Posts

August 2019 Desktop Wallpaper

For the desktop, click on the image above to view the large size image.

Because I grew up on an apple orchard, I get so excited about the onset of fruit picking season. It is one of my very favorite seasons. As farmer’s market stands start to showcase the fruits of their labor, something in me starts to celebrate right along with them. I don’t have any fruit trees at our new house (yet), but I have a secret map of fruit tree locations around town that are on public property, abandoned parking lots, or back alleys that I sneakily (ha ha) frequent as their apples and other fruits start to ripen. This wallpaper is inspired by all of you teachers and students heading back to school and also you apple-picking sisters and brothers.

Much love, Betony

For the iphone wallpaper, navigate to this page on your phone and then click and hold on the image you want. Select ‘Save image to camera roll’. Then from your camera roll set your home screen/lock screen or both. I make a couple different ones so that you can use what works best for your device.

September 2018 Desktop Wallpaper

 

The first of September is one of my favorite moments of the year. There is this subtle but tangible shift from Summer to Autumn. This wallpaper was made by overlaying several antique landscape engravings on top of one another – creating this beautiful but subtle translucent effect. To me it is an illustration of that movement from one season to the next. The delicate folding and unfolding of a year.

For the desktop, click on the image below to view the large size image.

For the iphone wallpaper, navigate to this page on your phone and then click and hold on the image you want. Select ‘Save image to camera roll’. Then from your camera roll set your home screen/lock screen or both.

iphone wallpapers:

 

November 2017 Adventures in Homeschooling

Last year we began homeschooling Lucy (8), Hattie (6), Beatrice (3), and Arlo (1). We’re including this on our Giants & Pilgrims blog as all our family adventures seem to impact our art & music so much! Also, we just like sharing the stories. So we’ll be sharing posts on the themes we’ve been covering each month and calling the adventure “ABACUS”! Our hope is that these posts will help spark creative direction and inspiration for your family as well as giving us somewhere to be document and record our experiences.

Writing and Letter Forms:

As part of our history reading, we learned about Cuneiforms which then led to making our own fonts and lettering.

Harriet had her first show and tell at her Homeschool Access kindergarten class. She worked very hard filling out her “Read All About Me” Poster.

Arlo’s 1st Birthday:

On November 18th, this handsome, ornery, little dude turned One!! I can’t even believe it. He has discovered the joy of food.

He always seems to have a mischievous little twinkle in his eyes.

His tiny makeshift snowman birthday cake made out of cake pops.

Enjoying his cake pop under his new name banner (a one year old tradition for all the kids)

And another birthday celebration with grandparents in Kansas.

Playing with a birthday gift from his Aunt and Uncle. 

Around the World:

To learn the continents, we made our own fun version of pin it maps, really enjoyed this Hopscotch song about the continents, and played map games.

We kept adding to our museum of world monuments by making a great wall of China, a Statue of Liberty, and a Sphinx.

https://s28969.p27.sites.pressdns.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/IMG_5268-2.jpg


We took the Statue of Liberty downtown to visit our own tiny Statue of Liberty (right after reading Her Right Foot – which was so great).

We enjoyed another Top Munch box – this time from Germany!

Science Club:

We started an impromptu science club. Our first experiment was to remove the chlorophyll from leaves, then we did some experiments with old Halloween candy, and finally we made lungs out of old plastic bottles and balloons! So fun!

Art and Crafting:

Lucy immediately decided our house was not festive enough and added tiny hats, trees, reindeer antlers, and presents to all the photos/artwork.

 

We made handprint turkeys

Someone got over her fear of the hot glue gun.

I made a ridiculous thing. Peg dolls for days….

Lots of late night sketching

Decorating paper christmas trees

 

Gaming:

I like for November to be our family game night. So I usually add a few new games to our collections. This year I found these beautiful spectrum cards.

This silly but awesome game called “There’s a Moose in my House”

And my current favorite, Qwirkle

In the Kitchen:

Would it even be November without lots of wonderful goodies to bake?

Two books really dominated our kitchen decision making this November. Baking Class for the kids, and Bravetart for me. Both are great.

   

Homemade graham crackers from Bravetart.

Practicing knife skills

Lucy baking braided bread

And Lucy making her first original contribution to the Thanksgiving feast

And Music:

Music always together. Usually with a little brother crowding in on the fun.

In the Prairie and Great Outdoors:

We got to go home to Kansas for Thanksgiving this year which meant lots of beautiful walks on the farm/prairie.

 

 

A couple of woodworking projects –

we built a teeter toter just for fun out of random scrap boards.

 

And I worked on cutting pieces for an upcoming project in Houston

Thanksgiving:

We feasted and celebrated. It was beautiful. We are full.

Matching Thanksgiving outfits from Grandma DiDi and Grandpa Ed

 

Discovering and Rediscovering the magic of Calvin and Hobbs together.

Our thankful tree

And an adorable pilgrim girl

 

Much love from us,

October’s Adventures in Homeschooling

This year we began homeschooling Lucy (7) and Hattie (5). We’re including this on our Giants & Pilgrims blog as all our family adventures seem to impact our art & music so much! Also, we just like sharing the stories. So we’ll be sharing posts on the themes we’ve been covering each month and calling the adventure “ABACUS”! Our hope is that these posts will help spark creative direction and inspiration for your family as well as giving us somewhere to be document and record our experiences.

READING AND LITERATURE:

Here were our reading books for the month:

We read Kate DiCamillo’s The Tale of Despereaux (one of Tim and my all time favorites), The Boxcar Children (which Harriet LOVED and has been watching the Netflix movie of over and over again), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (the new beautifully illustrated version), and a really cool pop-up version of The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe (which also led to the Calvin & Hobbs Monster Drooling Poem based on The Raven, and the Simpson’s Halloween episode of The Raven – both SOO funny and good).

taleofdespereauxbookcover516bwsj5sol-_sy344_bo1204203200_img_0129jjkh_raven_pop_up_book9781419721977_int_page_6-1024x683

We are still loving our morning reading out-loud tea time on the front porch. Although it is starting to get chilly!!

img_5577img_6368

For our History books we read these two – (we are going through Beautiful Feet History’s Early American series in order). We really enjoyed both books.

967454jamestown-new-world-adventure

As part of our history study (and since we finished the Columbus book last month) I thought it would be fun to carve soap boats on Columbus Day. I usually set out our morning activity the night before. On this particular morning, the girls got up without waking me up (like they usually do) , and happily carved through all 8 bars of soap on their own, and this is the scene I woke up to. Soap everywhere, but no one was bleeding and they were thoroughly pleased with themselves. Pretty hilarious.

img_5687

img_5690

Geography/Culture: Mexico

One of the things we are doing this year is our Passport idea for Geography/World Cultures. We are “visiting” a different country every month – exploring the food, culture, dress, arts, and music through themed activities. This month, Harriet and Lucy chose Mexico as our country to visit.

img_5575

I have been using the book “Give Your Child the World” as a reference for books. I think the High Plains librarians are starting to hate me because of how many books I put on hold each month. Oh Well. Sorry guys.

51tbiu1igl-_sy344_bo1204203200_

As recommended in Give Your Child the World, here were the Mexico themed picture books we read through from the library.

cbdcfcda6c9ed1206827a01249c1aacb 9780679889366-l  51s4qzqfqyl 61gway8vzll depaola-tomie_the-legend-of-the-poinsettia 512vim1exdl 513nko9u9cl-_sx369_bo1204203200_ arroz-con-leche-rice-with-milk-9780833587626 51ihji4bvwl-_sx323_bo1204203200_ 51fbt5ljxyl And the movie – the_book_of_life_2014_film_poster

Elena’s Serenade and The Legend of the Poinsettia were probably our favorites.

One of the major reasons we picked Mexico was because we wanted to do a Day of the Dead celebration. The girls fully planned, prepped, and decorated for this themselves!

Getting Lucy started on Adobe Photoshop early 🙂

img_5698

day-of-the-dead-invite

Like the invitation says, we decorated with Papel Picado and marigolds, painted faces, watched Book of Life, Colored skeleton faces, ate Mexican food and authentic Mexican candies from our local Mexican grocery store, and made skull rocks. This will definitely be one for the books and I can see it becoming a yearly tradition :).

img_5774 img_5777  img_5789 img_5795

img_5824

Nature Study

We have been using this ebook as a guide for our Nature Study. And it is SO beautifully done.
cropped-cover-photo-1

It has a simple activity each corresponding with the season, paired with a recommended book list, an art piece to enjoy, a poem, and art ideas.

Nature Outings:

We have designated Monday as our outdoor adventure days. It’s our day off together as a family, and we just love it. This month we visited a local cemetery where we did some grave rubbings.

Processed with VSCO with g2 preset

Processed with VSCO with c2 preset

Took a family bike ride on the Poudre River Trail to look at the changing leaves –

img_5671 img_5426

Went on a nature outing to our beloved Homestead Park to search out our favorite trees and do a little Pond Study.

Processed with VSCO with hb1 preset

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

Processed with VSCO with g1 preset

Processed with VSCO with c2 preset

(Harriet studying a sample of pond water we brought home with us)

img_6365

And of course October wouldn’t be complete without an outing to a pumpkin patch!!

Processed with VSCO with c1 preset

Processed with VSCO with a5 preset

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

Processed with VSCO with c2 preset

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

Along with our weekly nature outings, we finished up our Nature Pal Exchange box (and received one back in the mail from North Carolina!). It was such a fun project. I am already looking forward to the next time we do it.
img_5703

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

Processed with VSCO with c2 preset

Harriet’s “Leaf Lady”
img_5535

The contents of the box we put together:

img_5731

Music

All of the kids are really enjoying their music classes through the Union Colony Children’s Music Academy here in Greeley. It uses the musikgarten approach which I am loving more and more all the time – especially as I see how it grows and expands with the kids.

img_5502
img_6373

Math

We needed to switch up how we were doing math. No one was enjoying it. So this month we used the book Bedtime Math (which is so fun).

51sxv06ognl-_sx258_bo1204203200_

We added some more tactile/playable elements to our routine (counting bears, a shape rubber band board, an abacus, etc…)

img_5573img_5913

img_5489

Science

We have really enjoyed various Steve Spangler Science videos. We broke out the cornstarch one morning and recreated his cornstarch slime experiments.


img_5767

We also enjoyed some Magic School Bus “Inside the Human Body” and this really cool Human Body model from Target.
img_6053 img_6054

Which led to drawing white skeletons on black paper of course.

img_6399

Art/Handicrafts

Since we read Hansel & Gretel (candy house and witches…), we made Hansel & Gretel dolls to play with. My friend Lindsay had given me this amazing tea towel that has a beautifully illustrated pattern already printed onto it. The pattern is from Sarah Young’s etsy shop. Now that I have made them, I think we are going to need the little red riding hood one too 🙂

img_5683

img_5736

A cotton snow storm –

Processed with VSCO with c3 preset

We used a fun little kit to make these Halloween luminaries.

img_5740   img_5749

We did some major papier mache magic with tape and cardboard to make Lucy’s “Spooky Tree” halloween costume.

img_5893img_6310

We played with our freshly organized rubber stamps to give our letter writing days a boost.

img_6335

Since we are reading the Tale of Despereaux, the girls sewed these very simple little felt mice from this pattern.

img_6377

img_6382

And of course what would October be without a night of carving all those wonderful pumpkins with hot chocolate and popcorn of course and a spooky playlist.

img_6387

Processed with VSCO with c2 preset

And, finally, I will leave you with a very spooky (and hilarious horror film by Lucy)


Happy October friends! Thanks for following along!!!

September Free Calendar Desktop and iPhone Wallpaper

In honor of September, here is a little poem by Tyler Knott Gregson

Autumn is coming.  It may be the sneakiest season;
it disguises itself with warm winds and late evening golden light. 
It wraps itself in colors that look like fire and the slowly fading sound of crickets at night. 

It comes without warning and without apology and before you know it,
the air is cold and the leaves are falling and the Summer you thought you were enjoying is just a memory.
Sly.  So sly.

(If you can, check out Tyler’s typewriter series. Pretty great stuff)

And, here is a new set of Wallpaper set for your September enjoyment. Most of the Cyanotypes are from the 1890’s by a British photographer/botanist named Anna Atkins courtesy of the New York Public Library and the V&A Collections. These images take me back to my college days volunteering in the UNC herbarium. 

 

For the desktop, click on the image below to view the large size image.

For the iphone wallpaper, navigate to this page on your phone and then click and hold on the iphone images. Select ‘Save image to camera roll’. Then from your camera roll set your home screen/lock screen.

High Resolution Desktop Wallpaper:

SEPTEMBER 2016 desktop

iPhone Wallpaper:

iphone_September 2016_v2 iphone_September 2016

November Ideas and Activities around the Theme “Bread”

For this entire year I’ve been doing an at home curriculum with the family (Lucy 6, Hattie 4, Beatrice 1). Tim and I call the project “Abacus” and we’re sharing it each month for the fun, challenge, and community of it. Each month we choose a theme and then come up with a bunch of activities around that theme. Read all about how to use this list and our heart behind this project here.
Explore past months themes here.

Our theme this month is “Bread.” To me it is a month of reflection and purposeful simplifying of habits. “Bread” is about that which sustains us. Bread is foundational and simple. Yet speaks deeply of home and family. I want this month to be about three things – ritual, simplicity, and giving. Sometimes it is the everyday routines that are most beautiful. The activities repeated over and over again until they almost become prayers. I just read this little snippet from a book I am reading and love how it is put –


“We do chores twice each day, 7 days each week, 365 days each year. Where we live there’s nothing unusual about this; many of our neighbors adhere to similar schedules, and have for half a century or more. Sometimes I consider the math: Twice daily multiplied by 365 is 730, multiplied by fifty years is….36,500. Thirty-six thousand chore times. It is almost impossible for me to fathom, it feels insurmountable. But of course it is not. Sometimes, chores are just chores: haul the water, throw the hay, run the fence. Cold, hot, wet, dry. Hurried. But often, I think of chores the way I suspect some people think of a practice – meditation, or yoga, or a prayer. Maybe aikido or a musical instrument. I like to think of chores this way; it seems to give me license to sink into them, to inhabit them in a way that would otherwise elude me.”

From Home Grown by Ben Hewitt

For us these daily rituals are making beds, morning coffee, feeding the animals (birds, bunny, and cat), preparing meals, a quiet walk around the block before dinner, reading together at bedtime, cleaning up the house after kids are asleep, and ending the day with a cup of tea in the rocking chairs on the front porch – I want to dig in to these simple practices this month.

NOVEMBER Dates to Take Note of:

November 1st – All Saints Day
November 3rd – Election Day
November 11th – Veteran’s Day
November 26th – Thanksgiving Day

Local: Greeley, CO events:

November 6th – My “Becoming” Art Show! (At the Atlas Gallery)
November 28th – Indie Arts Greeley Winter Market at Atlas Theater
November 20th – Becoming CD and Art Release Party at Atlas Theater

 

HOME & KITCHEN:

A purposeful slowing down and simplifying –
not buying as much,
not driving as much,
looking at our devices less,
getting rid of clutter,
eating simpler,
not planning as much.

Put flannel sheets on the beds and get out the cozy pajamas and house slippers.

 

 

Read this article called “Bread is Broken” about the Bread Lab – and find some heirloom wheat varieties to sample

Weekly bread baking – be ritualistic about this. Be able to make our loaf from memory and hone it down to a family recipe. Make the girls part of this ritual – kneading, punching down dough, taste testing.

Here is my families favorite bread recipe. It is called Rabbit Hill Oatmeal Bread. My parents had it on their honeymoon on the east coast and it has been a family favorite ever since. It is a rich caramel brown bread that smells deeply of molasses and home. Slather it with extra butter and eat it warm with no adornments needed.
51U8exLEDYL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_

My father always does a reading before any special meal. Tim and I have come to love this book called Common Prayer. Each day follows the same liturgy as it takes you through 365 days of reflection, with additional prayers for special events like moving into a new home, losing a loved one, or holidays.

 

MAKE:

Showcase pressed leaves and the last remnants of autumn by making these lovely sun catchers.
JeansPhotos_10-2015_Pic-34-2
We started a tradition last year called the Thankful Tree Table Altar a beautiful idea conceptualized by our friend Greg Nordin. – Each day we each add a leaf to the tree of something we are thankful for. It is a lovely centering family activity.
IMG_1858
Get out the Knitting and quilting baskets

Make these simple useful baskets from clothesline
6a00d8341c4ea853ef01bb08204f82970d-800wi

 

OUTSIDE:

Rake leaves just to jump in them
DSC_0079

 

Thanksgiving mixes – for us, Thanksgiving/November music is old hymns, warm crackly records, and layered folk voices. Every year we make a themed playlist. Here is one favorite from 2006 –

BOOKS:

We have recently discovered that books about food, like Dragons Love Tacos, provide great inspiration for getting our very picky eaters to try new foods and enjoy meals. Now I just need someone to illustrate a really thrilling book about broccoli….
Pick a book, make a meal around it, and read the book while eating it.
90ff3a270a7c8e4d578dffe2559e70fb 70cba006b58e4b5662245c8048b2b276 9bdff37c03ffa8e51520d57ed8d3e952 images greeneggsnham blueberries-for-sal-by-robert-mccloskey Sendak-nightkitchen strega_nona

Anticipation of the first snow Books:
51mNf4x1bAL._SX399_BO1,204,203,200_ owl-moon the-snowy-day  2627806901_b6fbd5427e_z


For me – The Life Changing Practice of Tidying Up
life-changing-magic-of-tidying-up

Several people have recommended books recently about simplicity living – clearing out clutter. One idea that stuck out to me challenged you to ask three questions when evaluating whether to keep something or not. “Is it beautiful?” “Is it useful?” or “Does it bring you joy?” If the answer is not “yes” to any of those, than it is time for it to move on.  I am giving myself a challenge of Weekly filling a tub to donate to a thrift store. Areas of attack:

Kids Clothes
Basement Storage
Games and Toys
Kitchen Extras
Knick knacks and decorative items

Speaking of donations, I want to spend more time this month donating time, money. and food to places that need it. Always baking an extra loaf of bread to send with a friend, participating in a food or coat or toy drive, and finding ways to bring the girls into the acts of giving as well.
DSC_0096

Time to get baking. Happy November!

October Calendar Free Desktop and iPhone Wallpaper

October 2015 desktop
Last night we built a little bonfire and sat around it with hot cider and marshmallows and watched the sunset. The air is just starting to have that icy edge in the evenings that wakes up your lungs. We love October so much around here. This tree is from a little scrap of very old vintage fabric I found at a thrift store a long time ago. I have always loved it, but there was never enough to actually make much out of. I will happily look at it all month and I hope you enjoy it too.

For the iphone wallpaper, navigate to this page on your phone and then click and hold on the iphone images. Select ‘Save image to camera roll’. Then from your camera roll set your home screen/lock screen.

For the desktop, click on the small thumbnail below to view the large size image.

High Resolution Desktop Wallpaper:
October 2015 desktop

iPhone Wallpaper:

Two simple choices for iPhone wallpaper – 
iphone OCTOBER_blank_V2
iphone OCTOBER_blank

September Poetic Intro: Brave

Our Almanac theme for this month is “brave”. Since September holds beginning of the fall and school and new projects after summer it lends itself to a need for courage.

 

BRAVE

September is a courageous leap

into the trial,
the unknown,
the new
all the unexpected that

demands an answer

of courage
and bravery

After this harvest, this last run
the days will begin to shorten

And the adventure of fast days and darker hours
found in this crisp autumn
will require your best energies

Just remember

that which quickens your pulse
reminds you best
of how alive you truly are

Portfolio Items