Back to the Blog with an Update

Hello!!  It seems that it has been awhile since we have had adequate strength on the internet for me to be able to post on the blog.  Life has a habit of marching on whether or not I blog about it and things have been crazy around here this month with first a stomach virus that lasted for two weeks and now bronchitis-type sickness for everyone as well.  We are in to the second (or is it the third?) week of that!!

We are slowly getting back into our school routine, but I can tell some adjustments will need to be made.  I have been managing a range of students from preschool through high school for the last 14 years (!), but for the last couple of years it has become a struggle for me.  The only difference I can think of is that I am older now.  : )  For many years I could have four students at the table and would quietly work with each of them on their independent work in the mornings and we would do our unit studies in the afternoons.  Now I find it very difficult to focus on more than one thing at a time and am easily distracted.  I even find that I can't talk and wash dishes at the same time!!  Perhaps I need to find an herbal supplement to aid in concentration.  Any suggestions?

Our chickens are growing and will soon be moved into a permanent coop.  Jeff and the boys are building an 8 x 10 chicken coop near the barn.  The foundation is prepared and the flooring is ready to be installed.  Now the framework needs to go up so that work can continue.  We are hoping to get meat birds as soon as this coop is finished.  The layers will be moved from the chicken tractor to the coop to make room for the meat birds to be housed in the tractor.  We are also looking at guineas to keep the bugs under control, but Jeff has also read that they make good watch-dogs.

The garden is still producing, just not as much as I would like.  Cucumbers have, by far, been the most prolific, so we have been canning lots of pickles.   By next week I will have enough cukes again to make a huge batch.  We made need to try our hand at making some relishes as well.  Basil has been wonderful and we are filling the freezer with pesto for this winter.  We have lots of green tomatoes so I expect to have another tomato canning session late next week as well.  The peppers have been a loss.  We never have experienced a good crop of peppers and we were so hoping for a change this year.  Squash was a failure as well, although we do have a few (very few) winter squashes on the trellis that I hope will be good later.  We have learned a lot about our garden and have plans to expand and change some things for this fall and winter.  You can see my food preservation tally in the sidebar. : )

I have been cleaning out the school room and have accumulated several items that I would love to offer for sale.  I hope to make a list and share it with you all soon.  I really would like to do a major purging of our household in the next few months.  We have accumulated so much and I really do try to keep the toys down to a minimum, but there are still way too many.  I have a weakness for purchasing games to go along with whatever we are studying and unfortunately, we never seem to have time to really play them. Sometimes I look around and see all the things that we have bought that are now rarely used and regret all the money that we have wasted.  Maybe others would be blessed by some of these things, though.

Next week, in celebration of my 47th birthday, I thought it would be fun to offer several giveaways.  I have a stack of materials above my desk and a couple of other ideas as well that I think many of you will love.  So be on the lookout next week for some great fun!  Hope you all have a blessed Wednesday!