7 Random Takes

1. New News

Want to hear me on the radio again?

I'll be discussing important things like the uncanny similarity between Lucius Malfoy and Thranduil the Elven King,

and whether or not my husband can pull off the blonde wig look again this Halloween

and where we can find him a giant moose to ride.

But seriously, I'm going to chat books and other things with Allison Gingras on A Seeking Heart on May 4th. Be sure to download the Real Life Radio App to your Android or Apple device so you can hear our folksy chat.

I imagine it's going to be like SNL Coffee Talk or the SNL NPR bits.

Or more likely she will be all suave and sophisticated and I will be like this:



2. Ever tried to comment on this blog and it didn't work out? Please try again today. I'm trying something new. I really really want to hear from you.

Mom, please give it another shot. :) Or just call me.

3. Old News

The 100th Anniversary of Gallipoli is tomorrow.

Don't know what Gallipoli is or how to pronounce it? Neither did I, but my high school freshman, Lucy, filled me in.

I'm not that savvy with my history dates. I just happen to follow @kensingtonroyal on Instagram and they are gearing up for a big memorial. Mostly I just follow because I like to see Princess Kate's clothing choices.

Looking for a good movie about the invasion at Gallipoli? So am I. The Mel Gibson one on Amazon Instant Video is not it unfortunately. The beginning is slow but okay, the end is tragic but okay. The middle has porn and prostitutes. Not okay.

Perhaps Russell Crowe's The Water Diviner, in theaters this weekend, will prove better.

True confession. Aside from the asassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, everything I know about WWI, I learned from Rilla of Ingleside, War Horse, and Richard Peck's A Year Down Yonder (and Gallipoli the movie and the boardgame Stratego).

It ain't much.

Hit me with all of your good First World War aka The Great War literature recommendations by loading up my brand new open to all readers combox. Danke!

4. Movie Rec

We all greatly enjoyed The Conspirator available on Amazon Prime or on Netflix.

It's all about the trial of Mary Surrat who was allegedly one of John Wilkes Booth's conspirators in the Lincoln assassination, and who also happened to be Catholic. (Lots of esses in the word "assassination.")

Several famous actors star in The Conspirator, including Rory Gilmore, Kevin Kline, Princess Buttercup, and Mr. Tumnus.

This movie is fine for the whole family as long as the whole family is fine with watching Lincoln and Booth get shot in the head(s?) and footage of the other murder attempts.

5. Book Rec

The Conspirator pairs well with the audio book we are still listening too. Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson. (Yes, I know I mentioned this book here, but I hadn't actually listened to it yet.) The author draws upon every detail in the attempt on Secretary of State Seward's life and the plot to assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson.

Did you know that Booth and his cohorts planned to murder three of the top political leaders of the nation in one night? Not just Lincoln? Well, I sure didn't.

6. Girl Talk

Susan is gearing up for her "season." Prom is coming up and her graduation gala is later in May. No caps and gowns at her all girls' academy. Graduates wear long white dresses with elbow length white gloves.

Her gala dress is actually a wedding dress from ModCloth. I bought it last summer, but they still have a few one in stock. I absolutely love it. I wish you could see the back because BUTTONS!

We got her prom dress from an online shop called Promgirl of all places.  We rejected other prom dress websites because of poor return policies. Promgirl has a great return policy and an enormous selection.

Too bad her #promposal isn't up on YouTube. Several senior boys (from the brother school) made an adorable and hilarious music video to Uptown Funk to invite their dates.

Remember that scene in the Sound of Music where the family is at the music concert singing So Long, Farewell and they do this?

They did that. Too cute.

7. Bizniz

May 6th is the May WWRW Link Up date, but I keep the party doors open all month. Have a book review post from April? It's not too late to join the April WWRW party!

Linking up with Kelly's Clean Hair at This Ain't the Lyceum for Seven Quick Takes.

7QT: March Madness

1. Susan's Prom Planning Meeting

"Mom, you haven't blogged about me in a while. Are you going to blog about me soon?"

This email went out to all the seniors at Susan's school:

Hello Senior Board Members,
This Friday, February 27th, we are having a Prom planning meeting.  You hopefully saw the flier John and Emma handed out.  This is not mandatory, so if you cannot make it no worries.  If you are planning to be here, please RSVP to this email.
Its very important that you RSVP, so please reply to this if you are coming!
Thanks,
Mrs. S
Mrs. R
Mrs. C

This email from an unknown party followed soon after:

Change of plans the meeting will be changed from this Friday to this Thursday the 26th. Please try to make this change fit your schedules accordingly and sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks for all you do 

See, one of the email addresses was entered incorrectly, so Mrs. S had to clear up matters:

Ignore this last email.  It from a wrong email address for Emma.  Don't know who it went to...someone who is being obnoxious, that's for sure!!!!!!!!!!!

But she forgot to remove "Evan" from the email thread:

With the new material that was dropped on me this morning it is absolutely imperative that all of you are in attendance this Thursday. If you absolutely can not make it please email me and let me know. Again I apologize for the inconvenience... If it is any consolation Max has volunteered to bring in a lovely vegetable tray and deli platter for us to snack on as we will be in this meeting for the long haul Thursday night. Thanks again!

Personally, I think Susan should ask "Evan" to the Prom. Alas, the meeting was on Friday and he and his deli platter did not show.

2. Painting Furniture.

Is it still "in"?

Because I have a china cabinet that I loathe and rather than buy a new one, I think I could paint it to look like this one.

Or this one.

Or this.

I figure if Ethan Allen is still doing it, it's gotta be "on trend."


3. Springfield, where our governors make our license plates.

We're planning a day trip to Springfield this month.  We've done it before awhile back.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum is incredible. You walk through Abe's parents' log cabin, Mary Todd Lincoln's White House, and you go into the Lincoln's box at Ford's Theater.

We haven't done the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library before, but I've heard the exhibits there are terrific as well.

We also need to visit Lincoln's tomb.  The one that was nearly robbed by carpet baggers who were trying to re-start the war. And his house from when he was an attorney.

4.

As usual, we are doing some larnin' to prep for this excursion. We've been reading lots of books about Lincoln including Abraham Lincoln by the D'Aulaires, and Russell Freedman's Lincoln: A Photobiography.

We are also going to watch Daniel Day Lewis's Lincoln movie as well as The History Channel documentary: Stealing Lincoln's Body.

5. When we get to Springfield, I surely hope to eat a horseshoe. Or at least a pony shoe.

That would be a hamburger on Texas toast covered with french fries and smothered in cheese sauce.

Don't be judging.

6.  Thorntons be hitting all the capitals this year. (Capitols are the buildings, capitals are the cities.)

Peter, Susan, and Lucy

We are very fortunate to have relatives who love us enough to take All of us into their home every now and then for Easter. We love all of them and always have a crazy-wonderful time.

I spoke with Mr. McFeely about the recent passing of Fred Rogers at this time. 

We did our nation's Capitol and egg rolling at the White House last time. It's one of the few things my older kids remember from our last trip in 2004.

Mt. Vernon with Lucy, Edmund, and Peter. Maybe I should go back to my Dharma haircut? 

We are making our lists and checking them twice. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the monuments, and the dum-dum statue are all on the itinerary.

We're reading and watching reference materials for this odyssey too. Movies like Night at the Museum and National Treasure. High brow stuff, indeed. Yes, I'm open to suggestions here. Grasping at straws.

7.  This is so bad, it's good.

Let It Go - The Sacrament of Confession version

Hanging with Kelly's Crew for 7QT. 

7QT: Rinks Rule!

1. We have a winner!

Would Susan Kolosionek come on down! You have won the Blackberry Sage Dragon Soap from RobinsOwn (that I bought because Robin doesn't know me from Adam) and the teal soap dish (from TJ Maxx).

2. Have you seen this Reese Witherspoon movie, The Good Lie? 

So good.

Reese is not really the star of this film, but she is the headliner. The Good Lie, for those of you who live under a rock or in a cave as I do, is about three of the Lost Boys of Sudan, their journey to Kenya, and eventually to America.

There is one not great scene, the first scene with Reese. The movie is rated PG-13. I think the rating is spot on, though I did let my 12 year old watch it.

So good.

The Good Lie reminded me of the incredible children's novel I read and reviewed about the Lost Boys of Sudan by Linda Sue Park called A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story.

Edmund doesn't know it yet, but he's reading A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story in the near future.

3. Big skating party here yesterday. 

A (young, hip) seminarian-deacon came over as well as a dozen or so friends and family.

He said he couldn't skate, but he was skating backwards and whipping around the rink like nobody's business. I did hear that he can't stop though.

The little girls and I stayed in the warmth and made blueberry muffins.

It was picture perfect.

The rink definitely puts a positive spin on winter. Edmund uses the rink every chance he gets for recess and has neighbor kids or cousins over most days after school.

We've accumulated an enormous stash of skates so we can provide for just about any size, including Lucy's entire skating party of fifteen teens. We had enough hockey sticks for them all too.

I bet we have your size if you'd like to come visit!

Exercise, endorphins, and sunshine are just a few of the benefits. My kids are all good skaters now. Jill will get her first pair next year.

4. Some people have pools, some people have rinks.

Heather at Mama Knows Honeychild asked on my IG picture if it's difficult to build a rink.

Yes, Heather. It is difficult to build a rink, but if you live North of Arendelle, it's worth it.

First you need plywood and 4 by somethings to build your boards (sides). Wood is not cheap. We store our boards in our crawl space during the off season.

The boards go up Thanksgiving weekend or as close to it as we can get.

We buy a liner from Nice Rink in Wisconsin.  Patrick, or one of our rink building relatives with a large vehicle, will make the trek to the factory and pick up the liners for a few of us.

The liner alone costs about $400.  Ours is the biggest backyard rink we've seen, so it's the most expensive too.  Can't re-use the liner, because come spring, the sides are shredded and it's gross.

Then there's the water. We run a hose from our basement laundry sink to the rink for about 72 hours. It's a big rink. The deep areas fill first and the shallow areas fill last. The deepest part of our rink is 11-12 inches deep. We get billed for the water and the sewage/waste-water too, even though we put the water in the public drain. The water costs are about $200, much less for a smaller rink.

The next part is up to Mother Nature.  Zero degrees (Fahrenheit) for 24 hours makes 3 inches of ice. If the temps are above zero, but below 32, it takes longer. On average, our rink freezes in about 4 days. It won't be solid yet, but it will be skate-able.

Anytime we have a day above freezing, the rink starts to melt. It's too slushy to skate on, but a short thaw can re-surface it nicely.

Otherwise, Patrick re-surfaces the rink himself with a homemade device called a rink rake.

5. Other Important Rink Facts

Snow can ruin your rink, especially slushy, wet snow. If that slushy, wet snow freezes on your rink, the texture will be like a gravel road.

We never had a snowblower until we had to shovel our entire backyard.

Many people ask if the rink ruins the grass.

No. A thick heavy block of ice on top of the grass does nothing to it.

6. Pa! The Chinook Is Blowing!

When and if spring comes, the ice begins to thaw beyond all hope of recovery. We use an electric pump to pump the water to the curb so as not to flood our neighbors' yards.

Then we cut up the liner into manageable pieces and throw it away. This must be done as soon as possible because a heavy piece of wet plastic on a warm(ish) day will kill your grass.

Then the boards come down and go in the crawl space until next winter.

Patrick always gets sad when this happens, but SPRING!

7. Don't forget! This Wednesday is the March What We're Reading Wednesday Link-Up!

I'm late to the link-up party with Kelly and the Krew for 7QT Friday.

WWRW. 3/4/15. Must. Not. Forget.

7QT: January Oddments

1.

Get ready for February 4th! This Wednesday the WWRW link-up is making a comeback! 

2.  Our library is offering the Hoopla app!

What's the hoopla? Hoopla is a free app that lets me download movies, television shows, audiobooks, and music right to my iPhone for FREEEEEEEEE!!!!

Jill has been watching Max & Ruby cartoons, which are not available on Netflix or on Amazon Prime (without paying extra) for FREEEEEEEE!

And I've been downloading music left and right. Specifically all the classical music that is recommended by the Little Saints Preschool Program we're using. More on that another day.

This week's pre-school theme is At the Zoo, and we've been listening to Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals while she dances each animal's part. For FREEEEEEEEEE!

Someday you might read Wee Gillis by Munro Leaf to a three year-old, and she'll want to know what bagpipes are. With Hoopla, you can download William Boyle's Bagpipe Virtuoso compilation in a flash and for FREEEEE! (Confession: I love the pipes.)

Libraries are the best.

3.  Grey Skies bringing you down?

Try eating peanut butter and banana sandwiches and listening to the Elvis Presley Pandora station.

You may call it inspired, I'm calling it history class.

4.  Knitting shizzle.

My 3 teen girls and their handmade swag.

I knit while I watch tv. I've been making mittens, and the bonnet I over-grammed on the Instagram. I usually get my patterns from books.

For the mitts, I used Vintage Knit Gloves and Mittens: 25 Patterns for Timeless Fashions by Kathryn Fulton.

Why is that hat green? Because I used leftover yarn from the matching sweater.  Why did I make a green baby sweater for my baby girl? Because I made the sweater before I knew the baby was a girl.

For both the bonnet and sweater, I used Vintage Knits for Modern Babies by Hadley Fierlinger. Can you tell I prefer the vintage patterns?

Jill really wants Elsa gloves, but I think she'll be getting Elsa mittens instead. #disappointed

5. What have we been watching?  Maybe this should be it's own link-up. WHWBW. Waddya think?

Our regularly scheduled programming includes:

Wallander

Pros: KENNETH BRANAGH! Gorgeous Swedish landscapes.

Cons: Dark and twisted crime.  My idea of Sweden is a now a mash-up of  Flicka, Ricka, Dicka books, Ikea, and serial killers/sex traffickers. Also troublesome, BBC=1.5 hour long shows. Mama gets tired.

All Creatures Great & Small

Pros: Netflix has really cleaned up the sound of this 1970s show. We are huge Herriot book fans here, and the television show does not disappoint.  I love Robert Hardy as Siegfried Farnon. I loved Robert Hardy as Professor Slugworth. I love Robert Hardy.

And Helen. I love her too. I covet her clothes. The midi skirts, the berets, sigh. I understand that she gets re-cast in the later seasons, but SHHH! I'm not there yet!

Bonus: This show is only an hour!

Cons: Could be totally acceptable for the entire family, if the entire family happens to be okay with footage of dudes with their arms up inside a cow's hoo-hah. (Remember my purse description?) Did these actors really DO that?  Did they use stunt animals too?  It is a puzzlement.

Foyle's War, Series 1

Pros: Police detective show set in Hastings, England during WWII. WWII is my preferred historical period. Gentle, quiet, yet brilliant Detective Inspector Foyle is often under-estimated, but always gets the criminal with some blinding stroke of genius.

Cons: Stupid 90 minute shows...too long...got work in the morning.

6. Netflix and Amazon Prime movies that have struck our fancy are...

The Castle

If you like Napoleon Dynamite and Aussie accents, this is the film for you. It could be a family film, IF there weren't a few Eff bombs dropping. My 18 year old recommended it and we've been quoting it ever since. (No, we're not quoting the eff words.) Decent message too.

The Hundred-Foot Journey

Everyone enjoyed it EXCEPT the 12 year old who may have said, "PLEASE let me watch another movie so that wasn't the last movie I've seen!" There's no accounting for taste. It is a teensy bit violent in the beginning, what with the mother getting trapped in a burning building set on fire by terrorists and dying. Other than that it's a clean movie with great acting and FOOD!

WHYBW?

7.  This Sunday starts the Seven Sundays of St. Joseph. (Thanks for the heads up, Mom!)

The Seven Sunday of St. Joseph is a seven day novena that takes place once a week, every Sunday (duh) until the feast of St. Joseph. Each Sunday, there are readings and prayers that focus on the different sorrow and joys from St. Joseph's life.

Selling a house? (Cari? Dwija?) Buying a house? Trying to make peace with the house you're in? Or just love St. Jose? It's only seven days! We can do this!

The hard part will be remembering every Sunday, because as I explained to my mother, I suck at novenas.

I always miss a day and have to double up once or thrice.  I even signed up for the Pray More Novenas emails, and every now and then Satan sends one to my spam box! But my mom says, "There's no time in Heaven."

Phew. Because picturing the OCD angel with a clipboard ticking off the boxes on my incomplete and/or tardy novenas wasn't encouraging at all.

So Seven Quick Takes in January, done. Boom. Pow. Linking up with the new hostess of the weekend fun, Kelly at This Ain't the Lyceum.

Don't forget to link up your book reviews on Wednesday. I'm bringing WWRW baaaack!