I hope you had a good week. This holiday-shortened week simply flew by. It was Wednesday night before I could even blink! Now it’s Friday already!
I sent out my first (restarted) newsletter yesterday. If you didn’t receive it and you don’t find it in your spam folder, then it means you aren’t subscribed. Use the sign-up in the sidebar or the form on the Subscribe page which you can find in the header menu.
This Week’s Artwork
Today I chose Helping Hands by Charles-Édouard Frère (1837 – 1894). According to Wikipedia:
Frère was born in Paris as the son of Pierre Édouard Frère, whose style of genre works he continued. He is known for interiors and landscapes. The orientalist Théodore Frère was his uncle.
Helping Hands was painted in 1880. According to Artnet, it last sold in 2014.
Office Update
I already shared about the feathering of my office nest so I won’t write about that again. But I’m pleased with the small changes we made. We don’t have the time to paint it and the room is too small to move furniture around. But a few changes made a big difference and were a good pick-me-up. I’m thankful.
Pantry
About a week ago I started watching some of the videos Southern Prepper 1 is doing regarding the actual real-life situations across the country. He has a fairly large YouTube channel and his followers are writing in and telling him what they are seeing in terms of shortages, supply chain issues, worker shortages, etc. Everything from antibiotics to water treatment plant supplies to basic hospital medical supplies. Some of it is truly eye-opening, even for someone like me who keeps up on what is happening.
I’m not going to embed any of his videos here, but I think it is worth your time to be aware of what is going on. There is much more I could say, but I will put those in a Sallie’s Stack of Stuff. If any of you have boots-on-the-ground info, I’d love to hear it in the comments or in an email.
In any case, this is your friendly reminder to know what is going on and how it will impact you. Not could, but will because we are truly at that point.
Mending
I did some mending this week. I’m not sure why I put it off because I always like the feeling of accomplishment when something is fixed and ready to be used again. In any case, I did tackle a few small things and crossed them off my to do list.
Homeschooling
Caroline and I had some good conversations this week about what we want to do (and not do) this summer. She must be going through a growth spurt in some way because she is sleeping (hard) until noon and eating up a storm. I firmly believe one of the greatest gifts homeschoolers give their children is the ability to get enough sleep. (I have many posts about sleep and how it impacts every aspect of our lives.)
I also had a good conversation with another homeschool mom about the choices we make, especially as it pertains to what we choose to study. I made an observation about this and we agreed I need to write a post about it! So I’m hoping to do that soon.
Work
My biggest work accomplishment was breaking the inertia and starting up the newsletter again. I don’t know why it was so difficult for me to just do it and send it out, but it was. In any case, I got it done and that was a huge mental load lifted.
David has been swamped with work so he hasn’t had any time to help me update my editable homeschool planners or with any other printables. I’m thankful – very thankful – he’s swamped with work. But it definitely slows down my ability to meet some of my goals. It will all work out, but they still aren’t updated so that hangs over me a bit.
On the bright side, I wrote a few posts and recorded a Sallie’s Stack of Stuff this week. From that perspective, it was a good week. I especially enjoyed putting together Bible Verses About The Humble and Humility. I benefited from the refocus just as much as anyone else.
So what did you do this week? I hope you’ll leave a comment below and share. ♥
Bible Verses About The Humble and Humility
Hi Sallie,
Definitely stocking up is recommended. I belong to a Canadian conservative think tank that brings very real economic news to readers. It is not good. Recently I believe it was an American think tank (Forbes ?) who described the next few months in terms of an economic ‘hurricane’. It is difficult to find a reputable source that does not describe the current economic situation as long term and descending. We went from $1.20 a litre last summer to now $207.4 a litre (aprox. 8.28 a gallon). This is in a country with oil amounts rivaling Saudi Arabia. As in the U.S. 97/8% of all goods are trucked to the localities. Living in the second largest country on earth means large distances and a lot of gas Last check chicken is $14/15.00 each. A leek I bought today was over $2.00. We are shopping on sale and bulk buying for the next 12 months+. ” Something wicked this way comes”.
Hi Sallie, So good to read your newsy letters. My week had a positive and a negative twist. Sunday I heard that My husband and I would receive a two-day visit from our adorable nine-year-old granddaughter. We were thrilled. In my mind, I scheduled two days of planting additional flowers and herbs, playing crochet, baking wonderful treats, drawing artwork, and watching her seek out the ever-evasive house cat. The only drawback was that since we had dedicated ourselves to putting in a garden, some projects inside the house were over the top uncompleted and screamed of messiness ( I knew Patara was talking to me when she advised to put your house in order and how are your bedrooms?). I had to get busy and busy I did get. Almost all was done by Tuesday morning in time for her arrival around noon: rooms freshened, favorite comestibles purchased, grandparents presentable and so excited. I was just about to stir up some brownies to fill the house with a lovely chocolatey aroma when a phone call came that she was feeling sick, and her mom felt the best thing was to turn around and take her home. Disappointed hardly covers how we felt. Cream cheese, animal crackers, art supplies, and gardening adventures are all untouched and unexplored. However, we wait for the next opportunity with bated breath.
I mentioned we planted a garden. My husband has some experience, but I do not know what I am doing. I will share our successes if we have any. God bless all you gardeners out there.
Thank you for the latest update. You have gotten a lot accomplished. We finally got our rug down in the dining room. We are now going to put up the new table. The old table’s legs are shaky. We cleaned and dusted our video/DVD cabinet. Now comes the hard job, putting all the videos and DVDs back in place. Have a good weekend.
Joan,Marion and Marilyn
Hi Sallie,
I am happy to be receiving your newsletter again! Thanks for all of your hard work, and it is wonderful to hear positive news. I really appreciate your encouragement.
I think I’m just realizing how much the stuff and nonsense of the past 2-3 years has affected me. I have worked throughout the entire time, and I just have to realize that when I do have some days off (I only work part time), I just have to give myself a little extra time to decompress.
We are slowly getting all of the things in our garden. This spring has been really wet here in northern Ohio. We have been planting a garden for several years, and it really helps. We have chickens too, so we always have eggs to eat and share with family and friends.
I had a discouraging week in some ways, but I was able to pray a lot for the parties involved.
One of the children was watching me crochet, wanted to learn, and quickly picked up enough to start making things. I am starting to see how my various children are each picking up on different parts of the set of things that I am able to teach.