By Lynn, on February 14th, 2011%
“I love it when we do things together with the children,” I said to Mr. Carpenterman, batting my eyeslashes. So we went on a tiny little picnic over the weekend.
It was very simple, just taking a picnic basket and some egg salad sandwiches, sardines (yes, I said sardines), and other various and sundry things, like apples, sunflower seed butter, chips and crackers. Oh and some iced tea. Yes, it was beautiful and warm enough to run and play.
Four of us drove to some beautiful woods and had fun eating and walking and exploring.
Standing in front of some beech trees
While some of us climbed trees, some of us walked gracefully around and looked for identifying marks on trees and rocks and the like.
Our two youngest had fun getting out some energy. Is there anything better than the woods for what ails you?
We examined trees with odd growths on them.
There was quite the stand of broomsage, and the carpenter said he’d be sure to tell me when it’s green so that I can make a broom.
The Carpenter, who is an excellent woodsman and knows all of his trees, pointed out this and that. I told the children they had to listen carefully because they would be tested before we left to go home. We are homeschoolers after all. They laughed and ran off.
Well, not really. They listened to their daddy explain how this redbud had bloomed last year. You can tell because of the seed pods. He pointed out many a beech tree, silver and white maples, the eastern red cedar, sourwood and more. He talked about the trees like he knew them personally. I think they know him, too.
I love to see these HUGE quartz rocks!
We noticed a deer skull and wondered what had happened to the deer. It was interesting to look at the teeth. These are the molars and premolars.
An outing doesn’t have to be expensive. It doesn’t have to cost much of anything actually. This was just the cost of our brought-from-home food, and it was so much fun!
A great longing for the old days when the trees could talk in Narnia came over her. She knew exactly how each of these trees would talk if only she could wake them, and what sort of human form it would put on. She looked at a silver birch: it would have a soft, showery voice and would look like a slender girl, with hair blown all about her face, and fond of dancing. She looked at the oak: he would be a wizened, but hearty old man with frizzled beard and warts on his face and hands, and hair growing out of the warts. She looked at the beech under which she was standing. Ah!–she would be the best of all. She would be a gracious goddess, smooth and stately, the lady of the wood. Prince Caspian, The Chronicles of Narnia C.S. Lewis
By Lynn, on February 9th, 2011%
My dear readers, I was thankful for lovely words in my mind upon getting up this morning.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there by any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (Phil 4:8)
Good for copywork, I think.
Yesterday the weather here was really nice.
I took a walk in The Little Wild Garden. I admired Faithful, our dogwood, realizing that I have not journaled about her again and that I need to. Coming soon to a blog near you.
Much to my delight, there were snowdrops in bloom around the goldfish pond. Aren’t they sweet little flowers! I wandered over to see if the hellebores showed any signs of blooming. There is new growth, but no sign of a bloom yet.
The sun was so bright! The air was warm enough to turn the fountain on for the goldfish. My goldfish pond does not have a heater, so if it’s too cold (think ice) I can’t turn the pump on to run the water that climbs up through the fountain and runs back down. I do love that splashing sound.
The birdseed fills the feeder that hangs, of course, from Faithful’s branches. (Note to self: Journal soon about your dogwood. ) The birds make me happy while I’m typing.
I consoled myself (over the fact that here it is cold February, which sometimes can get a person down) knowing that there will soon be daffodils in bloom in The Little Wild Garden. The little neighbor girls will ask if they can have one.
I’ll say, “Yes, take two.”
They’ll make us all very happy.
Finally, friends, it is quite the chore keeping enough food for a crowd. Remind me. Is six a crowd? I thought so.
Anyway, I’ve been buying the organic broccoli that’s on sale locally and keeping it cut up for dipping in Newman’s Own Ranch Dressing (I could drink that stuff). I hate throwing out the broccoli stems, and yet they are rather tough and not as delicious as the crowns for dipping. I decided to cut them into chunks and then run them through the food processor with some sweet onion. Used in a recipe I have for broccoli quiche, with venison sausage, oh my did it turn out lovely! I went ahead and made four of them, because three boys gathered around the table can eat one whole quiche as a “snack.”
Broccoli Quiche – Meant to make one deep dish quiche
Pastry or shell for deep dish pie shell
1 to 1-1/3 cups half and half (I use 2% milk)
6 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
4 oz swiss cheese, grated
6 eggs, beaten until frothy
1 bunch fresh broccoli — steamed and chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup chopped cooked meat (in my case, venison sausage)
Combine all ingredients. Pour into uncooked pie shell(s). Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until done.
Now, I doubled this recipe, using only 12 eggs, 2-2/3 cups of milk, only cheddar cheese (no swiss)–and probably more of it than called for as far as cheese in total, and lots of venison sausage. It came out fine. I made four regular pie crust sized quiches (not four deep dish). The point is, I think this recipe can be altered quite a bit. You just need to have enough egg (and milk/moisture) to hold whatever else you’re putting in. Twelve eggs for four regular pie crusts worked out well, but I did have the added moisture of probably a cup and a half of broccoli and sweet onion for two of them.
Anyway, I am thankful today for food and the fact that I can easily walk, even, to a local fresh market and get good things.
I’m working on my goal to have 10 new things in the shop by the end of the day.
Enjoy this day.
By Lynn, on January 25th, 2011%
My dear friend Marqueta recently posted about her quest to follow one tree by observation and journaling for a year. The idea started with this blog (The Tree Year) and is being referred across the internet by friends as a great idea, so Michaela and I are going to take part as well.
The tree we have chosen is a dogwood tree. We are calling her Faithful. I love Marqueta’s idea to name the tree. Michaela and I will be journaling about her, taking pictures of her and learning about her. At a recent visit to the Scrap Exchange, I found a wonderful notebook that will be perfect for this endeavor.
Faithful’s lovely silhouette against a cold winter sky.
Her bark, which is medicinal, we hope to learn more about and actually use.
When I took off for my walk with Annie today, I carried a walking stick from a downed dogwood tree that the Carpenter found in the woods. It’s my favorite walking stick, but I suppose I take it for granted too, and where it came from.
Here is today’s journal entry:
The Dogwood ~ Our Tree Journal
begun on 01/25/2011
Our dogwood tree is in our front yard and is about 10 years old. It started as a tiny, tiny sapling brought home from Grandma and Grandpa’s woods.
I think we may take our tree for granted. It’s always there for us, holding a bird feeder, but do we really notice her?
I think we’ll name her Faithful. She was faithful to grow, against all odds. She faithfully blooms. She faithfully houses our feathered friends and gives them rest.
A few more pictures from today’s walk.
I love this little spot beside the railroad tracks.
Another beautiful spot where you can hear water and see (below the water’s surface) old tracks–train tracks?–that run underneath the current train trestle.
Enjoy what remains of the day.
By Lynn, on January 11th, 2011%
Good morning, dear friends! Let’s look at the pictures from yesterday’s walk. Bundling up and going out seems sometimes like the last thing anyone would want to do. After all, it is easy to become a chubby little mouse, snug in your mouse house with a plate of cheese and crackers and a cup of hot cocoa. Once you get your boots and coat and hat on, though, the outdoors is an exciting place to be!
When all is gray and cold, or white and cold, as the case may be, little things like this lichen surely jump out as a touch of color. Annie and I stopped and admired. Well, she sniffed a wrapper that someone had carelessly thrown onto the side of the road, but I did admire the beautiful lichen. (Mental note to self: A good service project for Michaela would be for us to pick up the trash around our block.)
Ah, what’s the story here? My eye immediately was caught by these bright red fruits, reminding me so much of one of the trees in my own yard. I stopped to investigate and take a picture, wondering if it indeed could be in the Euonymus genus of plants. Well, much to my surprise, later in the day I found out that my sweet friend, Marqueta, from a few states away had been out looking at and learning about the same plant! I was so excited to find that she had already figured out that it was winter creeper, something I did not know. From there, I looked up winter creeper on line and found that it is indeed in the Euonymus genus, Euonymus fortunei, native to Asia, while my Euonymus americanus is native to the U.S. Isn’t that truly interesting?
This huge puffball mushroom “smoked” when I touched it with a stick!
Rocks by the train tracks, moss, and pinecones made a pretty and interesting sight.
My first thought was a poor fairy house that had imploded, but no, ‘twould be a pumpkin that someone tossed into the woods and it has finally decayed to nearly an unrecognizable thing. There were other smaller pumpkins that still had their shape. (And you wondered how I knew.)
Did Annie not have the best time? She enjoyed using her nose, which is what hounds and beagles are known for, after all, and she loved getting some exercise with us!
Once back home, it’s a marvel that the goldfish continue to live and swim around under the ice. Makes me shiver to think of it.
Well, more pins going into the shop this morning, and more pins in the making. Doll house is taking up half the kitchen table so that I can work on it when I get a chance. Work calls today too, but hopefully that will go by fast so that I can get back to the fun stuff!
Enjoy this day.
By Lynn, on October 14th, 2010%
So, yeah, I’m running on fumes today. I was going to be so good and post last night, but at about 5:30 p.m. my third son was on a bike that decided to lose the chain and send him flying onto his wrist. Sometimes you wonder, “Is it broken?” But when the arm is deformed, you know it. It’s broken.
It was broken. Very broken. I’ve always wondered what an “obvious deformity” looked like after typing it all these years, but I can honestly say I did not want to see it on any of my children. Actually, I didn’t want to see it IRL on anyone, but I now know what it looks like.
It’s been a wet, rainy morning, which suits the mood around here. We got home at about 3:00 this morning, slips of paper in hand to remind us to schedule upcoming appointments. He may need surgery. He broke his radius and his ulna (both bones in the forearm), and even after heavy sedation and lots of pulling to try and set the bones, the bones don’t want to line up just right. They keep slipping.
It could have been worse. He could have landed on his head.
I do have updates I wanted to share, but it was only fitting to start with what’s been most pressing here for the last 24 hours. I have a picture of his arm on my phone, but I have no idea how to get it to here. If and when I figure that out I’ll be sure and share it (with a warning for the squeamish, of course).
Update#1 would be that The Adventures of Sarah Awswell has a bit of a change in its URL.
So here’s Quinn Ferrell popping in to remind you to update your link (hopefully this will be the only time you have to do this) so that you can follow the stories of these Orchard Elementary School kids. The link above is the current one.
Now, let’s talk about school.
Homeschool, that is. I owe you weeks worth of honest updates about what we have actually gotten done. Here goes.
Week 6
09/20 – 09/24/10
Read Betsy Ross chapters 13-16
Math – still reviewing (more to come on that)
Copywork #11, 12, 13
Spelling week 5 — #3, 4, 5
Spelling – Write all words from week 1-5
Cursive week 5 and week 6 work.
Alexander Hamilton and John Hancock bio/coloring pages to go on time line.
Watched a movie about Anne Frank (Again. A personal interest of Michaela’s.)
Daily violin practice
Violin lesson
09/23 — fieldtrip to Joel Lane House
Music lesson about Haydn and Bach to go with Revolutionary time period
State information page about Pennsylvania
Week 7*
09/27 – 10/1/2010
Read Betsy Ross chapter 17
Betsy Ross co-op on 09/30
Spelling week 6
Cursive week 7
Math — set up math center to work from.
Library trip
*I co-taught this week’s co-op and it was all about medicine in the 1700s. Our week was much taken up with that, so not much appears on the lesson plan sheet, but I feel that much was learned!
Daily violin practice
Violin lesson
Independent reading
Week 8
10/4 – 10/8/10
NC Museum of History 10/7 — Mt. Vernon exhibit
Math — Saxon 7/6 lesson 43
Created science poster using books from our home library and pictures from our large garden spider (Nature Study)
Learned about classification
Planned how our math center will work
Spelling week 7
Cursive week 8
Created creative writing blog with friend
Wrote her own “declaration”
Independent reading
So there you go. You see our weak spot, right? Does it just jump right out at you? Math. Why? Because I love to be involved in what she does with math. I want to know she got the lesson. On my work days it’s a challenge, so sometimes we dawdle around and don’t do a formal lesson. We do, however, have a white board that we go to to solve problem, review concepts and explain how real life math problems would be solved. In the past couple of weeks we have created a math center — a plastic bin with drawers full of manipulatives, books and worksheets so that some kind of math will get done every day, even if we do not do a formal lesson from the Saxon book, although it’s in the plans to do a Saxon lesson each day as well. I feel we’ve just been extremely slow getting going this year.
Annie continues to be my best friend while I work. Michaela snapped this picture of Annie curled up behind me while I was typing away. She does not look like she’d take too kindly to be picked up from here, does she? You’re right! She growls if you try to move her from this little spot. I do love that spoiled rotten, problem of a dog, Fatso Beagle Annie.
I’m off to get a nap now. I’m hoping to catch up on comments soon. I feel that life is in good order, even in spite of the broken arm situation. I’m thankful for what we are able to do.
By Lynn, on September 17th, 2010%
Would you care to join me by my little frugally-built pond?
We’ll sit side by side on the little bench and look through my Beyond Five In A Row book of lessons. We can have coffee and watch the goldfish.
Every Tuesday morning marks the beginning of three days off work for me. I always think I’ll get so much done, but then the days become a flurry of appointments, a violin lesson, a co-op or a fieldtrip, cleaning and menu planning, and, well, here we are at Friday morning again.
This Friday morning, I found my spot by the little goldfish pond to be a haven — I got some thinking done and, if nothing else, was able to clear my mind and relax enough to ease into a couple of work days.
Let’s look around and see what we can find for nature study.
What a very large slug! I told the carpenter about it and he said I should kill it. Oh. I cannot. Not like this. It’s a creature. The carpenter said that’s the whole reason we cannot have a garden. I love creatures too much. We do have a garden, but I’d hate to see us try and feed six people from it.
Not the prettiest of creatures, but fascinating for sure! Reminds me of a leopard and an elephant all wrapped up in one tiny little specimen.
There were butterflies everywhere this morning! I counted about 20 on the front of the house! They were fluttering all around the garden. They were landing on my dress. I had four on the front of my dress at one time! My mother said it was supposed to be good luck to have a butterfly land on you, not that we are superstitious or anything, but when it comes to creatures…
It seems the perfect morning for nature study, and we have just enough time to get in a little lesson.
I believe the butterflies must think they’ve moved into a Shabby Chic economy apartment. You can see the old quilt through the plastic. I mean, who’s to say they don’t just dig their new home? They certainly are coming around. Anyhoo…
Butterflies love tiny bits of water. Where little drops splash out onto rocks, where little drops are hiding in leaves, where rocks in a potted water plant are moist from the pond water, that’s where the butterflies will be.
This sweet little buttefly looks like she’s looking right at me. I’m not sure if she’s upset or glad to see me. I think she’s glad because she sat very still for several photos.
Well, come to think of it, she looks a bit mad. Maybe she wants her shabby chic home all to herself.
Enjoy this day! More later on our nature studies, our math program, and our Five in a Row co-ops on Betsy Ross.
By Lynn, on August 18th, 2010%
The mornings are still hot. Even when we first wake up, we are met at the door with North Carolina’s humid, heavy summer air. Still, I know that September mornings, and then the cooler mornings of October, are not far away.
The morning sun was causing my green tea to absolutely gleam in its little Japanese cup yesterday as I started the day. I thought of school, how I live my life, household things that needed to be done, and getting some “Mother Culture” in for myself during my days off.
Time surely flies. Yesterday is over now, and here I sit, this morning with a cup of coffee, wondering again how to order my day.
Tomorrow’s our first co-op of the school year. I hope to do a school post soon about how we’ll use Beyond Five In A Row, Ambleside, and the other eclectic sorts of things I tend to do around here.
One thing I can tell you is that we have five huge “Charlottes” (writing spiders) now. You can be sure that our science and nature journaling will begin with these amazing spiders.
Argiope aurantia with a cicada (if that tells you how big the spider is).
By admin, on May 25th, 2010%
Strictly Wildflowers. One of my favorite chapters in Karen Andreola’s Pocketful of Pinecones.
There were buttercups, purple vetch, oxeye daisies, white yarrow, yellow and orange hawkweed, honeysuckle, and yellow mustard. A spittlebug was hiding in its lump of bubbles along the stem of the hawkweed. I picked off a leaf and rolled it up to poke at the bubbles, revealing to Don and Emily the shiny little bug inside it. Don drew the spittlebug and Emily drew the daisies.
Currently in the garden, on the lavender and on other plants as well, we have the spittlebug. Dishes, dust and dirty clothes call out to me. My computer — and all the fun therein, calls to me, but the spittlebug’s call is louder. Or, at least, it should be.
One of most vital requirements of a healthy homeschool is action. I am convicted many days because of my habit of spending too much time on line or occupying myself with things that are not feeding Michaela’s mind or heart. We’ll hearken more to the call of the spittlebug and the wasp and the gentle education that occurs with a notepad, a basket of colored pencils and nature.
Nature’s colors are real. Her lessons are enduring. There’s a time and a place for everything.
See you in the garden.
By admin, on October 27th, 2009%
We are surrounded by the colors that are fall in our own little yard year after year.
There’s an abundance of seeds in the garden, signaling both the end of the harvest and the promise that there’ll be new plants in the spring.
There’s a beauty to the end of life that is apparent in the garden — another lesson that God has nestled into his creation, if we’ll only take the time to look.
Not much beauty in the outward appearance of these pods, but inside are shiny, hard, beautiful seeds that feel sleek and full of life in one’s hands.
The coolness of fall has given some plants exactly what they need to produce a final spurt of growth, giving us just a bit more of the taste of the bounty of the garden before she goes to sleep for the winter.
Michaela and I have loved reading Farmer Boy and we smile at our own tiny garden and what we consider large work when we think of Almanzo.
The little red seeds that Almanzo and Alice planted had grown into two hundred bushels of carrots. Mother could cook all she wanted, and the horses and cows could eat raw carrots all winter.
Annie loves the cool fall days, running around the garden and enjoying being a puppy who’s the center of everyone’s attention.
I love the colors of nature. I love the mystery of every single plant. What it is capable of? What can it be used for?
The amazignly tall lamb’s quarter is hanging full of seeds. They are quite lovely.
Fall — caught between summer and winter, fullness and death. There’s no lack of color in fall and no lack of interesting artifacts for children’s pockets and mother’s basket.
Though early spring is the violet’s normal showtime, this little violet has decided to bloom in the fall. Nearly covered by leaves, her bright color jumped out immediately, letting us know she was there.
Under the arugula, a little brown snake was coiled up, perhaps thinking about where to spend the soon-to-come cold months of winter.
We are enjoying the slow-down feeling of autumn here and our leaf-gathering walks. Michaela has found some huge leaves to press. She has discovered that they are sycamore leaves.
Farmer Boy has been the perfect read aloud as we entered autumn. It has made us very hungry each night at bedtime,  but also filled us with ideas for upcoming holidays and family gatherings. It has reaffirmed my interest in eating as much as possible from one’s own land and the bountry of nature.
When Alice came home from school she smelled Almanzo, and she cried out, “Oh, you’ve been eating wintergreen berries!
…they went on their hands and knees all over those south slopes, and they ate wintergreen berries all afternoon.
Almanzo brought home a pailful of the thick, green leaves, and Alice crammed them into a big bottle. Mother filled the bottle with whisky and set it away. That was her wintergreen flavoring for cakes and cookies.
May you have a wonderful October Tuesday.
Lynn
By admin, on October 19th, 2009%
‘The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. ” Psalm 19:1
When I was a teenager we had a friend visiting from the mountains. In driving around our county I was commenting on the beauty of it all. My mother seemed a bit embarassed and noted that our friend, having come from the mountains, was from a place where the land really was beautiful. While I did see her point, I didn’t agree at all that the mountains were any more beautiful than the sandy soil, scrubby oaks, pine trees, and blue skies where I had grown up.
I used to kneel down in the woods behind our house and marvel at the soldier moss growing at the foot of one of our oaks. The sandy trail that cut through our woods looked like a secret path to me, and I often saw snakes and birds sitting in the trees, looking at me as I walked on tip-toe trying to be really quiet like the Indians would have been. We had a montrous tangle of blackbeery bushes that offered up many blackberry cobblers through the years. I felt rich.
It is humbling to think of the beauty God has put around us to enjoy. I went outside this morning and sat in the morning sun with a cup of water infused with a few drops of Ashwagandha. (I think my adrenals are struggling, but that’s another post for another day.)
The sun on my face felt so wonderful and Annie enjoyed running around in the garden. Over the weekend I went on a foraging walk and gathered many rosehips for winter teas. They are currently drying in a sunny, upstairs window.
I woke up this morning so renewed and encouraged that Nature Study is a vital and easy thing to undertake. Michaela’s first lesson today will be outside. I may even have her continue there, but it’s cold. We’ll see how warm it gets. She’s been admiring the art in a new picture book here and I think I’ll have her experiment with the method of illustration done in the book. It appears to be black outlining filled in with colored pencils. I am hopeful that it will make a lovely start to Michaela’s Monday. Surrounded by the beauty of falling yellow leaves, purple poke berries and bright nasturtium flowers, I don’t see how a bit of nature can escape from ending up in her drawing.
I thought you might enjoy Charlotte Mason’s thoughts on sunshine, from Vol 1. of Home Education, pp 34-35:
But it is not only air, and pure air, the children must have if their blood is to be of the ‘finest quality,’ as the advertisements have it. Quite healthy blood is exceedingly rich in minute, red disc-like bodies, known as red corpuscles, which in favourable circumstances are produced freely in the blood itself. Now, it is observed that people who live much in the sunshine are of a ruddy countenance–that is, a great many of these red corpuscles are present in their blood; while the poor souls who live in cellars and sunless alleys have skins the colour of whity-brown paper. Therefore, it is concluded that light and sunshine are favourable to the production of red corpuscles in the blood; and, therefore–to this next ‘therefore’ is but a step for the mother–the children’s rooms should be on the sunny side of the house, with a south aspect if possible. Indeed, the whole house should be kept light and bright for their sakes; trees and outbuildings that obstruct the sunshine and make the chidlren’s rooms dull should be removed without hesitation.
With curtains open and rosehips drying in the windowsill, I’m busy working today and handing out school lessons from my work desk. The tea kettle is whistling. Enjoy this day.
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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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