Queen Anne Home

1890s large homes built for the upper middle class were classically constructed in what we call “Queen Anne" style. While our ancestor’s might have known most people ask: who is Queen Anne and why is this architecture her style?

Queen Anne 1665-1714, succeeded to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1702 as well as the title Queen of France (1707). She lived in a politically and religiously tumultuous time. During this period the political two-party system developed: “Whigs” And “Tories.” In spite of closer heirs, the crown went to George I.

The exciting part of this period of English history was the developments in architecture. Classic Queen Anne buildings are notable by rows & rows of sash windows flush with the brickwork, stone quoins at the corners, rooms built two-rooms deep providing an inner chamber and sweeping steps leading to the door. This English Queen Anne style was commonly built into the 20th Century.

A hundred years later during the Victorian Era, Americans romanticized our collective English heritage and made the Queen Anne their own. With classic American disregard the once British Queen Anne style became an American home hardly resembling its British architectural predecessor.

American Queen Anne has high pitch asymmetrical gable roofs, huge porches, variants in texture façades. This style was particularly popular with the socially upwardly mobile middle classes who buffered the upper class form the American working class.

Expected details of the interior of an American Queen Anne home include sweeping stairs from the foyer, with wainscoting throughout the public areas of the home. Private areas often included interior or double chamber space in the larger homes. Grand fireplaces placed throughout the lower areas with smaller fireplaces on the second floor provided warmth on the inside and contributed to the asymmetrical exterior style.

Getty's Garden

The Getty’s kitchen garden exhibits the best of a cloister garden or a pre-refrigeration household. Herbs were used as flavoring for cooking, medicines, preservatives for food storage and aromatics. The variety of herbs in the garden include:

Peppermint ~ Mentha varieties brew splendid teas, cook into candies, cakes and other dishes. This herb grows well in the sunny beach location.

Lavender ~ Lavendula officinalis from the Latin “lavare” means to wash. Using lavender in the wash or placed in clothing during storage not only kept the moths away but gave the fabric a pleasant aroma. Lavender serves as a multi-use herb, good for food, drink, aroma, cleaning, medicine and crafts. It grows in abundance in the Malibu climate.

Chamomile ~ Matricaria chamomilla has a mild sedative action but is primarily known as a disgestive. Mother Rabbit gives Chamomile tea to Peter after he overindulges in Mr. MacGregor’s garden.

Sage ~ Salvia officinalis means to save or preserve in Latin. Sage originates from the Mediterranean and is added regularly in meat dishes.

Thyme ~ Thymus vulgaris, another Mediterrenean plant fills the Getty's boxes with flowers and brings the bees to the garden. This filler plant grows in the spaces and crevices of most herb gardens.

Basil ~ Ocimum basilicum, a popular herb in Italy, comes from India. The savory herb compliments tomato dishes and Pesto.

Book Review: Sandra Dodd's Big Book of Unschooling

Title: Sandra Dodd's Big Book of Unschooling

Author: Sandra Dodd

ISBN:978-0-557-18155-1

Pages: 350

Price: $25.00

Publisher: Lulu.com

Purchase at: SandraDodd.com


Sandra Dodd's Big Book of Unschooling book is intentionally written for the radical unschooling parent, however, any parent who wishes a better relationship with their child, better learning strategy and just an all around calmer household would do well to mine this resource for the jewels within. It is unquestionably about parenting in a loving way.

Employing short essays to frame and focus on particular aspects of child-led learning, assembling a child focused household, Sandra Dodd’s book brings the concepts and the practice of unschooling into spotlight for the reader.

Inspired by the Open Classroom model of learning practiced in classrooms during the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the writings of John Holt and others, Sandra Dodd trusted the theory that humans are innately curious and left to their own they will inquire and learn a variety of information and skills with which to thrive. She determined to raise her children in this way.

Dodd uses examples from her own life raising three children in New Mexico, fulfilling her desire to create an environment supportive of free learning and free thinking as previous educators only hypothesized about doing with classrooms full of children.

Part One: unschooling is arranging or strewing for natural learning to take place. The 250+ essays bring the reader from neophyte to understanding of the process. Part Two: gives insight and a behind the door kind of information about an unschooling family.

Beginning with the profoundly accurate statement: “Neglect is not unschooling.” I was drawn into this book so entirely that I didn’t want to put it down. This great read was over so quickly. Well, quickly for 350 pages. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole book.

I especially like the way Sandra Dodd presents each issue. Each short essay, most a page in length, poses questions, gives ways to find the answer or examples of results. Because the answers are different for each parent and each child, there are no hard fast answers. Someone looking for answers in a Dr. Spock style: if A happens, insert B; would do better building a piece of furniture rather than raising a child. But parents who are truly looking for a better way to parent can’t help but learn from this book.

The Shortest Month

What can we do with February?

It seems to be a very commercial month. It is a month of Hallmark cards, See's candy and cut flowers. Choosing to be more scientific, one could address the reasons why this month is so short. This gets into astronomy, rotations of the earth around the sun and the evolution of our calendar. That's good but it just doesn't seem enough somehow. In an effort to cover more subject material within one theme, Black History month was the answer.

Once you get past all the politic and social undercurrents that must be, at least, acknowledged in that the shortest month of the year, February, was the month chosen for the celebration of the contributions given our country by our citizens of African descent. The material available for study is endless.

Way back when, whenever I was in school the two African Americans we studied were Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King Jr. Honestly, we didn't study their lives, their accomplishments, or their contributions. They were mentioned among other issues discussed. The Civil War and President Lincoln were accompanied by a side line about the Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman. The Sixties and Presidents Kennedy & Johnson were covered as Martin Luther King Jr. became a footnote. Needless to say, my knowledge of the lives, triumphs and defeats by an entire segment of our population was lacking.

I have to make sure that my children receive a better education and understanding of the society in which we live so that their opinions of people, places and things are not based in ignorance. Our society is a mixed race society with people from all areas of the world. They bring with them traditions and beliefs from their homeland as they assimilate into the wider American culture to varying degrees. The amount of time in which a family has lived in the United States also has an impact on their children's beliefs and behaviors.

A newly arrived immigrant reacts differently to a situation than one whose family has been in this country for centuries. The community social codes impacts the way in which children learn to interact as they grow into adulthood. Intermarriage and the children of those marriages are sometimes treated differently than those who are of one cultural or racial background. This diversity should be celebrated instead of scorned. Children of diverse backgrounds have the opportunity to learn first hand from all their heritages.

"But I'm not Black, why should I study African American History?"

Good question. An article in Interrace magazine entitled, "Roots in Many Gardens" discusses with Shirlee Taylor Halzip, her mixed race background and the passing of family members as "white."

She states, "95% of white people have African heritage, 85% of black people have European heritage, and 80% of black people have Native American heritage. If we were taught that early on, we would grow up with a different attitude about physical differences."

So even if you aren't black, your friends or neighbors may be, even if they don't look like it.

Where can one begin to study Black culture and history?

There are many books at the library about the following Black Americans: Sojourner Truth, Malcom X, W.E.B. DuBois, A. Philip Randolph, Toni Morrison, Harriet Jacobs, Onnie Lee Logan, George Washington Carver, and don't forget Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King Jr.

The social/political/spiritual movements of the Black community are worthy of study as well: the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Muslim Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and much of our modern music; jazz and the blues are based in Black spiritual music.

There isn't a subject that one could study that there hasn't been some contribution by African Americans. But why doesn't the general population know or acknowledge this?

That is a question to ponder, as we who chose to view the world through realities eyes and strive to teach our children a greater understanding of the society in which they live by doing what we do best; providing them with the information, knowledge about all peoples, in greater depth and understanding than they could get anywhere else.

After all this, I'll get back to the construction paper hearts, cherubs and maybe a piece candy.

Exploring the Trunk

My husband has few things from his grandparents who immigrated to the United States early in the last century. The most notable item is Grandma’s Trunk. If this trunk could talk, oh the stories it could tell. The old trunk isn’t pristine but it is loved.

Grandma came from the old country at 16 years old. What courage she must have had to leave her home and all familiar for a new country.

For my children, this woman is great-grandma. They love the stories of the farm and other remembrances my husband has of this courageous woman. They also love going through the trunk.

The trunk opens with a creak then comes the puff of air, the aroma of Cedar and time. The top bin has smaller items dollies, clippings, baseball cards.
In the larger section, larger or lesser used items remain: crocheted coverlets, knitted lap blankets, doilies and other items from the past, photos, childhood costumes and a our daughter’s christening dress; contributions from four generations.

I want my children to know their ancestry, it’s important to know from where you come, to find out who you are. There are traits; I believe are based in DNA and knowing about the people who came before, you have insight into how to navigate yourself through the world, using your strengths and mitigating your weaknesses. This I find to be true for myself. And if it is also true for my children, I hope to arm them with all the information they need to progress as human beings.

I pull each item from the trunk and place it around the room. Some of the textile items need regular airing, and I just like to do that for all the things in the trunk. They see the light of day between two and four times a year.

My daughter is always interested in the story about her christening day, who were the people there, how did it go. She asked virtually the same questions every time. Not because she doesn’t remember, but because she enjoys the story.

Next, my son will ask about the baseball cards, as he picks them up and looks through the now, long retired, mostly dead players on cardboard backing. He wants to know about the card collection and why his dad still has them. His collection of Pokémon cards maybe one of those things he keeps into his adult life.

Grandma knitted a blanket for our first born son. He seems to pass by each time we’re in the trunk, just in time to hold it to his face, brush it against his cheek and sniff just a bit (of love, I think) from the blanket of yellow and white.

Our trunk gives us time to talk about what America was like for an immigrant in 1910 and what kids were like in the 30s and 60s. There are bits of history in our trunk, bit of our selves, and bits of loved ones passed from this life. The gift our ancestors gave us by passing these bits to us is invaluable. There is a powerful sense of right I feel when I hear my kids remind each other of the people from which they come and the stories about those people, the things they did and the time they lived.

It’s good.