tiny bridges

Thanks to my new (well, newish) internet radio I’ve been listening to all sorts of pod-casts and audio books. Recently I listened to Anne of Green Gables and it was so fun and enlightening. It’s easily been more than a dozen years since I last read it, the last time I remember reading the whole series (which was the only way I would read them once I had all the books) was when I had a terrible cold in 7th or 8th grade and had to stay home sick. The first time I read it was a revelation, and I couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8. I can’t count how many times I re-read it after that. I read all but 2 or 3 of L. M. Montgomery’s novels and most of her short story collections and I hadn’t realized the degree of influence her style still has on me.

I was amazed, not by how much I remembered (there are bits I could almost recite) but the things I had forgotten, or not understood at the time. Anne’s history of her life before Green Gables is so brief that I completely missed the fact that she was little more than a half-starved servant before being sent to the orphan asylum. And Marilla is so very strict! Anne’s melodrama was totally lost on me, probably because I was in the middle of being just as melodramatic. Many of the classical allusions were completely lost on 10 year old me, and I admit that while I can place more of them now it’s more a matter of being able to recognize that something is one, without being familiar with the source material.

What really stuck with me this time was just how cheerful and happy Anne is. Whatever happens, she finds a bright side to it. Each morning brings a new day “with no mistakes in it”. I’m hoping that’s what will stick with me this time.

The scene:Fiona is attempting to (for some reason) put a thumbtack in her tutu.

Mama: That’s an interesting choice of ornamentation.

Fiona: It’s all in the wrist.

Inspired by a post by Jean of The Artful Parent, I wanted to share some books on Fiona’s favorite subject. Princesses. Particularly the brave and smart kind.

Like Jean and her daughter, we also love The Paper Bag Princess, by Robert Munsch, which you can hear him read here. All the recordings on Munsch’s site are excellent, his style is so perfectly expressed in his books.

Another favorite is Mary Pope Osborne. Her books include Sleeping Bobby, the handsome prince put to sleep for 99 years when he pricked his finger on a spindle on his birthday, Kate and the Beanstalk, about a brave young girl who reclaims her family’s inheritance when she climbs a beanstalk to a castle in the clouds and The Brave Little Seamstress, who takes on a giant, a wild boar and an army of 99 soldiers to win a kingdom. We’ve read all three from the library and really enjoyed them.

We’ve had Princess Grace by Mary Hoffman out of the library for over a month and I know there will be trouble when we have to take it back this week. In it, Grace (from the book Amazing Grace) is fascinated with beautiful fairy tale princesses and wants to be one until she and her friends start to think about what princesses really do and re-think their ideals.

In college I took a fairy tales class and and one of our text’s was Don’t Bet on the Prince, edited by Jack Zipes, a collection of Feminist Fairy Tales and Feminist Literary Criticism of Fairy Tales. It’s in three sections, the first has 9 stories that are aimed at younger readers. “The Princess Who Stood On Her Own Two Feet” tells the story of a princess who slowly gives up the things she loves for a handsome prince, only to find out that what she gained was not worth the price. Two stories tell of a quest with a different outcome than even the protagonist expected, one with a prince and the other with a princess. The second section of the book is definately not appropriate for young readers, and the final is feminist literary criticism, so skip those parts for kids.

Fancy Nancy by isn’t a princess, but she dresses like one and is not afraid of getting dirty. I do feel like the message of these books is worthwhile, be true to your self, do-it-yourself, it’s fancy to be polite and if speak French if you can’t remember the English for a thing. And they really do teach vocabulary, Fiona recently pronounced some cookies we made “delectable”.

Not too long ago we tried the Librivox version of A Little Princess, but she wasn’t quite ready yet. I think we’ll try it again soon. Sarah’s version of being a “real princess” is to treat others well no matter what your circumstances you are in, which is a lesson I can always use. (By the way, Librivox is looking for donations to continue operating. If you’re interested in free audio books the information is here.)

I’m waiting for the day when Fiona is old enough to enjoy the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede. Princess Cimerone can’t stand needlework or deportment lessons so she runs away to live with the dragons. She is capable, brave and resourceful. These books are so much fun in the way they play with the tropes of traditional fairy tales.

Finally, she also loves some of the older and more obscure tales from Grim, etc. I’ve had luck finding compilations at the library book sale. A particular favorite is “Snow White and Rose Red”. While the sisters don’t start as princesses, they do marry princes in the end and have to overcome obstacles on their own.

Finally, I hope that reading the traditional stories now will set her up to enjoy the many revised versions out there for older readers. There are probably hundreds available for pre-teens and teens, and I think that they really speak to the things that girls go through at those ages. Happy Reading!

Recently, Fiona asked for her own library card. Since she can write her name (my requirement, I think the library system here just requires that you live or work here) we went ahead and did it. Up to this point, we’ve been checking out whatever books she wants, and occasionally a movie. But for the past few weeks she’s been wanting to check out these W.I.T.C.H. books, and they’re driving me crazy. I don’t have a problem with them on their own. It’s a fantasy series by various authors and the writing is not going to win any awards anytime soon, but I don’t have any real problems with that (See Jim Trelease’s argument for reasons to let your child read serials). What is driving me crazy is that she’s not actually interested in reading them. We do the comic at the beginning, a few more pages, and she’s done. I suppose I should just stop making a big deal about it, but she wants to check out the whole collection and I’m afraid we’ll loose one or keep some other kid from reading them. There’s a set of graphic novels as well, so I’m trying to find those as an alternative.

I find it hilarious that Fiona sometimes calls ketchup “sausage”.

A few times lately we’ve sat and read from longer books while I knit and she strings beads. I’m looking for more activities like that I can offer her, as she can sit still, but like me she likes to have something to do with her hands. I might try setting up a version of kid friendly embroidery. I saw a tutorial somewhere with that orange plastic packaging material, and it seems like the bags our oranges come in would work well.

Fiona’s names for imaginary people and animals are fascinating to me. Yesterday she was the girl “WateRRR” and I was the boy “YebwateRRR” (You have to really hit the last RRR). She’s also used “Rainey” (which is actually the name of a favorite author) and some that are entirely made up and too difficult to spell. Also, whenever she sees a book or a game or something she will say “Train Game by Andrew Lewis” sometimes with made-up names (like that one) and sometimes with names from other books.

Something that I have been noticing lately is not just Fiona’s use of new words and ideas but how clearly she is putting things together. When she is trying to put together a new idea or script she sometimes gets stuck and stutters a bit until she works out what it is she really wants to say. Some days I let her go on, but if she seems to be getting too frustrated I will stop her and help.

She isn’t napping today, so she’s set up in tiny bed with all her books. She’s called me in twice, but at least I got the dishes washed and am posting this.

Fiona picked out an anatomy book from the library and has been explaining to me about bones and organs. We also got one on sneezes and she explains that as well.

I’ve been thinking for a while that I’d like to have one day a week when I always post something, and that I should keep track of some of the things Fiona says and does. So, Fiona Fridays. Let’s try it.

We’ve all had colds this week and on Wednesday Fiona kept asking me where my “tickler” was. I couldn’t figure out what she was talking about until she woke up from her nap and said “I have a tickler, too.” Some how she decided that it means a runny nose or a cough, so all her animals and things have had “ticklers”.

The sleep strike is still cycling. Yesterday she didn’t nap and by 7 I was pretty much done, and she was saying “I’m not tired! I’m not sleepy!” So I asked her if she’d like to sit in bed and read to herself (hoping she might just conk out). I gave her about 50 books and didn’t hear another peep. Then, an hour or so later “mama, I read them, can I have some more?”. I finally had to turn out the light and stay with her for about 30 seconds before she was out.

For some reason, she’s also decided that she wants to not just sit on my lap, but get into my sweater. Apparently this makes her “a baby in your tummy”, but it is driving me crazy.

Well, it’s been an exciting few weeks. Fiona decided to stop sleeping for a while there, so I haven’t really been very productive. In spite of that, I do have a set of knitting projects to share, and will try to do it tomorrow. In the meantime, we have been busy in the kitchen. I think it’s part of the whole winter mindset. It’s more of a production to go outdoors, and when we do we want something nice and hot when we come back in.

Given our current family schedule, and my lack of enthusiasm for making diner, I hit on the plan of making a big pot of something for the nights when it’s just Fiona and I and having “regular” dinners when we’re all cooking, eating and (most importantly) cleaning all together. It’s so very easy to do a big stew, soup or curry in this cold weather and, happily, I am the kind of person who can eat the same thing every day of the week. We add some kind of bread, maybe a side vegetable or some fruit and yogurt for desert and we’re all set. I checked Love Soup by Anna Thomas out of the library and have been working my way through the most appealing winter recipes. I have to admit that in my cooking ineptitude I have managed to make mistakes in all the recipes I’ve tried, but the beauty of soup is that it’s so very difficult to ruin. Even the soup which called for toasted and ground cumin seeds. I was so impressed with how easy it was to toast the seeds (something I’d never attempted before) that I forgot to get out the mortar and pestle and threw them in whole. Crunchy. Then, I discovered that the veg stock I’d taken out of the freezer was actually chicken soup. It’s a learning process. The first soup I tried, a green soup, took so long to chop for that I ended up having something else for dinner and making it the next day, and now I know that there simply isn’t enough time after Fiona’s nap and before dinner, so I start the day before. Also, I’m labeling everything that goes in the freezer.

For one of our all-together meals lately, I had the chance to make one of my favorite internet recipes. Homemade hamburger buns from Culinary in the Desert. These buns are so light and delicious and so easy to make. The only change I make to the recipe is to substitute 1-2 cups of white whole wheat flour for the apf, which doesn’t change the taste much but gives them an even more beautiful appearance. It’s possible that we mainly like these for their looks. The egg wash just before baking gives them the most beautiful golden color and sheen. I make a full batch and freeze half and the leftovers defrost beautifully.

In other bread news, the pair behind Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day came out with a new book “Healthy Breads in” well, you get the picture. They do have their master recipe for this book online, and I have ordered the new book from the library, but then I calculated that I won’t get it until April, and then only for 3 weeks. So I tried the master dough, and was less than 100% impressed. It was alright, but when I tried to shape a sandwich loaf I couldn’t seem to get the center properly done. And I really wanted bread with seeds and things in it. Then I realized I could make one up and so I did. I baked the first batch yesterday and I think we’ll use it up by the end of today (which is generally a really good sign around here) so I think I’ll try it once or twice more an then try typing it up to share here.

We’re all fighting colds so I made up a batch of cough drops from this Instructables. I used peppermint tea and a combination of honey and sugar and they are really, really good (Fiona keeps asking where I put the candy). They aren’t overly sweet or overly peppermint, but they do have a slightly medicinal taste (which I like) and do clear out my sinuses a bit, while soothing my throat. It was also much, much easier than I imagined it would be and I’m dreaming of trying some other combination. But, since I have a big box of these right now, I don’t think it will happen soon.

Finally, a few other recipes that I really like (and frankly, I can’t believe I haven’t posted about cooking on tiny bridges at all before). I love granola bars, but store bought brands are generally expensive and/or unhealthy. This recipe isn’t perfect, but I’ve been tinkering with it (actually, it may be perfect but I can’t bring myself to buy expensive rice syrup, and I don’t have the size pan called for here, so I’ve never tried the recipe as written. Anyone surprised?) and I think it will be there soon. This recipe for lemon cake may, in fact, be perfect. I think I ate most of the first loaf myself. Oh, and I’m slightly obsessed with scones right now. These are particularly good, and I like chopped, dried apricots for filling. That’s all for now, as I found some whole wheat pastry flour recently, and I think we may need some scones with our soup tonight.

I’ve been meaning to post one of these for some time, just the funny things Fiona’s been saying lately.

One day we were walking in Target and she suddenly said “Rocket Cool!” I asked her what she meant and she replied “when you see something really, really cool you say ‘Rocket Cool’” and did her “cool” pose with two thumbs up. I really need to get a picture of that pose, it’s very funny, and she does it when she dances to “cool music” like “Speed Turtle” or anything on her favorite radio station. (Seriously, she somehow found this station, figured out how to program it to a pre-set button and turns it on whenever she’s bored with what I’m listening to.)

After reading one of our favorite books at bed time I said “good-night, sweet potato” and she immediately said “good-night, smashed apato” and I laughed so now we say it almost every night.

All along Fiona has wanted us to act out little scenes with her, but they are getting more and more intricate. One favorite is “Fiona and the tooth-fairy”. It starts with me as Fiona, going to bed and Fiona, as Mama. There’s a whole series of required dialogue, asking for a bed-time story and so on. Then I go to sleep, the tooth fairy sneaks in and puts a coin under my pillow, I wake up and call for Mama, then we switch and do the whole thing with the roles reversed. I doubt she’ll still be happy with a penny when she gets old enough to actually loose a tooth.

The other game is a bit more varied. The basic plot is that Fiona finds something, like a basket of toys, and comes to the door as the toy-man. I have to say “Now, who could that be?” before I answer and then we discuss who she is and what she’s doing. I start to close the door, then say, “oh, I almost forgot” and give her something back. Sometimes she rides her “bike” up to the door, sometimes she’s a cat, a kid (for that she puts on a hoodie and sneakers, nothing else) or a girl named Haylee.

That’s something else new, characters and animals have actual names. For a long time her animals were “tiger”, “kitty”, “lion” and so on. But the big dog we got her for her birthday is Jase (after Jason and the Argonauts) and last night she gave a series of made up names to all the animals we took to our slumber party. I couldn’t even remember them all then, so there is no hope now, but it was something like “Coco the rabbit”, so the kind of animal is still quite important.

She’s also been telling me “I have a new friend. Her name is Deepa and she’s a little girl, too.” or “This is my friend Skeeta. He’s a little boy.” The names are always changing, and they aren’t classic imaginary friends, she doesn’t talk to them or play with them, she just introduces them to me and tells me about them.

Fiona is a prodigious story teller, and I’ll try to get a story down on paper soon.

Grumpy Princess:

Happy Princess:

We made a video, so we’ll see if I can embed it.

When we had finally finished the holidays around here (seriously, it lasts from Fiona’s birthday in November until the second week of January, which gets a bit exhausting) I started in on my stack of mending, as part of my effort to clean up and reorganize. There were several not very interesting, but good to have done projects like Liam’s pajama pants and fixing the sleeve of Fiona’s black and white dress, but there was also a pair of her brown tights with a hole that I had saved, even though I wasn’t sure what to do with them. I had forgotten that I had them, but I had read Disney’s tutorials for knee socks and a bubble skirt, and now I knew just what to do:

The instructions made it really easy and the whole thing was finished before breakfast. (The beads in the picture were Fiona’s addition). (Also, I love the face in that photo. I said “stand next to your kitchen and I’ll take your picture” “Like this?” So funny.)

Of course one new skirt is never enough.

This was made a few days later, after something had spilled all over the first and a replacement was needed. The request was to use that bright pink floral fabric and “lots of bows”. The top part is from an old pair of pajama pants (the bottoms were already made into summer pants for her) and the whole thing was improvised as I went along, but I like the way it turned out. Sorry the photo isn’t great. She was preoccupied with playing “The toy man”, a version of a game we play frequently around here.

Oh, and for anyone interested, I was able to salvage the ER jimjams! Yay!

Racing stripe!