Robert Bateman - Majesty on the Wing-Bald Eagle,

Robert Bateman has many wonderful paintings of Bald Eagles.  I hope you enjoy this lovely one.  I like how you can see all his feathers in action.   

Majesty on the Wing - © Robert Bateman

* A reader pointed out that the following link was not working.  I reset it for public viewing so hopefully it will work for you now.  Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused anyone....  
 Following is a link to our  Picassa Web Album of Robert Bateman Paintings.  These will be the paintings we will be viewing this summer.  Though they are copyrighted we have been given permission to copy them for educational use.  
Books of paintings by Robert Bateman 
 
This is the last week I will be featuring The Creation oratorio by Franz Joseph Haydn -  of course you can take as long as you'd like or come back to it at any time, but next week we will move on to more of his music. I found this full length version of it if you would like to listen to it in it's entirety while you work on other projects: The Creation in English

Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8omYmytYvlo&feature=related
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S03cwGuw43s&feature=related  there are two places with nude artwork that you may want to minimize the screen for and just listen, from 04:28-05:15 and 06:33-06:48.  
Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=JYvdjGzlNYc
Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=ucr4VikNxQw
Part 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=WFs18ayIg5Y
Part 6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=-ul_KX2AV1U
Part 7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fQ0_HnJYuc
Part 8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=JZFeA-INyV4 (Part 8 does include lots of nude artwork depicting Adam and Eve from about 00:32-04:15. You may want to minimize the screen and just listen.  Also footage of a Lion attacking a Wildebeast which might be too graphic for young or sensitive children - you could minimize when the lions start stalking at about 07:45 and continue to listen until this part is past- about 08:12).
Part 9 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRlL_0rTgsM&feature=related
Part 10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKIYumIqvBQ&feature=related  (01:55-02:12 includes a piece of artwork of a person without clothes)
Part 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=5lhp86YCQUQ (Part 11 from minute 06:52-08:05 focuses on a drawing of Adam and Eve without clothes - if this bothers you, just minimize for that minute....)
Part 12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJXb2H4J268&feature=related


 I wasn't able to find who S. M. the young African painter was - if any of you have information, please let us know.  It would be fun to see some of his work.  Phillis Wheatley brings it alive in words....

To S. M. A Young African Painter, On Seeing His Works

By Phillis Wheatley

         TO show the lab’ring bosom’s deep intent,

And thought in living characters to paint,

When first thy pencil did those beauties give,

And breathing figures learnt from thee to live,

How did those prospects give my soul delight,

A new creation rushing on my sight?

Still, wond’rous youth! each noble path pursue,

On deathless glories fix thine ardent view:

Still may the painter’s and the poet’s fire

To aid thy pencil, and thy verse conspire!

And may the charms of each seraphic theme

Conduct thy footsteps to immortal fame!

High to the blissful wonders of the skies

Elate thy soul, and raise thy wishful eyes.

Thrice happy, when exalted to survey

That splendid city, crown’d with endless day,

Whose twice six gates on radiant hinges ring:

Celestial Salem blooms in endless spring.

Calm and serene thy moments glide along,

And may the muse inspire each future song!

Still, with the sweets of contemplation bless’d,

May peace with balmy wings your soul invest!

But when these shades of time are chas’d away,

And darkness ends in everlasting day,

On what seraphic pinions shall we move,

And view the landscapes in the realms above?

There shall thy tongue in heav’nly murmurs flow,

And there my muse with heav’nly transport glow:

No more to tell of Damon’s tender sighs,

Or rising radiance of Aurora’s eyes,

For nobler themes demand a nobler strain,

And purer language on th’ ethereal plain.

Cease, gentle muse! the solemn gloom of night

Now seals the fair creation from my sight.

 
Seraphs are celestial beings having three pairs of wings.

se·raph·ic

səˈrafik/

adjective

adjective: seraphic - characteristic of or resembling a seraph or seraphim.  Synonyms:  blissful, beatific, sublime, rapturous, ecstatic, joyful, rapt.

"Damon" - Greek Legend - Wikipedia 

"Aurora" - Goddess of the Dawn, Wikipedia on Aurora in mythology

Robert Bateman - Above the Rapids

Even though the grizzly bear in this painting by Robert Bateman is in the background - he stays the center of our attention.  Love those detailed rocks and the reflective water even in the mist and of course the seagulls in motion.

Above the Rapids - © Robert Bateman

Following is a link to our  Picassa Web Album of Robert Bateman Paintings. These will be the paintings we will be viewing this summer.  Though they are copyrighted we have been given permission to copy them for educational use.  
Books of paintings by Robert Bateman 
 
Summer is busy - I hope you're finding time to squeeze in a few of these wonderful parts of the Creation oratorio by Franz Joseph Haydn -   Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8omYmytYvlo&feature=related
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S03cwGuw43s&feature=related  there are two places with nude artwork that you may want to minimize the screen for and just listen, from 04:28-05:15 and 06:33-06:48.  
Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=JYvdjGzlNYc
Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=ucr4VikNxQw
Part 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=WFs18ayIg5Y
Part 6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=-ul_KX2AV1U
Part 7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fQ0_HnJYuc
Part 8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=JZFeA-INyV4 (Part 8 does include lots of nude artwork depicting Adam and Eve from about 00:32-04:15. You may want to minimize the screen and just listen.  Also footage of a Lion attacking a Wildebeast which might be too graphic for young or sensitive children - you could minimize when the lions start stalking at about 07:45 and continue to listen until this part is past- about 08:12).
Part 9 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRlL_0rTgsM&feature=related
Part 10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKIYumIqvBQ&feature=related  (01:55-02:12 includes a piece of artwork of a person without clothes)
Part 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=5lhp86YCQUQ (Part 11 from minute 06:52-08:05 focuses on a drawing of Adam and Eve without clothes - if this bothers you, just minimize for that minute....)
Part 12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJXb2H4J268&feature=related

On Imagination

By Phillis Wheatley

Thy various works, imperial queen, we see,

    How bright their forms! how deck'd with pomp by thee!

Thy wond'rous acts in beauteous order stand,

And all attest how potent is thine hand.

    From Helicon's refulgent heights attend,

Ye sacred choir, and my attempts befriend:

To tell her glories with a faithful tongue,

Ye blooming graces, triumph in my song.

    Now here, now there, the roving Fancy flies,

Till some lov'd object strikes her wand'ring eyes,

Whose silken fetters all the senses bind,

And soft captivity involves the mind.

    Imagination! who can sing thy force?

Or who describe the swiftness of thy course?

Soaring through air to find the bright abode,

Th' empyreal palace of the thund'ring God,

We on thy pinions can surpass the wind,

And leave the rolling universe behind:

From star to star the mental optics rove,

Measure the skies, and range the realms above.

There in one view we grasp the mighty whole,

Or with new worlds amaze th' unbounded soul.

    Though Winter frowns to Fancy's raptur'd eyes

The fields may flourish, and gay scenes arise;

The frozen deeps may break their iron bands,

And bid their waters murmur o'er the sands.

Fair Flora may resume her fragrant reign,

And with her flow'ry riches deck the plain;

Sylvanus may diffuse his honours round,

And all the forest may with leaves be crown'd:

Show'rs may descend, and dews their gems disclose,

And nectar sparkle on the blooming rose.

    Such is thy pow'r, nor are thine orders vain,

O thou the leader of the mental train:

In full perfection all thy works are wrought,

And thine the sceptre o'er the realms of thought.

Before thy throne the subject-passions bow,

Of subject-passions sov'reign ruler thou;

At thy command joy rushes on the heart,

And through the glowing veins the spirits dart.

    Fancy might now her silken pinions try

To rise from earth, and sweep th' expanse on high:

From Tithon's bed now might Aurora rise,

Her cheeks all glowing with celestial dies,

While a pure stream of light o'erflows the skies.

The monarch of the day I might behold,

And all the mountains tipt with radiant gold,

But I reluctant leave the pleasing views,

Which Fancy dresses to delight the Muse;

Winter austere forbids me to aspire,

And northern tempests damp the rising fire;

They chill the tides of Fancy's flowing sea,

Cease then, my song, cease the unequal lay.

Most of the following were unknown to me so I looked them up - 

"Helicon" - (this from Wikipedia)"Helicon was briefly mentioned in some stories of Orpheus. After he was killed by some of Dionysus' followers, the women tried to wash their hands clean of the blood spilt. The river sank itself so as not to become tainted with the murdered man's blood."

"Sylvanus" - (also from Wikipedia) "Silvanus (Latin: "of the woods") was a Roman tutelary deity of woods and fields. As protector of forests (sylvestris deus), he especially presided over plantations and delighted in trees growing wild. He is also described as a god watching over the fields and husbandmen, protecting in particular the boundaries of fields.

"Tithon" - (Wikipedia) "Eos, the Goddess of Dawn, took Tithon (Tithonus), son of Laomedon to be her lover. She asked Zeus if Tithonus could be made immortal, but forgot to ask for eternal youthfulness as well. Tithonus lived forever but grew more ancient and wrinkled, eventually turning into a grasshopper." and more here.  Shakespeare makes mention of Tithon's bed in a couple of his plays. 

 "Empyreal" - Belonging to or deriving from heaven. 

"Flora"(Wikipedia) is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animal life is fauna.

Robert Bateman - Mossy Branches - Spotted Owl,

Robert Bateman's "Mossy Branches - Spotted Owl" --Beautiful work! This link allows you to zoom in to see the details of this painting. 

Mossy Branches - Spotted Owl, © Robert Bateman

Following is a link to our   Picassa Web Album of Robert Bateman Paintings. These will be the paintings we will be viewing this summer.  Though they are copyrighted we have been given permission to copy them for educational use.  

Books of paintings by Robert Bateman 

Continuing with "The Creation" oratorio by Franz Joseph Haydn -  
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8omYmytYvlo&feature=related
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S03cwGuw43s&feature=related  there are two places with nude artwork that you may want to minimize the screen for and just listen, from 04:28-05:15 and 06:33-06:48.  
Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=JYvdjGzlNYc
Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=ucr4VikNxQw
Part 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=WFs18ayIg5Y
Part 6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=-ul_KX2AV1U
Part 7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fQ0_HnJYuc
Part 8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=JZFeA-INyV4 (Part 8 does include lots of nude artwork depicting Adam and Eve from about 00:32-04:15. You may want to minimize the screen and just listen.  Also footage of a Lion attacking a Wildebeast which might be too graphic for young or sensitive children - you could minimize when the lions start stalking at about 07:45 and continue to listen until this part is past- about 08:12).
Part 9 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRlL_0rTgsM&feature=related
Part 10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKIYumIqvBQ&feature=related  (01:55-02:12 includes a piece of artwork of a person without clothes)
Part 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=5lhp86YCQUQ (Part 11 from minute 06:52-08:05 focuses on a drawing of Adam and Eve without clothes - if this bothers you, just minimize for that minute....)
Part 12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJXb2H4J268&feature=related


The following are short biographical sketches of Franz Joseph Haydn's life:
Composer Franz Joseph Haydn
8Notes Franz Joseph Haydn
Wikipedia Hanz Joseph Haydn

Phillis Wheatley had a beautiful and humble attitude toward what God had brought into her life, seeing the gift through the pain - 

On Being Brought from Africa to America

'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
"Their colour is a diabolic die."
Remember, Christians, Negro's, black as Cain,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.

Robert Bateman - Great Blue Heron,

The Blue Heron is one of my favorite birds.  Here is a lovely painting of one by our artist for this season, Robert Bateman.

Great Blue Heron - © Robert Bateman

Following is a link to the paintings we will be viewing this summer:   Picassa Web Album of Robert Bateman Paintings. Though they are copyrighted we have been given permission to copy them for educational use.  

 I'd like to revisit Franz Joseph Haydn, partly because I'd like my children to experience again the wonderful oratorio - The Creation, but I like his other works as well and think that they are worth studying more than once.  
Here is a nice children's biography by Opal Wheeler, Joseph Haydn - the Merry Little Peasant.



 Franz Joseph Haydn was an Austrian composer during the Classical Period.  He is often called the "Father of the Symphony".  One of my favorites works by Haydn is his oratorio "The Creation".  This oratorio is long and you may want to watch a bit each day for the next two or three weeks.   Much of this is taken directly from scripture and some comes from John Milton's "Paradise Lost". The music itself beautifully parallels the words and describes the creation with sound.  From the very beginning sounds, starting with chaos until God says "Let there be light," you can almost hear the light burst forth.  When we listened I photocopied an enlarged copy of the words from the booklet in the CD for my children so they could follow along.  I tried unsuccessfully to find the words online. The Following link is an overview of this oratorio.  It includes detailed descriptions of this oratorio  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Creation_(Haydn).  If you don't plan to listen to the whole thing I would recommend Part 3 as a sample.  It is from Day 3 of Creation or you might enjoy Part 7 which has lots of animals.  This video intersperses the musicians with beautiful and fitting photography.  You can listen to the whole oratorio in about 10 minutes a day for twelve days.  I will be featuring this oratorio for four weeks to give time to listen to the whole thing (three sessions per week).


Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8omYmytYvlo&feature=related
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S03cwGuw43s&feature=related  there are two places with nude artwork that you may want to minimize the screen for and just listen, from 04:28-05:15 and 06:33-06:48.  
Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=JYvdjGzlNYc
Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=ucr4VikNxQw
Part 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=WFs18ayIg5Y
Part 6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=-ul_KX2AV1U
Part 7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fQ0_HnJYuc
Part 8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=JZFeA-INyV4 (Part 8 does include lots of nude artwork depicting Adam and Eve from about 00:32-04:15. You may want to minimize the screen and just listen.  Also footage of a Lion attacking a Wildebeast which might be too graphic for young or sensitive children - you could minimize when the lions start stalking at about 07:45 and continue to listen until this part is past- about 08:12).
Part 9 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRlL_0rTgsM&feature=related
Part 10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKIYumIqvBQ&feature=related  (01:55-02:12 includes a piece of artwork of a person without clothes)
Part 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=5lhp86YCQUQ (Part 11 from minute 06:52-08:05 focuses on a drawing of Adam and Eve without clothes - if this bothers you, just minimize for that minute....)
Part 12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJXb2H4J268&feature=related


The following are short biographical sketches of Franz Joseph Haydn's life:
Composer Franz Joseph Haydn
8Notes Franz Joseph Haydn
Wikipedia Hanz Joseph Haydn


The following is a link to an article that discusses the difficulties that came because this work which was originally done in German has been translated into English by someone who didn't know English very well. http://www.neiljenkins.info/documents/thecreation.pdf

Our new poet is Phillis Wheatley - following are a couple of biographical sketches:
Phillis Wheatley - Bio
Phillis Wheatley - Wikipedia
The Famous People - Phillis Wheatley

    On Virtue

By Phillis Wheatley

O thou bright jewel in my aim I strive

To comprehend thee. Thine own words declare

Wisdom is higher than a fool can reach.

I cease to wonder, and no more attempt

Thine height t’explore, or fathom thy profound.

But, O my soul, sink not into despair,

Virtue is near thee, and with gentle hand

Would now embrace thee, hovers o’er thine head.

Fain would the heaven-born soul with her converse,

Then seek, then court her for her promised bliss.

Auspicious queen, thine heavenly pinions spread,

And lead celestial Chastity along;

Lo! now her sacred retinue descends,

Arrayed in glory from the orbs above.

Attend me, Virtue, thro’ my youthful years!

O leave me not to the false joys of time!

But guide my steps to endless life and bliss.

Greatness, or Goodness, say what I shall call thee,

To give an higher appellation still,

Teach me a better strain, a nobler lay,

O Thou, enthroned with Cherubs in the realms of day!

Jacob von Rueysdale - Landscape with a Brook, Georg Philipp Telemann - Twelve Fantasias for Flute No. 2, A.A.Milne - The Dormouse and the Doctor

This painting by Jacob Von Rueysdale is different from so many others with it's warm yellows and browns and no water in sight....  I think the details are fun - with the traveler in the red jacket and his dog.

Landscape with a Traveler

Next week as June begins I will be featuring our new artist, musician and poet.  Robert Bateman will be our artist.  Following is a link to my   Picassa Web Album of Robert Bateman Paintings. These will be the paintings we will be viewing this summer in case you want to get some printed ahead.  Though they are copyrighted we have been given permission to copy them for educational use. 


 Twelve Fantasias for Flute No. 2  By Georg Philipp Telemann

Here is a link to a playlist of music by Georg Philipp Telemann.  It's almost 4 hours long.  We've been enjoying it as background music. 

The Dormouse and the Doctor

   (Dedicated to my daughter Rachael who has had more than her share of doctor experiences - many of them "yellow Chrysanthemums"! I thought you'd get a smile out or this.... Just shut your eyes, dear, and dream of delphiniums - blue and geraniums - red)

 by A. A. Milne

There once was a Dormouse who lived in a bed
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red),
And all the day long he'd a wonderful view
Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue).

A Doctor came hurrying round, and he said:
"Tut-tut, I am sorry to find you in bed.
Just say 'Ninety-nine' while I look at your chest....
Don't you find that chrysanthemums answer the best?"

The Dormouse looked round at the view and replied
(When he'd said "Ninety-nine") that he'd tried and he'd tried,
And much the most answering things that he knew
Were geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue).

The Doctor stood frowning and shaking his head,
And he took up his shiny silk hat as he said:
"What the patient requires is a change," and he went
To see some chrysanthemum people in Kent.

The Dormouse lay there, and he gazed at the view
Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue),
And he knew there was nothing he wanted instead
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red).

The Doctor came back and, to show what he meant,
He had brought some chrysanthemum cuttings from Kent.
"Now these," he remarked, "give a much better view
Than geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue)."

They took out their spades and they dug up the bed
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red),
And they planted chrysanthemums (yellow and white).
"And now," said the Doctor, "we'll soon have you right."

The Dormouse looked out, and he said with a sigh:
"I suppose all these people know better than I.
It was silly, perhaps, but I did like the view
Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue)."

The Doctor came round and examined his chest,
And ordered him Nourishment, Tonics, and Rest.
"How very effective," he said, as he shook
The thermometer, "all these chrysanthemums look!"

The Dormouse turned over to shut out the sight
Of the endless chrysanthemums (yellow and white).
"How lovely," he thought, "to be back in a bed
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red.)"

The Doctor said, "Tut! It's another attack!"
And ordered him Milk and Massage-of-the-back,
And Freedom-from-worry and Drives-in-a-car,
And murmured, "How sweet your chrysanthemums are!"

The Dormouse lay there with his paws to his eyes,
And imagined himself such a pleasant surprise:
"I'll pretend the chrysanthemums turn to a bed
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red)!"

The Doctor next morning was rubbing his hands,
And saying, "There's nobody quite understands
These cases as I do! The cure has begun!
How fresh the chrysanthemums look in the sun!"

The Dormouse lay happy, his eyes were so tight
He could see no chrysanthemums, yellow or white.
And all that he felt at the back of his head
Were delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red).

And that is the reason (Aunt Emily said)
If a Dormouse gets in a chrysanthemum bed,
You will find (so Aunt Emily says) that he lies
Fast asleep on his front with his paws to his eyes.

Jacob von Rueysdale - the Dam Square in Amsterdam, Georg Philipp Telemann - Concerto in D Major for Trumpet and Violin, A.A. Milne - Twice Times

Interesting architecture and costumes in this painting by Jacob von Rueysdale
I am very pleased to announce that we have been given permission to use pictures by Robert Bateman, a wonderful Canadian wildlife artist.  Following is a link to the Picasa Web Album with the paintings I plan to use for our summer term.  Picassa Web Album of Robert Bateman Paintings.

  Concerto in D Major for Trumpet and Violin by Georg Philipp Telemann 


A.A. Milne

Twice Times

There were Two Little Bears who lived in a Wood,
And one of them was Bad and the other was Good.
Good Bear learnt his Twice Times One -
But Bad Bear left all his buttons undone.

They lived in a Tree when the weather was hot,
And one of them was Good, and the other was Not.
Good Bear learnt his Twice Times Two -
But Bad Bear's thingummies were worn right through.

They lived in a Cave when the weather was cold,
And they Did, and they Didn't Do, what they were told.
Good Bear learnt his Twice Times Three -
But Bad Bear never had his hand-ker-chee.

They lived in the Wood with a Kind Old Aunt,
And one said "Yes'm," and the other said "Shan't!"
Good Bear learnt his Twice Times Four -
But Bad Bear's knicketies were terrible tore.

And then quite suddenly (just like Us)
One got Better and the other got Wuss.
Good Bear muddled his Twice Times Three -
But Bad Bear coughed in his hand-ker-chee!

Good Bear muddled his Twice Times Two -
But Bad Bear's thingummies looked like new.
Good Bear muddled his Twice Times One -
But Bad Bear never left his buttons undone.

There may be a Moral, though some say not;
I think there's a moral, though I don't know what.
But if one gets better, as the other gets wuss,
These Two Little Bears are just like Us.
For Christopher remembers up to Twice Times Ten ...
But I keep forgetting where I put my pen.* 

* So I have had to write this one in pencil.

Jacob von Rueysdale - A Cottage and a Hayrick by a River, Georg Philipp Telemann - Musique de Table, A.A.Milne - Vespers

This painting by Jacob von Rueysdale is very peaceful with  mostly greens and blues and the quiet water.  There are some interesting details to study and remember.  Notice the trees in the foreground, middle ground, and distant background - the size diminishes and the color becomes more blue as they recede, and there is less detail.  These are ways artists make things look distant.

A Cottage and a Hayrick by a River

I am very pleased to announce that we have been given permission to use pictures by Robert Bateman, a wonderful Canadian wildlife artist.  Following is a link to the Picasa Web Album with the paintings I plan to use for our summer term.  Picassa Web Album of Robert Bateman Paintings. Though they are copyrighted we have been given permission to copy them for educational use.  


 Lovely music today by Georg Philipp Telemann - "Musique de Table" Part 1

Here is a link to a playlist of music by Georg Philipp Telemann.  It's almost 4 hours long.  We've been enjoying it as background music. 


Our A.A.Milne poem this week is about Christopher Robin saying his prayers....

Vespers

Little Boy kneels at the foot of the bed,
Droops on the little hands little gold head.
Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares!
Christopher Robin is saying his prayers.
God bless Mummy. I know that's right.
Wasn't it fun in the bath to-night?
The cold's so cold, and the hot's so hot.
Oh! God bless Daddy - I quite forgot.
If I open my fingers a little bit more,
I can see Nanny's dressing-gown on the door.
It's a beautiful blue, but it hasn't a hood.
Oh! God bless Nanny and make her good.
Mine has a hood, and I lie in bed,
And pull the hood right over my head,
And I shut my eyes, and I curl up small,
And nobody knows that I'm there at all.
Oh! Thank you, God, for a lovely day.
And what was the other I had to say?
I said "Bless Daddy," so what can it be?
Oh! Now I remember it. God bless Me.
Little Boy kneels at the foot of the bed,
Droops on the little hands little gold head.
Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares!
Christopher Robin is saying his prayers.