As part of our homeschooling, it's my intention to share great literature with my children; to give them a broad, Christian worldview, and to feed their imaginations with wholesome stories of virtue and faith. We read an abridged illustrated version of The Swiss Family Robinson and it ended up being such a favorite, we decided … Continue reading The Homesteaders’ Spirit
Real Life Homeschool Lesson
Let's be frank for a second- kids are oftentimes counterproductive. But, with clear instructions and guidance (at times I swear I'm a drill sergeant...) my kids can become my greatest asset. Instead of book work today for math, I brought them with me into farm mode and together we did some work for the chickens. … Continue reading Real Life Homeschool Lesson
Practicing and Perfecting Skills
You know what changes for homeschooling, homesteaders in the midst of social distancing ordinances? Not a whole lot, actually. In fact, it has been pretty difficult to frame this whole virus thing with rationality because of all the highly publicised "toilet paper crisis alerts." I'm praying for those affected by sickness and hardship (as I … Continue reading Practicing and Perfecting Skills
Homestead Update!
We've got a lot of irons in the fire right now as we gear up for spring time. Gardening We've started tomatoes, peppers, and onions indoors to be transplanted after the last frost. Chickens We lost a total of 6 birds this year, the bulk of them to hawks or other unidentified wildlife. That said, … Continue reading Homestead Update!
Homestead Update
Family Well, my Ingrid is 9 days old. Just like peas-porridge-in-the-pot. We are settling in to "new normal." Settling never feels peaceful to me. Settling is transition, and transition for us means chaos. And by chaos, I mostly mean a lot of toddler whining and crying and managing behavior. Fortunately, I've had family and good … Continue reading Homestead Update
Cleaning Crafty Pre-Thanksgiving Day
So I have a ton of dishes because... Eh... My back has been killing me and it's all I can do to muster the motivation to stand and wash dishes. Come on, Kitchen Reno! Hopefully soon. That said, I washed a load of dishes, and then decided to go play with plants outside instead. I … Continue reading Cleaning Crafty Pre-Thanksgiving Day
Homestead Update
Where to begin? Let's back on up to last Monday. Monday We had 2 of our 3 get sick. My youngest boy got HFM virus. Yay... So my hands are raw from washing and cleaning and sanitizing. Then my daughter was running a fever and vomiting. I actually suspected a UTI over the flu, and … Continue reading Homestead Update
Repotting an Orchid
You know how life just gets busy and you get preoccupied with 10,000 projects? That unfortunately has kept me from tending my house plants. Let's be clear- I have two small aloe vera plants and a phaleonopsis. And that's it. So it's not as if I'm bursting at the seams with indoor plant responsibility. I … Continue reading Repotting an Orchid
Friday on the Homestead
There are so many things that NEED to be done that it's difficult to prioritize which to do first. I opted for re-catching strawberry runners. Yep... Re-catching. My 1 year old decided to "un-catch" them at some point. So I went outside to check on them today for a customer, and found many uprooted, unpotted, … Continue reading Friday on the Homestead
Pickled Peppers
Last year I made 2 quarts of fermented pickled jalapeno pepper rings. Oh. My. Goodness. They were one of those seasonal foods we talked about after we ran out like, "man, this would be awesome with some of those peppers in it." Or "Dang-it, I miss those pickled peppers." So I've got a bowl full … Continue reading Pickled Peppers
