um...

i'll tell you what,

i have fabulous luck at our local library.

just plucking books off the shelf,

judging them by their covers.

dear reader,

may i present

a book you might fancy.

my favorite two pages

{please click on the image - read, read!}

there's even a little film, narrated by

none other than lemony snicket, himself

you can listen to the song in its entirety here.

i have reprinted the words so that you may sing along if you like:

There once was a Bird and there once was a Dog, 
And the bird was Despondent, or sad, 
A pensive frown on her Busy beak, 
No matter that Cake could be had. 

The Goat suggested a Convertible drive, 
To purchase a cheering up Hat, 
At a Haberdashery with a Scarlet door, 
And a Baby to sell them just that. 

The hats have Panache, of course, of course, 
A sense of excitement and style, 
The Mezzo-Soprano is done with her song, 
So let's all just eat for a while. 

Tra la, tra la, tra la, tra la, 
{my favorite line} And sing those tra las once more. 
Tra la, tra la, tra la, tra la, 
Try not to get crumbs on the floor.

♥

three warm, delicious things

this soup

served with potatoes, this was an instant family favorite.

these pretzels

made with these sweet friends.

this sleepy puppy

who has a proper bed, but prefers this little box.

♥

rainy night

tonight, my village feels like this.

{source}

today, i cleaned, sorted, let go.

and voted.

and cuddled this softie.

i found a few of my old blog posts that

are good enough to revisit:

= little neddy reading =

= a sweet one about me & missy =

= marian's stop motion movie =

= sweet summertime with emily & jay =

= the recipe for being really, really happy =

tomorrow we are making this.

and these.

and this.

mulling spices are on the stove.

there's a fire in the fireplace.

it's cozy here.

♥

look what she can do

this is our new puppy.

she is an australian shepherd.

she is 9 weeks old.

she is deaf.

we are teaching her signs

and other stuff.

♥

p.s.

her name is beatrix.

or toodles.

maybe, beatrix toodles.

all will be well

though, sometimes it might not seem so

it's a very sad time for some of my dear friends.

there really isn't any way

to undo this kind of pain,

this kind of grief.

except to have faith that we'll be reunited.

i never told missy goodbye.

i said, "see you soon."

and, guess what?
i already have.

♥

lanterns lit

several folks i love have

very full and raw hearts this weekend.

i am lighting these lanterns here

in their honor.

{source}

there's so much comfort in this song.

i hope you can feel it.

♥

candy + science = yum + fun

chances are,

at this very moment,

you have more candy in your house

than you know what to do with.

let's put your starbursts to good use

with a quick & fun science experiment.

have you ever seen someone swallow 

something yucky while pinching their nose?

there is a very good reason for that:

our sense of smell affects our ability to taste.

let's get down to the

olfactory/gustatory nitty gritty...

here's the question:

if i hold my nose while eating a starburst,

will i still be able to tell which flavor it is?

let's find out!

here are ned's starbursts from halloween.

he had 10 pieces, with 6 different flavors:

cherry, strawberry, orange, lemon,

strawberry kiwi, and mango melon.

{to keep things scientific, i kept the flavors a secret}

i cut them into four pieces per flavor

because the whole piece is really big.

have your subjects close their eyes

{we played it safe with bandanas}

and pinch their nose.

1. put a starburst piece in their mouth

and have them chew it up,

keeping their eyes closed & nose pinched.

2. ask them to tell you what flavor it is.

3. have them un-pinch their nose

and THEN tell you what flavor it is.

4. record and compare your results 

i did this, along with marian & ned.

even the few flavors we guessed correctly

tasted very different once we could smell them.

smell & taste are most definitely linked.

learn more here and here.

----------------------------------------

a box nap

 ♥