Rosy Mound Park 

at Lake Michigan

June 28, 2018

Dd and I picked up one of her friends so we could all go enjoy Lake Michigan together.  I'd heard Rosy Mound had a beautiful hiking trail, but I didn't know it lead to the water!  It was a great day.  The trail went through various different types of terrains which were all very interesting.  Michigan has a unique ability to go from woods to dunes in mere steps!

The water was SO cold!  The girls swam, but I just walked up to my shoulders and that was enough of a cooler for me!  

Goat's Beard--looks like a really big dandelion bloom, but not white, more of a tan color.  

We are ready to go back already!

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June 24-30, 2018 Orthodontics,Lake Michigan, Movies, and Return Cello

June 24-30, 2018 

Orthodontics, Rosy Mound Park, Movies, and Return Cello

Hello, Friends!

We are looking forward to Giz and Grampy coming up from Indiana to visit us next week so I tried to get some lessons done with Dd as I know we won't open a book while they are here.  We are really looking forward to our summer visit from them!!  It is our version of a vacation, such good times with them.

Orthodontics:

Dd teeth have started to buckle a little bit and we thought we'd get an evaluation.  Wednesday's appt. went really well; except learning that Dd does indeed need braces and our insurance, of course, doesn't cover any of it!!!  The orthodontist, Heather, was extremely likable.  By the end of our visit, Dd has decided she wants to be an orthodontist like Heather!  That shows just how above average and impressive she is.  Dd will have to get her wisdom teeth removed before the next steps can happen.  We've got hoops to go through for that--our dentist needs x-rays and Heather sent hard copies and our dentist wants them in an email.  Hopefully, our dentist can send a referral soon as they were taking the whole week of July 4th off and we have to wait until they get back to find out who our oral surgeon will be.  Dd is very excited to have straight teeth and she has lead this whole process so I don't worry about her taking care of her teeth while they are in the braces for 2 1/2 years.  

Kales are doing awesome this year.  

Movies:

We went to the movie theater twice in seven days!  First, we went to see Hans Solo because we couldn't let a Star Wars movie leave the theaters without seeing it.  I don't know why so many people didn't like it--I thought it was pretty good.  We all have such super high expectations for a SW movie, which makes it hard to please most.  By the end of the week, on Saturday, it was just so sticky hot and we were all so tired we decided to splurge and go to the movies and see the other two movies we wanted to see this summer, back to back!  
First, we saw
Jurassic Park - Fallen Kingdom 
and then when that was over we walked to the next room to see The Incredibles 2.  
We loved Incredibles 2 and especially the scene where Jack, Jack (the baby) fights it out with a neighborhood raccoon! So very funny!!!!  We usually only go to the theater once per year, but we decided to make an exception and have a little fun this week!

Lake Michigan:

I've heard about a great park on Lake Michigan called Rosy Mound Park and we finally had a chance to drive out there and see it this week.  We took along Lexi for our big adventure.  We packed lots of food in our cooler, got our sun umbrella, sunblock...and headed out.  It was a beautiful day, but the water was absolutely freezing!!!  The girls dunked all the way and swam a bit, but I was content to walk through the water, chest high, as I thought it was just a bit too cold.  I also wanted to keep my sunhat on to avoid the full blast of the afternoon sun.  

We saw lots of natural highlights as this park, Rosy Mound, goes through a Back Dune which had a whole forest and lots of fun things to see.  We hiked the 30 minutes from the parking lot to the beach after deciding to have our picnic later.  We quickly wished we had brought our food along as we all got so hungry!  We had to walk all the way back, many, many steps and stairs later to have our lunch in the parking lot.  We found a bench beside the woods, shaded, and ate there.  Afterward, we drove to our normal Lake Michigan park--Kirk Park--but the crowds there were horrendous so we drove back to the quieter Rosy Mound and re-hiked our way to the beach again.  Both Dd and I had sore muscles the next day; it was a really steep hike up and down so many dunes.  

We returned the rented cello this week...bummer.

Cello:

Dd had her last cello lesson with Lucy and we returned the cello back to the music store.  It was regrettable that we had planned to treat Dd with four lessons during her month of having a cello, but her teacher had a family emergency last week so we only had three lessons.  Dd did really well with the cello but doesn't feel like she will have the time to practice the piano, violin, AND cello.  Apparently, she is staying with the violin---unspoken but understood.  I'm sure the instructor has a little to do with the decision as well.  Our violin teacher, Christie, is really a perfect fit for our personalities.

The Swiss Chard is doing really well!!!  So are all the onions that I can't eat that Dh wanted me to plant for him.  

Chickens:

Zeus is still having seizures and I am carrying him up and out of the inner coop each morning and down each night.  He doesn't seem to be in any pain and the seizures, though frequent, don't last long.  I'm doing a great job bringing in all sorts of weeds, especially duckweed and dandelions, for them each day, often throughout the day.  I have to admit it is a nice treat for me to "have" to go for a walk in the woods to gather greens for them!  

The spinach bed is dwindling down, I'm hoping it will "bolt" and it will form seeds soon for me to harvest for a later planting and for next years spring planting.  I've never tried to harvest spinach seeds before, so I am figuring this out.

Sharona, the brooding Amber Link, is still being a crazy hen.  I keep pulling her out and forcing her to eat and drink.  It is odd because when I push her out with the other hens she acts totally aggressive and dominates the other hens.  She clucks and clucks and puts on quite the show when out of the nest box.  

The tomato plants to left of the compost are doing well.

Hot Chickens:

It was SO hot I refilled the chicken's water twice a day a few days this week.  The chickens don't seem to be appreciating this hot humid weather. I've been having three big water cans in the top coop and one in the bottom inner coop, so they have lots of access to water.  I've also been spraying water in the coop from our hose.

The tomato plants I planted out by the compost are all growing well.  I always think plants need lots of care, but these guys are showing me just how well they do on their own.

One of the four gutters I cleaned this week.

Gutter Day:

Two of our gutters were un-attaching themselves from our house and outbuilding, so I had the joy of repairing and cleaning gutters this week.  I was SO pleased to not find bee's nests in any of the gutters this time around.  Normally, I've found at least one nest in a gutter, if not two.  Luckily, I only needed to hammer in the long nails to re-secure the gutters, but, I did put in two screws in one spot that I wanted to be sure was very secure.  Another gutter was completely jammed up with pine needles, our nemesis here, and the whole gutter was full to the brim with water.  I'm sure we were breeding mosquitoes without our knowledge.  I'm glad that chore is done, although I know they will be full again in two months since we are surrounded with Spruce trees.  I never knew why it was so important to clean out the gutters, but I found out this week.  When the gutters are full the weight pulls them away from the building---go figure!  I had no clue.  

Grapes doing fine

Garden:

We have hit our greens high spot for the year and now I need to start blanching and freezing as many greens as I can before the bugs come in and start bringing my harvest down.  Hopefully, I can start that next week. I've seen some damage this week and took up my arsenal to a higher level.  This year, instead of just picking off all the worms and buggies I'm trying a homemade 'insecticidal soap' by adding some dish soap to a spray bottle of water.  I'm not sure how much it has helped, but I have been able to avoid chemicals this far in life.  The earwigs and slugs have been very busy in our early garden, now the green worms have been showing up, eating our kales.  We have some green tomatoes starting up!  I'm still planting-- this week I planted some Rosemary seed and Spinach seeds.

Dd's sunflowers are coming up nicely

Growth/Transplant:

The herbs we had planted in one of the potato beds had been buried by the potato plants, so I dug them out and found space in the designated 'Herb Bed.'  I thought I had a ton of oregano, but come to find out, that plant was not oregano, but a weed!!!  With all the weeds removed we had room for 4 Purple Basil plants and 1 Thyme.

Truck:

We finally picked up the truck after being at the repair shop for the past 3-4 weeks.  It needed a new transmission and fuel lines.  It had been at the shop back in May getting the wheel barring fixed.  It drove for about a week before it broke down again.  What a surprise for us to get these monstrous truck bills--we just paid almost as much as we paid for the truck on this summers repairs.  Since we bought this truck 2-3 years ago we have had to fix everything but the motor; everything--literally.  The bonus is that we practically have a new truck at this point.  Maybe it will run for a few months before breaking down again.  We really found a dud on this auto choice.  The Camry is still in our garage, no hope on it's repair any time soon.

Volunteer at the Library:

Dd is still enjoying her work at the library!  So glad she signed up to do this during the summer months.

The grass we transplanted has taken!

Academics:

Bible:

Church, Sunday School

Entrusted by Beth Moore: 3-4 pages (scheduled to do 1 page each day)

The new bed on the left is the corn plants Dd is growing, you can't really see the sprouts well yet.

Physical Exercise:

Hikes at Lake Michigan, all Thursday

Mow yard: 2 x

Music:

Piano, violin, and cello practice

Cello Lesson: 30 minutes

Dd at Lake Michigan - Rosy Mound Park/Beach

Math:

Khan Academy: Fractions, 4 x this week

Dd is really working hard on remembering how to do fractions

It's nice to see so much growing again!!!

Art:

Watercolors at the beach

Drawing: 2 x this week

Fun Reading:

The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee: In Progress

Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls: In Progress

Read Aloud:

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Completed

Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: In Progress

Volunteering:

Continued to Volunteering at the library!

The back beds have Yukon Gold potatoes planted back there, but you can't see anything just yet...but wait!

Next Week:

Giz and Grampy are coming for a visit!!!!!
..................

June 17-23, 2018 Garden, Migraines, Zeus, Iowa Test results

June 17-23, 2018 

Garden, Migraines, Zeus, Iowa Test results

I finally took a few pictures of the hummingbird nest over our driveway.  I had seen two babies last week, but this photo looks like the momma and one baby (on right).

Hello, Friends!

Dd and I started a new Read Aloud (RA) this week; 

The Great Gatsby 

by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  

We are struggling with Dd getting her homework done so I've stepped back in to get more involved.  Even if she had been doing better I always like having an RA going together.  I'm excited to re-read a lot of the books I had to read in high school!!!!  It's always nice visiting an old friend!  Now I can share those same friends with Dd!

Core 100:

Dd is still not clicking with Core 100---American history.  She LOVES American history, so I know that isn't it, she says she just isn't interested in the books in this core.  We have never stopped a core in the middle, but I'm thinking about it.  Prayers Appreciated, we sure are struggling with this book list and interest.  My goal for the summer was to focus mostly on Science, Bible, and Writing as those were the subjects that more often were skipped during the 'school year.'  But, I was *hoping* Dd could get some Core 100 reading done as well.  Unlike some homeschoolers that do eight hours of homeschooling during the school year, we are not so strict, which I balance out by doing year-round homeschooling.  This only works when Dd keeps working in the summer though!!!

This picture doesn't portray just how small the nest and two birds are, but I can't really figure out how to show that!

IOWA Results:

Last month Dd did the standardized testing from the Iowa Testing company through a local hs organization and we got the results this week.  Dd did super well, which is great!  I had been preparing for neutral results, but she did better than I hoped.  Her one major weak spot, which she knew ahead of time, was fractions!  Fortunately, she got right on Khan Academy and started at the very beginning of fractions and is working her way up.  She wants to bring up that one weak link and improve her results next year.  I hope she can stick with it and master fractions.  I sure do appreciate the reassurance I get from these tests.  I often struggle with being okay with the more laid-back education I've designed for my Dd.  My heart loves our approach, but I always hope that there won't be an academic price to pay for so much reading and so little testing.

We put three squash plants, from the last hoop house, in the closest box.  The farthest boxes were the Yukon Gold potatoes.

House Problems: 

Geothermal water leak and pool

Poor Dh has been struggling to get things fixed.  He thought he had the geothermal leak fixed and then on Monday I had to tell him there was a big puddle in the utility room when he got home from work.  He really was super frustrated at things not going right.  Along with his job not going well, he had a super hard week.  The up-side to all of this is that Dd see's for herself how important choosing a good solid career is to her future happiness and stability.  I so desire her to graduate college with a specific career in mind; hopefully, one that she can be her own boss; like an Orthodontist or something similar to that.  It hurts us to see Dh struggle under the management of other people and hopes she can avoid that mess.

Dd Volunteering at Library:

Dd is learning a lot at the library, it is part of their teen volunteering program they do each year.  This week she got to just do work around the library instead of helping out with a program like she did last week.  This has been a good idea.  I am finding is so fun hearing Dd say "I've got to get to work!!!"  

It has to perfectly plumb, of course!

Helping Church Friend:

The Youth Group from church volunteered to go work at a member's home this week.  The family had lava rocks all along their driveway and the Home Owners Association decided it all had to go.  The family struggle with health issues so they asked for help and the Youth Group were called in.  We had a great time---after the work the girls swam in the neighborhood pool followed by pizza and ice cream!  We picked up Hailee and her friend, M, to go along with us so we had company!

Dh built the big bed for Dd to plant her desired corn plants.

New Raised Beds:

Dh built four new beds, parallel to the new corn raised bed he had made last week.  These beds, at least two of them, are for the rest of the potatoes we had left to plant--Yukon Gold potatoes!  

Corn bed

Garden:

Our garden, all of sudden, hit its peak!  The turnips are poking up out of the dirt and appear ready to be pulled; that goes the same for the onions.  The potato plants are invading on the Purple Basil, Fennel, Basil, and Thyme.  I'm going to have to figure out something for that as the herbs won't do well if they don't get any sunlight.  I always forget just how enormous potato plants get!  I planted about 15 small tomato plants out beside the compost.  We don't need any more tomato plants in our garden, so thought we'd try putting some out in the woods - if nothing else, the chickens adore tomatoes!

Zeus having a seizure

Chickens:

The chickens are the same as last week--Zeus is having weird seizures and there is a white Amber Link hen that has been broody (staying in the nest box constantly).  I've decided to name her, Sharona, because of how funny she has been acting. Each time I pull her out she starts plucking around and clucking and fussing; it's really something.  I've been taking her outside the pen to eat greens while I do my morning weed gathering.  In her state she only scratches for a few minutes and then starts acting weird again.  Zeus hasn't improved any this week.  He has been waiting for me to carry him down into the inside coop each evening, instead of him falling down the ramp, and to carry him up and outside each morning.  I bet it is just about impossible for him to do so with his seizures happening so frequently.  As soon as his seizure is over, he pops back up, stands there looking quite content.  I'm hoping whatever is wrong with him will improve, at least he isn't doing any worse.  This may take a while.

The potato plants are coming along nicely

Strings Group:

We are in full swing trying to get ready for a July performance of American songs (This Land Is Your Land, America the Beautiful..).  Our little group is happy Alice is back, she is in her 90's and plays the ukulele, but had been sick often over the winter.  Our group is a split between people over 50 and teenage girls, though a few of us are younger.  Joe-fancy guitar, Chuck-base, Cookie-piano, Alice-Uke, Sarah-Uke, Martha-Singing & Uke, Dale-singing, Ron-singing, Ethlyn-singing, Nancy-mandolin, Joy-guitar, Becca-guitar, Hailey-Uke, FaithAnne-Uke, and me.  It seems like a lot of people but so many miss here and there that we are almost never all together at the same time and our group size is always smaller.

Bible:
Church, Sunday School, and watched Session Two of the Entrusted DVD by Beth Moore.

The goal is for Dd to do one page of the workbook each day, but that doesn't always happen.  Dd has an excellent Sunday School teacher that does an amazing job teaching the Bible and not being a 'fluff' type of teen group.  She really appreciates the studious class.

Fun Reader:

War Storm by Victoria Aveyard: Completed (672 pages)

The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee: In Process

The Glass Castle by Jannette Walls: In Process

The Happiness Animal byWill Jelbert

Art:

During our Read Alouds Dd has been knitting and crocheting - making some gray bags/containers.

Ice Crown: Dd made it with her hot glue gun and this week she painted it.

Physical Exercise:

Workouts: 3 x this week

Gardening: Dd planted corn seeds into her new raised bed

Science: Apologia Biology

Fractions: Khan Academy

Spanish: Workbook- easy

Bible-Entrusted (2nd Timothy) 

Music Practice--cello and piano

........