Fall Break Nov. 12-19, 2017

Fall Break 

Nov. 12-19, 2017

Ailing Carrie in my kitchen sink.

Hello Friends!

Agnes, she enjoys it when I put layer after of layer of warmth on her!  She loves it!

It has been a good break so far, we needed some time off our books.  Friday, Dd and Dh drove to Indiana for part of their break.  I stayed home to care for our critters and give them some time to make their own memories.  Dd doesn't get much time to have Dh all to herself very often.

Chickens:

Carrie, one of my Black Sex Link hens has diarrhea and has been not coming when I'm feeding the other chickens---another words she has been acting really odd and not being a part of the flock.  

It feels like an egg is inside her, but she isn't laying.  It is a waiting game now--either she will lay this egg or she probably won't make it?!?

I tried separating her a few times a day to feed her extra good food, but that didn't seem to help her any.

Here is Carrie in the tractor.  I hoped being in the good dirt would help her, but it didn't seem to help any.

  Friday I brought her inside our house and have been keeping her inside an extra large doggy crate.  

Due to her diarrhea, her back (bum) feathers have been getting gross each day, so I have been giving her a good warm bath in the sink each day to get her hygiene back up to speck. 

 I'm not sure what I am going to do if she doesn't improve.  But, at least I know I am doing everything I can to help her.  I've bought a pro-biotic mix to put in her water.  I've put apple cider vinegar in her water too.  I'm trying everything I've picked up from watching YouTube video's on chickens with diarrhea.

Chicken Tractors:

Dh put the two chicken tractors in our garden and we've been letting the chickens have some time digging up the soil and eating the earthworms.  

They love dirt!

Eggs:

The chickens have been laying very well; perhaps better than the summer.  I've had to use the heat bulbs most nights; especially because of all the rain that we've got almost every day.  They would be fine if they weren't already wet.

The two little white eggs are from Ms. Lemon, our Bantam hen.

Garden:

I picked the last greens and I think I am done for the year. 

 The chickens picked off a bunch of kale when they were in the tractors.  I think I may get one serving of the other Dinosaur kale, but it is pretty much done.  It was my best year so far.

Honeysuckle:

We had both kittens "fixed" at the vet last week.  Honeysuckle had a big bump, the size of an apricot, beside her incision.  

The vet said it is b/c she has been too active; kind of like a blister--fluid is building up from all the friction.  I asked for some sedative for her; she is just to wild to sit still.  The meds seem to be helping.  Dickens is doing great, no worries there.

Fall is coming to an end...the leaves are down and the color is fading.

On Sunday, after church and Sunday School, in the evening for youth group, Dd and the group went to an apartment complex where a few members of our church reside, and they decorated the place for Christmas and sang carols to many residents.  

Monday and Tuesday Dh had off.  They had a lot of fun together here in Michigan.  Monday, they got all layered up and went out in the woods and found a good place to sit and watch for deer.  They enjoyed hiking around the woods.  They sat out there for hours but didn't see any deer while they were out there.  Dh did see about five deer before they headed out.  On Tuesday they layered up again, but this time they were sighting in Dh's new rifle.  Dh bought a new scope for my .22 and sighted that one in with Dd shooting.  It's funny, we have been seeing deer practically every day, but of course, they didn't see any when they were mock hunting.  Dd would have to take Hunter's Training course before she could hunt in Michigan, and they have already finished the classes at least a month ago, so she can't go hunting here.  Indiana doesn't have Hunter's Training course, so we are trying to figure out all the rules that Michigan has that Indiana doesn't.

Dd tried to make a cinnamon bread dish, one that I could eat too---a Gluten Free one.  I guess the bread doesn't rise if there isn't gluten?!!  So, she tried really, really hard, and used a lot of my almond flour, but it was pretty much un-eatable!  The chickens loved it though!

Dd was successful making a double layered yellow lemon cake with a cream cheese and lemon frosting.  That one had gluten, so I didn't try it.  She was feeling like a proper baker this week!

All Dd's regular classes were still scheduled and she did fine in all her activities; which will be her academics for the week:

Music Classes:

Violin Lesson with Christie: 45 minutes

Intermediate Orchestra: violin: 1:30 hours

Piano Lesson with Wendy: 30 minutes

Intermediate Band: Alto sax: 1:30 minutes

Strings Group: Ukulele

Three deer in front of our pool!

Church:

Church, Sunday School, Youth Group, Volunteer: Games Wed. Olympians, Strings Group on Thursday.

Grace Classes:

Painting Studio: Dd finished an oil painting for Dh and me

Botany drawing class

Saxon Geometry Math Class

Friday--Dh picked Dd up from her classes and they drove down to Indiana.  Dd did a lot of the driving.

Next week is going to be another 'Fall Break' for us.  We are enjoying our time off!!

This is one of those great moments when your kid is acting like a kid and not looking or acting grown up...I had to get a cute photo!  Dickens, of course, could not resist the clean kitty litter, not even a few seconds!  

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Link to Book List for Core H: Part 2/2 World History

Core H booklist link:
Here is the link to see the completed book list for Core H: 
click here: https://fleurdelisacademy.blogspot.com/search?q=core+h+book+list

Core H: 
It took us 60 weeks to complete Sonlight's 36-week course.  We took our time and went at our pace, and added in books to round it out.  

Start & Finish dates: 
Sept. 19, 2016 to Nov. 10, 2017

I thought I'd spice up this visually empty post with an old drawing that Dd did for my Valentine card a few years ago.  She knows how much I adore birds!

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SL Core H Weeks 33-36 Nov. 5-11, 2017 Completed Core H; Kittens Neutered

SL Core H Weeks 33-36 

Nov. 5-11, 2017 

Completed Core H - 60 Weeks!

Kittens Neutered

Hello, Friends!

Dd finished up Core H a little early, it took us 60 weeks this core.  We will continue listening to Story of the World (SOTW) while driving and should catch-up eventually!  Besides SOTW she has completed the core.  I want to focus on Apologia's Biology and IEW for the next few weeks before we start Core 100.  November is the month that Dh takes his vacation time, to go hunting or just being out in the woods, and I want Dd to have every opportunity to be with him as much as she can.  His work keeps him so busy and he often doesn't get home until 7:30 or later each day so she never gets enough time with him and is rightly excited to see a lot more of him this month.  I'm going to keep our lessons fairly light so she won't have to do as much homework and can go with him.  

Garden:

I brought in the remaining five Brussel Sprouts.  I cut off the Brussel Sprouts-for us, cut off the leaves--chopped those leaves off and fed it to the chickens, and composted the 'trunk.'  Boy, that took me two days to get through all that chopping and cutting! 

Look at all the greens, for the chickens to eat, from harvesting five of the Brussel sprout plants (I'd done the sixth one last week.).

 I also harvested the six purple cabbage plants, cutting off the rough outer leaves, chopping into small pieces and fed to our chickens.  I found quite a few green beans that had fallen off the plants and chopped them down to feed to the chickens.  There was SO much food for the chickens I bagged up some gallon ziplock bags and stored in the refrigerator to spread out over the week.  

Dh read that if you leave your carrots, beets, turnips in the ground until after the first frost they are supposed to be sweeter when you pull them up.  

The carrots grew well in our Michigan garden.  We didn't have very much luck in Indiana, so I didn't plant very many here.  I've been testing various plants to see what will grow here and haven't found anything that hasn't grown well here; which is terrific.  

Fox!:

We came home from church, driving up the back drive and guess what we saw right in front of our chicken run? An adult fox just standing there staring in at our chickens!!!  I quickly got all the chickens into the 'inner sanctum' where they are protected on all sides.  I kept the chickens in the top run all week and made sure to check on them throughout each day.  The freezing temperatures also ensured they spent more time inside their inner coop that is inside the barn.  I kept them locked inside for 90% of the day a few times this week; it was just too cold for them to be out.  I got out our wheelbarrow and collected more big rocks to place around our perimeter, hoping to keep the fox from trying to dig under our fences.  We are in the middle of woods so I know our flock is always in danger.  One of the families that go to our church heard a report from their neighbor that they saw a momma bear and her two young bear cubs on their property this fall, so we know there are bears around here as well as fox.  I'd rather run into a fox than a bear any day! 

With each step, the chickens got more and more food!  

I cut off the tops of the carrots and beets; blanched, cut into cubes, froze on a cookie sheet, put frozen cubes into freezer bags.

Frozen carrot and turnip slices, before I put them in freezer bags.

Chickens:

One of our bigger black (Black Sex Link) chickens has been acting very odd.  When I bring in new bowls of greens all the chickens always run to me and surround me, with the exception of this one girl, who keeps staying to herself??  I've separated her a few times this week to give her extra food.  I'm keeping a concerned eye on her.  

Celery greens in a snack-size baggy, then put in a gallon baggy.

Miss Lemon- Bantam hen:

Ever since our ducks left, our smallest hen, Miss Lemon has been laying an egg a day!  She went all summer without laying any eggs, but now that the boys are gone she is back to laying!?!  I'm glad she is laying, but still don't exactly understand why.

Dh & Dd hiking and sitting out for deer:

It's that time of year again!  They have been enjoying going into our woods to find good sitting spots to see how many deer they can see.  Michigan has a rule (unlike Indiana) that you have to take and pass a Hunter's Safety class before they will issue you a huntings license.  But, I believe it is too late in the year for Dd to enroll in any of the courses, as they were offered in Sept./ Oct., luckily Dh took such a course in Missouri, years back, and was able to get a copy of his certificate via email.  This year there is a small chance that Dh might try to do some hunting here in Michigan, as well as on his family farm in Indiana.  Dd says she will be going along with him this year too.  We are very curious to see if she has the stomach for hunting.  It is one thing to say you'd be able to hunt, and quite another to watch a deer die in front of you.  He is being very supportive of her, and I suppose by the end of the season we will know just how serious she really is about wanting to hunt with her father.

Fort building:

Dh & Dd built two forts, or 'blinds' built out of downed branches out in our woods this week.  Building these forts are usually my favorite thing to do during hunting season!

Friday: Girl's Club:

The Girl's Club met up again this month to make and decorate Christmas cookies!  The girls had a great time together.

From this to this--the chickens scored on the old outer leaves!  Luckily, they love eating cabbage!

Unpacking:

June marked two years we've been in our new home and yet we still have furniture and boxes packed.  I think we will never have a spot for our old big deskI've actually made some big progress on unpacking our boxes this past week!  I think I unpacked about seven boxes or more. When I packed up our things in Indiana I must have used Dh's robe to cushion something and not marked it on the outside of the box.  This is his fourth fall without his warm snuggly green robe!  I've been searching every box that might have his robe inside!  No luck.  I'll keep looking! Due to hunting season getting close I have been up in attic finding all the hunting boxes and getting them free for Dh to go through.  

Wrap-up of Canning:

I've boxed up all our remaining jars, lids, and gear from our successful canning season and brought all of it back up to the attic and out of the kitchen!  Boy, our kitchen feels so much bigger without all those towers of jars!  I still had about 40 jars that I could have used!  I'd rather have too many than not enough jars!  I'm ready for next year!!!  I feel like this is really the year that I've become a fully functioning gardener---from planting to maintaining, to harvesting and preserving all our produce!  So thankful for such a great husband who has taught me so much about how to do all that---plus youtube and the endless amount of video tutorials!  This year I did a lot of blanching and freezing too.

Kittens to Vet for Spay and Neutering:

Honeysuckle and Dickens both spent the night at the vet's this week.  They were so loud and fussy the vet suggested I come and get them hours before I planned on picking them up b/c they were so "vocal" and she called Dickens a "drama queen!"  They are doing great.  I paid extra to have our vet do the procedure, instead of the cheaper places, as I wanted to make sure they were taken care of with as much care as I could find.  So glad they are free and clear!

Fall Chores:

I got two of the three gutters on our house cleaned out this week.  we are surrounded by trees and our gutters get full every few months! I scrubbed out the extra three waterers I had all around the chicken runs during the warm months, we won't have our plastic waterers outside now that it is freezing--they would crack, so now they will be stowed away inside until the warm weather returns in the spring.  Dh and I defrosted our big stand-up freezer.  It was quite a job!  We found some old soups that didn't get eaten, so now our chickens will be the beneficiaries of them!  Happily!

Electric Bills--Unplugged old refrigerator:

I finally plucked up the courage to ask our favorite neighbors how much their electric bills run; which I was afraid might be too personal, but turned out to be easy-peasy.  Their bills have run between $104 (Sept) and $150 as their highest of the year.  Our's run between $240-$450, so we do have a reason for concern.  We've been trying to figure out exactly why our monthly electric bill is SO expensive, and have called our electric company (Consumer's Energy) and they have repeatedly given me no help.  I've even said I would pay to find out what our problem is, and they still have no suggestions other than unplugging any old refrigerators---which we have now done. I have no clue how to drill down on this problem.  In Indiana, we usually had $50-$100 monthly charges, so I don't understand how Michigan can be so much more expensive!  We don't use our dryer all the warmer months, we've just started back using our it these past two weeks.  We don't use an electric dishwasher--I just do them up myself in the sink.  We only used our air conditioner about four weeks this summer, but I'm afraid running our pool must run a few hundred dollars by itself each month.  Oh well, I hope we can figure something out to stop this hole in our savings stocking!

A very busy week!  Dh took Friday off to spend getting ready for deer season.  We all went with him to Cabela's and other hunting stores as he begins getting ready.  It is fun seeing all the stores and the new things for the year.  This will go down as a 'just the basic's' kind of academic week!  She only had two books left to finish Core H, and that didn't take her the whole week.

Due to some attitude last week, Dd had the whole week off from computers and phones.  She did watch some shows with us, but no texting or chatting.

Bible:

We are continuing on with reading the New Testament with the help of the Integrated Bible that tells us the order so I can read that with our Bible.

Jesus Heals the BLind and the Mute: Matt 9:27-34, Matt 13:54, 

A Prophet Without Honor: Mark 6:-12, Luke 4:16-17, Matt 13:55-58, Mark 6:3-6, Luke 4:18-27

The Workers Are Few, Jesus Sends Out the Twelve: Matt 9:35-10:4, Mark 6:6-7, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 4:28-30-0:1

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve: Luke 9:1, Luke 6:14-16, Acts 1:13, Matt 10:5-33, Mark 6:8-11, Luke 9:2-5, Matt 10:34-42

Jesus and John the Baptist: Matt 11:1, 14:1-4, Mark 6:12-13

John the Baptist Beheaded: Mark 6: 14-18, Luke 9:6-9, 3:19-20, Matt 14:5-12, Mark 6:19-29

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand: Matt 14:13-21

Church:

Church, Sunday School, Youth Group, Strings Group (we finally got back!), Volunteering for Games portion of Olympians program.

We have been selling eggs--3 to 5 dozen a week; $2 each

Core H: SL's Bible:
Daring to Live Life on the Edge: Ch 15: Completed

History:

SOTW: Story of the World Vol 4 The Modern Age: (Audio while driving)
Ch's 12-20: 12: Unhappy Unions- Ireland's Troubles, The Boers and the British

13: The Old-Fashioned Emperor and the Red Sultan, Brazil's Republic, Abdulhamid the Red

14: Two Czars and Two Emperors: The Next-to-Last Czar of Russia, Ethiopia, and Italy

15: Small Countries With Large Invaders, The Korean Battleground, The Spanish-American War

16: The Expanding United States; Moving West; Stocks, Philanthropists, and Outlaws

17: China's Troubles; The Boxer Rebellion; The Czar and the Admiral

19: China, Vietnam--and France: The Last Emperor; The Vietnamese Restoration Society

20: Revolution In the Americas...War In the World; The Mexican Revolution, World War 1

Math:

Saxon Geometry through Grace Academy:

Lessons 32-35

(Still not getting much from her teacher...)

BiblioPlan Companion of Early Modern History
Ch 14: Japan, the Salem Witch Trials: We had read the Japan section two weeks ago, this week we finished up the chapter by reading about the Salem Witch Trials.

Core H: Read Aloud's: 

I Am David by Anne Holm: Completed

Fun Reading:

Cinder by Marissa Meyer: Completed

Life and Death by Stephanie Meyer: In Process

Science: 

Apologia Biology, I bought the Instructional DVD set, the one that is 20 hours of viewing, with mini-lessons on each module.  We started watching Module One this week!  I liked it!  I'm glad we are starting this super exciting subject!  I'm more excited than Dd, but, when am I not!!

Grace Classes:
Painting Studio: 2:00 hours

Botany Art class: 1:30 hours

Saxon Geometry: 2:00 hours

Sewing:

Dd taught Dh how to run the sewing machine!  Dh is taking some of his old clothes and making some sort of camouflage blind blanket, type of thing, for hunting.

Music Classes:

Violin lessons with Christie: 30 min

Intermediate Orchestra, violin: 1:30 hours

Piano with Wendy: 30 min

Intermediate Band, Alto Sax: 1:30

Strings Group: ukulele: 1:30 at church

Plus she practices her sax, violin, and piano about 2:30 hours each per week.

Next week: 
Dh has Mon. and Tues. off---so Dd will get plenty of time with him!  They will spend as much time as they can out in the woods figuring things out.  I think Dd wants to do some target shooting too.  I'm going to let things unfold and not add much to her schedule.  She is almost done with another painting in her painting class and still working on her Narnian Aslan painting at home.  

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