Meet "Sweetvoice" a Vesper Sparrow

In Chapter IV of Thornton Burgess's Bird Book for Children, Peter Rabbit introduces us to Sweetvoice a Vesper Sparrow.
Find out more about Vesper Sparrows here:
Vesper Sparrow, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
photo © 2009 Tim Lenz | more info (via: Wylio)

If The World Were A Village

This Child Every Child book trailer

Fermented wheat flour may be safe for celiac patients, suggests study

Fermented wheat flour may be safe for celiac patients, suggests study: "Baked goods made from wheat flour fermented with certain micro-organisms may be tolerated by celiac disease patients, according to new research."

Fox Sparrow, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Fox Sparrow, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
photo © 2010 Kelly Colgan Azar | more info (via: Wylio)

CHAPTER III. Jenny Has a Good Word for Some Sparrows.

In chapter III of the Thornton Burgess Bird Book for Children Jenny Wren and Peter Rabbit talk about sparrows, including the White-throated Sparrow.

White-throated Sparrow, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
photo © 2009 Nancy | more info (via: Wylio)

Blue Plate Special Jan 21, 2011: Robert Burns Night

Robert Burns was a Scottish writer and poet. A celebration of his life and works occurs around the world around the anniversary of his birthday. His birthday was January 25 1759. Burns suppers typically include Scottish music, dance, haggis, scotch drinking, and poetry. Some famous poems of Robert Burns includes: A Red, Red Rose, Tam O'Shanter, A Man's a Man for A' That. Ultima Thule: Robert Burns by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I see amid the fields of Ayr A ploughman, who, in foul and fair, Sings at his task So clear, we know not if it is The laverock's song we hear, or his, Nor care to ask. For him the ploughing of those fields A more ethereal harvest yields Than sheaves of grain; Songs flush with purple bloom the rye, The plover's call, the curlew's cry, Sing in his brain. Touched by his hand, the wayside weed Becomes a flower; the lowliest reed Beside the stream Is clothed with beauty; gorse and grass And heather, where his footsteps pass, The brighter seem. He sings of love, whose flame illumes The darkness of lone cottage rooms; He feels the force, The treacherous undertow and stress Of wayward passions, and no less The keen remorse. At moments, wrestling with his fate, His voice is harsh, but not with hate; The brushwood, hung Above the tavern door, lets fall Its bitter leaf, its drop of gall Upon his tongue. But still the music of his song Rises o'er all, elate and strong; Its master-chords Are Manhood, Freedom, Brotherhood, Its discords but an interlude Between the words. And then to die so young and leave Unfinished what he might achieve! Yet better sure Is this, than wandering up and down An old man in a country town, Infirm and poor. For now he haunts his native land As an immortal youth; his hand Guides every plough; He sits beside each ingle-nook, His voice is in each rushing brook, Each rustling bough. His presence haunts this room to-night, A form of mingled mist and light From that far coast. Welcome beneath this roof of mine! Welcome! this vacant chair is thine, Dear guest and ghost! Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

MLK Day Show

photo © 1963 The U.S. National Archives | more info (via: Wylio)


The Blue Plate Special for the Friday Jan 14 show was "Songs of Freedom: The story of the Civil Rights Movement through music".
This CD is a Smithsonian Folkways recordings, which was founded in 1949 by Moses Asch and Marian Distler to "document music, spoken word, instruction, and sounds from around the world."

Monday January 17 is Martin Luther King Junior Day

Chapter II The Old Orchard Bully

In the second chapter of Thornton Burgess's Bird Book for Children we are introduced to the "bullies" English or house sparrows.

House Sparrow

photo © 2008 John Haslam | more info (via: Wylio) 

Seattle’s Favorite Kid-Friendly Music Makers

Seattle’s Favorite Kid-Friendly Music Makers

Wild and Free Singles | A Fire Burns for Freedom | Africa Land

Wild and Free Singles | A Fire Burns for Freedom | Africa Land

146 Bird Calls

Peter Rabbit meets Jenny Wren

Starting with the January 7, 2011 Jitterbug will be reading

THE BURGESS BIRD BOOK FOR CHILDREN

By Thornton W. Burgess

     TO THE CHILDREN AND THE BIRDS
  OF AMERICA THAT THE BONDS OF LOVE AND
    FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THEM MAY BE
             STRENGTHENED
        THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED
This book is in the public domain via Project Gutenberg.
In Chapter 1 Peter Rabbit meets the house wren Jenny. She tells him about traveling to warmer places for the winter when there is no food to eat. They also talk about blending in to hide with brown feathers.

photo © 2010 Sue Clark | more info (via: Wylio)    

Happy New Year!

Feel better in 2011 by taking small steps to making movement part of your daily life.

Kids need lots of activity- 60 minutes a day! That is aerobic activity that gets your heart pumping.
Strength building activities and stretching are important too. Doing these  regularly will make you feel better. Just don't try and go crazy adding too much stuff in at once. That's how you can get turned off to movement. Slowly add activities into your life to make them a permanent part of your life.

Check out the small steps website for tons of ideas for making small steps:


Small Steps

I've dug out some exercise DVDs and checked out a Pilates DVD from the library to get myself going.
I'm trying to walk my two dogs now everyday too.