Recipes, Stories, & Tutes From the Nest

Oaklea the gnoma part 2

azuresage — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 03:45:24 +0000

The next evening, when the moon had risen & cast a pale glow onto the water Oakley knew it was safe again for him to come out of his home to sit by the rocks of the landing. Oaklea was feeling a bit sad, and lonely. He missed his mother. His mother and father had been swept away by the flooding waters if the river many years ago, and Oakley had not seen them since. They had sent word that they were safe, and had found a new home by the sea. An egret had brought Oaklea the message. Even though he knew they were safe, he stilled missed them.

As the river spirit Beatha (bey-ha) was floating downstream she stopped to say hello to Oaklea.

“Hello Oakley. It’s a beautiful evening, why do you look so sad?”

Oaklea replied “Beatha, I’m sad because I miss my mother. I miss the acorn soup she made us in the fall. I miss how she could make the softest down feather beds for us to snuggle up in during the cold winter. I miss the dandelion greens she would make us in spring, and the berry cobbler she would cook in the summer. Mostly I miss her stories, and just having her here to talk to.”

“Oh, I see” said the river spirit.

“Beatha, do you have a mother?” asked Oaklea.

“Yes, I do. Her name is Lake Waccamaw. She is a fresh water lake northwest of here. My waters flow from her. She is called my source”.

“

“There are many theories about how she came to be. She is what is called a Carolina Bay. There are hundreds of them, all shaped like an ellipse, but she is one of the few that is filled with water. The Waccamaw-Sioux who live nearby have a story they tell about how she came to be. Would you like to hear it Oaklea.” said the river spirit.

“Yes, please. I would love a story tonight” said Oaklea.

“Once long, long ago before Lake Waccamaw was a lake, it was a beautiful, green hill covered in flowers of every color of the rainbow.. There were flowers with petals of pink, scarlet, gold, orange, indigo, violet, magenta and other colors we have yet to name. In the middle of the flower mound sat a beautiful princess of the Waccamaw. She loved her mound of flowers, and never wished to leave it. The great spirit had given her the mound to care for, and given her the duty of bestowing blessings on all of the tribe. Once every year all of the sons of all of the tribal chiefs brought the flower princess a flower, and in exchange she would bless the tribe for the rest of the year. One season all of the chiefs sons came, left their flowers, and received their blessings. One chiefs son who had never seen the princess before brought his flower, and was so enamored by the beauty of the princess that he asked her to leave her flower mound, and be his bride. She kindly declined, saying it was her duty to stay on the mound, and who would bless the tribes if she were to leave? The chief’s son returned to his tribe angry & bitter. He vowed to destroy the tribe of the flower princess. He gathered his warriors & weapons, and set off to war. The warriors of the princess poised to defend her, and the mound. The two tribes began exchanging flaming arrows . They flew though the air like comets, scorching the earth & flowers where they landed. The princess was so saddened by the war between the tribes, and the destruction of her mound that she fell to the ground & wept. As she cried she begged the great spirit to take her away from the mound & change the mound into a great lake that never dried out so that the flaming arrows could no longer hurt her flowers. The great spirit heard her prayers & sent a flaming comet from the heavens to the mound, sending the princess & her flowers up into the heavens in smoke & flame where they now light up the night as stars, the fields of flowers in the sky. The crater dented the earth, and filled with water making the lake. That is why the Waccamaw-Sioux are known as the people of the fallen star.

Oaklea the gnome part 1

azuresage — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 03:29:04 +0000

Oaklea the gnome lives below the rocks by the Waccamaw river. The entrance to his home is by a boat landing . Oaklea likes to disguise himself as a cypress knee, or leaves & watch the people come & go with their boats. Oaklea has been there by the river for many years, but not nearly as long as the river spirit Beatha (pronounced Bey-ha, it is the Gaelic word for life). Beatha was ancient. She had seen people come and go, and she knew all that had ever happened along her banks. At night when all is quiet & the humans are all sleeping soundly in their beds, Oaklea likes to come sit at the edge of the water by the river to watch the stars & listen to the chorus of crickets in the still beauty of the night. Most nights, the river spirit Beatha passes by Oaklea’s spot by the river. Oaklea always stops Beatha on her way down river to ask her questions , and to hear her stories. You see, Oaklea is very old to us, but for a gnome he is just a young one. He still has many questions, and he loves more than anything to hear the stories the river spirit tells.

One night, near the very end of summer, Oaklea stopped Beatha for a chat. He had a few questions he had been wondering about. “good evening Beatha” said Oakley. “It’s a beautiful harvest moon, isn’t it?” “Yes it is. I love these cooler evenings that begin this time of year” replied the river spirit.

“Beatha, I was wondering, how did this land get here? I thought if anyone would know it would be you”. asked Oaklea , hoping she could provide him the answer.

“Well Oaklea, it took a very long time. This land that I run through, that all of these humans & animals live on, was at one time, under Mother Ocean. Mother Ocean’s shore used to be much further inland than it is now, somewhere near the middle of South Carolina.”

“So this land was once part of the kingdom of the sea?” asked Oaklea, amazed.

“Yes it was” said Beatha.

“But how did the land get here? That’s what I want to know” questioned Oaklea. The river spirit thought for a moment, and remember what mother ocean had told her. “It all began deep inside the earth. There are great strong forces within the earth. When the inside of the earth moves, the movements create landforms on the outside of the earth. It was these deep movement that pushed the Appalachian mountains up from the earth. They are called fold mountains. These mountains wore away over time. The wind & rain carried the bits & pieces down towards the sea, where they settled & began to form the land we are now a part of. When Mother Ocean receded a bit, the land was exposed, and trees, plants & other living thing s began to grow on the land. Then the people came to make the land their home. Is there anything else you need to know Oaklea?”

“Yes, Beatha, there is. I see how the land came, but what about the humans. How did they get here?” asked Oaklea.

“Oaklea, there are many theories, and many stories about the beginning of people. The first people here were the indigenous people, many people call them the Waccamaw Indians because they lived all around my banks. They lived here by fishing in my waters, and hunting the animals who came to drink. They gathered the wild berries & grapes, and grew many things themselves too. They would travel these waters, the ancient highways, in dugout canoes made from the trees which grow along my banks.”

“Where are they? I have never seen them here” asked Oaklea.

“There are still Waccamaw Indians, but most of them fled when the settlers came. It was bad for them. Many of them left to live further inland with a tribe called the Catawba. It is the Catawba’s story of the beginning of people that I know. I can tell you that story if you like.” said the river spirit.

“Yes!! Please Beatha, tell me the Catawba creation story” pleaded Oakley.

“Ok Oaklea, get cozy” said the river spirit. “it is a wonderful story.”

“Once upon a time the entire world was covered in rocky hills & mountains, except for one verdant, lush, peaceful valley. In that green valley lived the only person in the entire world, a beautiful young woman. The woman lived happily in the peaceful valley , spared from hunger, hard work, and the cold that we know as winter, for in the valley it was always summer. Her favorite companions were the deer, who was her playmate on the land, and the beaver, who was her friend in the water. She existed on honey, sweet berries, and wild fruits that were plentiful in the valley. For music she had the birds who’s songs were sweet & unending. She wore a dress fashioned form the bright green leaves of the water lily. She was the ruler of this world that never grew old, where the blooming flowers never faded & nothing ever died.

One morning, when the sun had risen, and took it’s place in the sky, a butterfly with wings of flame & scarlet fluttered by her cave. The young maiden, having never seen such a creature in all of her days began to follow the butterfly, in hopes of getting a closer look. She followed the scarlet creature far away from her peaceful valley home, & up a rocky cliff side, until she came to the foot of a rushing waterfall. The butterfly fluttered on, deserting the girl in a strange land she had never seen before.

She tried to find her way home. She tried to retrace her steps, but the longer she searched, the more lost she became. Unable to find her home, her heart felt the heaviness of fear for the first time. Lost & alone she fell to the ground weeping into a puddle of her own tears.

She spent the night alone, scared & cold, when in the twilight she finally lifted her head to the sky and saw above her a figure. He was similar to her, but stronger, & more stoutly made. He wore a garment woven from the clouds.

He reached down to her to help her stand, and told her he had been traveling from the evening star to the morning star when he saw her weeping. Her tears awakened his compassion, and he felt he needed to help. He was afraid to return to the sky because he had broken a command given to him by the Great Spirit. He wished to stay with the young maiden on earth. She wanted him to stay too. Together they found their way back to her valley home, where for many moons they lived together in peace & happiness.

They together had a child, who made them even happier than they were before, but they feared for him. They knew that one day their children would fill the earth as the leaves fill the trees & the stars fill the heavens. The man was afraid because he had broken the command of the great spirit, and the woman was fearful of the future for her child. They decided to ask the great spirit for guidance, protection, and forgiveness. The Great Spirit looked at them with love & compassion. He created a great wind that pushed the vast rocky mountains together making valleys & prairies for the new children to live in. The earth was beautiful.

Then the Great Spirit told them this earth was a gift to them to be treasured & cared for, that it would provide for them all they needed, so long as they cared for it. However, since they had broken his command they would never again enjoy food without work, and one season of the year they would have to suffer the cold we know as winter. Lastly, for breaking the Great Spirit’s command, they would no longer live forever, but that their lives would be limited to a few short years, at the end of which they would return to the Great Spirit. They would know this time was growing near when the hair on their head turned as white as the plumage of a swan.

Alister & Amelia at the Pain de Sucre School of Cookery: a story for liquid measure

azuresage — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 16:03:02 +0000

In the kingdom of numeria, Alistair & Amelia were about to graduate from the 3rd grade. They had learned so much. They had learned about harvesting apples, and preserving them for later. The kind gardener of the palace had been their teacher in the subject of all things that grow. They had learned about the vast earthworm kingdom underground & how important the worms are to the vitality of the soil. They learned about the simple homes from around the world made from the material the earth had given man. They had heard many wonderful stories about civilization’s beginnings. They learned abou the diffrent fibers their clothes came from & how they were made. They had nearly memorized all of the times tables, and were becoming proficient atcolumn addition, subtarction & multiplication, and they could even do long division. Their homeschool Tutor Ms. Biblio had told them a story of division. A story of a dividing gnome & how he helped a royal chef.

(A king was having a party, and had several delicious apetizers cooked up by the palace chef from wonderful, fresh vegetables that grew in the royal garden. Chef wanted to know how many apetizers to put on each guests plate. He was not good at anything but cooking, and needed the help of His friend Divide, who was an earth gnome who lived at the edge of the kingdim in a small hut. He spoke with his Friend divide about his trouble. DIvide told him, I will be out for awhile gathering stones, but you may put the number of things you wish divided in a sack & throw it in my house. Leave the number of guests tacked to my door, and when I can I will divide the number for you & leave the answer on the roof. Chef Did as he was asked. He had 48 apetizers & 12 royal guests. The division gnome quickly divided & put the numer 4 on the roof. 48 apetizers divided by 12 guests means each will get 4 appetizers on thier plate.)

They had even learned a great deal about cooking and were learning all about liquid measure so that soon they cook all by themselves. Thier teacher had said that this kind of measure was the language of recipes. They had made a batch of fresh buscuits with their teacher in the palace kitchen. They shared them with their parents, the King & Queen. “oh my goodness” cried the king. “These are the most delicious biscuits I have ever eaten in all my royal days”. The queen quietly agreed that hey were divine. Once the queen had finished the bite in her mouth & politely dapped the corners of her mouth to wipe up any crumbs or butter she said “Alistair & Amelia, as you know we are going abroad to visit your Aunt, Queen Cherie in her kingdom. You may also know that in her kingdom is the world renowned Pain de Sucre School of Cookery. Perhaps we can arrange for the two of you to attend and learn a bit more

about the art of baking. “Yes, Yes” exclaimed Alistair & Amelia. “That is jsut what we want to do”. Alistair & Amelia were so excited about summer that they exhausted themselves in the excitement. They ran to the kitchen to get a drink. There were 2 drinks left in the refridgerator. Each in a different shaped bottle. Amelia gave Alistair the shorter, fatter one, and took the taller, thinner one herself. “Hey” said Alistair, ” Why do you get more than me?”. Amelia told him, ” They are the same, they both say______________. “. “Lets get the measureing cups out & see” They did just that. They found that they were the same, and that different shaped containers could indeed hold the same amounts. Days passed, and it was time to go away for the summer. The Royal Family of Numeria arrived safely in the kingdom of theor Aunt Queen Cherie who greeted them warmly at the palace gates with a band of trumepters dressed in fine regalia. The twins needed a good nights sleep. The bery next day they were expected to be on time at the Pain de Sucre School of cookery. Every thing was going wonderfully, or at least it seemed that way. As they were being tucked into the silken velvet beds in thier aunt’s palace, a witch, one they thought was never going to bother then again, hovered on her magic broom, above the castle listening, and plotting, how she would sabotage this cooking adventure. Vera Viper had wanted to destroy the kingdom, and especially Alistair & Amelia, so that she could rule the kingdom herself. She had done some horrible things to the family, especially when her mentor, Malicent Meanie, were alive. If she couldn’t defeat tehm entirely, then she would, at the very least, make their lives difficult. The first day of bakery school was fun. So many good smells. HUge jars of all kinds of flours & sugars lined the shelves on the walls. There were several huge oven, even one made of stone that was used for baking bread. Thier teacher, Chef Pierre, had finished giving the twelve students a tour, and was ready to get to work. He divided every one into teams. Each team had a special job. Alistair & Amelia’s job was to be in charge of all liquids. When some one needed a cup of milk, or a quart of water, they would pour it & deliver it to the one who needed it. What a fun jon they had. Chef Pierre called out “Alister, Amelia, quickly bring a cup of water. Need it for a batch of lolipops.” At this Vera Viper went to work stirring up trouble just as well as the chef stirred batter. Cowering just outside the open bakery windows she wispered her spell.

Bubble, Bubble, toil & trouble, make the measuring cup hold double!!!

When alistair went for the cups he went to the one that said “1 cup”, filled it up with water & deivered it. The stidents pured the water in the sugar mixture& poured the liquid into heart shaped lollipop molds. They waited for the candy to harden, but it never did. Vera Viper wispered her undo spell to return the markins on the cups to normal. When chef Pierre inquired as to why his tried & true lollipop recipe failed he found Alistair had used the pint instead (ask how much extra water went into the pops, they should say 1 cup since a pint equals 2 cups). Horrible mistakes happened all week. Chef Pierre would complain, ” I have never seen such carlessness, and fumbling in all my years of teaching”. Tomorrow thw twins & their class were to make their graduation recipe all by themselves. They were put into teams & given a classic recipe to bake to perfection. Somehad to make apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, or gingerbread. The twins had to bake the perfect chocolate brownie.
“Oh, brownies,yum, my favorite” said Amelia. Each pair was given a recipe sheet with ingredienst & instructions.Vera Viper, again at her secret snooping place hovering under the kitchen’s window, fired off another spell.

“Mix em’ up, and mix em’ up, turn to quarts what were once cups, Turn the tablespoons into ounces, this is how a smart witch pounces, May your brownies be hard lumps or gooey, instead of soft & warm & chewy.”

As she whisped this horrible spell, the measurements on the recipe sheet all converted into odd measurements. What was 1/4 cup now was 2 ounes, what was a cup was now 1/2 pint, or 1/4 quart. Strange meaurements indeed. Alistair & Amelia looked at the recipe. The ingredients were in odd increments. The cooking time was in seconds & not minutes. They would have to convert these to get a proper recipe.

After they did all of the conversions they began to mix the brownie batter. It looked right. It smelled right. Would it taste right? When the timer went off Alistair & Amelia took their briwnies from the hot oven. They looked good. They gave them a few minutes to cool & then turned the brownies out of the pan to cut them into servings. They split one between them, just to make sure they were good of course. Just as Amelia was about to bite into her brownie she spied Vera Viper peeking in the window. “Look there’s terrible Vera, she must have been working her bad magic to mess us up!!”. As soon as Alistair saw her hovering outside the second story window he grabbed a huge barrell full of vinegar that CHef Pierre had ordered for the school. Alistair picked up that vinegar barrell(for remember he was amazingly strong, the fairies gave him strength as a gift when he was born). He dumped the entire bushell of apple cider vingar out the window right on Vera Viper. She Screamed so loudly every one in the town heard her. Then she flew back home on her broom, even more bitter than before, where she could plot more mischief, and take a bath. CHef Pierre returned. It was time to test the students work. He took a bite from each. “good”, he said to one, “eh, so so” to another, “yuck” to another, and lastly he came to the twins. Her tasted their dense, chocolate brownie and said “MAGNIFIQUE!!!!”. Alistair & Amelia completed the class with a certificate in good cookery. They stayed in Aunt Cherie’s kingdom the rest of the summer, and as they grew up they never forgot the summer they learned how to make the best brownies in the world, and dumped an entire bushel of vinegar on the horrible Vera Viper.

Making a simple theodolite: an activity for a measurement lesson

azuresage — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 07:21:31 +0000

A theodolite is a surveying instrument of unknown origin, but can be traced back to the 16th-century English mathematician Leonard Digges. This is info for you not the child.

You will need:

a piece of thick cardboard
a plastic straw
thread, or thin string
a small screw
tape
scissors
a ruler
tape measure for activity

Follow these steps to make your theodolite:

Cut a 6 x 6 inch square from the cardboard
cut the square in half diagonally
tape the straw to the diagonally cut edge of one of the triangles
cut a 10″ pice of thread, and tie on end to the screw
tape the other end of the thread to the triangle so that it hangs straight down along one of the 6″ edges.

Your theodolite is ready to rock & roll. Not really, but is is ready to measure tall things. If you can find a straw as long as the diagonal side, then by all means allow the straw to run the entire length of the side. This was the longest straw I had.

Using your new tool is simple. Follow these easy steps:

find a tall object that you would like to measure
raise your theodolite up to your eye, and look through the straw.
find the top of your object through the straw
make sure your string with the screw on the end stays straight along the edge of your triangle.
You must move backward or forward until the top of your object can be seen through the straw. The thread must stay in line with the edge of your triangle. It can not dangle forward, backward or to the side.
Once you have found the correct position and can see the top of your object through the straw & the string is aligned with the edge of your triangle, mark your position on the ground. You have created an invisible triangle.
After you have marked your position on the ground, measure the distance you are from the base of the object you are measuring using the tape measure.
Now measure your own height.
Add the distance you measured to your height. This is the height of your object.

For instance, if the distance to the tree is 45 feet, and you are 4 feet 10 inches tall, your total would be 49 feet 10 inches.

When we did this activity, we used a tape measure. I had her write down the distance to the object in inches, and her height in inches. After she added the 2 heights together , I had her convert the inches to feet in order to get in some math practice.

So if her total were 495 inches, she would find how many feet this is by dividing by 12. It would be 41 feet, 3 inches.

Brigid & the Wolf

azuresage — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:31:06 +0000

Saint Bridget had long golden hair; and she was very beautiful. Many wonderful things happened to her that are written in famous books. But I suspect that you never heard what she did about the King’s Wolf. It is a queer story.

This is how it happened. The King of Ireland had a tame wolf which some hunters had caught for him when it was a wee baby. And this wolf ran around as it pleased in the King’s park near the palace, and had a very good time. But one morning he got over the high wall which surrounded the park, and strayed a long distance from home, which was a foolish thing to do. For in those days wild wolves were hated and feared by the people, whose cattle they often stole; and if a man could kill a wicked wolf he thought himself a very smart fellow indeed. More- [2] over, the King himself had offered a prize to any man who should bring him a dead wolf. For he wanted his kingdom to be a peaceful, happy one, where the children could play in the woods all day without fear of big eyes or big teeth.

Of course you can guess what happened to the King’s wolf? A big, silly country fellow was going along with his bow and arrows, when he saw a great brown beast leap over a hedge and dash into the meadow beyond. It was only the King’s wolf running away from home and feeling very frisky because it was the first time that he had done such a thing. But the country fellow did not know all that.

“Aha!” he said to himself. “I’ll soon have you, my fine wolf, and the King will give me a gold piece that will buy me a hat and a new suit of clothes for the holidays.” And without stopping to think about it or to look closely at the wolf, who had the King’s mark upon his ear, the fellow shot his arrow straight as a string. The King’s wolf gave one great leap into the air and then fell dead on the grass, poor fellow.

[3] The countryman was much pleased. He dragged his prize straight up to the King’s palace and thumped on the gate.

“Open!” he cried. “Open to the valiant hunter who has shot a wolf for the King. Open, that I may go in to receive the reward.”

So, very respectfully, they bade him enter; and the Lord Chamberlain escorted him before the King himself, who sat on a great red velvet throne in the Hall. In came the fellow, dragging after him by the tail the limp body of the King’s wolf.

“What have we here?” growled the King, as the Lord Chamberlain made a low bow and pointed with his staff to the stranger. The King had a bad temper and did not like to receive callers in the morning. But the silly countryman was too vain of his great deed to notice the King’s disagreeable frown.

“You have here a wolf, Sire,” he said proudly. “I have shot for you a wolf, and I come to claim the promised reward.”

But at this unlucky moment the King started up with an angry cry. He had noticed his mark on the wolf’s right ear.

[4] “Ho! Seize the villain!” he shouted to his soldiers. “He has slain my tame wolf; he has shot my pet! Away with him to prison; and to-morrow he dies.”

It was useless for the poor man to scream and cry and try to explain that it was all a mistake. The King was furious. His wolf was killed, and the murderer must die.

In those days this was the way kings punished men who displeased them in any way. There were no delays; things happened very quickly. So they dragged the poor fellow off to a dark, damp dungeon and left him there howling and tearing his hair, wishing that wolves had never been saved from the flood by Noah and his Ark.

Now not far from this place little Saint Bridget lived. When she chose the beautiful spot for her home there were no houses near, only a great oak-tree, under which she built her little hut. It had but one room and the roof was covered with grass and straw. It seemed almost like a doll’s playhouse, it was so small; and Bridget herself was like a big, golden-haired wax doll,—the prettiest doll you ever saw.

[5] She was so beautiful and so good that people wanted to live near her, where they could see her sweet face often and hear her voice. When they found where she had built her cell, men came flocking from all the country round about with their wives and children and their household goods, their cows and pigs and chickens; and camping on the green grass under the great oak-tree they said, “We will live here, too, where Saint Bridget is.”

So house after house was built, and a village grew up about her little cell; and for a name it had Kildare, which in Irish means “Cell of the Oak.” Soon Kildare became so fashionable that even the King must have a palace and a park there. And it was in this park that the King’s wolf had been killed.

Now Bridget knew the man who had shot the wolf, and when she heard into what terrible trouble he had fallen she was very sorry, for she was a kind-hearted little girl. She knew he was a silly fellow to shoot the tame wolf; but still it was all a mistake, and she thought he ought not to be punished so severely. She wished that she could do some- [6] thing to help him, to save him if possible. But this seemed difficult, for she knew what a bad temper the King had; and she also knew how proud he had been of that wolf. who was the only tame one in all the land.

Bridget called for her coachman with her chariot and pair of white horses, and started for the King’s palace, wondering what she should do to satisfy the King and make him release the man who had meant to do no harm,

But lo and behold! as the horses galloped along over the Irish bogs of peat, Saint Bridget saw a great white shape racing towards her. At first she thought it was a dog. But no: no dog was as large as that. She soon saw that it was a wolf, with big eyes and with a red tongue lolling out of his mouth. At last he overtook the frightened horses, and with a flying leap came plump into the chariot where Bridget sat, and crouched at her feet, quietly as a dog would. He was no tame wolf, but a wild one, who had never before felt a human being’s hand upon him. Yet he let Bridget pat and stroke him, and say nice things into his great ear. And he [7] kept perfectly still by her side until the chariot rumbled up to the gate of the palace.

Then Bridget held out her hand and called to him; and the great white beast followed her quietly through the gate and up the stair and down the long hall until they stood before the red-velvet throne, where the King sat looking stern and sulky.

They must have been a strange-looking pair, the little maiden in her green gown with her golden hair falling like a shower down to her knees; and the huge white wolf standing up almost as tall as she, his yellow eyes glaring fiercely about, and his red tongue panting. Bridget laid her hand gently on the beast’s head which was close to her shoulder, and bowed to the King. The King only sat and stared, he was so surprised at the sight; but Bridget took that as a permission to speak.

“You have lost your tame wolf, O King,” she said. “But I have brought you a better. There is no other tame wolf in all the land, now yours is dead. But look at this one! There is no white wolf to be found anywhere, and he is both tame and white. I have tamed him, my King. I, a little maiden, have tamed [8] him so that he is gentle as you see. Look, I can pull his big ears and he will not snarl. Look, I can put my little hand into his great red mouth, and he will not bite. Sire, I give him to you. Spare me then the life of the poor, silly man who unwittingly killed your beast. Give his stupid life to me in exchange for this dear, amiable wolf,” and she smiled pleadingly.

The King sat staring first at the great white beast, wonderfully pleased with the look of him, then at the beautiful maiden whose blue eyes looked so wistfully at him. And he was wonderfully pleased with the look of them, too. Then he bade her tell him the whole story, how she had come by the creature, and when, and where. Now when she had finished he first whistled in surprise, then he laughed. That was a good sign,—he was wonderfully pleased with Saint Bridget’s story, also. It was so strange a thing for the King to laugh in the morning that the Chamberlain nearly fainted from surprise; and Bridget felt sure that she had won her prayer. Never had the King been seen in such a good humor. For he was a vain man, and it [9] pleased him mightily to think of owning all for himself this huge beast, whose like was not in all the land, and whose story was so marvelous.

And when Bridget looked at him so beseechingly, he could not refuse those sweet blue eyes the request which they made, for fear of seeing them fill with tears. So, as Bridget begged, he pardoned the countryman, and gave his life to Bridget, ordering his soldiers to set him free from prison. Then when she had thanked the King very sweetly, she bade the wolf lie down beside the red velvet throne, and thenceforth be faithful and kind to his new master. And with one last pat upon his shaggy head, she left the wolf and hurried out to take away the silly countryman in her chariot, before the King should have time to change his mind.

The man was very happy and grateful. But she gave him a stern lecture on the way home, advising him not to be so hasty and so wasty next time.

Tonino & The Fairies

azuresage — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:57:16 +0000

Lunes, martes, miércoles tres
Jueves, viernes, sábado seis
y el domingo siete

monday, tuesday, wednesday three
thursday, friday, saturday six
and sunday seven

Tonino and the Fairies (Spain)

ToNINO the Hunchback was the merriest fellow in all the city of Granada. In spite of the hump on his back and the pain that came to him when the cold winds swept down from the Sierra Nevada, he was always ready with a smile or a jest, or a bit of fun poked at the housewives before whose door he stopped with his herd of goats. From the old grandmother, with her bent back and her wrinkled brown face, to the latest baby, the family would gather around Tonino, and while he milked the goats with his long, skillful fingers, would listen delightedly to his whimsical sayings. The men of Granada liked Tonino, too. No gathering at the low, white Inn, that stood on the hilltop above the caves where most of the people dwelt, was complete without Tonino. He could sing like a bird, and he knew all the old songs of Spain-ballads of the Cid and of Fernan Gonzalez, familiar, haunting folk songs and the marching tunes of the soldiers. The first he sang with such fire and passion that even the roughest of his hearers listened spellbound. The second with such a lilt-ing rhythm that, almost unconsciously, heads were set to wagging and feet to dancing. And, when the merrymaking was over Tonino was always given his full share of the good things to eat and drink. Often he tucked a handful of cakes and an orange or some dried figs and nuts into his pouch to take to old Tia Teresa who lived with him in the cave hollowed out of the hillside. Between the milk of his goats and his,gift of song, Tonino and Tia Teresa fared well. And no matter how much his crooked back hurt him neither Tia Teresa nor anyone else ever heard Tonino complain. One night when the gathering at the Inn had lasted later than usual, Tonino tucked his guitar under his arm and started down the hill toward home. It was St. John’s Eve and the June moon hung low in the sky. The high peaks of the Sierra Nevada stood cold and white under it. Even in midsummer, the snow clothed them. Tonino walked on slowly, the tunes that he had played still singing themselves in his head, his eyes drinking in the beauty of the night. On the slope of the hill, on a little raised terrace, there stood an olive tree, old and gnarled, its leaves silvery white in the moonlight. just above it, Tonino sat down on the short, dry grass, took off his cap, and let the cool night wind blow through his hair. It had been a long hot day and a long evening, and Tonino was tired. Letting his limbs relax, he rested his head on one outflung arm and went to sleep. When be awoke the moon bad disappeared and the stars blazed low and bright in the sky. Through the still-ness there came to Tonino a faint thread of song. At first it was only music. Then, thin and clear, he heard the words:

“Lunes, martes, miércoles tres, Lunes, martes, miércoles tres”

Now Tonino knew the air-old and wild and filled with an irresistible rhythm. He raised himself on his elbow. Down below him on the terrace under the olive trees the fairies were dancing. There were hundreds of them, tiny fairy men and fairy women. With heads lifted and hands joined they were dancing in a circle around the old tree, flinging their legs high in the air, their tilted, impish faces white in the starlight. They were so intent on their dance, so lost in the rhythm of their song that they did not even see Tonino. He stared at them in delight and wonder. Often he had heard of the fairies, but never before had he seen them, he and their wild grace enchanted him.

“Lunes, martes, miércoles tres, Lunes, martes, miércoles tres”

-round and round and round the tree, until Tonino grew dizzy with it! “Hold, my little masters. If you do not know the rest of the song, I will give you a hint of it.” Lifting his guitar, he swept his fingers over the strings and sang in his full, clear voice:

“Lunes, martes, miércoles tres
Jueves, viernes, sábado seis !”

The fairies shouted with joy, and instantly their tiny voices took up the words, singing in unison with Tonino and his guitar until the valley and the surrounding hills rang with the song. “Lunes, martes, miércoles tres
Jueves, viernes, sábado seis !” -higher and shriller and sweeter until the very stars seemed to sing with them. Suddenly the song ceased, the circle was broken and the fairies, one and all, ran up the slope to Tonino. They swarmed all over and about him, clinging to his fingers with their tiny hands, peering at him with mischievous, slanting eyes.

“A reward, Tonino! A reward!” they cried. “Make a Wish and we will grant it!” Tonino chuckled. I want no reward, little masters,” be answered. “It is enough to have seen you and to have sung with you.” But the fairies insisted. “Make a wish,” they shouted. -Any wish. And we will grant it.” Tonino thought for a moment. “There is this hump of mine,” he said quaintly. “It is a burden to carry, and it aches when the weather is cold. Could you take it away from me?” Instantly a thousand little hands were laid on his back and shoulders. His body felt lifted and lightened. A white dawn mist rose from the valley and eddied about him. Through it, ever fainter and sweeter, came the fairy voices: “Lunes, martes, miércoles tres
Jueves, viernes, sábado seis !” Tonino rose to his feet, as straight and strong in body as be was blithe in spirit. There was much excitement among the cave-dwellers in Granada when Tonino’s tale was told. Nothing else was talked about for days. No one grudged him his good fortune. And everywhere he went the eyes of the pretty girls of Granada followed him. Now in a near-by village there lived another hunch-back boy whose name was Miguel. He was as cross and resentful as Tonino was merry and forgiving. To him life itself was as great a burden as the hump that he carried upon his shoulders. He had hated Tonino always for his brave spirit, and now that he stood as tall and straight as any man, he hated him more than ever. In his harsh, complaining voice he questioned Tonino, who told him every word of the story. He even took him to the hillside and pointed out the ancient olive tree stand-ing alone on its circular terrace.

“Try it, Miguel,” he urged. “Listen carefully to the fairies first so that you surely get the air and the rhythm of their song. And then sing with them. Perhaps they will take your hump -away, too.” That next night Miguel went out alone to the slope above the olive tree, and waited for the fairies. And as they had come to Tonino, so they came to him. He could see them dancing around the tree in a circle. He could hear the thin, sweet voices:

“Lunes, martes, miércoles tres
Jueves, viernes, sábado seis.”

Too stupid to catch the lilt of the song, and too impatient to wait until he did, Miguel, thinking that he was being very clever-shouted abruptly:

“y el domingo siete!”

Now this was an insult to the fairies. It rudely broke the rhythm of their song. With a shrill cry of scorn and rage they swarmed upon Miguel. From some hidden place they dragged out Tonino’s hump and fastened it upon his own. With pointed, impish fingers they poked and pried him, their light voices mocking him, their long pale eyes flashing into his. It was a nightmare to Miguel, and he never quite knew how it ended. When dawn came he found himself sitting on the hill-side under the old olive tree, with two humps instead of one upon his shoulders. Never again did he try to see the fairies, and no word of his adventure ever passed his lips. To all questions he shook his head. Only Tonino guessed what had happened when Miguel added the last and unwelcome line to the fairies’ song.

Bread machine bagels math lesson

azuresage — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:07:13 +0000

1 1/4 cups warm water
3 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon dry yeast

Egg Wash (optional)

1 egg plus 1 tablespoon water

place ingredients in machine according to your machines directions. place on dough cycle.
Place finished dough on lightly floured surface.
Divide in half to get 2 parts, then in half again to get 4, then again to get 8. If you want mini-bagels you can double again for 16. This is where the math comes in. They are preparing themselves for learning fractions later.
roll each piece into a snake
Wrap the snake around your hand bringing the two ends together in your palm, and pinchng to seal the ends.
Put your hand with the dough onto the table, palm down, and roll the bagel off of your hand
bring a gallon of water and 1 TBS sugar to a rapid boil in a large pot.
Drop your bagels into the rapidly boiling water, 3 or 4 at a time. Boil 1 1/2 minutes, then flip, and boil another 1 1/2 minutes

9. remove with slotted spoon and place on baking sheet. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds, if you like. When we did not have our own chickens, we did not ea

10. Bake at 400°F until golden brown for 15 minutes.

You should then have a nice batch of homemade bagels. These could have baked a couple of more minutes.

Serve with cream cheese. You can make flavored cream cheeses by putting stawberries or other fruits into the food processor with crean cheese. We made strawberry with a bit of agave nectar, and frozen strawberries we had picked & frozen in the spring. I also had some tomatoes I had dried in the summer. I reconstituted them, pureed them with cream cheese & had delicious sun dried tomato cream cheese for my bagel.

Winter snow scenes with faux snow recipe

azuresage — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:16:06 +0000

I should start by mentioning that this activity is not meant for small children who make want to try & lick the faux snow. While it is non toxic to touch and sculpt with, it is probably toxic to ingest. I have read that you can make snow simply with the soap bar & water, but I have not tried it, and therefore cannot vouch for its effectiveness. I first saw this activity in Carols Petrash’s book “Earthways”. It is a seasonal craft book written by a Waldorf early childhood teacher. I believe it is now being published under the name “Earthwise”. In the book, the recipe calls for Ivory soap flakes. They have not been made in over a decade. Grating your own soap flakes from a bar is a suitable substitution. The addition of borax(a natural powdered cleaner) does add a frosty, iciness.

Faux Snow Recipe

1 bar ivory soap
3/4 cup borax
1 to 1 1/2 cups water

tools you will need:

hand grater
sturdy spoon for mixing
mixer (hand or stand)
big bowl

Begin by grating the soap into a bowl. The soap is very soft, and grates very easily so that this could be a job for the child. Mix in the borax. Mix these 2 together with a spoon. Add first only one cup of water and mix. You can do this with a spoon, but my daughter likes to dig in and mush it up with her hands. I think it actually mixes is better. COntinue to mix, and add a bit of water at a time until you get the consistency of a thick whipped cream. You can whip this with a hand beater to get a fluffier consistency, but if you are pleases with the mix after hand mixing, then just use that.

Making a scene

Go outside & collect nice little things in nature such as pinecones, acorns, berries, twigs ect. Some beeswax is nice to sculpt little things like birds or a snowman’s mouth with, but not necessary.

You will need a base for your scene. Cut a nice organic shape from sturdy cardboard or wood for this. I had a piece of wood cut out for making a play board, so I used that . Ous was about 8 x 4″. You can go smaller. If you want you can make a much larger one and have several people work on it to make a very elaborate scene. You may have to make a double batch for that.

Smear the base with a layer of “snow”. A small cup of water is nice to have at the table. You can dip your fingers and spoon in the water, and this will keep the snow from sticking to your hands.

You can then arrange the little things from nature you had found. We found pinecones, and painted them green like evergreen trees. I had a few crystals left over from our solstice spiral, and let her use those.

You can sculpt a snowman from the snow. I made our snowmans hat with a 3″ circle of black felt. All I did was sew a running stitch 1/2 or so away from the edge, and then gathered in the stitches. The arms were fir tree stems. My daughter sculpted little red birds from beeswax to go in her scene.

She made a small snow girl on a little saucer with some of the leftover materials

Mother Holle, a winter tale

azuresage — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 01:02:19 +0000

MOTHER HOLLE

ONCE upon a time there was a widow who had two daughters; one of them was pretty and clever, and the other ugly and lazy. But as the ugly one was her own daughter, she liked her far the best of the two, and the pretty one had to do all the work of the house, and was in fact the regular maid of all work. Every day she had to sit by a well on the high road, and spin till her fingers were so sore that they often bled. One day some drops of blood fell on her spindle, so she dipped it into the well meaning to wash it, but, as luck would have it, it dropped from her hand and fell right in. She ran weeping to her stepmother, and told her what had happened, but she scolded her harshly, and was so merciless in her anger that she said:

“Well, since you’ve dropped the spindle down, you must just go after it yourself, and don’t let me see your face again until you bring it with you.”

Then the poor girl returned to the well, and not knowing what she was about, in the despair and misery of her heart she sprang into the well and sank to the bottom. For a time she lost all consciousness, and when she came to herself again she was lying in a lovely meadow, with the sun shining brightly overhead, and a thousand flowers blooming at her feet. She rose up and wandered through this enchanted place, till she came to a baker’s oven full of bread, and the bread called out to her as she passed:

“Oh! take me out, take me out, or I shall be burnt to a cinder. I am quite done enough.”

So she stepped up quickly to the oven and took out all the loaves one after the other. Then she went on a little farther and came to a tree laden with beautiful rosy-cheeked apples, and as she passed by it called out:

“Oh! shake me, shake me, my apples are all quite ripe.”

She did as she was asked, and shook the tree till the apples fell [304] like rain and none were left hanging. When she had gathered them all up into a heap she went on her way again, and came at length to a little house, at the door of which sat an old woman. The old dame had such large teeth that the girl felt frightened and wanted to run away, but the old woman called after her:

“What are you afraid of, dear child? Stay with me and be my little maid, and if you do your work well I will reward you handsomely; but you must be very careful how you make my bed—you must shake it well till the feathers fly; then people in the world below say it snows, for I am Mother Holle.”

She spoke so kindly that the girl took heart and agreed readily to enter her service. She did her best to please the old woman, and shook her bed with such a will that the feathers flew about like snow-flakes; so she led a very easy life, was never scolded, and lived on the fat of the land. But after she had been some time with Mother Holle she grew sad and depressed, and at first she hardly knew herself what was the matter. At last she discovered that she was homesick, so she went to Mother Holle and said:

“I know I am a thousand times better off here than I ever was in my life before, but notwithstanding, I have a great longing to go home, in spite of all your kindness to me. I can remain with you no longer, but must return to my own people.”

“Your desire to go home pleases me,” said Mother Holle, “and because you have served me so faithfully, I will show you the way back into the world myself.”

So she took her by the hand and led her to an open door, and as the girl passed through it there fell a heavy shower of gold all over her, till she was covered with it from top to toe.

“That’s a reward for being such a good little maid,” said Mother Holle, and she gave her the spindle too that had fallen into the well. Then she shut the door, and the girl found herself back in the world again, not far from her own house; and when she came to the courtyard the old hen, who sat on the top of the wall, called out:

“Click, clock, clack,

Our golden maid’s come back.”

Then she went in to her stepmother, and as she had returned covered with gold she was welcomed home.

She proceeded to tell all that had happened to her, and when the mother heard how she had come by her riches, she was most [305] anxious to secure the same luck for her own idle, ugly daughter; so she told her to sit at the well and spin. In order to make her spindle bloody, she stuck her hand into a hedge of thorns and pricked her finger. Then she threw the spindle into the well, and jumped in herself after it. Like her sister she came to the beautiful meadow, and followed the same path. When she reached the baker’s oven the bread called out as before:

“Oh! take me out, take me out, or I shall be burnt to a cinder. I am quite done enough.”

But the good-for-nothing girl answered:

“A pretty joke, indeed; just as if I should dirty my hands for you!”

[306] And on she went. Soon she came to the apple tree, which cried:

“Oh ! shake me, shake me, my apples are all quite ripe.”

“I’ll see myself farther,” she replied, “one of them might fall on my head.”

And so she pursued her way. When she came to Mother Holle’s house she wasn’t the least afraid, for she had been warned about her big teeth, and she readily agreed to become her maid. The first day she worked very hard, and did all her mistress told her, for she thought of the gold she would give her; but on the second day she began to be lazy, and on the third she wouldn’t even get up in the morning. She didn’t make Mother Holle’s bed as she ought to have done, and never shook it enough to make the feathers fly. So her mistress soon grew weary of her, and dismissed her, much to the lazy creature’s delight.

“For now,” she thought, “the shower of golden rain will come.”

Mother Holle led her to the same door as she had done her sister, but when she passed through it, instead of the gold rain a kettle full of pitch came showering over her.

“That’s a reward for your service,” said Mother Holle, and she closed the door behind her.

So the lazy girl came home all covered with pitch, and when the old hen on the top of the wall saw her, it called out:

“Cock-a-doodle-do, cock-a-doodle-do, this girl’s pitch black, she’s ugly too!”

But the pitch remained sticking to her, and never as long as she lived could it be got off.

Grimm

I tell it with an alternate ending. In the version I tell my daughter, the mean lazy sister is named Blanche, and the kind industrious girl is named Rose. In the original Blanche is covered in pitch, and sent back to her world uglier than she came, but int he version I use she is sent back covered in prickles. Try as she might her mother can not remove the prickles, and sends Blanche & Rose back down the well to Mother Holle to find a cure for those darn prickles. When they get to Mother Holle’s Cottage, she says the only way for the prickles to come out is for Blanch to learn to be sincerely good like Rose, and that Rose is to teach her. The first day Blanch begrudgingly does the chores, and no prickles come out. The next day, Blanch does a bit better, she does her chores, and only complains a wee bit, a few prickles fall out. On the 3rd day, she does a swell job, putting her heart into her work, and does not complain at all. All of the prickles fall out. Mother Holle sends them back, and when they find themselves back in their world they are both wearing golden dresses of fine silk, neither one more golden than the other. I do however love the little rhyme in the old version “Cock-a-doodle-do, cock-a-doodle-do, this girl’s pitch black, she’s ugly too!” I wish I could find where I originally found the story, but I cannot.

Butterklosse, or Mother Holle’s Pillow Dumplings

azuresage — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:45:28 +0000

Butterklosse, german butter dumplings, or Pillow Soup

In a pot begin simmering the broth while you whip up the dumplings. The trick to good dumplings is to cook them on a very low simmer, never allowing the stock to come to a rolling boil. My mother always made these for us growing up. I had no idea who Frau Holde was at the time. She always added frozen petit baby peas to broth. I still do this when I cook them. This is really easy to veganize. Simply omit the egg, and use something like earth balance in place of butter. My mother never used eggs, and her dumplings are fabulous. You can call this Butterklosse, butter dumplings, or pillow dumplings as my daughter has appropriately named it.

2 eggs beaten

3 TBS softened butter)

2/3 cup milk

1/4 tsp salt

pinch of nutmeg

1 1/2 cups flour ( plus some extra at the end

4 cups broth, veggie or chicken (I like veggie)

veggie or other add ins of your choice

In a bowl combine the eggs, butter, milk, salt & nutmeg.

Add the flour to this mix until well mixed. If it appears too wet add a few more tablespoons of flour until it is fairly stiff like a biscuit dough.

Drop spoonfuls of the dough into the simmering broth one heaping teaspoonful at a time. It is important to drop them in the pot in different places so that they do not stick together. Once all of your dumplings are in, cover your pot and let them simmer for about 7 minutes. Open the pot and turn then over, and simmer another 10 minutes with the pot covered.

This is a really easy dish to make, and makes for a quick, hot winter supper that children can help make.

We usually have a huge baby green salad when we have this for dinner.