Computer Issues

My computer is on the blink. Having it repaired, hope to be back online soon.

Accomplished Projects Around the Homestead

In the mail yesterday I received my Bioset from Johnny's Seeds. Currently I have started mung bean and alfalfa sprouts. Curious to see how well this works. Yummy salads and sandwiches here we come.

An ongoing problem around here has been rain. Yes, rain is great for our soil and for filling up our well. Over the past two months it has rained alot. More rain than actual sunny days. Which means my poor chickens have been walking around in alot of muck, except in their coops of course. Scott hung a tarp high over part of the Buff's run to help reduce some of the muddy muck. Today we finally have sun after 5 days of dreariness and rain. Thank you God for this beautiful day. We needed it so bad.

Food Storage

We live in a small cabin. Storage is at a premium. So we have to make use of every little nook and crany for food storage, or make it up as we go along. In the past six months stocking food has been a priority for us. Of course only when the funds are available. I have only purchased items that I know we will eat.

Yesterday was a big shopping day. $289.00 was spent. I informed the hubby that this needs to last us for at least two weeks. No shopping except for bananas, bread, and milk. $40.00 of the $289.00 was two pair of work jeans for Scott and a tarp to go over part of the chicken run. Last night I did cook the first of our dried potatoes from this past summer. Actually I have cooked some in a soup that Scott ate but this was the first real dish. I re hydrated the scalloped potatoes in water for 3-4 hours and then made a cheesy scalloped potatoes side dish for dinner. The consistency turned out just right. So this summer I see alot more drying of potatoes.

Aloe Vera Juice

Aloe Vera Juice has been a recent find for me. I use it for my acid reflux. My reflux has gotten so bad that I had to see a gastro specialist in December. Currently I take a prescription acid reducer in the morning and the gastro doctor added an over the counter one at night to try for three months. I have what is actually consider secondary symptoms. Irritated tongue and roof of mouth as well as sore throat especially when swallowing food instead of the routine burning in the throat or stomach. A couple of months ago I started drinking the aloe vera juice morning and night. At first it was hard to tell if it was helping because of all the other medication I am on. But recently I ran out of it and was off the juice for 5-7 days. My sore throat came back. I picked juice up yesterday and upped my dose to 1 1/2 oz. twice yesterday and could already see a difference today. My gastro doctor has no confidence in the aloe vera juice helping. I don't understand why so many doctors have a problem with endorsing alternative methods for healing. There are about 250 types of aloe vera plants so don't try to make it on your own. A specific type is needed so please get the one from a health food store, etc.

Indoor Gardening

Our indoor gardening experiment officially started last night. I planted spinach, oak leaf, and a mixed salad blend. If I haven't mentioned before I love my greens. I eat salads probably 4-5 times a week. If this works I will be a very happy woman. The possibility of fresh greens all year just makes me giddy. Plus I ordered my bioset to grow sprouts for the chickens and my salads. It should be here next week.

Each plastic container has the possibility of 6 seedlings to grow. Scott placed a small window screen material on the bottom elevated by about 1 1/2 inches to allow for drainage. I will keep you posted on the progress.

Eating Whole Foods

A journey I have chosen for this year is trying to eat more whole foods. I am the first to admit that I am the worst vegetable eater around. Grace eats a fair variety of fruits and vegetables but my oldest eats very little. Since he was little his menu consisted of about 10 different items and at 21 it is still close to the same. This year I am focused to try a new vegetable, fruit, grain, etc. each week, especially when the produce starts rolling in for our garden. Don't get me wrong, I do eat alot of greens, shredded carrots, apples, bananas, and nuts. Citrus fruits are out of the picture for me because of my severe acid reflux. In the past couple of months I have changed to snacking on nuts, fruit, and yogurt covered raisins in place of bakery items, chips and crackers. All sweets are usually made by me at home. But I really want to push things farther. I want to do 2-3 meatless meals a week. The other 4 days a week we can have meat but would like to purchase humanely raised and organic meats. As I said in the beginning this is a journey and I am sure I won't be perfect about it all the time. But some is better than none.

Typical Thursday

Each day of the week has a certain flow to it for us. Today being Thursday we have a couple of classes outside the home to work in to our schedule. Thursdays are more of a Fine Arts kind of day with a little bit of book work mixed in. Grace's favorite day because I don't schedule any math. Typically we do a bit of book work before lunch:

Science - Correct missed questioned from yesterday. Read a certain amount of pages and answer more questions. Currently finishing up the last lessons in Exploring Anatomy from Jeannie Fulbright.
Nature Study - Read a lesson from Mary's Meadow which is a Discovering Nature Series from Queen Homeschool. Today's lesson is about bulbs. Grace will find four different types of flowers that grow from bulbs, draw a picture of each, and write down their latin names.
Art - Finish art homework from Monday's drawing class. Working on hands in different poses.
Vocabulary - An activity from Wordly Wise grade 7.
Independent Reading - 30 minutes from The Hunger Games or Naruto.

After lunch we head off to her mixed media art class for an hour. Once we get home from art class if there is any book work left to be finished this would be the time to take care of it. Later this afternoon we have a two hour practice with ministry drama team. Preparing for another performance on Febuary 1st. In between all of this I am sure she will be working on the computer any time she can fit in. Grace spends hours using her bamboo pad to draw on the computer and well as other graphic arts software.