Fleur de Lis Homeschool Blog

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

June 16-22, 2019

Church, Garden, Painting Fence, Basement, Pizza, Peak Peonies, Poppies, and Purple Iris

Hello, Friends!

A week free of migraines! Ms. Lemon, our Bantam hen, finally stopped being 'broody' and was one of the first hens to come outside in the mornings this week. It is so good to see her outside and among the rest of the flock. She is eating and doing so much better. The other 'brooding' hen, Charlotte, is still stuck in a rut and I've been pulling her off the nest and forcing her outside to spend time in a chicken tractor. Charlotte is very keen to eat and scratch when I get her outside. If I didn't put her out in the tractor I don't think she would eat or drink all day.

Church:

We are still really struggling with exactly HOW to handle our response to the big blow-out Dd and I had with our church. It really seems like there just isn't a good way to respond! Or else, we can't figure it out. On Sunday (June 16th), Dd and I went to a new church (Ada Bible Church). The sermon was awesome and the concert-esque worship music was okay. I always prefer old-fashioned hymns, but the band that lead the worship music did a good job. Dh decided to stay home. He is going to have a hard time looking at other churches. There is so much going on in our hearts right now that these few sentences do nothing to share all the daily conversations we are having about this topic in our home. Not a day has gone by that we haven't had big discussions about what we are going to do; it has been exhausting trying to figure this out. It feels like a death or a divorce in our hearts.

Friends:

I haven't done a good job reaching out and making new friends since we moved to Michigan, not that I was super-successful in Indiana either!!! But, currently, our entire social circle had been with our church---as in no other friends formed anywhere else. So, if we leave our church I will most likely lose ALL my friends, sad but true. I really need to do a better job of getting out there and being more social. I know the ladies I've met at our church are too busy to socialize outside of work/church time and I'm bracing myself for this loss.

We always have a lot of hummingbird feeders up, and that means LOTS of hummingbirds whizzing by our heads all day!

Bible Study:

In my attempt to grow and meet new friends I've made numerous phone calls/texts/emails to join a women's bible study group. It took contacting a few different people, but I eventually got signed up and will meet next week.

Henry

Painting the Fence:

Fence:

I spent the week painting our fence again this week.

With a paintbrush, I painted a five-gallon bucket in seven days.

The fence around the pool looks so much better. I still have LOTS of fence to paint!

We've been starting to work on getting the pool up and running.

Garden: Veg

The garden has really hit it's stride this week.

The grapes seem to love their new post system and enjoy having more room to spread out.

It is amazing how, in one week, the garden has filled in so much. I'll have a specific post that shows how each bed is doing to share every week or two.

You can see the grapes forming and already growing.

The newest 'wild' bed is doing okay. The peas *should* have really taken off but they are only slowly growing. I think the bed is in too much shade...we will see if we can get anything out of it--no harm trying!

I planted some new spinach seed to take over for the old plants that are going to seed. It's probably too late and too hot, but I'll try.

Corn Beds:

Last year Dd begged for her own beds to plant corn. This year she has had zero interest in gardening. We waited and gave her plenty of time to plant her corn again this year. Finally, this week I went ahead and planted the corn. I also put in some onions around the corn seed to make the most of those two beds. I hope there will be enough time for the corn to produce before it gets too cold. The growing season in Grand Rapids is very short.

Garden: Flower

This week was the peak of the peonies! We really had our best, most prolific amount of blooms this year! We really enjoyed all the beautiful blooms; I even brought in some bouquets!

Flower Bed by the front door

Flower bed below

The 'below' flower bed has had glorious Foxglove blooms this year. In the spring I dug up all of them and put them together in the front so I could appreciate and see them better. I did manage to miss one plant and will have to mark it and move it in the spring or fall to be with the others.

Chickens:

Finally, Ms. Lemon is done being broody! Now she is one of the first chickens out the door in the mornings again! It is great to see her back to eating, drinking, and out of the nest box! Unfortunately, Charlotte is still broody. I'm bringing Charlotte out each morning and putting her outside in a chicken tractor with lots of food and her own water. Her appetite continues to be robust so I am hoping she can snap out of it soon. The rest of the chickens are all doing well. It is great to see how their combs are getting redder (healthier). You can literally see them getting healthier each week as they have a better diet focused on greens.

Peak of Peonies:

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"Just to be clear...you're NOT taking my picture, right?!"

Dd's FUN Events:

Summer Concert:

Dd and her friend, Hailee, went back to the summer concert again this week to hear a blues band.

Peak of Poppies!

Babysitting:

Dd babysat for Teresa two days this week.

Basement:

With the summer heat starting to turn up Dd decided to move downstairs, into our basement bedroom, for the nice cold temps to sleep in. Her real bedroom is in the loft and is the hottest room in the house. Dh and I will be doing that next week when we move a bed to the other room. It is so much cooler to sleep in the basement in the summer. She is thinking about making this a permanent move, but both spare bedrooms are full of book-stuffed bookshelves and it will be a big move if she chooses.

Job Interview:

Dd had a job interview at a local pizza shop, a little hometown place. She was so excited to get the job! One of the other girls in her Sunday School class works there and recommended her for the job.

Rubix Cube:

Ever since we visited the "L" family back in March, Dd has been playing with Rubix cubes. This week was a peak week! She spent a lot of time this week and really mastered it.

Hailee Over:

Dd had Hailee over and they washed the car; which leads to getting out water balloons and having a water balloon fight! Then they played basketball and had fun.