Monthly Archives: September 2014

Fun for Tiny Tots

Here’s a farmgirl website that’s bound to dazzle your little darlins … Peppa Pig!

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Peppa’s a popular British preschool animated television series, also broadcast here in the U.S. on Nickelodeon. Each episode is only 5 minutes long, tailored to tiny tots’ attention spans. The show stars Peppa, a girl pig, George, her little brother, their family, and the kids’ friends, each a different kind of animal: Suzy Sheep, Candy Cat, Danny Dog, Pedro Pony, Emily Elephant, and more.

Your little ones can now join the fun on their wildly animated website, PeppaPig.com. You’re bound to be all smiles while Peppa skips across the screen and narrates in a darling British accent peppered with oinks, drawing youngsters into activities including coloring, painting, games, and more.

Another fun pig-themed game for the whole family is Pass the Pigs. It involves little pink pigs that you roll like dice. You get different points according to the way the pigs land … and part of the fun is the named positions: two pigs standing upright are a Double Trotter, two on their backs are a Double Razorback, and the best position of all—a Double Leaning Jowler—is when both pigs rest on their snouts and their ears. Choose the Pig Party Edition, serving up more pigs, more points, and more fun.

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Whatever you choose, these porcine pastimes will provide hours of pig-tastic, puerile play.

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Word Quiz!

Word quiz time!

I stumbled across an old favorite poem, “Rice Pudding,” by A.A. Milne (of Winnie the Pooh fame), and the following lines inspired me to craft this, er, cantankerous little quiz:

“What is the matter with Mary Jane?

She’s crying with all her might and main,

And she won’t eat her dinner—rice pudding again—

What is the matter with Mary Jane?”

 

Giggle.

So, with Milne’s Mary Jane in mind, match the terms below with their meanings, listed further below. But don’t click on “read more” until you’re ready for the answers.

I’ll give you one hint: all of the words are nouns that refer to people with certain, shall we say … unsavory dispositions.

WORDS:

1. blatherskite

2. snollygoster

3. makebate

4. mumpsimus

5. kibitzer

6. mullygrubber

7. fabulist

MEANINGS:

A. a grump

B. someone who incites quarrels

C. a person given to voluble, empty talk

D. a clever, unscrupulous person

E. a liar

F. a giver of uninvited or unwanted advice, or someone who jokes, chitchats, or makes wisecracks

G. someone who holds stubbornly to a viewpoint in spite of clear evidence that it’s wrong

 

ANSWERS:

Continue reading

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Saturday Market

It was a beautiful day yesterday on the Palouse. Maybe it was the weather, low 80s with a lovely breeze. Maybe it was the long bike ride we took getting to the Farmers’ Market. Maybe it was the live band that was playing all my grandmother’s favorite big band tunes. Or maybe it was the happiness these two daughters of mine exude over the simplest of things.2014-09-06 10.04.14Or maybe it was the brunch date at our favorite outdoor breakfast nook with Nanny Jane.

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Probably it was all of it that made it so fabulous! (We love our little town.)

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Retail Therapy

With the kids back in school, I’m wondering if you heard my big sigh of relief? It was awesome to have enjoyed a wonderful summer focused entirely on them, but I look forward to getting back into the school routine. Even so, as a mom, I think it’s impossible not to miss them and wonder if they’re eating their lunches and hope they aren’t skinning their knees on the playground, etc.

Looking for a good distraction, my best girlfriend and I saddled up her SUV and went for a drive.

Destination = Glorious Small-town Antique Shops!

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Doesn’t this just make you smile? Especially when you find the sweetest owner inside and she just happens to be canning peaches in a kitchen attached to her antique shop. Of course she was! Even better, she had a faded Wave If You’re A Farmgirl bumper sticker on her door. And, of course, I found the perfect cast-iron Christmas tree stand (in August).

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Feeling all sunshine-y and wonderful, we hit the road again and happened upon a sunflower field. We don’t really have sunflower fields around here, so this required us to stop and jump the creek for a selfie. Is it still called a selfie if your BFF is in it, too?

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Hear Ye!

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Sharon Scheidt!!!

Sharon Scheidt (Sharon Scheidt, #6026) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner Level Putting Away for Winter Merit Badge!

“I made from my garden, Roasted Grape Tomato Sauce and froze it for later use, made Basil Garlic Tomato Sauce and froze it also, and Pesto from the basil in my garden. Then I chopped up some of my green peppers and froze them, too. I went on the chatroom for the first time to tell all about what I made today. I had so much fun today in my kitchen and garden!

Everything turned out just great! Can’t wait to go to my freezer this fall and winter to eat the food from my garden!”

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