Mountain Ash's Musings

I would like you to introduce you to some dear friends. Readers, meet my books. Books, meet my readers.

2011-12-21T12:28:00.001-05:00

   I just finished a book today. In reality, I suppose you could say it is just another book. But to me, it was the end of a wonderful tale, that took me through marvelous adventures, and I was quite loath to see it end. Its one of those stories, where you really could read a series of 50 books and not get tired of it. Unfortunately, there are not that many books...Or rather, maybe fortunately. Depends on who you ask.

This wonderful book series is called "The Rangers Apprentice". If you have not read it, I highly suggest reading it. Its not a girly book at all, and is really one for any age. I have read the whole series 4 times (Excepting the last, because it just came out) and never tire of it. I have been hard pressed to hold in laughter while reading at night, and sometimes it has brought me to tears. At the end, I felt I knew all of the characters as dear friends.   That is one of the only problems with reading. When the end of the book comes, you wish you had not read it so fast. You can only read a book for the first time once.

I know that seems fairly obvious, and you may be thinking "Well duh" and if you are, let me explain. For me, there is a certain wonder of picking up a new book and exploring a new world for the first time. You hear new names, and read through adventures and romances, and tragedy.
Please understand that I am soooo not saying that you should only read a book once, in fact, most of the books I own I have read several times. There is a comfort in picking up a book you know well, rather like meeting an old friend that you have not seen in a while. I have a copy of "A Little Princess" that is quite worn down with use, and has several passages underlined, and I have some of them memorized. "Inkheart" is also very used.

Anyone who is an avid book reader, will understand what I mean. After a time, the characters become a bit more than made up words on a page. For instance, Sara Crewe, and Lottie, and Ermengarde have become people I know well, and I share her opinion of Miss Minchin and feel Sara's pain at being treated so horridly. (A Little Princess)

I have several friends who's names I will not mention, but they have told me that they also, have had a crush on certain characters in books.
If you think I am a tad crazed, well, you might be correct.
    All I can say is, if you dont know what I am talking about, I implore you to pick up a book, and become acquainted with some dear friends of mine.

Wondering what books to read? Well, I mentioned several in my post today, but if you want to ask, go to a book store, and look for a person gazing lovingly at the books, or perhaps smiling as they stare at the pages with a far away look in their eyes as they take in the comforting smell of books, both new and old. Be careful and dont interrupt too rudely though, it is a hard thing to be torn from a book.

“Never did she find anything so difficult as to keep herself from losing her temper when she was suddenly disturbed while absorbed in a book. People who are fond of books know the feeling of irritation which sweeps over them at such a moment. The temptation to be unreasonable and snappish is one not easy to manage.
"It makes me feel as if something had hit me," Sara had told Ermengarde once in confidence. "And as if I want to hit back. I have to remember things quickly to keep from saying something ill-tempered.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess

Short random story about my new hair cut.

2011-12-19T17:08:00.000-05:00

So this is my new hair style. I love it. Here is the funny part about this though. I absolutely hated it for the first 15 minutes or so. I put my makeup on angrily, and then looked in the mirror and realized it was not the hairstyle that was the issue. Haha. So yeah, short story made even shorter, I love it. I think I am going to go put some purple streaks in my bangs. :-)

Have a good night everyone!

A horrid day, in which I fall down a staircase, and almost set the house on fire. Also, I have renewed my hate for gravity.

2011-11-18T17:13:00.001-05:00

    For those of you who don't know me, there is a slight possibility that I am the clumsiest person like ever. I am almost constantly running into something. Does not matter if its a wall, or a person, or you know....air. (Yea...its possible to run into / trip over air....) For those of you who do know me, wicked sorry for all those times I crashed into you...( You know who you are.)

    Now, before you freak out, I only almost set the house on fire, but it totally was not even my fault. (This time...) Also, it *probably* sounds like the falling and the fire had something to do with each other. Nope. Two separate things.    ...Oh. It just occurred to me. I almost set the house on fire twice today. Second time was my fault.

   I really wish I could blame my total clumsiness on the whole Lyme Disease induced vertigo thing, but nah. Its just me. Being me. Again.   Brace yourselves for my clumsiness. Here I go again (la la la, la la la la, la la la la.......Sorry song mode. Im done now) Oops, I did it again (da da da da......haha oops.) Ok, so thank you for those of you who got both of those songs. I appreciate that ever so much.

    So, I need to tell you what my high heel boots look like so you understand that, even though I *knew* they were a bad plan, I didn't necessarily register how much of a bad idea it was. I know I know, "But Rowan, you cant even walk straight without heels on, that is so dumb" but they are sooooooo pretty.   Again, those of you who know me, know I really hate shoes and avoid them whenever possible, even when its snowing. They are black leather boots, and have lacing and they are gorgeous. They are Medieval styled, and they just make me smile every time I look at them.

   However, because I AM AN IDIOT I wore them anyway. Of course, it led to back pain, wrist pain, and many many bruises, but again I will say, I am an idiot.

   The question is, which to explain first. The almost catching things on fire, or the falling? I guess I will tell you in the order of events.

   So, I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and stuff before heading to babysit for the Forestdale Women's Bible study. I know, sounds like a normal morning. Ha. No.
Nothing is normal in my house, pretty much ever.
We have a light above the sink, and I am in the habit of turning it on. Mostly because my family turns off the other light to leave you in the dark, as it were. Its usually Dad or Jenna. Actually, its usually my Dad. So I went to turn on that light, and nothing went wrong, but when I went to turn it off was the issue. Yea, it would not turn off. Also, when I tried to turn it off, it started smoking. Whoops.... Mom rushed to turn the breaker off as soon as I said "Umm Mom the lights are smoking at me..."   Funny thing was, that didn't turn them off. It took a few tries of flipping it on and off for it to actually go out. Weird right?

   When I got home from babysitting, I went to sit on my bed and do Biology. Blah blah. Thats not the fun part. So after about half an hour I freaked out, remembering I had to take my pills. Well in my idiotic rush to get up, I caught the heel of my boot on the knitted blanket, falling off the bed onto my face, and knocking the laptop off my bed. (Laptop is fine by the way)

When I realized I did not hurt myself (badly) I tried to get up. My foot was stuck in the blanket, and would not budge. I tried twisting around to unhook my foot from the grasp of that deceivingly pretty, yet deadly blanket without much progress. Swallowing my pride, and ignoring the laughter that was about to ensue, I tentatively called out to my mother. In short, she said coming, and I was laying on the floor at an awkward - if not a tad painful - angle, cheeks burning with embarrassment from my idiocy, for about 10 minutes before she came up. She just sighed and unhooked me from the grip of the sneaky blanket.

   Now for the second time I almost set the house on fire. Its not nearly as interesting as the light fixture almost exploding, (slight exaggeration) but it was still scary.   I went to take care of the wood stove, and came up the stairs, forgetting that a few hot coals had fallen onto the floor. About 5 minutes later, I suddenly remembered and rushed down the stairs, shoving the coals into the ash bucket. Yup. Not that interesting. Seriously, I am not usually that irresponsible. I have no clue what happened.

Does anyone have a spare brain? I am really in need of one..........

And now, for the big event of the day. Haha.
   It started with me going out to refill our chickens water, and my finding the first egg in the nesting box. I ran, - well, more like really quickly wobbled, my yard is a hill and its slippery and I was in heels - to show Mom and Jenna the egg. They were as ecstatic. Anyway, I went back outside to continue my chore humming "I has an egg, la la la good chickens egg egg egg we have an egg bop bop de do la la we have an egg. Egg, egg, eggie egg egg"   (Yes. I know. I have issues. Deal with it.) and decided that I should check the yard for more eggs.   Now, those of you who have been to my house, will know about that really treacherous staircase, made of little wooden pillars. its really quite beautiful, but dont go down it when they are wet. Or in heels. Guess what I did. Went down them when they were wet....and in heels.

It kind of felt like one of those slow motion falls, where you can feel yourself falling, but you dont have time to react, just to watch yourself fall. Kind of scary. So I fell wicked hard on my back, and slid down the whole way. I just kinda layed there for half a second, and thought, "Wow...that was really dumb. Haha" and then I started crying cause my back hurt so bad. According to my mother, I have a piercing scream. She heard me from the living room. Heh-heh.... Also, after I screamed for my Dad...haha my poor neighbor. I heard her go "What WAS THAT??? Is she ok???"   Funny...how she automatically knew it was me.

But yea, I am an idiot, almost set the house on fire, got captured by a blanket, almost set the house on fire again, and then fell down wet wooden stairs cause I am an idiot.   Fun right?

Mom left a little while ago and before she left she said "Dont call me unless the house catches on fire" I just snickered and she said, after giving me one of those long suffering looks "Rowan, stay away from the woodstove unless its really necessary" I just snickered again and said Yes, mom.   So now I am making dinner for Jenna and I, trying not to injure myself more, or move when its not necessary. My back hurts really bad. I dont even want to think about all the bruising that is gonna be there. Haha.

Oh my. That is a long post. If you read all the way through, I really appreciate it. I

t took me a long time, because my Lyme has made me veryyyy easily distracted. You know how people usually joke about "Ohh shiny" or "Hey, look! A chicken!" ?? Yea those are not jokes with me. Partly because I have chickens, and partly cause my brain is scrambled.   :-D    Have a lovely night! (Or day....or whatever time you are reading this.)

A post about homeschoolers

2011-09-26T14:53:00.000-04:00

Before you read this, I must warn you, that it is rather long, and could be seen as boring. Again, remember the title of this is "Musings" and most of it is totally random. You have been warned.

They other day, I was confronted yet again, with what I and other homeschoolers have begun to call "The Question". More often that not, the question I, as a homeschooler, get most often is "Do you have any friends?" The funny thing is, the places I get asked this.

Most recently I was at a Youth Group, and surrounded by people and laughing and I start talking to the girl next to me, and she finds that I am homeschooled. First, she asks if I like being homeschooled, to which I reply that I love it. Secondly, she asked if I had any friends, and if so, how I had them.

Now, I have been asked this only a few times with the person saying it with a malicious intent. More often than not, they are actually wondering. I explained that Homeschoolers are not locked up in the house, and we do get out even though we may not be in a school with tons of people every day. I also said that I go to Church, and Youth Group. I still find it odd how many people ask me this though.

Once and for all I am going to say that Yes, Homeschoolers do have friends. Granted, every once and a while there is that awkward one that hates people, or is just shy, but hey they exist everywhere. (I used to be one...)

Now, after stating all this, I must say that, sometimes, the temptation is to reply with something outlandish. The problem lies in that, if I do say something outlandish, they will most likely believe me.
So I really cant answer "Do you have friends?" with "No, but I know some nice penguins." or something about unicorns and dragons. I could say "Do books count as friends" because I have wondered that sometimes...But I digress.

I have actually been told many things about homeschoolers. These things were stated as fact. Some of the things were rather rude like "Homeschoolers are stupid and have issues learning" In his defense, he did not know I was a homeschooler....Anyway Im not gonna talk about those kinds of things. Just the ones I have been asked/told most often.

Seeing as I have started this I may as well finish it.Here is some of the things I have been told.
Some common myths about homeschoolers.

Homeschoolers have no friends: See above.
Homeschoolers never leave their house: It really depends on the homeschooler, but I feel like most of the homeschoolers I know get out fairly often.
Homeschoolers just sit at home all day watching tv or something: First of all, we do not sit around watching tv "or something". I happen to have a 9 hour school day. Granted, some have shorter than that, but you get my point. (Ok a lot do because my mom is one of those work you child to death teachers.In a good way)
Homeschoolers dont do any extracurricular activities: I am actually doing a Shakespeare class at the moment with a ton of other homeschoolers. (Thanks to an amazing Mrs. Oliver and my mother who are teaching this) And you would be surprised to know how many homeschooling groups there are that get together and do activities and sometimes field trips.
Homeschoolers are shy and anti-social: There are shy and anti-social people everywhere. I used to be a shy and kind of anti-social person, but that is only because my life revolved around books and fairy tales. I am going to add into this that people think homeschoolers have no social skills at all. Ok, just because I dont go to a party and stay up all night does not mean I have no social skills.
Homeschoolers are insane: No comment. (Mostly because My best friends and I are rather odd. But I think thats just us. One of them is in public school now and she is still kind of crazy....)

So yea, thats the end of my tirade. Sorry about that, I just got bored, and was thinking about all the odd questions I have gotten.

I will *Try* to have a more interesting and less tirade-ish blog post next time. Maybe something about leaves...Or dragons.

The one down side of fantasy novels...

2011-09-25T21:18:00.002-04:00

So, I know I am not one for short blog posts, but I hope you will forgive me for this quick(ish) insight into my life.

You know you are reading far to much fantasy when you are outside in the dark, looking at starts and letting your imagination run wild, and then your dog barks, and the first thing you think is "Darn. The vampires found me. Or is it a werewolf??? Crud. That would be bad..." and then run back inside calling the dog to follow you...

This is why I need to find someone else who likes looking at stars, but does not think mythical creatures are out to get them!!

Someone sane(ish) to remind me that I am not about to get attacked (By anything other than coyotes...) (Of which there seem to be a few around my place) And for some reason none of my family will come out with me. Could it have something to do with the fact I sometimes think mythical animals are out to get me?...Nah

See? This is why I need my best friend Darrian to sleep over. So we can look at the stars, and I will not be overcome with a fear that I am about to get eaten by a dragon or something.

Alright, I seriously have to go to bed now. One more thing though. I have been keeping a diary, and I have filled 4 pages in the first day, so I have a feeling this will inspire me to blog more. At least, I hope it does.

An insight into the lives of my best friends.

2011-08-25T11:05:00.001-04:00

(These are my two best friends) (Also this was over Facebook) (Oh gosh...I love my friends.) (Ok Im gonna stop with the parentheses now...)
Darrian: Silly Rabbit, tricks are for kids!
Kevin: I still say that's extremely prejudice...
Darrian: :) Heheh
Kevin: All the poor guy wants is some cereal... Ever heard of sharing? Then he might just stop stalking you... Do you know what?
Darrian: What?
Kevin: It's the stores fault too, for not selling cereal to rabbits. I think it's a conspiracy against rabbits. Ruttin' Prejudice I tell ya'...
Darrian: Could you imagine going shopping and running into rabbits with their own little karts filled with Tricks.
Kevin: Yes, yes I can. Because I have a dream! A dream where bunnies and Humans can live in harmony! Is that too much to ask? I think not!
Darrian: It would be very distracting...
Kevin: I think they should change the slogan to "Silly rabbit trix are for kids not rabbits because we are prejudiced against all you poor bunny rabbits so you get nothing" Doesn't it just roll right off the tongue?

Me: I dont know how easy that would be to put in a commercial. Can you imagine that being said at the end all fast talk-ish like the warnings for medication?
Kevin: I could do it for them... I speak too fast...
Me: You speak to fast? Hahaha I thought it was me who everyone was always telling to slow down and breath and not speak at light speed.
Kevin: That rhymed... hehe
Me: > . <

Jenna-isms and other random things

2011-07-19T14:59:00.001-04:00

(Before I start this out, for those of you who dont know, Jenna is my little sister)

Jenna: I dont pause for emotional impact............

Mom: Can I have the computer?
Jenna: You know I just fell 5,000 feet because of that?
Mom: I did not make you fall 5,000 feet. Give me the computer.

Jenna: Dad please help me...I cant get my sleeve off
Dad:Why do you need it off?
Jenna: There is a Popsicle down my sleeve! *Points at Me* ...I am wearing your sweatshirt.......Hehehe
Me: Eep!! eep! ....EEP!!!!!!
Kea: Stop eeping & tell me what the eep is going on!

Jenna: Percy is taking his before dinner nap. Which will be followed by his after dinner nap. And shortly after that, his nap. Nap..napity nap nap nap bap nap nap. He takes a lot of naps...

Memere: Just making sure you are still alive in there. *walks away* I am eating ice cream....
Me: Is that your way of getting me to come?
Memere:...Yup.
Me: It worked.

Me: Its just humiliation...
Jenna: I would rather have decapitation..it only hurts for a second.

Me: Jenna do you want me to dye your hair again before I leave?
Jenna: Where are you going?
Me: Memere and Grandpa's for two weeks again. Internship remember?
Jenna:Two weeks? Oh...I will miss you...despite the fact that I wont admit it to anyone else.

Aimee: Jenna knows I love Ron...He is actually 23! He is my age.
Mom: Plus he has an ice cream truck. Its a win win!

Jenna: What happens at the Borden's house....goes on Facebook.

There is a bazillion more quotes. In fact, our whole lives have too many quotes to count. If you are friends with me on facebook, half my status are like this. Have a great day!!

Sunday! Only 3 days left for the summer...

2011-07-17T20:01:00.002-04:00

As you probably figured out from the title, I only have 3 days left the whole summer. Today was one of them. That is kind of sad.

I had a really awkward moment this morning. I was walking in, and talking to the person I was walking in with about the schoolhouse, and he said something about the homeschoolers always being the ones who cant spell or read, even the older ones, and that the parents thought they were prefect, and pretty much said that all homeschoolers were stupid. He kind of said it to me as if it was wicked funny. Me, being home-schooled, did find that funny, but for a different reason. I found it funny, because he was talking to a homeschooler, and telling a homeschooler how stupid we are....It was hard not to burst out laughing and be all "Dude I am home-schooled.." but I didn't. I just nodded my head and changed the conversation. I mean, homeschoolers make fun of ourselves far more than anyone else does, but it was a tad insulting. And yet, somehow I find it hilarious. Anyway, enough on that.

Today, I was in the Freeman Farm. What is sad about that is, in the morning, we were preparing a dinner, and I did not actually get to eat it or clean up after it. (Yes not being able to clean up is sad. I enjoy doing the dishes there....I know, weird right?) Every Sunday in the summer we interpret a dinner. Which basically means, the girls in the kitchen all day, and the guys on the farm, and really anywhere near it, come at 12:30 and eat. As they eat, they talk about how things were done, and why they ate with knifes and such. Sometimes someone else sits there talking so the other people can eat too. So! The food that was made. There was a currant pie (the one that I helped make yesterday) and we boiled some ham, and potatoes and beets and bread pudding. Its wicked, because the beets turn everything pink!! Also, a soft cheese was made, and sage was put into it. I was told it was wicked good. Around 11:30, I headed out to dinner.

When dinner was over, I did the school lesson for the first time. I was terrified. It was not as scary as I thought it would be though. I got there just as the college intern who was doing it was leaving for her dinner. She had already explained a lot to the group there, because they came early. It was kind of awkward, because I said "Ok how much did she tell you already?" and they just kind of stared at me..... So I did a quick recount (which made them look bored) and so I said "Ok! Who wants to try doing a lesson?" and no one wanted to. Then I said as I laughed "No? Well does anyone have any questions?" and they all just kinda sat there staring at me, and finally some questions were asked. Then after like 5 minutes they left. Happily, another group came in, and I was able to be less awkward, and know that they had not heard any of it yet. At 1, the Schoolyard games get done. That is just me outside helping them do stilts and jump rope. I tried stilts today, and I did it!! I was so proud of myself.

Right after the school lesson, me, and the other games person were to do "French and English on the common" which, for those of you who don't know the 1830's term, is tug-of-war. I love doing that, because although you start off just watching, if there is a side doing very badly, you just jump on that side and try to help. Throughout the time we were doing that, random farmers would jump in for a minute. When a little boy fell, and when the kids were getting a little to rowdy, and pulled it after we said please stop pulling, we decided it was time to be done. Of course, then we moved on to baseball.....

Baseball is kind of the same as what we have now. You ran the other way, the score was not kept so carefully, there were no strikes, but there were outs, and you could not toss the ball at someone to get them out. Other than that, it was pretty much the same. That was wicked fun, although the ball went into the prickers a few times, and I think I may still have a few tiny thorns in my hand from that.

Following the baseball, we had a small break, so we went and made a hot air balloon while we were waiting for it to be time for the next game. The next game was teaching people how to do the hoop and stick game. Which, I am sorry to say I forget the official name of. I taught some random French people how to play...I also did a random race with the girl I was working with. She won...both times.

The hot air balloons was fun. We used only 2 balloons the whole time and sent it up about 10 times. I had to chase it around.....

I am going home tomorrow!! And I will be visiting my friends Lydia and Caleb, Wednesday. I am coming back to OSV Thursday, and then going home Sunday until October. This will be the last OSV related post until Friday. Thanks for reading!!

Freeman, Dye, and Music

2011-07-16T20:44:00.001-04:00

Right now, I am listening to "Tonight, Tonight" over and over again, though I might switch to some Skillet or Flyleaf soon. Anyway, you probably would prefer to hear about my day at the village, and not my music choices of the moment.

Freeman Farm Kitchen was where I was this morning. There were 4 people in the kitchen, so it was a ta crowed, and it was a bit hard for us all to find something to do. The other Jr. intern and I watched the pigs, and fed them and the chickens scraps. We made a lovely current pie. Also, I tried the grape shrub that was in a jug, and that was pretty good. I might have to make some of that. They were twisting the wool into the right sizes today, and they usually just toss the pieces that are too short into the fire, but I rescued them, so now I have a ton of scraps of wool that I helped dye!!

I probably should mention that it was Fire and Ice day. Which means there was 1830's iced cream, to be had, and the local restaurants had a chilli competition. There were also a ton of old firetrucks that came in, and several competitions involving water in one form or another.

I was able to take dinner with 2 other Jr. Interns, so that was fun. Those girls are a riot. I have been able to meet some wicked cool people doing this. I had my favorite schedule today!! Freeman Kitchen in the morning, and dye in the afternoon. We were dying with cochineal beetles today. They make a wicked cool pink.

Wow, sorry about this. My posts are usually long...and interesting. I just seem to be having trouble putting all the words in my head down today. That is usually not a problem at all! Sorry guys! Hope you enjoyed it anyway!! Have a great night. (Or day, depending on what time it is when you read this......)

Fishing, dye, and a visit from Mom and Elsebeth

2011-07-13T16:59:00.000-04:00

Warning you now, this post will probably be shorter than usual. I am wicked tired.

Monday, I made my first attempt at Strawberry Shrub. A syrup sort of thing that you mix into your water. It came out quite well, but I am going to try it again when I get home, and work on the instructions. I will make a post about it when I get around to that. (Dont worry, it wont be long!!)

Also, I almost died from a pickle. Not joking. In '09, I had made pickles in discovery camp. Then, the other day, I found them in Memere and Grandpa's fridge. What I had forgotten, was that, pickles made in the 1830's manner, were infused with a load of vinegar, and needed to be freshened before eating. And what did stupid old me do? I ate one. Now, as if it was not bad enough that I ate one, poor Memere also ate one too. Well, we were coughing for about an hour, and Memere lost her voice for a while! (Soooo sorry about that Memere) Ugh horrid. Oh right, you probably want to hear about the village, and not, my stupid mistakes...those are a fairly common thing.

First off, I woke up at 5:44. I have been waking up at that exact time for 5 days now. Its getting a tad annoying. Memere was also working today, it being a Tuesday. Thinking I was in gardens in the morning, I was not exactly bouncing out the door. I mean, I enjoy gardens, but it was wicked hot out. Upon arrival, I headed to the check-in desk, and was informed that I was in games for the morning. I was also informed by a fellow worker, that I had made a mistake and gotten myself into a poke war and that it was on.(Stupid Facebook poke feature. Every time I log on, even if it is 5 minutes later I have a poke from him!!) Following that, I showed him my shrub, and got some advice on how to make it a bit better. (Sam, if you for some reason are reading this, thank you! I will remember to boil it for a long time this time....) Fishing was...interesting. There were a ton of people who did not know how to fish, and however many times I said "Dont jerk it to hard" they would jerk it to hard, and the hook would go flying, and get caught in my bonnet, my hand, or some random persons face. That went well.... About ten minutes before the fishing was to end, around 15 people came down, so we ended a tad late, but that really did not matter. Mom, and Elsebeth (My Mom's long time friend from Denmark) came and visited the village for the day, and Elsebeth tried her hand at fishing. Mom did not because "she had her camera". That seems to be her favorite excuse. (especially when it comes to roller coasters...oops, off track. [haha..roller coaster...off track..haha..sorry, tired. Back to the story})

Lunch break was amazingly fun. I had a great time chatting with all the awesome people who were up there that day. Then again I always do. After lunch, it was off to the dye station.

We were dying with Sage, which is one of my favorites. Not only does it make a lovely green, but it smells amazing. Mom, being amazing as she is, brought me and the two college interns working at dye lemonade and cookies. (Thanks Momma!!) One fun part about the dye station, is picking dye lot names. Now, when you have 3 geeky Harry Potter fans dyeing you get names like "Forbidden forest" and names that involve slytherin or some of the more revolting Weasleys Wizard Wheezes.

So yea, this post was shorter than normal, but I am tired and literally trying not to fall asleep and hit my face on the keyboard. I think this may be one of those nights I fall asleep and forget dinner......

Weeds and Butter

2011-07-10T21:55:00.002-04:00

Today was started off interesting. I woke up to a bad dream that I had missed my alarm, which, was fortunately, not true. It was about a half hour before my alarm went off. After that lovely horrific scare, I got dressed, made lunch, ate breakfast, and then my Grandpa drove me to the village. (Memere was at Church.)

Everything seemed to go quite quickly, and I was able to chat with people in the staff lounge for about half an hour which was nice. Another Junior Intern and I chatted about knitting and sewing. Sadly, we could not talk about that all morning. She was going to do games, and I was off to the Freeman Farm Garden. I dont think I will talk much about that. I mean, do you really want to hear my ramblings about weeding carrots and squishing bugs? Oh..You do? Well too bad, there is not much to say anyway. Pretty much, I was just picking weeds out from around the carrots, squashing the occasional bug, and singing to myself. Also, daydreaming/imagining is quite easy there. I had this whole story in my head about the day and what I had been doing, and why I was angry at this person I made up, and this and that. It was actually pretty fun...Until I realized I was kind of talking out loud (granted, quietly, more like moving my lips and no one was around..) when I was having a pretend conversation....Yea it stopped there.

The sun was giving me a headache, so I went into lunch a tad early to get out of the sun. I had a lovely chat with some people during lunch. Talking about books, and old kids shows, and knitting, and injuries. ( I know odd mix of things right?) Everyone working at the village is so nice. When my lunch/break/whatever the heck it was ended, I meandered back to Freeman Farm. I was working in the house in the afternoon. What did I have to look forward too? Dishes. Yay!! Haha no I am not joking. I like doing the dishes.

In the summer on Sundays, we do a Dinner and show people what it would have been like. Although, the visitors kept coming to me and saying things like "You must feel like Cinderella!!" or "How mean of them to make you do this!!" I just kept saying that I had offered to do it. They seemed shocked.... I love the kids "Oh I could never do all this work" referring to the dishes....Haha thats not much work at all.

The dishes are done in a wooden..for lack of a better word/correct word..bucket that I put the dishes in, and then used hot water. The soap that is used, is made with lye, and lard. I know that totally sounds clean right? It actually does a pretty good job. After all the dishes were done (which took a while) I got to make butter!! It tasted so good.

However, butter, is not usually made in this heat. Why? It will melt as you are making it...Does not go quite well. It did come out well though for which I am thankful. Around 10 minutes to 5, Memere came, and I was sent off on one last errand for the day, so Memere walked with me. When I got to the Bullard Tavern, I ran upstairs to log my hours, and completed the errand (switching the laundry over) then tripped my way back down the stairs. (Can you use tripped like that? I dont know...well, you can now!!) Memere was talking to some friends of hers, so we walked out together, and that is the end of my day. The interesting part that you care to read about. If you care anything about my life at home, or whatever random stuff I do when not at the village, feel free to read on.

When I got home, I tried once again to get my internet connection on my Laptop to work, and failed. Then again...I am not the most computer savvy person ever...My mother will attest to that quite readily. Then I called a few of my friends. Well, I called one of my friends, and ended up talking to her brother for a while because she had to do something. She went to the beach for a while so I talked to him while he was making/burning dinner. (Kidding!!! I know you didn't burn it....Your sister said it was good.) <--In case you are wondering what that is, there is a slight chance he will read my blog, so I have to make sure he wont get mad...

Soo yea, there is my exciting home life..I am sure you only read this for the village posts. Those are TOTALLY wicked exciting. I know it is for me anyway. I mostly write these for my Mom and the rest of my Family anyway. But, if you are not my family, or my mother (who counts as family.....But I say her seperatly cause she is the one who bugs me about this. {Love you Mom!} ) then I thank you for taking time out of your day to read this!!

OSV and guitar

2011-07-09T21:27:00.001-04:00

    Ok, so I kind of failed at blogging all my days at the village. In fact, I only did 2 of about 13 days. Hopefully, I will fix that this time, and be able to keep up.

    Dad and I headed out yesterday around 5 and we were able to blast music, and have the windows down. (Mom hates music blasting, and Jenna hates the windows down) The 2 hour trip really did not seem that long at all. When we got to Memere's after saying Hello and all that jazz, I had Dad help me learn a song on my guitar. I had not picked up my guitar in about 5 years. I now am quite addicted to playing it. I am working on "Perfect" by P!nk (dont worry, the clean version), "Looser like me" Glee edition, and "Speak Now" by Taylor Swift. I have got to keep myself from adding more songs until I get those 3 perfected. Now, if you have not played guitar in 5 years, and then proceed to practice for 3 hours, your fingers get a tad tender....

   Woke up this morning, at 6. Mind you, that is an hour earlier than I have to be up. At this early in the morning, I become quite aware of my twisted wrist, twisted ankle, and broken toe. After trying to fall back asleep (And quite failing I might add) I turned off my alarm, and hobbled out of bed, and out of my room into the living room. Memere was already awake, so we watched the news for a while.

   When it was about 7, I started getting ready. We dont have to leave till 8 so I had a whole hour. Believe it or not, usually fussy me, can get ready in an hour. (Wanna know how? Haha, Cause I am really not that fussy. ) Anywho, got dressed, woke up my Dad, and got in the car.
   Now, let me just add here, that my Dad is a heavy sleeper, like, the dog could get on the bed next to him and lick his face and it might take him a second to wake up, so getting him up, I thought, would be a task in and of itself. Turns out all I needed to do was go "Hey, Daddy?" In an adorableish voice, and it got him up. (Good note for the future, kiddos!! Unless of course you enjoy jumping on your father...In that case go for it.)
Wow...sorry off track a bit there...

When I got to the village, I went to check in (which is in the staff area at Ballard Tavern). Today, I was in games, and in the late afternoon, the dye station.

   So for games, in the morning, we do fishing. Yea, I know what you are thinking. Fishing, wicked fun right? Well, it is fun, but its pretty darn different. The pole is a long wooden stick, and the line, is just a long piece of cotton/yarn/wool/string thing with a cork bobber and hook on the end. The bait, is bread. And you are probably still thinking oh how nice and relaxing that is. Well it is nice, and it is fun, but relaxing might not be the word you want to use. Try adding 20 kids who are trying to catch turtles and getting the hook caught in your dress and skin into the equation. But no, its not that bad. (I mean I was getting hooks caught in me all the time.....but..yea..) There was a staff member there too. But, I loved the kid's enthusiasm. They were all so energetic and willing to learn. And I was able to teach them. I like being able to do that. So yes, the fishing was fun. Even if we had some close calls with kids almost catching baby snapping turtles....

When my games shift was over, I headed up to lunch. After lunch, I skipped over to the dye station.

We were dying with Brazil Wood. Which is..dun dun daaa a wood, from Brazil!! Today, we were top-dying. Which is what is done when the color is not deep enough, bright enough, or you want to do a mix of colors. It came out as this absolutely gorgeous deep red. I cant even describe it well enough!!

So, the day came to an end, far to quickly, and I headed home. (Well Memere picked me up and she drove me to her home...But I liked the sound of "And I headed home" better...)

Remember how earlier I said that my fingers were sore from guitar? Well they still were. What did I do, but go play guitar for another 3-4 hours. Yea...My fingers really hurt right now.

Tomorrow, I am in Freeman Garden, and then Freeman kitchen. Wish me luck!! Thanks for reading!

Second day at the village

2011-06-11T16:54:00.002-04:00

I was the only intern in today, and I was in Freeman farm in the morning, and the Dye station in the afternoon. Gloria was in the Parlor all day, and I was working in the kitchens with Victoria. We made Codfish Balls. Which sounds really odd, but according to the farmers, taste good. What they are, is Codfish, flaked into mashed potatoes, and fried in butter. We were interpreting a breakfast, so we made the codfish balls, and also some coffee.

I was grinding coffee for most of the morning, and whenever a kid came in, I would ask them if they wanted to try. It works quite well to get things done faster. I also roasted some coffee beans, in the roaster. Its like this small round metal tin on a metal stick. The bottom of the stick is placed in hot coals that you take out of the fire, and then you constantly rotate it so the coals heat the metal tin and roast the beans. When you would get them from the store, they were still the green coffee beans that you would get if you were to roast your own at home now. The longer you roasted them, the less caffeine there would be in them. Pretty cool fact I thought.

Okay so, how the codfish balls are made. We took the dried, smoked codfish, and soaked it in water overnight to rehydrate it. Now, the cool thing about the dried smoked fish is, you could rehydrate it 50 years later, and it would still be fine. I found that cool anyway. And so then, you take the rehydrated cod, and place it in a dish full of water, and place that dish on a trivet. If you don’t know, a trivet is kind of like a burner on your stove, but only the metal part. And you take that metal part, and place it on a bed of hot coals that you removed from the fire. Every once and a while you change out the water, to get the excess salt away, and replace the coals.

While that was happening, we mashed some potatoes. When the cod was done, and the potatoes were mashed, I had to go through the cod, and flake it, and take out all the bones. (Needless to say, my hands smelled like cod for the whole day.) Then, some of the cod was placed in some mashed potato, and formed into balls, and fried in butter over the fire. The farmers seemed to think it was quite good. When the first few were done, it was 12, so I headed off to “Visit Mrs. Bullard”. Aka, take lunch. It’s a bit of a long walk, especially when you are on your own. Also, my straw bonnet, just loves to catch the wind and choke me. But that is not an important fact. Haha

When my lunch was over, I headed off to the dye station. The two collage interns that were there, were named Laurel, and Sydney. ( Forgive me if I have spelled your name wrong!!) The dye station has become one of my favorites. Ask me and I will give you my whole speech on the matter. (Not that you want to hear it...) We were dying pink wool, with cochineal beetles. Yes, they are real beetles. They are taken off of a cactus in Mexico, and they are able to make the pink dye, because they eat the pink fruit of a cactus. In the 1830’s we were trading with every country except Japan, because they would not let anything in or out of their country. We would buy it at our local store, so at OSV it would be the Asa Knight store. They were about $5 a pound, which, in the 1830’s was a bit expensive, so you would not have many pink things. The Cochineal beetles are actually used in some things today. Some lip glosses, and lipsticks and some Sports drinks have it. I believe Gatorade is one of them. The more common colors would be green or brown. Green would be made with sage, which was found commonly in your garden. And the Black Walnut would make brown. Its really is my favorite station, even if it is far too warm.

After a long day at the village, I got home, and changed quickly and went Kayaking with my Grandpa. We were fishing from them, but I was mostly paddling around. My Kayak did not seem to want to hold still. It never stopped moving, and always veered to the right. I ended up talking to it… I was singing to myself the whole time too. I am usually singing. If you cant hear me singing, know I am singing in my head. It was really nice. Grandpa showed me a beaver dam that was hidden in the reeds. The only down side of the trip, was when he was putting the Kayaks back on the truck, and there were a zillion mosquitoes. I actually got a bug bite right on my blister on my toe. That is sooo annoying. But that also, was a great day.

My first day at OSV

2011-06-11T16:53:00.000-04:00

I was at Freeman farm all day my first day with another intern, Halie. She is one of the homeschooled ones. There is quite a lot to learn in the 4 main rooms. Fortunately, I am a quick learner. There were two staff people there, and then us two Jr. Interns. I was in the kitchen with one of the staff, Katie, (who I have been working with several times since) and we worked on a sponge cake. The other staff lady, Christie, knows a TON about freeman farm, and was with Halie in the parlor. Halie was working on a hexagon quilt, and Christie was knitting.
Katie did most of the interpreting for the first hour or so, until I got comfortable enough with what we were doing to tell people.

Once I started I was quite happy t o share the little I knew with everyone who would listen. Its just all so interesting. The sponge cake called for 12 eggs. Which, now, seems like a lot, but they would have had a ton of eggs because of their chickens, so it really was not that much. Katie and I took turns beating the eggs, and it took forever. Then we added the flour and things when the eggs had been whisked for about an hour. Yes, you read that right. It took about an hour to get it fluffy enough. The whisk is made of birch twigs tied together. We use birch because it is the only twig that will not add flavor to it. If we used maple, our food would have a taste of maple to it. Or if we used oak, it would taste of oak. And so on and so forth.

Now, Not only was paying attention to all this going on, but there were school children going around with clipboards. What they were doing, was a slavery petition to set them free. Katie did most of the talking for a while and I just listened to how she did it. It was very fun arguing with them and making them think. When we asked “Why?” Some would just say “It was wrong” and so we would say “Why is it wrong?” and make them think about it. One group said “Well they do the same things you guys do but” and Katie jumped in saying “Wait. They do the same things we do? Why are you not signing a petition to set us free?” and things like that. Some of the kids made interesting points. There were only 4 that made good enough arguments. Aka things besides “It was wrong they were not paid”. So I think I only signed like 3.

Around 12, Halie and I “Headed out to visit Mrs. Bullard” Which really is us going up to the staff area in Bullard Tavern for our lunch. We both had Freeman all day, so when we were done, we went back out. We were stopped several times on the way back for pictures and things, but we got there on time. If you have to be somewhere, you always leave a tad early, because you are almost always stopped for pictures or questions. Halie and I traded places, so I was sewing in the parlor, and she was in the kitchen with Katie. Christie had gone to lunch, so I was alone in the parlor for a while. Interpreting the parlor is interesting, because you are asked about the parlor, and also the rest of the house. I answered what I could, and when I did not know, I directed them to Katie, or when Christie was there, I directed them to her. It really depended on who was less busy.
The sponge cake came out wonderfully. It was nice and dense, and the frosting that Katie and Halie made was absolutely delicious. Consequently, the farmers thought so too. They heard that there would be sponge cake, so we pretty much got bombarded with Farmers looking for food. Haha It happens almost every day really. The village closes at 5, and seeming Freeman is at the furthest end of the village, we usually don’t have visitors there past 4. Then we start to clean up, and head home around 5. I had a wonderful first day, and, although I was wicked tired, I was also wicked happy. It had been a wonderful day.

OSV Traning day two

2011-06-11T16:51:00.002-04:00

The internet is still down, and I figured it would be. It might not be on for a while. Forgive me if this is not the best or longest post, because I am wicked tired. Even though it is only about 7:40, I am just about ready to head to bed. So, this morning, Memere and Matante went to church, so Mom and Dad and Jenna (and consequently the kitten, Percy) dropped me off this morning. They all said goodbye to me, because they went home and are not going to come back until my internship is over. Although, I think Mom and Nana are coming up to visit me…

Anywho, I walked into the village with another girl who had just arrived. Check-in was done at Bullard Tavern, in the staff area. When that was all squared away, we were all waiting for Kim in the lounge type room and chatting and being odd. When Kim finished with what she was doing, we did a tour of the village, and learned what it would be like growing up there in the community, and how work would be with Kim. After that, we headed down to the Museum Education building and learned how to prepare a 19th century noon time meal.

At my station, with two others, we made Pounded cheese, and churned butter. Other stations were vegetables, pies, rolls, and things like that. When most of the work was done, I helped with the dishes. And let me tell you, dishes covered in butter, being washed in a small sink, tend to splash. Now, when they splash, not only do you get covered in water, but also butter. So as you can imagine, wearing brown might not have been the best idea ever. I was also covered in a bit of flour. So, not only did we get to cook a meal, we also got to eat it. Did you know they ate off of their knife? It was considered improper to eat with your fork, and also they were rather sharp. The knifes back then (mostly) had a little spoonish thing at the end and so it is not as hard as you would imagine. We also learned a bit more about family life while eating our dinner. (which is what the noon day mean was called. Lunch would be a snack in between meals)

Finishing that up, we put the dishes into the dishwasher (I know right? How modern!) and headed off to Freeman farm. We gave the buttermilk to the pigs, and they were quite happy with us. I saw an intern that I knew from summer camps, and she showed us all the kitchen gardens, and the smoke house. Freeman farm has always been one of my favorite places. As we walked from place to place, Kim would school us on communication skills, and costumer service. We got to take rides on the Stage coach, the carryall, and the river boat also, which was a treat. All the other Jr. Inters are so fun, its so easy to get along with them!!
We practiced with the games, like graces (with the two sticks, and the hoop and you make the hoop fly by uncrossing the sticks) and the other one with the large hoop, and you would use a stick, and make it roll. We did races with that, and it got crazy. It was wicked fun though. When the day was coming to an end, we watched the hot air balloon being set off, which was cool. Then we left. I am in freeman farm tomorrow with one of the homeschooled interns. I don’t know her very well yet, but she seems awesome. If it is not raining we might be in the kitchen garden, but most likely in the kitchens either way. So yes, that was our training. I may have left out a few details but like I said, I am tired. I am like trying to not fall asleep. But I might just give in and go lay down…

Oh! One last thing. I have two dresses because I will be at the village a lot. However, one of the dresses does not fit anymore. That makes no sense because I have lost weight since the fitting!! So I need to figure something out about that. Anywho, thanks for reading, have a great day and all that jazz. (haha this seems lame and tiny compared to my last post!! Ah well.  )

OSV Training Day one

2011-06-11T16:49:00.002-04:00

I am writing this post on my laptop, on a word program. The tornado took out my Memere’s Phone and Internet, so this post might be a tad late in being posted.
The car ride up was uneventful, although Jenna did try to get as much annoying in as possible because I would be gone for 20 days. Silly thing. Anywho, Today was my first day of my training. I think it went quite well. I woke up at 7:00…Well I got up at 7. I woke up more like 5:40. When I did actually get out of bed, I got ready, by putting on my village shoes (which my Memere was kind enough to let me borrow) and eating breakfast. ( I needed to wear the shoes because of the costume shoot later, we did not need to be in our costumes yet)
Around 8 we got into the car, and we drove to the village. When we got there, we were about fifteen minutes early. There were two people already there, and thanks to prompting from my Memere, I soon found out their names. There are 12 people in my group including me, and 4 of us are homeschooled. I was sooo happy to find homeschoolers there besides me!! When Kim ( the intern director/ coordinator) arrived, we headed to the schoolhouse, to learn how to “Keep School”. We were almost through the lesson, when 3 little girls came in, and we got to test our teaching skills on them. After our School Keeping lesson, we walked/skipped/frolicked to the potters (which is really right across from the school house) and got our clay mugs. When we all had our mugs, we headed down to the mill pond, and learned how to teach fishing. I think one person caught two fish. The bread was VERY dry and crumbly, so it was quite hard to keep on the hook. We walked around the village a bit, and then headed off to the Staff Area of Bullard Tavern, to learn how to craft a hot air balloon. It was pretty cool, there are 6 sections that you glue together, and it…yea. Haha Its was really interesting. Taking a break to get our lunch, we headed down to the lunch area of Bullard Tavern, and ate our lunches as we chatted. I was talked to some girls about books we had read recently. One girl, had read most of the books I had, and loves the same kind. A homeschooler also. She was wicked cool. When lunch was finished, (we had about an hour in which to eat it) we hurried each other back up to the staff area of Bullard to continue our games training.
That day, there was an antique car show, so although we were supposed to get our Costumes at Fuller for the photo shoot on the Common, they were not leaving the common until 4:30, so we sat in the Towne House garden’s grape arbor for a while, and chatted, and discussed with Kim the proper way to act, and asked questions and things like that. When Kim told us that girls did not cross their legs back then because it was improper, all of the girls had to uncross their legs. It was so funny. Kind of a like it had be coordinated. We all changed the way we were sitting at the exact same time!! It seemed like 10 minutes but it had been like half an hour, so we were able to go get our costumes, even if it was a bit early. The girls changed in a big room downstairs and the guys upstairs. It was a little bit awkward, but we were all laughing and helping each other so it was not that bad. All the girls, when we had our bonnets on, were trying to go through doors, and forgetting about the large extension on our heads, and, consequently, smacking into door frames. We got used to it fairly quickly though. Its funny, because, although the girls costumes have buttons, the guys costumes, have by far the most buttons and fastens, so they take longer than the girls in getting dressed. So for once, the girls were waiting on the guys.
When we all had finished the laborious task of getting dressed in all our finery, we headed onto the common for our photo shoot. The camera man had us to a few different things. The 6 tallest of us, were told to stand shoulder to shoulder, and the 6 shorter, sat on a bench. Then we had to shuffle around a bit, but it worked out. Then, he had us all run towards the camera, In a slow, yet quick (if that makes any bit of sense) run. Then *dun dun dun daaaa* WE GOT TO HOLD A BABY SHEEP!!!!! It was like wicked light!!! And sooo freaking adorable. The little darling, tried to eat several of the girls dress collars though… When that was done, we were to “run the sheep” from one pen into another. Now, if you have never seen this before, it is not an easy task. The sheep do not like to be run. Aka controlled. Aka told what to do. And that is exactly what is happening. When you let them go on their own, they will go the way they are supposed to. But when they are told where to go with people standing there, they go the wrong way. We were set up in groups of threes along the way, kind of spread apart. I was in the first group, and they told us not to worry, the sheep would see us and move. Well…the camera man told us that. And a few others. Let me tell you, that is NOT what happened. See, I was standing next to a path, and the sheep decided to go onto that path…..Through the common…where we had just gotten all the visitors to stand on…I think I was able to make like 4 sheep go the right way, when all the other ones ran through the common. It was wicked funny, because all of us interns had to run around all the people, and most of the girl’s bonnets were being obstinate and not wanting to stay on our heads. It was interesting. The visitors seemed to think it was quite the show though, so hey its all cool. Then we all headed back and got into our street clothes. Huge difference let me tell ya. And that, was my first training day.

Of course, when I got home, the craziness continued. (No shock there, its my family) Jenna spend most of the car ride back to Memere’s making fun of my apparel. Both modern, and period clothes. Matante and Uncle Luke came over, and apparently we had to celebrate my birthday again because they were not there, and neither were Memere and Grandpa. So I got sung to, and of course I had to pretend like I did not care at all, so I examined my non-existent manicure, and tried not to laugh. Memere and Grandpa got me a TracFone!!! ( I laughed cause they spelled phone wrong…Haha) After dinner and dessert and all that jazz, we decided to play “win, loose, or draw” which, in case you were wondering, is a wicked fun game. There are a ton of random things that get said though. “don’t give the melting cupcake to the rainbow!!” was somehow gotten from someone trying to draw “Selling like hotcakes.” It gets quite insane. Alright, I think I should head off to bed. The time is 10:42, and I have to be up at around 7 if not before, so I will stop writing for tonight.

Internship, and baby chicks

2011-06-03T14:21:00.000-04:00

Wow the past few weeks have just flown past! I am leaving for my internship tonight. I think I have like two days off. Haha. I am going to be "working" the entire time, exempt the weekends. I am so excited for this internship. Old Sturbridge Village is one of my favorite places in the whole world. I have practically grown up there. Or at least it feels that way. I have been going there since before I can remember. I cant wait. I will try to blog about it so all of you can share in my joy. Or for you to just read it and be like "Haha looser"...Although I dont know quite why you might think that. Either way, as long as you read it, I am happy. A few weeks ago, we got baby chicks. Mine is named Cassie. She is the only one who is not black and white. She is so adorable

She will sit on my shoulder while I am reading or on the computer, or just walking around. Anyway, I have to go for today, but I will try to blog soon. Have a great day!!

A revelation (of something I should have known before)

2011-05-18T09:45:00.000-04:00

The other day, I was talking to my friend, and we started talking about God's love for us. I started crying. Not necessarily with sadness, joy, or shame. More a combination of all of them.

Sometimes it is just so easy to forget how much He loves us. I mean, He sent His ONLY son to die for us! When we are so sinful, and have made so many mistakes. How in the world is it so easy for us to forget that? You would not think it would be so easy, and yet, it is.
I always tell myself "Oh I am gonna start reading my Bible more" But then something comes up that seems more important at the time. Or, maybe something like "I really need to stop doing ______" or "I really need to start doing _____"

For me, I said that I really needed to start controlling my temper. Of course, that was failing. Why was it failing?
Because I was trying to do it on my own.
I can just imagine God looking down and going "If you just ask me for help...I am right here you know..." And that makes me laugh. I mean, He loves us more than we could even begin to imagine, and here I am, trying to do things on my own. I suppose that is my stubbornness and love for doing things on my own. However, there are some things that I really cant do on my own. When I am depressed, sometimes it is harder to remember His love. But when I do remember it, it is easier to come out of my depression. Much easier.

Wow...I did not intend this post to be that long, and yet I could go on for a much longer time. Thanks for reading.

Random post that is random

2011-04-05T14:02:00.000-04:00

Very Random, but today, Mom and I went to Stop&Shop, and there we
discovered this thing called MiO liquid water enhancer.
Its so, very odd.
I got the Sweet tea MiO. Its just this little bottle of..I don't even
know, and honestly I don't know if I want to know what is in it. Anyway,
it has around 24 servings. And by servings it means squirts. I put a
squirt of it in my water bottle and its yummy.
However, if you put to much, or to little, it tastes different.
So right now, I have a little less than usual in it, and it tastes like
water with a touch of tea in it.
Don't get me wrong, its really good, but just different.
Then, if you put say 2 squirts (or an extra big squirt because you are
not paying attention) it tastes wicked sweet and a lot more tea-ish.
One thing, if you do not like the taste of sugar, I do not suggest this
really, because it really tastes sugary.

I like it because it is refreshing, and even if it was not in the fridge
it has a slight "cool taste" to it. Anyway, yes random post, but I have
not posted in a while, and felt like posting.

(this is my first post by email, and I hope it works okay..If you were
not able to read this, or it did not show up, please comment and tell me
so.)
(Yes, I do know that if this did not show up you can
not comment...)

Random post when bored.

2011-03-11T22:36:00.000-05:00

As I sit here, chewing on a metal spoon and being bored, I realized I wanted to blog. This is the kind of blog post you get from me when I am bored. Its a bit odd. (dont say I did not warn you!!)

I let the dog out, and I went outside with her. Now, it is dark and there is only a single, weak floodlight, and its still raining a little. I just stood on the deck for a while, looking out into the woods, and listening to the pitter-patter of the rain hitting the trees and leaves and the tarp of the tree house roof. All the different noises and the cool wind blowing and the slight fog..Its beautiful in a mystical way.
You know, I have always loved being outside. When I go camping, it is my favorite thing, because I get to be with my friends, and be outside for about 3 weeks. I love just wandering off into the woods, and listening to all the sounds around me.

Of course, sometimes, when its dark, my imagination gets ahead of me, and I start thinking of wolves, or goblins...Then I start to pretend that there are wolves or goblins and make a genius plan to get away, and then...I hear Mom calling me telling me it is time to come in which, of course ruins the whole fantasy every time. I have always been the kind of girl who goes out with her bow and arrows and makes up an entire story and battle and acts it out. (speaking of that, I need to buy a new target...) I am more the adventure girl than the princess. I actually have a map I drew of a fantasy land that Jenna, and a few friends and I invented.
Anyway, now that we are done (for now) with that bunny trail, back to being outside at night.

When I am outside in the dark, and there is no one around, and I happen to be wearing a skirt, I tend to dance. Or sing. Actually scratch that last one. I sing no matter where I am or what I am wearing! On second thought, back to that bunny trail if you don't mind.
I don't know why I do this, but if I start a story in my head, I go on and on. I used to (and sometimes still do) make up stories in my head before I fall asleep. Actually, I attempted to turn one story I made into a book. To make it in my head took me about 3 months. It was a good story, but I cant remember it now!

Wow. That was a a bit of a random post wasn't it? If you made it all the way through, I thank you for your faith in me that I would not bore you half to death before the end, and I hope I did not. Have a wonderful what-ever-time-of-day-it-is. Go find some rain to dance in..... Its fun. :-)

Chickens and dancing

2011-03-07T14:06:00.001-05:00

I have been sick for a while, and I could have written, but there was not much to write about! First, I FINALLY got that second ear piercing! Thank you Dad, for letting me get it!! Also, a few days ago, Dad and I started building the long awaited chicken coop. We have the floor done and when we have the extra money, we will start on the walls and roof. The chicken coop floor happens to look like a stage. So of course, being me, I start singing on it. Later that night, Dad, Jenna and I all went out in the almost complete dark and randomly danced on the "stage". Jenna has begged me a few times to go dance on the "stage" with her. I actually brought out my Laptop and we danced to some songs from YouTube. (I had brought out my Stereo and an extension cord, but apparently she did not like any of my CDs.)

Right now, I am reading Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale. Again. I love her series The Books of Bayern. I could read them again and again. I think when I read those I will read the Harry Potters again although I am not sure. (Thank you to Matante and Uncle Luke for giving The Books of Bayern to me for Christmas.I think it took me less than a week to read them all!)
Anyway, that is all for today because I need to finish school. We are having some friends over tonight so I need to be done. Thanks for reading my ramblings and musings!

Internships, Calendars, and books

2011-02-15T12:59:00.001-05:00

Sorry I have not posted in a while. I WOULD say I have been busy, but that is a horridly lame excuse.
Two weeks ago, I went to an Interview at Old Stubridge Village for an internship. Last week I got a letter in the telling me I have been accepted! Well didn't I just dance around the room with overflowing joy!!! I looked a bit odd, but I did. Anyway, I have to finish filling out the form that I got the other day, then send it back. Also, I have to set a date to get my costume. I am sooo excited about this!

New topic...Just today, I got a calendar. Now this is not just ANY old calendar. It has TEA SETS on it! And I know you might be thinking "oh tea sets...that is a bit childish" But it is not. THESE tea sets are fine china with desert trays and things. Absolutely beautiful! The one for February is all whites and purples and greens. Very Elegant. Speaking of teas, I don't think I have said this before, but I am working on a tea scrapbook. I take the packets of the bags from teas I drink, and paste it onto a piece of paper. So I am ending up keeping the tea packages from EVERY tea I drink to see if I have put it on yet or not. Today, I have (so far) added several brands of English Breakfast tea. Now, for the ones that have to packet I think I will just have to take a picture of the box. I am not sure about that yet though.

Right now, I am reading Pride and Prejudice. I think it a very good book. I am however, disgusted with most of Elizabeth's family. Her aunts (for the most part) are very kind but their Mother, Mrs. Bennet seems to be not only blind to the things about her, but does not care for anything except getting her children married. Her father is alright, however her sister Lydia is....well I don't quite no how to describe her but that she is a brat who does not care of anything but her own opinions most of the time. Oh no. I don't doubt she loves her sisters, but she does need to care more about them outwardly. Now, the Bennet's cousin Mr. Collins. OH! What a selfish, conceded person!I am not going to go on about how much I can't stand him for, I just don't have the time. And I am sure you don't want to hear it. I do not object to Mr. Darcy, but he could care more about people and could have payed more attention to things so he did not hurt poor Jane by taking away Mr. Bingley.
Anyway, yes that is part of what I think. (Of course I think a LOT more about it but there is not enough time in a day for me to talk about this book) I am intending to watch the movie again as soon as I finish the book.

Thank you for reading my ramblings if you got all the way to this ending without being thoroughly bored. Please leave a comment about what you thought of this post. I mean come on, they ARE like virtual hugs!! Hehe. Plus, I appreciate hearing your opinions. So thank you again for visiting my little world. And goodbye for now.

2011-01-11T10:21:00.001-05:00

My family is so crazy. In a really good for a blogger kind of way. My mother has been trying to get this pot roast to cook for 3 days. But, when it is not done cooking, she puts it back outside so it won’t go bad. That, however, causes it to freeze and the cooking process to start all over again. Last night, she put the post roast on the lowest setting because she was leaving it overnight. However, because we needed something different for dinner, she took the turkey, which had been thawing in the fridge for 4 days, out of the fridge. That dang turkey still had frost on the top. A few hours later, mom put it in the oven. Here is the conversation that happened when Dad was asked to check the turkey.
Mom: is it done cooking mike?
Dad: is it done defrosting?
Mom: I hope so! I cooked it!
Dad: Did you cook it because you thought it was done defrosting, or because you were tired of waiting?
Mom: ....……..
Dad: I know that was a legitimate question because you did not answer!!

My family is so awesome. And so are my pets. The pets do get a bit annoying sometimes though. This morning, I sat down at my desk, and the kitten, Percy, comes and asks me to pet him like he always does. I do, but then stop petting him to start school and he climbs behind my Laptop. He lies down and acts all cute and when I ignore him, that little kitten pulls my bamboo plant (that I had JUST replaced in new rocks) out of the vase by its leaves. TWICE!! So I threw him over my shoulder (literally. He likes hanging over shoulders) and took him up to Mom to deal with. Now, he will be back down, and sit on my Geometry, and I suppose I wont ignore him this time for the sake of my little desk bamboo (which by the way is not real bamboo.).

Random happyness

2010-12-21T10:23:00.001-05:00

I woke up today, and there was still snow on the ground! AND it has snowed MORE! I love winter. This year, I gave up snow pants and am sticking with jeans. You can actually move in jeans, although you may get a little wet. Yesterday, one of my Best friends,Darrian, was over and we played in the snow for quite a while. I showed her how the dog likes to catch snowballs. We built a snowman on the hood of the car and a ton of other silly things. After she left, I just hung around the house reading and playing on Facebook.

This morning, when I woke up to more snow than there was yesterday, I was wicked happy. Something about snow, just makes me feel like a little kid. I mean, when it started snowing, I think Darrian and I were freaking our more than the kids were about the snow! Snow is just so magical. Looking outside right now, I see branches heavily laden with snow, bending and creaking with the weight of it, bowing down to touch to ground, wondering with the splendor of the snow. I see a pine tree covered in snow, looking like it is hiding the passageway to the snow queen's palace. Snow can make almost anything seem magical to one with an imagination. And hey, guess what! It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas, so let it snow let it snow let it snow! I think I will go randomly sing about stuff. Maybe actual songs, maybe instead of speaking. So maybe I will sing, "I am hungry I should really eat breakfast" and so on. Maybe a real song................

life

2010-11-30T11:11:00.001-05:00

Well, I am officially a klutz. I woke up and Mom said “your tea and bagel are on the counter.” So I go over and take the tea bag out of my tea and as I was turning, hit my teacup so tea goes everywhere. Now, when I spill something I don’t mess around. I make sure it goes EVERYWHERE! I mean, if you are going to spill something you may as well do a good job of it! After breakfast and chores I come downstairs to do math. I realize that I have no idea what I am doing. My video teacher did not give any examples with Negatives or subtraction signs and my book did not either. Almost all of my problems had negatives or subtraction signs. Why I ask you, is it like that. I mean could you solve (x-6) (x-7) if you had never done it, without any instructions whatsoever? I think not! So annoying. Sometimes I really can’t wait until January when I switch to Geometry and a different teaching style!

I have piano later today. And if I am done with school before I go (very unlikely!) then when I come home I will make more clay beads. The mail man just came. Nana sent us out Christmas Torte! And a box of other goodies like meats and cheeses and chocolates! Thank you Nana! I am eating a Chocolatey Graham with peppermint pieces!
I wish I could end with a “its beginning to look a lot like Christmas” but I cant. There is no snow and everything just looks dead. Ah well, snow will come soon enough.

Carmel apples

2010-10-09T11:39:00.001-04:00

Well, for me today marked Autumn officially. It is a Saturday so that makes it pretty good. I woke up to my cousin Ashley telling me to get up because if she has to be up so do I. I love my cousin! She and Elaine had to come over with the cats for a while. So We popped in a movie (Mary-Kate and Ashley)and had a grand old time.
They left after a few hours. I am happy because I don't have a sister bugging me, she has a friend over.

So I made caramel apples. This was my first time mom has trusted my with something like this. (and it is about time. I am 14 for goodness sake!)

Just for the record I don't think there is anything bad about caramel apples. You have fun making them share them with some friends over Cider and HA WHO AM I KIDDING!! You don't share them! You keep them all to yourself!! Hide them away in a secret place! Just kidding that would never happen. My favorite part about Caramel apples is....hmm...well is there really a "Best part"? Especially when you hand picked the apples off the trees!

So anyway, I buttered a plate and got out the bag of caramels and the sticks. As I melt the caramels I ask Jenna to hand me the buttered plate. I turn around to point it out to her and find the kitten licking the butter off the plate! That darn cat! oh well. As I start to roll the apples in the caramel Mom stands next to me telling me how to do it ( I KNOW Mom!) She is actually just waiting to have one. Well I don't see the big rush they have to cool in the fridge for an hour anyway! We both really wanted one so we cut up and apple and dipped in into the left over caramel. (there was not leftovers for long!) So now I am just waiting for them to be done. THEN I will keep them all to my self! MY PRECIOUS!! Sorry I had to incorporate 'Lord Of The Rings' somehow!

Apples.

2010-10-01T09:34:00.001-04:00

As I sit here with an empty bowl of oat meal I realize something. Don't eat oatmeal when it is warm out. Now I am overly warm. Sorry that was random.
As I sit here preparing for another day of school something hit me. I am now a Freshman. In a few years I might be going away to Denmark for my Junior year.
Then soon after that I will be finished, going to collage, and moving out.
We tend to take time for granted. Sometimes it goes fast and sometimes slow. Now I think I realize why on the first day of school Mom was like "you are a Freshman. Wow you really are" Every time I came upstairs. She just could not believe time got away from her so fast.

Yesterday we went apple picking. It was about an hour and 1/2 drive. But it was worth it. We went with some friends. Leiko and her daughters Miya and Leanna. On the way Mom spotted a "Bear". It was a black stump. I said it looks more like a Buffalo.

When we got there we wandered around climbing trees and ladders and picking apples.
There were some pretty big hills so I carried Leanna on my back.
When we found some apples that we liked I bent down so she could pick them.
(and here is a note, if you are going down a steep hill with a 4 yr old on your back, Do NOT bend over really low.)
I fell over but twisted so I fell on my hands and knees and Leanna was sitting on my back. It was kinda funny. Mom was like "nice one Ro!" And we all had a good laugh at my expense. Yes ha ha make fun of Rowan it is so fun.

Anyway, It was fun. We got quite I bit of apples. We all also ATE a few apples.I was surprised that we were all still hungry for lunch!

After the apple picking, we all went into the Hedge Maze. (which was an 'exact replica' of one in England) And Leanna and I got to the center first. Between getting in and Getting out I think It took us all maybe half and hour!

It was a long day.

Anyway thanks for listening to...Well reading, my ramblings. I have to start school. And after school I am going to my Aunt Elaine's House for a sleepover.(hopefully) So Good bye for now. parting is such sweet sorrow and all that.

Summer

2010-08-24T15:45:00.001-04:00

Summer goes so fast it is crazy.
A minute ago I was finishing school and now I am about to start again. VBS was fun. I was the narrator for Bible story, with my friend Darrian.
And now Washburn is coming up. Which is awesome.
However, when Washburn ends, that means that school is about to start.

I hope school goes well this year. Algebra and Geometry, Danish and Latin.
I hope I can find a job, but for now I am just going to relax.

Sleepovers and Pool parties, the works. That is what summer is for me. Friends, family, fun, sun and singing.
My Mom is probably getting wicked annoyed with me.
Every five seconds I am singing about something or another.
Whether it be a real song, or me singing stuff like,

"oh where is my shoe? mom did the dog take my shoe? oh never mind I found my shoe."

(And I don't really sing all that quietly most of the time.)
Oh and it has been raining a lot here.

Here is my random dumb-thing-that-I-did for today.
I cut my little toe open with an ironing board. (in my defense it was metal and did not have a cap on the end) (and no mom I was not twirling OR spinning. I was walking normally!!)

Pass it on

2010-06-21T19:45:00.001-04:00

Most people like the game tag. In fact, I can only think of a few that don't. If you do, here is something kinda like tag. The only thing is, every time you play this, you feel happy, and even if YOU don't, you might make someone's day. Now, even if you don't like tag I am going to ask you to please continue reading. This game is called "pass it on".
Maybe it is not really a game, but what I figured is , if we think of it as a game, we might be more willing to do this. This is how it works.

If you had a bad day at work or just in general, and someone gives you a hug or helps you in any other way, say thank you. But don't stop there. Pass it on. Pass it on to someone else who looks upset.

If you are in a bad mood and someone brings you to your senses, pass it on. Wake someone else up.

If you are in pain and someone helps you, not because they have to, but because they can, Pass it on.

Now, I think you get the general idea of this "game". But don't always let the same person start.
It is your turn to be "it".
Go help someone who needs help.
When they thank you and ask what they can do in return, just tell them to pass it on. Sometimes, they may not thank you. Sometimes, they may not even seem to want help. But let me tell you, if you do choose to play this game, you may touch someones heart, maybe even change a life.

So now go out and help someone who needs it. Pass it on.

Just Today

2010-06-14T10:25:00.001-04:00

Just today I wish I did not love reading, so I was not wondering what is next in The Order of the Phoenix during grammar.

Just today I wish I did not love singing so I could focus on school. (although singing science terms does help.) Just today do I wish that we did not have an outdoor cat, so I did not have to race to pause science, and chase him around the yard to save a chipmunk.

Just today I wish I did not have an OCD dog who follows me around begging for her herding ball.

Just today I wish that...... well I guess that's about it actually. Ah well, back to school for me. But one more thing.

Just today I wish I did not love blogging so I can get school done faster. But I guess that's the way the ball rolls. And the way my mind works.

This post is all thanks to our cat Mickey, and the chipmunk that was caught. As you can see I am inspired by random odd things. Also, please to not start hoping for any normal posts, because those happen once in a blue moon.

The Title warned you that it is Mountain Ash MUSINGS. Not "Normal non-crazy everyday things." Musings is the key word there. So long.

My silly Father

2010-06-05T15:39:00.001-04:00

My silly Father. His new thing is to say "Mike has become a fan of......" He thinks it is the height of hilarity. He is not a big technology person. He probably would not go on facebook if you payed him. So instead of becoming a fan of things by clicking, he just says it. This morning he said out of the blue "Mike has become a fan of Coffee" and just a few minutes ago "Ooh Mike has become a fan of these potatoes" I swear if you live here you are almost always laughing at something someone said or did.

Can you spot them?

2010-06-05T15:35:00.001-04:00

See if you can spot the six mythical creatures throughout my blog header. If you can, leave a comment saying that you found them but NOT where they are. I know its kinda stupid and they are not that hard to find, but its something to do and I had fun putting the header together.

To Be a Part of Nature

2010-06-02T10:49:00.001-04:00

As I sit here at my desk, I catch myself looking out the window time and time again. It is a hazy, damp day. The plants are budding, and there is a small cluster of daisys growing among the rocks. The wisteria’s runners are slowly creeping around the hydrangea, mint, and iris. Baby wood rats and chipmunks scurry around the yard. The birds are chirping and singing their lovely songs. The thinner branches, swaying in the crisp, light breeze. I can hear the faint rustling of squirrels playing in the leaves. I find myself wishing I could hear the wind whispering to the trees and understand the mystery of it all. Oh, to be a part of nature and hear it’s lovely song.

Gardening

2010-05-05T16:25:00.001-04:00

WOW!! It is really warm out today. However I decided to garden after all. I had been waiting for a day that was not crappy so I went for it. I planted the Dusty Miller on the dunes amidst the reeds.
I planted my Heath in the front garden. ( heath is a variaton of heather that starts blooming very early spring) Then I stood up to admire my work and saw all the dandelions. Something in me just went, " AHHH, GET THEM OUT OUT I SAY!", which sounded an awful lot like Nana's voice. So I got my weeder and got them O-U-T OUT! Now it is nice and weed free. For now. Either Friday or Saturday I will tackle the side garden. I would Thursday but I have a job then we are going to the park with a bunch of other home-schoolers. I fully intend to get the side garden back the way it once was. Beautiful and weed free. So farewell for now. My thoughts have been shared and I am now going to either play a very mind numbing game or Age of Mythology. Ta Ta!!

That darn cat!!

2010-04-28T10:01:00.001-04:00

Okay the kitten is smarter than I give him credit for. I went into the kitchen to get my pills and took a sip of water out of my favorite water bottle that I got at Walmart. I put it down and walked down stairs to get something and when I came back My water bottle was leaking and and the kitten was drinking from the puddle. I am sure that he figured out what it held and wanted some fresh non-dog-slobbery water. There are two claw marks in the edge. I have caught him drinking out of it when I left the top off but I never would have thought that he would EVER do that. Ah well. Next time we are at Walmart I will just have to get a new one and keep it where Percy can't reach it.

Glass Museum

2010-04-26T13:26:00.001-04:00

I went to the Glass Museum today with my Family some other homeschoolers. We picked up Miya on the way because her mom could not come. I can not tell you how much I wish there was a place close to home so I could be a glass blowing apprentice. It is so amazing. There were all these displays of all different types of glass things. There was this one display where when you opened the drawers then a slate would fall to "hide" the recipe for ruby glass. Then a guy would start talking about his place and different types of glass. There were several like that. There was also a short film of glass making history. In the gift shop there were things like plates, cups, marbles, fish, jewelry, paper weights, and so much more. The lady that was doing the demonstration made two different vases and she pressed a sun catcher. The second presentation I sat down again wanting to see her make them again. I sat down in a bench that was so close to the kiln that I was sweating a bit. This time she made a vase but she used and effect called ( I think) Crackling. She took it right out of the furnace and dipped it quickly into a bucket of water. It made the glass look full of cracks. It was really awesome. Now I am sitting in a chair with a bad headache (again) listening to Jenna and Miya trying to make pumpkin bread. I have to go put the glass plates away before they all break. Things are falling everywhere. So long!

Tired but Happy

2010-04-11T11:42:00.001-04:00

Well, I am tired but happy. I had a wonderful time doing the read-a-thon. Then I had a sleepover with a good friend. We got up fairly early to go to church. We almost had to stay for the second service because by Dad is on the worship team. Fortunately he said he would catch a ride. So now I can relax and finish the book I left of on. Or maybe play computer for a while. I do enjoy Poptropica even though I am almost 14. ( One month and 15 days!!!ish) After I play that for a while I think I will disappear into my room for a while. Wait, no. I have to clean up the living room so Mom stops flipping out. Don't blame her. Looks like crap. Not just my fault though. I will try to continue to blog fairly often from now on.

When all is said and done.

2010-04-10T21:36:00.001-04:00

So as this day comes to a close (for me at least) I would like to thank you all again for making this fun and for visiting my blog. Here is a pic of me having a splendid time this afternoon. (Well until the worms bugged me.) Feel free to keep visiting and commenting even when this is all said and done. As my welcome says "the door is always open". This is Rowan, signing off for the last time today. Farewell and goodbye to my fellow read-a-thon friends. Haste ye back.

Darn.

2010-04-10T21:08:00.001-04:00

My friend is over because she needed my dad to help her build a catapult. So she is sleeping over and we are going to church together tomorrow. I am not quitting. I had to go to bed at 10 anyway. *Sigh* double *sigh* Darn that mother. (just kidding mommy *nervous laugh*)

Survey

2010-04-10T19:31:00.001-04:00

1.I am reading Ella Enchanted.

2.I have read two books so far.

3.I am looking forward to reading The Two Princesses of Bamarre.

4. I have the day all two myself. I did not have to cancel anything.

5. I have had many interruptions. Most of which I just have to take the Cat off the bird cage. Others I have to go chase my sister around the house to make her stop. She just wants and excuse to play with me.

6. The most surprising thing about the read-a-thon is that I am having trouble sitting down and reading with all the stuff and comments and things.

7. I have no suggestions to improve. It is awesome the way it is.

8. What I would do differently, as a Reader is go up into my room with the Laptop and shut the door.

9. I am not tired yet. I am never too tired to read.

10. The only suggestion I have for the readers is to only go on line every hour maximum.

Just keep reading

2010-04-10T19:01:00.001-04:00

I am a little less then half way through Ella Enchanted. I am also humming to myself "just keep swimming just keep swimming do do do do do do do" I am starting to get a headache so I think that I should turn some more lights on. My little sister Jenna is singing annoying Phineas an Ferb songs. That "Aglet" song. As I am getting angry at Hattie for being mean to Ella I am wanting to kill Jenna. Not for the first time today. Well here I go again to book land.

On Bugs and books

2010-04-10T16:22:00.001-04:00

OH MY !!!!! I am not sure what they are or where the came from but I am wicked freaked out!! I was reading outside and suddenly I see all these teeny tiny little blackish worm things. Now I am cool with bugs. In fact I like them. But when they are ON ME that is NOT COOL!!!! Wicked NOT cool! I squashed them and then jumped up. I am freaking out!!! I really have to go take a shower then put on different clothes!!!! I hate things that interrupt my reading but EWE!! I am going to have the creeps for the rest of the day unless I shower!!!! Have to go shower. GET THEM OFF OF ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (sure have your laugh. You won't be laughing next time that happens to you!! I will be the one laughing then so HA!! and a final EWE!!!)

New book about to be explored

2010-04-10T15:46:00.001-04:00

I am about to read Ella Enchanted. I love that book. I have read 390 pages total today. Thank you by the way for taking a minute out of your reading time to see my blog and comment.

Sunny makes it hard to read

2010-04-10T15:05:00.001-04:00

Love the sun but the glare off the pages makes it hard to read! My eyes are protestiong but I am headed back outside. I am almost done with The fairy return and then I will read Ella Enchanted. I just have to save my poor Guinea Pigs from that cat first.

Random (still reading)

2010-04-10T14:30:00.001-04:00

I FOUND CHOCOLATE!! Not M'n'Ms but good enough!! Now that I have found chocolate I will go get my watch and sit outside. Listening to to birds trilling, and becoming lost in bookland. (see I am trying! I added a "listening to the birds trilling" to my ending!!)

Hour 7 has started

2010-04-10T14:07:00.001-04:00

I am sitting here eating popcorn and wishing I had some M'n'Ms or something sweet to go with it. I am reading For Biddle's sake which is one of my favorite short stories. Well agian I am off to book land. I know I keep ending with the same boring thing. I will try to think of something better!

On hour 5

2010-04-10T12:23:00.001-04:00

I have read about 219 pages but I would go faster (in fact if I had no distractions I might have 400 or more pages read. I have read InkDeath in 6 hours before.) if the kitten was not trying to eat everything in sight!! Easter candy, bags, the birds, my toes. Literally everything. Finished Princess Sonora and the Long sleep which is a twist of sleeping beauty. And I am reading Cinderellis and the Glass hill now. That is a twist of Cinderella but you probably could have figured that out. I have to go clean my Guinea pig cage before by Mom will let me continue reading. Darn her. Wish I could do it tomorrow!!!! Mom has a bloody nose. I have to go help her then clean the cage................. then READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

End of hour two.

2010-04-10T10:07:00.001-04:00

Well I am reading The Fairy's Return And other Princess tales by Gale Carson Levine. I have Finished the Fairy's Mistake which is a twist of Cinderella and almost finished the Princess Test which is a twist of The Princess and The Pea. Well I have to get back to book land!! 103 pages in an hour and 15 minutes. (15 minutes because I had to get tea and keep the cat busy so he won't eat my Guinea Pigs.)

Well, Signing off!! Back to loose myself in the wonderful world of fantasy!!

Read-a-thon!

2010-04-10T08:42:00.001-04:00

Oops! I woke up a bit late. Then I could not find one I the books I wanted. Oh well. I have an excuse not to do anything but read today which is awesome. The only thing I have to do is to make sure that the kitten does not eat my Guinea pigs or the birds for a late breakfast. I have not specific place that I am reading from today probably the couch mostly. Maybe outside if I put on a jacket. Here is three random facts about me. I would rather be either reading, singing, or just sitting outside then any other pastimes. I also love playing Age of Mythology. A really fun strategy game. (Although my 9 year old sister would beat me in a second if I were playing against her.) And random fact three is I have a ton of animals. Two fish tanks. Sometimes three in the summer for a salt water tank. A Dog, two cats, two birds, two Guinea pigs, and we are getting chickens soon. I do not have a huge goal for then read-a-thon. I just hope to read my little heart out and have fun. This is my first read-a-thon but I intend to do it again. Well I am about to settle down with a big cup of tea and a good book. Ta ta for now!!

2009-12-31T10:08:00.001-05:00

I had a great Christmas. I got a Nintendo DS lite. I also got a gift card for gamestop that allowed me to get 3 more games. And I got a teddy bear that had a lavender pack in it. I also got this kit that lets you make lip balm. Jenna got this really cool card game called Scrabble word slam. It is so much fun. I got a monopoly card game which I have not tried yet. I got several other gift cards. One being for Blockbuster which I am really exited about because I can get more DS games. I got other things but I don't feel like writing them.

For New Years Eve, (today!! how did that happen!!!) I am doing what my family always does. Watch all three lord of the rings and usually order Chinese food. Last year we ( we meaning every one but mom) stopped halfway through Return of the King and played Uno ( really fun card game) until one in the morning. I wish you could come over and watch it with us but I am sick and I do not want to contaminate your household. Elaine's kitten Fiona is wreaking havoc. She almost pulled down the bird cage, tried to jump into the fish tank and walked across my key board all in five minutes. She is a little terror!! Well I am off to check My Cafe. that stupid facebook game is addicting!!

On Snow and Singing

2009-12-22T08:02:00.001-05:00

Well. That is a LOT of snow! By the time it was done snowing it was a little over my knee!! The cantata was moved to Tuesday because of all the snow and I was very disappointed. What I have just realized is that my friends Anna (singer) and Addison (guitarist) will not be there. At least I do not think so. They were going to leave right after the Cantata to visit family. Also Anna has a Solo in Silent Night. So I do not know if someone else is doing it or if all of us are singing it. The Cantata is at 6:30 tonight. I just hope the church parking lot was plowed. I had a lot of fun playing in the snow with Jenna though. We kept racing to the top of our small (small) hill and Jenna kept winning because I kept falling. ( which would have have absolutely nothing to do with my really to tight snow pants!!! Well it might also be my gravity issues. Probably.) We made a sled track. Also, we had fainting contests. Mom was judge. Although that doesn't really do any good because she said "you were both wonderful". I think she is missing the point of the whole "contest" part. I have a doctors appointment today and then the Cantata. WELL!! Busy busy busy!!

story of my life.

2009-12-17T12:33:00.001-05:00

Okay so I went upstairs to "clean" my room and I put my point of grace CD in. Well it just so happens that I always "forget" to "clean" my room when I listen to music. So anyway I am sitting on my bed singing along and getting mad at my hair for refusing to go into a hair clip. As I listen to their song Worthless I get a great idea. I should do that song for special music some Sunday for church!! ( Now I really don't know why this though came into my head. I hate singing in front of people and despite what people say I think my voice stinks.) Then I listen more closly and hear two different people singing at different times and I think to myself " Oh I could do this with Jenna!!!" ( Now this I also have no idea why I thought. Jenna hates singing in front of people way more than me) So I went down stairs and got Jenna. It turns out she loves this song. So we get all ecstatic and I go down stairs to print the lyrics. After about ten minutes of waiting patiently (okay not so patiently.) for Mom to get off the computer I sit down and type in "lyrics to worthess by point of grace". It comes up and I click on the first link. Half the word are missing and I really want the different parts and echos. So I click on the next link. same thing. After about eight minutes of rephrasing and clicking I found one i could live with. I go to copy and past it onto Microsoft word. It won't let me. So I click "file" "print" and then it prints four pages NONE OF WHICH ARE THE LYRICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so mad. well that is the story of my life for today. woe is me and all that.

Home Safe and Sound

2009-08-22T21:29:00.001-04:00

Discovery Camp 2009

2009-07-29T10:20:00.001-04:00

Last day of Discovory camp

2009-07-24T16:17:00.001-04:00

We started out the day finishing our spoons. Mine had the roundest top, Bridget had the smoothest bowl and Seneca had the best handle. We were all better at something than someone else so we handed our spoons to each other to do. After we had finished making our spoons we went over and learned about remedies.
Did you know that you can make a toothpaste out of charcoal and honey? It really works too. And all you can taste is the honey. After we finished that we got dressed together for the last time. We were all so sad. However we did manage to make a circle with all seven people so we did all the ties at once! We tried to do that all week and we finally managed to do that.
Juliana and I think Alexa...........no, Seneca wanted shawls so we all were being silly and going outside and acting like we were frozen and Seneca was saying, " Oh if I get to cold and I go into a coma and die it will be all your fault." Finally they got the shawls and later they were too hot! After the acting was over we left to the potters.
We said "Good Day" to every single person we saw on the way. I don't know why. When we got to the potters we watched him make a jug. Then we went out to play at turning the clay. Chloe was playing in the junk clay pile and said that if she were in her normal clothes then she would have been rolling in it! Her hands were covered in clay and she stopped at every puddle until she was clean.
Then we went for a stagecoach ride around the common. Then we went into the tavern and had lunch. Or dinner in 1830's point of view.
When we finished that, we went into the town house garden and sketched and water colored stuff. I did the town house, Bridget tried to do the town house but failed so she did a very nice gazebo. Chloe's Day Lily was the best by far, I swear that girl is good at everything. Everyone else did flowers too. We were not quite finished but we had to go back into the tavern to learn dances. It was really fun.
We learned three dances. Then we had snacks. I love jumbles and I grabbed two of them. They are kind of small. After that we went back to town house and finished our drawings/paintings. I did not paint mine. When I was almost done a saw Mom and Dad coming and I dropped my stuff got up really fast and ran over to them. Boy had I missed them!! I wish they had brought the dog though.
My picture of the town house is quite nice although not really good. When we were all done we went back to museum E.D and changed put a stain stick on all the stains and exchanged addresses, emails ,phone numbers and facebook accounts. Mom sad she might let me have a facebook to keep in touch with my friends!
Well , my fingers are getting tired too. I will leave now. I had so much fun. Now I think I will go laugh at my dad trying to play wii fishing!

My fourth day at Discovery Camp

2009-07-23T15:36:00.001-04:00

Oh my, I just took my socks off and found half and inch deep line where the top of the sock is! Painful!! Today we started off getting dresses as usual. I don't think I mentioned that we do an Assembly line to get dressed, since the back of the dresses are covered in ties and clips.
We had some time before school, so we sewed and practiced our spelling. I am working on a second tea cosy because I finished mine. It is a pretty pattern that is green.
After that we had school. I did spelling. Actually, everyone did spelling except Chloe. She did reading.
Then we went fishing and all together, we caught 21. Bridget and I were partners, we caught 8. The most of the group.
Then we went and had lunch and after that we played jump rope with the little kids. I love jump rope!
After that we helped carry the games back into the town house, and left for the museum. When we were there, we got changed. While we were waiting for our teacher, we slid down the banisters, raced back up to the top and slid again. Finally a teacher came and we went into wood shop and started our wooden spoons. We used old fashioned tools and did it by hand. They are not done, we still have to sand out the edges.
Then we had a whip cream race. All the groups were split up into two groups and we raced to see who's would become whip cream first. The other team won and the teachers said that they had the better whisk and it was not fair. When we had that finished, we had the cream on shortcake and strawberries and blueberries.
Then we went back to the home room and had our cookies and lemonade and wrote in out journals. I brought my sewing home. Again.
I still have a headache. I can't seem to make it go away. Anyway I have to go work on my sewing!

................................

2009-07-22T20:06:00.001-04:00

Well I just took a shower and I feel refreshed and I am ready for another dusty sweaty day at the village! I mean that in a good way! I can't believe that there are only two days left already. We are having so much fun!
Tomorrow we have school and I think I am going to either do math or spelling. Before that we might try to fit in fishing. I also know that we are making wooden spoons at the end of the day.
The last day there is a dance. We get to learn the dances from the 1830's. I have done some before but I don't really remember.
Something that is funny is that whenever I do discovery camp, I remember how much I love dresses. Then when I get home, I remember how much easier it is to run and jump in pants! Ah well I guess I will just have to find a dress with a big skirt!
I have to go to bed now (well actually I don't have to go to bed until 10:00 but it would be a good idea to go to bed now.) Maybe then my headache will go away..............................................

My third day at Discovery Camp

2009-07-22T15:38:00.001-04:00

Today we left to the village right after we got dressed. We went to Fitch and made Jumbles which are really good cookies. I am going to make them when I get home. While we were waiting for them to cook we worked on our sewing. (that is if it is okay with my mother!!!) I still have a headache but not as bad as yesterday. After we went to Fitch we went to the Town House and made..........................BUTTER!!! It tastes so good!!! We had it on Saltines. When the rest of the group was exploring Sonica, (sorry if I spelled that wrong!) Rosie and I were twirling to make our dresses go out like hoop skirts. But when we heard someone coming we stopped. We did not want to make the impression that if you were from the 1800 you were nuts!! When we finished exploring (and twirling) we left to go get the games and bring them to the tables where we ate. Shortly after we finished eating, we went onto the common and had races. I love playing hoops. However I prefer sewing so that is what I did. I am going to finish it tonight so I can start another one! After that we skipped (literally) down to the dock for a boat ride. While waiting for the boat we sewed. It was funny though because whenever the gun for the demonstration went off some of us jumped and or screamed. And it seemed that the bonnets had Dragonfly attractant on them because they kept landing on us!! When we were settled on the boat we ( you will never guess what) we took out our sewing and listened to the tour guide talk about the river we were on. (I don't know how to spell it!) After that we left to do farm chores. Although the Farmers seemed to forget about us so they were kind of late. While we where waiting we pet the pigs and sheep. ( I wanted to sew!) When the farmer finally came he set us to work weeding around the potatoes. Oh and did I mention the picking the potato bugs off the leaves and squishing them under your feet of between you fingers? They left that job to me! When we were done with that we washed our hands and then went onto the Blacksmith shop for a while. While everyone else was taking turns pumping the bellows, I was (guess what this is so new) sewing. Then we went back to museum E.D. ( I have been calling it the home building.) On the way back we played Pooh sticks except with leaves. Mine has not one won 21 century clothing and wrote in our journals while eating lemonade and drinking cookies. (Did I really just say that? Boy am I tired) What I mean to say is eating cookies and drinking lemonade. Then Memere and Grandpa came to pick me up and we stopped and went shopping ( Jenna, Grandpa and I waited in the car) and now I am sitting here finishing up and I am about to go watch Princess Bride, eat watermelon, and sew! We all started our Teapot cosy at the same time but I am really far ahead. Then again I do keep bringing mine home to work on! Well I will talk tomorrow when I record my day. Bye!

My Second day at Discovery Camp

2009-07-21T15:53:00.001-04:00

IT WAS RAINING!!!! DARN THAT RAIN!!!
Well when we got there we were told that we could not go fishing and we could not do the boat ride because of the rain. And I have a really bad headache. The first thing that we did was go to Freeman farm to look at the gardens and learn about it. We also got to go into the root cellar. After that we went and had lunch and then went to see the Punch and Judy show. It was a slapstick comedy.
After that we sewed for a while in the tavern. We would have had fishing after that but it was raining so instead we went back to the mail building.
When we got there we finished making the Pickles which we can not eat until the 28th at least. After that we made pounded cheese which tastes really good!!!
I really wish I had a friend there though. I mean everyone is nice (in our group anyway this other group threw part of their lunch at me and Chloe.) but I don't really know them.
Then we went back to our room and worked on our sewing until the lemonade and chocolate chip cookies came. When we finished that we took out our journals and wrote in them our day. (like I am doing now) Then Memere came to pick me up, we walked out of the village drove home where I am now sitting trying to hurry up and finish this so I can go watch Garfield and drink some water to try to make this headache go away!
I cant wait 'till tomorrow but I will have to wear Memere's shoes because mine are to tight and my feet really hurt although not as much as my head!

waiting for day two

2009-07-21T07:25:00.001-04:00

I am sitting at the chair in front of the computer wishing that it was nine so I could be at the village. I finished sewing the outer part of my tea cozy. now when I get to the village I will put the stuffing into it then quilt it. I think I am ahead of my group. Unless they brought it home like I did.
Anyway I have to go braid my hair into pigtails for the village. You are supposed to but everyone else didn't get the memo I guess. I have to go wake up jenna to.

My first day at Discovery camp

2009-07-20T15:45:00.001-04:00

Okay, so when we got there we got to pick out our outfits first which NEVER happens. Mine is blue with white.
After that we went to the the store and exchanged cloth for string to make the whisks. We made them out of birch twigs and tied them off with string.
Then we went and had lunch after a horse and buggie ride around the common. After we finished playing graces we left to go back to the home center.
When we were there we did woodwork and made a cheese grate. The wood backing on mine broke twice because the grain was bad and I had to draw and then saw three times but I somehow managed to be done before almost everyone!! I have no idea how though.
I am also working on a tea cozy and I brought that home to sew. I also have to but in stuffing and then quilt so I will have plenty to do. Hopefully I will finish that and get to make another one!!!! I can't wait for tomorrow.
I have a really weird village name though, Vernera Sheperd. Odd, Just like me!! Anyway, I have to go and eat dinner then work on my sewing!!
Thanks for taking time to read my WONDERFUL day!!

Ah well...............

2009-07-16T18:45:00.001-04:00

So today Mom got me up for babysitting and I got up ate breakfast and asked Mom if we should call Mrs. Lewis to make sure we were on. When we got there Mom dropped me off and left. When I got to the house and knocked Mrs. Lewis answered. She said that they were not expecting me. Apparently Mom had given her the wrong dates and so she had planed a day with their friends. So I called Mom and she came back and picked me up. SO glad that was over.
Okay then we left to go to the VBS meeting and did I mention that the meeting was NEXT week!!!!! But we did not know that!
Ah well, now we are watching Deadliest Catch. I can't wait for tomorrow. Memere is coming and Saturday we are going to the fair. Then we are going to Charlton and doing Discovery camp. I CAN'T WAIT but unfortunately I will have to. Ah well.................................

2009-07-05T12:58:00.001-04:00

I had so much fun at Creation. Some of my favorite bands were there! Third Day, Casting crowns, Reliant K, Skillet............. IT WAS AWESOME!! Happy Independence day by the way. Speaking of that the fireworks were awesome!! Then again all fireworks are awesome!! Anyway, Back to Creation. I sprayed my hair pink and it looked really cool! It was a bit of a walk to get to the mainstage but it didn't really matter. We were up late every night and up early every morning! On the way to Pensylvania, we Played twister. On a school bus!! it was like you had one fot on the roof, one on the seat, a hand on the floor and the other on the roof!! It was crazy!! My Mom has pictures of us all tangled up. Even the Adults were playing. Well I have to go........................Play a Wii game. (But in my defence I am stranded on an island and I kneed to play with my monkeys!!!!)

YES!!

2009-06-22T13:56:00.001-04:00

I am so exited!! Tomorrow is Creation!! I am so exited!! Casting Crowns, Third Day AND Reliant K will be there. And many many more!!!!!!!!! I can't wait!! Well I have to go finish packing. It will be a long ride. (Pennsylvania) I need to find some books.

Today

2009-06-13T15:24:00.001-04:00

Today I am at My Memere's. My Family and I are going to see a play that she and my Mautant directed. I cannot wait. Mom is going to try to get me into a play back home. I found this really cool new book seiries! It is about a family who solves mistereries and a new character is introdused every book. The books take place in National Parks. Well most of them anyway. I am on the third book. Deathly waters. They are the "NAtional parks Mysterys" By Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson. I think that they are awesome although nothing can beat The Sisters Grimm. This is pretty clost though. These books are a mix of Fiction and truth. Mostily Truth though. I love a good mystery no matter what it is! Well I think I am going to keep reading or go watch TV with my family untill the play. It is at 7:30 but we have to be there at 7:00 to get good seats. talk later!

Exited Again!

2009-03-21T08:43:00.001-04:00

My Grandparents came last night for my Dad's birthday. We ate dinner and watched TV. Although it was my Father's birthday they brought gifts for all of us. The biggest thing Jenna and I are DOING DISCOVERY CAMP AT OLD STURBRIGE VILLAGE! What is Discovery Camp you might ask. You get to dress up in clothes from the 1800's. You get to learn about the times, you get to cook interact with the animals. And more. SSSSSSOOOOOOOOO Exited!

Can't Wait!

2009-03-19T18:20:00.001-04:00

I can't wait until the 4 of April!! We are going to Florida. While we are there, we are going to Sea World, Bush Gardens, AND Disney!!!!!!!!!! I am so exited! We are also going to other places like the beach and some cool restaurants around there. I am so so so so so so so so so oh so exited. We are going in 16 days. Only 16 days left. We are staying overnight at Disney. The first day will be spent at Epcot. The second day is all over Disney.

Oops have to go, I need an MRI on my wrist.

2009-03-19T12:43:00.001-04:00

Not again!! Mom woke me up this morning and told me to get up. What she forgot to mention was the fact that It was Thursday! My Babysitting Day at Christ Chapel! Oh Man! So I was writing in my diary as happy as can be, and than mom came rushing upstairs, Rowan get up! Mrs. Lewis is here!! (Mrs. Lewis is the one who picks me up) Get up get up! get dressed! So I got up and got dressed. It turned out fine we got there on time. But still Hectic!

Since I forgot earlier, here a bit about me. I have a lot of pets. 2 Guinea pigs, 2 Cats, 1 Dog, A fish tank(with fish in it), 2 Birds and 2 hermit crabs. But, We will not have the hermit crabs much longer, one of my mom's friends is taking them. I also Have a sister but my mom would kill me if I had wrote this 2 cats, 1 dog ,1 sister, she would not like that one bit. And Jenna would kill me too, therefore I decided it would be a bad Idea. I should probably eat lunch and start school now! I did not eat breakfast, and I am starved!! got to go

2009-03-18T19:34:00.001-04:00

Hi I'm Rowan, This is my first entree in my blog. I don't have the most interesting life in the world. Mostly I read. But I will tell about my (BORING) life. I love to play outside, and the other day I was building a fort. then I realized that the tree I was balancing on was one of the trees that my dad was gonna cut down. So I told him that I really NEEDED to keep that tree, he said that He would consider it. Well that is the moment of my life for today. See ya.