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This Week in Children's Literature: Poetry

This has probably been one of the most enjoyable weeks of learning for my children's lit. class, partly because we didn't have a quiz in honor of Thanksgiving. It was about poetry, a subject I've always loved but have sadly neglected in recent years.

What is poetry anyway?

Poetry, at it's most basic, is a short, lyrical response to the world. It is emotion under extreme pressure or recollection in a small space. It is the coal of experience so compressed it becomes a diamond. 

 -Jane Nolan

It is time to make some diamonds again.

Here is a sample poem from my textbook:

Great, Good, Bad

A great book is a homing device

For navigating paradise.

A good book somehow makes you care

About the comfort of a chair.

A bad book owes to many trees 

A forest of apologies. 

-From Please Bury Me in the Library by J. Patrick Lewis  

Promised Pictures

A new bedspread for a new look.

Inspirational quotes over my bed, encouraging sweet dreams.

Instead of a night stand, eternally gathering clutter, I now keep my nightly necessities on a slim and tidy bookshelf. 

 

 New curtains for the closet...

...and the window.

 

 

And two more quotes from Audrey, sending me off to school in high spirits.

 

 

 

Out of Africa

"If I know a song of Africa...

...does Africa know a song of me?" 

--Isak Dinesen

Travel Journals

If you were going on a journey, which one would you take?

Day 14

Can it be that the first rose of the year is already starting to bloom? And the first day of spring still two days away! 

Day 10: No Pictures Today

And, unfortunately, probably not many words either. I've had a long, busy day, productive but busy. I went over to Becki, my sewing teacher's house this morning to finish up that shirt I was working on. It turned out to be much more complicated than I had anticipated, but I've learned a lot. Now it's just about finished. There's only one more step to complete which will go quickly.

The other good news is I now have a sewing table all to myself so I can set the sewing machine up in my room permanently. No more borrowing the game table, hauling it up to my room, and setting everything up each time I want to sew.

But no more sewing for today. I am ready for the weekend.  

Farewell October

Trying to get the perfect angle. 

Welcome November and the holiday season!

More October Pictures

I know this is pretty much more of the same, but all the fall colors have intensified in the past three days.

October is so very photogenic. 

October Colors

Yet amongst the changing colors of fall... 

 

 ...there still remain a few remnants of summer.

 

Glimpses of the Fading Summer

And the beginnings of a beautiful fall. 

What I Saw Today

 If I remember correctly, this cloud of dainty, little, star-like flowers is a called clematis. 

As far as the names of flowers go, I am not much of an expert. My mom is the master gardener, at least as far as flowers go. 

 

I just can't get enough of these roses!

September is such a beautiful month.