Great Expectations

I finished my first classic of 2014 in a timely fashion. Great Expectations is finished, almost 30 years after it was assigned in freshman English class.

The story had a slow start and it took some self control to keep reading the book. About 100 pages from the end, the plot picked up and the disparate characters and plots began to intertwine and relate to one another, in the fashion of a Seinfeld episode.

I enjoyed Dickens use of vocabulary ( I am also thankful for the dictionary in my Kindle app) and descriptions of people. He seems to have so many ways to say someone is dead, for instance.  I wonder if Victorian England was filled with eccentric old woman residing full time in dark rooms. Such characters seem to appear often in Dicken's books. Did he have a particular oddly- dressed elderly woman who dwelled in a dark room in his life? Or were they a common part of daily life in England at that time.

I have begun my second classic novel of 2014. I am staying with Dickens a bit more and reading Tale of Two Cities. In 7th grade history class we watched the movie. Amazingly, I still remember many of the character's names from that time. We studied the French Revoltion this fall and Liam found the Reign of Terror intriguing. We spent much time learning about guillotines. Liam designed Lego guillotines and even gave a presentation about them at Classical Conversations. I hope this extra study give ease to my reading. 

Some Reformation Fun

Today we had a field trip to the Portland Art Museum. After our time at the museum, the boys posed for a couple photos at the Lutheran Church across the street and the re-enacted Martin Luther's nailing of the 95 Theses on the Wittenberg door.

Happy New Years. A winter afternoon is more delightful with this sweet guy serving as a reading and knitting companion.

My 2014 reading list

Happy New Year. It is time to make goals and resolutions.  I decided that it is time to catch up on the classics. As a homeschool mom, who uses the classical model, it would be advantageous for me partake of these volumes.

My first book is Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. This book was assigned in Mr. Zetterberg's freshman English class in 1984. I remember bringing the book home and thumbing through it, but I never read it. I even remember the names of the characters from quizzes we took in class. I don't know how I blew off a book with a character as intriguing as Miss Haversham.  I hope to return in a week or so with a review of the novel and to reveal the next book on my list.

Happy Reading!

1/1/11

Lost Teeth

Liam lost two teeth this weekend. They were his first. I wanted to get some photos of the missing teeth, but like most things it involved much drama.

spring comes early to the low-lands

I know that this winter has been provided most of the country with some nasty weather. California has practically washed into the Pacific. The mid-west, east coast even the south have had freezing temps and snow. While El Nino is brutal for most of the country, we here in the Pacific Northwest get the good side. We get a short winter and long spring, which is why so many flowers are already in full bloom. I don't think we saw many of these flowers until mid to late March last year.