Books I'm Reading in September......

I received some books in the mail just in time for Labor Day weekend. There's nothing more intriging than a new stack of books!

 

"The summer I was five, John Singer Sargent came to visit us. He wasn't a famous artist then. But he painted a picture in our garden that became quite famous. Here is how I remember what happened.........'

My favorite artist right now is John Singer Sargent. This little book is about a time he spent with a family, and painted the children's individual portraits. It is written by Hugh Brewster as told by one of the little girls. Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose is a book for young readers, but that does not detract from its story.

House Beautiful Decorating With Books

A great book of photographs of home libraries and use of books for decoration.

Below: I would never leave this room if it were mine!

Here is my library area.

This book will take awhile to get through. The photos are so deep and colorful, full of detail. A coffee table type book The Most Beautiful LIBRARIES in the World is a architectural delight.

The Avvey Library of Saint Gall, Switzerland

The Prunksaal in Austria, this is the map room.

Above: The John Rylands Library reading room, England

The Boston Athenaeum reading room

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I am still reading this next book, The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Set in rural Mississippi, in the early 1960's, it is a sweet, informative  book about the lives of the help, and the white families they take care of. It does not finger-point, it is not an angry novel. It gently draws you into the very personal lives of all kinds of different people that interact out of habit, rather than thought. 

 I finished the book and I can say it was ok, but not riveting or earth shaking. I did learn about what things were like in the South in the 1960's in white and black households, but it was drawn out and had a very anti-climatic ending. The author summed things up in about 5 sentences, and then it was done.

Some Antiquing and Flea Market Time

Country Living Magazine said, "Tiny Sparks, Kansas — population 9! — hosts crowds of up to 75,000 twice each summer, with 450 dealers displaying a range of antiques and collectibles at great prices. "


Coming to Sparks on  Labor Day weekend has become a fun tradition in the last few years. Saturday was a beautiful day, high in the 80's and sunny. Several of us went to the Sparks Antique and Flea Market and then up the highway to the White Cloud Flea Market. These little towns are northwest of St. Joseph, Missouri, in Kansas.

As it got crowded, many began standing on tip toes to see.

This little bottle fed goat was a pet of one of the vendors. He got lots of attention!

Then I started getting hungry......

As we got back on the highway, the trail of parked cars had grown.

That's a soybean field behind the cars, and running along those hills in the background is the Missouri River.

 White Cloud sits on the banks of the Missouri River. Long before the white men came to the area, the land belonged to the Ioway tribe, whose chief was White Cloud. Entry to the river is right at the base of Main Street. White Cloud's flea market was all on the main drag.     

A Little Flag Waving Continued

Boy, do my fun things slow down once school starts back up. But my project is finished! Remember this........

I finally got a chance to paint my little project, which I put on the shelf in my office at home.

$7.95 for lumber

$3.25 for paints

$2.57 paint brushes

$13.77 total

Better than Pottery Barn's $129.00 plus shipping.............


Ok, my political science/lawyer daughter just called me and said I have 61 stars!!! I am NOT repainting it.This is so typical of me!!!!

What I'm reading in August......

     I love reading fiction that lets me pick up bits of historical information, and travel to places I have not been. Lethal Legacy by Linda Fairstein does just that. Fairstein is a former prosecutor that now writes crime novels.  It takes place in New York, and much better, in the New York Public library, where the subject is theft of rare books and maps. This is a suspense novel that is the 11th in the series of Alexandra Cooper. This is the first one I have read, and it does NOT detract from the story. I may be late to the party, but I am going to read all of them!

Here is a short video of author Linda Fairstein in the New York Public Library:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7tf5y_lethal-legacy-linda-fairstein_shortfilms

                                                                                                                                                
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is one book that has the most honest characters I have met in a long time. CeeCee is a 12 year old girl, who moves to Savannah, Georgia in 1967 to live with a great aunt. I have taught 12 year old girls for 13 years, and I must say  author Beth Hoffman has a clear picture of the internal thoughts of a 12 year old girl. This book made me cry and laugh out loud, and I wanted to have all those characters as friends, too. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt would  make a fabulous movie and I am already casting it in my mind!

Here is a link to an interview with author Beth Hoffman:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FFX7u_Dw_s

Back to School

Even though my girls are grown, I still cringe at the "Back to School" print ads and TV

 commercials, because I have to go back to school.  I have a mug that says:

I will not throw things in class.

I will not yell in class.

I will not get mad and hit the person sitting next to me.

I will not throw a temper tantrum.

I will be good because

I AM THE TEACHER!

I AM THE TEACHER!

I AM THE TEACHER!

So, I thought you might like to see some pictures of my classroom and students.

This is the classroom area of my room. I am on the right, and my helpful paraprofessional is on the left.

Above is the science lab in the back of the classroom.

Here are a few of my students carrying out a lab experiment. Notice how focused they are. No cell phones, no texting.  That's my principal on the right, stopping by to observe.

Sometimes in order to work out a formula, we must go back and review our math facts. Little Jimmy on the right  may be staying after school today........

This guy looks a little odd, but he is our new head of the Science department, and although his answers to my questions are quite detailed and complicated, I think he is going to work out all right.

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL!