I have a lots of things I’m excited to share with you today, especially some humorous recommendations.
Read
It took a while but I finally finished Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald. It was interesting to learn more about her and F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, but boy was their lifestyle despicable!
Our Missing Hearts was my book club read in April and it’s definitely lends itself to discussion.
Here are two cute picture books: Library Lion and Daisy Comes Home.
I’d like to share poems on this blog more often; I’ll start with two short poems I’ve loved recently: the final lines are so moving.
- “Scaffolding” by Seamus Heaney
- “Distance” by Kei Miller
And here’s a pair of poems that Eleanor encouraged me to read. I know they look long but I’m almost certain you will be laughing before the end.
“The Old Oaken Bucket” by Samuel Woodworth
How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood,
When fond recollection presents them to view!
The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wildwood,
And every loved spot which my infancy knew;
The wide-spreading pond, and the mill which stood by it,
The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell;
The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it,
And e’en the rude bucket which hung in the well —
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,
The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well.
That moss-covered vessel I hail as a treasure;
For often, at noon, when returned from the field,
I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure,
The purest and sweetest that nature can yield.
How ardent I seized it, with hands that were glowing!
How quick to the white-pebbled bottom it fell;
Then soon, with the emblem of truth over-flowing,
And dripping with coolness, it rose from the well —
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,
The moss-covered bucket arose from the well.
How sweet from the green mossy brim to receive it,
As, poised on the curb, it inclined to my lips!
Not a full blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it,
Though filled with the nectar that Jupiter sips.
And now, far removed from the loved situation,
The tear of regret will intrusively swell,
As fancy reverts to my father’s plantation,
And sighs for the bucket which hangs in the well —
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,
The moss-covered bucket which hangs in the well.
“The Old Oaken Bucket (As Revised by the Board of Health” by Anonymous
With what anguish of mind I remember my childhood,
Recalled in the light of knowledge since gained,
The malarious farm, the wet fungus-grown wildwood,
The chills then contracted that since have remained;
The scum-covered duck-pond, the pig-sty close by it,
The ditch where the sour-smelling house drainage fell,
The damp, shaded dwelling, the foul barnyard nigh it —
But worse than all else was that terrible well,
And the old oaken bucket, the mold-crusted bucket,
The moss-covered bucket that hung in the well.
Just think of it! Moss on the vessel that lifted
The water I drank in the days called to mind;
Ere I knew what professors and scientists gifted
In the waters of wells by analysis find;
The rotting wood-fiber, the oxide of iron,
The algae, the frog of unusual size,
The water as clear as the verses of Byron,
Are things I remember with tears in my eyes.
Oh, had I but realized in time to avoid them —
The dangers that lurked in that pestilent draft —
I’d have tested for organic germs and destroyed them
With potassic permanganate ere I had quaffed.
Or perchance I’d have boiled it, and afterwards strained it
Through filters of charcoal and gravel combined;
Or, after distilling, condensed and regained it
In potable form with its filth left behind.
How little I knew of the enteric fever
Which lurked in the water I ventured to drink,
But since I’ve become a devoted believer
In the teachings of science, I shudder to think.
And now, far removed from the scenes I’m describing,
The story of warning to others I tell,
As memory reverts to my youthful imbibing
And I gag at the thought of that terrible well,
And the old oaken bucket, the fungus-grown bucket,
In fact, the slop-bucket — that hung in the well.
Eat
I made beef stew with caramelized onions and beer from this cookbook. (At the LCBO I didn’t know what beer to choose until I found one that was recommended to sip with French onion soup. It turned out well!)
If you’re looking for an orange muffin recipe, here’s a delicious one… I reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup and used part whole wheat flour. (I still love my mom’s date orange muffins, but we need to get a new blender before I make them again.)
Do
On April 1st we went on the Kemble Maple Tour, stopping at four different sugar bushes to see their maple syrup operations and enjoying a lunch of waffles, ham, and baked beans.
My kids held an Easter Cookie sale out of our garage with four types of cookies and made over $100!
We had a few positively hot days before the cold and snow/rain returned, so Andrew and I had a romantic picnic in the country while the kids picnicked separately with friends. 🙂
Andrew also booked me a prenatal massage in April at this local place.
We took last week off from school and I was able to do some planning for next year, book shopping, and start potty training our two-year-old.
After missing the last two I was able to attend a volunteer appreciation luncheon at the Grey Bruce Pregnancy Centre; it was nice to have this little outing and especially to connect with other volunteers, staff, and board members since I do my volunteer work from home.
Listen
Andrew has outdone himself with discovering new music lately. Give these a listen!
Have you heard any First Drafts of Rock? They make me laugh.
Watch
A friend recommended the show Death in Paradise and we’ve been watching it on Kanopy. A grumpy English police detective solving murders on a Caribbean island, anyone?
The girls and I read a retelling of Much Ado About Nothing for school (and they memorized one of Benedick’s soliloquys), so I decided to let them watch the Kenneth Branagh movie with me. (According to Ken Ludwig, author of How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare, it’s the best Shakespeare movie of all time.)
Meditate
“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” – James 4:4-10