giving thanks: cards of appreciation

  ‘Tis the season once again to search among the voluminous displays of Christmas decorations to find the one obscure endcap that acknowledges that we have yet to celebrate Thanksgiving. And while that is slightly irritating, I try to put my energy into helping our family focus on the practice of giving thanks before the …

book review: miracles on maple hill

In midsummer, in search of a great evening read-aloud, after a string of duds, I pulled Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen off the shelf. Although it was one of my favorite books when I was younger, I wasn't sure how my two boys and husband would like it. In my hazy memory of it, …

homeschooling with a temporary bare bones schedule

(Joining in today with Simple Homeschool's Day in the Life series) Our homeschool days right now look much different than they did when we started our first official homeschool year back in August. Then, everything was neatly planned out; work schedules and learning time meshed smoothly--we were a semi-well-oiled machine. Then, in December, I was asked …

mucking about

          Shovels, hoes, and tools of all sorts are very popular around here right now. We took that interest and used it to our advantage for a little extra manpower while spreading manure over our large garden area. (You can see the bewildered bovines looking on in the background). I am …

while the sun shines

Our unseasonably dry weather has made it possible to tackle many outside/garden tasks before the other foot (known as torrential northwest downpours) drops. Daffodils have been pushing up through the dirt for several weeks now, and I think my garlic started coming up in December. Starting any job near dirt, or any task, really, almost …

sunset hike

            We headed out for a quick hike in the cold this weekend. After dilly-dallying the afternoon away, we decided to try a short loop hike nearby, which turned out to be perfect for little legs. We raced the sinking sun around the edge of an island with plenty of …

an embroidered spring cuckoo clock

    Winter only officially began less than a month ago, but with the arrival of seed catalogs, I already find myself dreaming of spring. And because I know it's just that--a dream--I'm very content to sit cozily and stitch on this little clock I've imagined up. I'm looking forward to offering it as a …

yarn along ~ january 8

On the needles: Steady work on the scarf continues; a few rows a day squeezed in whenever I can. This is just the pace my knitting can take right now. Off the shelf: Re-re-reading through an old favorite: Project Based Homeschooling--I have so much to learn and so much to try, but it's an encouraging …

winter hike

With an abundance of sunshine in our area, we took to the woods yesterday despite the cold temperatures. Everyone bundled up, and our winter explorations did not disappoint.     The more cautious among us brought along shovels and hoes "in case of snow", and were able to use them to dig "special rocks and treasures" out of …

a yarn along happy new year

  I just had to join a Yarn Along that fell on New Year's Day! On the needles: Since the last Yarn Along I joined, I've ripped out the scarf I was working on then, and started another. I couldn't stand how the edges on the original scarf kept rolling, so I found a pattern to …