All Hail the Inclined Plane!

My dad built a ramp out of plywood, then used a rope to get their piano onto a trailer by himself. He drove it to our house, which took him another hour. Backed the trailer up our driveway and remade the ramp system to get the piano off the trailer and a ramp up our front stairs. Michael came home during his lunch hour to help dad move it off the trailer and up into the house. He wouldn't even let us buy him lunch. Eve is absolutely thrilled. Dad said he brought it because Eve wanted it so much. When she came home from school she clapped and squealed for joy and sat down to play. We just need to get it tuned because it is flat and find an instructor we can afford.





******Book Review***********



What a fun way to make a classic into something very quirky, while remaining true to the spirit of the characters. This story seems like something that was discussed over several beers and a triple dog dare to be put to paper. I thought it was a hoot.

::::::::::::::Family Camping/Climbing*****

Michael took us all to Sand Rock, Alabama to go camping and rock climbing. I'll post some more photos and tell some stories tomorrow.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I have been innoculating myself against the menace of HCOK (Halloween Candy Over Kill). I simply eat the fun sized candies in small portions throught the month to build up my resistance to the huge stash of candy the kids will bring home. I think it is working.

***Book Review***

This is like one protracted article written for The Onion. The story about a 3-legged deodorant inventor has some life out loud moments, but definitely leans to the more low brow humor end of the humor spectrum. It is an interesting exercise in writing books in a different way. There are hits and misses, but overall it was okay.

In tribute to the next book on my list, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

I really like the remake of the song "Zombie" done by Miser .
You may remember the original by The Cranberries.

***Field Day***
Here are a couple of photos of Eve on her favorite Field Day center:





Here is Noah:

Noah and his class were thrilled to maintain their teacher's undefeated status in the tug of war. WOOT! WOOT!

I'm off to read! Smiles:)

Happy Birthday, Jessica

My sister, Katherine, called me last week and asked if I would make a topsy turvy cake for her daughter, Jessica's, 21st birthday. I said sure, so she and my stepmom, Alice, drove up and we shopped for the ingredients. We purchased French Vanilla cake and Strawberry cake mixes. We also got pink petal dust and rose gel coloring to use with the fondant. I mixed up the buttercream frosting for the cakes on Saturday. I put seedless raspberry in the middle of the French Vanilla like I did for the last cake creation. It seems to be popular.
Rachel and Eve wanted to help so they got to apply the luster dust to some of the stars and all of the fondant ball border. I spent the time quite amiably by listening to Pride and Prejudice playing on the television. Rachel wanted to watch it and I love the Kiera Knightly/Matthew McFadden version. It was great reciting lines from the movie while rolling, cutting and applying fondant decorations.
This is Eve helping put petal dust on the dimensional stars:



This one is Rachel putting petal dust on the balled fondant border:




This one is me making the pink bow to go around the top tier:


Rachel requests a slice of cake:


Michael says that it tastes good:

Jessica, Rachel and My sister Tracy:

My funny and cute niece, Haley:

Did I mention funny?

A satisfying outcome and a lot of laughs with my sisters. BTW, Katherine refused to be allow her photograph on the blog. She is beautiful, too. Her story of the homeless man that stopped her in traffic got funnier with each telling. Life is truly an adventure and isn't it lovely that cake is a part of that!

Smiles!

More Book Reviews

More on Middlemarch can be found on Wikipedia.
The author has a keen insight into human nature. The characters are well developed and I found myself particularly drawn to the characters of Susan and Caleb Garth. The relationship of mutual respect was one I enjoyed reading about. One of the strongest messages I recieved while reading the book was that each life, no matter how it is valued by others, has an impact. Our intentions do matter and how we act upon those to better ourselves and the lives of others matters. I highly recommend this book. Well worth your time, indeed

***The Hunger Games


Katness Everdeen is a clever, world weary 16 year-old who loves her sister, Prim, so much that she scarifices herself to be a tribute to the Hunger Games. The Games are a punishment for past rebellion against the Capitol. The setting is North America in the future.
The book is a page turner because the author writes the characters well enough that you understand their motivations and perspectives. I felt rather anxious about what Katness and the other tributes were having to go through for the sake of this post-modern Roman games. The book did not end as I would have liked, but was reasonable for the situation. This is the first in a series of books, but I'm not sure if I want to find out what happens in this future world.

*******My current book:

This book by Mark Dunn reads like a really, really long article from The Onion. The quirky, and fun concept of the book is that the author's manuscript has been accidentally destroyed and all that is left is the footnotes. The footnotes, so far, have been nutty. The main character is has 3 legs and these footnotes are what are left of the research on his life. There is a bit of potty humor that has to do with converting an Oak tree to an outhouse backsplash that made me erupt in laughter. I look forward to finishing this one up and letting you know what I think about it all.

**********
It's almost that time...

For Informational Purposes Only

In my perusal of different internet sites I happened upon a treasure trove of totally cool ideas. Quick...lean in...I'll share!

I'm a Font Collector. I'm fond of the free ones, especially. If you want some great free ones check out: Fonts for Peas

I love the Fonts for Peas doodles, too!

Here is the link for their RSS feed so you can be updated on the new fonts: RSS FEED


*******

Another great site for FABULOUS ideas and crafty links is IDIY


*******

I was checking for coupon codes and found the site retailmenot that worked great. Just thought I would pass the information along.

Hope this helps somebody out. If not...I still had fun.

It's Always Something

Hey, just been busy doing other things, like everyone else. Michael and I did our own version of Food Network's Challenge. I was volunteered to make a surprise birthday cake for my stepdad's mother's 75th surprise party. The request was a topsy turvy cake covered in fondant. I didn't know how to use fondant, so Michael signed me up for the class at Cake Art. Michael also volunteered himself to help me. The theme idea for the cake came from the many trips that Nancy and Jim take to Tybee Island, Georgia. With Peggie's okay on the theme the many drawings and ideas were put to paper. Here is the finished product:


The lighthouse was created from Rice Krispie Treats (Michael did the whole thing). He also created all the sea stars, sand dollars and horseshoe crabs from fondant. I did the middle tier from Devil's Food cake, then covered the layers in Chocolate Ganache. I did the bottom layer in French Vanilla cake filled with seedless Raspberry's and iced with buttercream. To create the effect of waves we tinted and rolled out the fondant in blue, created ripples, then Michael took an offset spatula and used white royal icing to create the white caps.





This is a layout of Michael breaking into song. It was quite late at night:






I finally create a couple of layouts of my final class project from Cake Art:




::::::::::Book Reviews::::::::::
I've been reading a lot for my book club and just for my own enjoyment. Here are a few reviews.

The State of Jones (This one just interested me)


A fascinating look at the lives of a group of Jones county Unionists who initially fight for the Confederacy due to conscription. The people had voted for remaining with the Union, but underpressure, their representative voted to seceed. The resentment of this fact and the belief that everyone is equal in the site of God kept Newton Knight fighting for the Union. Fighting from the woods and swamps, while trying to avoid the Rebel army and the dogs they used to hunt men down made for years of separation from family and friends. The separation wasn't complete, though. Newton fell in love with a slave who was owned by one of his family members who believed in slavery. He goes own to have childred with her and has both a white and black family. He ends up feeling more comfortable with his family with Rachel. She ends up converting to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints because of their beliefs of families being together after this life. Newton doesn't convert, but doesn't stop Rachel either.

The history of the Civil War from the perspective of a Southerner who never wanted to secede and didn't believe in slavery is a compelling read. Mans inhumanity to each other is boundless. Newton Knight stood against those who would enslave others for their own enrichment and base desires. A sad, yet fascinating read

***

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Book Club)


Flavia de Luce is a chemistry loving 11 year-old with a bit of macabre since of humor. She lives with an aloof, philatilest father, one vain sister and the other with who loves books. a cook who isn't a very good at it, and a the kindly, but shell shocked gardner named Dodger. The book has great tidbits about poisons and their antidotes, as well as, some history on the Penny Black stamp. The book was an interesting mystery and I look forward to the next in the series.

His next book is available for pre-order at Amazon. The title is: The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Hand
***

Lost Christianities (Another just because I wanted to read it books).


Another well researched work by Bart Ehrman. Fascinating book.

***
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society (Book Club)


An enthusiastic thumbs up! I am fond of characters that you find in small villages. There is so much quirky, yet lovable goings on in such places. This book reminds me of the characters from one of my favorite television shows, "The Vicar of Dibley". You quite quickly come to care about the people in Guernsey along with the main character, Juliet. I also love history, so learning about what the Channel islanders had to deal with during the German occupation was of keen interest. I really like the literary device of using letters, so the authors' writing style worked for me, as well.



:::::::::::::Yearbook:::::::

I've been working on the yearbook for the kids' elementary school again. The kids call me "Eve's mom!", "Hey, your Noah's mom", or "You're the Yearbook Lady!" I love having the SLR. I'm going with quantity of photos to get the diamonds in the rough. Kids move fast! It was fun to take pictures for "Crazy Hat Day" and the Wildlife Wonders show. The lunchroom ladies even smile at me now. I was able to strong arm the school's custodian to send me her photo for winning the county honors for her excellent work. She is a super lady, but hates to have her photo taken. I have been tinkering with the layouts and learning some of the new software offerings.

::::::::::::::Room Mom:::::::

I'm also one of the Room Moms for Evey's class. The other mom, Kathy B., is so cool. We will be working with Eve's class for the Fall fun centers. Kathy is doing a game like the one the used to play on The Bozo Show with the ping pong balls and the buckets. I will be working with the kids to put their handprints on some aprons with the date. Another mom will be helping the kids put together apple foam frames with photos that Kathy will be printing. We even have some things ready for the Christmas party. The theme is gingerbread. We will have the kids decorate gingerbread cookies and making foam gingerbread boy/girl ornaments with their photos.

::::::::::::Rain:::::::::

Rain has come to Georgia in abundance. Many neighbors have moderate to severe damage from the rain. We live high enough and on a slab that we had no water damage. The Great Flood of 2009 was the title for what happened at the end of September. My mother and I were in Columbus, Ga. for my Great Uncle Dewey Posey's funeral during the worst of the rain. We were able to make it back safely. The kids will make up the 2 days they missed in February, I think.


:::::::::::::Chorus Performance:::::::



Rachel had her first choral performance for 6th grade. The shirt was wayyyyyyy to big and the shoes I found for her were too small. The poor girl has 4 quad e feet. I bought 5W shoes. I sat in the chair trying to force the shoe on her feet like the guy in Cinderella. We had 30 minutes to exchange the shoes. We ended up buying 6 1/2W. They were a bit too big. I gave her tissue paper to stuff in her heels. She waddled into school with a bit miffed. The performance went well. I carried her on my back to the steps that led to the parking lot. She said she would walk the rest of the way. one of her friends asked her to join her family at Steak and Shake. We asked a couple of more friends. Rachel ended up sitting with Lauren S., Julia B., Brenna M. and Julia's brother, Jack. I enjoyed a chocolate/banana malt. Rachel loves the chili cheese fries. Any excuse for Steak and Shake is a good one.


:::::::::::Halloween Prep.:::::

So far, the kids want to be:

Aaron- Samurai, Rachel- Rubik's Cube, Noah- a molecule, and Eve- a bioluminescent jellyfish.

Well, have a fabulous weekend!

Happy 7th Birthday, Eve

Eve is the birthday girl! I bought Munchkins from Dunkin Donuts. The kids were so polite and excited.

Noah let Eve get on the bus first (without being asked). He also let her "win" getting to me at the bus stop this afternoon.

Tonight she has gymnastics and she requested mashed potatoes for her birthday, so we will have to see where she wants to go for those lovely carbs.

Smiles!

Reading, Reading and More Reading...

I have thoroughly enjoyed the string of non-fiction books that I have been reading. There are several more awaiting an opportunity to be picked up and read.




Reading portions of this book gave me anxiety about how the manuscript came to be preserved. What a crazy road from find to preservation. The Gospel of Judas is a book about the Judas and his relationship with Jesus, not a book written by Judas. This point is important to note. Ehrman compares all of the available sources for what we can glean about the life and character of Judas Iscariot. Judas, the betrayer, is what he is considered to the Christian world. This Gnostic text portrays him as the only Apostle who had the spark of the divine and understood Jesus' role on earth.
Gnostism is not just one religion, but is made up of several groups with a similar philosophy about liberating ourselves from the material world and we can only do that by secret knowledge (gnosis). Our bodies are trapped in the world of matter and the material world came to be through a cosmic disaster. In the Gospel of Judas he is said to have a spark of the divine and that allows Jesus to give him the secret knowledge...that Judas help Jesus escape his mortal body by going to the Roman authorities. Thus, Judas is needed to help Jesus complete his mission on the earth.
The importance, according to Ehrman, of The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot, is the text gives researchers a glimpse into the diversity in the early centuries of the Christian church. The other thing that the text offers is the actual Gnostic teachings and how the secret knowledge led Judas to follow Jesus' request to turn him over to the authorities, so he could be released from the mortal body.
The research in this book is fascinating and thoroughly referenced for the lay person. There is a special available from National Geographic on the finding and subsequent preservation and translation of the text. The work is on-going as more pieces are put together of the damaged codex.



Another well researched and laid out book for the lay person, as I am, of the source material available for the claims in The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. I accepted the book as a work of fiction, so I was not upset to have it debunked, so to speak, by Ehrman's book. Dan Brown uses his perrogative as a fiction writer to claim something is true, which gives a better foundation for his story. Ehrman enjoyed Brown's book for the work of fiction that it is. He was requested by people to write an explanation of the historical record to explain the actual source material available and what we can learn about the life of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. This book explains each point thoroughly. Ehrman bemoans the fact that the scholarship that exists doesn't have the page turning effects of a Dan Brown book. He is pleased that some people who have had their interests peaked after reading the book are seeking out the true source material on the subject of early Christianity. Brown got much of it wrong with a lot of tweaked interpretations of available material that still created a page turning book. I am one of those that books like Brown's peak my interest to know the truth behind the tale. If you are too, give this book a whirl.


Amy Stewart's website

Since plants can't pull up their roots and run away when a predator comes to call they have some dastardly defense mechanisms. Being a victim of toxicodendrons three years in a row makes one really pay attention to plant defenses. This is what I found out about Poison Ivy, "Poison ivy is not, technically, an ivy... urushiol, is not at all toxic, but does happen to be an oil that most people are highly allergic to...only humans are bothered by exposure to urushiol...each subsequent exposure is worse that the one before. The immune response gets stronger, so that the reaction gets worse with repeated exposure."
The book explains about the need to eat corn with lime, otherwise, the body can't absorb the niacin. People with corn diets are get Pellagra. The symptoms may have led to the European myth of vampires.
My favorite foods, potatoes and tomatoes, belong to the nightshade family, which contain the poison solanine. If the skin on a potato is green it reflects a greater level of solanine, so cook it longer.
Ergot, a parasitic fungus, may have been what the young girls had ingested that caused the symptoms that were blamed on witchcraft. Understanding the natural world could have saved everyone a lot of grief.
This book has something pretaining to everyone. We all eat, are around plants everyday. If you suffer from allergies, or like to garden...Yes! There is information in this book for you. It is a quick read and well worth the time.


Well, have a great day. I'm going to hang out with my peeps.