Busby and I are choosing our next book …
We like the sea, and we love a good island story, so we think it will be this one, but we have to read it first.
It is set on a tiny island, off the coast of Massachusetts, USA, and you can read a review and watch a film clip below. So, even if we don’t choose it, you might still like to read it. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32623542-beyond-the-bright-sea
July into August – use the slider!
We are still trying to recognise birds by their songs…
This month: goldfinch, chaffinch, chiffchaff and dunnock. We are finding it very tricky – if only the birds in our garden would just stick to the script and mimic the app more closely!
You can listen here, if you’d like to have a go: https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-songs/what-bird-is-that/
There is also a record sheet on last month’s blog page (directly below this page). It is aimed at helping you reach a goal.
We are also looking at grasses in the hedgerows and seed heads of flowers in the garden.
The illustration of seed heads in the calendar picture for August ( above) reminds us that there is always something to see, even as the wildflowers pass their peak. Have a look around you – is it the same where you are?
Spot the bee!
We are having a go at drawing…
Busby struggles a bit on the drawing front, not just the paw situation, but pencils can, generally be more fun to chew.
However, for the rest of us, it can be fun (and easier!) to copy an actual picture or photo than to draw from real life. So, if you are a bit hesitant, why not choose a card or a picture you like and give it a go? You can see, below, that I am no artist. However, I enjoy the process, if not always the end result.
Use the slider on the image to see her work and my copy.
(You can find her work on Etsy – penelopestextiles)
Here at Buzzy Paws, you can see, above, that we do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good, or even of the not that good.
This phrase means: we can worry too much about making something perfect, to the point of not even getting something good done, or even started.
Do you find it hard to start a project or a piece of work? If so, you are not alone! You might find this phrase helpful. Or the one below.
Older readers might like to read more about this here: https://gretchenrubin.com/2012/12/secret-of-adulthood-dont-let-the-perfect-be-the-enemy-of-the-good
Why not add some colour to this picture?
In keeping with our Quiet Paws Book Club book, why not turn you hand to colouring-in a lighthouse?
Why Busby is (not) seeing red…
It is a myth that dogs cannot see colour: they can see shades of blue, yellow and grey. However, red, green and orange colours are missing from their spectrum, so they can’t see them.
Oh dear!
Here is a great, and quite tricky, quiz to test your knowledge of colour names. Busby, unsurprisingly, preferred to sit it out. https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-games/colors-quiz
I took this quiz from Gretchen Rubin’s weekly newsletter. https://gretchenrubin.com/
Dogs do, however, have an amazing sense of smell – more about this next month
We have been enjoying the sun whilst thinking about the moon…
A very orange full moon here recently, set us wondering whether it had a name. It did: ‘The Buck Moon’. Did you know each full moon has a name that originated with Native American tribes? Later, European settlers adopted these names.
You can read more about them on this fascinating American almanac website here:
https://www.almanac.com/kids/names-full-moons-each-month
What is an Almanac? Find out here:
Or this one from the Royal Museums Greenwich ( home of Greenwich Mean Time).
https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/what-are-names-full-moons-throughout-year
Busby is a little concerned…
about the Wolf Moon.
It is hard enough keeping foxes out of the garden! Sturgeon, though, sounds a lot more hopeful. Look out for this full moon on the 22nd August.
Why not choose one to illustrate yourself? Or how about making your own poster for all twelve? You can find a template here:
If you like this picture by Colleen Quinnell, it comes from the website near Busby’s nose in the above photo. Give it a click!
We are thinking about inspiration…
This is the time of year when children and students often move on to the next step of their education. Maybe you have done so too, and perhaps you had a celebration at home or school.
Well, imagine being the young Maxim Shostakovich. His father was the soviet composer, Dmitri Shostakovich, and his contribution to his son’s school leaving ceremony was a hauntingly beautiful piano concerto, inspired by…his son!
As if that were not enough, Maxim then had to perform it in front of his fellow music students and teachers – no pressure there. I wonder how that would have felt. (P)awesome or (p)awful?
You can listen to the second movement from the concerto here:
Busby says, “For future reference, don’t worry about writing me a concerto, I’d be just as happy with some party food. Thank you.”
Remember the picture of the island?
It is near the top of the page. We have brought this story out of our Quiet Paws Book Club page, as we think it is both thought-provoking and uplifting. We think it deserves a wider public!
In our book club book, ‘Letters from the Lighthouse’, an airman is shot down over France. Sadly, he dies and is buried by a local farmer, at great danger to the farmer.
This is not a far-fetched event. You can read about a real airman, shot down and killed off the coast of Brittany. The local population and town’s priest were determined to honour him, at no small risk to their own lives from possible Nazi reprisals.
This is a photo of the young pilot, Frank Stout, who came from New Zealand to fight the Nazis. You can read more about him here:
You can see that, even today, Roscoff remembers this fallen airman of WW2, by keeping his grave so beautifully. Note the planting of tropical palms around his memorial. These photos were taken on 31st July, 2021.
Thank you, Lucy, for carrying out your ‘photo mission’ for Buzzy Paws so readily and so successfully today.
If this has interested you, why not sign up now to join The Quiet Paws Book Club? It is free and it’s for everyone old enough to enjoy it, including adult fans of children’s literature. We’d love to have you on board. Joining gets you a password to access the book club pages. Once there, it is totally up to you how much or how little you do, but we are pretty optimistic you will like the articles, film clips, activities and links that you will find. The book club pages are in the menu at the top of this website.
Finally, we are looking to the light!
‘Look to the light’ is a saying that the main character of ‘Letters from the Lighthouse’ inherits from her father.
I like it, because it is about seeing the good in people and situations, even when they are not easy.
It reminds me of this beautiful picture that my daughter gave me recently, as my ‘one word theme’ for the year is ‘light’.
Why not take a saying (such as ‘Look to the light’ or ‘There is always light behind the clouds’) and make a poster to illustrate it?
This picture comes from Turn the Page Design https://shoponline.ourhandmadecollective.co.uk/collections/turn-the-page-design
Thank you…
everyone who has signed up to follow this blog – every time I see a new name, I feel great and Busby feels (p)awesome.
You can subscribe right at the foot of the blogs below or on the home page.
We will be back next month.
Remember to look out for the sturgeon moon on the 22nd August!
Buzzy Paws 
