mo willems

this kooky series has sparked a lot of fun and reading aloud around here lately...

mo, known for his Knuffle Bunny and Pigeon books,

has paired a neurotic elephant and an insouciant pig as the dearest of friends.

these friends get involved in situations like:

the stories are simple, but not stilted,

sweet, not cloying,

and

HILARIOUS!!!!

seriously.  my reluctant reader eagerly takes on each new book with 

an interest usually reserved for ice cream.

i dare you; go find yourself a kid, take it to the library to find an elephant and piggie story.

beware, take it home to read...or risked getting kicked out for your theatrics.

a little wilder

i thought the girl might enjoy a good pioneer story 

while we were "roughing it" at the cottage among the bears and blueberries, 

so i hit the library for a copy of little house in the big woods

 by laura ingalls wilder before we left.

not only did she enjoy the book, she especially embraced the idea of

 'rag-curls' featured in the chapter describing christmas finery...

once suitably curled-up before bed, she cuddled with grandma for just one more chapter.

out of (his) control....

"mama, why you not let me go to space?"

gooey gunk

Q: what do you get when you mix

white glue, water, colouring and borax?

A: gooey gunk!  and a lot of indoor fun.

if stored in an airtight jar, this gloopy mess continues to be fun for weeks.

it does become more and more solid...much like silly putty.

trust the recipe...

it doesn't seem as though it will work, and yet, mysteriously, it does.

~how to do it~

in two bowls, prepare the following:

solution A

1 cup H2O

1 cup white glue

2 T liquid tempera paint 

(or a few drops of food colouring)

solution B:

1 1/3 cup warm H2O

4 t borax (laundry booster)

stir until borax is completely dissolved.

slowly pour solution A into bowl containing solution B (do not mix!!!)

roll solution A around in solution B 4-5 times.

lift solution A out of solution B and knead for 2-3 minutes.

play with it!  

(a tray underneath play area was very helpful)

store in an airtight container.

thanks again to the ultimate book of kid concoctions 

by john e. thomas and danita pagel !

 p.s.:it came out of clothes after a good soaking and laundering; 

anything stuck on hard surfaces came off with the scrape of a credit card...

but it was better to roll it up before it dried.

still

little minnows swim,

sun doubling their numbers...

casting shark shadows.

blueberries

it is practically impossible to convey the bounty of 

the wild blueberry season in black creek/matheson township this year.

each spring visit to the cottage, we carefully watch the berry bushes, blossoms, and the weather

in order to predict what sort of harvest may be in store.

even so, this year seems to have taken everyone by surprise...

the hillsides are simply laden with blue, 

 the fruit is large, sweet, and juicy, making for fast picking;

and the picking pails fill nearly as quickly as the bowls empty.