Ordinary Time

In a rare moment, I decided to go with the more SEO friendly title. I could also have called this post Becoming an Autodidactic. My third choice was Grown-ups Homeschooling Themselves and Not Realizing It. So many options.  But I should back up. This morning I was searching for a podcast to listen to while I cleaned the barn to take my mind off of the continued extremely cold weather. The podcast I had been listening to had volume issues, so turned out not to be a good fit for the barn. On a whim I searched, "psychology of crafting" to see if I could find something that would hold my interest in eleven degree weather. The first option was for The Modern Mrs. Darcy's podcast, What Should I Read Next? I do wonder at algorithms sometimes because at first glance this had nothing to do with my search, and then I noticed the first word of the episode title. It was crafting. A very tenuous connection to my way of thinking. The whole title was Crafting Your Personal Curriculum. ...

I realize that I seem to have a penchant for choosing things that are somewhat labor intensive. You have probably already figured this out. Why buy something at the store when you can spend a million hours making it yourself? Which is why my newest craft to learn is English paper piecing. Here was my first trial run to see if I enjoyed the process.  I chose the colors pretty much at random from the bags of scraps I have. This will probably become nothing because I'm not overly fond of it design-wise, but I love the possibilities. It also didn't as long as I thought it might.  For those unfamiliar with the process, you begin with little paper hexagons such as you see in the top of the photo. Fabric is them wrapped around them and basted in place. The hexagon pieces are then sewn together.  When the project is sewn together, the papers are then removed and can be used again. This whole process was made a lot simpler because of the cool template I had. W. and MC have a 3D pr...

It was cold today. Cold enough I broke out my snow pants and extra long wool scarf. But really, it didn't feel too much different appropriately bundled than the times we have been in the single digits this winter.  The animals are doing fine. As predicted, the sheep appeared to be completely unbothered. Our new hens, the ones who were chicks in June and and are now full grown, are buff brahmas. We chose them because they are supposed to be particularly cold hardy. I guess they are because while all the other chickens didn't mention so much as a beak out the door, the five new hens were out and about as if it were thirty degrees warmer.  We still have running water in the barn. It feels almost miraculous. Both I. and I have a brief moment every time we use the hydrant where we wonder if this is the time the hydrant freezes. Trust me that we don't take running water for granted. It was cold enough last night that L. opted not to stargaze with her telescope despite Jupiter, Sa...

I realized this morning that it was ten years ago today that J., P., R., Y., and myself took a terrifying car ride to Hong Kong from Guangzhou, boarded a plane, and flew home to begin life with our two new daughters. Like so many things I both can't believe it's been ten years already and surely it's been more than ten years all at the same time. Time is funny. Consequently, I've been thinking a bit about those three weeks we spent in China adopting R. and Y. Ignorance is bliss, isn't it? It's a good thing we cannot know the future. I had no idea of the challenges that awaited us while we tried to figure out what was going on with R. and her seizures. It was... a journey.  And while there were some very hard moments, these two girls are worth it. We love them both to pieces and are overwhelming grateful that we get to be their parents.  If you missed the details of our adoption trip, click the 'Adoption' tab up there on the top and scroll down the page t...

I'm currently reading (among other things) What Sheep Think About the Weather: how to listen to what animals are trying to say by Amelia Thomas. I'm enjoying it, but the bit I read today made me laugh out loud and I have now read it to every person in the house who has crossed my path. And now dear reader, I shall share it with you. We absolutely cannot pass up things that give us a moment of joy.  This comes as part of a bigger discussion regarding training and if some animals enjoy it, especially the question of whether they would prefer to get food for having done something or just have that food available.  "Researchers investigated further and found that mice, birds, primates, wolves, gerbils, horses, and pigeons all chose will-work-for-food over the free buffet option.  The only species that didn't?  Cats.  To no one's surprise, ever." (p. 200) And you can't have a post about cats without cat pictures. Apollo Apollo Nefertiti Basil Juniper