Wednesday, July 14, 2010

The Lion

At the playground on the 4th of July, a lady had her Standard Poodle on a leash as she was watching her small grandson play.  Suddenly she saw the grandson climbing to high on the play equipment and rushed in to help him down, dropping the dog's leash in the process.  The poodle walked under one of the playground bridges and just stood there, watching his owner.  We were sitting on a picnic blanket just a few feet away watching Noah, when he came running around the corner, spotted the dog and came to a screeching halt.  He was facing us, so we saw his eyes open as round as saucers.  He stood there for just a split second looking at then dog, then came running over to us, excited and scared.  "A Lion!", he said.  We all just cracked up, so cute and funny.  Chris explained to him that it was just a dog with a haircut that made him look kind of like a lion, then he took him over to the dog's owner, told her the story and asked if Noah could pet him.  She laughingly agreed. 
Noah petted the "lion", talked to him and when he came back to where his Mommy and Bana were sitting, he told us, "I love the lion!".

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Only in Oregon

OK, maybe not only in Oregon - but only in farm country for sure.

Friday, July 09, 2010

MishMash Soup

Mishmash soup is a bit of this and a tad of that all thrown into a pot and served up for dinner.  This post is going to resemble a pot of that soup with a bit of yard sale finds, a dash of crafting and a splash of Independence day thrown in. 
We have had a cold and rainy spring this year, followed by a cold and rainy summer.  About once a week or so, a really nice day comes along to tease and tantalize us but then disappears as if it never happened.  Because of this gardens are far behind schedule and that joy of spring and summer, yard sales, have barely just begin to dot the neighborhoods.  A couple of weeks ago, Riff and I decided to brave the rain and wander out to the two whole sales that were listed in our local paper.  We absolutely hit the jackpot with the find of this super cute potting bench for just $20.00.  We have the perfect spot on the side of the house picked out to make into a gardening center, but I decided that this bench was just to nice to actually throw dirt around on.  Instead we put it on the deck to hold our summer bbq supplies.  It's absolutely perfect there, wouldn't you agree?
Happy Birthday to my sister, Stacey
Inspired by Jessica's pocket organizers, I made one for Stacey's birthday gift.  Stuffed in each pocket is some random treasure.  I thought it would be fun for her to pull out something from each pocket that was cute but not necessarily related to each other.  An antique crocheted doily was in one pocket, a birds nest in another.  A yo-yo maker and a couple of yo-yo's in a top pocket, a cute metal bird in one of the middle pockets and some vintage lace in a bottom.  Fun to make and fun to stuff, the organizer can be hung in a craft room, kitchen, office, wherever you need a bit of pocket. 
I hope you all had a fabulous 4th of July.  Because the 3rd dawned bright and beautiful, one of those wonderful teaser days we get now and again, we ended up celebrating all weekend.  We began with a bbq on our deck and an incredible fireworks show on the 3rd at the Ilwaco, Washington harbor.  On the 4th, we spent the day in Clatskanie, Oregon enjoying the parade and the festivities in the city park.  Very fun.  The day includes music in the bandstand, food vendors, logging contests and a carnival.  It was cloudy and cool, but not really cold and the rain held off, so it ended up being a great day. 
And now it's getting late.  Gotta fly!

Monday, July 05, 2010

Turn the Page...Tuesday


Mockingbird in Autum
Originally uploaded by doncon402

'When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.  When it healed, and Jem's fears of never being able to play football were assauged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury.  His left arm was somewhat shorter than his right;  when he stood or walked, the back of his hand was at right angles to his body, his thumb parallel to his thigh.  He couldn't have cared less, so long as he could pass and punt.
When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading up to his accident.  I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that.  He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out.'
~Gregory Peck
And so starts the story, To Kill A Mockingbird.  This month, Adrienne, who hosts Turn the Page...Tuesday challenged all participants to read an American Classic.  I love the classic's and pick them up at yard sales and thrift stores whenever I find them, so I was excited for this month's challenge. 
Back in junior high we read this story and then watched the movie, but so many years have passed that I only really remembered the jist of the story and not the particulars at all.  This is a classic that is written so well and readable that you find yourself inside the story and part of the lives of Scout and her big brother, Jem. 
I found myself playing games with the Finch kids and their friend, Dill, in the front yard while Atticus was at work, and sneaking out of the house at night to try and catch a glimpse of the neighbor, Boo Radley, whom was never seen but the whole neighborhood knew he was still alive because nobody had seen his body carried out yet. I was in class with Scout on her first day when one of the Ewell boys showed up to be counted, get his name on the books, harrass the new teacher and slink back off to the piece of land by the dump that the Ewells called home.  I sat with Jem while he read in the afternoons to the cantakerous old Mrs. Dubois and watched the fire take over Miss Maudie's house on the coldest night in the memory of Maycomb, Alabama. That night, Boo Radley slipped a blanket over Scouts shoulders, unseen to all the neighborhood eyes.  I gripped the balcony rail with white knuckles along with Jem as we waited for the jury to file back in, letting us know if Tom Robinson would be acquitted, then was terrified a few months later on a dark Halloween night under a starless sky. 
This is an incredible coming of age novel, set in the deep south, full of the racial tension and prejudices of the time.  An English teacher of mine from high school and I had a conversation of Facebook about this book.  She said that she assigned To Kill A Mockingbird a time or two to her junior class and it always just made her crazy when the kids would be bored by it.  Education is wasted on the young.  I so agree with her.  This book didn't leave an impression on me at all when I read it back when, but now it did.  After reading it this time, I know that I will come back to it time and time again. 
The copy I have (had), is an ancient paperback.  As I read, with each page that I turned, the pages actually fell out into my hands.  I will be keeping my eyes open, search ebay from time to time, in order to hopefully find a hardback copy for my classic's shelf. 
The next time you read a classic, give To Kill  A Mockingbird a go.  In the meantime,  pop over to Turn the Page...Tuesday to see what others are reading. 
What is the last classic you read?  Did you like it?