March 17-23, 2019 Spring, Free Range Chickens, Rearranging

March 17-23, 2019 

Spring, Free Range Chickens, Garden, Rearranging

Hello, Friends!

Happy first week of spring!  Of course, it snowed most of the day and we had really dreadfully dreary weather.  We almost had snow every day, although most of it melted before it ever hit the ground.  But, the birds are singing and the sun has that special spring coloring signifying that change is slowly coming.  The Sandhill Cranes keep flying overhead, some coming close to our home.  In Michigan, unlike Indiana, there are couples that stay and nest around our town.  We saw one couple walking beside each other within a mile of our home this week.  We see a couple in that same field every spring.

Migraines:

I've continued to fight migraines and headaches this week, feeling underwater.  I've had the low-grade migraine/headache/nausea all week.  I've felt tired and run-over.  I know the flu has been going through our town in mass this week and wonder if I have been fighting that.  Our Olympians program has public school kids and I'm sure they bring a lot of new germs.  I can't wait to feel better and get back to daily workouts.  I've been able to spend more time outside as the week progressed and that always helps!

Chickens:

The chickens are loving being back outside, safe, but the outside pen with their umbrella and mesh netting overhead.  I even let them out to free range in the woods for 45 minutes while Henry and I watched over them.  They love scratching and eating the new greens.  The hens continue to eat some of their eggs.  I have been trying to collect eggs 2-3 times during the day to get the eggs before they can be eaten.  The two ceramic 'fake' eggs I bought at Tractor Supply seem to be helping decrease their breaking of eggs.  The amount of eggs I'm collecting each day seems to be increasing!  Yay!  Dh was able to bring some eggs to work this week to sell to his co-workers.

Lessons:

Boy, Dd is *ready* for spring break!  It is still two weeks away but her brain is really wanting a break!  I'm waiting for her co-op classes to wrap up so I can re-start her science and writing programs again.  Her co-op load was too hard for her to be able to fit in the two subjects I was planning on working with her on.

Spring Cleaning:

Dd helped me rearrange our living room this week.  We are trying a new design and enjoying the change.  I've finally hung up some paintings in the living room after living here for four years!  It is just amazing how improved my opinion is after the changes!  I wish I would have had our living room set up like this years ago.  I'm just not a good arranger of furniture, to be totally honest.  And it feels like good friends have come to visit with my old paintings up and around me.  I'm hoping to put up some of my least favorite paintings soon---I've given myself permission to alter and fix them until they meet my expectations.  I've held them in esteem before, not wanting to change them, but I think I'm feeling okay to move forward now.  I'm hoping that seeing artwork that needs help will motivate me to make time for my painting and artwork again.  As a homeschool mom, I've been dedicated to Dd, spending all my energy on her.  Now that she is doing so much independently I need, for my own sake, to start taking a bit of an effort at growing myself some too.

Dh: Dh's eye is still doing really well!  So glad!  He has a 20% chance of a retina detaching again, but we are hoping he will be in the 80% success rate.  He is still trying to adjust back to his work as so many things changed during his three months on disability.  It has really been a hardship for him, to say the least.  I don't know why the Lord has always placed Dh in work strife situations, but it is really hard on him.  It is difficult watching him, year after year, continue to not find any peace with his employment.  He has been working in the outbuilding making his workbench and organizing tools for his own therapy.  When the weather warms up I hope to get out there and go through some of the boxes we still haven't unpacked from our move from Indiana.  

I took the plastic off this hoop house by the end of the week.

Garden:
Can you believe I have "Garden" listed?!!  I've been out in the garden this week.  I've pulled down all the dried green bean plants and turned over the dirt and mixed in the cow manure we stacked in the fall.  It felt great to be out there, in the dirt, planning for this year's garden.  I also bought a big bag of potting soil to start some seeds soon.  I didn't have a lot of success with the compost bins!  I was trying to move the old straw and compost out of one (of three) bin so I could start putting newly soiled straw by itself...but, after the first foot it became solidly frozen and I could not budge it.  I'll have to wait a while still before I can turn over our compost bins again! 

 

Tick:
Friday, after I gave Henry his bath I found a tiny tick on his back.  It obviously wasn't there but a few hours.  Henry is such a great dog.  He was in the living room and I walked to the bathroom and called for him to come to the shower and he just runs right in and hops in!  I've never had a dog that was so fine with getting showers.  He even seems to enjoy the blow-drying afterward!



Owl Pellet:
Saturday I found an owl pellet on the ground; the first one I've ever found!  We've bought some from Rainbow Resource to dissect in the past, but I found my own one this week!  So neat to see the mass of hair and bones.

B-day Party:
Dd was invited to Jessica and Jasmine's birthday party on Saturday.  This year she has really worked hard on growing her circle of friends and doing more socially.  It is nice to see her making an effort to grow in this area as she is naturally inclined towards being introverted.  She feels like she continues to have more confidence as this year has past.  

Dd's Academic Progress For the Week:

Bible:

Church, Sunday School, Youth Program, Olympians Program

Independent Bible Study: Word of Life and Awaken: 90 Days with the God who Speaks by Priscilla Shirer

Volunteering:

1 1/2 hours at church for Olympians Program

1 1/2 hours at the library for Story Hour

1-hour Nursery during church on Sunday morning

Grace Co-op Classes:

Cultural Geography (BJU)

Algebra I (Saxon)

(Dd working with Dh most evenings to figure out the math.)

Spanish I (BJU and DuoLingo)

Introductory Logic

Exploring Economics by Ray Notgrass--this week Dd spent about ten hours on her assignment.  She had to make a book on How to Make ***** (and she could pick what she wanted to illustrate).  She chose crayons, or 'How to Make Crayons' for her assignment.  Then she had to research it and then design and draw the book illustrating the process.

Physical Exercise:

Treadmill 2 x this week

Next Week: is a surprise!

..........

March 10-16, 2019 Migraines, Taxes, Robins, Snow and Sunshine, Jane Eyre

March 10-16, 2019 

Migraines, Taxes, Robins, Snow and Sunshine, Jane Eyre Completed!

Fun putting up branches to outline trails- haven't been able to do that for the past two months.  The week started with a lot of snow on the ground, then it warmed up and we lost a lot, then it snowed again.

Hello, Friends!

My friend, Chelle, shared an online card with me that says:

Joyful in Hope

Patient in Affliction

and Faithful in Prayer
What a perfect message summarizing my difficult week.  Thankful for getting through it with prayer, the Lord, and my Dd and Dh caring for me.

Her email was perfect timing for a very human week.  Sunday morning, the start of our new week, I reached down to the floor to scoop out some white rice to make for my chicken's breakfast and felt that tug/pull/electric sensation you have when you just pulled out a disc in your back....oi.  I got on the floor and laid out and tried to relax and get the disc back where it was supposed to be. 



 I laid for a while and then was able to get up.  I was able to get dressed for church and tip-toe, making it through the service without drawing much attention to myself. 



 After church, I went straight to bed and stayed there the whole day.  By Sunday night, with Ibuprofen and a heating pad, I thought I might have beat it. 



 But, when I woke up on Monday it was still really sore and pained and wasn't going to be fixed quickly for all my trying!

Putting dried corn out for wild critters

Thursday: 

Praying in Pain

I woke up with a migraine on Wednesday and continued fighting migraines the whole of the week, slowly getting worse until the worse day on Thursday.  I had one of my very rare, extremely horrific migraines--vomiting throughout the day whenever the pain got really intense, to the point of getting a bloody nose.  



I won't share all the details, but this was all out war on my body.  



Around 10 pm I was finally able to keep down a small glass of almond milk and ibuprofen, the first sustenance of the day.  I was glad to finally be able to breathe and not be in such intense pain after so many hours of agony.  



I don't understand why some people have such a hard, hard path just being alive and trying to get through each day with the help of the Lord without giving up.  Life is hard.  I'm thankful for all my body can do--walking, running, drawing...but, it definitely comes with a hefty cost too.

Friday: Dentist and (slow) Recovery from Epic Migraine:

Of course, I had a dentist appointment scheduled for 8:40 am, a 45-minute drive away.  My tooth (#14) went wonky last month on February 12th. 



 I went to my doctor (Feb. 13), wondering if it was a sinus infection.  She said to call my dentist--saw Sammy on Feb. 15th, he said to see Dr. Guinn for a root canal, saw Dr. Guinn on Feb. 21st, then the wait for the medicine to work, and returned to Dr. Guinn on Tuesday, March 12th.  Dr. Guinn said to go back to Sammy to have a permanent filling put on the cap--March 15th.  It had been such an ordeal I really just wanted to finish it up, so even though I was exhausted from being in so much pain the whole day before I managed to get to the dentist Friday.  

For those keeping track: one infected tooth=

1 doctor visit

2 endodontist visits

2 dentist visits

32 days for completion 

 

Remembering: 

Joyful in Hope, Patient in AFFLICTION, and Faithful in Prayer!

Time Change:

Sunday morning the time sped up and we moved one hour ahead.  I wish we didn't have these silly time changes.  For most of the years we lived in Indiana, up until the last few years, we didn't change our clocks.  We wisely stayed the same time year round and it was good!!



Signs of Spring:




Sandhill Cranes flying past each day now.  




Buds appearing on most of the tree branches.  A fly miraculously appeared in our house.  Michiganders (people who live in Michigan) wearing shorts and flip-flops (in 20-30 degree weather, albeit sunny).  Robins arrived Friday.  

Daylight Savings - Time Change:

Sunday morning the time sped up and we moved one hour ahead.  I wish we didn't have these silly time changes.  For most of the years we lived in Indiana, up until the last few years, we didn't change our clocks.  We wisely stayed the same time year round and it was good!! Dh really doesn't adjust quickly to the changes and I hate to see him extra tired. 

Henry Walks: 

Between my pulled back and migraines, Dd did most of the walks for Henry!  It was really nice that she was able to step up and do some of my physical chores for me!  I really appreciated her help.  I guess one lesson from having a parent with migraines is that she has learned to help me or be independent on those days when my tank is empty.



Chores:
A few weeks back I was sharing how I felt Dd doesn't do as many chores as I'd like and then this week, in one of her Grace classes, the class discussed how many chores they did at home.  Dd was pleased to share how she did more chores than most of the students in the class!  I still think she should be contributing a lot more time to our family chore list, but she feels better knowing there are other homeschoolers that don't excel in this area.  I can always hope for more help; nothing wrong in that!!  She can always try for less chore; nothing wrong in that either!  At least we are all having good discussions about it.



Weather:
We had flurries just about every day this week, but with the bouts of warm temperatures and sunshine, we lost more than 25 % of our snowpack in Michigan in one week!  I have to admit the pristine white blanket of snow over everything sure was beautiful!!!  Now we have mud and can see all the fallen limbs from all the blizzard winds we've had this winter.  Time to start thinking about our garden!  Snow, sunshine, and big breezy days.  The chickens got to use the secured outside pen, the section with the big umbrella that has mesh netting across the top of the pen to deter any prey from getting ideas.  They love being out there and eating the snow; don't ask me why they love eating snow, but they do!

Chickens:



I really think the chickens look a little better this week.  



I don't know if it is all the rice dishes I've cooked for them each day or the sunshine and time outside or a combination of it all?!  But, they do seem less stressed. 



 My problem is that every time I go to Tractor Supply to get feed or lightbulbs or sunflower seeds I see the new baby chicks and want to bring them ALL home with me!!! 



 I didn't get any new chicks last year and don't really have room for more chickens in our coop, but really would love to try a Silkie.  

Buckbeak, another favorite of mine.

Chelle has shared how lovely that breed is and I'd love to see for myself. 

Ms. Lemon

 Plus, I really love my one Bantam (Ms. Lemon) and wouldn't mind a few more of those chatty birds.  



I'm trying to figure out how to get the hens to be able to 'free range' more this spring/summer but haven't figured it out just yet.  



The chicken tractors Dh built me are so heavy and hard to move around.  



I'm thinking about it....think, think, think!

Hestia

Robins:
Friday, March 15th I saw the first Robins in our town!  Then on Saturday, they arrived on our road!  Now the little beauties are everywhere!  Yay!  I love seeing Robin's and saying, "Top of the morning to you!"



Church:
Our new minister is doing so well!  Things haven't changed a lot, which is very welcomed in my mind!  I attend a small group of ladies in a Sunday School group; maybe 5-10 ladies each week.  We have spent the past year slowly doing Beth Moore's Entrusted bible study on 2nd Timothy.



  It is so nice how our first twenty minutes, or so, is spent sharing our prayer requests and praises to answered prayer.  Weekly I ask for my "unspoken" prayer request to be added to the spoken list due to lack of time and the private nature of my prayer.  I often wonder if the other ladies also have private concerns that they pray about but don't share?  It is odd how we keep so much of ourselves back and are generally expected to do so.  I honestly never have figured that out entirely; perhaps it is the 'judging thing' or perhaps being embarrassed?  The embarrassment could go both ways--they'd be embarrassed to hear and we'd be embarrassed to share.  I would be nice to be able to openly share our prayer requests with others without fallout, but I just don't see that happening and am learning to accept that reality as well as my deepening understanding of how human we humans are as I age.



Jane Eyre 
by Charlotte Bronte: Completed
Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson has been challenging me on my reading lists this year.  I forget how many book lists are included in Book Girl, maybe 20?  Jane Eyre was on multiple lists from multiple women and I'd never read the book before, only watched the movie.  I struggled throughout the book, trying to decide if I even liked it.  Charlotte Bronte is definitely not Jane Austen!  No humor, quips, jabs, and lively action in Bronte's story, but I am predisposed to liking Austen's writing.  I struggled with so many parts of this book, but have to admit most of my issues were because of the modern era I was born into.  I didn't appreciate so many of the male to female discussions and interactions between Jane and any of the male characters!

I love figuring out the critter tracks in the snow

  But, at the very core of the book, I found myself in the same boat as Jane.  I'm just a female that found the one person who thinks I'm special and loves me.  Jane knew no one else could or would love her but Edward Rochester; they were kindred spirits even though their age gap was quite large.  I also connected to Jane having a very difficult and unloved childhood and finding learning and books to be an encouragement.  I have to admit I did have a hard time not getting offended the many times Jane was talked down to, especially by the male characters.  But, I have to question if I would have had the same complaint if I had read this when it was written.  I had to keep putting myself in check and focus on the heart of the story.  I have to admit I did like Jane and would get along with her quite well!



Taxes:
Dh spent all of Saturday, but got our taxes done!  He did it with Turbo Tax and saved us the $400 we paid last year for an accountant to do it for us!  So glad it is done and that it didn't cost us hardly anything to do!  It's not even April and we are done!



Deer:
We've been feeding the deer dried corn the past few weeks.

Can you see the deer?  We had at least six deer this morning

  I've dumped piles along our paths in the woods and Dh put up a PVC contraption he made as a real deer feeder by our pool; where we can see it.  

See the white PVC tied to the tree? that is Dh's corn feeder for the deer and they seem to like it!

The deer graced our pool-side feeder 3-4 mornings in a row!  One morning we counted at least six!  It is fun watching approach the feeder; they are scared but not too scared to inch towards it ever so slowly!


Owls:
The barred owls have been in our yard the past few weeks.  It is great hearing the conversations back and forth between the two of them.  Sometimes it sounds like there are three, but I am not positive of three.



My Bible Study:
Independent: The Armor of God by Priscilla Shirer
Reviewing each week: Entrusted by Beth Moore
Since I finished Entrusted months ago I re-do each lesson before Sunday and enjoy getting to dig a little deeper into the material than if I'd only studied it once.  I really have learned so much from this Bible study.

I put about 8-10 piles of corn around our paths in the woods for the critters

Dd's Academic Progress:

Bible:
Church, Sunday School, Youth Program, Olympians
Independent Bible study:
Word of Life 
Awaken: 90 Days with the God Who Speaks by Priscilla Shirer



Volunteering:
1 1/2 hours at church for Olympians program
1 1/2 hours at the library during Story Time
1-hour Nursery during Sunday church



Grace Classes:
Cultural Geography (BJU) 
Algebra I (Saxon) 
(I should mention Dh has been regularly helping Dd with her math homework most nights)
Spanish I (BJU and DuoLingo) 
Introductory Logic 
Exploring Economics by Ray Notgrass



Babysitting: 
2 1/2 yo and 11 months old
5 hours babysitting for J&T.  I'm so glad Dd is a really good babysitter and loves those kiddo's!



Physical Exercise:
Hikes with Henry 5x this week and a 
family hike on Saturday.  



Since I hurt my back and had migraines this week Dd really had to step up and do a lot of my chores.  She did a lot of chicken chores too!  Bless her heart, she was extra helpful this week and did a lot of running around for me. 



Home Economics:
Made a Taco Dinner one night
Made Egg breakfasts 3 x this week



Music: Guitar
Strings Group: 1-hour practice
Strings Group performance on Sunday for church

Agnes and her favorite buddy/toy, "Love"

Art:
Sketching
I always forget to document that she draws most weeks.

I've hung out the torn up rope toys of Henry's for the birds and nest makers.

Next Week:  
First Day of Spring! Planning a visit to see our dear, dear friends the "L" family in Indiana soon! Dd and I are to perform for the second time this month at church in the "Strings Group."  She plays the guitar and I am in the chorus.  Our church sings along to our selected hymns and they are louder than we are!  I love it! 

Thought for the Week:

Joyful in Hope, Patient in AFFLICTION, and Faithful in Prayer! 

.....................