a borscht lunch setting

The coop (Azure Standard) truck arrived in the Walmart parking lot one afternoon, the sun was high in the sky and blazing hot while the asphalt in the parking lot only intensified the heat. Some of us felt comfortable enough to unload and place all packaged boxes, bags, cans and jars in separate piles for the others to pick up and put into their cars. I was especially thankful for this delivery because in this particular order were some organic beets and cabbage. The beets were outstanding and delicious as was the cabbage, and since I had an adequate supply I decided to make borscht soup. The main ingredients are onions, garlic, beets, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, and spices. You may prefer to make it entirely vegetarian and use vegetable stock but I used chicken stock in this day's batch.

This soup involved quite a bit of chopping and shredding, yet the cooking time was no more than an hour. But like so many other soups the taste only becomes richer and tastier as it sits in your refrigerator. The soup may be eaten cold or hot. Now my husband is good about trying new things, even some of my healthier concoctions, but as long as I warm this soup before serving it, he enjoys it and even calls it very good! I topped mine with a dollop of plain yogurt, too lazy to run out into the hot sun and snip a sprig of dill to garnish.

You may use your imagination😊 

goldfinches dining on the hyssop plant

The kitchen table sits with a wall of large windows on one side, these windows look out onto the paved patio and some of the gardens. From this place backyard nature is observed and recorded.

At least twice a day, I sit at my kitchen table and while I am eating my meals I witnessed the most wondrous sight. The goldfinches come to the hyssop plants and dine on the seeds of the flowering spikes of the hyssop plants. A bright spot of yellow radiating amidst the green leaves and lavender blossoms. They bounce and flit from one spike to another.

And many times the shared meal of a couple will romance the moment. 

hope, truth, peace and joy

Quite often I want to open my mouth and give my opinions on a number of things these days... and sometimes I do. But when I looked up the word opinionated in the dictionary I was thinking that was not the word that I would prefer others to have when they think of me.

Opinionated (adjective)- obstinate or conceited in regard to the merits of one's own opinions; conceitedly dogmatic.
Yet, the truth is, I do have opinions so that distinctly makes me opinionated.However, I must keep them under guard, until the right time and even the right people.

So... on to other matters on this typically hot and humid summer day, I want to give everyone a spell of renewed hope. This is not unusual, slack, deceptive, or worthless hope. It is truth, it is life, and it is freedom.

"I(Moses) call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live: That you may love the LORD God and that you may obey His voice, and that you may cleave to Him: for He is your life, and the length of your days:
 (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

"Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father but by me." (John 14:6)

"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory." (Col. 3:4)

"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past to the fathers and the prophets, has now these last days spoken to us by His own Son, whom He has appointed heir of all thing, by whom also He made the worlds; Who seeing the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;"  (Hebrews 1:1-3)

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Hims shall not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

This is the Holy Word of God, not my opinion. And it brings everlasting life in Christ Jesus.

I am thinking after spending time meditating on the truth of HIs Word, an uplifting hymn can also provide an avenue for creating joy and peace in our dailiness. 

Choose a Hymn of the Day, read the words carefully at first and then sing with unadulterated praise to The LORD. You may find yourself humming and singing the hymn throughout the day.

Today's hymn choice for me is "Teach Me Thy Way, O Lord."

Then this thought came to me today in a serendipitous moment. I was driving to the pool  to swim, as I glanced to my right I noticed something that tickled me and made me smile, even giggle, a horse trailer going down the interstate with the horse's tail blowing in the wind outside the opened window. Flipping and flapping...it must have felt good to that horse! It was enchanting even in its barnyard essence. So daily, I am going to record at least one such moment that stirs that "tickling in my innards" smile.

after a storm and other fancies

What would any respectable  summer be that failed to send those brief storms that stir up the rumble of thunder, the intensity of lightening, and the spate of pouring rain and then just disappears as a contented guest? But immediately following the storm there exits a strong pull to step outside to seek for rainbows and to splash in the rapidly flowing puddles. It is for those things I look for, observe and cling to when the storms of  unpredictable things rage elsewhere in our world.

"Let not your heart be trouble, neither be afraid....

A collage of  random photos were recently found on my camera, fancies that make the little things, the simple things of a beautifully created world.

"Let all that has breath praise His holy name!"

I certainly wished I had taken a photo of the pair of mockingbirds swooping to chase the garter snake away; the tenacity of that pair of birds speaks to my heart of guarding myself.

"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

I choose to believe the LORD sends a special treat to me in early June year after year. Again on a morning walk this terrapin was waiting for me to notice him as he crossed the street along my path. I gently scooped him up and carried him home for all of us to enjoy for a brief spell before he was released into my flower garden, amongst the tall monada and hyssop.

African violets are extremely easy to root, but one must have patience because they also grow slowly. A sewing friend stopped by my house back in late winter and handed me an assortment of African violet leaves. She assured me that in those grouping of plucked leaves were all colors and varieties of violets. I  recently repotted some of the more flourishing ones and I am very pleased with their growth. I will patiently wait for future surprises.

"But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Johnny jump-up flowers in my salad, which I found out many do not fancy, but I do!

And there are those fancies that slip our mind for a spell, which certainly was the case with the  flower press we made several years ago. These particular flowers and leaves were pressed and forgotten until recently. I happened to recognize the press resting high on a cupboard in my sewing room. This has given me motivation to start my own herbarium after reading about the one Emily Dickinson kept.

"Have you made an herbarium yet? I hope you will if you have not, it would be such a treasure to you." 

                                     What are some of the fancies you are enjoying in these stormy times?

June Yarn Along

I am not knitting anything new these days. But I am spending time in the gardens absorbed in happy industry and calm puttering, spending time walking, spending time praying, and spending time reading good books.  When one considers the extremely concerning turmoil of these present times, the fact that I was able to don the heavy woolen knitted shawl one recent morning because of the chilly temperatures to the sudden calescent temperatures of these past two days is nothing surprising. The  blocking of this shawl was a booger, because of its length and weight. I decided to use my guest bathroom for blocking it and it took several weeks due to the smaller space. But finally it was blocked and packed away into the cedar chest, until it was cheerfully unleashed  earlier this week for soothing warmth.

I do appreciate Ginny with her monthly yarn alongs providing a safe place for us to share our knitting projects and current reading materials. I had been looking forward to reading this child's novel since I chose it for my 2020 Reading Challenge. You might recognize the author's name as the author of Heidi. I found this treasure at a library book sale some time ago, its pages yellowed and worn with age, but you can not fail to note the quality in its original form; the story of Cornelli  has a semblance to Heidi, so how could it not be an enjoyable read? 

a birthday that satisfies

“I'm so glad you're here, Anne,' said Miss Lavendar, nibbling at her candy. 'If you weren't I should be blue…very blue…almost navy blue. Dreams and make-believes are all very well in the daytime and the sunshine, but when dark and storm come they fail to satisfy. One wants real things then. But you don't know this…seventeen never knows it. At seventeen dreams do satisfy because you think the realities are waiting for you further on.” 
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea


She turned seventeen today.

 Turning seventeen deems celebrations and such stretching out into more than one day. A small part of this day included a stop to the newly opened Biggby Coffee because she was itching to give their mango smoothies a try and I was itching to make a simple dream come true.

She was a princess in all our eyes from the start. She proves that prayers are answered in the most astounding ways especially noted when a daughter is born just five days before her parents twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

She certainly has her share of dreams and I'm glad she does. Thankfully, some of the realities of these past months have in fact not clouded her expectations of the future but instead have begun to create a perdurable cord waiting to be twisted and strengthened into something wondrous and far-reaching, the stuff that real dreams are made of.

"LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly." Psalm 5:3

Happy Birthday dear Charlotte!

                                                                       

a healthy homemade mouthwash

To take the time to make certain cleansing or personal  products at home can be experiments in themselves. I find some are not worth the time or effort, but this homemade mouthwash is easy to make with simple ingredients and works great. 

Mouthwash:

1 cup filtered water

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

 2 teaspoons baking soda

7 drops of liquid stevia

5 drops of peppermint oil

5 drops of clove oil

1/8 teaspoon vanilla

I just mix all ingredients together with a whisk until dissolved and then funnel it into a pretty jar to set on my bathroom counter. (If your water is cold you may consider warming  it before adding the salt so it will dissolve better.) 

what our school year looked like...

It is about time I put together a post on our past homeschooling year. As I am taking my daily walks lately my mind reviews the accomplishments of this year even as it plows ahead to planning for next year, our very last chapter of homeschooling. I thought it might be good to record this on my blog because maybe, just maybe, someone might attain some help from my experiences.

Homeschool is extremely popular now. So popular that I believe I can readily state all children in the USA are presently being schooled at home!  But back in 1989, when I began homeschooling, its widespread popularity was not the case. My husband and I opened Cherith Christian School, using the Calvert School curriculum, during a time when many families were actively partitioning our state legislatures in order to obtain state approval for legal homeschooling under the Department of Non-Public Education. We, fellow homemeschoolers, considered ourselves pioneers in this movement and we very much needed each other. It was wonderful and new, and we took it all very seriously. Most of us felt called by God to teach our children at home, to educate them in all core subjects. To me this was a source of strength providing the greatest level of needed grace as I undertook this task of schooling my children. I knew the Lord would provide for me to do this tremendous job and He would be my help. He never failed me. I have seen many changes in homeschooling over the years. It is highly acceptable in my state and the opportunities are wide and deep for any family who desires to homeschool their children for any reason. Added to that I must say all homeschools look differently and the opportunities, helps, and resources are continually expanding.

Our homeschool philosophy has always been one that is Christian and Biblically based. The foundation is the Holy Scriptures from which everything stems from and is founded upon in our home. The main methods used to teach all subjects are a close combination of classical and Charlotte Mason. The years prior to  eighth grade no written grades are given, other than pass, master or needs more work and since our state requires that each homeschooling student take a standardized test every year that provides a good measure. My goal has always been for my children to love to learn and realize education is lifelong. By having grades recorded, but not counted, in the eighth grade my student would learned what was required for future transcripts, graduation and college admission. When the student reached high school, ninth through twelfth grade, a transcript was kept of all courses studied and a grade issued for each course on a comparative grade scale. I also keep a notebook for each year noting the course descriptions, materials and texts used, and with pockets of all papers written and tests taken.

Charlotte is now finishing her eleventh grade year. When we were preparing for her coursework back last summer we looked carefully at what she was interested in and what might complement what she intended to pursue in college.
English/Literature- I do not mind teaching writing to my children, however, I have the wisdom to know that my children do so much better if I do not teach this subject. Since writing in high school is intertwined with literature for the most part, I hired an excellent experienced teacher(IEW certified, former homeschool teacher, Classical Conversation director) to come to my house every Friday morning from 9-10:30 to teach Charlotte. It was perfect! 
Geometry- Teaching Textbooks
Anatomy- Apologia Advanced Biology 
PE/Health- Dance(Classical Ballet training) and Running/biking for PE. I found a wonderful Health Class source here to be the framework for her health program.
Art survey/Music Survey-I wrote these courses, 1/2  semester for each subject. The art survey course included a brief overview of the history of art, every week at least one or two artists were studied and one piece from each artist analyzed. We also visited our State Art Museum recognizing the various period movements in western art. She was required to keep a notebook with a timeline for a grade including a fun project of creating a "Living Art" display of one of the studied artist's works. The music survey course involved studying a modern composer each week. She listened to several pieces of music and wrote a brief biography on each composer. Her final grade came from this notebook and a test that involved listening and recognizing the musical pieces. We also attended several symphony concerts during the year.
Fine Arts- Music is big in our house, and it plays a very important part in Charlotte's education. She takes weekly private lessons in both piano and violin. That means at least 45 minutes a day of practicing each instrument. She is also our church pianist which involves practicing the weekly music and sometimes special music. Her youth orchestra meets three hours a week for rehearsals with added concerts. All this time and practice deserves a credit hour.
American History- Using as a textbook, A Concise History of the American Republic and Memoria Press accompanying material, we began in the second half of this book with the Industrial Age working toward toward the present. I have found that we have covered Early American History in detail in the elementary and junior high years, I truly wanted her to have a more in depth study of modern US history. With the addition to the text and schoolbook, we watched Youtube and Khan Academy videos including a large arena of historical events.
Latin-This subject has been a regular part of our homeschool since the very beginning. She successfully completed all four forms of Memoria Press and Henle I and II by the first semester. She is done with Latin😊.

Charlotte chose a lovely painting of Berthe Morisot, The Mozart Sonata, for her "Living Art" display.

She engaged the help of her friend, Lydia, to be the cousin pianist while she was the artist's daughter, Julie, the violinist.

at home, this week

Continuing on being in the home remaining busy truly looks no different to me on any given day. I have been doing the same things I always do without any hardship on my part, whatsoever.

READING:
Glad to report I did finish another novel on my 2020 Reading Challenge. With several books being read at the same time I must admit it gives a little high to have one I can check off the list. I did do a brief review on this book on Goodreads if you are interested. I first heard of this book from Gretchen.

FERMENTING:
I have blogged previously on how how I brew  kombucha. I have been doing it long enough to have preferences of how I like to drink it that ring strong. I have discovered I prefer my kombucha ice cold, which is a little bit off the scale from my usual beverage choice. I like to drink most things either hot, such as my morning coffee and teas throughout the day, or I drink everything else room temperature. In the cold winter months I do not drink kombucha. But come summer there is nothing quite like coming in from outside and pouring a large glass of ice cold Kombucha to quench your thirst. This huge scoby was way overdue to make a fresh batch. Most of this scoby was tossed onto the compost pile.

GARDENING:
I spent many hours saving and picking through my zinnia seeds to sow into the garden this year. Perhaps I am impatient, but I could not get rid of a niggling thought, "What if they do not come up?" So I went to the store and bought a few more packs to plant. It will be a zinnia feast or famine!

DANCING:
Breanna is enrolled in the classical ballet school that Charlotte has attended since she was five years old. Younger students definitely get the short end of the stick when it comes to Zoom classes, so Charlotte has taken on two students from one of the younger classes to do a weekly workout with a bit of a combination across the grass.

NATURE STUDYING:
Inviting Breanna to see the loveliness of nature, as if she needed to be invited, has been so much fun. I never want to stop having eyes of wonder to observe all I can and then to encourage and share this love. This particular afternoon we spotted a friendly Skipper flitting in the garden and we even had the extra joy of  moments of it landing on us! I believe this one is a Red Admiral...

GRANDMOTHERING:
One of the bonuses of the closing of schools has been having Breanna stay with me one full day a week. She attends a Christian school which has been sending schoolwork and I assist her with completing the daily lesson. But one of our most favorite times is curling on the sofa together, where Breanna makes sure she does not fall in the cracks between the cushions, and reading this book together. It is marvelous!

the last day of April

It is green and it is chilly today in comparison to what we have experienced for the past few days. The soaring winds had joined in with the incoming storm during those wee hours of the early morning, I'd snuggled down deeper under the covers. 

All is cozy and calm in the brick house this morning. After breakfast,I prepared a spicy chicken soup and put it on to simmer and mixed the ingredients for a boule of einkorn bread, the levain having been made last night. And since I was on a cooking roll, I continued on with a spaghetti sauce to which I will add meatballs for our evening's meal.

 I keep an active sourdough starter. I love it. Yes, you heard me right I love my sourdough starter. 

And apparently since active dry yeast has been added to the list of things that are no longer on the grocery store shelves or even online shopping, then my sourdough starter had become still more precious to this bread baker.

Here is some good reading explaining leavens and starters if you are interested. Enjoy!

Please allow me the curtesy of explaining about this totally unrelated photo as I did not really have an very good picture to share. I was going through some of my photos and I found this one of George sitting on our back stairs that we were in the process of painting. I can see Charlotte's pencil marks and a blue sticker of where her and her friend Eli were adding the bees with their flying pathways.

Sunday Dinner

"One of the most amazing revelations of God comes when we learn that it is in the commonplace things that the Deity of Jesus Christ is realized.

~Oswald Chambers

After church service our family partakes in what we call Sunday Dinner at my house. Yes, the numbers are smaller these days as just the three of us are gathered at one end of the dining room table, but when eating a meal in the more formal dining room a  special touch is added to this very significant day, the LORD's Day. Today, a Sunday in late April, we did not pull out the best china or crystal as we do on some Sundays. But we did light the candles and this beautiful music was playing in the background.

And it is surely time to expand the numbers around my table and share memorable times with others...soon, very soon!