Taking a break

Due to my recent lack of work ethic concerning my AP summer work, I will be taking a break from the computer.

Unfortunately, this blog has to suffer. I will not be posting anything until I have completed all of my summer reading and activity assignments. It is likely that I will not be able to post again until September.

I am very sorry to announce this, but seeing as I have almost nothing done and summer is already more than half over, I decided I needed a self-applied intervention.

As the days get warmer...

k... well, hotter. The sun beats down incessantly and I've been forbidden to touch the thermostat. So my way of coping is to become extremely lazy and lacking in my duties. Unfortunately, this blog has suffered as a result.

But last night started the first daily practice of marching band, and while that does mean I'll be leaving in about a week for band camp, it also means that my energy is up and I'm not feeling quite so tired and boorish.

So what have I been up to since returning from Blue Lake on the 12th? Well, in honour of the release of HBP, I've been on a Harry Potter binge. I've looked up numerous HP-related knitting patterns, began making some Luna Lovegood inspired jewelry, discovered that I belong in Slytherin house (yay me!), and found numerous recipes from the wizarding world.

I've no idea how long this will last, but I can guarantee it will, probably by the time school starts back up.

The whole thing really started before I left, but at the time my obsession was purely with Tom Felton, and his HP character Draco. Now you know why I was so excited to be in Slytherin!

Blast, it's time for me to leave for practice already! I suppose I'll have to finish up later then...

Okay, I'm back now. Let's see, where was I?

Oh yes! Well, I found a wonderful pattern for Pygmy Puffs, which I am in the process of making, as well as a delicious recipe for (non-alcoholic) mulled mead, which I modified a bit to be more of what I thought Butterbeer would taste like. The recipe I found for butterbeer seemed a bit to fizzy, and I didn't have all the ingredients.

Other than that, I've picked and dried the last of the lavender, weeded my garden, and well, that's pretty much it.

Signing off.

Away I go...

Tomorrow starts one of many camping trips this summer, though camp fires and tents is the last thing this particular session will hold. Instead, I am going to the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, Michigan.

All today I have been preparing for the 12 day trip, as well as seeing to some things that need to be done, and things I will miss dearly while I am away.

After washing those last few loads of laundry, straightening my room, and packing the last essentials, I headed outside to my beautiful garden on the edge of the tree line. I pulled weeds and then sat for some time enjoying the cool breeze in the deep green of the woods, listening to the birds and the stream making wonderful music, and watching the beautifully somber gray clouds swirl above me.

On my way up I stopped by our koi pond and noticed some honey bees and wasps sitting on the slate waterfall, presumably taking a sip of the water as it cascaded down moss covered stones to the lily pads below.

Image by L Lemos via Flickr

After that I headed up front, where the lavender was growing tall and bushy near the curb. I cut quite a few stems off and enjoyed the hum of the fat, fuzzy bumble bees as they collected nectar, and waved hello to the neighbors on their afternoon walk.

And then I noticed that our blackberry bush was just bursting with dark, ripe berries. These I eagerly collected, before I headed inside to share the fruits of my labor with my adorable nephew (quite literally, too)!

I hung up the bunches of lavender from my bedroom ceiling to dry, and I can't wait to enjoy the marvelous smell when I return home.

All and all it's been a good day, and it's not even over yet! I can't wait to get back outside, so I will leave you all to go outside and enjoy your days as well!

There will be no books of the week this week, but I there will be some next week.

Books of the Week: Top 15 Banned Literary Classics

I remember the day I first picked up a copy of Huckleberry Finn. I was in the eighth grade, and I remember how fascinated I was that such a famous literary classic was banned. If I am correct, it is still banned today, though for much different reasons than when it was first published. I've read a handful of the books on the banned list, and I've concluded that the term 'banned' when applied to books really means 'generally not approved', but these are wonderful books nonetheless. And really, who ever has been able to resist something that's off-limits?

1. Ulysses by James Royce

2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

3. Candide by Voltaire

4. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

5. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

6. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

7. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck - I realize that I have done this book before, but I did not write the list of top 15 banned books. Besides, it's worth a second read.

8. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

9. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

10. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding

11. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

12. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - a note, this story was drafted at the same time as Of Mice and Men

13. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

14. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

15. The Crucible by Arthur Miller

And just in case your wondering which of these I've read: 2, 7, 10, 13, 15

Books of the Week: Steampunk!

Cover of The Court of the Air

Okay, I got a little bored and began browsing through some of my favorite steampunk websites and forums until I was able to assemble a modest list of highly recommended novels. I have peeked at a few myself (though unfortunately I do not have the time to commit to reading them right now), and I must say I can't wait to read more!

The Difference Engine – by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling

Airborne – by Kenneth Oppel

The Court of the Air – by Stephen Hunt

Annubis Gate – by Tim Powers

Dr. Eckner’s Dream Machine – by Douglas Botting

Nomads of the Time Stream – by Michael Moorcock

Perdido Street Station – by China Miéville

For some more ideas on Steampunk fiction and authors Extraordinary Engines is a book filled with those.

Unfortunately, none of my usual sources seem to have these books as a free download, so you're on your own if you wish to find a copy to read. For a preview of the first few pages though, you can try Amazon.

Kittens!

For some time now we have known there was a cat living in our shed--today we discovered her kittens! My dad called me out to help him catch the three kittens he had seen when he went out there to do some (very late) spring cleaning, and we ended up finding four, as you can kind of see by the picture to the left. There are two orange, one of them lighter than the other--they're hiding out in the back, as well as a gray and a brown one. All four are girls, and the brown one is very protective, she always is watching me and hissing if I get too close.

When I was picking them up and putting them in our cat carrier (from our previous cat, Pippin) they were scared and feisty, but the orange ones were noticeably cuddlier, though they are all cuddly when they calm down.

Right now they are curled up together protectively, the cat carrier is on the deck table, and my nephew is running around squealing and meowing, too excited about the cats to sit still, but always running back to peek in and giggle whenever little miss brown hisses at him.

Right now the current plan is to get some kitten formula (which my parents are on their way to do now) and then take them to the Animal Shelter within the next few days. Would be the Humane Society, but we've had bad experiences with them in the past (I still miss my Pip!)

Of course I would love to keep one, well, all of them, but half the family is allergic, and I must admit--deep breath, here it comes--I have some responsibility issues. Very forgetful I am, especially when all I want to do is curl up with a book and cuddle with my little fuzzball.

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I have just paused to venture to take each of the kittens out to photograph them separately. In reality, the light orange one is much closer to an off-white, and is much fiercer than the brown, she snapped at me when I tried to take her out, but she was so curled up and shivering I decided she was terrified and let her be. The brown one I've noticed only hisses when the white one does. And now they're meowing! Oh how adorable!

So here are each of the kittens separately. The orange:

The gray:
The brown one:and the white one (only 1 pic):
My favorites are, well, they're all my favorite but if I had to pick I'd choose the brown and the orange. They're all cute and cuddly and love-able, but the orange one is the most adorable and had a beautiful color, and the brown one has such big eyes, and seems very loyal to her sisters.

Well, before I go I'll leave you with one last photo of the four of them together. Aren't they cute?

I do intend on taking more photos, so keep an eye on my flickr account for those.

Feedback Friday!

Image by websuccessdiva via Flickr

Okay, I've seen a few blogs do this before (most notably Hope Studios), and I'm ready to give it a try.

What do you want to see here? In this little area where you read a post. What would make my blog something worth coming back to?

I'm taking requests, leave your order in a comment below, and I'll do my best to serve up. What would you, as a reader, like to read?

While you're thinking, I'll give you a quick and easy recipe I half made-up yesterday.

5-minute Tuna Melt (aka Super Easy)
Ingredients:
2 cans tuna (chunk, solid, doesn't matter)
1 egg
salt and pepper
olive oil
4 slices of cheese

Directions:
Open and drain both cans of tuna, and empty into a bowl. Add the egg (minus the shell!) and mix with a fork. Add salt and pepper to taste. Form into patties about the size of your palm, and drop into a pan over medium heat, being sure to add olive oil to keep them from sticking. Cook until golden brown, then flip and repeat. Place one slice of cheese on each patty, allow to melt, and remove from heat. Tastes great on toast or pita bread, and by itself. Makes about 4 patties.

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