Pleasing Things

Well, hello YOU! Guess who I spent the weekend with? Yes, the Lark Risers. I snuggled on the sofa with my pen and pile of essays. I NEVER tire of Lark Rise to Candleford. I have all four seasons and I really could watch for twelve hours straight. I do grow tired of reading student writing though. Three more weeks! I must say that I am very proud of the students. They are trying really hard and tomorrow their Hero's Journey stories (they star as the hero!) are due. So, I shall have 120 stories to read. Wanna help? I wish you could!
Anyway, I wish Queenie lived next door to me. She's so wonderful!

Because I like all things old looking, Jeff had this photograph printed for me and then he made a lovely frame. My Mother's Day gift! So sweet! I love it. He took the picture in Belarus a few years ago. I wonder where this lovely woman is going? To the market? To see a friend? What do you think?

The rainy and cold weather kept me from gardening. Drat. I had to buy new gloves because I have spider fear. My old gloves look like handy spider houses and I can't bear to put them on. I'll wash them and hang them on the line when the sun shines. I hate to waste them.

I have two more weeks of poetry class. This book is fantastic. It is full of ideas. I am practicing some of them.

This is my little poetry notebook. I like it because it is not school-y. I have copied a few favorite poems in it. My daughter-in-law gave me the notebook and it's very cool. It has spots for pictures, pockets for papers, and very nice lined pages.

Oh, I DO love Mary Oliver and Elizabeth Bishop.

Poetry lends itself to images and images lend themselves to poetry!

This is one of my college text books and I've been enjoying it ever since!

My treasured blog friend Frances wrote this very good book for kids. This kid enjoyed it immensely! There are references to homesteading, blogging, goats, and teenage angst. It's my kinda book. Frances is a beautiful writer. She's so funny and she doesn't bow down to the trends. You can see the link to Left Handed Housewife on my sidebar, although she rarely speaks about her books.

A few of my UK friends have mentioned Milly-Molly-Mandy so I ordered this. It's very sweet. Oh, I am a kid. I like things kids like. Well, I like things kids liked in the 1940's, 1950's, and 1960's!

Another little gift for my inner child.

Speaking of . . . Sam came by today. She had lots of smiles for us!
Birdie and Bug (and little Millie, too!) came over yesterday. We received lots of delicious hugs over the weekend. Perfect!

We are beginning research in the library at school. We'll be at the computers for days. Half the kids are exploring poetry and then the honors students will research a chosen topic and then show their grand knowledge with a multigenre project. You may remember this from last year. I said I wouldn't finish the year with mountains of marking, but I am going to. Sigh.
Well, I DO wish you a toothy smile or two as you walk through your week. I hope you have opportunities to listen to the whispers all around you.
I hope you experience unexplainable joy. It's one of those freebies I'm very fond of.
Thank you for your kind comments and if you don't leave a comment, thank you for looking in on me. I appreciate it.

Wacky Tacky Day

This weekend, my Lark Rise to Candleford series 3 came in the mail. Oh delight! Oh bliss! I love these people. Queenie is my favorite because she is so real and dear. She welcomes heavy hearts. People bare their souls to her and it never fails to encourage me. Minnie (below) is full of life and hopefulness. She's silly and isn't afraid to ask ridiculous questions. Jeff asked me if I like the people from Lark Rise better or the people from Candleford. Definitely, I love the Lark Risers best. Finally, I had to stop watching, for I had tried Jeff's patience enough. He doesn't like the theme song playing quite so often. They talk slow and I like that. I feel like everything around here is rush, rush, rush. We are always hurrying and when we aren't hurrying, we're planning. I'd like long tea-seasoned chats with the Lark Rise ladies, sewing on something, laughing and sharing. A girl can dream.

While I was watching, I was knitting. Do you like my little tomato bag? Guess what's in it!

Waxy pumpkins!

Guess what else came? Yes, Laurel's Kitchen! But, I was disappointed because it's a compact version, not the original. I had to hunt and order again. This one is lovely, too, but I want the first one. To all of you who like veggie dishes, this is the sweetest, homiest, down-to-earth cookbook ever. There is a new one, but the old one makes you want to pack everyone you love a sack lunch that will knock their socks off!

Today was Wacky Tacky Day at school. It's SPIRIT week. I bet you remember this from last year if you've been my friend since then. I am a better sport about it this year. I'm trying to be a team player. I was almost late this morning because I had to run a green polka dot ribbon through the casing of my square dancing petticoat. (No, I don't square dance, it's my Pom Pom under thing!) and a student pointed to my pink apron and said, "What that called? An apron?" Funny. Someone also told me my glasses (I wear these often!) are nice and tacky, too.

Below is my friend and co-teacher for third period, Melissa. She's fun.

Some of the kids really went to Tacky Town!

And guess what? Bill is HOME! He's tired from all that plane riding, but he's so happy to be home and he is already asleep in our flannel clad bed! I'm so thankful! A storm is brewing outside now but last night the moon woke me up three times. It was so bright, I had to get up on my knees and stare at it. I can hear the wind and the thunder. Ten more days of my beloved September. Thank you so much for stopping in. I love the thought of you.