Monthly Archives: October 2009

Homeschooling – planning out your days

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Right now, Kaia is in school 3 days a week and home schooled two.  Though there are definitely those hair pulling times, we are really enjoying ourselves and looking forward to all the things we can do together.  So, we are actually thinking of home schooling full time.  It’s something we had thought about doing when she was first born, but house building, jobs, life happened and she ended up in a private school.  But, this past summer, when she was out of school, our days flowed so nicely!  We enjoyed each others company, doing projects together, reading together…

Right now, I’m kind of following the private schools curriculum and we cover similar things on her ‘home’ days.  I’m curious, though, how you home schoolers out there plan out your curriculum?  Do you take some time before the ‘school year’ starts and plan what you will go over for the year??  Do you sit down on Sunday night and plan out the week ahead?  I like to plan things, even if the week doesn’t go as planned, so I’d love to hear how you make your lesson plans for your kids?  If you write about it on your blog, please let me know!!

Finally… the coop!

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We finished the coop this weekend, and the chickens are ecstatic!!  It was quite a show trying to chase them down and move them all into the new coop.  Luckily we had help!  They are settling in nicely, but still having a bit of a problem figuring out how to get onto the roosts.  Some are just sleeping in the laying boxes (oh no you don’t!!).  We may have to build a ladder.  Maybe now they will start laying a little more than 2 or 3 eggs a day!!!!  I mean, come on ladies, there are 24 of you!!!

Before finishing up, we decided to have a picnic in the coop.  We figured it would be last time we would ever really want to hang out in there!

coopicnic

The front door... isn't she a beaut!

The front door... isn't she a beaut!

The Roosts

The Roosts

laying boxes and food

laying boxes and food

chicken hatch

chicken hatch

happy chickens!

happy chickens!

Yarn Whore!

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That’s the only way I can describe the way I felt this weekend at my first fiber festival, the Southeastern Animal and Fiber Festival It was sensory overload as I walked through the huge arena full of rainbows of yarn, roving, fleece, and knitted garments.  I had to touch everything and heard others moan and groan just like I did as I rubbed the fiber on my face.I wish I could have spent all day there!!  I went Friday morning and took a quick look around at all the vendors.  Then, I took Kaia back with me on Sat. eve and we got to see a spinning and a weaving demo, visit with the angora bunnies, pet sheep and goats, and watch the llama games!  I will definitely be going back next year!

saff2
Pricking her finger on Sleeping Beauty’s wheel

The main arena
The main arena
Llama Limbo!

Llama Limbo!

Beautiful Animals!

Beautiful Animals!

Sweetest little sheepy ever!

Sweetest little sheepy ever!

Coop continued

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The coop continues to be our main project around the homestead (although it would be a really good idea to get to winterizing the house!!)

Toby’s father came up last Friday and gave us a hand siding the coop.  We still have to put up the windows and doors and then put the roosts and boxes in, but hopefully, hopefully, it will be done this weekend!

coop5

coop6

What does Leif do while we are busy around the house?  He plays with his feet, he smiles, he makes crazy monster noises, and…

He eats seaweed!!  Yes, we have another seaweed fanatic in the house!

seaweed

He just turned 8 months old… got his first top tooth… is trying to crawl… and makes me love him more each day!!

Pay It Forward

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Last week I received a wonderful “Pay It Forward” package from Pink and Green Mama.  I was so excited when I got her email telling me that I was one of the winners of her Pay It Forward blog contest and couldn’t wait to see what she sent!

Inside the package was a lovely tie-dyed shirt cut and sewn into a carry bag.  (She must have peaked into my head and saw that I love these and, being a mom of two, use them constantly!)  Not only that, but she also made donations to International Medical Corps for 3 women to receive midwife kits and 3 girls to get textbooks!  Isn’t that cool??!?!?!

So now it’s my turn to pay it forward!  If you want to play, just be one of the first three people to leave a comment on this post and let me know you want to play, and leave me a way to contact you.  The only rule is that you have to pay it forward on your blog for three other people.  You can send whatever sweet surprise you want to put a smile on their face!

So, what am I sending???  :-)  You’ll have to just wait and see!

zinnea

Chicken Chalet

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We have started on what I hope to be our last project this year… The Chicken Chalet (I was going to call it the chicken palace, but being in the country, it just seems more like a chalet :-)  Toby and I have promised each other that we will have no more big projects until next spring.  We are both very ready for a break!!!  Let me say that again to make sure it sticks: We are both very ready for a break!!  Kaia has already requested family time by the fire, with hot chocolate, marshmallows, and knitting.  Let’s see if we can make that happen!!

Anyhoo, we now have around 30 chickens and desperately need a larger space for them.   Their new coop is 12 x 12 with a 6×6 corner of it walled off to be my garden shed.  So, they have an “L” shaped coop.  It should be ample space for them (and the baby pea chick that we are still hoping to get once the coop is done).

We had some wonderful help with Toby’s mom showing up with all of her tools, Heidi lending a hand, and Heidi’s man (who just happens to be a professional carpenter)… You can’t beat that!

coop1

coop2

coop3

We put on a couple of panels of clear roofing so that the chickens can have a little natural light.

coop4

And just to prove I was working too… This is what I was looking at all day!

lip

We probably have another full weekend of work before it’s done.  But, then I get to kick my feet up and just enjoy the fall and winter, right???

September Harvest roundup

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Things have mostly stopped producing in the garden now.  I still have kale, chard, snap peas, a little bit of tromboncino squash, and some arugula that reseeded itself.  But, I’m not doing much harvesting.  I’m so over the kale and chard.  I haven’t felt like eating it in months!  My plans for any type of winter garden have ended.  I need a break.  I want to put the garden to bed and not think about it for a while.  I’m sure there’s something I’m supposed to be doing to it right now… adding compost or cover crops or something, but I just don’t want to be out in the garden.  I hope this will pass next year and that it’s just related to having a new baby.  I feel like my time is so stretched thin.  If I have a moment to myself, I want to do something for myself, not be out weeding.

So, the harvest is a little light this months:

  • Eggs – 127 (most of the girls are now molting…. considering we now have about 25 laying hens, we should have 3 times that amount of eggs a months)
  • Raspberries – ~3 quarts
  • cherry tomatoes – never get weighed, they are eaten right off the vine
  • Leeks – 3#
  • chard – 4 oz
  • peas – 1#
  • Summer Squashes – 6# 9 oz.
  • Winter Squashes – 11 #
  • Cukes – 10# 4oz (gave it all away… couldn’t eat another cuke, and we have over 50 qt. in the pantry!!)
  • potato – 16# 5 oz
  • Sunflower seeds – 8 oz
  • Green beans – 8 oz (these are still producing, but the trellis collapsed on itself, and I didn’t feel like picking it all back up 🙂

It was a very rainy month!! – 8.25 inches  The chickens were not happy and have been ill on and off because of all the yeast and molds.

To end on a happy note… here is Leif in one of his favorite positions (that smile looks kind of crazy upside down, doesn’t it?):

favoriteposition