent books and very useful for me as a homeschooler.

I talk about The Well Trained Mind book a bit more on my homeschooling blog on this post: Planning for next year: history and science.

I am not finished reading these two books, so I will take next week to finish them.

The Well Educated Mind is a book that shouldn't be hurried through either, and gives many suggestions of classics to read.

52 fridays -- week 5

playing around with colour this week


part of:

Butternut Squash Soup...and Celeste's Favourite Pasta

Butternut Squash Soup is not Celeste's Favourite...I will get to that in a minute. This beautiful orange soup is the soup I made in my slow-cooker, following the recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking blog. I didn't add any of the spices this time, so all it is is butternut squash, apples, onions and chicken broth. It turned out delicious!

Celeste's favourite is pesto pasta. She could eat this every single meal. She has been known to even eat it cold for breakfast!

I make the pesto by blending in a little mixer about 5-6 fresh basil leaves, 2 fresh garlic cloves, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, and 1/2 olive oil.  I always taste it, adjust the measurements if needed, and then refrigerate the sauce for a couple of hours before dinner or lunch. I take it out at the same time that I start boiling the pasta, then when the noodles are ready, I just mix a couple of big spoonfuls of sauce in and voila! Pesto Pasta!

52 books :: book 3 :: Ecoholic

This week I have been reading Ecoholic by Adria Vasil. The full title on the front cover is "Your guide to the most environmentally friendly information, products and services in Canada  Ecoholic [when you're addicted to the planet]. I found this book at our local library, but it is going to be on my wish list very soon. This guide is so full of great information. It explains why certain things are unsafe to the environment and also to ourselves (or our children, pets, etc); and then gives alternatives (all available in Canada). I really have enjoyed reading through it, it is well organized, covering topics like beauty products, home improvement, food, pets, medicine..It also includes a city-by-city resource guide for major Canadian cities. Best of all I like how it is written, a little cheeky and a lot down-to-earth, just saying it simply and to the point.
There is a US Edition as well and you can visit this website has more information:
Ecoholic .

I will be adding some helpful links to my blog, look for them under "green living" on the right side.

52 fridays -- week 4

my love and me - on a cold winter day

sweet potato chili ....

before cooking

Sweet Potato Chili...so delicious and so easy to make. I really love my crockpot, it makes life so much easier. I can prepare everything in the morning, while the kids are doing their independent school work and all day long dinner is simmering away while we are busy enjoying ourselves!

This recipe comes from the Year of Slow Cooking blog. I will be trying a few more recipes from there over the next couple of weeks, mostly soups. This was my first try, and I was very impressed by the taste and texture. Sweet potatoes, red kidney beans, tomatoes, red peppers, onions and garlic, along with a few spices (paprika and chili powder). This would work for a vegetarian, actually a vegan, if you don't add cheese to it when serving it.

52 books :: book 2 :: Anne of Avonlea & Lucy M. Montgomery Reading Challenge

This week I read Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery, as part of the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge but also for the Lucy M. Montgomery Reading Challenge. 
Anne of Avonlea is the book that comes after Anne of Green Gables. We read about Anne Shirley's life for about two years, while she is still living at Green Gables and teaching at the local one room schoolhouse. Anne is such a wonderful character, I really love her imagination and can relate so much to her love and admiration for nature.  Reading this book was like a breath of fresh air, in the middle of winter it was a nice escape from the reality of the cold outside!

52 fridays -- week 3

This week for the self portrait challenge, there was a theme suggested on the flickr group to show what we love about ourselves. I decided this time to show my feet. It isn't because I love the look of my feet, more what they allow me to do. I can walk, jog, run, take long hikes...that is why I love my feet!

Wordless Wednesday ~ time flies...

reading challenge so far...

I finished "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carrol at the beginning of this week, basically reading it over the weekend. I still enjoy reading children books. I think I always will, as long as they are well written. Andre and I have been watching on youtube the Alice in Wonderland movie from the 80's that Michelle suggested in the comments of my last book post. Very funny! I can't wait for Tim Burton's version to come out!

If I understand this challenge correctly, today marks the end of the first week. I started already my second choice, though I am not sure if I will be able to finish it by next Sunday...I am reading "Anne of Avonlea" by Lucy Montgomery. I have been enjoying this book very much.  Anne is about 16 years old in this one, and just started teaching at the local school. I like seeing Green Gables and its surroundings through Anne's eyes, along with her spirited attitude and how she handles everything that comes her way.

Visit 52 books in 52 weeks for more information about this challenge.

follow the yellow brick road...

January's blocks for the Traveling Threads quilting bee is all about the Wizard of Oz! Ruthie chose these fun fabrics for her quilt and I had a lot of fun creating these.
I found the inspiration for the Emerald City block here. The block with the photos from the movie remind me of a scrapbook page!

i got a feeling...

thanks sheri for sharing this one!

52 fridays -- week 2

On to week number two for the self portrait challenge. I had fun earlier this week creating a little icon for the group (see above). That beautiful eye is Adrienne's...I used the picnik website to play around with an old photo I had, making it all black and white and then focusing on her eye. I love the colour of her eyes. I then added the letters and voila! a little icon for this fun flickr group.

This week I decided to take a photo with Adrienne, my oldest daughter. She is almost as tall as me already!

52 books :: 1 & 2 :: Alice in Wonderland & Anne of Green Gables

I have started reading my first choice for this challenge. One of my favourite stories is Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and even though I have read it a few times, I thought I would start off the year by re-reading it. I have always loved the weirdness of it and following Alice along her adventure, her reactions, and the comments she makes to herself.







The second week of January I am planning on reading Anne of Green Gables by Lucy M. Montgomery. I have watched the television series years ago but never actually read the books. I would like to read it aloud to my daughters, but not sure if it will be at this time.
There is a L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge going on this month, click on the button to read more!

just because homemade gifts

I have been busy this weekend completing a couple of projects. First was a placemat for Adrienne. I made it reversible, with a snow and penguin theme on one side, and a purple girly fabric on the other. She told me she loved it!

While looking for a fabric suitable for binding Adrienne's placemat, I came upon this flowers and butterfly fabric. I had made a tote bag with it for my husband's grandmother a couple of years ago and had just enough to make her a little placemat with it. It has the same fabric on each side.  I hope she will like it.

Finally, I finished the grey purse. This is made using the leftover fabric from my husband's pants, after he cut them off to make shorts last summer. I lined it with a zig zag print and added metal buttons. This purse is going to my dear friend in France. One of the little x-mas trees from the previous post is also going with it!

I love making things and giving them to my family and friends. I am hoping 2010 gives me lots of opportunities to make and give more.

handmade ornaments for x-mas 2010...in january

Christmas just passed and I am planning for the next one...

I am part of a group on flickr called Handmade Ornaments for Christmas 2010 and we are planning on making 1 ornament a month.

These little trees were so much fun to make.  I designed them and wasn't sure if my idea would work or not, but I like how they turned out!
They are small, about 2.5 inches at the widest part and 4.5 inches tall. The one tree with the red fabric shows the reverse. I will be adding a little bit of embroidery floss to the top of each tree to be able to hang them.

52 fridays of self portraits

I love taking photos of pretty much anything...but not of myself. I saw this idea going around my contacts on flickr, and thought it was time to join in and push myself a little. At least it's not everyday, only once a week! I should be able to handle taking a weekly self-portrait.

So here I go...I might play around and alter some of the portraits I take, with picnik, but I will try to leave most as natural as possible.

This morning, I took two self portraits and couldn't decide which one to share..so here they are both. Which one do you like?

my furry baby and me

self portrait ~ 1 of 52