out_of_the_ordinary

12+ years ago, I planted oregano in my raised garden bed.  It spread.   When DH's mows the yard, there is a strong odor of oregano.        There's worse things to have through your yard.  

Jeepers,  I store mine in the packets the seeds come in, in airtight containers--like the wide mouth canning jars.   Freezer and fridge space is at a premium here, so I don't store seeds there.  

Seed Savers Exchange says  https://seedsavers.org/learn/seed-saving/

Know how to store seeds

Seeds are happiest when they are stored in a cool, dark, and dry place. A dark closet in a cooler part of the house or a dry, cool basement are both good spaces to store seeds for a year or two. Once properly dried, seeds can also be sealed in airtight containers and stored in the refrigerator or freezer for several years. The seeds of some crops are naturally longer lived. Tomato seeds and beans can be left for many years in adequate storage conditions, while onion and carrot seeds are notoriously short-lived.

Momo, 

I hope you have a better day tomorrow. 

LittleSister, my DD wouldn't take a bottle, either.   I asked my doula about it and she said some breastfed babies just refuse bottles, they want the milk straight from mama.   I didn't blame DD one bit!  The few times I tried pumping milk, I hated it and cried, too...I wanted to cuddle my baby, not have plastic hooked up to me.    People told me that everyone pumped and my baby HAD to learn to drink from a bottle.   They were wrong; we did fine without.  We were never separated, though.  

Happy Birthday, Kappy!

Happy Birthday, Cat! 

We use Simply Charlotte Mason's Spelling Wisdom and Using Language Well.  It is a good fit for us.   We also love the Picture Study Portfolios.   I haven't looked much into their history.   

I like that you have another homeschool generation in your family!

Food in my state isn't taxed unless it is snack/junk food or things like pop (soda).   We also don't have a tax on clothing here.   Everything else--Pennsylvania will tax your last dime. 

Baggers make less than the cashiers, so having baggers usually is the less expensive option for busy stores as they are paying the cashier to do one job, not the cashier's job and a bagger's job.   I hope that makes sense.

Stores aren't going to change things to cut costs for the consumers unless they are losing business to stores who are doing those things.  It is the free market.    People vote with their dollars.   

Same with Made in USA vs. Made in China.  People say more stuff should be manufactured in the USA.   Manufacturing in the  USA is much more expensive...people are paid wages, benefits, ect;  business taxes and regulations; environmental regulations....all is passed on in the cost of a product.   Again, people vote with their dollars. 

20 hours ago, Littlesister said:

I think the price of groceries at some point need to be regulated. It's almost like a free for all, Ok groceries cost this much today so let's up the price some more. Starting to feel like it is like the gas stations. They do like to milk it sometimes. Rising prices are every week and no end in site. What I bought today will be higher in price next week. 

Respectfully, I disagree.   We don't want MORE government regulation!  Production costs are up and the stores and farmers can't just eat that cost.    One of the grocery stores around here is now starting baggers off at over $17/hour (and still can't get workers).   Their rising cost of just trying to employe people is being passed on to the consumer (among other rising costs). 

Blessedhomemaker,  I would say we are eclectic, too.   Biblical/Providential and Charlotte Mason. 

Do you try out Mystery of History this year?

I bought the Life of Fred books last summer for after we finish level 6 of Ray's for Today.   I kept going back and forth between LOF and MathUSee, but finally settled on LOF as I did not want something internet nor electric dependent.

I'm not crafty.  We've done crafts using empty toilet paper rolls and construction paper, though.  Wow, is there a lot online to look at for toilet paper roll crafts for kids!   For art, we do Picture Study Portfolios and we've been using Draw Write Now books.  

For bird books, DD was very excited to read Bird Watchers & Bird Feeders by Glenn Blough.  It was orginally published in the 1960s, but has been reprinted.  https://www.purplehousepress.com/collections/nature-study-library/products/bird-feeders-and-bird-watchers?variant=39713799078053

I'm thankful for small publishers reprinting older books!  

You're welcome.   The Learning About Birds with Thornton Burgess we used with the book is here https://simplycharlottemason.com/store/learning-about-birds-with-thornton-burgess/

Simply Charlotte Mason's page has a book list for everything needed.  The book Blacky the Crow by Thornton Burgess was part of that.  We read it.  While we very much enjoy Thornton Burgess books, he doesn't portray hunters in a friendly light...at all.  We've skipped his books Lightfoot the Deer and The Adventures of Poor Mrs. Quack because hunters are a main part of the story.  With the couple chapters about duck hunting in Blacky the Crow,  I used it as an opportunity to discuss with my DD how some people view hunting.     DD was quick to point out that maybe the hunter had a family to feed.   We are a hunting family and have read other books where families depend on what a hunter brings home for food (like the Little House books). 

Mother,  info on various reprints of The Burgess Bird Book for Children and a link to the free online text of it can be found https://www.biblioguides.com/pub/book/the-burgess-bird-book-for-children.

We have the Yesterday's Classics version.

For identifying birds by sight and sound, we used/continue to use https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/

That site isn't just for kids.

Outside of the unhappy relatives, that pediatrician's office has been the only place anyone has given me a hard time about homeschooling.   We no longer go there.       That was before 2020, so maybe they've changed their opinion since then. 

At the time,  I was confused because I thought preschool was for 4 year olds.   At 2, she was still in diapers.     Anyway, DH had coworkers with kids around DD's age at the time and they went to "school", but it seemed like it was actually daycare with educational activities (you'd think daycare would offer educational activities anyway?) and it was called "school".  

Euphrasyne,  I'm glad your little DD is doing well!   

When my DD was 3, we just played and I read to her a lot.  Like Mother said, it is amazing what they learn.   I still can't figure out where all of DD's energy as a toddler came from.   Especially after she decided nap time was no longer a thing.   I still needed nap time. 

The pediatrician's office started giving us a hard time about homeschooling when DD was 2.  That's not a typo.  I couldn't believe that they already wanted her in a preschool at 2!   

Thanks, Mother.   I am wondering with her, if it is a matter of "I'd rather be doing A, instead of B."   It was an adjustment time at the beginning of our school year as she would rather play than do lessons and it ended up me having to say "No playing with toys until the lessons are done for the day."  There was grumbling for a few days;  a week later "lessons, then play" was acceptable to her.  

We've done 2 years of bird studies, one using  Simply Charlotte Mason's  Learning About Birds with Thornton Burgess--the main "text" was The Burgess Bird Book for Children, and also used a Dover bird coloring book, The Handbook of Nature Study,  bird identification/field guides for our area and a neat website with bird pictures and calls.  We've read The Burgess Bird Book for Children as a readaloud several times since we all enjoy it.   Last year, we did Apologia's Exploring Creation: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day.   She has a bird watching log that she continues to add to.  This year, we are doing botany for science (which she likes....I thought she would since she likes gardening and flowers and plants);  I try to select things I think she would be interested in. 

The birds at the feeders ARE interesting....there's a fiesty tufted titmouse that puffs out and wants to fight everyone--except the redbellied woodpeckers...nobody messes with those beaks!  and another tufted titmouse we've nicknamed "Picky".  Picky picks up seeds and tosses all those he doesn't want to the ground until he finds one he wants.   We make sure to catch the late afternoon feeding frenzy time--must be supper for everyone.   Birds are coming in and out all day.  She does have times to watch.   The other day I assigned her 10 math problems to work on while I was straining bone broth.   She did 2 problems and then went to the window to check on the birds and forgot all about math. 

DH is hands on with her and tries to include her in the things he is doing.  For the project he was working on on the house, he was up on a ladder and doing things that would have been dangerous for her to be out there with him.  He dropped several things as it was!   Things at his current job are not going well.   Half of his department was laid off last month.   The job he will be switching to is for a very, very demanding company that he worked for in the past.  Even with him working from home some, it will be long hours of him needing to do the work, and lots of phone calls and video meetings.    I'm not exactly thrilled about this career move, but there aren't many options currently.  And he feels that is where God is telling him to go.    The bright spot is the pay.   We all know what the economy is right now and what things may be looking like for this year. 

How is your homeschool year going?  

Anything new this year that you love or hate or just isn't a good fit?

We've stuck with mostly the same curriculum, just the next levels, so no problems there.  

I'm struggling a little to keep DD on task.  All those birds at the feeders have been quite the distraction.   DH was off over the holidays.  While he was busy with a project he is working on,  DD was more interested in what he was doing than focusing on lessons.   It looks like he is going to have a job change in the near future and will be working some from home, so that will be another change to adapt to.  

Happy Birthday, Mother! 

Miki, I feel whiny come summertime.   I don't do well in heat and humidity that we get here;  I can't imagine your summers.

It is sleeting here.  

Cat,    it is so good to see you here again!   I'm so glad you are back!!

Jeepers, do you know how to shut the water off for your house?   Where your main valve is? 

Shut that off.

Then shut off the water going to the toilet tank, flush the toilet,  flush again....no water in tank or bowl.

Open up faucets to let the water in the lines drain.  Shut faucets off after water stops coming out. 

Then, if you do lose power there's not water flooding the house. 

edited to add: There would still be water in things like your hot water heater and some in the drain lines, but you wouldn't have the flooding issues you had before.

Happy Birthday, Snowmom! 

Welcome back, Cat. 

Happy Birthday, Dee!