19 Days Later

Nineteen days ago. That's when I last posted here. It feels like a LONG time ago. The days and weeks continue to march on in rapid succession, leaving little room to breathe.

The white tulip magnolia blossomed out. One by one the other spring flowering bushes and plants are bursting with color. Melvin has been taking pictures of everything. 

One of these times I will have a post devoted solely to daffodils. Before we lived here, I never dreamed there were so many different kinds of daffodils. Everything from early blooming to late blooming.

We had another snow on April the 2nd. Plus, days since where there was snow on the air. After reading The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder, I wondered if this is that 21st year.

We finally set out some of the more cold hardy plants. They are in the garden that has a privacy fence around it, which gives them more warmth. The temperature this morning was close to freezing again.

Friday & Saturday last week were beautiful, warm days. But we were away. Thomas & sons left early Friday morning for a job in PA. By mid-afternoon I was on my way to PA with a group from church and Melvin & Christopher were at my sister's place.

The Urban Youth Workers' Retreat was held at Roxbury Camp in Orrstown, PA, beginning Friday evening and continuing through Sunday noon.

Thomas & sons met us there, coming from Penn Valley where they had to repaint the first floor of the new hotel the retreat has been building. They were up there April 5 & 6 to do the job but it ended up being a streaky paint job. Hopefully with the second treatment, it will be good to go.

At UYWR we enjoyed a rich time of teaching and fellowship. The main sessions were addressing brokenness and were taught by Phil Beiler. Very timely instruction for me. 

Other workshops were taught, giving us instruction in relating to different needs in our communities. Attention seekers, RAD's, ADHD, LGBTQ,and abuse. Do we as Christian people have answers to the needs around us?

Of course! It's Jesus! The closer we get to God, the more effectively we can minister His love to those around us. We must embrace painful situations in our lives, accepting them as God's way of breaking our earthen vessels so His light can shine out.

Laundry, house cleaning and cooking are calling my name. Hopefully I'll be back before another nineteen days have passed.

Words of interest-
Vassal
Genera
Imprimatur

An Assortment of Topics

The smell of banana bread is tempting me. The young people are doing random acts of kindness throughout the community this evening so I made these with that in mind. A healthy one was added to the number (of breads, not people) for us to eat.

The healthy one

Melvin and Christopher peeled the rest of another box of free bananas and prepared them for the freezer. Once again, as before, most of the boxful disappeared down their gullets already -with peanut butter.

The wind is blowing in cooler weather this evening. The clouds and sun alternated across the sky today. A bit of rain fell. It's that time of year.

A snowman constructed on March 24

There are a couple of days next week where rain/snow is forecast. My friend Patricia told me that my transplants are getting quite large. It is time to set them out in the garden. Can they survive? 

We will wait a few days and then see if we can set out the lettuce and cabbage, etc. Tomatoes and peppers must wait for warmer weather. I might get in a hurry though and set some out under milk jugs... 

Christopher completed his PVC flute and has been driving his mother batty with all the shrill noises. It sounds like music to him. He is still working hard at figuring out how to perfect it. Meanwhile, we long for earplugs. 

Melvin discovered Brighty of the Grand Canyon this week. It held his attention for a number of days. It still thrills me to see him buried in a book. He was also in a silent world for a few days because of earache-induced-deafness. He's hearing again now.

Christopher read The Secret Garden for the first time and realized it's an interesting book. His comment, "Frances Hodgson Burnett likes to write about India." (We listened to A Little Princess just recently.)

I've been reading The Canterbury Tales. I thought this was supposed to be some classic of worth but I'm rather turned away by the wicked stories. Why didn't someone warn me?

Like a video I watched the other day. It wasn't wicked. There is a homesteader whose channel I subscribed to and they showed a detailed video of disbudding a goat. More than my tender heart could watch.

Some people like blood and gore and smoke or whatever but anything that looks like pain turns my stomach, head and nerves in all directions. Obviously, I wasn't cut out to be a nurse.

On our homestead, we have a cow that gives dry milk at the present. Well, you know, she is just dry. We're giving her a break from milk production until her baby comes in May. 

Otherwise, the chickens are laying eggs daily and keeping us happy with orange yolks. There are usually enough eggs for a breakfast of some sort. Hopefully a chicken or two will get broody sometime this spring and give us some chicks.

For supper tonight we tried a new recipe, King Ranch Chicken. Some rice and a cabbage salad completed the meal. Christopher rated it "top-notch".

Till next time....

Words-
Opportunism
Negligee
Dressage

Beautiful Day

The tulip magnolias are loaded with buds

The great outdoors has beckoned me today. With the temperature in the 70s and partly cloudy skies, what better place is there to be, than on an Adirondack chair on the patio?

There has been sickness in our house and my body has felt like it is fighting with all its worth to keep it at bay. I keep swallowing oregano oil capsules and taking lots of probiotics. But the last few days my body begs to lie down.

Laundry calls me, meals are asking to be made, dishes need to be washed, floors are dirty. So I keep rising up and doing my tasks. Today is better. Not such a drag on my eyelids. Not such an ache in my muscles. Not such a foggy brain.

It may be that the clear, refreshing air has something to do with the feel-good factor. Yesterday was a day for ducks. But last evening I heard the spring peepers once again. Such a welcome sound. Melvin says they're yelling.

They were loud and clear in February and at that time I planted some pea seeds in the garden. I wandered out to the garden today to see how they are faring. There are wonderful sprouts down deep in the ground! Can you find them?

All the daffodil buds are thick, pushing their way to bloom. 

Some opened awhile ago and then the snow fell thick upon them. They stayed yellow through it all. Now everything in nature seems happy to be released from the snow.

The fourth Nor'easter hit us last week on Tuesday and Wednesday. The weather did not consult the calendar. These were the first two days of spring. So we got more snow this spring than we did all winter.

We didn't get snow with the first, second or third Nor'easter but some folks closer to the coast got hit by all four. We were thankful to be spared from power outages as well. Just the beauty and mess of snow. 

The birds are singing all around me, so happy to be alive. A pair of nuthatches carefully comes to the feeder, making cautious little twittering cackles as they come. The mockingbird is singing a joyful song of many tunes. He is confusing me about which bird I'm hearing.

Christopher is roaming around today, looking for and experimenting with ways to make a flute. He consults YouTube from time to time but so far he hasn't gotten anything to give him the sounds he's looking for.

He first used ornamental grass stalks and then started whittling a tree branch. But now he found a tutorial for a PVC pipe flute. Will he get a flute made?

Melvin has disappeared into the woods. His favorite place to be. He would rather be in the woods then just about anywhere else.

The men are all on the job today. I'm sure they're having a more enjoyable day than they've had in awhile. Today is a welcome change from all the cold, sleet, rain and snow we've been having.

There are some deer shoulders cooking in the crock pot but my mind is blank concerning the rest of the evening meal. What is cooking in your home tonight?

What is God thinking? 

Words for today-
Consol
Accretion
Gibbosity

Vision Update

Yesterday was Day 12 of the Outback Vision Protocol. We're cruising right along. Nine more days to go. Will I have 20/20 vision by then?

The ingredients as I've said before, are many and varied. I thought it might be helpful for anyone else taking the challenge to know where to find things.

But then the obvious fact is that not everyone resides in the same part of the country. So where I find things and where you find them will vary widely. 

Anyway, here's what I did.

Recipe calls for.. 
...coconut cream. Found in a metal can at Food Maxx. After opening the can I put the remainder in a jar in the fridge. One can will easily be enough for the whole protocol but it will not stay good in the fridge for 3 weeks. I would recommend freezing it in recipe-sized portions.

...maca powder. Amazon helped me out with this one. Click here to see the one I purchased (and,no, I don't have affiliate links). This can will give you enough for the whole family and then some. It is plenty, plenty.

...coconut water. I searched high and low at Food Maxx for this one and finally found a few cans (like pop cans). Then I saw that "our" Aldi (in Winchester, VA) carries it. And I believe Walmart has it too. Mama saw some at Food Lion, as well. You'll need at least six cans.

...bee pollen. Amazon to the rescue again. But then I saw it at Walmart. Here is what I got from Amazon. Again, it's enough to last and last.

...dried goji berries. Check it out. I think again, I may have seen some at Walmart after ordering online from Amazon. One bag is plenty for the 21 days but if more than one person does it, you may need a second bag. Maybe.

...coconut milk. A cardboard milk carton from Food Lion lasted for about half the time.

...egg white protein powder. I never did find; so I use a whole raw egg from our farm hens. I read the other day that egg yolks are good for your eyesight so it at least doesn't hurt. And whatever that powder is, you'll only need 3 Tablespoons in the whole protocol.

(By the way, I asked customer service about some of these things and they only replied that substitutes should not be made. They did not answer my question about where to find items.)

...dark chocolate chips. I used a dark chocolate bar or unsweetened baker's chocolate.

...fresh or frozen bilberries. Research told me this was a wild blueberry so when I could not find fresh or frozen bilberries I purchased frozen wild blueberries from Walmart. Then I found pure bilberry juice at Vitacost so I got that. You can find it here.

...tart cherry juice. Food Lion and Walmart both had this.

...black currants. Vitacost had pure juice. That's all I could find. You can find it here. 

(The last 3 bottles of juice I mentioned are more than enough for the whole time.)

...ginger-flavored kombucha. Found at Walmart. One can is enough. This one is Asian pear and ginger flavored.

...fresh Pomegranate juice. I used Pom, found at Walmart. One can will do.

...organic, unfiltered apple juice. One bottle from Walmart is plenty.

...spirulina powder. Capsules from Walmart. Maybe you know of a better option? You will only need 1 Tablespoon total.

These are only the items that I had a bit of trouble finding. There are many more ingredients but I am supposing you'll be able to find them without too much sweat and tears. 

If you have any questions, I am happy to answer what I can.

AND! I am happy to report that I have not needed my glasses for two days straight now. No, that doesn't mean I wasn't reading. I was reading without glasses!!! 

Happy, happy dance! And another smoothie....

Words for your intrigue-
Harangue
Griffin
Dynamism

P.S. Happy birthday to sister Verina!

Strewing

One of Thomas Jefferson Education's "Seven Keys of Great Teaching" is...

"Inspire, don't require." 

Most people say, "If I don't require my child to study, he won't!" 

I ask, "Did you ever try?" 

We require our children to attend school (or homeschool) at a very young age and soon the flame of curiosity is stamped out and we begin to lecture them daily about the "need" to study. 

We have no clue how all of our requiring would not be necessary if they had a natural learning environment.

Do I, as a parent, do hard things? Do they see me struggling to learn new skills? To get a degree while raising my family? To write a book? To master a new cooking skill? To learn how to improve my health- by knowledge and discipline?

Laura Ingalls inspired her worst student to become a good student when he realized she was keeping up with her school studies at home while teaching school herself. She had agonized over how to get him to study, but here it was, as simple as example.

My own studies will inspire me to strew bits of knowledge as I go about my daily living. This will pique my child's curiosity. They will want to know more about things.

It is in this manner that we are instructed to teach God's law, as well. While sitting, standing, lying, walking, etc. We were discussing this the other day. Does that mean we talk of it all the time?

No, but if we are full of God's Word, we will apply it to everyday situations, while speaking about it with our children. (Deuteronomy 6:7)

As my son peruses the Kindle account, he may find things I've strewn there. One recently "picked up" The Gentleman's Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness. He's gaining wisdom from it. (Or maybe I should say, knowledge. I'm not certain it's turned to wisdom yet.)

Lay a few books/magazines on the coffee table. See which ones get picked up. Put more out, later. 

Set out books that inspire doing- drawing, painting, building, home repair, farming, photography, cooking, and you name it. Do some projects yourself.

The learning is in the books. Find interesting books on a myriad of subjects and introduce them in subtle ways. Try pulling one out from the row on the bookshelf and placing the front to face the one who comes looking.

Hang paintings around the house in strategic places. In front of the kitchen sink. By the toilet. On the bedroom door. On the bathroom mirror. 

Print out quotes, Bible verses and poems that inspire. Place these where they will be noticed.

Strew ideas. 

"How could we get surround sound in this room?" 

"We need a magazine rack." 

"The chickens need a shelter." 

"Watch this Back to Eden gardening video; couldn't we do that?" 

Introduce new games. Thrift stores are excellent places to find the old games you enjoyed as a child. Games can be very educational. They are especially great for learning math.

Strewing is an excellent way to inspire your children to learn more. If they bite what you've strewn about, fine. If not, fine. Keep strewing. The curiosity is there, if you haven't killed it by requiring.

Plato said, "Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body, but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind."

Here is a very inspiring article. The author speaks of joy and delight in learning. May you find it inspirational in your own homeschool journey, if that's where you find yourself. 

Strewing is helpful even if you send your child to a conventional school. Your enthusiasm about learning is sure to wear off on your children.

Today my strewing included a Bob Ross video. Now wouldn't you like to paint when he makes it look so easy? (The above-mentioned article had me checking him out.)

Words I'll strew today-
Archetype
Doggerell
Piazza

Free Bananas

Being a baker, my mother is on the lookout for ripe bananas which can be used for banana bread. (Try typing "banana". It's fun.) So last week she appeared with two banana boxes full of ripe bananas that were free!

She allowed us to have one box. The boys in this house can eat bananas like nobody's business. They pile on the peanut butter and happily munch away. 

Most of them (bananas, not boys) disappeared in this manner but a few were getting overripe. I peeled them and cut some into chunks for the freezer. 

The ones that were super ripe got turned into a mash and I made a cake. Here's the recipe I used. It's called Banana Bread but I doubled the recipe and made a sheet cake. Baked it a little too long I think.

Raw batter

Baked cake

I used coconut flour from Walmart.

The recipe calls for chocolate chunks but I used this recipe instead to make a chocolate frosting. Exceptions I made- I used dark chocolate and unsweetened baker's chocolate instead of chocolate chips and I used real milk instead of almond milk.

Frosted cake

And here's an embarrassing moment. I made banana muffins for breakfast yesterday morning. When they came out of the oven they looked so stunted. After thinking a bit, I realized I'd forgotten the baking powder. (I don't use a cookbook- the recipe's in my head.)

They weren't too bad, actually.

And here is a picture of the daffodils in the snow. We received a couple squalls that turned the landscape white for a few hours.

Words for today-
Citadel
Hippocampus
Narcolepsy