Mae's Real Stories

This is the house in University City Mo. where we grew up. The landscaping is somewhat different, but the house itself looks just the way it always was. The tree in the front is an oak that my father planted from a little "volunteer." The house was built in around 1912.

When we were little girls, our mother made Raggedy Ann dolls for both of us. She copied the pictures in the Raggedy Ann stories, which were our favorites. Instead of a real candy heart, she drew a heart that said "I love you" on the doll. She made hair from yarn, and black button eyes, and she drew the faces. Each one was a little different. This is Elaine's doll. I think mine wore out a long time ago.

Place a candle in a container -- here, a plastic box. Surround the candle with water, but be sure that the wick is in the air. Light the candle.


Cover the candle with a glass or a jar that you can see through. Tilt the glass a little bit so that the water can go up into it.

As the candle burns, the water rises in the jar. The water rises to replace the used-up oxygen. The flame goes out when it has used up all the oxygen in the jar. This happens very fast. It's a little hard to see in the pictures how much the water has risen, but it comes up to the square part of the jar, and it's much higher than the level of the water in the plastic box.

Try this yourself (with a grownup to help) and you will see how the water rises very quickly and then the candle goes out. It makes a little sucking sound when the water rises.

Here's Mona Lisa in a dollhouse museum -- along with other nice little things.

Labels: Mona Lisa

Miriam took these photos on Saturday.