Mother's Day- early

My Mom is going to be away on Mother's Day this year so yesterday we celebrated early with a day trip into Philly to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Philadelphia Art Museum. A lovely day- the weather was perfect. We lucked into free parking AND found free museum tickets - I just had to upgrade them to see Frida, a special exhibit. I am truly the luckiest person with stuff like that. We had a couple hours to walk around the rest of the museum before we could get in line to see Frida. My highlights- Van Gogh (Sunflowers), Jackson Pollock, Degas, Andy Warhol and a work by Carlos Amorales called "Black Cloud" that has it's own post right under this one. We had to wait in a long line (30-40 mins) to get into the Frida exhibit. It was worth it. They gave you a set of headphones explaining the background of the paintings. There were a lot of photographs from her personal collection. She had a lot of problems with her health and in her marriage that she incorporated in her amazing work. If you are anywhere near Philly- you should try to get to this show.

Highlight- Philadelphia Museum of Art

Carlos Amorales

Rummaging

I've purposely been staying away from the sales for the last couple weeks. I need to declutter around here and going thrifting is not exactly condusive to that. Well, I noticed in the paper there were a couple of new to me rummage sales today and I got an itch to go spend some money. Keeping in mind that I don't really need anything- I went trying to be choosy.
So for the $10 that I spent today I got-

• eight books
• two cassette tapes
• two record albums
• a baggie full of rick rack and trims
• a bag full of mini terra cotta pots
• vintage baby gift wrap
• two shirts
• pajama bottoms
• cute little skirt
  

Meanwhile back at the ranch......

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We've been waiting......

for lilacs

for ferns

but not for tulips.

This week in Homeschooling.......

We finished reading Hunchback of Notre Dame (NOTHING like the Disney movie) and Swiss Family Robinson last week and watched both movies. This week we've been reading The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. Today we went to Homeschool 4H and learned about recycling and worm composting. We also received trees to plant in our yard. Tim's been reading to them about the Vietnam War. I've been strewing a few things about- Sandra Dodd explains it here. Griffin put together a model skeleton and they both have been working with Tim on making arrows (fletching). They will be demonstrating Medieval Archery at a Renaissance Fair next month.

Dana Fuchs

Riley and I both loved the movie "Across the Universe" so we were pretty excited to see that Dana Fuchs who played the part of Sadie the singer/landlady was giving a concert at a local library last week. Riley still wasn't feeling 100% so we left early but she was beyond amazing.

Update on the tulips

The dog ate my computer.

Reasons for not posting in a week-

• I was put on medication for my high blood pressure that just knocked me out.
  
• Riley's had a sore throat/cough/allergy thing that seriously curtailed all activities.
  
• I tucked a pen behind my ear that exploded ink in my hair and down my neck.

O.K.- I just included that last one so you'd feel sorry for me.

I've still been taking pictures-

Poland forever!

A few pictures of our display from today's Homeschool 4H International fair-

Kielbasa and Babka

Pierogies

Me in my babushka

Health food

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Could these look any prettier?









Well look at that. They can.

See, when you dip berries in dark chocolate you're like doubling the anti-oxidants. That's a medical fact, Jack. We're talking health food here. And I'm all about healthy eating.

I've been taking a lot of pictures lately. No joke- a lot. So I figured it was finally time to upgrade my flickr account to Pro. What fun, today. I uploaded a bunch of pics , made a few sets, joined a few groups and got my first comment! This could be as addictive as blogging I fear.

Action shot of my breadmaker. Whole wheat - again with the health food.

An apple a day...

Today I made apple chips. I had seen it here on Mary Beth's Salt and Chocolate blog a while ago. In true "You gets what you pays for" fashion, my Dollar Store mandolin didn't really produce the results I was hoping for (bent and broke two slices in) but I was lucky enough to find a nicer one at a rummage sale last weekend for only .10 cents! These couldn't be easier- I cored the apple. Sliced it on the mandolin and placed the slices on parchment paper covered cookie sheets. I didn't sprinkle them with anything this time but next time I'll try some cinnamon. Bake for about 2- 2 1/2 hours at 250* for the first hour and 150* after that. Very sweet and crunchy- and gone too fast.

Jane Austen rocks the casbah.

Take the Quiz here!

You are Anne Elliot of Persuasion! Let's face it; you're easily persuaded, particularly when friends and relatives try to use "the Elliot way" against you. But this doesn't mean that you don't have conviction. Actually, your sense of duty is overwhelming. And though you won't stick your neck out too often, you have learned to speak up when it counts. To boot, you know how to handle sticky situations. You love deeply and constantly.

I have to admit - I really wanted to be Elizabeth Bennet, Marianne Dashwood or even Elinor. But I suppose when I think about it this sort of fits and it could be worse, of course. I could have been Lady Catherine de Bourgh or Fanny Dashwood.

Still loving this.

Buying, hanging, renting, reading, loving

Buying these.......
Hanging these.......

Renting this

Reading this


Loving this......


But not quite as much as I love this....

Thrifty finds

Three days in a row of Rummage sales! I've been on a shopping spree. I bought Tim a new trench coat ($5) , I thought he would just want the belt because the belt on his old one is frayed but he likes this coat better. I bought a new (old) tablecloth ($1) and new(old) kitchen curtains ($1).
Also- a huge bag of Halloween decorations ($2), a stack of videos (.25- $1), dozens of books, craft supplies, five glass bowls for making terrariums, eight little Pyrex bowls (.05 each), several drinking glasses (still without a dishwasher and it seems like I'm breaking a glass every other day), half dozen cassette tapes (.50 each), a few more Christmas ornaments (somebody stop me), a stack of sewing/knitting magazines from the 40's/50's ($1 for all) and much, much more.

Garbage can for my studio- found on the curb.

Mini tea set (note the penny for size)

A program from a 1983 production of Show Boat signed by a couple cast members including Lonette McKee!

My Mom collects Snowbabies so I bought her this one for .10

Little books- the kind that you see in the rack at the supermarket checkout.

I love vintage children's book illustrations
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From a cookbook.