sunflower forest
shadowing minions below,
giant bird fodder
sunflower forest by Angie Quantrell
This year, another garden experiment. Last season, giant birds (to the minions living below) messily (and carelessly) tossed seeds as they gobbled from sunflower trees. This season, let’s see what grows.
A forest!
lollipop curl road
dancing, growing, reaching high;
what flavor opens?
forest lollipop by Angie Quantrell
Don’t these fern swirls look exactly like fuzzy lollipops? Of course, I don’t want to lick treats containing fuzz, but my imagination considers what interesting tastes live in forest lollipops.
Happy Haiku Day!
Last weekend was my first foray into Stamping Land over the Cascade Mountains since fall. I was long overdue for hours of creativity, messes, visiting, snacking, and generally solving world problems.
Initial bruising and future scar (at end of eyebrow). That tiny hole caused so much bleeding!
But first! After tripping mid-street and saving myself 3 times before reaching the cement curb, I landed right-face-side smack on my eye bone and glasses up against the edge of the curb. Curbs do not give way. Glasses and faces do!
Alas, the nearby young lady was probably scared for life after witnessing my bumble and being unable to prevent the collision, but she was extremely helpful in procuring napkins, tissues, and aids of phone calls or rides someplace. Any place!
Gold duct tape for my poor glasses.
Lots of Good Samaritan help came my way, despite the blood pouring from my eye lid bone (the part at the end of your eyebrow, whatever that bone is called). A passerby offered a package of tissues and advice to get it checked. The restaurant owner repeatedly came in and out, bringing napkins, concern, and reassurances that I was not the only one to find this edge in the middle of the road. The young lady stayed with me until my ride arrived. And my ride came post haste after I remembered I had her number stored in my phone. Whew! Thanks, Connie! Otherwise, a long walk up steep hills with broken glasses and napkins held to my swollen eye/head…
Back to Stamping Land. Ahhh. The glorious experiments and messes we made. Interspersed with walks for meals, snacks, chatting, even a book on tape! Not that we could solve the mystery…Alyson’s B & B fit the bill for a weekend of crafting. Thanks, hostess!
After my initial concern of decreased productivity (due to head injury), you can imagine my relief when 66 cards were completed. Good progress!
Wow, when I compare then and now, I might just look worse now!
Rubber stamps, ink pads, markers, colored pencils, chalks, booger dots, patterned papers, cardstock, glue sticks, tape, scissors, paper cutters, bits of ribbon and scrap paper-just a little bit of anything and everything. PLAYING is what we call it. Playing with our stuff. And what do we get? Fun cards!
Have you ever given yourself a black eye? Or a wound with ample amounts of blood? What do you do when you get creative? Here’s to grace and play time!
New glasses! Worse color. I promise, I am getting better!
How to Walk an Ant
Written and illustrated by Cindy Derby
Roaring Brook Press, 2019
Cindy Derby, Roaring Brook Press, and KidLit411 gifted me with a copy of How to Walk an Ant. Thank you for such a delightful book!
Opening lines:
“My name is Amariyah, and I am an Expert Walker.
No, I don’t mean I walk perfect,
I mean I walk things.”
Amazon Blurb:
There are nine steps to becoming an ant walker, and Amariyah, the expert ant walker, is here to show you how it’s done.
This irreverent and quirky picture book, How to Walk an Ant, follows a young girl as she goes through the process of walking ants, from polite introductions to tragic leash entanglements.
In the end, this unique book from author-illustrator Cindy Derby shows that as long as you’re doing what you’re best at, you may find a like-minded friend to tag along.
*Zero ants were harmed in the making of this book.
**Oops, 7 ants were harmed in the making of this book.
Why I Like This Book:
Quirky and irreverent is correct! I loved reading about Amariyah and her efforts to educate me in the best ways to walk ants (always carry plenty of thread, …). The illustrations perfectly match the story and I had to laugh loud and giggle to myself several times as I read. Seriously, which picture book do you know where FUNERAL plans are a part of the appendix?
The writing is clear and entertaining. Amariyah has a unique voice and I love her personality and adventures. A limited palette for the illustrations allows images to pop into life. Add diagrams and insets, and anyone who reads How to Walk an Ant will quickly reach expert level. This book is a fun read.
Spring is here, the best time to practice walking newly emerged ants. Read How to Walk an Ant and then head outside to practice walking ants.
KID KANDY:
Ants on a Log
Ingredients: celery, peanut butter (or other nut butter if you can’t eat peanuts), raisins
4 Steps to Eating Ants
1. With an adult, wash and cut celery sticks into 3-4 inch pieces
2. Spread peanut butter in the celery (log) trough.
3. Plop ants (raisins) on the peanut butter.
4. Eat ants on a log. Now you are an expert eater of ants.
spring rain brings party,
water-logged crawlers become
salad of dead worms
worm salad by Angie Quantrell
I hate walking outside after a rain, afraid of stepping on and squishing the lovely gardeners who struggle to escape overwhelming water in their aerating holes. I never have enough time to rescue all the big ones, tossing them into garden boxes and grassy resorts. Instead, when I return home, after the rain has headed east, I find piles of worm salad.
Borrowing Bunnies, A Surprising True Tale of Fostering Rabbits
Written by Cynthia Lord
Photographs by John Bald
Illustrations by Hazel Mitchell
Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2019
“Come along on a surprising adventure with two very special bunnies as they find their forever families!” (back cover)
I send a special thanks hopping to Cynthia Lord, for gifting me with a beautiful copy of Borrowing Bunnies, complete with three autographs! Thank you for the bunny keepsake! Thanks also goes out to Kathy Halsey and Group Blog for offering the opportunity to win a copy of this adorable bunny tail. Tale. Hop on over to read about great books.
Amazon Blurb:
Newbery Honor author Cynthia Lord likes fostering rabbits—or, as she fondly calls it, “borrowing bunnies.” This is the heartwarming true story of the author’s own journey with two very special rabbits.
In the spring of 2016, Peggotty and Benjamin were saved by Maine’s Cottontail Cottage Rabbit Rescue after their previous owners had neglected them. But before the two Netherland Dwarf rabbits could be adopted, Cynthia had to help them learn to trust people and feel safe inside a home. The bunnies slowly settled in, enjoying their clean pens, nibbling new foods, and playing with fun toys, while Cindy’s husband, John Bald, photographed Benjamin and Peggotty’s every step toward adoption. At that time, hundreds of viewers were drawn to Cindy’s Facebook page to watch their progress. Now, she has adapted the rabbits’ true story into a picture book that explores love, responsibility, empathy, and letting go—along with fostering’s many surprises, both big and small.
Young readers will delight in watching these bunnies thrive while also learning a few fun animal facts. With Cindy’s pitch-perfect blend of warmth and real-life experience, Borrowing Bunnies is a new classic in narrative nonfiction.
Things I Like About Borrowing Bunnies:
1. BUNNIES! At once glance, I was in love and wanted to run out and foster (to keep-ok, that is called adoption) a baby bunny! Fortunately, I live in an RV and there is no room for in indoor bunny. Outdoors will not work, as we have a hunting pair of hawks who return each spring to nest, raise their young, and teach them to hunt-right in our pasture.
But read on, friends. Be prepared to spend time and resources to care for, love, train, and snuggle with these cuties.
2. New information. I learned so much about rabbits and their habits. Wonderful illustrations and photographs merge on colorful pages, telling the story of fostering bunnies. I’m still wondering how to potty train a bunny though. Is it like a kitten where you just keep putting it back in the kitty box until it potties and makes the connection? One of my junior high friends had an indoor pet rabbit and it left a trail of bunny pellets everywhere it traveled.
3. Narrative. Cynthia Lord writes in a clean and captivating way, engaging me and explaining along the way. Young readers will love the bunny story and not even notice how much they are learning!
4. Illustrations and photos. Perfect combination of information, character profiles (bunnies), and adorableness.
5. Overall package. This book is just right. Spring, when we tend to think of baby bunnies and other assorted baby animals, is the optimum time to read Borrowing Bunnies. This book would fit right into an Easter basket or collection of spring animal books.
6. Emotions. Some sections of this book will make you cry, laugh, love, and experience loss. Readers are exposed to the emotions connected with fostering and caring for animals. Discussing these emotions will help young readers understand their feelings.
I hope you are encouraged to purchase or check-out Borrowing Bunnies and read all about real life bunnies. Maybe one day you will foster baby animals!
KID KANDY:
Here are a few fun things you can do after reading Borrowing Bunnies:
~ hop and leap like a bunny
~ use blankets to make a soft bunny nest for stuffed animals or yourself
~ curl up in your nest and read Borrowing Bunnies!
~ visit a zoo or farm to see and pet live bunnies
~ eat a bunny salad for lunch (carrots, lettuce, radishes, peas)
~ pick dandelions to make bunny bouquets (bunnies love dandelions)
~ use paper, markers, glue stick, and cotton balls to make a bunny picture; draw the bunny with long ears and whiskers; glue a cotton ball on for a tail
Hoppy Day!
rip, shred, pulverize-
greens, cheese, garlic, oil becomes
feast! dine, friend, pesto.
ode to pesto by Angie Quantrell
Spring is here and with it comes potted basil plants from Trader Joe’s. Basil is the scent and flavor of all things yummy. I cheat, buying multiples of potted plants each trip to Seattle, instead of planting. Though this year I am tempted to throw some seeds in a planter box and see what happens. Last year I picked up a basil plug from the grocery section at a store, and it performed beyond expectations! Of course, I repot the potted plants and plugs in good potting soil and harvest leaves as I need them.
Every summer, we gorge on pesto-on pizza, salmon, chicken; in sauce and soup. So pungent, cheezy, and filled with garlic, we can taste the beauty and intense flavors the next morning. (Yes, we brush our teeth…but my pesto is the gift that keeps giving…lol).
I use my little RV-sized food processor, so one batch is perfect for one meal.
WALNUT BASIL PESTO
Ingredients:
basil (lots of leaves, fill the food processor)
walnuts (coarsely chopped)
shredded Parmesan cheese
3-5 chopped garlic cloves
olive oil
sea salt
Optional: I’ve added spinach to up the nutritional value and use up left over amounts
Directions:
Add basil, walnuts, Parmesan, and garlic. Pour on olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. Blend, adding additional olive oil to get the consistency your prefer. I always have to stop the machine and stir down the pesto to get it all to mix.
I don’t measure anything with this recipe, other than how much garlic I add. It’s never been too thin, but rather I need more oil. Serve right away with chicken, pizza, salmon, steak, or on toasted bread. Store leftovers (if there are any) in tightly sealed container or freeze immediately.
Now, where’s my tiny food processor?
poised, hunting, ready;
snow melts, rodents rise, meals live-
planning snack attack
snack attack by Angie Quantrell
The snow has indeed melted, though not all of it. Snacks appear, bursting from earth, leaping into the jaws of death. Cat treats for Monet.
The evidence is all around us.
Happy first day of spring! What signs do you see?
“What are you praying for, dear?”
“Peace.”
“Your pose is truly beautiful.”
She glanced his way, insect eyes missing no detail.
“What are you thinking of, my love?”
“Appearances.”
“You look ferociously fit.”
She flexed her legs, wiggled her wings. Let him move close.
“How are you feeling, gorgeous?”
“Hungry.”
Poser by Angie Quantrell
I wrote this story in response to Vivian Kirkfield’s #50PreciousWords Writing Contest (50 words total) and a Twitter conversation with @Realistic Poetry about favorite insects. Hop on over to Vivian’s site to read more short stories.
The title MAY be a bit of an exaggeration. But welcome to the winter that keeps on giving.
Congratulations! You are enjoying the longest February on record. Technically February is the shortest month of the year, in days, but not in the long drawn-out days of snow-ice-locked cold.
It’s snowing as I type. Skies are heavy gray with a peep of pink along the eastern edge. The landscape is white with bits of black edging from homes, red from the stop sign, and gray-brown from fence posts. White is the dominant theme this winter. Our water resources are sure to be full and overflowing this summer. For that, I am thankful.
I love snow! Really, I do. But. As March edges closer, my thoughts turn to green and bits of yellow and floaty blossoms on trees. Where are you spri-ng? Why can’t I find you? (In my head that sounds like Cindy Lou Who singing “Where Are You Christmas?”)
But today. We have snow. How about one more snow day’s worth of pictures? Come July and the season of sweat, I will bemoan the lack of lacy white.
Celebrate the snow with children everywhere who pray for snow days, late starts, snow play, and hot cocoa.
Love, Laughter, and Life 