Winter Nature Walk

We had a warm winter day! Sunny and 60. The week previous set a record here, we got down to 3 degrees. We quickly decided to finish independent school work and skip our morning time in favor of a nature walk. 

I've been terrible about nature study this winter. Winter is very hard for me, I'm still a Floridian at heart. I love the change of seasons but after Christmas, I'm so done with winter. I know I know, at that point it's barely begun!

This lovely quote is spurring me on to better habits. 

". . . what we desire, who have the question of the right guiding and training of the young eager mind so much at heart, is, above all things, to make this power of wonder, this spirit of enquiry, a durable and life-long possession, so that whatever else may fail the children in the course of years, the love and healing of Nature may be a priceless treasure to them for ever."

Francis Blogg

Ms. Blogg became the wife of G. K. Chesterson. I love connections. I found this nugget in a Parents Review article about Natural History Clubs. Which I am soon to start with my CM boon companion Sara. I'm very excited about this but I digress. 

You may think nature doesn't have much to offer in January but we have learned there is always something to see, if we have Eyes. 

And of course there are rocks to climb. 

And sticks. 

What we found were the mosses and fungus and lichen were thriving. We had a lot of rain the day previous so they were bright and hydrated, just gorgeous!

I did find this fuzzy plant under some leaves. I've not identified it yet. I didn't realize I'd also captured a centipede as well until hubs pointed it out!

We found dinosaurs of one kind...

And another. 

I love moss!

Here we took a break to enter our finds in our nature journals. The littlest boys were throwing sand so my attempt at journaling moss was a disaster. I had to take them on a lizard hunt so the older children could paint and sketch in peace. 

Maura chose loblolly pine. 

Curtiss, holly. 

It was a good day. I'm grateful to live somewhere that I can enjoy a 60 degree winter day, although rare. But I do not doubt that even my friends in Minnesota have days where there is something creation offers, as long as we have eyes. 

Regardless, there are always kisses to steal. 

Our Day In Pictures

Drive on the beautiful blue ridge. 

Apple time!

Last of Summer

My knitting projects

Baby socks! I'm so thrilled I figured this out. Thanks to purlbee and my mom. 

Hootie pants! These are wool pants for the little boy who pees out of his diapers every night! Thank goodness for good old wool. 

My oldest and youngest boys. 

First steps!! Daddy got a video. 

We caught this cicada hatching!

A visit to Wilmington!

We celebrated our anniversary with a trip to the botanical garden. We took this cute nursling along but snuck out later to our first date without kids in over a year. 

Our sweet kids surprised us with this when we got home. It's truly been the best years of my life. 

Summer

Summer porch bliss

Harvest!

Crazy fun with "big" sister

On the hunt for the elusive apartment

My sweet girl

Books!

Bumper plum crop

Jam assistant

Mama wing with baby birds

Grace found a way to display her blown eggs

My heart explodes. 

Food Not Lawn

When we bought this house we went from a tiny brick ranch with an acre and a half of lawn, to a large bungalow and .3 acre of lawn. I love my house but my heart has yearned for years for five to ten acres somewhere, so that I could grow our food. I've been learning a lot about contentment and for the first time in about 7 years I can honestly say, I am content and it is well with my soul. 

My biggest step in that journey was deciding I would just be faithful in this little bit of earth that I have. I got very interested in the notion that you can grow a lot in a small area and that I could do this instead of mow grass. 

A few years ago we lost several big trees in a bad storm so that really opened up our yard to more sunlight. I went with the maxim, if you're eating the leaves or stems it can be partly shady, fruit or roots grow in full sun.

This is the front yard. It is a mass of acorn and butternut squash, watermelon, cucumber, cantaloupe, tomato, cayenne and bell peppers, pepperancini and cabbage. It's also full of sunflowers and black eyed Susan's as well as lemon balm and peppermint that is plainly Out. Of. Control.  I have an herb bed somewhere on there as well. 

So in this garden I would say the most successful crops have been the cukes, tomatoes, peppers and acorn squash. We've been mulching with old straw but we didn't keep on top of this area so now we have to really search weeds for squash :/. I have a gallon jar in the fridge and we just drop cukes into brine and eat pickles every day. 

So the side yard became the new big garden this year. It has a row each of: kale, cabbage,  sweet onions, red onions, Swiss chard, broccoli, Italian beans, green beans, zucchini, red okra and green okra. The 4 raised beds have asparagus, carrots, lettuce, peas and now cantaloupe. The flower garden along the fence has, basil, cilantro, blueberries, raspberries, parsley, sage, dill and a fig tree. The cilantro and dill have died along with my second attempt at rhubarb. 

I've had a terrible time with worms on the cabbage, broccoli, beans and zuchini. I'm not doing broccoli again. I've just served broccoli with unknowing worms too many times. My family won't eat broccoli now!

The onions were a great success! This is the first year I've grown them and we harvested a huge basket full. The okra is really starting to produce and we ate our first cabbage. 

I've really been amazed at how much food this small yard has given us! 

On My Heart

OThe last day of the Charlotte Mason Institutes annual conference, Dr. Smith spoke about the importance of story. We organically are made to learn through hearing and telling stories. 

Christ taught the disciples with stories. The bible is full of stories that pierce our hearts and change our lives. That's what makes the methods of education that Charlotte Mason proposed work. They aren't necessarily her invention. She was just pointing to our design. Reading and narrating are at the heart of her educational method. That and our personhood. 

He also spoke of abstract time and narrative time. Merrium Webster defines abstract as:  having only form with little or no attempt at pictorial representation or narrative content. For example; life being measured by clock or calendar. It defines narrative as thus: : to tell (as a story) in detail ; also :to provide spoken commentary for. So, for example; Grandmother comes when the crepe myrtle blooms. 

I really pondered where I want my children to grow up. Haunted and driven by the clock, or slow and intentional measuring life's great events by seasons and blooms. You can guess I'm sure. 

Charlotte Mason Conference

I spent most of the days last week at conference. Listening, nature walking, speaking, catching up with kindred spirits. It was exhausting! Grace and Silas came with me. They were precious. Grace was a huge help with him and I compensated her with books!

Someone gave away craft supplies so Grace began a scarf.

Her nature collection. 

The Moms :) This is Kaley's lovely m-i-l, Nancy.  I am really looking forward to attending her Living Education Retreat at the end of July. 

I'm starting to feel a little excited about planning next years school. But for this next week, my plans include sun, garden and reading.