The October Party

Julia and I love October; we love autumn. Actually, I love winter too, but I won't go there. Too many people take exception to that attitude.
Anyway, I decided we'd have a party day on October 1st, so we did. First, I let Julia sleep in a little longer. Second, she made pumpkin coffee and I made a new pot of chai. Third, we took a nature walk. That's where you come in.

experimenting with the "macro" setting on my camera

 We found a bird's nest besieged by cobwebs.

 Julia wanted her picture taken in what she calls the prettiest place in the village --

  -- under the bridge --

 We spotted this murky damp area, which thrilled Julia's heart because lately she's decided she loves biology. She's using an old textbook of Philip's (I think from college?), and doing an independent study of biology from it this year. She wants to take a sample of this sludge and examine it under her microscope.

 I prefer things like this, as I walk through Oriental:

 Anywho, we placed our items on the table, pulled out the paints, brushes, paper, pencils, and other paraphernalia, and commenced to do art.

 Autumn things are so pretty, aren't they?

 They have a dainty-deadness that reminds me of Miss Havisham.

 Julia sketched and colored this -- a tree. She spent some time on Pinterest looking for inspiration.

 I just did some branches and leaves. That's about my speed. But I think they turned out fine.

 Then we looked at Gerard Manley Hopkins's poem, "Spring and Fall," which I love so much.

 I didn't calculate, and ran out of room, sadly. The poem is wonderful. Hopkins makes up words, so you need a soft and pliable mind to recognize them.

 Julia will memorize the poem and recite it next week. I made pumpkin bread for lunch, and then she finished her sketch. Now she's reading two more chapters of Ivanhoe, a book that feels autumnal to me. I think it's because they spend so much time riding around lost in the forest.

I found this half-finished bookmark and completed it too, along with the start of a card for a special friend. Oddly, although I paint bookmarks and have even sold a few, in my own books-being-read here at home, I tend to use old junk mail and scraps of paper for saving my places. Why is that? How silly! I I took this one and placed it in my Gladys Taber book.  Perhaps bookmarks should be reminders of things, things we've forgotten. What do you think? I could make ones that say, "Kiss your husband today," or "Have you shaved this week?" for winter months. (hahaha!) I won't make any that read, "You really should be washing dishes instead."
And that's homeschooling for October 1st.