Writing: Genre of the Month: Mystery

Greetings, Detectives, Criminals, and Witnesses!

This month's genre is mystery. How many of you have read a mystery novel before? It could be a simple first- to second-grade chapter book, or it could be the stories of the most famous detective ever: Sherlock Holmes.

Whatever it is, mystery novels are all characterized by one main thing: mystery. Here are some of the mystery books I have read;

The Cat Who Got Carried Away is a very simple chapter book, for kids who are just learning to read. It was my first chapter book, and I got it for my sixth birthday. The summary on the inside of the jacket cover is as follows:

"In this Grand and Gripping story, Gus and Gloria have a lot of running to do, Mrs. Gaskitt hardly ever gets out of bed, and something dreadful happens to Horace!

Also starring: a brainy rat named Randolph, a barking baby carriage, and a considerable number of penguins."

Although it is the third book in the Gaskitts series, it reads well as a stand alone.

A to Z Mysteries is a mystery series I read in first to second grade. Basically, Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose are three kids who solve mysteries. They're really fun books!












I read the Nancy Drew Mysteries in fourth grade. They are about Nancy, a teenager, and her friends. She is an amateur detective, and these books are kind of like an older version of A to Z Mysteries, or any other younger mystery series. This is my opinion, however, and so is debatable. Nancy Drew books have more frightening things happen, like being threatened, almost getting killed, and getting kidnapped. They are a couple years older, both in writing style and in content. Have fun reading them!








Sherlock Holmes. Absolutely amazing. I have read every single Sherlock Holmes story Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote at least twice. Some stories I have read three or four times. They are amazing and educational. However, not everyone thinks so. Some people think they are dry, dull, or too confusing. I disagree. They are extraordinary. However, they can describe murder scenes, etc. in extreme detail. . .so beware. These are some of my favorite books.





Other mystery books/authors/movies I did not have enough room to write about: author Agatha Christie, the TV show Murder, She Wrote, The Boxcar Children series, The Question of the Missing Head, and the movie Zootopia, as well as others I'm probably forgetting about.

Have you read any of these? Which ones are your favorite? Do you like mystery?

Spruce Nogard

Attributions:

http://www.amazon.com/Cat-Who-Got-Carried-Away/dp/0744598435

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Clock-Nancy-Drew-Book/dp/0448095017?ie=UTF8&ref_=cm_lmf_tit_1

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/jaguars-jewel-ron-roy/1100488918?ean=9780679994589

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/barnes-noble-leatherbound-classics-the-complete-sherlock-holmes-arthur-conan-doyle/1106658800

Creative Complex: Character Constructing: Baby Under Willow Tree

Hello, friends.

A baby girl is found under a willow tree. Create her past. Who finds her? Why was she there? How old is she? How did she get there?

Spruce Nogard

Attributions: 

https://pixabay.com/en/baby-baby-girl-sleeping-baby-784609/

https://pixabay.com/en/baby-girl-sleep-child-toddler-1151351/

https://pixabay.com/en/girls-kids-baby-taiwan-623890/

https://pixabay.com/en/baby-young-smile-children-girl-444950/

https://pixabay.com/en/baby-child-kid-girl-cute-care-1317604/

https://pixabay.com/en/baby-child-kid-girl-cute-care-1317646/

https://pixabay.com/en/baby-face-happy-korean-girl-320653/ 

On My Mind: Hanggai

Greetings, Friends.

How many of you like to listen to music? Okay, how many of you like to listen to popular songs and artists, like Taylor Swift? Finally, how many of you like to listen to unique songs and artists?

I am one who prefers unique music over popular music. Actually, I really only used to listen to Christian music, classical, and movie soundtracks. I find them fun, exciting, and soothing in turn. However, I recently discovered a new type of music.

This is Hanggai. On a school field trip, we saw them perform, and when I got home, I started listening to their music. Hanggai is a Mongolian folk/rock band, and they combine traditional instruments, like the horse fiddle, with modern instruments, like electric guitars. Here is a link to a picture of a horse fiddle (I couldn't find any free images): http://www.festival.si.edu/images/past_festivals/silk_road/nomads_morin_large.jpg.

This is a video of one of their songs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjRskDUq_eM

It's about horses, so here is a picture:

 
Their songs aren't in English, and one maddening thing about the one song I've looked up the lyrics to is Google Translate doesn't read Mongolian very well. Their are translations, but they don't seem to be 100% accurate. For example, there is a word, "Тогур" that is repeated many times, but is nonexistent in the English translation. The other word that is repeated is "Шигэp," which is in the translation.


They also use tuvan throat singing, which is traditional. The person playing the horse fiddle does the throat singing, and you can tell when he starts. Throat singing is amazing, and I have no idea how human voices can make those sounds.

Do you like Hanggai? Do you think it's unique? What types of music do you like to listen to?

Farewell, Travelers.

Spruce Nogard

Attributions: https://pixabay.com/en/meadow-horse-nature-animal-summer-691623/

Dragons: The Inheritance Cycle

Greetings, Riders.

Today is a day of dragons! We are going to look at how dragons are portrayed in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle. If you are unfamiliar with the series name, the book names are: Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance. The series follows a farm boy who finds a blue stone in the middle of the woods. The stone turns out to be a dragon egg, and Eragon, the boy becomes its Rider. The rest of the series follows Eragon as he has to fight a powerful and evil empire, and bring back Dragon Riders.

Someday, I may write a review on this series, but for now, I want to talk about the dragons.

In the Inheritance Cycle, dragons hatch for their Riders. This means that a dragon could stay in an egg for three hours or 2,000 years; they hatch for the person they want to become their Rider. Once the dragon hatches, the dragon and Rider are bonded forever. They "mindspeak" to each other, but the farther away they are from each other, the harder it is.

In these books, dragons are much wiser than people (or elves or dwarves) but are bound to people. Dragons possess a magic that is inconsistent but powerful. A dragon's name is extremely important to it.

This is our first look at one of many views on dragons.

Experience the joy of dragons, Dragon Riders.

Spruce Nogard

Attributions: https://www.amazon.com/Eragon-Inheritance-Cycle-Book-1-ebook/dp/B000FBJCK8?ie=UTF8&btkr=1&ref_=dp-kindle-redirect 

Sources: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/113436.Eragon

Creative Complex: Murder Mystery

Hello, Friends.

Today's is a little more complicated, but don't get overwhelmed!

Write the basic outline of a mystery story. Then, make sure you have specific clues your character(s) can use to solve the mystery. After this, create false clues and unreliable characters. Make sure your characters can logically find the correct answer; do not just have them be right and give no explanation. If you find this overwhelming, just pick a part to do. For example, I might only create a trail of real clues.

Have fun!

Spruce Nogard

Attributions: https://pixabay.com/en/detective-clues-police-work-find-151275/

Recipes: Fancy Salads

Greetings to all my Friends!

For a wonderful, time consuming, aesthetically pleasing, salad, read on! Even if you would never make these, they are very pretty to look at, so you might want to skim this post anyway.

The salad is based on a salad we made in a cooking class I had last year. We had four types of lettuce, peeled cucumbers and rolled the peels into tiny swirls, and so much more. The cucumber roles alone took me 2 entire episodes of "My Cat from Hell," a TV show with a cat whisperer who goes around retraining cats, and their owners, as he likes to point out. They are each 45 minutes long.

It's hard to see, but in the middle is a rose made out of a tomato peel. Around the edges are apples and oranges (blood oranges look the prettiest). We also have strawberries, cheese, cucumber peels, and radish-mushrooms in the salad.

This one has a strawberry rose in the middle.

Recipe:

There is no set recipe for this. All you need is a few salad ingredients. I can, however, tell you how to make the food art.

Tomato Roses:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkHYOvwtFss
Blood Orange "Suns"

First, peel the orange as if you were peeling a small orange. Do not cut it.

Then, with one orange wedge, carefully cut it in half the long way, starting with the wide side. Do not cut it all the way through.

Then, open it up.

This is also hard to put in words with no pictures. Sorry! If you don't get it, leave a comment and ask about it. I'll try to find some pictures/diagrams for you.

Radish Mushrooms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-exJ3rF4Dw

Have food fun, Friends!

Spruce Nogard

Gardening: Almost Time to Plant!

Hello, Gnomes.

Today is the first gardening post. Here are pictures of my indoor seedlings. I have garlic and onions outside already.

 I am planting two types of tomatoes: Amana Orange and Cherokee Purple. I haven't done them before, so I will see how it goes!

I also planted cucumbers (not shown) and some herbs.

What have you done/What are you going to do for gardening? Do you all like gardening?

Happy seedling transporting, Friends!

Spruce Nogard