This was a strange week. It felt a bit like trying to slog through something. I’m not sure what. Fatigue? Fog of war? I’m not sure. But here we are on Friday.
First off, I wanted to share the full view of this artwork by William Adolphe Bouguereau. I’ve found a number of channels on Telegram that share beautiful traditional artwork, scenery, etc. This is one of the pieces of art I saved so I could use it in a post. The details are simply stunning.
We need to go out of our way these days to surround ourselves with that which is beautiful, true, good, and hopeful. Not as an excuse to try to pretend the real world around us isn’t happening, but to remind ourselves that there is far more to this world than the profane and ugly that is being systematically put upon us in order to demoralize us.
Attracting New Birds To Our Birdfeeders
This year we decided to switch things up a bit with our birdfeeding and try to attract some new birds. We purchased a feeder specifically for Baltimore Orioles. We always see them stop by in the spring, but they never stick around because we don’t put out what they like. We now have an orange feeder that holds half an orange and multiple little spots for grape jelly. They found it within literally 10 minutes of David getting it set up. Now they are around off and on all day.
We also put out a different mix in one of the feeders that seems to be attracting the Indigo Buntings. That is another bird we usually see briefly in the spring and then not again. They have been around almost every day this week so I’m hoping they will keep coming.
We were going to put away the box we have corn in (I wrote about making it in Highlights From My September Weekend), but we decided to keep filling it up and see if the deer will bring their fawns by. I’m praying they will. Caroline would be thrilled (and so would I).
Loving Linux
Speaking of that September post, I am still on Linux and still love it. No more of those horrific Windows updates. No more spyware. No more feeling completely out of control regarding what my computer is doing. I am so happy I switched to Linux. I highly recommend it. (If you haven’t read about the new Windows 11 update and what it does, make sure you research it before you allow it to update your system.)
In fact, I put together an area in the Forum called Switching To and Using Linux. I put quite a bit in there and try to remember to add more info as I think it might be helpful. (UPDATE: Now all moved to this post: Switching To Linux Mint From Windows – Mega Resource List)
Unit Studies In High School
Yesterday I had a conversation about homeschooling with a fellow homeschool mom. I was telling her that I really need to take a big step back and do some strategic and long-range planning for the next three years of homeschooling. Now that Caroline and I have worked through most of this year, I’m more convinced than ever that everything we do (writing, reading books, etc.) needs to count for more than one subject. As my friend mentioned about one of her children, it is a stamina issue. It’s not a laziness issue. With some 2e children, stamina and the ability to do sustained work over many hours is a big issue. In fact, it’s not an option to do super focused work for many hours each day.
In short, I’m going to have to explore more of a unit study approach for a lot of the next three years. I’m not sure what that is going to look like and there aren’t many people who have done this for high school and written about it in detail. I did a quick search and found Marcy at Ben and Me went through something similar during Ben’s first year of high school.
So that’s what I’m thinking about regarding homeschool. Caroline loves history. She will sit for hours doing crafts while watching one history documentary after another on her iPad. So however we do this, it will revolve around history. In fact, I had already decided that I was going to frame our four years of high school around history by going through all of history over four years rather than one year of world history, one year of US history, etc.
Now that I’ve seen what works for us and what doesn’t, I can put together a better and more concrete plan. The biggest issue is finding the uninterrupted time to really focus and think. I’m confident I can do this. It is very much what I specialized in during my undergraduate degree in elementary education. This is completely in my wheelhouse. The issue is time, time, time. It’s not possible to pull together a three year plan for all subjects mostly from scratch in a few afternoons. So this will be a big undertaking for me. It will be worth it in the end. If you did something like this for high school with any of your children, please leave a comment with any suggestions you have!
What are you doing in your home right now? I hope you’ll leave a comment and share. I’m sorry I did not respond to each comment last week. I read and enjoyed all of them and was thrilled so many people responded. ♥
Artist: William Adolphe Bouguereau
“Ghosts In The Machine” From 4th PSYOP Group (Army)
In our home and yard this week, I have nurtured our garden. Sadly, I see tonight that rabbits have eaten away a lot of our corn and pole beans. SO disappointing for all of that hard work, not to mention the money involved!
This is our first real year with a garden, so this is a Live and Learn experience. Chicken wire here we come.
Also, I splurged and purchased an Amish cookbook (the one from Milestone Books that carried Rod and Staff) a couple of weeks and am currently working through several of their recipes. I love cookbooks and enjoy cooking for my people.
That painting! The detail is exquisite.
xo, Lauren
Hi Sallie, Thank you for the update. We are in the process of changing the curtains. We have started decorating with red,white and blue. We have a lot of flowers,seeds and bulbs to plant. That is so interesting about the Baltimore Orioles. They are so pretty. Have a good week. God Bless.
Joan,Marion and Marilyn
We need to go out of our way these days to surround ourselves with that which is beautiful, true, good, and hopeful. Not as an excuse to try to pretend the real world around us isn’t happening, but to remind ourselves that there is far more to this world than the profane and ugly that is being systematically put upon us in order to demoralize us.
I absolutely love this, Sallie! I took a minute to hand copy it into my paper planner, and it was such a peace inducing exercise. I plan to have this in front of me as I go about my days.
At our home, the asparagus is up and running! We’ve already given some away to a few neighbors and friends. The patch was established when we moved to our current house, and we’ve just cultivated it since then. My husband has been running the tiller in our big garden patch, but this Spring has been pretty wet, so we haven’t gotten much in the ground as of yet. I have my hummingbird feeders out, and we’ve seen them stopping by. I’m looking forward to spending more time outside and on the porch, as I love Summer.
Thanks again for restarting the Simple Living posts. I think they’re much needed in these times.
It’s my day off- the single day of the week off from a job that keeps me away from home at least 12 hours a day.
So there is no idle time- there is time for beauty and reflection, time for housekeeping, but my time at home is filled with joy and work before the sun comes up.
I did not know the Juncos built a nest in our daughter’s outdoor “library” until the chicks were fledging. I do not have time to mend, build, repair, salvage or renew the things in my life that need attention.
These are not complaints; I enjoy what I do but would walk away from any job without compunction if that was what God or my family required me to do. As my family’s only earner, I financially sustain my family. Nourishing, cherishing, and providing for them in all the other ways that a mother or wife should? Um,
Sallie, when I stumbled on your blog last fall you provided a doorway back to God, and opening that door has been a profound blessing. I do not belong to a church, and may never choose to. I live in a largely secular city and the people in my life are generally secular as well. My interest in religion and theology is not surprising; my grandmother was exceptionally pious and my grandfather’s lineage contains generations of ministers. However, finding friends to discuss religion with- especially friends who will not judge my sins harshly- is a challenge.
I live in a thriving city, and I also live four blocks from a busy highway with prostitution, a significant homeless population, and an established drug trade.
This morning while walking the dogs I looked at the world around me and thought “God encompasses all”.
Then I looked down at the grassy trail and saw five wild plants that can be used as medicine and three more that can be used as food; God encompasses all.
Before getting back to paying bills, repotting houseplants, and planning a trip to the art museum, I’d like to share more.
To paraphrase something you posted a while back, when you pray for strength God sends adversity. I have been overly proud of myself for persevering, and that has not gone unnoticed! Humility smarts.
I asked God for guidance, and received Proverbs 28:20. Loud and clear. That didn’t stop me from equivocating or trying to reimagine the message. In fact, I’m still wheedling for a work-around so that I can align what I want with God’s instruction. We all know faith can be harder when life is bountiful, beautiful, and fun. But God is the progenitor of bounty, beauty, and fun.