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Weekly Wrap Up: Drought, Treadmill, and Laying Hens

In my life this week

It’s still hot, and so dry that even the weeds in our lawn are starting to dry up and crunch!  We’ve hardly mowed the lawn at all this summer.  As for the gardens, we’ve been watering them and now we’ve mulched them with straw to conserve water.  The river is apparently at 3% of current flow, which means there are a few puddles here and there, like it was in September last year.  We thought that year was dry!  But there might be rain tomorrow, and we’re very thankful for our good well.

My computer came back from the shop, fixed, but the dishwasher is still broken.  With the help of a cousin, my husband stabilized the verandah foundation.  My dear hubby sure has a lot of urgent handyman projects on the go for his off-work hours!

Remember I was saving up money for a treadmill?  Well, apparently the big treadmill sales are on now, so my dear hubby found a great one for half price.  I had hoped to save up the money before buying it, but it does make sense to get it for half price now rather than full price later.

The laying hens arrived!  It took them a while to get used to being outside, but they seem happy and have already given us two beautiful brown eggs.

In our homeschool this week… I’ve started planning the curriculum we’ll use next year, and hope to have it all decided by the end of the day.

We’ve done some formal learnin–math, Dutch, etc.– but watering and mulching the gardens took up much of our time.  So did cooling off in the pool.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…  Always keep a running list of ideas for next year.  It really helps when you’re planning.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing… Friends, church, neighbors, library, and stores. A string concert. Work and therapeutic riding.

Some of my favorite things this week were

Questions/thoughts I have… For a while the corn crops have been curled up and greyish green.  Now they are beginning to turn brown.  May the Lord bless our continent’s food supply.

Things I’m working on

  • A bit of summer school.
  • Planning next year’s curriculum.
  • Watering and mulching.
  • Walking 7500 steps a day.
  • Paying for that treadmill ($143.33 so far).

We’re watchingLittle Dorrit, at Miss 14’s request. I’m still closing my eyes and plugging my ears a lot, but apparently it gets better. On the other hand, we really enjoyed Roman Holiday.

I’m reading… Genesis. I finished Johnny Appleseed and have almost finished Miraculous Movements by Trousdale.

Waiting to be read: You Shall be Free Indeed by Ganz, and Father Hunger by Wilson, and the Summer Survival Guide.

With the kids, I’m reading 1 John and Little Britches.

When my husband is home for meals, we read Jeremiah.

I’m grateful for … A good well.  Straw for mulching the gardens.  Hard-working, happy kids. Shade trees.  The pool. Gratitude itself.

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This post is linked to The Homeschool Mother’s Journal and to Weekly Wrap Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

6 Comments

  1. JoAnn says:

    Sounds like a good week. So glad you got the treadmill, what a nice thing to have. We were a bit dry too, but we’ve had rain for the past two days. Things are definitely looking better now.

    1. Annie Kate says:

      Oh, rain! We’re praying for it.

  2. Jennifer says:

    I had a moment this morning where I thought our well was drying up! There was not enough water pressure to run the shower. Thankfully, my husband discovered the problem was a “running” toilet downstairs. Whew! Water is so precious. My dad’s well dried up last week. This drought is a trial. I never realized how much I love the rain. We’ve not mowed either. I guess that saves on gasoline and manpower. I am also working on next year’s school plan. I am starting with the easiest, my younger two. I need to step it up. I want to start again in 4 or so weeks! Yay for a treadmill. I would like one, too.

  3. Annie Kate says:

    I’m so glad your well is still fine.
    So you’re thinking about starting in 4 weeks. That seems so soon, but you’ve been off for a while! Enjoy making your plans, and enjoy the next four weeks.

  4. Diane says:

    I just finished watching the newest version of Little Dorrit and really enjoyed it. It took a couple of episodes to really get in to it. Some of the characters in this one are just crazy. One day I probably need to read the book. I am ashamed to say that I don’t think I have every read anything by Charles Dickens. The newest Sense and Sensibility is very good also.
    Blessings
    Diane

    1. Annie Kate says:

      Hey, I haven’t read everything by Dickens either. He wrote a lot, and I don’t particularly enjoy reading him. There are only 24 hours in a day, I’ve discovered! 🙂

      And, yes, we enjoyed that version of Sense and Sensibility too.

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