Ordinary Time

Illinois has had a tough go of it these past few months. Most notably we have broken all sorts of records for tornadoes. As of June 21, there were 196 documented tornadoes (I'm sure the number is higher now) which is more than twice the next state in the list has seen. So that's fun.  Then, over the weekend, Iowa decided to share its torrential rain with us. There was over 4 inches of rain on Saturday and yesterday was an enormous storm. (No tornadoes this time though.) Flash flood warnings were going off all over. This was the prelude to showing you this video of our "driveway" yesterday. J. went out to see what the state of things was. He stopped walking when the water level was going to top his boots.  The creek in front of our house had definitely overflowed its banks. Today things are nearly back tomorrow, but definitely damp. Duck has enjoyed it immensely.  Having put in that nice seque to poultry, the other thing that happened yesterday was that L. deemed Chick...

I have mixed feelings about the holiday. The current state of our country is horrendous and terrifying. The hand basket we are all traveling in seems to be getting closer to its destination every single day. I am beyond angry that those who could turn things around refuse to do so. I am baffled that there are still people who support the evil that is being done. And on days when I can manage to read the news I despair for our country.  My family and J.'s family have very long histories here in the US, with family from both sides arriving before 1776. If family lore is correct, one of my ancestors was part of the group who dumped tea into Boston Harber. Both of our families have ancestors who fought for the North in the Civil War. I am in possession of my great-great-grandfather's fife. My ancestors fought for freedom and for their country who was on the side of freedom. Freedom from tyranny, freedom from slavery, freedom to speak openly, freedom from abuse. They would not recog...

Buddy would like me to tell you he is tired of the weather and that it is hard being a pony.  First it was miserably hot so he and Vienna had to be inside the barn so the big horses could have access to the shelter of the stalls. Then when the weather was slightly better and everyone was out, storms started coming through so the ponies had to move back into the barn. Again. It's not fair and the big horses get all the cool stuff.  Having delivered Buddy's message, I'm going back to my book. I brought the last three Emma M. Lion books home from the library yesterday. I finished volume 6 before bed last night, I'm well into volume 7, and fully expect to read volume 8 before the weekend is over. I suppose if I were really nice I would go out to the barn and read them to the bored ponies. 

It is too hot to think. If I could just stay holed up in the air conditioning, it wouldn't be so bad, but having outside animals means you have to go outside to care for them. I dislike sweating through multiple outfits in a day.  Since I can't think, I thought I would link to some of my more... opinionated... posts. Some newer readers might have missed them. And what's a little more heat when it's already so hot? In no particular order and certainly not all of them, just what I could easily find.  On disabled people as community service projects More unpopular opinions, the thin-skinned may want to move along On parenting trans children  Another episode of very unpopular opinions  A parent's worst nightmare  On homeschooling  A kvetchy list dealing with homeschooling misinformation  Let's talk homeschooling curriculum  I may have lost my temper a bit today Things NOT to say to a homeschooled child  Take it slow... warning great kvetchyness a...

I go through seasons of how I want to spend my time. Recently it seems that fiber-related activities just haven't been making the cut. I'm not worried about it, just making an observation. My interest will cycle back around again.  Some parts of the country are suffering through a heat wave. (Is my household the only one that seems generally grumpy as a result? I'd rather have below freezing weather. I don't even have to stop and think about it.) Since it's not much fun being outside, I took care of some things inside. One of those things was finish a sewing project that has been kicking around for a couple of months. It's a bit silly it took so long because it's just a T-shirt and I used a server for the long seams. Here it is. The pattern is one I drafted last spring. The fabric came from Vogue Fabrics. Last summer when L. had a Saturday Morning Physics class at Northwestern, I used some of the time to go visit Vogue. This was a remnant I saw that I though...

Our vacation to Michigan was lovely. Everyone was able to make it at least for a little bit except for TM and JH who are in the throws of moving house. We did all the beach house things... played on the beach, ate food, read, played games, napped, read more books, and went into town for ice cream.  My adult children remain master players . (If you've never heard me use that term before, please click on the link.) They found some large pieces of driftwood, created a structure, and proceeded to play games on what they created. I never grow tired of watching my children play, even if they are all grown up.  Kenzie came along, too, and had a great time. His favorite thing in life is to be surrounded by all his people, so he was pretty much in heaven.  Enjoy some photos of the week. Most are taken by K.