Links for 2007-09-01 to 04 [del.icio.us]

• If you can handle the mess: fun things to do with toddlers - ParentDish
  A few fun ideas in the post. I was hoping there'd be more comments too, oh well.
• angry chicken: not made in china.
  great blog post about toys for children in light of all the recalls recently of toys made in China includes ideas for making toys, where to buy safe toys and how to talk to family and friends about the kinds of things to get your children for gifts
• Results of the cold brew coffee experiment - Slashfood
• Cold Coffee Drinks Without Special Equipment - Instructables
  I am intrigued by this cold brew coffee idea. Not that I'm a coffee drinker myself, but my husband is and I've thought of trying to figure out making him iced coffee in the summertime so this is on my list of things to try.
• How to construct a slash pocket - Instructables
Useful tutorial for incorporation into my favourite trouser pattern.

• Simply Recipes: Perfect Popcorn Recipe
Not that I don't know how to pop corn, but this has a few tips I hadn't come across before.

• Tutowlrial
  A picture tutorial for sewing a cute little owl found via Domesticali
• BBC NEWS World Asia-Pacific Miscarriage prompts Japan pledge
  "Japan's health minister has pledged to address the shortage of doctors in the country after a woman in labour was turned away by eight hospitals."
• BBC NEWS Health Ovary removal 'raises brain risk'
  "Women who have ovaries removed before the menopause could be increasing their risk of both Parkinson's Disease and memory problems, research suggests.
  "Removing one or both ovaries at a young age doubled the risk.
  "Sex hormones made by the ovary may be protecting the brain, said experts from the US Mayo Clinic."
• What do you think of Attachment Parenting? - ParentDish
  "These days, I don't hear much about AP v. traditional parenting. Is it just because I'm out of the baby loop, or is it because like me with the twins, parents have decided to take and use the best of both worlds?"
• BBC NEWS Health Junk sleep 'damaging teen health'
  "Too many teenagers are damaging their health by not getting enough sleep and by falling asleep with electrical gadgets on, researchers say.
  "A third of 12 to 16-year-olds asked slept for between four to seven hours a night. Experts recommend eight hours."
• 25 Worlds Weirdest Animals
  Found via parentdish definitely worth a look!
• BBC NEWS In Pictures Beards and Moustaches: Your photos
Fun, pictures from the 2007 World Beard and Moustache Championships!

• BBC NEWS Health Confusion over diabetes testing
"Diabetics could be giving up vital home blood sugar checks because they believe they are of no use, says a researcher.
"Psychologist Dr Elizabeth Peel interviewed type 2 diabetes patients, and found that many were confused over what to do with the results.
"Writing in the British Medical Journal, she said that some doctors simply ignored detailed records kept by diabetics, compounding the problem."

• Top 50 Sites for Kids - The Amusement Park of the Web : All My Faves Blog
  AllMyFaves blog has "rounded up 150+ sites that will provide the children with hours of endless entertainment." (via http://www.parentdish.com/ )
• knittywhipped: Monkey Hooters!
  this blogger found someone's purl free monkey variation and made a pair. I'd been wondering how a purl free pair would look, and suspecting I might prefer them that way and I think I was right! So, next pair of monkeys I make I plan to do this way.
• Lamaze International: The Lamaze Institute for Normal Birth
• Simply Recipes: Tomatoes!A granola recipe from my mom's hippie youth - Slashfood
  This looks like a good ratio of stuff to oil and sweetener and I've been meaning to try my hand at making my own granola.
• The explosion of vileness that followed her death Libby Purves - Times Online
  A reflection on the media reaction after the death of Princess Diana -- I really appreciated reading this article. I was remembering that time and how it seemed to me as though people were rather missing what was important in all the hysteria.
  

Year of Color Update

There are lots of things I think of to do and blog about but things often don't work out the way I plan. The challenge of the Year of Color group at flickr is helping to keep me feeling as though I'm paying attention to the world and being somewhat creative. Certainly I'm walking around with my eyes more open to my surroundings a lot of the time which is uplifting and inspiring for me. It also reminds me to talk to my daughter about what we're looking at as we walk around the house, the town, and the world at large which can only be a good thing. So I want to keep sharing my pictures here from time to time to show that I'm doing something with my life other than accumulating links!

Week 5: Red + White (I'm linking to the discussions for each week which have mosaics of favourite pictures of the week and late entries, other photos for all weeks can be found in the group photo pool)

I found this one challenging, not that there isn't plenty of red and white out there but I found picking something interesting and different was hard.

My first picture I took to document my current obsession with making cobbler for dessert. This is my favourite combination -- peach and raspberry. I noticed that the red raspberries and the white spatula were quite dominant in this photo.

Walking around town during week 5 made me notice that there are a lot of buildings around with red and white dominating. Here's just one that I got a picture of for the challenge.




Lastly, and I think the picture I'd choose if I were giving you just one for the week, is of a red reflector in our driveway (in theory to help the guy who ploughs our driveway in the winter although he doesn't always follow the handy helpful hint) and in the background the white of the porch and the screen door.




Week 6: Pink + Orange

When I checked on Sunday to see what the new colours for the week were I noticed I was even wearing them (see second photo on the bottom row)! Then walking through town that afternoon I saw so many places where there were pink and orange flowers together (you can see examples of some of those in the mosaic).
I also found quite a few examples of the colours in my own home: The peach and raspberry cobbler baked and served up in a bowl becomes a pink and orange dish; One of my daughter's cloth books with an orange and a pink pig on opposite pages lying open where she left it; popsicle (ice lolly) sticks; a straw in the dish drainer; a pitcher and boxes on top of the fridge; yarn waiting for me to knit something new.

(You can see all the photos here.)

Week 7: Yellow + Black

Another week that seemed tricky. There's a lot of yellow and black around -- lines painted on the roads, street signs and so on. So I was looking out for things that were not quite so everywhere. There were actually a lot of things I looked at and never actually photographed, and then I did take a (somewhat blurry) picture of traffic lights which are among the everywhere things!
Also somewhat among the everywhere things are the black eyed susans, quite a few pictures of these in the flickr pool in fact. I wasn't going to take more flower pictures this week until I passed this big blooming bush of flowers (with some other yellow flowers right next to them) while walking to the park. And then more of the examples of yellow and black around the house: utensils in a can; a push pin my husband found somewhere and put on a black canister in the kitchen; an old poster kept for scrap paper; the most yellow of the granny squares in a blanket made by my grandmother; tool bits and pieces lying around while my husband and his father are doing some work on our house; marmite jars (I am English after all -- not that everyone English likes marmite -- I bring big jars over with me and the one in the top right is currently in use for toast and stock while the other ones have been cleaned out and now hold loose tea and dried mushrooms from the bulk section of our co-op).
You can find all of these pictures individually here.