Ordinary Time

I'll have something of substance to write, but between the oppressive humidity, paying more than we actually have to get the van fixed, dropping off J.'s car because something is also seriously wrong with it, and then peopling at our church's inclusive game night, I'm done in.  I'm going to curl up with a good mystery while I listen to the thunderstorm outside and then go to bed. Some days are like that. 

My plan for children cooking one dinner each per week is still working well. They have all become excellent cooks who need very little assistance and neither J. nor I need to cook four days a week. Sometimes they choose to make something new, or to make something new to them, or because they really just want a certain dish. I get final approval because I just don't enjoy eating the same thing over and over. I generally need a month to feel as though we haven't just had something. There is great excitement when I agree to a favorite meal because there has been a long enough break from the last time.  [Interestingly, I feel the complete opposite about breakfast and lunch and will happily eat the same breakfast every day for weeks on end. No, I know none of this makes any sense at all.]  But back to dinners. Tonight was one of those nights where a family favorite made an appearance. L. made a copycat version of Panda Express' orange chicken.  If you want to try it yourself, ...

I don't often feel old. I'm sure having six children still at home with my youngests being sixteen has something to do with it. Many of my friends who are my age have been empty nesters for a decade or so now. When I stop to think about it, it makes me realize how far outside the norm we are.  But sixteen is pretty darn close to being at an age when children start going their own way. With homeschooling, I am pretty much done with the heavy lifting years. G. and L. will be juniors this coming school year, but they will be moving more towards dual enrollment at the college where J. works. My role has become a maker of suggestions and a finder of resources. At this point, everyone has taken charge of their educations. But technically we still homeschool, so I stay in the various groups. It pays off because next month we got discounted tickets to see a special art exhibit in the area, but that is really one of the few reasons I stay. The other reason is that I do have 28 years of ...

"Our society has an entrenched way of thinking about behavior. We almost always assume it derives from a person's will -- that people behave consciously and purposefully. When people misbehave, we likewise assume that they're doing it intentionally. As a result, whenever individuals in almost any social setting act out or misbehave, those in charge usually respond by punishing the bad behavior. When you were a kid, did your parents take away your TV time or allowance when you misbehaved? Most did. When you continued to misbehave, they probably just stepped up the intensity of the consequences and rewards. And they probably also bestowed privileges when you did the right thing. School discipline is similar. We assume when kids misbehave in school, they do it on purpose either to get stuff (special attention, for instance) or get out of stuff (like doing their work or coming inside after recess). In the early school years, teachers will punish kids with time-outs. They are t...

First off, I finished the project that has been on my loom for a few months.  This came about because I had leftover warp and weft from another project and I wanted to use them up. There was a pattern that I had been wanting to try, so this seemed like a good time to do it. I pretty much measured out a four foot warp of the silk until I ran out. It ended up being about 8 inches wide. My plan for this is to use it as fabric and put it and some denim I have together to make a casual jacket.  It's pretty long. I will probably end up cutting it in half and hand sewing the selvedges together to make a slightly wider piece of fabric to work with. I'll need to figure out how it best makes sense with the pattern I'm using.  This was my loom waste. It's a six-ply 100% silk and is buttery soft. I've discovered that it makes as excellent embroidery floss because you can separate it as you can DMC floss. I was going to save it anyway because of that. But I realized that it'...

This may be heavily animal themed. Let's talk about whippoorwills. It's a bird previous to last weekend that I had only read about. I imagined that the little whippoorwill song that they sang was sweet and charming. Well, it seems I was mistaken. Their song is the bird equivalent of someone typing in all caps. Instead of whippoorwill , whippoorwill , it's actually WHIPPOORWILL!! WHIPPOORWILL!! at the bright and early hour of 4:30 am.  G. is doing a fantastic job with the new lambs. This one is Caspian. Fred wanted his picture taken, too. It turns out that sheep love mulberry leaves. Fred and Clark have both become very good at balancing on their hind legs to reach them.  And some lamb pictures, because they're cute. The chicks are getting bigger and their feet are getting feathery-er. There is a huge squash plant growing in the sheep pen. I didn't plant it. The seed must have been dropped or buried by some passing animal. It is the healthiest squash plant that we...