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.
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| 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!
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