Slice of Life Day 24

Jaimee's Story Part 4

What Piper called the Others, the fairies and elves called, the Shadows.

One time she saw a fire and watched it for hours, never seeing or hearing another thing, until she noticed something move. It was an arrow that fired up the hill at a tall figure standing there. The next moment it was gone.

Then she saw a flat shadow arise from the ground with sharp teeth and claws and burning red eyes. She ran into the forest when she saw this but the shadows were chasing after her and calling out, "Shadow-keeper! Shadow-keeper!"

Arrows were everywhere as she ran. [She still has a scar on her arm from that night.]

When she got to a cave, the shadows had stopped following her.

She slept until she woke up to find a man standing beside her. He had the bluest eyes on earth and long black hair. This is when she first met the real Shadow-Keeper.

Now she meets him again.

Slice of Life Day 17

JAIMEE"S STORY PART 3

"Welcome!" said the innkeeper joyfully,

"Please sit down. Would you like some soup?"

"Yes, please," said Piper, "and some crackers."

Lydia sat by the window and stared out. She saw nothing but open space and trees.

"What's wrong?" Piper asked.

"Well, it just seems that you know more about elves than me. I wish you would have told me about you being a spy sooner. I could have been a spy too," Lydia said with a sigh.

"Shhh-shhhh." Piper put her finger to her lips, "Don't talk about spies. The other elves can hear you and they could be spies for the Others."

"But, I want to talk to you," Lydia complained, "Are you sure there is no other place we can go to talk?"

BAM. BAM. BAM.

"Open Up!"

Someone was pounding on the door.
"They're here! Let's go out the back!" Piper ran to the door but it was locked.

They were trapped.

"What in the world are we going to do?" Lydia was panicked.

"Psssst! In here!" It was the innkeeper with a secret door open in the floor.

All three of them jumped in just as they heard the front door breaking.

Slice of Life Day 16

Slice of Life Day 16

PART 2 of JAIMEE'S STORY

"So-where-do-you-think-we're-going?" Lydia panted.

"Away from there." Piper slowed down and looked behind her.

"Ok, just listen. I need you to answer a question." Lydia stopped and faced Piper.

"Not til we get to the hideout. I can't talk now." Piper turned to go.

"No! I can't wait anymore. You're not supposed to know any of the things you know, Piper. And you won't be able to tell me anything at the hideout because there will be other elves there. Now tell me what's going on!"

Piper sighed, "Fine. I"ll only tell you a little bit. You should know it is not safe here."

Piper put her hair behind her ear.

"Oh my! You're an elf! All this time and you never told me?! Why?"

Lydia stared fiercely at Piper.

"I work with the Elf Spy Troop. I was sworn never to tell anyone about it, but my job is to spy on the Others."

Piper stopped speaking as they heard a rustle in the bushes.

"Someone is coming!" she whispered. "I'll tell you more later. We have to get to the fort!"

Slice of Life Day 11

SLICE OF LIFE DAY 11 by Jaimee.


You won't believe what I am about to tell you. Yesterday we saw a skunk! I never saw a skunk before in my life. I know it's shocking, but worst of all, it might have had rabies!

We did some research and found out that if a skunk comes out in the middle of the day and comes up to you without hesitation, it might have rabies.

We pounded on the windows really hard and it still came close to the house. It was exciting and funny to watch it, but the really funny thing was watching my mom pound on the windows. I thought they would break!

Our dog, Scholar, had just gotten his rabies shot, but we still didn't want him to tangle with the skunk. Last summer, he got sprayed and he was stinky!

When the skunk finally left our yard, it went into our neighbor's backyard, and then out into the graveyard. I forgot to mention that our backyard is on a graveyard, but we have a fence separating us from it. Anyway, we think that the skunk might have been a pregnant female looking for a place to have her babies.

So, what do you think? Does it have rabies, is it pregnant, or is it just a skunk?

Slice of Life Day 9

JAIMEE'S STORY Part 1

"May I decorate the cake?" said Piper to Lydia.

"I guess," said Lydia, "but don't make it ugly."

"I'll try not to." Piper said sarcastically and went into the forest.

"I think I'll put some jumble berries on it." Piper said to herself, "Oh, and some Elf leaves, they're so pretty and I know Lydia will like them because she is an elf. But wait, these elf leaves aren't very pretty. They are all brown, maybe I have the wrong one. No, these are definitely the elf trees so that means.........LYDIA!"

Piper screamed and ran back to the cave.

"Lydia!"

"They're coming! We have to leave!"

"What are you talking about, Piper? Who's coming?"

"The elf trees are dying!" Piper said frantically.

"What! That can't be! Prove it!" Lydia was worried.

"Here." Piper pulled a dead leaf out of her bag and showed it to Lydia.

"You're right, we have to leave, but how did you know that an elf tree is dying?

Only an elf can see when one of our trees is dying."

"I know. I know. I"ll tell you later. We have to go."

Piper grabbed Lydia and their packs and they ran from the cave.

Slice of Life Day 4

SLICE OF LIFE BY JAIMEE

I love birds.

They are so cute, especially when they take baths. Feeding and watering birds is like having a pet. You have to make sure that their food is always full and that they have water. I enjoy looking at all types of birds. It is amazing all the birds that God created. Sometimes, birds can be messy when they eat. They just drop the seeds!

My favorite bird is the Red Bellied Woodpecker. It is so pretty. I love the black and white stripes and the bright red head. I took this photo right through our living room window. What's your favorite bird?

~Jaimee

Slice of Life Day 3

JAIMEE SLICE OF LIFE DAY 3

Spring is coming! I can smell it, even though I can still see my breath outside. I hope it gets warmer so I can go in my teepee. My dad and I made it together. We used branches, ropes to tie them, and a tarp. I wish I could make a real fire inside but I have to pretend. The snow is making the sides fall in, so I want it to melt. Spring is my favorite season, and I even love the mud. In 18 days , Spring will be here!

JANE SLICE OF LIFE DAY 3

A attached

C clustered

O ordinary

R round

N nine

S sky

Nine, round, ordinary acorns

clustered together

tightly attached

to the sky.

Slice of Life Day 2

SLICE OF LIFE DAY 2 BY JAIMEE

Scholar, my dog, is one of my best friends. I am the last born of six siblings way older than me, but I have Scholar to entertain me. I like going outside with him but the best is playing Hide and Seek. I know you are thinking, 'How can she play hide and seek with a dog?' Well, here's how it's done in three simple steps.

1. Get your dog really riled up so he'll follow you around.

2. Pretend to run to the door. When he gets in front of you by the door, that's when you make a break for it and find a hiding spot and wait.

3. Make little noises so he knows where you are. When he gets close, don't make noise and he'll walk away. Make noise again and he should probably find you.

If not, start over! ;)

And that's how you play Hide and Seek with a dog.

SLICE OF LIFE DAY 2 BY JANE

Generalized Reciprocity is the formal way of defining informal giving.

In other words, Doing good for others to repay a good that was done for you.

This system of “Pay It Forward” was mentioned in a post on FB

and it inspired me to make gifts for people. My personal criteria for these gifts

were that they had to be useful and also, fit in a business sized envelope.

My gift of choice was bookmarks and this is how I did it.

1. Cut two 3” x 9” rectangles from canvas. Keep them together.
2. Choose a scrap of fabric that has fusible webbing on the back.
3. Iron the scrap onto one of the pieces.
4. Free motion sew a design with a sewing machine.
5. Use a gel pen to highlight areas of the design.
6. Sew 1/4” around the outside edges.
7. Fray the edges by pulling the threads.

Changing the world seems like a daunting task,

especially when using terms like generalized reciprocity,

but I know I can change my own small corner

with a gesture as simple

as Paying It Forward.

Slice of Life Day 1

Jane's Slice of Life Day 1

I am learning the words and abbreviations of crochet. There is a learning curve, and for me, it has been a steep climb up the hill of crochet terms. Like Anna Czerwinska, the oldest person to climb Mt. Everest, I have, in my old age, embarked on a journey up the mountain of crochet.

sk skip

sp space

yo yarn over

sl slip stitch

ch chain stitch

sc single crochet

dc double crochet

tr treble crochet

trc triple crochet

hdc half double crochet

pat st pattern stitch

Translating these abbreviations with a colorful ball of yarn and a number 4 steel crochet hook into a scarf to wrap around my neck is an incredible achievement for me. The air is bitingly cold as I plant my flag at the top of the terms, but I don’t mind, because soon I’ll have my scarf to keep me warm.

Jaimee's Slice of life Day 1

I love Lucky Charms.

I love the green clovers, the pink balloons, the magic rainbow, the swirly hearts, the shooting stars and the blue moons, but I don't like the cereal. I know a lot of people who love Lucky Charms too, and everyone has their own way of eating them. Some people eat the charms first and some eat them last. Some eat them normally and take whatever is on their spoon. I am in the second category. I eat the charms last. Can you imagine having a spoonful of charms exploding with sugary awesomeness in each bite? It is delicious! My favorite part in Lucky Charms is, well, the charms!