A Little Woman

Hannas favorite Bible verse is:
And the LORD said, "Now get up and cross the Zered Valley." So we crossed the valley.
Deuteronomy 2:13

A gentleman, anxious to ascertain the effect of transplanting
at night instead of by day, made an experiment with
the following result: he transplanted ten cherry
trees while in bloom, commencing at four o'clock in
the afternoon. Those transplanted during the daylight shed
thier blossoms, producing little or no fruit; while those
transplanted in the dark maintained their condition fully.

The Household, 1883

"Manuring with brains," like most proverbs conveys an
important truth. We look upon books as quite as essential
implements as spades, rakes, or other garden tools. Winter
is the time for study and reading.
American Agriculturist, 1878

In London, England, if a man improves his lot and his neighbor does not, the improver gets a reduction on tax, and the non improver a rise. This is rather a good idea, and when carried out, must tend greatly to improve the towns and villages.
The Household, 1879

The blue eggs are dyed with blueberries. The brown are dyed with red onion skins. The yellow eggs are dyed with ground Tumeric. We put the dye in the water when we hard boiled them.

Here are more ideas for natural dyes:
http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/2009/04/natural-egg-dyes.html

Mom made this denim quilt.

It is a tied quilt but the ties are on the back.

"In such favor do toads stand with English market gardeners that they readily command a shilling apiece...and as toads possess no bad habits, every owner of a garden should treat him with the utmost hospitality."

-British newspaper, 1890

Cream together:

1/4 cup cream
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey

Add:

1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Combine until fluffy. Add 4 cups wheat flour one cup at a time. Roll dough out on parchment paper 1/8 inch thick. You will need 2 cookie sheets. Score into squares and prick with a fork. Sprinkle with granulated sugar if desired.

Bake in a 375 degre oven for 15-20 minutes.

I got this recipe from Seasons at Home magazine.

By then we had found out that school can be taken care of
at home, but we still thought that it was bound to a house.
Later we would learn that it can very well take place on wheels.

-Maria Augusta Trapp The Story of the Trapp Family Singers
This is the story that inspired The Sound of Music.

We just put a little ground Turmeric in the water before we hard boiled these eggs and boiled them a little longer then usual and didn't take them out of the water right away.

Use well-ripened, but still firm fruit with solid flesh and tart-sweet flavor. Wash and core. Peel or not according to preference. Cut in wedges 1/4 inch thick (6.25 mm).
Dehydrator: Slice apples onto trays. Spread slices one layer deep on trays, without overlapping slices. (Work quickly) Put each tray in the dehydrator as soon as it is full. Dry at 115 degres F (45 C) for 6 to 8 hours, stiring or turning fruit once. After the first 6 hours test for dryness every 2 hours until there is no moisture in the center when slice is bitten.
To Usesliced dried apples are delicious eaten as a snack, or they may be used almost any way cooked apples are used. One cup(250 ml) yields about 1 1/4 cups (315 ml) cooked or refreshed apples.

I got this information from Making and Using Dried Foods by Phyllis Hobson.

It's funny how often they say to me, "Jane?"
"Have you been a good girl?"
"Have you been a good girl?"
And when they have said it they say it again,
"Have you been a good girl?"
"Have you been a good girl?"

I go to a party, I go out to tea,
I go to an aunt for a week at the sea
I come back from school or from playing a game;
Wherever I come from, it's always the same:
"Well?
Have you been a good girl, Jane?"

It's always the end of the loveliest day:
"Have you been a good girl?"
"Have you been a good girl?"
I went to the Zoo, and they waited to say:
"Have you been a good girl?"
"Have you been a good girl?"

Well, what did they think that I went there to do?
And why should I want to be bad at the Zoo?
And should I be likely to say if I had?
So that's why it's funny of Mummy and Dad,
This asking and asking in case I was bad,
"Well?
Have you been a good girl, Jane?"

-Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne

Let it rain!
Who cares?
I've a train
Upstairs,
With a brake
Which I make
From a string
Sort of thing,
Which works
In jerks
'Cos it drops
In the spring
Which stops
With the string,
And the wheels
All stick
So quick
That it feels
Like a thing
That you make
With a brake,
Not string....

So that's what I make,
When the day's all wet.
It's agood sort of brake
But it hasn't worked yet.

-A. A. Milne Now We Are Six