'Chestnuts roasting over an open fire'? I don't think so. Honestly, I've never actually tried roasted chestnuts before. I am a hazelnut freak (coffee is my excuse to use hazelnut syrup or flavored creamer). These photos are certainly of something roasting over a fire... but the fire was enclosed (inside a chimenea) and the item we were roasting is quite obviously a pinecone. Pinecones are lovely fun on the fire. They are extremely flammable. You will be amazed at how beautiful of a spectacle they make as they burn. They make quite a bit of smoke before they flare up and send a spiral of intense flames up the chimnea. Then, as the pinecone is consumed, it retains its shape and glimmers a gorgeous dayglow orange for a long while before melting away into ash. The whole process takes about seven to ten minutes.
My son (being the pyro like his mother before him) enjoyed throwing about ten of these fat 'firecones' into Grandma Betty's chimenea while we visited her house on Christmas night. We all smelled like smoke afterwards, but it was worth it. Maybe we need to change the song for the holidays. I can imagine us in the future singing "Pinecones roasting in a chimenea"... "Jack frost nipping at your nose"...
As a side note... I am so scared of my kid. As I finished up the above post, my son walked in to the room and wanted me to surrender the laptop computer so he could play a PC game. I told him I needed to check my spelling and finish posting first. He listened to me mumble to myself: "flammable" (as I typed the word into dictionary.com). "F. l. a. m. m. a. b. l. e." he told me confidently - before the screen could refresh and show me the results. Dictionary.com confirmed that he was correct. He's nine, so I asked him how he knew how to spell flammable. Being his 'teacher', I knew it hadn't ever been a vocabulary or spelling word we've reviewed.
He said, "I like to read so much... that I read lots of labels on things all of the time. I read Grandma Betty's gas water heater label about three times while we were at her house for Christmas. It said flammable about seven times on the label."
I stared at him in sheer disbelief. You could have fit a whole bagel in my gaping mouth. There was an awkward silence.
"What?" he said, smiling "I was bored!"
This is my life...
... homeschooling 'Rain Man'.
Who would have figured.
I guess if you have to be a homeschool mom, it's nice to have a kid that makes you look like a super teacher (because they are smarter than you are), eh? That's my boy!
Buzz Words: pinecone, fire, winter, kids, vacation, camping, macro, December, holidays, 12 Days of Christmas, funny, humor, Christmas, cold weather, family, children, photos, parenting
4 comments:
Too funny about your son!
When I was a kid I remember my mom taking the dictionary out and picking ridiculously long words and asking me to spell them for her, spelling-bee style, I always could, and she was always amazed. You'd think after just so many words she'd get the hint that I could spell. Not so... LOL! Of course now as an adult I find myself misspelling some of the silliest words. Go figure!
The second picture of the pinecone is beautiful, by the way, thanks for sharing!
Sounds like a neat site, Bev. I'll have to check it out. :)
Diana - I wonder if some people just have a "gift" with spelling. ??? Thanks for the comment on my picture. I actually got a closer up photo than that, but if I posted it, I was afraid that no one would know what it was.
Another example of your success as a homeschooling mom... your child has learned to be inquisitive, know how to gather information, understand it, and apply it.
Lovely photos, btw.
Thanks Rusty! I needed the pat on the back today.
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