Weekly update - Oct. 14, 2022

There's not going to be much here, I'm afraid. It just doesn't seem to have been a terribly eventful week. I'm not complaining; I needed some calm. Calm is not always terribly interesting to write about, though.

• Today is H.'s 20th birthday. Yes, you read that correctly. We are all a bit undone by that. It doesn't seem quite right. She had her chosen birthday breakfast of cereal (Fruit Loops in particular is what she wanted), but we'll celebrate with the family on Sunday. 
• K. and Y. are off spending the night at B.'s tonight. 
• I had an exciting box arrive today. My mother had cross-stitched a wall hanging for me a while back and when I was there last spring, we went and chose the framing for it. Well, the framed piece arrived today! Here it is in my reading nook.

Here is a better picture of the actual cross-stitching. (A better picture, not a great picture. Glass makes it difficult to photograph things.)

• Since J. was hanging things for me, we decided to hang some other things that have been waiting to go on a wall. Such as the giant antique embroidery I bought a few months ago.

• As with all the photos I'm sharing, just ignore the walls. They all desperately need a new/different coat of paint. It's on the list, but since we are hanging pictures, we are realistic about exactly how long it will take us to actually get them painted.
• And in case you missed how cozy Nefertiti looks in her now favorite sleeping spot, here's a closer view.

• This started a chain reaction, because to put up the new large embroidery, a couple of other pictures needed to move, which then required moving another picture to make room for them. Here is what we ended up with.

• Here is an interesting article about John Holt in Psychology Today. The writings of  John Holt was a significant influence in my early homeschooling thinking. The Joy and Sorrow of Rereading Holt's "How Children Learn"
• R. has started to really enjoy listening to Mother Goose rhymes, though she often asks, "Why?" about some of them, and we have to say, "I have no idea."
• I've decided to reread some of Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire series, starting with Pomfret Towers. It's not the first, but as close as I can get with the books I own. It's been about twenty years since I last read them and they are proving just the right thing for my reading slump. They are charming, light, well written, and the problems are all small and manageable. If you haven't read them, I highly recommend them.
• Unlike the doings in Barsetshire, reading the news is not charming, light, or manageable. To keep my stress level down, I've had to be careful about how many current events I allow into my head. Since G. and L. listen to NPR a lot, this can sometimes be difficult.
• I have been informed that L. is out of clay. (Again.) L. has promised me cute little pumpkin candle holders if I buy her more clay. That sounds like an offer I can't pass up, what do you think?
• All those books I have out to plan K.'s Afghanistan study are now coming due. I really, really need to sit down with them and do some planning. This is exactly why I over work myself at the end of summer planning school, because I know that the minute school begins, any time or motivation to do planning completely evaporates. 
• It looks as though we are nine months past the 3-year protection plan we purchased for the dishwasher, which still has not healed itself. This does not make me happy. I thought I was done buying appliances for a while. 

And I think that's it for the evening. At least it is all the vaguely interesting things I can think of at the moment. Off to read... or knit... or something.