Irises from our yard (these pictures were taken in May)

The squirrels will not let me keep any tulips. They eat them all.

One year I planted over 500 tulip bulbs, thinking they would at least leave a few for me.

They ate every single one.

They do allow jonquils, irises and daffodils.

Everyday the jonquils and daffodils were in bloom, I meant to take a picture.

So, when the irises popped, youngest took pictures, with her iPod, as we pulled in the driveway after school. I was not letting those get away from me too.

My books - King Lear (1603-1606) by William Shakespeare

Wiki notes:

King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all.

The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological pre-Roman Celtic king. It has been widely adapted for the stage and motion pictures, and the role of Lear has been coveted and played by many of the world's most accomplished actors.

The play was written between 1603 and 1606 and later revised. Shakespeare's earlier version, The True Chronicle of the History of the Life and Death of King Lear and His Three Daughters, was published in quarto in 1608. The Tragedy of King Lear, a more theatrical version, was included in the 1623 First Folio. Modern editors usually conflate the two, though some insist that each version has its individual integrity that should be preserved.

After the Restoration, the play was often revised with a happy ending for audiences who disliked its dark and depressing tone, but since the 19th century Shakespeare's original version has been regarded as one of his supreme achievements. The tragedy is particularly noted for its probing observations on the nature of human suffering and kinship. George Bernard Shaw wrote, "No man will ever write a better tragedy than Lear".

In case you did not catch the last line, Lear is a tragedy. I am not sure if anyone sits and bawls at the end of Lear these days. I wonder if they did when it played. There is one (truly) cringe worthy scene. If you are watching it on video, it will be conveniently out of visual range (behind a chair or something).

In case you missed it (above), Lear takes place 8th century BC. In the legions of Britain, there is a King Leir. And that is the basis for Shakespeare's King Lear. There are other stories and plays based on this legion.





Just in case you are new -
1. My first dab into audio books happened in college (graduated in 1983) with a Shakespeare class. I quickly realized if I read the printed page, while listening to an audio version with each part read by a different actor, I understood much more of the play.

I did not return to audio books until 2010, driving home from North Carolina, listening to a Patrick Robinson submarine story my husband happened to have in the car. What a difference that made in a 14 hour driving day (bad weather). I have been hooked ever since. My husband has listened to hundreds of audio books through the years (in his car, work day). I listen to all my audio books in the car, running errands, traveling, waiting for kids. We bought my hybrid specifically so I can have the car 'running' while parked and listen through the stereo system. I get a lot of books 'read' that way over the course of the year. My lists for 2011, 2012, 2013 are on my sidebar.

2. I have mentioned one of middle's favorite English teachers thinks all Shakespeare should be seen and not read (it is a play after all).

3. We usually see at least one Shakespeare play a year (it just works out so that a play group, somewhere within driving distance, is doing Shakespeare).  My family enjoys them (stage version) very much. Yes, often at intermission we are catching each other up on what is happening. Sometimes we are even checking SparkNotes at intermission on my husband's iPhone (that would be me, often happens with plays, I "SparkNotes" up to the point we are in the play.).






Back to King Lear: I have read it at least once. I have seen it on stage at least once. When it was assigned by one of my reading groups (recently), I (foolishly) downloaded it from Audible. I was careful to get a version where each part was read by a different person. I started it. Two minutes later, I remembered 2, 3 above and stopped.

I went to the library and found a 1982 BBC DVD version that (pretty much) followed the script. (I am very attached to BBC, EVEN IF THEY ARE VERY OLD). Middle and I watched it.

We had both seen a theater performance in 2011. So we had both seen it before, even fairly recently, but could not remember the specifics. We watched one day while she worked on the door decorations for her bible school class. We watched a scene, and then I paused and read the SparkNotes from that scene out loud to both of us, and then we continued. (We both totally needed that SparkNotes intermission to really understand what was happening in the plot and subtext. )

That was actually a great way to watch (and understand) Shakespeare. Great afternoon.  I am a firm believer middle's high school teacher is right - plays are written to be seen and not read. I am also a firm believer that a little help from SparkNotes is a very good thing.  And I think one should see Shakespeare as often as one can.

Middle and I both attended my book group to discuss this book.

There was one man there who had never before read Shakespeare. He said of himself - I think I am just too pedestrian for Shakespeare. One of the other men there said - you just started with one of the harder plays.

It has been such a long time since I (Vickie) read Shakespeare, I have no opinion on that fact. The man who responded, mentioned in another part of the discussion that he has probably read Lear 20 times over the years.

In preparing to lead our group, the facilitator read Lear a couple times, listened to it on audible at least once, then watched the 2008 Ian McKellen version, and then I think he read it again.  He was well prepared and did a very good job. (Yes, there is enough depth to Lear that it stands up to many rereads in a very short time frame).

There was lots of (group) discussion. I didn't know how truly well I understood it until I realized I had an interpretation/viewpoint (all during discussion). Middle said the same thing - she had a definite viewpoint as she listened to other's talk.

Linen Closet, packing up winter bed layers

We have space bags in closets all over the house. Yes, partially for the space saving feature. But mostly to store clean things in an air tight environment where dust mites cannot flourish.

The bag on the left has 5 very thick winter blankets from my husband and my beds (we have two extra long twins, right next to each other, my husband twitches and jumps in his sleep, I am a very light sleeper). We switched to summer sheets/blankets over the weekend. Those winter blankets are all washed and packed until they are needed late next fall.

The bag on the right has all the weird odds and ends of sheets, mattress pads and bed skirts from many years of different beds. They are all still in very good shape, keeping them for future use, but not needed right now. 

For example: There are at least two sets of queen size sheets in that bag and we have not have a queens size bed for years. But someday, one of the kids probably will and they are very good sets. There are also a lot of single, flat sheets in that set. The fitted part of those sets are long gone, but the flats are still in very good shape. And those have come in handy many a time. 

My husband helped me dig them all out of the linen closet over the weekend. They all fit in one bag. There is a lot in that bag. 

This is the bottom of my linen closet. This first bag, shoved way to the rear of the closet is the odds and ends bag from the right side of the picture (above). 

This is the second bag, put in front of the other bag, in the bottom of the closet. As you can see, 17" clearance to fit. Very good use of space.

This is the top half of that same closet.

The top shelf is full of small space bags with one or two extra bed pillow each. These are company pillows. The space bags keep them dust free.

The next to the top shelf has wash clothes front left, hand towels front right, all kinds of chucks/other mattress protectors back left, and pillow cases/sheets back right.

The shelf with the bright pink and blue has beach towels in the front and quilts in the back.

The bottom shelf has one quilt. And then you can see the space bags in the bottom of the closet. If you are wondering about the size of those shelves, they are 27 1/2" deep and 23" wide. The shelving comes all the way out to the front of the closet, no wasted space. 

I did not think to take a before picture.

This closet was VERY full looking just two days ago. All the odds and ends, that weren't actually ever used (right space bag) were cluttering the living daylights out of this closet. And there is actually more IN the closet now, than then, because I added the five winter blankets that were on our beds (left space bag).

My books - Around the World in 80 Days (1873) by Jules Verne

Wiki:

Around the World in Eighty Days (French: Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) is a classic adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, published in 1873. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a £20,000 wager (roughly £1,324,289 today) set by his friends at the Reform Club. It is one of Verne's most acclaimed works.

Here is NovelGuide's biography of Verne. Short and interesting.

Jules Verne (1828-1905) novels are actually all translations (he wrote in French). It is funny to think of them as foreign (I think).

H. G. Wells (1866-1946) was from England if that is where your mind went (mine did, obviously).

If you get confused between the two authors, Well's top ten books are listed as

The Time Machine (1895)
The War of the Worlds (1898)
Kipps (1905)
Tono-Bungay (1909)
Ann Veronica (1909)
The History of Mr Polly (1910)
Mr Brittling Sees It Through (1916)
Russia in the Shadows (1920)
A Short History of the World (1922)
Experiment in Autobiography: Discoveries and Conclusions of a Very Ordinary Brain (1934)

Here is a link to a listing of Verne's works (it is a long list). On that same page are links to character lists too.


Now that I have gotten all that book housekeeping out of the way:
I loved this book.

I had never actually seen any of the movies (I was thinking 1956 starring David Niven, not 2004 starring Jackie Chan and Steve Coogan). So yes, I knew they were somehow racing around the world, but I did not know any of the particulars. 

So the book was fresh and interesting to me.  It was very much a story.  It was an easy to understand, light read. But that was welcome just now. Kind of the perfect summer book (for me).

I listened to this book directly after This Side of Paradise, so honestly, it was a relief to settle into something I liked.

My audio version was 7 HRS and 51 MINS, narrated by Jim Dale, released in 2005 (from Audible).

I actually started with the USFLit2Go version and had to switch.

The USF reader was too fast for me. He was not telling a story, he was finishing the page, to me.  I have the ability to slightly slow down or speed up my iPod, but even that was not enough to compensate.  There are a couple USF readers who I adore, but this was not one of them.

And interestingly, I picked up the fact that the two readers were using slightly different translations. USF version used the word "trunk" and the Audible version said "suitcase". I noticed other slight differences. So it was as if I switched from an English to an American version. I would have preferred the English version, but was not willing to give up Jim Dale. An added point for the Audible version is there was subtle sound effects here and there - a little music, train noises, etc.  It was not like listening to a movie sound track, not at all, but just little bits here and there that I really enjoyed.



I caught something in Chapter XI - IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG SECURES A CURIOUS MEANS OF CONVEYANCE AT A FABULOUS PRICE:

"They soon reached a small hut, near which, enclosed within some high palings, was the animal in question. An Indian came out of the hut, and, at their request, conducted them within the enclosure. The elephant, which its owner had reared, not for a beast of burden, but for warlike purposes, was half domesticated. The Indian had begun already, by often irritating him, and feeding him every three months on sugar and butter, to impart to him a ferocity not in his nature, this method being often employed by those who train the Indian elephants for battle. Happily, however, for Mr. Fogg, the animal's instruction in this direction had not gone far, and the elephant still preserved his natural gentleness. Kiouni—this was the name of the beast—could doubtless travel rapidly for a long time, and, in default of any other means of conveyance, Mr. Fogg resolved to hire him. But elephants are far from cheap in India, where they are becoming scarce, the males, which alone are suitable for circus shows, are much sought, especially as but few of them are domesticated. When therefore Mr. Fogg proposed to the Indian to hire Kiouni, he refused point- blank. Mr. Fogg persisted, offering the excessive sum of ten pounds an hour for the loan of the beast to Allahabad. Refused. Twenty pounds? Refused also. Forty pounds? Still refused. Passepartout jumped at each advance; but the Indian declined to be tempted. Yet the offer was an alluring one, for, supposing it took the elephant fifteen hours to reach Allahabad, his owner would receive no less than six hundred pounds sterling."

So, they were feeding normally gentle elephants sugar and butter to make them mean enough to fight (and provoking them).

Am I the only one who finds that a fascinating and topical concept? And this would only be how the elephants FELT, because they would not have any of the self image issues associated with body size for female humans. The sugar and butter changed their personalities (according to the story).

I used to blame hormones on how I felt and my emotions/mood. I also blamed hormones on what I perceived to be hot flashes and night sweats and early menopause. When I cleaned up my food, all of that went away, even though I am now older (and still cycling). So whether the food/junk impacted the hormones or whether it was the food/junk directly impacting me, it stopped. Really stopped. And if I eat the wrong things, it comes back to me.

Doll House Pictures

Yesterday's post was the explanation/history. And this (yesterday's post) is very much one of those things where it doesn't look like a "maintenance" post at first glance, but for me, actually is.

As we unpacked, we put all the small stuff on a folding table (in the entry way/by front door) for safe keeping.

This little tree looks very old. It has a place for batteries in the base, so the lights, light (have not tried it yet). I have no memory of where this tree originated, but I recognized it as part of the collection as soon as I saw it. 

This is all the kitchen stuff, setting in a box top, waiting for a second doll house.  That is a china kitten on the stool. There is a mouse by the mouse trap. I made the dry sink from a kit. I also made the round table, no kit, from scratch. I made the peg rack for coats and the tall shelf too. I may have made the armless rocker, from a kit, not sure about that one. That stove is as heavy as it looks.

This is the kitchen table I made. By myself. I must have seen one somewhere to know there was such a thing. There is a name for this type of table, but can't remember and  have had no luck googling it. If you happen to know, please leave it for me in comments. (Woodworking is very much the same thing as quilting. I have been sewing since I was 5-6. My mind works kind of like a large piece of graph paper in how I see things. I think of my environment like a topographical map as I drive too.)

Ice Box. It is not really in keeping with the rest of the furniture. I suspect someone gave it to me. The old house we first lived in when I was born, still had the original ice box in the kitchen. We didn't use it. But it was there.

I am pretty sure I made this dry sink from a kit.

Tiny odds and ends for all over the house.

More tiny things.

A player piano, that no longer plays. One of the only casualties of time.

The clothes pin is holding an unfinished picture frame that middle re-glued. It just happens to be drying on the corner of the porch. That same corner is where the broken post is missing. The outside of the house (windows, door, siding, shingles, porch) is exactly how I bought it. You can see the attraction. All the things which never were finished on mine (long ago) were finished from day one on this house. And honestly, I loved the colors. 

We are deciding which paint for which rooms. We felt like we had to decide what was going in each room, to decide the colors.

Attic painted green. This the left side of the attic as you look at the back of the house. Rug is new. Tiny chair and stool by window are from local craft store. We are going to paint them. Braided rug is new. We had lots of huge braided rugs when I was little (like on the living room floor.) That 'quilt' is a piece of fabric that actually looks quilted. I made the quilt, pillows, mattress, sheets, etc. Pitcher and bowl are porcelain. 

Right side of the attic as one looks in the back. I had that woven rug with my things. 

Those are bunnies in a half barrel. We are assuming it is some type of toy. If you know any more about this piece, please me me know.

The rug is new. 

Dressing Table

I made the perfume bottles with beads. They are sitting in a tray made from the metal plate that goes behind a cut stone to make it a necklace. Tiny hand mirror and brush are on the right side.

That is a "pearl" necklace in the drawer.

This room is painted pink. This rug is new also. I 'made' the chest by painting it, appliqueing a rose on the top and adding hinges.

I think dresser was actually a kit I made.

This room is painted peach color. New rug, we were very pleased the shape of the alcove was repeated in the rug. We made a paper pattern from the measurements on the website, to be sure it fit, before we ordered. The table to the right holds a sewing machine. My paternal grandmother had a rocker like that. 

The bellows on the fireplace "work" and are youngest very favorite thing. 

Two new rugs. We actually had a (full size) roll top desk when I was a child. It had belonged to a doctor. My brother has it now. I believe when he and his finance condense households in a year or two, that desk is coming to my house. Will be very glad to have it. Although I have absolutely no idea where we are going to put it . . . 

The basket holds a key to the front door. I made the navy quill from a bead and a feather. The green quill came with the desk blotter set which also included the calendar on top the desk and the pad/pencil in the cubbie.

If you are curious about my 'photo studio' for doll house furniture -

Doll House Explanation Post - tomorrow is the pictures

2011:
Youngest and I were walking through a local store and saw a floor sample doll house on clearance for $100. One of the front porch posts had been broken, it was dirty(ish), there was glue residue from signs being taped to it over the years, but it was assembled with the outside finished. And it was very cute.

I bought it.

It sat, upstairs, from 2011 to May 2013.



2013:
When middle came home from college (this spring), one night I had middle and my husband up in the attic with me, combing the shelves/floor for my old cartons of doll house furniture.

We found three cartons, one at a time.

I wasn't sure how many there were, but as we opened the first one, and then the second one, I could remember missing pieces, so we kept looking until we found the third. 

I had kept all the original (tiny) boxes.  So in each carton were more little treasures to be opened.

In one of the cartons was a full inventory. We can tell from the list that there are still a couple things missing. Not enough for another box. Tiny things that some how were lost.

So that night, very late into the wee hours, middle and youngest unpacked cartons and opened tiny little boxes in sheer delight.

Yes, it was charming and fabulous stuff.




And that very next day, we started working on the inside of the saved, clearance doll house.

We went to the craft store and bought the very lightest pastel acrylic paints (because middle did not have any pastels in her massive paint collection).

And we started blue taping and painting.  Youngest did half the attic over that first weekend. (She is not very arts and crafty, so half the attic was about right.)  

Middle did most of the painting.

I did a couple wee hours stints after everyone else had gone to bed. Getting a lot done those nights, when middle was stuck on an area, as the week progressed, and I had inspiration, so she could be thrilled when she got up in the morning.

If you are in your 50's you may relate to this. I tend to get things right up to my nose for detail work (eyes aging). In a doll house, can't get your nose all the way to the inside back of a room, because your head does not fit.

I left this note for Jane: Do you remember hunting for something in your car with all the garage lights off, and using a flashlight, CSI style? Middle and youngest and I are painting the inside of a dollhouse. It is setting in front of a HUGE window. During the day, sunlight aplenty, I can't see. At night, room lights off, using a high power reading light like a flashlight, I can see perfectly.

We got started the weekend just before middle's wisdom teeth. But most of this (painting) happened after wisdom teeth, during her recoop time.

Middle painting. We went and bought that lamp specifically for the project. It was my over sized CSI flashlight in the wee hours.

Middle still painting. We tried to do the stairs in two different colors (brown where your foot steps, white on the vertical part, but it was too difficult with the house assembled. 

She came home from surgery, with a shake mixed with protein powder, and a spoon, and instead of taking a nap, she listened to Say Yes To The Dress and resumed painting. She loves a good project. It was a very quiet, sit down project. It might have aided in pain management, it gave her something to do with her mind.

When I worked on the house with her, we had to switch to another show, but by the end of the week, I was watching Yes To The Dress too (amazed at what people will spend on a dress, and amazed at all the people whose breasts should not be in a strapless dress, like anyone over an A cup, but they buy it anyway).

At the end of that same (wisdom teeth/painting) week, our little 4 1/2 year old friend was coming to stay. So, we sort of had a deadline. We could either pick everything up, unfinished, or we could push to finish so we were picking up for real. We did finish. So, by the time our little 4 1/2 year old busy bee arrived, the painting was done. The furniture was in place. A scattering of wee rugs had arrived with the UPS man.

The 4 1/2 year old spent a great deal of time peering into the doll house and telling us all that she saw. She loved it. She understood she could not touch.




I am (now) on the hunt for a one room house for a detached kitchen.

My/our doll house kitchen stove is massive. I must have been attracted to kitchen stuff, because there was a lot of it in those three cartons. Since I was just in Charleston where most all the old houses had separate kitchens, it is an easy solution.

After painting an assembled house (challenging) we are looking for a shell to paint and then finish the details. Painting the walls before windows and doors (and stairs) are in, would be much simpler.




This was the explanation post.

Tomorrow's is all doll house pictures.