miscellaneous monday

saturday, november 25, 2017, was the day family and friends gathered to have the burial service for mom's ashes.  the day was beautiful with such fine weather. after the service we gathered at mom's house for lunch, comprised of many of her favorites on the table such as her cole slaw and potato salad. my sister surprised us with a project she must have spent hours and hours working on. she gave each of us a binder filled with mom's most loved (and famous) cookie recipes. the binder cover has a photo of mom taken in the last year, holding a bouquet of flowers. it is very sweet. inside some of the recipes are in mom's handwriting or has notes she's added. we will still be able to savor mom's cookies if we so choose to bake! it is a treasure we were all thrilled and touched to receive.

get ready.....

tis the season for making lots of stuff.  we'll make stuff for whimsical wednesday.

solitude sunday

a new book today: turn left at the trojan horse by brad herzog. the story is the account of brad traveling across country in an rv and what he experienced along the way.

silly saturday

photo friday

gobble! gobble!

thoughtful thursday

henry david thoreau:

my thanksgiving is perpetual.

whimsical wednesday

we are focusing our attention on preparations for our thanksgiving holiday for whimsical wednesday. whatever you need to be doing, that's what you'll do!

trivia tuesday

from merriam-webster dictionary:

postprandial somnolence is latin for taking a nap after eating.  something many will be doing on thanksgiving!

miscellaneous monday

it's thanksgiving week! november is moving along. since the beginning of the month we have been participating in the reverse advent calendar. we are either putting a non-perishable food item in a box or money in a jar each day for the months of november and december. the collection will be given to the organization(s) of your choice; either divided for thanksgiving and christmas or to one or the other. thus far i have remembered to put a dollar a day in a jar. a simple task but easily overlooked so i am pleased to have done so each day. if you haven't yet started your reverse advent calendar project you can begin today!

get ready.....

get ready for whimsical wednesday! it's thanksgiving eve so we'll take the day to prepare for the holiday!

solitude sunday

zelda la grange's, good morning, mr mandela, continues.  mandela is now 90 years old. our author has gone from a typist in his presidential office to his trusted personal assistant. they have become family through their years together.

silly saturday

just in thyme for thanksgiving dinner!

photo friday

another morgan buddy.

thoughtful thursday

robert frost:

i always entertain great hopes.

whimsical wednesday

we write in our journals in months containing five wednesdays! here we are for november, writing in our journals, for whimsical wednesday. i will be writing in several journals:
*personal journal
*memories notebook in which i record random memories
*farm journal in which i write about what's happening on the farm
*notable notebook in which i record awesome stuff like quotes and neat ideas
*daily whimsical moment notebook in which i record a special moment from each day (not just on whimsical wednesday but every day!)
if you do not currently keep a journal today is a good day to begin. keep a journal about a hobby. start a notable notebook. a memories notebook will be enjoyed for years to come. and, of course, do record a daily whimsical moment. it lifts the spirit. none of these journals need be elaborate.  if you even write a single sentence it's a journal!

trivia tuesday

from mental floss:

on this date in 1886, freidrich soennecken filed for a patent of the hole punch. confetti everyone!

miscellaneous monday

enjoy learning just to know about stuff? open culture offers 94 free lectures on various topics. partake of one or two or several! link:

http://www.openculture.com/2017/11/watch-94-free-lectures-from-the-great-courses-dystopian-fiction-astrophysics-guitar-playing-much-more.html?platform=hootsuite

get ready.....

we'll be writing in our journals for whimsical wednesday. get them gathered so you'll be ready to go!

solitude sunday

zelda la grange's good morning mr mandela continues. zelda discusses mr mandela's warm relationship with britian's queen elizabeth. she recounts how he calls the queen by her first name, elizabeth. when zelda tells him he should address her as befitting her position, mr mandela replies, "why? she calls me nelson!".

silly saturday

from funkidjokes.com:

Q: why was the turkey in jail?
A: fowl play!

photo friday

morgan has many interesting friends.

thoughtful thursday

willie wonka:

so shines a good deed in a weary world.

whimsical wednesday

with colder temperatures, we think of being snuggled up in all manner of blankets. a favorite blanket is a quilt. for whimsical wednesday we are creating a quilt pattern! patchwork design, the original american quilt pattern, is made up of shapes: rectangles, squares, triangles. get out your paper, colored pencils and ruler to create your quilt pattern using these shapes.

trivia tuesday

from mental floss:

a group of pugs is called a grumble.

miscellaneous monday

it's been cooler now that it's november and, for the last week, we have experienced rain. nothing like soup when it's cold and damp outside.  the following link takes you to a recipe for easy cabbage roll soup made in the crockput. even if you don't typically eat cabbage, it's great in soup.  it takes on the flavors of the other ingredients. it also has the texture of noodles so pasta isn't needed.  a great way to cut carbs. 

https://www.simplystacie.net/2014/01/cabbage-roll-soup-recipe/

get ready.....

we're creating for whimsical wednesday. to prepare assemble paper, colored pencils and a ruler.

solitude sunday

a new book to talk about for solitude sunday; zelda la grange's good morning, mr mandela. ms la grange recounts her time in the service of south africa's president, beginning as a senior typist to life long personal assistant.

silly saturday

what?!??

photo friday

high school halloween!

thoughtful thursday

walter lippmann:

when all men think alike, no one thinks very much.

whimsical wednesday

there's a project known as reverse advent calendar. the goal is to put a non-perishable food item in a box each day of advent. just before christmas, the food is given to a food bank or a family or what is most logical for individual participants.

for whimsical wednesday we will begin our reverse advent calendar. it's a month earlier than advent actually begins. that is so we can offer support for thanksgiving as well as christmas if we so choose. today we'll secure a large box for actual food items or a small box, bank or other container for money. you decide which route you wish to take. every day either put a food item in the large box or a predetermined amount of money in the small box. if every day is inconvenient, do it weekly. of course it's always possible to just gather food or cash on one day and offer it to a chosen outlet. however, that defeats the spirit of the reverse advent calendar as the advent calendar is a daily activity.

along with determining the need for a large box or a small box, think of the options you have for donating your offerings.  maybe do a bit of sleuthing to find out what organizations make care packages for the holidays. perhaps you belong to an organization that has holiday outreach and will contribute to your "home" organization. food is a logical offering, however, if you want to do otherwise, there's also need for christmas gifts; toys, books, clothing, etc.

do your thinking and planning about your participation in the reverse advent calendar and report your selection(s) to the whimsey project for whimsical wednesday. at intervals we'll discuss our reverse advent calendar activity progress on miscellaneous monday. i'm looking forward to your participation as well as my own!

trivia tuesday

happy halloween! chocolate is a favorite sweet to give for trick or treat!  mentalfloss.com provides our trivia for trivia tuesday!

chocolate is a vegetable!  chocolate comes from the cacao bean, grown on the cacao tree (theobroma cacao) an evergreen tree of the family malvaceae; that also includes okra and cotton. 

miscellaneous monday

butterflies! here's an article from mother nature network about how to idenify the most common among them. enjoy!

https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/photos/how-identify-10-common-butterfly-species/can-you-identify-me

get ready.....

we're preparing for a big project for whimsical wednesday! be on the lookout for a large box or other container.

solitude sunday

all or nothing: one chef's appetite for the extreme by jesse schenker is my current read. jesse recounts his love of food and cooking as a preschooler cooking with his great-grandmother, nana mae. one of his greatest personal achievements was cooking on the tv show, iron chef america and winning against iron chef geoffrey zakarian. oh, and jesse details his drug addiction that found him homeless and then jailed as a teenager. and his recovery to sobriety so that he could rise to beat an iron chef.

silly saturday

from robinsfyi.com:

Q: what does tweety bird say on halloween?
A: twick or tweet!

photo friday

eleanor

thoughtful thursday

thoughts of dog @dog_feelings:

today. is a snuggle day. please set aside. some quality time. for snugs.

whimsical wednesday

we are celebrating international artists day for whimsical wednesday! who is your favorite artist? why is this your favorite artist? what is your favorite piece they created? find out something you don't know about them! share your favorite artist with the whimsey project for whimsical wednesday!

henri matisse, french painter, sculptor, paper artist, was born december 31, 1869 and died november 3, 1954.  he was first introduced to painting when recovering from illness. his mother gave him a set of art supplies to occupy him. that was the beginning of what was to be his life long avocation.

matisse is my favorite artist because i am drawn to the vibrancy of the color in most of his paintings. the figures are simple and inelegantly drawn, which i find most whimsical. the mismatch of shapes remind me of early american patchwork quilting. the riot of shapes and colors should not work but work it does. his works that are most aesthetically pleasing to me are his interiors; rooms i would enjoy being in. a few of these paintings include "interior at collioure", "the red room", "the blue window", "the black table", "girl in the green dress", "two women", "the daisies", "the lute", "interior in yellow", "the black fern", "red interior, still on a blue table", "red interior".  it's quite impossible for me to have a favorite matisse.

what i did not know about matisse before my research on his for whimsical wednesday is that he dabbled in pointillism, the process of creating images with dots of color. a few of his pointillistic works were dots but the dots soon became most like smudges. this was actually more interesting than dots as the color smudges added a layer of interest beyond what dots could offer. 

when my artistically inclined daughter was in seventh grade i asked her to create a matisse inspired painting for me. she painted an interior with two girls (her sister and herself!) sitting at a table enjoying tea. that painting has always had a place of prominence in my home(s).

trivia tuesday

from onthisday.com:

on this date in 1971, harry drake shot the longest traveling arrow from a footbow at one mile, 268 yards.

miscellaneous monday

taking a peek inside the whimsey notebook for a favorite daily whimsical moment...   on monday, september 25th, i watched as leaves fell from trees into the lake. then the leaves glided across the surface of the water like wee boats.

are you keeping a whimsey notebook in which to record a daily whimsical moment? if not, consider doing so. if you keep a whimsey notebook, share a moment for miscellaneous monday. 

get ready.....

who is your favorite artist? be thinking for whimsical wednesday.

solitude sunday

trumbo by bruce cook. because dalton trumbo wouldn't answer questions before the congressional committee investigating un-american activities, he was found in contempt of congress. he was sentenced to one year in federal prison. all all appeals were exhausted, he served ten months in the federal prison in kentucky. 

silly saturday

from jokes4us.com:

Q: did you hear about the race between the lettuce and the tomato?
A: the lettuce was a head and the tomato was trying to ketchup!

photo friday

enjoy the scenery.

thoughtful thursday

elbert hubbard:

the greatest mistake you can make in life is continually fearing that you'll make one.

whimsical wednesday

we are celebrating inktober for whimsical wednesday! inktober is a month long, daily art activity using ink. created by artist jake porter, inktober has been going strong since 2009. for our whimsical wednesday activity we need a pen and a piece of paper or card stock no larger than 4x6 inches. we are drawing circles. the challenge within the drawing is draw as many circles as the card will hold. there's no boundary for what type of circles; large, medium, small. intertwined, circles within circles. after you have completed your circles, report your circle total to the whimsey project.

trivia tuesday

from @mental_floss:

dr seuss was the first person to use the word NERD. it appeared in his 1950 book, IF I RAN THE ZOO.  a noun used to describe one of his creatures, it later became an adjective in newsweek to describe a teenager that is a square or uncool.

miscellaneous monday

the mind circle is an awesome website! so much to be amazed by. here's a link to a post about street art:

http://themindcircle.com/incredible-pieces-of-street-arts/

get ready.....

get ready for whimsical wednesday! you'll need a pen or pencil and a 4x6 inch piece of paper or card stock.

solitude sunday

trumbo by bruce cook continues. trumbo spent two years in pursuit of cleo, a woman he met and decided to marry the first time he saw her. love at first sight on his part but not so much on hers. thus, two years. a persistent fellow, that trumbo.

silly saturday

from squighysplayhouse.com

Q: what do you call a dog who always knows the time?
A: a watch dog!

photo friday

play ball.

thoughtful thursday

buddhist proverb:

better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace.

whimsical wednesday

we are trying new apple recipes for whimsical wednesday! on monday, under the get ready post, a link was shared that offers a variety of tasty apple recipes; if you are in need of a recipe. otherwise enjoy making a recipe you already have. please report your results to the whimsey project!

trivia tuesday

from mental floss:

1946: when the first photograph of earth was taken from space; black and white, grainy, distorted.

miscellaneous monday

interesting, beautiful art is always grand to view but we can't see it all in person. however we can enjoy art all over the world via the internet. be thrilled by these sculptures from the mind circle:

http://themindcircle.com/fascinating-public-sculptures/

get ready.....

get ready for whimsical wednesday! apples are so tasty this time of year so we are trying new apple recipes. maybe you have one you've been meaning to try. if not, here's a link for apple recipe ideas:

http://fm.e.allrecipes.com/ats/msg.aspx?sg1=8e62cc6746d8688fe48e5784be0cf5128f31a406ff1d639bd44c8010f50969b4&prop26=whatscooking&prop25=9409799271&prop27=2017-10-09&did=178701-20171009&eaid=15028179&hid=ec5f4d6d64ce62deb155b0c68a16334df9375845

solitude sunday

bruce cook's trumbo continues. dalton trumbo was responsible for taking care of his family; father, mother and two sisters. this began at an early age and continued well into adulthood. he took his responsibilities and worked very hard, often at more than one job at a time, to keep the family going. through it all he wrote, wrote, wrote.

silly saturday

photo friday

windy, michael and jovey celebrated national taco day wednesday 10.4

thoughtful thursday

thoughts of dog @dog_feelings:

I'VE GOT. BIG NEWS.. i love you.

whimsical wednesday

we are on a treasure hunt in our homes for whimsical wednesday. look around your house. what is the oldest item therein? what is it? where did it come from? who did it belong to? tell the story of the oldest item in your home for whimsical wednesday!

the oldest item in my home belonged to my maternal great-grandmother; two pieces of ruby and clear cut depression glass. my mother said they were the only items of value that belonged to her grandmother and then mother. her mother gave them to her. she gave them to me for my daughters. when she gave them to me, years ago when my daughters were young, she wrote the family history of the pieces and tucked that paper in one of the pieces.

trivia tuesday

from national geographic:

a group of jellyfish is called a bloom.

miscellaneous monday

open culture is an amazing website! check out this particular post of the oldest song known:

http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/the-oldest-song-in-the-world.html

get ready.....

get ready for whimsical wednesday! it's very old day. you'll need your eyes and thinking cap!

solitude sunday

a new book begins. trumbo by bruce cook. the biography of an oscar-winning screenwriter who broke the hollywood blacklist. i read the forward by john mcnamara, the screenwriter of the movie trumbo featuring bryan cranston. and a few pages of chapter one.

silly saturday

from lunch box jokes for kids:

Q: how do leaves get from place to place?
A: autumn-mobiles!

photo friday

that look.

thoughtful thursday

alan watts:

every individual is an expression of the whole realm of nature, a unique action of the total universe.

whimsical wednesday

it's "what can we do with that?" for whimsical wednesday! september is national happy cat month, sewing month and piano month. for today's whimsical wednesday activity we'll be do what we can to celebrate one or two or all three of these. report your activity to the whimsey project! 

trivia tuesday

from amanda:

morgan calls spiders EEKS.

miscellaneous monday

the greatest handmade card arrived in my mailbox last week. one of my sister's "blast from the past" cards! this one featured a newspaper photo of the two of us in matching jumpers that mom had made. i am pinning a buddy poppy on her dress as she holds a basket filled with the poppies. we are announcing the soon-to-be VFW poppy sale; for the benefit of disabled veterans, widows and children of veterans. the photograph was taken in 1963.  i have the card on the television so i can look at it. as i have looked and thought i realize that i can vividly recall the day of the poppy sale. it it a good memory and the card is awesome!

get ready.....

get ready for whimsical wednesday. it's national sewing month as well as national happy cat month as well as piano month! we'll see what we can do with that for the last wednesday of september.

solitude sunday

solitude sunday is our day to spend time with a book. today's session finds me on the porch reveling in the fineness of a fall day; the perfect setting for reading. i continue with paris to the moon by adam gopnik. in today's chapter, mr gopnik recounted telling bedtime stories to his young son. the featured story was about american baseball, of which his son had no knowledge. thoughtfully, he also discussed, through baseball, what american ex-pats miss about home. e made connections i would not have considered; definitely worth thinking about.

silly saturday

from silly jokes for kids:

Q: what kind of coat goes on wet?
A: a coat of paint!

photo friday

spa day for lil mouse! 

thoughtful thursday

albert camus:

autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.

whimsical wednesday

it's red dot day for whimsical wednesday! red dot day you wonder? yes! we are counting all those little dots of light that our electronics emit. how many red (or other color) dots shine in your house? you can include the garage and your car(s) if you wish to be comprehensive. report your findings to the whimsey project. it is predicted you'll count more than you think there are!

i did a sweep of the house before sitting down to write this post. my house and attached garage contains 20 red dots shining brightly throughout my abode. they weren't all red. some of them were blue. there were dots on items i didn't even think about before beginning the red dot search.

trivia tuesday

from mother nature network:

the ruddy shelduck is the highest flying duck. it nests on both sides of the himalayas, thus flying over the mountains to each home territory.

miscellaneous monday

another milestone has passed for my family. our mother, grandmother, great-grandmother has died at the age of 92. if you recall, greetings were posted last miscellaneous monday to celebrate her 92nd birthday. she had been in decline for the last few months and when she got so close to her birthday we all hoped that she would make it. she did. then it was time for her to go.

get ready.....

get ready for whimsical wednesday! it's red dot day. no special equipment needed.

solitude sunday

we spend time with a book on solitude sunday. i am currently reading paris to the moon by adam gopnik. in the just read chapter, gopnik explores the meaning of haute couture; fashion being an important part of the fabric that is paris. his descriptions are most likely more revealing than the actual fashion shows he writes about.

silly saturday

from jokes4us.com:

Q: what do you call a mythical vegetable?
A: a unicorn!

photo friday

bountiful harvest from sarah's patio garden.

thoughtful thursday

dr seuss:

i like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.

whimsical wednesday

we're sleuthing books for whimsical wednesday! we are finding books that have our names as the name of the main character. using your computer, type the following into your browser to search:

what books have the name (insert your name) as the main character?

this is likely to yield authors of that name as well. you can look at the bottom of the list on the first page to see refined search ideas.

report your findings to the whimsey project!

trivia tuesday

from mental floss:

the word pizza dates back over 100 years; found in latin text, italy, common era 997.

miscellaneous monday

happy birthday #92 to mom!

get ready...

get ready for whimsical wednesday! we're looking for books. you'll need your internet browser to do the heavy lifting!

solitude sunday

we read a book on solitude sunday. i'm currently reading paris to the moon by adam gopnik. mr gopnik discusses aspects of life in paris as an american. he summed up his social relationship with french society by quoting cioran, "it's hard for me to live in a country where everyone is as irascible as i am".

silly saturday

tweet!

photo friday

jacob's dog.

thoughtful thursday

trenchologist:

no alarm wake up, covered in cats, now it's teatime. good. good.

whimsical wednesday

an art challenge for whimsical wednesday! get out an index card, a pair of scissors, glue and magazine. after the materials are assembled, set a timer for 15 minutes. in that time frame, select a page from the magazine that appeals to you. cut the magazine page into strips. glue the strips in an any arrangements onto the index card. move steadily and keep yourself from thinking as you create; just focus on doing. when the timer rings, stop! resist the urge to tinker with the piece after the 15 minutes are up.  it will be beautiful just as it is!

trivia tuesday

from the audubon society:

indigo buntings are among the many birds that migrate at night. they use the stars to guide them.

miscellaneous monday

happy labor day! enjoy the traditional last day of summer!

get ready...

get ready for whimsical wednesday! get out a magazine, glue stick, scissors and an index card to prepare for our whimsical wednesday activity.

silly saturday

suzi got her ducks in a row!

photo friday

crescent shaped shadows cast by solar eclipse 8.21.2017