Friday bullets, April 17, 2020

It's Friday again. Don't you feel as though Friday has lost a little something? You know, before, there would be a little feeling of anticipation when realizing it's Friday. Now, it's more like, oh Friday, just like any other day. Anyway...

• My plan to have everyone take charge of finishing their school work is working pretty well. Some people have been extremely diligent and are at least halfway done in just a few days, having done more math and grammar in one day than they've done in I don't know when. Other people, well, let's just say as May approaches there is going to be some unhappiness. Better to learn the disagreeableness of putting off work now. At least that is what I'm telling myself.
• I have been informed that The Swooping Eagle is now completed. I have also been warned that it is not a happy ending for all of the characters. When I expressed disappointment, I was told (with a somewhat long-suffering tone), that to make a happy ending for everyone would be too much like a fairy tale. Do I need to remind you that she is 10? I have an appointment with her tomorrow to finish the editing of the spelling. Maybe it will be ready for you to read tomorrow as well.
• The chickens remain on lock-down for their own safety. Two mornings ago, the dogs started growling, so J. looked out the window to see if he could see what had bothered them. He saw a coyote walking right up towards the house and look into the chicken pen. (They are safe, don't worry.) J. opened the door and yelled and the coyote ran away. Then, yesterday, Y. was looking out the window and admiring the cute bunny that she could see nibbling on the grass. Then she realized that a coyote was very close and stalking the bunny. She opened the door and made noise to scare the coyote and the coyote ran away. I have not been successful in communicating to the birds that it is not safe to exit the pen and they try at every opportunity. There is probably a modern parable in there somewhere if I felt like pointing it out, because not every bird would become coyote chow, you know. 
• Some of the co-op classes that my children were taking are being continued via video. They are really enjoying still having art lessons. Since I have children in at least three different classes, I'm just having them do all of them. Here are a few of the drawings from this past week. First we have robins.

G.

Y.

K.

K.

H.

And then they did woodpeckers.

Y.

K.

L.

G.

H.

There were also some macaws.

H.

G.

L.

Y.

K.

• It did indeed snow this morning, possibly close to six inches. At least most of the it is melted by now. Surely that was the end of the winter weather for the season, right?

• There has been a challenge issued that J. would pay for every pull-up over ten that people can learn to do. There has been much practicing. L. has practiced enough that she went from not being able to any pull-ups three days ago to being able to one as of yesterday. I feel a little bit as though we're living in a Brady Bunch episode, but I still don't have Marcia's hair, which was always my aspiration.
• The horses are doing well. Bristol is back to her normal self, but we still don't really know what was going on. Java continues to heal nicely and gives me no problems about messing with the drain.
• We are still reading the Wonderful Adventures of Nils for teatime. Some of it I am really enjoying. That would be the parts that actually advance the story. Other parts I really, really wish that some editor would have cut out. It's as if the author not only wanted to tell a good story, but also wanted to make it a huge travelogue of Sweden. (And this would not be the interesting video-based travelogues of modern technology. No, these would be closer to black and white film strip travelogues of elementary school.) It strikes me the same way that the endless lists of fish in 20,000 League Under the Sea did... terribly dreary to read aloud. It does make me realize that my working knowledge of Sweden's geography is pretty non-existent. 
• We woke up to some sad news the other day. Remember the little quail eggs of Q.'s that I blew and painted? I had used them to decorate the table for Easter last weekend. Well, one night, Nefertiti decided that I had put them there for her enjoyment and she destroyed every last one of them. I'm both sad because I spent a lot of time on them and was happy with how they looked, but also because they were Q.'s little eggs and there won't be anymore of those. I have still not quite forgiven the cat.
• In order to keep what little of my sanity is currently left, I have been snoozing people right and left on my Facebook feed. 
• If you are a homeschooler in Chicago's far western suburbs and you're looking for a co-op, talk to me. Registration for next year will be opening soon, and we have loved ours. Plus, I'll be teaching two classes... one on Manners and Etiquette and another on The Art of Science of the Horse.
• On Monday, R. and H. were due to go for their semi-annual neurology appointments. Now, I don't usually look forward to these as they are a significant amount of driving, the doctor being an hour and a half away. This time, though, I was kind of looking forward to it. We would get out of the house and go somewhere. We would actually talk to a non-family member. We might even go through a drive-through and get food. It was shaping up to be more excitement than we've had a for a while. I was even going to spend some time this weekend making a couple of cute masks for H. and R. to wear. Well, today I got the phone call that their appointments were canceled and I am to call back to reschedule a telemed appointment. Part of my brain new it was going to be coming, but darn, I was looking forward to it all. This is a sad commentary on my current existence.

And with that, I'm going to say good night all.