SL Core 100 Week 15 F June 3-9, 2018 Cello Lesson, Poppies Blooming, Book Sale Prep

SL Core 100 Week 15 F 

June 3-9, 2018 

Cello Lesson, Poppies Blooming, Book Sale Prep, Pool Cover Off, Dog?

Hello Friends,
It seems like my blog to post our academic progress is more of a sharing thing right now since Dd is in a bit of a funk.  Now that Dd is 16  years old I can see the finish line in sight and also feel compelled to document more of our days together as I know I won't always get to spend so much time with her in the future. 

 

Cello:

Dd's cello lessons started this week.  All year she asked if she could try one month of cello lessons in the summer to see if she likes playing it as much as she thinks she might like playing it. She didn't want to do this while she was taking all her other lessons during the school year.  She had tried the Viola last fall for about a month and soon realized she liked the violin better but was glad she took the time to try it out and give it a chance.  We've scheduled a month of lessons with a new instructor, as our violin teacher, Christie, doesn't do the cello, unfortunately. Christie was able to teach Dd the weeks she was trying out the viola and we appreciate how well she fits with our personalities.  Dd's new cello teacher, Lucy, is doing a good job, but Christie is simply a perfect fit for us. 




On Monday, I got the lesson times all messed up and we ended up having to stay in GR all day.  I thought Dd's cello lesson was scheduled for 10:30 am, but it wasn't actually until 3:30pm.  Her violin lesson was 12:30 so we didn't have time to go back home so we had to wait two hours.  The employee's at Meyer Music laughed along "with" me at my mix up!  Dd and I did have a lot of fun going to stores we don't normally go into---like World Market and Tuesday Morning.  Then she showed me a store I didn't know---Five Below.  After her cello lesson, we had to do our grocery shopping; we didn't get home to dinner time. 

Garden:

The major heat from last week passed and I wanted to take advantage of the cooler and cloudier weather to work in our garden.  I did quite a few transplants from the hoop house to the garden which all seemed to be okay except the one bed that is in the shade, that I usually put flowers in because there has to be some kind of bug that just demolishes plants.  Last week I noticed the two Lamb's Ear was being stripped clean by the mysterious eaters. 

This is the bed with the bugs, I planted the 8 rows of spinach.

I transplanted a bunch of Marigold's into this bed hoping they would help, but the spinach seeds I planted there a couple of weeks ago haven't come up or perhaps as soon as they do they must be getting eaten...bummer.  I planted 8 rows of new seed that isn't going to come to anything.

Sage blooming

New Raised-Bed:

It was time to get the new bed growing---this week I really worked on getting it all set up for the summer.  It is the last bed I have to fill unless Dh makes another bed. 



 I had one section for carrots---transplanted some from the hoop house and then planted a bunch of seed too -hoping it grows.  I transplanted some kale, various tomatoes, and tomatillo's.  I planted a few lines of lettuces, parsley, green pepper, red pepper, orange pepper and basil...things like that to round it out.  The bugs are arriving and I can see more and more damage.  

New Potato Bed

Pool Garden: Poppies

YAY, YAY, YAY!!!!  One of my most favorite weeks of the year--when the poppies bloom!  I only wish I had more blooms.  It is frustrating to see some people that have massive plants with tons of blooms and it is off on a side of their house or appearing not as cherished as I feel it should be, or would be if it were in my yard!!!  I had seven blooms this week.

Dh bought me this "purple" Lupine last year for Mother's Day, it bloomed this year---and is orange? how orange?!!  It is still pretty, but it would have been so much nicer if it was purple!

 Truck:

About a month ago I posted how I was happy we got the truck back from the shop---unhappy that it cost just over a thousand, but happy Dh didn't have to do it.  He drove it for 1 1/2 weeks before it went out again.  He hemmed and hawed, went to Italy for 9 days to think about it.  When he got back he drove it; 30-40 mph the 45 min. drive to the shop, while I followed behind with my hazard lights blinking and causing a stir.  Last week we heard back from the shop, the transmission had gone out and it would be three thousand dollars to fix it.  Oy.  This truck.  I think it has run for three months out of the almost two years we've had it.  At least now Dh is okay with letting a mechanic fix it instead of him trying to do it.  His Camry is still in our barn with the hood up, waiting for him to fix it, after a good year of being in there.  He just doesn't have the time to fix cars on top of fixing the constant house problems.  Bless his heart, he just keeps plugging along trying to keep things okay.

Chicken Coop:

I spent 2-3 days working on the coop, trying to secure the walls and make them taller with the chicken wire. 




 I got up and spent the mornings on the coop and garden before it got too warm.  



The hardest part was encasing the whole "ceiling" of the coop with a netting.  



It was awfully ironic one morning when a HAWK flew down and landed on the metal fence until I screamed at it and it flew away.  




Oh, the chickens we NOT happy about that, and so I really put the coop as my top priority.  Between the hawk this week and the raccoon and fox last week I really felt like I was on borrowed time.  I did get it finished by the end of the week although Dh keeps reminding me that the predators can still get in and we must keep an eye open.

Annual HSB Book Sale Prep:

I was supposed to be focusing on getting ready for the book sale all week, but the chicken coop and garden sure did pull my mind (and body) off the task most of the week.  I did eventually go through my permanent bookshelves and found some books that I decided we weren't going to read and decided to pull them out for the sale.  I spent quite a few hours and got a bit of organizing done on our books as a surprise bonus!  The sale is next Monday.

Dd Mowing:

Dd wanted us to buy her a new-looking futon from our thrift store that was $18 and would be 'perfect for her room' so she called Dh to see what he thought.  He is trading her more mowing and we bought her the futon/sofa.  I'm thankful for the help with the chores!

Dog? English Shepherd:

Dh just happened to mention one of his friends at work are foster parents to dogs and that right now they have a really sweet English Shepherd (ES).  I didn't even know we were close to getting a dog and come to find out Dh has been watching all the dogs that have been passing through his friend's parents home!  This fella was taken from an Amish puppy farm that wasn't feeding or taking care of their animals.  We have no idea how long it will be until the dog might be open for adoption, but Dh has decided this little guy would be a good fit.  The ES are known for being especially kind, loving, intelligent, and good with chickens and cats.  He will consider our other pets as part of our family and will protect and love all of us, no matter how big or small.  

Pool: Process of Opening Started

Dh decided to work on opening the pool for the season.  Each year we have really had to struggle for days to get the pump sucking the water from the pool and running; apparently there is (was) some way for air to get into the pipes and therefore we don't get a seal and it took three days of trying, with all three of us trying last year to get it running.  This year Dh tried one night and just decided he would redo the PVC and change it all out and make sure it is all air-tight.  He had to figure it out, figure out which pieces he would need, and put together his new design.  He had just done a similar project when he had to redo the PVC for the geothermal air conditioning water drain a little over a week ago.  He is getting good at figuring out how to make these systems work better which will eventually lead to a smoother household at some point.

Agnes

Motivation:
Oy.  Dd has really been struggling with getting her chores and homework assignments done these past few weeks.  She has had a few hiccups that have made things worse: Prom, IOWA Tests, Friendship woes, schedule changes, and too much free time!  She needs to find her summer grove and Dh and I are working on figuring out just how exactly to help her do so.  I appreciate Chelle reminding me to focus on the relationship first and the accomplishments last---great advise that I agree with 100%.  It looks like we will be stuck on SL Core 100 Week 15 for a few more weeks!!!  Praying that Dd will find her groove and start being more academic soon.

Academics:

Bible:
Church, and Sunday School
Entrusted bible study by Beth Moore (on 2nd Timothy)



Music Lessons:
Last Violin lesson of the year: 30 min
Cello lesson: 30 min



Music Practice:
Dd has been practicing her piano, cello, and violin



Physical Exercise:
Dd went bike riding twice this week.
Mowing the yard once this week.



Spanish:
Dd signed up to take Spanish 1 next year at Grace, so I pulled out a fun workbook I had bought her years ago and asked her to do a few pages of it every day.



Fun Reading:
Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain
During World War I, a young English woman named Vera Brittain postpones her studies at Oxford University to serve as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse in London and abroad. After the war, she returns to Oxford to read history and later becomes a writer, feminist, and pacifist.

Art:
Dd has been arranging some bouquets for me this week--gorgeous.



Science:
Apologia Biology
I'm having her read 4 pages each day

Dd has been using her Michigan Wildflower identification book to find and determine the plants we find around our home.

She found Evening Nightshade, a poisonous plant, with pretty purple blooms.

Next Week:
The BIG annual HSB Used Book sale in on Monday!  I've been going from room to room looking over our books trying to see if there is any twaddle I want to rid ourselves from and am planning on donating most of the books that don't sell to the HSB instead of toting them back to our house again.  We have WAY too many twaddle books and I need to let.them.go!  The sale prep means arriving at 9:30 am and not getting home until 9 pm so it will be a very long day!!!  I know Tuesday will be a day to put the books that I keep back in storage boxes and put back in the closet.  I will also have to put all our things back in the plastic crates that I had to dump to use for the sale....it will be a day of putting things back where they belong.  I'm hoping I can do a good job of leaving a lot of books there--either by selling or donating. 



 Dd also has her next cello lesson.  We are trying to get our pool open for the year and that is never an easy job, we fought algae the whole last summer and hope we have better luck this year. 

Volunteer Mullenstock--so beautiful!





A friend of mine, years ago, on the Sonlight forum, was complaining how she didn't like the Mullenstock "weeds" she had around her home in Texas and I had to share how much I love them.  I think of her, Michelle, every time I look at mine!


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SL Core 100 Week 15 E May 27 to June 2, 2018 PROM

SL Core 100 Week 15 E 

May 27 to June 2, 2018 

PROM - Not an academic week--

Hello, Friends!

This was a very unusual week for us all---Dd had *prom* this week!  I never went to prom so I was figuring this out along with her.  The organization that runs it calls it the: Christian Homeschool Formal, held at the Felt Mansion in Holland, Mi.  They charge to attend the event, but we saved a lot of money finding all of her outfit at thrift stores!  We had months to search and the looking was actually a lot of fun, even for me!  

I'm eating my own greens now, it sure will save us a lot of money during the summer!

Salon: Tuesday
In downtown Grand Rapids there is a student studio for Aveda; where students do people's hair for a discount since they are still learning.  Dd really wanted to get her hair done, with some highlights, and I wasn't wanting to pay very much, so we tried this salon.  Normally I do all her haircuts, as she does mine, but this time, for prom, we splurged and went for the highlights.  I was surprised when she came out, almost five hours later, with not much difference done to her hair.  They only had these benches in the front, no backs, but I managed to hunker down and make some progress on my bible study while I waited.  The student who worked with Dd was super friendly, which was nice.  As a parent, and to say a very 'parent' thing---for $70 I did hope for a little tiny bit more of a change to her hair.  I'll share the 'before' and 'after' and you can see what I mean.  Regardless, I'm so glad she got to see what a real salon is like and she said how much she enjoyed being fussed over and treated special.  I do think it would be fun to do that once in a while--neither one of us have ever had a manicure or pedicure or anything like that and I'm sure it must feel nice.

Before Salon:



After Salon:



Thrift Store: Wednesday
Dd still hadn't found a clutch (small handbag/purse) to take with her to prom so we went back to our favorite store to look again.  She didn't find a new one, but one that we had considered last month was still there so she went ahead and got it.  She also picked out a cute necklace, but in the end, it didn't make the cut the night of prom.  I think her dress was $8.00, her shoes were $2.00, her clutch/purse was $2.00.  Dh and I joked about keeping her prom dress less than what I paid for my wedding dress--$11.00, just a simple, on sale white dress from JC Penney!  She did great, she found one for less but we actually, over the months of looking, found three!  Each one cost around $8.00 and she figured she already has a dress for next year's formal.  She does a great job being thrifty with me!



Prom: Thursday
Dh got off work early and came home so that he could drive with us to Holland and have a 'date night' with me while Dd was having her dinner and dancing with friends.  The formal was held in a wonderful old mansion and there were still rooms that were left as they were, which Dd really enjoyed the history lesson!  She took a few pictures of the beautiful wallpaper from two rooms and the library.  She said the dinner was nice and the dancing was awesome!  She said she danced up a storm and just had a lot of fun!  Fun!  I'm so glad!  



Hair:
Dd made her Hair Accessories from polymer clay, baked them, and put them on bobby-pins, she the white pearl looking things in her hair?  She did it all by herself.  This picture was taken just before she put on her prom dress; she did her hair first.

I'm so glad I finally researched exactly how to prune our grape vines, the fruit this year is going to be a LOT!  These look like little green clusters of pre-grapes---exciting!

Mexican Restuarant:
Dh and I found a great place to eat and enjoyed just chatting away without having to rush.  We drove around Holland, a town we didn't know and enjoyed looking around.  Eventually, we just went back to the mansion and parked in the lot with the other parents who had driven from far distances like we had.  Dh and I had a nice evening together.

Dh trying to snake out the line---he spent two days on trying this.

I had to find new homes for all the tiger lily's we had to remove so Dh could redo all the PVC work for the AC drain.  I didn't get pictures of this job very well.  Under the lily plants is the drain from the AC/GeoTherma unit that comes outside from the utility room in the basement.  Dd first trip to clean out the drain with three different 'snakes' to no avail.  He spent two days trying to clean out the pipe before digging into the dirt to see the line.

Then he realized he had to actually cut out the broken line, revise how they had put it in since they didn't have the correct angle, at all, right.  He designed a new method, bought the pipes and fittings to do the work and then had to dig out the two different areas.  He had to undo the pipe in the basement and attach this new line and then put in TWO air vents to help the water flow out.  I don't think the previous owners had any air vents for their line, which might have been part of the problem.  Dh spent a solid week working on this problem and did a great job repairing and improving this area.

Air Conditioning: DH Big Repair Job!



This week was very hot and humid so we turned on our AC for this first time for the year.  



Well, just like last year the water from the AC had a problem flushing out of the pipe to the outside.  



Grampy and Dh had fixed it last year, but it somehow was broken again this year, as I found water in our utility room.  



So after 1 1/2 days of AC it had to be turned off again!  Dh has a new project to work on if we are going to be able to use our AC again this summer, he figured out what he needed and got started on the project on Saturday.  The bright side is that we will save some money not being able to use it!  



HOT WEEK:
I had three watering cans outside for the chickens and one inside.  You can see the one little white chicken, in the back, beside the back waterer with her wings lifted.  When the chickens get hot they raise thier wings like that to let the heat out and they pant with their beaks open.  Poor girls were hot and miserable!  I put on the hose and watered down their dirt a few times to help cool things off.

Amitriptyline:
Well, I am SO happy to share that Tuesday I took my last 1/4 of a pill to conclude my weaning.  Boy, weaning off that med was extremely difficult.  My eyes were blurry and got worse through the day until I'd get my dose, not to mention all the headaches, migraines, nausea, insomnia--not falling asleep, waking up in the night a few times each night, and then waking up way early, just to mention a few of the side effects.  It took five weeks to wean it down, but I had hoped to get through the process faster than that, but the side effects were too severe if I went down too much too soon.  Anyway---I'm done with it and hope my brain can improve and maybe my memory will improve.  I had been prescribed this medication to prevent migraines, but one of the good side effects was that it helped me fall asleep faster, sleep better, sleep longer, and not clench my jaw.  I really am going to miss all that good sleeping!  But, this way I will get more done in each day.



Raccoon:
Dd saw a RACCOON by our pool this week.  This lead to a major rehaul of our chicken coop.  I stopped putting the chickens in the tractors this week too, as the raccoon showed up in broad daylight!  Also, our neighbor told us she saw a fox in her yard this week too.  So, I am really determined to sure-up our coop any way I can.  I'm thinking I'll go much higher on the thick wire and then put up netting to close off the top. I started working on the improvements on Saturday. I know a raccoon or hawk could get through the netting, but it would be a lot of trouble and I'm hoping they won't want to! 



 Friday, Dh bought a "live trap" to see if the raccoon is getting inside the coop after I make my revisions.  I have seen raccoon prints in our top coop, so I know that outer area is exposed and needs improvement.



Annual Used Booksale Prep Begins:
Once a year I go through my closet of boxed up books that are either duplicates or not one of our favorites or something I had bought, hoping to use, but we never got around to.  It is a big job as I have about 20 of these boxes to go through, organize, and put in fancy plastic milk crates instead of boxes---at least as much as I can fit in the crates I have, which is about half the books.

I come around the corner, and find Dickens in this crazy position.  He does it every day!  Such a weird cat---really.

(Almost) New Doctor:
I've had the same doctor since I moved here, but dislike having to drive 45-55 minutes away to see her.  When we first moved here we lived in an apartment in Grand Rapids and her office was just down the street and very convenient.  So, I went to a new local man.  I thought it went good, but then I realized he kept saying I needed to hurry and go catch the nurse to give my blood sample before she went to lunch.  He kept bringing that up no matter what I said, and I was trying to get through my list of concerns and questions, but he was just determined to get me out.  So, I somehow need to figure out what to do now; obviously not stay with this guy!

I brought in around 12 wheelbarrow loads of our finest compost, then about 8 loads of the humus from the woods, and mixed in a bit of peat moss to fill in the new bed.

Teen Training Volunteer at Library:
Saturday Dd had her first training session at our local library so she can help out with the summer programs.  She is especially hoping to help with children's programs and the Ruff Readers program where kids read to dogs.  She is equally excited to be with the dogs as well as the children.  I'm so proud of her for thinking this up and jumping in with both feet.

Our new raised bed, inside our garden.

We move the umbrella around to either keep us in the shade or to help new seedlings that are adjusting to the intense hot sun this week.

Sleep-Over:
After her training session at the library, I drove Dd to her friend's house in Grand Rapids to spend the night.  She had a lot of fun swimming in her pool and being together with friends.

Our new raised bed, outside the garden.  Dh and I built a new potato bed, outside our fenced in garden area, just for potatoes.  Last year we had it just with a wire, but this year we built a really sturdy raised bed.  Critters don't eat potato greens so they can be outside the fence.

Dh bought three kinds of potatoes for us to plant, but so far only have planted two.  On the other side of this new bed, we planted a lot of potatoes over there after I took this picture, see picture below.  Yay, the potatoes are started!

Garden and Chickens:
Every morning, during the day, and evening....it never stops!



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