Weekly update - June 25, 2022

Given the state of the world... er, country... I can't use the word 'bullets' anymore for these weekly updates, so I'm changing the name. They'll probably still be on Friday, but because yesterday was horrendous, I posted about other things. So here we are.

• I picked my first cucumber from our garden this year. It is a good thing the cucumber plants seem to be productive because we are pretty much out of all canned pickles right now.
• I canned 3+ pints of mulberry jam the other day and have started on another batch which will probably make about the same amount. There are still a lot of mulberries on the trees that have yet to ripen. I always forget how long the mulberry season actually is.
• I picked up the bulk order today. It was amazingly small considering what it usually consists of. Given the price of gas these days, I think I need to rethink what the tipping point is for when it is worth ordering versus how far it is to drive to pick it up. I'm pretty sure today's trip was not, but then I ordered it before the cost of gas had skyrocketed.
• Everyone has been diligent about doing their daily math. So diligent that I now have to order new math books for everyone. In the meantime, I found a puzzle book which uses fractions. Thinking this would be fun, I had people start to work through it until the new books arrive. True to form, though, no one is complaining about doing the math, but draw a hard line at didactic "fun". None of my children have ever been cooperative about school exercises that try to disguise themselves as a game. The fraction book is no different. So, they do the math, leave the puzzle, and it all works out.
• In some ways having a house full of young teens is very like having a house full of toddlers. Truly, the only difference is that I could pick-up the toddlers. 
• As we slowly and tentatively become more involved with the church we are going to, I am going to attend a book discussion group tomorrow morning. The book to be discussed is Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. This was my second time to attempt reading it. I think the first time I was unprepared for what the book actually was (a good chunk is more memoir than anything) and set it aside. I'm glad I gave it a second try because there was a lot I enjoyed and found interesting. On the whole, though, memoirs are just not my favorite literary style.
• H. found some caligraphy books at the library and is very excited to try her hand at it. I'm excited to see what she ends up doing.
• The baby ducks have yet to actually get into the pond. They stand next to it, they drink from it, they watch the other ducks happily swim about, but they don't get in. It is such un-duck-like behavior. If a duckling is not put in water when it is little, does it not trigger the must-swim-at-all-times water obsession we've seen with our other ducks? We always put the ducklings we've brooded in the bathtub. A lot. It's terribly cute, but really, ducklings are just so messy that they need a nightly bath just to stay tolerably clean. The baby ducks we have now don't even walk in a row, it's more like a huddle or a clump, always with the smaller of the three ducks in between the larger two. I truly do not know what to make of ducks that don't swim or walk in a row.
• The baby chickens got let out of their pen for the first time yesterday. They did pretty well, though it seemed they found Fluffy, the rooster, to be a little terrifying. And, like all good chickens, as soon as the sun started to head down to the horizon, they took themselves off to bed.
• Ducks and geese do not take themselves off to bed, they need to be herded into the pen at night, often with a light shining on the door so they can find it.
• I'm beginning to order supplies for the co-op classes I'm teaching in the fall. Today I ordered 12 suspended spindles. This is the second place I've tried to order so many from, the first couldn't get them. Supply chain issues seem to be affecting the spinning world as well.
• There is still room in the homeschooling retreat I'm hosting on July 9. The details are all on my website. If you don't mind passing it along, I'd appreciate it. 
• I am learning that I am the world's worst self-promoter. I just don't enjoy doing it. I'd much rather have other people share that I have helped them and passed my information along. I'm afraid the world doesn't really work that way, does it? But if you know of someone who could use some encouragement and parenting guidance, I have room for new clients. Just sayin'.
• I am sorry about all the flooding that Yellowstone has experienced, but selfishly, can I just say I am relieved that we hadn't planned on going until the early fall? 
• R. has had a very rough three days. It's probably the worst string of PNES that we've seen in months. It feels a little discouraging, but still, on the whole, even what seems bad these days is nothing compared to what life was like a few years ago. I just wish I knew what the triggers were, because boy, you can bet we would be avoiding them at all costs. She seems better this evening since dinner, so maybe we are back on an upswing. I hope so. Interrupted sleep stinks.

And with that, I'll say goodnight. A new mystery that I've started is waiting.