How time flies! And how I have neglected my blog! Last year went by like a blur, most of which I was sick for and the rest of which we were very busy being in 4-H, baseball, theatre, and traveling. I am not even sure we had a summer and already, it is time to make sure everything is ready for winter as the weather changes suddenly and sometimes unexpectedly here.

I should try to post some pictures of our recent activities; but today I just want to say, I like this new season of schooling older people. Schooling younger people was great, but I was afraid that the older people things would be boring or too difficult. In fact I have found that the added self motivation the older people display is quite refreshing and frees up a lot of my time. On the other hand, the classes they are taking are quite interesting and I find myself wanting to take a few of them too. How much fun is it to sit down with your teen and work on adventure novels together? I may even try to brush up on some piano and dulcimer music in time for Christmas this year. The house seems quieter and almost ready to become organized. The boys do not need so much supervision and everyone knows what is expected of them and help out.

Here we sit covered in books, enjoying some engaging learning together. I will always cherish these times we are blessed to have together.

Summer Life Lessons in Bartering, Auto Shop, and Goats

Summer is my favorite time for home schooling. All the book work is finished for the year and we wake up every morning asking, “What shall we do today?” There are a lot of cleaning and organizing chores to catch up on, but not before we have a little fun. I love looking for opportunities to teach my boys about the really important things in life, like how to live it well; so this summer, we started with a trade for an old Mustang convertible to tinker on in the garage. It was good for the boys to watch their dad barter for it and now they will get to fix it up.

 

Also, I found that there are more goat people out there than I imagined, and they all need tomato plants! So I traded some of my plants for a few quarts of goat milk (which for me translates to "liquid gold"). Raw, local, and I’m not allergic to it! I also got a hold of some kefir grains so we are having a lot of fun in the kitchen. 

 

The goat milk made me think of “Heidi”, so I dug out our copy for some summer reading. There is just something wise about an animal as small as a dog, who can find its food scaling rocky mountain ledges in the wilderness to come home and give nurturing milk and companionship.

So, we are a few weeks into summer now and I’m really looking forward to the rest of it. Who knows what kinds of opportunities will come our way?

As I sit down at my desk this morning, I find myself in the midst of April, a mere eight days away from summer vacation! For the first time I can remember we are actually going to finish our curriculum! We will even have a little spare time to watch some Biology videos I have been saving for such an occasion.

I haven’t been one of those “organized” women who actually count out the days it is going to take to finish all our books, so sometimes we get to the end of the year and gasp and moan, so this is a welcomed surprise! I must be getting better at this thing called planning.

Spring Again

I stood on the height in the stillness
And the planet's outline scanned,
And half was drawn with the line of the sea
And half with the far blue land.

With wings that caught the sunshine
In the crystal deeps of the sky,
Like shapes of dreams, the gleaming gulls
Went slowly floating by.

Below me the boats in the harbor
Lay still, with their white sails furled;
Sighing away into silence,
The breeze died off the world.

On the weather-worn, ancient ledges
Peaceful the calm light slept;
And the chilly shadows, lengthening,
Slow to the eastward crept.

The snow still lay in the hollows,
And where the salt waves met
The iron rock, all ghastly white
The thick ice glimmered yet.

But the smile of the sun was kinder,
The touch of the air was sweet;
The pulse of the cruel ocean seemed
Like a human heart to beat.

Frost-locked, storm-beaten, and lonely,
In the midst of the wintry main,
Our bleak rock yet the tidings heard;
"There shall be spring again!"

Worth all the waiting and watching,
The woe that the winter wrought,
Was the passion of gratitude that shook
My soul at the blissful thought!

Soft rain and flowers and sunshine,
Sweet winds and brooding skies,
Quick-flitting birds to fill the air
With clear delicious cries;

And the warm sea's mellow murmur
Resounding day and night;
A thousand shapes and tints and tones
Of mainfold delight,

Nearer and ever nearer
Drawing with every day!
But a little longer to wait and watch
'Neath skies so cold and gray;

And hushed is the roar of the bitter north
Before the might of the spring,
And up the frozen slope of the world
Climbs summer, triumphing.

Celia Tbaxter 1836-1894

Family Toy Making

  Picture: Mr Scog with his scarf, vest, and pack

 When I was a girl, my mom read us “The Island of the Skog” by Steven Kellogg. It was such a cute story; we all wanted a Skog of our own. So what did my mom do? She made us all scogs, out of some terry cloth fabric left over from making my dad’s bathrobe.  We played with them for years.  When my grand dad wanted to give me a really great present, he didn’t buy me something, he built me a doll house. Then my mom sewed little dolls to go into it. We made furniture out of old salt cartons, toothpicks and other things. We made food out of craft dough and painted them. The neat thing about these toys was that they were unique, and meaningful to us. They had numerous imaginative uses so we never got tired of them.  They also served as craft projects for us, that we could use instead of throwing away, or collecting dust.

Texas wearing some of  his knits

When I had kids, my mom made them some scogs too! She also made a neat little felt turtle that was kept in a felt box to go with the song, “I Had a Little Turtle”.  When I had the time, I also started to make some toys, although my crafting skill set is different from my mothers, so I used knitting to create my toys. I made my niece a house with mice and a little garden with carrots you could really pull. I made mice in gourd houses to hang from the shoulders of my little boys. We made food and clothes for everyone and enjoyed hours of crafting time, followed by hours of imaginative play time.

 The mouse house

Family toy making has really become a cultural activity in our household.  If you have never made a toy with your child, I would recommend trying it.  Remember that it doesn’t need to look store bought by any means, it is folk art; a creation of your very own, and to be used, stained, and loved until buttons fall off and fuzz wears away.  It can be sewn, knitted, carved, molded, built, quilted, embroidered, or anything else you can think of.  Have fun playing!

 

 

 

Cooking With Vikings

A recent all boy play date reminded me just how much like little Vikings our boys can be. Even the most well trained boy can be easily coaxed into throwing rocks, chasing people, and other aggressive behavior that quickly lead to all out war.

But this morning, the house was quiet and we had a rare Saturday with no definite plans.  I had been thinking of new ways to use up or stash of quail eggs and decided to make quiche, as well as some extra pie crusts to put in the freezer for the coming holiday season. I was delighted to hear a little Viking voice ask, “Can I help?”

We relished an undisturbed hour slowly rolling dough and fluting edges, mixing eggs, cream, and bacon.  There is something about cooking bacon which calls an end to a quiet kitchen (do you know how hard it is to get ten pieces of bacon for quiche with three Vikings hanging over the pan drooling?)

As the quiche slowly solidifies, the Vikings go back to being Vikings, and they will be hungry when it comes out of the oven. If nothing else, they will always have good food, for good food comes to those who know how to make quiche.

The Caviar of Fall

This time of year we are busy collecting seeds from around the garden and enjoying the tail end of the summer harvest. This week we are enjoying two of our foodie treasures, pumpkin soup and pickled quail eggs. I guess the thing that makes them special, is that we grew them ourselves.  It would be difficult to purchase the ingredients for these recipes at any store, which makes them rare and unique. They also happen to be extraordinarily delicious.

The Amish Pie Pumpkin is a treasured heirloom in my garden every single year. One pumpkin yields enough seeds for growing and sharing for years to come, and the large vat of soup it makes is simply divine. You can find the recipe titled Roasted Vegetable Soup on my Beautiful Soup Page.

Our other home grown specialty is the quail eggs. We spent the summer learning how to raise quail. We chose them because of their small size, quiet demeanor, hardiness, and quick reproduction cycle. By the time the snow began to fall, they were cranking out 14 eggs a day. Many people see a decline in egg production during the winter months but we found that a string of Christmas lights solved the problem for us and heightened egg production to a frenzy. After collecting a large container of them for a week, I pickled them in beet kvass I had been fermenting on the counter. When they have bathed in the brine for a week or so, we will have tons of salty, pink, little eggs that we can pop into our mouths any time of day.

 

 

 Now that the nights are frosty, and the garden is put to bed, we are enjoying the results of a summer well spent; the caviar of fall.