July – Giants & Pilgrims

July 2021 Free Wallpaper and Playlist

July 1, 2021/0 Comments/in Art, Desktop Backgrounds, Downloads, Monthly Themes /by Betony Coons

We have spent the last two weeks in Kansas. Hot humid days filled with time in the best swimming pools, savoring melting popsicles, and the chaos and joy of so many cousins. This wallpaper is pulled from a little painting I have been piddling around with, painting glazes in layers with no clear intention or direction. Just enjoying the movement and relationships of the colors with that leisurely rhythm we all hope to find in summer days. The little rainbow at the bottom was painted by my three year old niece, Miss Lila.

Happy July friends!

For the desktop, click on the image above 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. I make a couple different versions so that you can use what works best for your device.

(Playlist hopefully coming soon!)

July 2019 Desktop Wallpaper

July 1, 2019/2 Comments/in Art, Desktop Backgrounds, Downloads, Monthly Themes /by Betony Coons

Happy July everybody! Hope you have big plans for this week. Here is a little firework fun for your screens.

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.

July 2018 Desktop Wallpaper

July 4, 2018/0 Comments/in Art, Desktop Backgrounds, Downloads, Monthly Themes, Online /by Betony Coons

My little poetic line for this month is simple. Just something I read while heading to a hike in the mountains.

“Linger Longer”

That’s it. “Linger longer” friends.

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

Pools, Parades, and Picnics – July’s Adventures in Homeschooling

August 31, 2017/0 Comments/in Abacus, Family, Homeschooling, Monthly Themes, Online, Writing /by Betony Coons

This year we began homeschooling Lucy (8), Hattie (5), Beatrice (2), and Arlo (8 months). 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.

During July, we don’t do any structured homeschooling, but we did still have some wonderful adventures as a family. Here is a little photo journal of our month.

4th of July:

We kicked off July with a bang – enjoying backyard BBQing, fireworks with friends, a fantastic parade, and some adorable vintage outfits on Arlo (that were Tim and his brothers when they were babes).

Artsy Fun:

Inspired by Dogman, Lucy started drawing her own series of comics (it’s called Robot Rambush and Robot Hoverton)

A dress sewn by Lucy for Beatrice (with zero help from mama)

A pretty cool art invention discovered by Lucy –

And I started up my residency at the Denver Children’s Museum!

We also sewed this sweet little quiet book page all together in anticipation of our big camping trip.

Camping

This month we took our first family camping trip. We went up the Poudre Canyon to Roosevelt National Forest and camped at a beautiful lake there. I wouldn’t say it was as idyllic as these pictures make it look ha ha (kid throwing up from the winding roads, miserable heat in the afternoon, whining children, and bugs all put a damper on the idyllic). But we did it, and it had some really beautiful moments.

Skipping rocks.

Arlo was a camping champion.

Reading Harry Potter out loud around the breakfast morning campfire.

Enjoying the Outdoors:

A picnic at our favorite Homestead Park

Enjoying their favorite Willow tree in the evening

A not-done-in-time-dinner from mama lead to a lovely restaurant put together by Lucy and Harriet at the “Flower Cafe” outside on the patio.

And a favorite summer tradition around here – UNC’s Concerts Under the Stars series – with the Greeley Philharmonic. Umbrellas are open here, but it only sprinkled for a few minutes and then cleared up for a lovely evening.

Reading:

This month we read –

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker (how have I never read these before!?) and the new illustrated Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

The girls also worked super hard to complete their entire Summer Reading Program at our local library.

Poolside:

Summertime at its best.

And a session of swim lessons for all three girls.

Theater Camp:

Thanks to a little help from Great Grandma Goose, Harriet and Lucy got to take part in a local theater camp. In one week they put on an entire production of Snow White! The girls each had real parts and even had to memorize lines! Lucy was one of the narrators (Red), and Harriet was one of the seven dwarves (Wallflower).

Bike Fundraiser:

As a family we all helped put on a really cool fundraiser event called the Greeley Wheelie for Turn Around Bikes – a local non-profit that takes donated bikes, refurbishes them, and donates them to kids in need.

July 2017 Free Calendar Desktop and iPhone Wallpaper

July 1, 2017/0 Comments/in Art, Desktop Backgrounds, Downloads, Monthly Themes, Online /by Betony Coons

It is fun for me to make these desktop backgrounds each month because I don’t plan them out. The direction they end up is often as much of a surprise for me as it is for you. This month, I started with a star themed red pastel drawing and ended up here with this bold background. Parts of it are pulled from a swatch of 1940’s wallpaper. Fun, right?

For the desktop, click on the image below to view the large size image.
High Resolution Desktop Wallpaper:

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.

July Free Calendar Desktop and iPhone Wallpaper

July 1, 2016/1 Comment/in Art, Bellwether, Desktop Backgrounds, Downloads /by Betony Coons

How is it July already!?

Our house has been listening to all our Independence day mixes this morning. This year is our first “quiet” at home July 4th we have had in a while and we can’t wait.

Make sure to also read this fun list of July ideas. Also, here is a list of some of our favorite summer books.
Enjoy this new summer desktop wallpaper inspired by explorations into the wild and quiet summer reads!

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:

iPhone Wallpaper:

Midwest Road Adventures and “Maps” – a round up of the month of July

July 30, 2015/0 Comments/in Abacus, Almanac Adventure Days, Family, Travel /by Betony Coons

Most of our July was spent exploring the midwest. What better way to incorporate the theme “Maps” then getting out and living on one. Eight states in two weeks (that includes Tim’s whirlwind trip to North Carolina for the Wild Goose Festival)!

While road tripping, we did several fun pages out of the Maps Activity book –

We weren’t able to stop a lot (seeing as we were in the car for too long already) but, we did make two really wonderful detours on our way to Lake Geneva, WI. Since we were going through two state capitals, we stopped at both the Nebraska State Capital building and the Iowa State Capital Building. And WOW were they wonderful. Why is “Visiting Every State Capital” not something everyone does?!? These two building were filled with incredible history, art, incredible architecture, and craftsmanship that you just don’t see that often in our ‘slap it together and sell it cheap’ culture we live in. We all felt like we were exploring old castles of old. And both the Iowa building and the Nebraska buildings were so different! Here are a few picture from both.
Nebraska First –

Amazing Castle-like building, beautiful mosaics, and, best of all, an old wood paneled elevator that took you to the top of the tower to an open air walkway with panoramic views of the whole city.

Some Zelda scenes “may” have been re-enacted in these stone passageways

Tried to take a family “Selfie” here. Aw… so cute. And then you notice what Lucy does with her bubble gum….

Some things you didn’t want to know… thanks a lot iPhones…

And Iowa’s Capital Building:

They sure knew what they were doing when they designed the gold domes….

Looking up into the ceiling of the main dome. They took guided tours to the top, which we sadly didn’t do because we had to get back on the road, but next time!

A security guard at the entrance told us to be sure not to miss the Library as it was his favorite room. And boy was he not kidding. It was like stepping into Harry Potter land.

As part of our midwest road trip, we stayed in KS for a few days at my parents farm. They live on 180 acres of wild prairie and orchards. My dad mows these lovely ever-shifting paths through the prairie that have become one of the things we look forward to most when visiting home.

Onto modes of transportation! Also while in KS, the girls had their first encounter with bumper cars (hover crafts more like…) and can’t wait for more…

Picnics are always a good idea.

As are hotel swimming pools.

Once we got back home, we mostly have been playing catch-up – especially with all the art shows and whatnot we have had going on. But here are a few highlights from the end of July.
This is one of the books we picked up from the library on maps. It is called “The Once Upon a Time Map Book” – you can get it here. I can’t recommend it enough. My kids LOVED it. And it teaches so many cool map reading skills – directions, scale, keys, distance, etc. The book gives you a quest of sorts and then have to follow the directions to get through the map, while looking for hidden treasures. So fun.

We definitely drew a treasure map of our backyard and hid treasure. Burning the edges and tea staining it is half the fun.

Some afternoons when mom is trying, ahem, to get ready for an art show she is not ready for yet, you google “kids map games” and let em loose.

The church we are part of, called Atlas, does this amazing kids camp where they make a movie. The kids do almost everything – the acting, costumes, songs, etc. One of the days was all about outer space. Each kid was assigned a role as either a planet, the sun, moon, stars, etc. They physically acted out our solar system as part of our movie. It was so cool. I didn’t get any photos of the kids, but here are a bunch of the parent volunteers pricking holes in a black paper wall that was lit from behind to make constellation star maps. The twinkly black wall was the backdrop in the film for the little kid moons and planets swirling around.

We hung a nice big world map at kid level on the wall and have been having lots of fun conversations about where things like panda bears and cousins live.

July Ideas and Activities Around the Theme “Maps”

July 3, 2015/0 Comments/in Abacus, Almanac Adventure Days, Curriculum, Family, Lists /by Betony Coons

With kids’ school schedules, university classes being over, and activities like dance classes taking a break, July is and always will be the ultimate road trip month. Our theme for our home curriculum this month is “MAPS” – think places to go, atlases, globes, searching for treasure, and charts of imaginary lands. With 4th of July celebrations and their historical roots, what better time to explore this vast and rich country we live in? It is about putting on our explorer caps, blaring some road trip tunes, and charting out adventure.

Read all about how to use this list and our heart behind this project here.

Below is our comprehensive MAPS activities list. Choose a couple to do with your kids to enrich the month or try to accomplish the whole list! What would you add? I would love to hear your ideas and plans for the month.

July Dates to Take Note of:

July 4th – Independence Day

Local Greeley, CO events:

Concert under the Stars – July 8th at the UNCO Garden Theater

Neighborhood Nights in July (Movies/picnics at city parks in greeley) – Muppets Most Wanted, Big Hero 6, The Lego Movie

Greeley Arts Picnic – July 25 and 26

Taste of Windsor – July 16

HISTORY:

Tell the stories of Independence day on the 4th of July and of course enjoy fireworks

We will be heading on a family music/art tour to Wisconsin. On our way, we plan on visiting the Nebraska and Iowa state capitals – hoping to make this a family tradition as we visit new states. Is there a state capitol somewhere near that you could visit? Or at least talk about what state capitols are.

Learn about some of the great explorers – Magellan, Columbus, Lewis & Clark, etc.

Maybe this book would be a fun way to learn about these explorers?

Also want to check out this one (its illustrations alone look incredible)

Look at trains and modes of transportation (hot air balloons anyone?)

Along with that, learn how to play Ticket to Ride, which I have heard is a great game.

ART:

Do straw paintings of fireworks

Paint a treasure map (Image from here) – I particularly like using parchment paper and burning the edges. Just makes it even more, you know, pirate-y. A link to a map we made a couple years ago: Here .

Create a 3D map of our neighborhood like this sweet milk box one.

Try making something like this great wall hanging interactive map from The Handmade Home

MUSIC:

Listen to our Road Trip playlist

Listen to our Stars and Stripes playlist

Sufjian stevens – Michigan and Illinois

John Phillips Sousa

Make a States playlist? What songs could you use for each of the 50 states?!

MOVIES:

Goonies, Pirates of the Caribbean, Cars (Route 66), Around the World in 80 Days

READ:

Treasure Island – Robert Louise Stevenson

SCIENCE:

Look at constellation maps (there is a great printable one here

)

and make pin poke constellation maps

Learn about Planets and maps of our solar system – maybe make a model

Make maps of the human body

PLAY:

and go on an imaginary expedition

Play the old zelda – with map

IN THE CAR:

Follow routes on a road atlas

Play the license plate game – or some of these other great car games

license-plate-game-travel-games

Learn about distances

GEOGRAPHY:

Spend a lot of time looking at the Maps book by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Activity companion – it is really beautifully done.

Do the State Map Puzzle we picked up at the Habitat Store (kind of like this one)

Also, cut up an old atlas and make these out of some of those freebie rectangle magnets you get from real estate agents…

Play with Compasses and Map Keys

Learn our state flower, bird, reptile, etc.

Look at elevation maps

July 2015 Calendar Free Desktop and iPhone Wallpaper

July 1, 2015/0 Comments/in Art, Downloads /by Betony Coons

Pouring over atlas maps, planning destinations, summer road trips, July is about heading off on adventure. Pulling out your trusty compass and seeing where it leads. Here is a Map themed desktop wallpaper for your computer and phones. 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. Enjoy!

For iPhones:

For Desktops (Click the small thumbnail below to download the large sized file):

For more inspiration for July, check out our past July posts. – including 4th of July playlists, great BBQ recipes, and a road trip song mix.

Betony’s Custard Filled Blue Cornbread

June 26, 2015/0 Comments/in Recipes /by Betony Coons

This recipe has become a 4th of July tradition at our house. It is rich and satisfying. The blue cornmeal has a slightly more delicate texture than the yellow and just elevates it to the next level. And, its patriotic…

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup blue cornmeal (yellow is fine too if you can’t find blue)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels
1 cup heavy cream

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-2-inch round baking pan, and place in the oven to preheat. Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl; set aside.
Whisk eggs and butter in a large bowl. Whisk in sugar, salt, milk, and vinegar. Add flour mixture, and whisk until just smooth. Stir in corn kernels.
Transfer batter to heated pan. Pour cream into center of batter; do not stir – this part will seem a little weird, but just trust me, its glorious and works. Bake until pale golden brown and set, about 50 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack 15 minutes. Unmold, and serve warm.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

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