When my parents were here, we took them to a sugar bush where maple sap is collected and syrup is made. This is a modern operation, full of pipes, vacuum pumps, test plots, and interesting innovations. Of course, the traditional way of collecting sap is also interesting. This is how they used to do it. Rather than [...]
Outings
Holiday Memories
After unpacking and spending a week madly catching up on the gardening and preserving, I’m going through photos of our amazing holiday adventure. We lived in this tent for most of three weeks. Mr. 16 had his own personal tent since he is too tall to fit in with the rest of us. In total we drove [...]
Medieval Cookery: Browning Chicken and Making Soft Cheese
What did medieval people eat…before tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, and microwaves? Most people had very little food, but when times were good, meals were great. Browning chicken for a stew: These iron pots, on tripods over a trench fire, were greased by cooking bacon. The bacon itself was removed from the pot, put onto a [...]
Just Floatin’ Down the River
We have a small river nearby. In the spring it becomes large enough for canoes and even now, because of all the rain, it hurries by quickly. Every year we try to spend one sweltering afternoon swimming in a sheltered part of the river. This year, instead of swimming, the three youngest girls and I [...]
Weekly Wrap Up: The Climbing Wall
In my life this week… spring is on its way. We are surrounded by water including many small streams and ponds. The Little Misses are strictly forbidden to go near the deep water, but there’s enough safe water in the yard for them to sail home made boats. In our homeschool this week… we finished [...]
Holiday Highlights, Weeks 9 and 10
I can hardly believe that we’ve finished our summer holidays! After a cooler week, we had a week of hot, hot weather and spent hours in the pool. More and more garden produce is ripening and I’m not keeping up with it very well. But we’ve been enjoying company, having a touristy time, and drinking [...]
Holiday Highlights: A Piano Recital
The absolute highlight of our week was a piano recital by homeschool graduate Wei Sim, who currently studies at Columbia University. Well over a hundred people gathered to enjoy the hour and a half program that included Beethoven, Bach, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, and more. Wei, who hopes ‘to continue to use his gifts to glorify God’ [...]
Holiday Highlights: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the park was the absolute highlight of our week. We went on Thursday night, and the children loved it. To everyone’s great delight we went again on Friday night. In fact, the children even offered their piggy bank money! A Company of Fools presented the play as it should be [...]
