Our school year begins Monday and I am still doing last minute preparations so this blog post is just little snippets of our lives the past couple of weeks. I have to thrown in here just how excited I am for this school year. I have been a rather reluctant homeschooler up til now (I am not saying I am head over heels still, but I am getting there). There is something about this year that has me so enthusiastic about schooling. Maybe because it is Little L's first real year, or how much I planned out, or maybe even the crazy strict homeschooling laws here that will keep me in line (somewhat joking there). I don't know, but I am going to embrace it! We'll start our day off with a special back to school surprise breakfast treat - waffles with whipped cream. 😋
Little L has been having fun digging for treasures on the banks of our creek. There is one special place her calls his mine where most of the treasures are found, especially after the flooding. He has quite a stash of old glass bottles from that mine but the ones you see above I just can not get clean. The top photo shows how they were when he dug them up and the bottom one is after I scrubbed them with baking soda, vinegar and thieves soap. I got them mostly clean but as you can see in the one bottle there is something stuck inside. Kevin thinks it might be old hardened stove polish (that is what the bottle once held). Any thoughts on how to get it out?
Made my first ever sauerkraut thanks to a great group of ladies I joined at our local library. It was very Home Fires-esque. I look forward to the next meeting. I was the youngest one there which was a bit funny but eh, that's okay. This is from the group's flyer: "FULL CIRCLE FUTURE HARVEST is a group of like minded people that meet throughout the year to discuss what WE CAN DO to improve our lives as well as those around us. The programs are presented by the group and community members, including Master Gardeners and healthcare professionals. The group promotes the importance of having healthy soil and growing non-genetically modified seeds to produce nutritious fruits and vegetables, as well as explores the use of functional medicine. Applying these practices to our lives help us attain and maintain a higher quality of life."
Little L's latest creation out of Kevin's old construx - a helicopter. It has already been taken apart and made into a corn combine. He is obsessed with those right now. In September he gets to go visits one of Purple Grandma's friends and ride in one as he harvest the corn. That will be quite the big day for him.
There is a big possibility one of our chickens might be a rooster. This is Egger, one of Little L's chickens. We are a bit nervous about the outcome of this if Egger really is a rooster. Thankfully we live out in the country where we are zoned for roosters so either way we won't have to find him a new home. Phew!!
Snippets
Dye baths Left to Right: goldenrod, pokeberry, grass, carrot and beets
carrot dye bath
beet dye bath
C'sfingerless gloves before
pokeberry dye bath
I feel rather silly posting this now as we are about to start our third week of school tomorrow morning but things are going so well (so far) that I just had to share. My children have all been very diligent and perseverant for the most part with everything we have done. Somehow I have been on the ball and waking up in the wee hours of the mornings to make sure we are all on schedule. I pray the year continues in this manner.
I already told Kevin that as soon as we are out of debt the first thing I am saving up for is another lens so I can capture photos from farther away. I love my 50mm but man it only works well somewhat close up.
I started this post last Sunday when my computer went haywire. I thought it best to go ahead a post it now while my computer is being nice. 😂
I have to start with Baby F's absolute favorite book right now: Oliver Finds His Way. This was one we picked up at the library on a whim and ended up having to buy our own copy because he loved it so much. It has become his bedtime story each night. He loves to "read" Oliver the bear's roars himself, adding fun and giggles to our bedtime routine. I wish you could hear his cute little bear sounds and see the scrunchy nose he makes when he does them.
