Our latest work has been with weights. I had a few kinds of scales (old and modern) around the house and Teddy has spent days comparing the weights of all sorts of things around the house.
02/19/2012
01/27/2012
Glass Blowing Demonstration
This demonstration was probably one of the coolest things we have seen in a while. My aunt arranged for us to see it and we got front row seats! The facility was great and even had classes for kids 10 years and older. Teddy wants to go back when he is older and learn how to blow glass.
Very hot oven with melted sand (basically).
Testing....
Stretching the glass...we learned that this is the process used to make fiber optics.
Glass blowing demonstration...
This is how the item is shaped...
This was a finished inverted double glass bowl. Now they have to grind the bottom and let it cure.
Demonstration of how unstable glass can be. The samples of glass were cooled too quickly and therefore will explode...see below for the shattered pieces left on the table.
This is what the artists begin with...the glass before it is melted.
Teddy checks out the broken pieces from the sample. He was totally taken with the entire process!
01/23/2012
Digging in the Dirt
We have recently come upon a real-life opportunity to be part of a local archeological dig. Teddy has spent several mornings and afternoons in the past 2 months learning about the entire process. He has helped locate, dig up and catalog several key artifacts that have really helped in clarifying what happened in this location in the last 150 years. It has been the coolest experience!
01/22/2012
Glass at the Museum
Tiffany lamp.... and windows!
Teddy and his cousin explore an instrument made of glass. This one was similar to the glass armonica that Ben Franklin invented.
Beautiful glass scultpture....
And Teddy's first view of Mary Cassat's work!
These were all discoveres made recently at a fabulous museum we visited with family. I was amazed at how interested the kids (at 9 and 10 years old) were in the glass. Who knew such amazing things could be accomplished with melted sand? Afterwards, we went to a fabulous glass blowing demonstration. Pictures of that to come soon...
01/16/2012
01/01/2012
12/31/2011
12/29/2011
Recent nature walk...our big backyard
A puffball mushroom
Three beautiful leaves
Teddy loves the moss we found.
A fallen stag makes homes for many critters as it returns to the earth.
Sweet gum ball from our many trees...
We saw this weed/wildflower everywhere and tried to idenify it....no luck.
One of my favorite shots...
Beautiful bark
Unidentified berries
Cedar tree with berries
12/16/2011
Jamestown...the Powhatan tribe
Jamestown has a wonderful outdoor living museum. The dwellings above are called Tehakin. They are similar in construction to wigwams. This was perfect timing because when we got back home we started a block on shelters and dwellings.
This was inside one of the dwellings.
I was very impressed at the way this place was run. Great people working there who really got into character. The lady above is demonstrating how the Powhatans would have cleaned a dear skin.
This is a skin stretched to dry.
This gal was fabulous....she was showing the boys some traditional hand tools made and used by the Native Americans. There were actually quite useful tools.
A dugout canoe...they would burn and then scrape out the center to make a canoe from an entire log.
Teddy learns about tradtional foods and ways to prepare them.
This was the dear skin that was prepped in the picture above...the boys got to scrape the hair off with tradtional tools...oyster shells!
12/12/2011
Jamestown...The Ships
I had to include this shot as I love it so!
The museum had three scale models of the ships that sailed to Jamestown. The ships were the Susan Constant, the Godpeed and the Discovery. We were shocked at how small these boats were and even more shocked when we learned how many people lived on them for 5 months! They actually did not even leave the coast of England for the first month because of severe weather. Can you imagine being stuck on a ship so close to home and not being able to get off and bathe or use the restroom ? Wow...
Above is one of the sleeping berths.
This was the kitchen...seriously.
Captains quarters above...his space was slightly larger than the rest. Folks must have been smaller then too cause the berths were mighty short.
This is the wheel that raised the anchor. Poles are inserted in those holes and the men have to turn it to pull it up.
These ships were so small...going across the Atlantic in that? No thanks.
Some tools to help in navigating...
Teddy trys out one of the beds....they were big enough for him!
