Catching Up Post #1: July

I never made a conscious decision to abandon my blog; life and new priorities got in the way. I don't want to leave this space altogether, as I do enjoy coming here to look back over the years.  But as time has passed, I no longer write with a mind to "followers." I'm writing for me, so I'm glad if you're here, but you may find it a bit dull.  I refer you to more interesting blogs, say Small Things, or Wooly Moss Roots.

Really there is little to report.  The activity that keeps me so busy is not very interesting.  Math with almost all the kids.  Making butter, yogurt, granola, kombucha, wine, dinner, ice cream.  Writing (not blogging).  Laundry.  Laundry.  Laundry.

I can't possibly chronicle the past couple of months in a few words (I'm far too loquacious for that), so I'll just post some pictures, adding that I haven't even been very good about doing that these days.  I really need a lens with a wide-angle-to-zoom capability, as my 50mm is great for portraits, but a bit lacking when I want an indoor wide angle.  I have to back up practically out of the county to get everyone into the shot.

Without further ado, I give you bits of July:

Among the things of July that are not noted in the photos above, our heifer turned one on the fifth of July.  Lola is absolutely lovely and we hope to have her bred this fall or early winter.  Her mama, Fiona, is milked twice daily, which--since we have no hog to raise right now--provides us with superabundant milk.  We go though about a gallon a day in milk and yogurt, but I've had the kids skim the cream from gallons and pour it out on the grass, which is criminal in my eyes.  I need to start making cheese, but I don't know how I'll find the time!

Ironically, this is Una's first week going dairy-free.  A recent spell of near-constant head and stomach pain, plus a cough, had me suspecting a dairy allergy.  Since Sunday we've eliminated all dairy, and not only are the headache and stomach pain gone, she seems to be sleeping better and have less anxiety during the day.  I don't know if we'll try dairy again in a week or so to see if her problems are in fact due to an allergy, but it looks pretty hopeful.  I'm beginning to wonder now if all her fibromyalgia pain was actually an undiagnosed allergy.

As you can see in the last photo, my baby had a birthday and turned six!  Since I began this blog when Dominic was a toddler, she is the only one who's life is chronicled here from conception to now.  She's a bright little spitfire who will no doubt cause me a lot of gray hair due to her willfulness!  I'm tempted to refer to her as "sir".  But she's also a very loving kid with a healthy conscience, and she's usually eager to please.

Status on the new house?  Well, we're still not in it.  The wood flooring is down (still needs staining and finishing) and the stairs are in, as you can see.  But with Bret doing the work himself, it's not happening fast...

It's getting warm outside...

{this moment}: first sight of the beach

 {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  Hosted by SouleMama.

Golden slumbers

Wordless Wednesday: the swing

Time well spent

It's been a nice week, all things considered.  Una turned 14 on Tuesday, and I didn't blog about it because we aren't celebrating until Sunday, although she did get her presents to open on her special day.  I still find it hard to believe that she is 14, and all maternal affection aside, I truly take delight in her company.

All the photos here were taken Thursday.  I pulled out the quilt before lunch, and we spent the day outside.  It is that small window of time that is after the chill and before allergies, heat, humidity and insects, and I am trying to take advantage of it, which means that I end up pretty much neglecting what needs to be done indoors.  That works for me on a day as lovely as Thursday was.

Thursday evening, a stray dog showed up, a boxer mix, young and quite friendly.  The kids played with him and I hoped fervently that the dog would be gone in the morning, since he was hanging around after all the kids were inside.  When Una went to lock up the chickens, the dog was still about...and there was another opossum in the barn.  They seem to be drawn by the cat food, which is of course better than having them drawn by our laying hens, but it seems that Bret has to dispatch one nearly every week.

This morning the dog was still around, and he went into the chicken coop and chased the hens, so we had to call animal control to pick him up.  Living in the country, we do have a great number of homeless animals wandering about.  So they picked him up, and it was rather sad--we are all praying that he'll be adopted.

And a man came out to do a termite inspection, and yes we need treatment.  Ick.  Major expense, but certainly necessary.

And today it is raining...

A Kite's Tale

Character-building through responsibility

Doesn't that title sound dry?  Like something from a 1960-ish black and white high school film?
I went to a homeschool conference on Friday, and listened to Ginny Seufert speak, and one of the questions she put forth was, why is America raising a generation of brats?  Then she talked about American parents being "providers" for their children, who are generally "consumers".  After generations of American kids being indispensable to their families, working hard on the family farm or store or restaurant, or aiding their families in other ways, parents have become the chauffeurs, valets, cooks and maids for their offspring.

Mrs. Seufert made the point that giving kids work to do for the family--hard work, important work--gives the children a true sense of self-esteem, as they realize that the family relies on them; not the fragile self-esteem that comes from the false praises so readily handed out to children today [6 year-old goes down a slide at a playground and parent applauds: "Way to go, Tommy!"].  The latter type of self-esteem will be crushed at the child's first foray into the world of grown-ups.  The former is true and real, and can be built upon.

The night before last Bret shot a huge opossum lurking in the barn.  Adrian, 8 years old, has been in charge of gathering the eggs and locking up the hens at night.  Well, this morning Una reported that the hen house door had been left open last night and that something got one of the hens.  One was missing and there were feathers all around the hen house.  Now, I couldn't exactly punish Adrian for not remembering to lock them up--he didn't purposely forget.  But I needed to make him realize that because of his error, we are going to go from having 21 eggs a week on average to only 14.  That pretty much means that eggs for breakfast is not an option unless I don't use any for a full week.

So I had him suit up and clean the hen house.  It's hard work, and his oldest brother supervised, but he got it done and I tossed him into the bathtub after, because it is dirty, smelly work.  But he came in feeling really good about himself, which would not have been the case if I had merely taken away privileges for his oversight.

Sebastian, 11, has been doing the milking every day but Sundays for a year now.  He is responsible and has learned to pay attention to the cows and take note of little things with them.  He takes care of his equipment and has his routine, and although I would never say that he loves milking (in fact I know he rather dislikes the chore, as much as he may like the cows), he knows that we need him, that if it were not for him, we might not even keep a cow.  And I think that makes him feel good.  It sure makes me feel good...