By Lynn, on January 31st, 2008%
Armchair Puzzlers is a great book I happened upon at the thrift store today for 50 cents. I am elated to have found this book. It turned out to be one of those books that my children just took an instant liking to and they’ve passed it around now from one person to the next and have read in it constantly for nearly the last five hours. Really.
Armchair Puzzlers Book – Overstuffed Baffling Puzzlers
Actually, I found quite a few nice books today.
I had to go out today and run some errands and, as is usually the case, there was a thrift store near by. 
Go ahead. Laugh.
But really, who would not get a bunch of new books for a homeschool library for 50 cents each?
There are some other nice books in the bunch besides Armchair Puzzlers. Two of the books are for my collection. Cottage Style has got beautiful, relaxing pictures. That’ll be for me and a cup of tea and my little living room.
Okay. On to hairdos.
I tried a new hairstyle today that turned out well today. It felt rather Victorian.
Put hair in a high ponytail. Make a small part just above the band that you can slip your thumb and pointing fingers through from underneath. Flip the ponytail over and pull it down through that part so it comes totally out underneath and hangs down. This will create two beautiful rolls of hair — one on each side. I then braided the ponytail and put it in a bun.
That’s probably not real clear, but it’s the best I can describe it.
Big Joe and I spent quite a bit of time talking about the presidential election process. I have a unit study on that. We also spent a great deal of time working on the spelling/writing program we are working on for dyslexics. I hope to have that on my website in the not-too-distant future.
Wishing you a peaceful Thursday night,
Lynn
By Lynn, on January 30th, 2008%
Today was a good day, although I’m tired! I got my computer back today. I’m glad about that.
While I was out today I stopped at a Habitat for Humanity store and found a really nice book for 50 cents — my big thrift store splurge today!
It’s the one on the left: 100 Details from Pictures in The National Gallery London by Kenneth Clark.
I love finding things like this. It was a timely find, too, since we’ve been focusing a great deal on art lately. Our John William Waterhouse art wall got me geared up!
My cleaning schedule had me in the living room and den today. I didn’t do too much. I did vacuum the floors and wash the couch and loveseat slip covers.
That’s my cozy loveseat in my cozy little (clean) living room. And with that, I’m about to retire there and read a bit.
Lynn
By Lynn, on January 29th, 2008%
I’m nearly done rambling for the day. I promise.
The upstairs hallway is where I keep my houseplants. I had noticed of late that the asparagus fern was looking a little less energetic than usual. I figured I might as well spend some of my hallway-cleaning time on repotting the asparagus fern.
That’s what the cleaning schedule is all about after all — allowing me to spend time regularly focusing on various parts of the house without getting overwhelmed.
So out I went to the potting bench with the asparagus fern. I saw the problem immediately. I guessed as much. It was totally root bound.
Every time I took a step, Jasper was under my feet wanting attention. So I picked her up and held her for a little while.
Once done, it looked much better. Well, at least it looks like it has room to grow. I watered it good and took it back to its little “greenhouse” area upstairs.
The day ended with a package from my mom when I checked the mail. There were some great old photographs of my mother when she was a baby and my grandmother holding her. There was also a little wooden lamp for the doll house! She found it at a thrift store local to her.
The shade looks like cowhide! Cool, no?
Lynn
By Lynn, on January 29th, 2008%
So my cleaning schedule had me in the kitchen today, as well as the pantry and the hallway. I have been thinking that one of these weeks in the kitchen I would clean my kitchen table really good. It’s an old enamel top table that I found at a thrift store about 12 years ago. I really love it.
Today was the day. I turned the table upsidedown and cleaned the wood underneath with a dampened cloth and then went over it with wood restorer when dry.
The chairs came from a local antique store. The story was that they were purchased in England, and I do believe they were telling me the truth. The particular dealer they came from is a doctor who travels to England regularly. Antiques is her hobby. The funny thing was that when we got them home, there was a tag underneath some red paint on several of the chairs that showed they were made in Winston Salem! Either someone was confused, or these chairs went from NC to England to NC again.
Yes, this table has lots of wear and scratches, but I think it fits right in!
Lynn
By Lynn, on January 29th, 2008%
For the long hair ladies I know, I reached tailbone length.
It’s swinging, so it’s hard to tell, but it’s definitely there!!
Lynn
By Lynn, on January 29th, 2008%
This post is for Hannah at Cultivating Home. She wrote about her living room redo and her old trunk. I left her a comment, as her post made me wonder if my trunk was like hers…or not! Her writing prompted me to uncover mine (it had a throw over it and doubled as a living room table) and see if they were alike.
Normally the love seat is pushed up next to my trunk and it is covered with magazines and my “journal station.” I pulled the love seat back and uncovered it to get a clear view. My trunk is not exactly like Hannah’s. It’s funny how unclear a memory can be. I need to pay more attention to detail. Not just with objects, either. It certainly helps with people when we pay attention to detail.
We bought our trunk at an antique store (got a good buy from a friend who has a booth there) for our oldest son. He had so much “stuff” all around. I know he won’t be living with us forever. He is 19, works full time and pays us rent. When he leaves, the trunk goes with him. It’s a gift from his mom. ~:-D His first antique!
Lynn
By Lynn, on January 28th, 2008%
I love just being home and walking around my house — cleaning, straightening, appreciating. This morning I cleaned the three rooms on my cleaning schedule.
I love clean, bright windows. (Actually I love how the sun is shining here today!)
Cleaning things makes them shine. My bathroom shelf is spotless.
Once done, it’s nice to go outside and breathe some fresh air. There are spring plants checking to see if it’s warm enough to come all the way out.
Crocus…
and daffodils…
The sun shines bright on my garden, beckoning me to walk in and sit down and enjoy the bright warm rays.
It won’t be long until the garden is full of blooms and bees again.
Happy Monday,
Lynn
By Lynn, on January 27th, 2008%
And there’s no place like home. No matter how wonderful a place you’ve been or how necessary a place you’ve been, there’s no place like home.
.
I went to work with a somewhat heavy heart. All you need to do is read my rambling thoughts from this morning (i.e. last post) to figure that out, but I did make it through the work shift and husband seems to have gotten plenty of sound sleep today. Hopefully he’ll be better in the morning. He’s sleeping even now.
Life is beautiful. It’s true. It’s worth living. We better enjoy every moment and try to be in the moment!
Some things that touched my heart today:
- A lady who smiled a sweet smile at me even though she was wearing oxygen and couldn’t get around very well.
- An adorable little toddler dressed in a tiger-looking snow suit, sitting in the grocery cart and giving me the best smile ever because his mom just bought him a cupcake and I was the one who had the privilege of handing it to him.
- A quiet 30ish lady who brings her grandmother (?) shopping for groceries, regularly, and is just as sweet and kind to that little elderly lady as if it were the first time she had ever taken her out shopping
- A man who ordered rye bread, but then noted his wife looking at the whole wheat, and upon finding out she liked it better said, “Make that whole wheat, please.”
- Coming home and seeing my little sweetpea reading an old Little Golden book illustrated by Eloise Wilkin.
- Having a home to come home to.
Lynn
By Lynn, on January 27th, 2008%
I’m well this morning, but I could certainly be depressed if I tried even a little. These are the kinds of mornings that I pull one of my many journals off the shelf to soothe my soul with memories and try to get a handle on my thoughts. I read. I write. I read some more.
I have journaled for many years now. There’s a shelf that holds my journals, some of them just a few pages from being full, some of them just started. Some are themed — garden thoughts, home industry thoughts. There’s a journal where I have written about each child through the years, starting with the expectation of them, and then the story of their birth and then just day-to-day thoughts. It’s stirring to go back and read them. It’s motivating.
.
One thing that I notice in all the journals written in the first 15 years of my marriage was that I always felt like time was “running away from me” or that life felt “out of control.” Have I changed? I don’t know if it’s just a different perspective for me now, but I have let go of that thought. I’m 45 soon and my baby is 9. We’re nearly 100% sure there’ll be no more children.
.
Life is going by, time is passing, slipping through our fingers, at an unbelievable rate. All we have is the here and now. (And yesterday, if you care to join me in thinking of it that way.) It’s always been true and it’ll always be true, even if at one time in my life I kept thinking that I could somehow grab hold of life and maintain some sort of control and have things flow my own way. That thought is, in great part, an illusion.
I can make things go the way I want them to up to a point — train my children, keep my home, pay my bills, pursue the noble calling of wife and mother with zeal, do right in the moment, and then there are many factors out of my control.
This morning my husband is sick again. It’s hard for me and my children to watch. I won’t go into all the details here, but it’s the reason I work, it’s an uncertainty day by day, it’s a pain that you feel deeper than anything else when someone you love suffers.
.
It’s a good thing to be happy in the here and now. It’s a good thing to be accepting of what is the here and now. (It seems a paradox here for me to say that we should make the best of every situation and change what we can, having just said we don’t have total control, but I believe in that — making the best of it and putting your back into changing what you can, and it’s fitting here because it’s inherent in accepting the here and now.)
I was looking back at a journal entry from 1998:
My due date is only about 19 or 20 days away anyway. Not long really, but it seems like a long, long time. I’m out of anything to wear. I didn’t have much to start with. Hopefully the baby will come soon.
That baby did come, and now she is 9. And the then little 10-year-old boy who so carefully checked on me day by day and couldn’t wait to hold the “new baby” is now 19 and working full time. The years of having a baby crib in the house are “a long, long time” ago. But I see her crib, and her matted-down and wet newborn curls everytime I look at her, even now. I see my husband’s curious eyes as he waited to get a full view of her little newborn face. Her auburn curls presented first — she had his curls, and it was with a breath-holding anticipation that we waited for her face to emerge.
.
Every step I have taken up to this point is part of my here-and-now. And this very moment will be part of the tapestry that is my life tomorrow — if I am here tomorrow. It’s why this moment needs to be as rich and beautiful as it can be. It’s a moment that will be woven into the fabric that is my life, whether it’s a moment I would have chosen for myself or not.
.
There’s time to rest, but there’s no time to waste.
There’s time to ponder, but no time for pouting.
There’s time to harness your anger and do something constructive, but no place for malice.
Life goes on today. I have taken time to reflect this morning. I feel like I’ve laid out all the thoughts swirling through my mind, sorted through them and gathered them up neatly in order. I’ve hugged and kissed all of my family — with an extra special hug for dear husband. I’m thankful. And hopeful. And content – at least in the here and now.
Lynn
By Lynn, on January 26th, 2008%
Fridays are my Mondays. Anyone who works and has their days off in the middle of the week will know what that means.
So I get the Monday blues on Fridays — when I happen to get the Monday blues, that is. I didn’t yesterday. Most of the time I enjoy getting to work because I love being immersed in the whole natural foods and body care world. I learn something new every night and I always shop for our next day’s needs on my breaks. It’s a great setup for us right now. (And don’t forget there’s a thrift store in the same shopping center.)
Anyway, my work week has started out good and I feel good about all I accomplished during my days off this past week.
I stopped in the thrift store last night and picked up a few books. A couple of the books appear to be from a very nice series: Volume Library. They are each about 800 pages. One of them has a CD in the back. Both the CD and the entire book are about geography. The book is fairly new and is just a great resource. My second son and I spent about half an hour or so last night just going through the books and reading to each other. It was fun to look at the flags of the world and of all the United States.
More books that I just had to get. They were practically new, except the George Washington book. We already have a copy of that one somewhere, but it’s such a good book, I wanted another for the kids to have if they want it.
I was reflecting this morning on laundry. Our children help, but I just don’t think children can fully appreciate the money, time and labor that go into such a large chore until they are out taking care of it on their own. This is the boys’ laundry basket that I found when I went upstairs. Yes, there are two blankets on top, but it’s mostly clothes.
I had to get behind it and take a picture. I mean, even after packing it down it’s nearly as tall as me!! My boys would not let me take it downstairs alone. They took it down. (As they should.)
I am thankful that another work week has started off good. Potu (princess of the universe) and I will play dolls this morning. I will get some food started in the crockpot so husband doesn’t have to cook tonight. (He cooks on the evenings that I work and have not started something in the crockpot.)
The one other thing that I accomplished last week was replacing our world map with a nice new one. We keep it on the front of a curtain that hangs over a very large shelf in the kitchen. It gets a lot of views in this location. Also, attached with clothespins like it is, it’s easy to take down and put on the table for a closer look.
One last note is that I am working on a writing program that I will make available later. I think it will help dyslexics get over the last hump of bringing together spelling and writing after they have begun reading well.
Lynn
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About Lynn
I am the mother of four delightful children: a 23-year-old son, a 20-year-old son, a 17-year-old son, and a bright and bubbly 13-year-old daughter. I share an apartment home with my 17-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter. My little home on the internet is called Rose Cottage because of my love for gardening, roses, and all things romantic and Victorian. Welcome.
I'm a North Carolina girl and I love sharing North Carolina links and information. I do medical transcription from home. My hobbies include making sweet little dolls from clay who are named and have their own stories to tell. I also make old-fashioned brooches. These are for sale in my Etsy shop.
For 13 years continuously, I homeschooled some or all of our four children, but the time came that our homeschool had to be closed. It was the end of a beautiful chapter in my life. I will always be a strong supporter of homeschooling and I will continue to review books and maintain my homeschool website, The Healthy Homeschool. The Players
Lil Ol' Me
Son Daniel, 23
Son, Big Joe, 20
Son, John, 17
Daughter, Michaela, 13
Annie Fatso Beagle
My Symphony
To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.
William Henry Channing
1810-1884
What You Do Sow a thought, reap an action.
Sow an action, reap a habit.
Sow a habit, reap a character.
Sow a character, reap a destiny.
Contact Me 
I would  for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
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