A little ancient Mexico

I read today about the Aztecs in a Geography book. I liked the photographs of the majestic Popocatepetl volcano. I liked the description of the sun setting over this volcano. I had to try to find some more pictures to fill my mind with how it may have looked. The book said " it looked as if the sun was being swallowed by the crater".  As I had to read on and learn more, it was hard to take. It was so hard to read on. I read how the people believed their gods were cruel and ferocious. How they demanded sacrifice, human sacrifice that is..  When the last ray of sunlight was on the rim of the volcano, the priest of these pagan worshipers took it as a signal to go ahead.. and that is all I am going to say about this. whew...you will have to look up the Aztecs yourself to find out more. The time period of the Aztecs was the fifteen hundreds. This is the time when the Spaniards were discovering new worlds, the Americas. The Spaniards introduced the Aztecs to guns, horses, and Christianity. When I look at pictures of the cities built around this time frame I find it inspiring, and beautiful.They were very skillful in the arts. There were goldsmiths, stone masons, and weavers. All at the best of their abilities at this time.

Photo: Popocatepetl volcano at sunset
















Photo: ancient Aztec ruins

ancient discoveries

Today I learned about how the Chinese had made or discovered so much even 1000 years ago.
We may think that humans were uneducated or lacking materials to build or make impressive things from every day use, to statues or boats. I read today about an astronomer named Su Song, who lived 1000 years ago.He had built a planetarium and he tilted it to be tilted like the earth at a 23.5 degree. More then 1000 years before him was another astronomer who made written  notes of the moons of Jupiter.This was long before Galileo. Gun powder was invented by the Chinese. Even then, there were fireworks! They knew how to make some huge, impressive boats! I read about war boats 300 feet long with nine masts, and watertight bulkheads.

History is probably one of my favorite topics to read about. I am always impressed with the truth that man was made smart right away, and not primitive silly cave men. I am happy that more and  more evidence is discovered and proves this theory.

The first stop

I was reading in a geography book about Niagra Falls. I always thought people from other countries who come to visit our country would want to stop first somewhere else. You know, the Grand Cannon, Mount Rushmore, Mall of America (smile). But as they come in the first stop is New York City. The next destination  for many is the amazing Niagra Falls.  It is quite amazing! My grandma has taken the tour, like this one here. Maid of the mist. The Niagra falls are located on the border of New York and Canada. Only two other falls in the world compete with the size, and amount of water and the drop of the falls. They are the Victoria Falls in Africa, and Iguazu Falls in South America. The Niagra Falls is 5300 feet wide and the Victoria are 5700 feet while the biggest is the Iguazu being 10,000 feet wide, wowza! The Niagra Falls are also the least in height being only 167 feet high, the Iguazu is 237 feet high, and the Victoria falls are 354 feet high, truly amazing! But the Niagra Falls, unlike the other two falls, it keeps a steady strong flow.The two other falls mentioned are breathtaking in the wet season, but in the dry season all you'll see is a trickle. So there you have it, the Niagra Falls are full of beauty, you'll probably want to add it to your list of destinations, as it is something that you won't see everyday.

photo: Niagra Falls in the winter

Photo: Niagra Falls lights and beauty at night, all year round.

knit/crochet projects of 2009 (part 1)

A hat for baby brother 

and a blanket for him, too

crocheted hats!

I took some projects to the fair

Surprised.. I got grand champ or blues!

conversations at lunchtime

Today I was telling my mom that I had sore legs

from running around at church for games the other night.

My mom said " Well, you better get on out there and walk then..". 

Then she walked around silly like, well, it reminded me 

so much of this video I watched a while ago.

My parents really like dry humor. 

Anyway, we all talked about this video at lunchtime 

when my dad came home to have lunch with us.

Hope you enjoy!

Babel! (part 1)

                     There used to be one language and one speech.
We get a magazine called Answers in Genesis, I learn alot from it.
Today I was reading about the Tower of Babel. Moses wrote the first five books of the bible.
He was educated just like a prince. He knew about the history, geography and cultures of his world, which was Egypt.But God is the one who spoke to Moses telling him what he must write.Moses wrote about the account of Babel. Babel was after the flood and Noah. The people were excellent builders.They wanted to build a tall tower, and a great city. So they got together, put their ideas together and began to build. They used bricks. God didn't like this idea. He came down to see what they were building. He confused their language. They could no longer understand one another, and this quickly put a stop to it. What was started was only the foundation. This was only 300 feet tall. The Empire State building is over three times taller than this. We can only imagine what this tower (Babel) might have looked like. The bricks might have been made with limestone, which is strong like concrete bricks.

Today, the city is not found, nor the tower, because God confused the people in the early stages.
The people scattered all over the world. Each family left with their own talents, so some civilizations had better structures and cities then others. Read Genesis 11 to see more about.

(about the picture: only a guess of what Babel may have looked like)

An amazing rat from Africa

Today, I was reading from a magazine we subscribe to called Nature Friend. I love this magazine because there are so many interesting creatures and cool nature facts to learn.  A rat from Africa called a giant Gambian pouched rat caught my attention. I did more research about it and will now tell you what I have learned. This rat is not an ordinary rat it is about the size of a raccoon and weighs up to 9 pounds!
This rat is nocturnal, it has very poor eye sight, but a very  keen sense of hearing and smell. Another thing that sets it apart from other rats is that it has cheek storage pouches. It has been known to store so many palm nuts in it's cheeks that it cannot get into it's own burrow.

Right now, these little creatures are being used in Africa in a marvelous way.They are using them to help sniff out land mines. It can smell three times better than a bloodhound and is able to find explosives  buried in war torn countries in Africa. They are very smart creatures, the training time to train them is relatively short. Plus, they are very friendly. I loved this little clip of one gathering food and stuffing it's cheeks! Take a look for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxF6qGv6AOI

Natural landmarks are prettier

Today I read about Yosemite Valley
I read how in 1851 it was discovered.Major James Savage was looking for a band of Indians to punish them for raiding a settlement. He and his men stumbled upon this valley. What he saw, made him forget about the Indians. The first thing he saw was a waterfall. The way it flowed reminded him of a bridal veil.There are 3 other waterfalls, one makes three leaps down.There is a mountain named Half Dome.It is a very sleek and slippery mountain.  Until 1875, only squirrels and chipmunks could climb it. Then a Scotch man named captain Anderson amazed all of California by climbing it.He used iron pegs to stick into the grooves in the rock. Sometime later, a ladder was built for more climbers to see the top of the mountain.(Narrated from: The complete Book of Marvels by R. Halliburton)

      photo: Bridal Veil Waterfall









           photo:Half Dome mountain

Knit-Wit

Swallows and Amazons continued..

Swallows and Amazons continued.. I will try not to give away too many spoilers to this book, cause I think that you should go out and find it and "go to the Lakes District and head to the island and explore with the children!" 
So, the story goes on... The four children in the story are siblings. There are 2 boys and 2 girls. The youngest boy is 7 and wants to go too. The oldest girl didn't know what a "duffer" meant either.
It meant that they could all go to the island for the summer. The oldest boy takes the letter and writes on the other side their names and what position of the "crew" each should have. See, they have a "dinghy" which is a small sail boat as means to get to the island. The oldest sister decided what supplies they would need for this trip. So she wrote a list. The next day, they set up the boat and went for a test-run with their mum.But, she will not be taking the journey to the island with them.  Then, next day was the day to load and go. The island is about a mile away. It is a really big lake that they must cross. They get to the island with no troubles. This is an island that is only for exploring, no one lives here. Their mum helped them by making tents for them which she brought their first night there. The family has two boats, a dinghy and a row boat to travel the Lake area. She comes in the row boat to them with the tents, pillows, blankets and "haybags". I had never heard of a haybag before.I will attempt to describe it. It is a sack stuffed with hay and used as a mattress.  A few days later, the excitement begins because they "the Amazons" meet "the Swallows". They meet some other children, and the two different families decide to take on these names and make an alliance. They are names of boats, and so the story involves boats too. There is also a house boat and someone lives in the houseboat who they think is really a pirate.. there are some clues to think he is a pirate..

     They must learn how to keep a fire going and other island survival measures...

Knit~wit

A good book.

To look at the cover of this book, it may look boring... but I looked above the picture and saw

two flags, one a swallow and the other a jolly roger. A jolly roger is a skull and cross bones. I then thought, ok, I will pick it up and read it. It may be good.  The book is called Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome.

This is a book series written long ago, it takes place in England,during the years of the "great depression", near the Lake District. The Lakes District is near the border of Scotland. .  It was given to me by my parents and thanks to a new friend who has already read it and said it was good, got me to open the book and start reading.
One of the first things that happens is the youngest boy is zig-zagging  up a hilly field. He is pretending to be a ship. He sees his mother holding a red envelope. He knows that it is the answer from their letters sent to their father asking if the could go to the island.There are 4 children mentioned. In the red envelope is a telegram, it is opened and it says "better to drown then be duffers,if not duffers won't drown."  At first, I didn't get what he meant. But, as I read on I now know that they will be going to the island- and adventures await them! Look for more posts as I continue to read. My parents said if I like this first book, I will get my own copy of the whole series, which is 12 books!

~KnitWit