A Joyful Keeper

Yesterday dh and Daniel fixed our internet connection. One of the cables under the house had come apart, (probably due to a cat fight in the middle of the night!) so they both crawled under there and got it going again. It was really weird because I was able to get mail, but when I wanted to go on the net, it wouldn’t let me on for long - I just managed to post the last entry and it died. Anyway, it’s going well now, and that is the main thing.

I have a lot of catching up to do. I won’t do it all in one post, but will try to get it written up bit by bit. I have been planting lots in my garden, so when I write my first update for the latest challenge I joined, Back to Basics, I’ll have plenty to say. I’ve also got some sewing news, and cooking, and homeschooling … and … and… and….. oh dear. I’ll have to get busy writing, won’t I?! And visiting everyone’s blog to say “hi” again. And yes, do my kitchen tag by Mama Hen (I haven’t forgotten!). Tempting to do it all now, but I have to get back to school….

In anycase, I am back, finally!

I’ve been back since Saturday, but the internet has been playing up. I am typing this quickly in the hope that I can get it posted before it dies again! LOL! I can get email, but have trouble getting/staying on the web. Strange. Hubby blames it on windows, of course. Hopefully he will be able to fix it soon. Until then…. I’m gardening, homeschooling, homemaking and staying away from the computer!

Yesterday we took the Mama Chook and her chicks and adopted ducklings for a field trip down to the dam. The mode of transportation wasn’t appreciated - babies in a bucket and Mama under my arm. However, once they got there they had a ball. Mama Chook stayed close to the bank scratching with her three chicks while the ducklings enjoyed splashing in the water.

They look like they are having fun, don’t they?! You can see their biological mothers and father in the background. Someone wondered the other day what they would think of the ducklings. I told them I didn’t think they paid much attention to them. When the little ones joined them on the dam with their Mama Chook nearby, however, they seemed very interested. Opal, their biological dad, thought he’d pull one of their tails….

Meanwhile, the biological mothers were fishing….. Bottoms up ladies!

It wasn’t just a field trip for the ducklings, but also for us. It was fun (and ~gasp~ educational) to watch the differences between the chicks and the ducklings. The chicks went to the water to drink and then pecked around with their mum. The ducklings all stayed in the shallow water, chased a few mossies on the water, and made sure they stayed within running distance to their adoptive mother hen.

We ended the field trip by trying a different type of transport back home. We all used our two legs - some of us waddled (I think I might have too!).

Now, see? You don’t have to drive to go on a field trip! There are lots of things to discover in your own backyard. Charlotte Mason encouraged nature walks daily, whether you lived in the country or in the city.

This weekend the boys are going camping with dh and us girls are staying home to have a girly weekend. I am not going to touch the computer! I am going to give my daughter my full attention! Actually, we are planning to sew some clothes for her, do some quilting, and other such girly things. For us it is a long weekend since it is Melbourne Cup (horse races, public holiday) and then we are planning another little trip the following week, so now that I think about it, I won’t be back online for more than a week. Probably good for me to have a internet break!

Till next time, and don’t forget to go on a field trip in your own backyard or neighborhood - you never know what you will see!

I got home late Thursday morning, minus one gallbladder. I’ve been pretty sore and tired since then and have been doing lots of resting and thinking! Sometimes I wish I wouldn’t think so much! Oh well…. I keep looking around and thinking I need to get up and do things, but I am forcing myself to rest.

The operation went well and the surgeon said my gallbladder was very diseased, so it was a good thing it came out. Thank you so much for your prayers, comments and emails. I felt at peace the whole time, and knew that He held me in His hands.

The kids have been wonderful since I got back. They are making me cups of tea, getting glasses of water, making meals, etc. Last night Elizabeth cooked dinner and then went on to load the dishwasher and tidy the kitchen until it was spotless! I was so impressed. This is when you see the fruit of your training paying off. She will be a good keeper of her own home one day, I know. My dh was also encouraged and excited to see that she saw the value of being in the kitchen and serving us. It really is a joy to see my daughter growing up.

So, those of you who are training your daughters to be future keepers of the home - take heart! I know that often I feel like I can get a job done quicker instead of showing Elizabeth how to do it. It takes patience and perseverance to train our children, but it pays off in the end. What a blessing children are!

The children have also been very good at doing their ACE work on their own this week. I set their goals for them, and they have just been working at their own pace. I’m thankful that we have this curriculum as this time. It seems to be working well so far.

I’ve managed to do a bit of handsewing and am looking forward to being able to sit up behind the machine later next week and make some clothes for Elizabeth. I found some simple summer dress patterns that I want to try.

Oh, one sad thing while I was in hospital… our last remaining cat got run over. It is just unbelievable how in the past months our puppy was run over and both our cats. The kids have been asking if we will get any more, and we have said “no”. For now we don’t see the sense in getting another cat or dog just to have a high chance of it getting run over. We have had cats for years now, and it is strange to come inside and not see one curled up on the couch or on a bed….

Well, on that note, I shall end this blog post! I can see the sunset from where I am sitting in the lounge room, with my feet up, relaxing… It has been a lovely sunny spring day.  I’d better make the most of just gazing outside without having to pull out all those weeds that are popping up everywhere! LOL!

Yep, not for the kids, not for hubby and I, but just for me…. I get a night out on my own tomorrow night… well, kind of…

I haven’t been on the internet a lot lately. I’ve been busy keeping my home, and getting settled into ACE (which is going well, btw) and going to doctor’s appointments. I’ve had a few health issues, one of which is gallstones. To cut a long story short, tomorrow night I get to have a sleepover at the local hospital after they remove my gallbladder! Of course I’d much prefer a night out somewhere nice with my dh, but anyway, these things need to be done!

The only other times I’ve had “sleepovers” in hospital were when the children were born and I got to bring home a gorgeous baby each time. This time I might be bringing home gallstones, who knows! I am planning to bring some embroidery, a good book to read, and…. some hand quilting. I wonder if I could bring my laptop and blog from there…?! No, I’ll leave it home and update when I get back.

So till later in the week…

It is! It’s really Spring! Not just a figment of my imagination or a state of confusion! Spring has sprung…. so take a walk with me on our little homestead.

Apache, helping to keep the grass down.

Bianca, gone clucky and sitting on seven eggs.

One of many daffodils popping up all over the place.

Chicks, not so little any more.

The orchard starting to blossom.

Hoping for lots of plums!

Chick in plum tree….?!

Er, cat in plum tree!?!

And a fat little lamb….!

A Prayer in Spring

Robert Frost

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day; And give us not to think so far away As the uncertain harvest; keep us here All simply in the springing of the year. Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white, Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night; And make us happy in the happy bees, The swarm dilating round the perfect trees. And make us happy in the darting bird That suddenly above the bees is heard, The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill, And off a blossom in mid air stands still. For this is love and nothing else is love, The which it is reserved for God above To sanctify to what far ends He will, But which it only needs that we fulfil.

My computer is up and running again, at least, somewhat. For a while there, it was running on Linux…. and I played a lot of Mahjong… I chalked that down to learning about China during the Olympics. Linux and I didn’t really get along. Most of my favorite programs wouldn’t work, so my dear hubby put Windows back on for me. No more Mahjong, which is good, because every time I closed my eyes I saw dozens of tiles……

Now I can check my mail and go on the web, but am still missing a few programs. Hopefully dh will have time to install them this weekend. He has been pretty busy at work.

So, what’s been happening the past weeks? We spent a lot of time watching the Olympics and working on our Olympic lapbooks. We just have a few more things to glue in and then they are done! I’m really pleased at how they turned out. I can’t take photos, I’m afraid, because my camera program is not installed yet… One day!

Last week we lost Little Red Rooster, and Feathers, one of our white hens. Indeed there were feathers everywhere…. A Bull Mastiff cross decided to pay us a visit. It was a sad state of affairs, and the dog himself was quite friendly when he wasn’t chewing on chickens. He wasn’t the least bit phased when I tried to chase him off our property with a bird house (well, it was the only thing handy…). So I caught him and tied him up  instead. He managed to break the chain just two minutes before the Ranger arrived, but didn’t have the sense to go home. He headed straight back to the orchard to have another go at Little Red. We were very thankful that he didn’t get any of the chicks. Elizabeth would have been devastated if she’d lost them. They are now so tame that they come up to the front door whenever we go out to see if we have a snack for them.

Before the dog attack, we spent some hours outside working in the garden. The boys took the wheelbarrow out into the paddock and collected two loads of pony poo for me. Elizabeth and I hoed the garden and planted some lettuce and silverbeet seedlings. We also put in some seeds - carrots and chives. My asparagus is popping up! It is so exciting! I spent quite some time weeding that bed. With Spring here now, the weeds are coming up quickly.

After a long wait, our first order of Paces came this week. We sat down together and looked at what processes we needed to follow with setting goals and scoring. Today the kids had their first real day of ACE work, and they seemed to be quite happy. We’ll see how we go next week!

My dh brought an extra table into the kitchen for me so that I can keep my sewing machine up all the time. I want to start on some summer clothes for the children, and I still have some household projects that I want to do. I am hoping that if I don’t have to constantly put the machine and sewing stuff away, I can slowly get some things done.

Our chooks and ducks have been laying really well! We are getting between 4 and 6 eggs a day. They are so yummy and fresh! What a blessing!

And that is a little peek at what’s been happening around our homestead….. It’s good to be back!

I’ll be offline for a while. My computer is going though a major overhaul. It has been steadily getting sicker and sicker - ie some days I get the dreaded blue screen twice! Although I like the color blue, apparently it isn’t a good thing in the computer world. It needs to be backed up properly and reinstalled, and have some other upgrades and stuff.

Since my dh comes home late most nights, I dare say it will take a while for him to get it all done… but you never know!

I’ll be back….

I muddled around the house today while dh took the kids to see the footy (Go Roos!!!). It was a lovely day! I had a relax at home and got some things done, and the rest of the family got to watch their team win. I thought I’d share a bit of it with you…

I cleaned the kitchen first up and put one load of washing on. Then I took out my sewing machine and started hemming a table cloth. She was sounding pretty clunky, so I gave her a bit of a clean and some oil. She was much happier after that!

While dh & the kids were watching the Kangaroos play against the Bulldogs, I took a break to say hello to our own kangaroos out my back door. Mr Roo is there in front, and you can barely see her, but Mrs Roo is hiding in the bush behind him.

I kept sewing and then had a break for lunch. For a treat I made myself some cheese and crackers with tomato on top. The tomatoes in the winter aren’t anywhere as nice as our homegrown ones in summer, but I still enjoyed it.

I went and let the chickens and ducks out to free range and found some eggs…

Oh, have a look at where one of them laid the other day:

In the kindling bucket on the front porch! Silly chook!

The load of washing was dry and since the fire was roaring hot, I started to hang it up in front of the heater:

In the meantime, Mr Roo had decided to have a little rest from mowing the lawn and bask in the sun:

Robyn came around and we had tea for two. I hemmed this little cloth just before she came:

I had a little nap, and worked some more on a quilt until the family came home. I enjoyed the day so much!