Monthly Archives: June 2007

Poetry

Poetry Friday: Bonny Mary o’ Argyle

1 Comment

Although this tender ballad is a Scottish staple, it was written around 1850 by a couple of Englishmen: Charles Jeffreys (lyrics) and Sidney Nelson (music).

I have heard the mavis singing
His love song to the morn
I have seen the dew drop clinging
To the rose just newly born
But a sweeter song has cheered me
At the evening’s gentle close
And I’ve seen an eye still brighter
Than the dew drop on the rose
‘Twas thy voice my gentle Mary
And thine artless, winning smile
That made this world an Eden
Bonnie Mary of Argyle.

Tho’ thy voice may lose its sweetness
And thine eye its brightness too
Tho’ thy step may lack its fleetness
And thy hair its sunny hue
Still to me wilt thou be dearer
Than all the world shall own
I have loved thee for thy beauty
But not for that alone
I have sought thy heart, dear Mary
And its goodness was the wile
That has made thee mine forever
Bonnie Mary of Argyle.

You can hear the melody here, and this site has an image of a broadside with the words, published between 1860-1880.

This week’s Poetry Friday roundup can be found at Shaken & Stirred.

Books

A Booklist List

4 Comments

I promised some friends I’d put together a list of my favorite booklists. Here we go, then:

Ambleside Online—click "Books" under each year. Don’t miss the "Additional Books for Free Reading" at the bottom of each list.

Reading Your Way Through History and Love2Learn.net.

Chinaberry Books.

The Sonlight catalog—order a paper copy to keep around for good historical fiction recommendations.

MacBeth’s Opinion—especially good for nature & science books, but lots of other categories there as well.

The 1000 Good Books list and its sister list, 100 Great Books.

Lots to choose from at The Baldwin Project, which I posted about here.

Here are the Newbery and Caldecott winners from 1922 and 1938, respectively, through 2007.

The Horn Book Awards.

Join the Literature Alive discussion group for lively conversation about favorite books.

The Real Learning Booklist—especially the picture book suggestions in the early years.

Also good for picture book ideas: the books used in Before Five in a Row and Five in a Row, even if you aren’t planning on "rowing."

Oh, and Sherry Early’s Picture Book Preschool recommends wonderful books for your youngest listeners.

For enjoyable books for kids of all ages, you can’t go wrong with the selection at FUN-Books.

Speaking of fun, here’s a fun one: the "100 Cool Girls of Children’s Literature" list at Jen Robinson’s Books Page. I’m mighty proud to say that my Martha made the list.

I have a list of our Favorite Fictional Families over at Bonny Glen.

I’ll add more lists here as I think of them…I know there are other good ones I’ve used.

Uncategorized

A Nice Offer from a Reader

3 Comments

I’m pulling this up from yesterday’s comments, to make sure it doesn’t get missed. Amber responded to my call for planner reviews with this kind offer:

OK, this is really funny! I was
looking through my drawer about five minutes ago (because my toddler
had unpacked it, of course!) and I came across my Small Meadow Press
Circle of Days planner. It is a lovely little planner, but it just
didn’t work for me. I thought of you and your series last summer, and I
was thinking I would email you and see if you’d be willing to offer the
planner to whoever might have use for it. Then I went to your site to
get your email address and lo and behold, here’s this post staring at
me!

I don’t need the planner and since I’m moving in less than a month
(eek!!) I’d rather not take it with me. I’d really like for someone to
have it though who could use it – it seems like such a shame to just
recycle it! Anyone interested?

That’s so nice! Leave a comment if you’d like to take her up on it. First commenter, first served!

Connections

Wascally Wabbit Twail

5 Comments

I guess it started with an episode of The Pink Panther. That blue aardvark must have put the song in my head: I found myself humming an old Sesame Street tune. I couldn’t remember more than the first line. I’m an aardvark, and I’m proud…

YouTube came to my rescue.

On the YouTube page, there was a link to the clip where the orange is rolling around the kitchen, and stuff flies out of drawers to become its face: the rubber-band mouth, the mop hair. Naturally, the second the orange has a complete face, it sings an aria from Carmen. That’s what fruit secretly lives for, you know: the chance to perform opera. Every orange is a secret diva.

Of course after that we had to watch The Rabbit of Seville and Kill the Wabbit. Ain’t YouTube swell?

(Speaking of YouTube, Sandra Dodd has just posted a page with clips of an Animaniacs geography song. The words are the names of every country in the world. One clip shows the countries on a map; the other shows flags. Cool! Other neat stuff on that page too.)
 

Day Planners

Mom Planner Reviews, Season 2: Your Opinions

12 Comments

Last summer’s series on day planners for moms continues to be one of my highest search-engine traffic draws. I’m gearing up for another set of reviews, but in the meantime (and more importantly), I’d like your input. My wonderful (and dearly missed) Virginia pal, Sarah of Herding Turtles, suggested I ask my readers the following question:

Which planner did you wind up using this past year, and—here’s the pertinent question—are you still using it?

Please share your thoughts in the comments!

Last year’s planner reviews:
MomAgenda
Catholic Woman’s Daily Planner
Small Meadow Press — Circle of Days
The BusyBodyBook
The Mom’s Daily Planner
Reader Suggestions

Household

Works for Me Wednesday: The Peanut Butter Basket

5 Comments

I think the inspiration for this little brainstorm was the book, Confessions of an Organized Housewife (which book, by the way, caused my friend Lisa to about die with laughter when she spotted it on my shelf, half hidden behind a flower vase, three hair barrettes, and an old disposable camera, while helping me pack for the move).

The author of that book talks about kitchen organization, and storing items commonly used together in one place, instead of, say, measuring cups in cabinet X and measuring spoons in drawer Y. Makes more sense to keep your measuring cups and spoons together along with the electric beaters, your favorite mixing bowl, and possibly the baking powder.

I thought that was a great idea and promptly took her advice (some six or seven years ago).

Later it occurred to me to use that grouping technique for the lunch-prep items my kids and I use almost every single day. I got a plastic basket for the pantry, and that’s where we keep the peanut butter (creamy and crunchy), honey, and a loaf of bread. It’s much easier to pull out that one basket than to have the kids rummaging through the pantry for the various items.

Hardly rocket science, but it works for us!

(And of course this is the same principle at work in my famed Personal Salad Bar.)