Daybook: March 15, Happy Birthday Edition

Today, in honor of my Mother's birthday. . .


outside my window . . .  my mother's birthday started out clear and warm, and quickly turned warm.  The day is ending with some rain clouds moving in.  A very pretty day!

listening to . . . Erik, Faramir, and Kalliope planting our newest fruit trees: Braeburn Apple and Brown Turkey Fig.  My mom would enjoy sitting out in our Adirondack chairs chatting as they work.  I'm sure I'd be sitting with her and we *just might* be sipping a cocktail.

wearing . . .  It is 6:41 and I am seriously considering slipping into my PJs for the evening.  One of my mother's favorite things is PJs, especially a wonderfully, soft and silky cotton set.

so grateful for . . . the way my mom always remembers birthdays and special events for my kids.  Rarely, very rarely has a holiday or birthday gone by without at least a card!  And I love her laugh!

reading . . .  a Chemistry text in preparation for tutoring Athos' Classical Conversations level (Challenge 3) next year.  This will make my mother giggle as I barely got through high school chemistry.  Thank God for Khan Academy!!

around the house . . .  gathering a few items that were forgotten on my mom's recent visit (last week).  I think she just wants to make sure she is remembered around here, so she leaves a few pieces of clothing behind.  :)   

one of my favorite things . . .  a lovely, vintage white flower pin my mother gave me a few years ago.  It is sweet and simple.  I have a pretty lacy scarf that will set off the pin even more wonderfully.  I think I'll wear them together tomorrow.

recent milestones . . .  Mom and my step-dad, Fred, enjoyed having my great grand-mother stay with them for a few months while a new home was being completed.  They took her home a couple of weeks ago and helped her (and her housemates: my Aunt and Uncle and a great Aunt) get moved in a settled.

picture thoughts . . .

My mother, Kay, step-dad, Fred, and the girls.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Strawberry-Apple Pie

5 cups thinly sliced, very tart apples
2 cups sliced strawberries
1-2 Tablespoons lemon juice (or orange juice, if you, like me, have run out of lemons and have no time to go to the market)
1/2 c sugar (or Splenda)
5 T flour
cinnamon
1 double pie crust

Topping:
1/2 T sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

A note before starting: I kept my fruits in separate bowls and then layered them in the pie pan, but you can mix them together in one bowl, if your prefer.


Preheat oven to 450 degrees. After slicing the apples, pour lemon juice over and mix gently.  Strawberries don't need this, but if you have them in the same bowl no problem!

Mix together sugar and flour.  Sprinkle over the fruit and mix gently.

Line the bottom of a pie pan with one of the pie crusts.  Place the fruit in the pie pan (by layers or mixed together, however you prefer) and top with the other pie crust.  Cut top crust to vent steam.  Lighlty dust top of pie with sugar-cinnamon topping (optional).

Bake at 450 for 10 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 30-40 minutes until fruite is bubbly.  Watch pie crust edges.  Cover with foil or pie crust shield (worth spending a few dollars on!) once it has begun to turn golden brown.

Daybook: March 12th

outside my window . . . the sky is so clear and blue.  I'm ready for that early spring "green fuzziness".  We may make it to the lower 70s today.


listening to . . . early morning NPR.  The heat finally kicking on and taking the chill off the house.


wearing . . . pjs, still, for the moment.  Off for my shower in a moment.  Warm today, so maybe a skirt.

so grateful for . . . visit with my mom and step-dad, a fun day with the kids on Erik's birthday, and a lovely dinner out for just the two of us on Friday.

reading . . .  starting Aristophanes today: "Clouds", "Frogs", "Peace" and "Birds".  Still working through Sproul's "Consequences of Ideas".  Considering starting "Olive Kittridge" - any thoughts on that book?

creating . . . a plan for St. Patrick's Day.  More on that later this week...

around the house . . . Erik made some headway on the garage clean out yesterday.  I'd really like to get it cleaned out enough that we could pull the van in during the hottest and coldest months of the year.  This project is on a "fits and starts" schedule, sadly, but we are getting there!

from the kitchen . . . Strawberry-Apple Pie!  Made that last night for hubby's birthday (a day late!).  He requested it, but I was skeptical.  He was right: delicious!

real education in our home . . . Faramir spent the entire afternoon yesterday working on a dirt track for his new Radio-Controlled car complete with ramps and other obstructions.  This is new fascination.


one of my favorite things . . . Hubby's new mug!  Artemisia and I went to a pottery-painting studio recently and made birthday gifts.  My gift to him was a very large mug with a Swedish flag.  I think he liked it.  (Artemisia painted a very pretty cross for him.)


the week ahead . . . phone interview today for a tutoring spot with CC next year, Bible study tonight, Wednesday night church meetings, children's theatre on Thursday, maybe a sleepover for Artemisia on Friday, and our supper club on Saturday.

Euripides: The Bacchae, thoughts and quotes

A small group of ladies met months ago to begin reading through classics of Western literature.  We started at the very beginning with The Illiad and have continued on, though our number is only 3 now, reading through The Orestia (Aeschylus), Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Collnus (Sophocles), and now Euripides' The Bacchae.  It has been a great adventure!  And I'm continually astounded by how real and current the issues are....ok, not the gouging out your eyes, but the centrality of pride as the tragic flaw.

This will not be an academic analysis...it is just one woman's notes and thoughts on an Ancient and Classic play.  I'm determined to prove to myself, and to my children, that "classic" does not mean inaccessible, and that learning doesn't stop just because you are no longer in school!

Some of our St David of Wales Feast day flowers.

So, we are learning together as we read (and our fearless "leader", though she wouldn't call herself that, I bet, re-reads).

By the end of our meeting last Friday, I came away fairly certain that what Euripides presents us with is an appeal to divinity.  He seems to ponder, "There must be something out there," as he shows us the hubris and folly of humans who believe in no divine thing, but he doesn't seem to know what it might be.  On the other hand we are presented with barbarism that can have no source in divinity, which should be above human passions and prides.  It seems he is almost saying, "There must be some god, but these crazy Greek gods aren't it!"

Euripides begins by exploring the concept of wisdom greater than human logic and a power greater than human strength.

line 200:
We do not trifle with divinity,
No, we are the heirs of customs and traditions 
hallowed by age and handed down to us 
by our fathers.  No quibbling logic can topple them,
whatever subtleties this clever age invents.

line 309:
Mark my words,
Pentheus.  Do not be so certain that power
is what matters in the life of men; do not mistake 
for wisdom the fantasies of your sick mind.

line 505:
You do not know
the limits of your strength.  You do not know
what you do.  You do know know who you are.

One of our cats, my particular buddy, has found a cubby hole hideout on my desk.  This is why I cannot stay organized!

There are themes of knowing oneself - that self-deception is the greatest deception and the greatest foolishness.  And here Pentheus (the young ruler, who distrusts anything that isn't logical) is told by a disguised Dionysus that he doesn't know what he's doing...we know, because of foreshadowing, that he is going to have a tragic end.

line 636:
.... A man, a man, and nothing more,
yet he presumed to wage a war with a god.


line 641:
Wise men know constraint: our passions are controlled.

Pentheus is warned time and again not to try to war against the god, Dionysus.  That it will be his end, but in his great pride he cannot see his foolishness.

It is hard to have much pity for him at this point...he truly is prideful beyond belief!  But then Dionysus brings him down by his (Pentheus') own mother's hand - and we are stirred to pity for the disaster he's been lured into even if by his own pride.

It is too late for Pentheus and his entire family, they are all destroyed in the end, but the Chorus reminds us that it is not too late for the reader:

line 1000:
Against the unassailable he runs, with rage
obsessed.  Headlong he runs to death.
For death the gods exact, curbing by that bit
the mouths of men.  They humble us with death
that we remember what we are who are not god,
but men.  We run to death.  Wherefore, I say,
accept, accept:
humility is wise, humility is blest.


and at 1151:
Humility, a sense of reverence before the sons of heaven - 
of all the prizes that a mortal man might win,
these, I say, are wisest; these are best.

A typical school day.  This is about half of our school room. 

Euripides questions the Olympian gods' motives and actions directly:
line 1348:
Gods should be exempt from human passions.

But we have seen the very opposite of this from the god Dionysus, whose passions have driven him to brutality.

Both central characters: Dionysus and Pentheus are completely inflexible.  But we can expect a man, especially a young man, to be flawed by pride...but not a god.  Surely, Euripides wasn't suggesting that these pitiless gods were worth our devotion.  Rather, he is presenting us with a quandary he was trying to solve: we must have belief in something beyond ourselves; otherwise, we become entirely at the mercy of own "sick minds".  Clearly, however, these gods are not it.


(the lines refer to the translation by W. Arrowsmith, U. Chicago press)

Daybook: March 5th

outside my window . . .  So many little spring flowers blooming early.  I do hope we won't lose our spring bloom to a late freeze.

listening to . . . Kalliope watching "Curious George" across the hall in my bedroom.  (I'm in Erik's study this morning as he has his Monday meeting with a friend.)

wearing . . . pjs - not dressed, yet!

so grateful for . . .   A homeschool friend's eldest daughter was married yesterday.  It was a very sweet ceremony and reception.  The food was fantastic!  Everything was very elegant and simple.  I loved it!

pondering . . .  where to plant two new trees that were just delivered: a fig and an apple.


reading . . .  Consequences of Ideas (RC Sproul),  Comedies (Aristophanes)


thinking . . . after a long season of not being able to get out and walk (the cold is just too much for my facial nerve issue), I've started walking again.  Hope to shed some pounds before summer!

creating . . .  nothing these days.

around the house . . .  I am feeling the need to do some spring cleaning.  After a few months of homeschooling, things just start to pile up in certain places....little chores that can "wait" do just that, and before you know it they've piled up into a big heap.


from the kitchen . . . Considering a Vegetable Jolloff to celebrate Ghana's Independence Day.

real education in our home . . .  With my permission, Faramir didn't read the book for this week's CC class (Secret Garden), instead I've asked him to watch a movie version so he can at least be familiar with the plot.


the church year in our home . . . lovely yellow daffodil-like flowers and Baby's Breath for St. David's feast day.  Looking forward to St. Patrick's Day on the 17th and St. Joseph's Day on the 19th.


one of my favorite things . . . I really do love my Lively Literary group.  We had a great discussion on Friday about Euripides "The Bacchae".


recent milestones . . . Athos has his driver's permit!!


the week ahead . . . Tuesday is Ghana's Independence Day.   My mom and step dad arrive for a visit tomorrow or Wednesday.  Erik's birthday on Saturday!

Quick Meal: Green Curry Vegetables over Rice

Sorry this is out of focus, and in general just not the best photo.

This is a very quick and easy meal, and because it is vegan it makes a great meal for those following a strict Lenten fast.  If you have members in your family who are still eating meat, you could easily throw in some cooked and shredded chicken.

For the Green Curry sauce (right off the Green Curry Paste jar):

1 14 oz can of Coconut Milk (use lite to cut the fat)
1-2 T of Thai Kitchen Green Curry Paste
1 T - or so, fish Sauce (I didn't have any so I used Worcestershire)
1 1/2 T - or so, brown sugar

Mix this all in a large saute pan, until just simmering.  Then toss in about 7 c of frozen "Stir Fry" veggies (or any kind you like).  Keep simmering until the veggies are defrosted and heated through.  *if adding cooked chicken, add it at the same time...or you can let each person add theirs at the table (pre-warmed in the microwave, if necessary).  This served 6 of us, with only a little leftover.

Serve over jasmine rice for the most authentic recipe, or brown rice for more fiber.

The day ahead and some feast days

Feast day of St John Cassian 
(about whom I am pretty ignorant)

And today is Leap Year!  Happy Birthday to all you Leap Year babies!  So, does poor John Cassian only get remembered every 4 years?

The day ahead should be a busy one.  Artemisia has her CC meeting today, but the boys are on Spring Break.  There is a large box that needs to be shipped to a homeschool friends in Canada.  I am meeting a young man about potentially teaching my Advanced Math seminar in next year's Challenge 3 class.  Then there is a baby shower and wedding to get ready for this weekend...and my Lively Literary reading group is meeting this Friday to discuss Euripides' The Bacchae, which I need to finish reading.  And Dear Neighbor and her family are coming over this Friday!  We are SO excited ... it has been far too long since we saw them.

And then there is the laundry.  I have, literally, piles of clean (at least it is CLEAN) laundry in my room waiting to be put away.  This is my Achilles heel.  Why is it so hard? I can wash it, dry it, and even fold it...but putting it away eludes me.

The flag of St. David of Wales

Did you know that tomorrow is St. David's Feast Day?  Well, it is!  We are having Welsh Rarebit for dinner (I've no idea if this is a truly Welsh dish or not, but it is the best I can do!)...and I am going to find some daffodils to put on the table.  Apparently, leeks are his personal symbol, so a leek soup might be good, too.






Any other ideas for celebrating St. David's day?

If you are new here...

Welcome!  Abandoning an already "established" blog could be risky, but it was just time to consolidate all my blogging efforts in one place.  I do hope many of the Ten O'Clock Scholar readers will make their way over and subscribe by hitting that "RSS" button to the right.

I'm still doing some construction here, so I thank you in advance for your patience!

If you are a Ten O'Clock Scholar reader, poke around and you'll find almost all of the posts from that blog here plus many others from Potter's Shed and my commonplace book blog.   Conversly, if you've been reading The Potter's Shed, you will notice some new posts from A Ten O'Clock Scholar.

I'm so glad you've followed my move through cyber-space!

Nativity Carnival: Keeping Christmas -- Jan 3rd

Welcome to the Nativity Carnival: Keeping Christmas

Each week, Advent through Epiphany, a new "Mr Linky" will be posted for you to share your Nativity Season-related ideas and thoughts from your blog.  (Just copy the link to your post and paste it into the Mr Linky box below.) 

Also, please add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!


Today we are back to school.  Oh, it is so hard to get started...and I really hate that we must instead of enjoying the rest of our Christmas.  However, classes resume tomorrow and there is work that must be finished beforehand.

While I haven't removed any decorations, and I continue to keep the tree lit all day, it is time to start packing up some of the unneeded Christmas items....like the wrapping paper...and the Advent items (wreath, book, etc).  Packing up is not my favorite thing to do.   I'm not good at wrapping things up.

We started a big garage clean out project this weekend.  I really wanted it done, but it was one of those things that I just couldn't quite bring myself to start.  Erik looked at my Sunday afternoon and said, "Ok, let's get started."  And of course, once we began the work was easy and we've made great progress.  Took a load to a friend (Anglican priest) who accepts donations for garage sales (he keeps the proceeds to supplement their income).  Another load went to a consignment shop.  Hopefully, we'll get a little bit of money from that to help *our* income.

That is how our New Year started - and it seemed a good and fitting way to start a new year: cleaning out and giving away.

Friday is Epiphany!  We are going to celebrate Twelfth Night with a King Cake and our church's Epiphany Pageant on Friday.  Artemisia and Kalliope will be the cutest angels in the whole angel choir.  Am I biased?  Maybe.  Either that night or the next morning we'll do a house blessing (search my blog for a short service you can do with your family) and probably finish off the king cake.

So, how did your new year start?  And how are you continuing to celebrate Christmas despite school and work resuming?

If you are reading in a feed reader, please click through to the blog for the Mr. Linky posts! 

For those submitting links: 

So that others might enjoy the carnival, don't forget to add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

My Favorite Movies of 2011

We do love movies at our house and watch plenty.   Here are my favorites from 2011. . . .


Nacho Libre (2006 PG) - Typical Jack Black hilarity.  A silly movie about "Nacho" who was orphaned as a boy and grew up in the monastery where he now serves as the monastery cook.   He has always desired to be a famous wrestler, and begins secretly going out to wrestle in the local wrestling club where he hopes to win fame and fortune and the heart of his love (a very beautiful young nun who has recently arrived at the monastery).  Our whole family enjoyed this movie!

The King's Speech (2010 R) -  Has anyone not heard of this movie?  Story of King George VI who came suddenly and unexpectedly to the throne when his elder brother abdicated in order to marry Wallis Simpson.  This was particularly daunting for George as he had struggled with a severe stutter his entire life.  This movie chronicles him overcoming that stutter.  I love Helena Bonham Carter as his wife, Queen Elizabeth (that's the Queen Mom - current Queen Elizabeth II's mother). Rated R for language and LOTS of it, but within the context it is acceptable.  If you trust your older children not to repeat the bad language that was part of King George's therapy, it would be a great movie for them to watch.

Cold Comfort Farm (1995 PG) - 1930's England is the setting for this drama-comedy about a young woman who goes to stay on a family-owned "farm" (more like a boarding house) where she is the lead caretaker.  The Farm is inhabited by a cast of oddball characters which makes for a lot of craziness.  Based on a 1932 book by Stella Gibbons of the same name.  The cast is phenomenal: Kate Beckinsale, Ian McKellan, Joanna Lumley, Eileen Atkins, Stephen Fry, and loads more faces you'll recognize.  Older teens might enjoy this, but for some reason I seem to remember one scene of drug use (marijuana), but can't find it mentioned in any of the reviews, so maybe I mis-remember!

Stone of Destiny (2008 - PG) - Set in early 1950s.  True story of four young men who plot to steal the Scottish "Stone of Scone" from the British to return it to its rightful place in Scotland.  Funny story and great history.  Great family movie!  Kids should enjoy the excitement of the boys plotting to steal the stone.

Opa! (2005 - PG-13, very brief nudity and some language)  I'd let my kids watch this although I don't think they'd be all that interested.  The nudity is not in a sexual context (we see a man's tush as he jumps in the water to go swimming).  Stars Matthew Modine, whose acting is outshined by his co-star Agni Scott.  Story is about an archeologist  who comes to the Greek island of Patmos in search of a legendary artifact.  In the course of his search he meets and falls in love with a Greek young woman who runs a local eatery.  A sweet romance and comedy.

Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002 - PG) - In the 1930s aboriginal children were systematically removed from their homes and placed in training schools all across Australia.  This is the story of two sisters and a cousin who escape from their school and head home on foot across the Outback.  Kenneth Brannagh stars.

The Syrian Bride (2004 - NR, but I'd say PG) - A family drama and a political one.  Thankfully the political didn't drown out the family.  This is the story of a Druze family on the Israeli side of the Israeli-Syrian border whose daughter is marrying a young man on the Syrian side.  Due to complicated politics, once she crosses the border to marry her new husband, she will never be able to return home to her family, so the marriage is very bittersweet.  Funny, sad, educational.

Serenity (but only if you've watched the Firefly TV series) - :)  If you watch Firefly, you get it...if not no amount of explanation can adequately describe.  If you haven't watched Firefly - DO!  It is still on Netflix streaming, I believe.

A Summer in Genoa (2008 - R) - Colin Firth stars in this movie about a newly widowed man and his two daughters who travel to Genoa for a summer.  The father has been asked to come work in the university.  While there they begin to heal after their mother's sudden death in a car crash.  A slow movie, so if that isn't something you can tolerate, this might not be the movie for you.

The Way Back (2010 - PG-13) - a group of WWII Siberian labor camp escapees attempt to reach freedom.  They travel through Siberia, Gobi Desert, and the Himalayas on foot.  Fantastic scenery.  Rated PG-13, but we would have no qualms about letting our 12 and 15 year old watch this.  One bit of raunchiness (men in the labor camp drawing nude pictures of women) at the very beginning and a very little bit of language, but other than that a very clean movie.

The Lion in Winter (2003 - Not Rated, made for TV, but definitely PG-13 for some brief nudity and one scene with frank sexual language) - Glen Close, Patrick Stewart - remake of 1968 movie which was based on the 1966 Broadway play) - A fictional story based on King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Set during a fictional Christmas Court during which King Henry is trying to determine who will succeed him.  Fantastic acting, as you'd expect from the stars.

Housewife, 49  (2006 - Not Rated, made for TV - PG just due to the subject matter) - a British movie set in WW2 England.  Follows a housewife from the start of the war to the end.  She begins working in a women's auxiliary (to support the war effort) which, over time, gives her confidence in herself.  True story based on a diary kept by the main character.

That Thing You Do (1996- PG) - Tom Hanks wrote, directed, and starred in this sweet movie about a group of young musicians who make it to the "big time" in the 1960's.  Great family movie!  Barely rated PG, in my opinion.  Erik and I had seen this before, but watched it again with our kids who loved it, too.

And the worst movies I've seen in 2011:  Frozen (I wasn't surprised this was bad because it didn't have good Netflix ratings, but thought it might at least be exciting.  Sadly, it wasn't even exciting... it was just stupidly BAD), followed closely by Greenberg (highly rated by the critics), which I thought had NO redeeming qualities.