Tea Time with Annie Kate Rotating Header Image

Review: The Discovery by Dan Walsh

Apr 26th, 2012
by Annie Kate.
No comments yet

Michael Warner, an aspiring writer, inherited his grandfather’s Charlestown estate…and that included the study where his famous grandfather had written his blockbuster novels.  Not only that, but Michael, his sister Marilyn, and the rest of his family also inherited millions.  Marilyn, for one, was not satisfied.  She was upset that the will had contained no clues to her grandfather’s buried past.

As Michael settled into his new home, his grandfather’s agent called eagerly with a book proposal.  His wife Jenn had to go back to quit her now-unnecessary job and empty their little apartment.  Michael was left alone in his grandfather’s study with his dreams, Marilyn’s questions, and a whole new life stretching out before him.

When he discovered the manuscript of an unpublished novel his grandfather had left for him, Michael immersed himself in the exciting war tale of spies, sabotage, and love.  He forgot time, his wife, and the agent….  

I loved this book.  Its unique structure, its many layers, its wonderful characters, its wisdom, and the mysterious manuscript all combined to make it the best novel I’ve read in a long, long time.  I highly recommend it. 

An excerpt is available here.  You can also enjoy an interview with the author  and read a few other reviews .

This is my 23rd book in the in the 2012 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge, and is also linked to Saturday Reviews.

Disclosure: This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. and is available at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Posted in: 52 Books in 52 Weeks, Reviews, Reviews: Fiction.
Tagged: ·

Review: As One Devil to Another by Richard Platt

Apr 24th, 2012
by Annie Kate.
4 comments

As a homeschooling mom of teens, I am always eager to show my children what is right.  I have not focussed so much on showing them what is wrong, and I expected As One Devil to Another by Richard Platt to help me do so. 

Continuing the tradition of The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, As One Devil to Another is a series of letters from a senior devil, Slashreap, to his nephew and student Scardagger.

 Scardagger’s first client, a young woman, is a graduate student in English and therefore expected to be a fairly easy catch.  However, a godly aunt, the college gardener, and a young scientist become involved in her life, to Slashreap’s furious disapproval.  Even her new friend the minx, a well-formed and completely immoral young woman, turns out to have a ‘negative’ effect on Scardagger’s client.  Through the letters we follow both the progress of the client and the nasty relationship between the two devils.

Slashreap writes devilish advice to his student and intersperses it with detailed explanations about the ‘Adversary’ (i.e. God; remember, this is the devils’ point of view) and His methods of working.  He shows the effects of different activities, encourages some, and rails against others. His letters touch on criticism, pain, wealth, the sexual revolution, technology, the university, political correctness, creativity, art, Bible study, the internet, romance, suffering, love, and decision making.  Surprisingly, this devil does a lot of preaching.  Many of Slashreap’s opinions will provoke Christians to thought, and as such it is a worthwhile book. 

Furthermore, the stories told in the letters are interesting and make it hard to put the book down.

However, As One Devil to Another is not flawless.

Since Scardagger’s client is a graduate student in English, the book begins with a condemnation of the university system in general and the study of the humanities and English in particular.  Unless you are interested in these topics, you may find the first sections rather dry, but don’t give up.  The book does become more interesting and applicable. 

Although it is difficult to be certain when Platt speaks through the voice of a devil, both my husband and I concluded that he is quite a snob.  He disdains the abilities, values, and thoughts of ‘the subliterate, the uneducated, and the intellectually deficient.’  He mocks ordinary people when they argue issues ‘for which they have neither the intellectual equipment nor the education.’  Neither Platt nor his devils remember that the Lord chooses people despised by the world.

If you have never read The Screwtape Letters by Lewis, read it instead of As One Devil to Another.  However, if you wish to ponder modern society and certain theological opinions, As One Devil to Another would meet your goals.  It will also encourage you to examine your own life.

My teens have read The Screwtape Letters, but I haven’t yet decided if As One Devil to Another will be required reading.  Probably it will.

–

The Tyndale Blog Network has asked me to give away one copy of this book to someone with a Canadian or US address.  Please leave me a comment before May 8 if you are interested.

–

This is my 22nd book in the in the 2012 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge, and is also linked to Saturday Reviews, Women Living Well Wednesdays,  Works For Me Wednesday , Friday Giveaway Day, and the Hip Homeschool Moms Giveaway Day.

Disclosure I received a free review copy of this book from the Tyndale Blog Network in order to share my honest opinions.

Posted in: 52 Books in 52 Weeks, Reviews, Reviews: Fiction.

Miss 9′s Lemon Meringue Pie

Apr 23rd, 2012
by Annie Kate.
7 comments

 

Miss 9 is, well, nine.  She can read.  And she’s adventurous.

Today, when we came in from tramping in the woods she said, “Guess what I’m going to make?”

I couldn’t guess.

“Lemon meringue pie.”  She showed me the recipe, assured me that she would not be making a crust, that she know how to separate yolks from whites, and that she understood the directions.

So I left the kitchen, because I’ve learned that is important.  I did see, however, that she was separating egg yolks from whites with her hands; to my surprise it works very well, and I succeeded in not saying anything negative.

When I ventured back, she told me she’d gotten teaspoons and tablespoons mixed up so had to throw out the first try.  Oh well.

She tried again, microwaving the sugar and cornstarch mixture.  Then she had to add the egg yolks…but first she microwaved them.  Oops! 

At that point I got called in as a serious helper.  Actually, I was called in tearfully to take over, but that’s not how things work around here. 

So we added the sugar that had been forgotten.  I ate the scrambled lemony egg yolks.  We checked the recipe and separated some more yolks from whites—the traditional way this time.

Miss 14 told us to microwave the lemon filling some more, so we did. 

Together we slipped the filling into a glass pie plate. (Crustless pies work for us.)

Then Miss 9 whipped up the meringue while I cleaned up.  And 15 minutes later, there was the pie!

Miss 9 looked at it and said happily, “Yay me!”

A beautiful pie, a happy girl, and lots of learning, for both of us.

–

For more inspiration, visit the Carnival of Homeschooling , the Hip Homeschool Hop,  Better Mom Mondays, No Ordinary Blog Hop, Encourage One Another Wednesday, Women Living Well Wednesdays,  and Raising Homemakers.

Posted in: Homeschool Highlights, Kitchen, Life.

Weekly Wrap-Up

Apr 21st, 2012
by Annie Kate.
1 comment

In my life this week… Well, last week Saturday our teens and I attended the annual homeschool conference.  That was the highlight as well as the reason there was no weekly wrap-up last week.

To sum up the past two weeks:  we gardened, fed the bees, removed thistles and burdocks from our property, found some nannyberry bushes that had gotten lost in the high swamp grass, rearranged the bookcases, moved many books, had a windstorm that broke the roof, fixed the roof, coughed, endured fevers and headaches, read books, had a small hailstorm, explored the woods, ate lots of good food, pruned our cherry plums, started seedlings, did formal book learning…and discovered that we have bats in our range hood vent!

In our homeschool this week…  Miss 14 is teaching Miss 11 history this term.  What a blessing for everyone!  She’s designing a book-based study and Miss 11’s reading is expanding hugely. 

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share… If you have one child who loves to teach the other ones, your whole family is truly blessed.  Miss 14 loves to teach cooking.  She’s Miss 9’s recorder teacher, and now she has volunteered to teach Miss 11 history.  This is a blessing to all three girls as well as to me, and I’m very thankful for it.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing… Neighbors, library, judo, woods, Miss 19.  Mostly we’ve stayed home because we emphasize garlic when we’re sick and we smell rather strong. 

My favorite things these past two weeks were…

  • when one of our Manchurian apricot trees blossomed and butterflies flocked to it,
  • Miss 11’s broader reading,
  • the homeschool conference,
  • when the Little Misses made bows and arrows…and a flower-covered quiver made of toilet paper tubes,
  • all the kinds of birds we saw, including a wild turkey that marched solemnly across our meadow

We watched… 

  • Robin Hood — very violent, but definitely good versus evil
  • The Importance of Being Earnest—absolutely no physical violence, but with different negative elements, if you stop laughing long enough to think about it.

Questions/thoughts I have…  What will we do this summer?  Probably continue with French, Dutch, music, and math.  But that’s still a long, long time away.

Things I’m working on…

  • Going through the Little Misses’ clothing boxes for the summer.
  • Catching up with the homeschooling records (why do I always get behind?).
  • Trying to understand some of the huge amount of research available at the CCRI website. 
  • Gardening and starting seedlings, researching cloning of trees and shrubs, combatting fire blight in our orchard.
  • Determining what this year’s chicken project will be: meat birds, layers, either, or both?

I’m reading… 2 Corinthians. I finished The Happiness Project, Pastured Poultry Profits, and As One Devil to Another.   I’ve started The Discovery and am still ignoring The Dip and Mindsight. Also, I’m reading research about families at the huge CCRI website.    

With the kids, I’m reading 1 Corinthians, Summer Days with the Moodys, Sebastian Bach: The Boy from Thuringia, The Story Bible for Older Children, and various books for school. We finished The Railway Children, Wind in the Willows, and Rozemarijntje Gaat Naar School.

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

I’m grateful for … A complete lack of boredom!

**********************

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

 

Posted in: Weekly Wrap Up.

Fit Mommy Friday: Enough Energy

Apr 20th, 2012
by Annie Kate.
13 comments

encouraging each other to care well for the bodies God has given us

My personal goal is to regain strength after a debilitating illness so that I can live a healthy, active life with my family.

Your goal may be to lose weight, look better, feel better, or run a marathon. Whatever it is, please join Fit Mommy any time, no matter what your current level of fitness is. You can check in using the comments at the bottom of this post.

You’ve seen that busy mama, racing through the grocery store with her little ones flying to keep up?    Well, for one morning I was that lady!  After years of shuffling through the stores because I was just too tired to lift my feet properly, I walked quickly, moved quickly, and even, at one point pulled Miss 9 and the shopping cart along!  What bliss…for me, not her. 

Having energy is wonderful, but I’d forgotten that it’s possible to be too energetic for others.  Hopefully my energy lasts. If it does, I’ll have to remember not too move too quickly for those around me, not to become impatient, but to give grace as I’ve been given it by those around me, abundantly, unstintingly, lovingly, and never-endingly. 

We’ve been enjoying blissful warm, dry weather and it has been so rejuvenating.  Being active is much easier when it’s nice outside!  Now we’re expecting a week of rain and snow (!); hopefully I will stay active and energetic.

Here’s how I did with my goals this week.

Record my fitness accomplishments each day…Yes.

Do 10 repetitions of my eye exercises 5 days a week …I did them only three times, but I rested my eyes a lot by being outside, and that is good for them too. 

Go for a daily walk and average 6200 steps a day … Although I didn’t go for walks everyday, I sure walked a lot: at the conference, to the garden and back dozens of times, and in the stores on shopping day.  Here are the numbers: 6000, 5800,6500, 7000, 8000, 6100, for an average of almost 6600.

Do 6 repetitions of my physio exercises 5 days a week … No.  I focussed on useful activity instead.

Do 5 repetitions of my organ keyboard and pedal exercises, 5 days a week… No.  My fingers feel stiff, but I don’t know if it’s because of all gardening or something else. 

Be usefully active for 30-90 minutes a day, 6 days a week … I worked on the flower gardens, the vegetable garden, basic housework, shopping, and hanging out loads and loads of laundry.  A few days I went over the 90 minute maximum, but that seems to be OK as long as the work varies.

Avoid sugar five days a week … Mostly, but there was this delicious carrot-pineapple cake (gluten-free) with cream cheese frosting…. 

Eat lots of vegetables, including fresh ones, and yoghurt … Not enough yoghurt and a moderate number of vegetables.  Yesterday Miss 9 made her first salad.  We’ve also eaten, fresh from the garden, Jerusalem artichokes, chives, and even a tiny overwintered turnip.  They were delicious in coleslaw.

Relax daily…Most days I was able to rest for a while.  Being outside a lot also seems to improve my nighttime sleep.

Have fun with the kids, including active fun…Yes, we walked, gardened, hung out, laughed, and showed each other beautiful things in nature:  butterflies, a pileated woodpecker, blooming bloodroot. 

How about you? Did you exercise, eat well, and relax happily this week?

Let’s encourage each other to care well for the bodies God has given us. Please link up your health and fitness post in the comments below, and don`t forget to link back here from your post. Then enjoy visiting and encouraging other Fit Mommies just like you.

Note: Fit Mommy Friday is the Health and Fitness Check-In column of The Christian Home Carnival.

Posted in: Fit Mommy Friday, Health.

Review: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Apr 19th, 2012
by Annie Kate.
2 comments

Is it right and good to focus on one’s own happiness?  Or is it supremely selfish?  That’s what Gretchen Rubin wondered off and on during the year she spent on The Happiness Project.   And that is what I, a Christian, wondered when I picked up the book.

For two reasons she decided that yes, such a focus is good, even for someone who is already quite happy.

  1. Happier people are better and nicer.  It is easier to do right and be loving when you are happy.
  2. If you prepare now for inevitable disaster by learning how to be happy, you’ll be able to cope and function better when that inevitable phone call comes.

But what is happiness?  And how do you go about increasing it?  Gretchen did a huge amount of research and pondering.

Happiness is not hidden in a tub of chocolate ice cream nor does it involve a life of laziness.  Paradoxically, it can occasionally require a lot of self-discipline, hard work, and activities that are not fun.

During the year of her happiness project, Gretchen focussed on a different topic each month:  energy, marriage, work, parenthood, leisure, friendship, money, eternity, books, mindfulness, attitude, and happiness.  Each month she set herself resolutions in that month’s topic, and every day she filled in her Resolution Chart, to see how she had done. By reminding her of her resolutions every day, the Resolution Chart turned out to be the cornerstone of her happiness project and all the changes she made in her life. 

In the book, she tells us about the resolutions, why she chose them, what they meant to her, and how they affected her, weaving in research results where appropriate.  So what kind of resolutions did she set?  While focussing on energy, she tried to

  • go to sleep earlier,
  • exercise better,
  • toss, restore, and organize,
  • tackle a nagging task
  • act more energetic.

While focussing on friendship, her resolutions were

  • remember birthdays,
  • be generous,
  • show up,
  • don’t gossip,
  • make 3 new friends.

Some of the resolutions worked for her; some did not.  But each taught her more about herself and how to be a nicer, better, more effective person. 

During the year she also discovered Four Splendid Truths

  1. To be happy I need to think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth.
  2. One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy.  One of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself.
  3. Days are long but years are short.
  4. You’re not happy unless you think you’re happy; you’re happy if you think you’re happy.

There’s so much information, wisdom, and common sense in this book! I think everyone can learn from Gretchen, even though everyone is so very different. 

I like Gretchen.  She’s my kind of person:  happy at home, satisfied with simple things, a fan of children’s literature, enthusiastic, devoted to family, and occasionally a bit too earnest.

But Gretchen misses a lot since she’s not a Christian.  A lot of happiness.  A lot of reasons to be good.  A lot of reasons to be happy.   She also labors under the optimistic delusion that she can, indeed, fix her own life.  Now, a lot of our sadness is self-inflicted, whether by actions or attitudes, and that we can certainly fix.  But when the time comes to face the hollowness inside, there is no peace or satisfaction except in Christ.  A happiness project is just a bandage….  But don’t we all need one at times?

The questions raised by Gretchen’s book are so complex that I’ve been thinking about them much of the time.  I hope to post more about this book and the concept of happiness later.  

For now:  yes, a happiness project is a bandage, and even Christians need those.  In fact, many of the elements of Gretchen’s happiness project are given in the Bible as part of God’s directives for our lives.  Gretchen’s research and her year-long quest show, once again, that serving God as he requires does lead to happiness.  (And note that I said ‘happiness’, not easy circumstances.)

The Happiness Project should be available at your local library.  Enjoy!

—

This is my 21st  book in the in the 2012 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge, and is also linked to Saturday Reviews.   For more inspiration, see No Ordinary Blog Hop, Encourage One Another Wednesday, Women Living Well Wednesdays, Works For Me Wednesday , and Raising Homemakers.

Disclosure I borrowed this book from our library (after being on a very, very long waiting list) and am not compensated in any way for this review.

Posted in: 52 Books in 52 Weeks, Reviews, Reviews: Nonfiction.
Tagged: ·

Red Admiral Butterfly on Apricot Blossom

Apr 18th, 2012
by Annie Kate.
1 comment

Over a dozen Red Admiral butterflies, as well as Tortoise Shell butterflies, honey bees, and bumblebees were drinking nectar from the blossoms of our Manchurian apricot tree.  The entire tree was buzzing and fluttering.  What an incredible world our God has made!

For more photos of winged creatures, visit Nature Footsteps Winged, and for more fine things, visit Finer Things Friday.

Posted in: 100 Species Challenge, God's Wonderful World, Nature Study.

Review: Youth Virtue Journal

Apr 17th, 2012
by Annie Kate.
2 comments
 

The Youth Virtue Journal is a slim ring-bound workbook with a huge goal: to help teens choose virtues. Working with a mentor, teens will learn how to be attentive, content, forgiving, gentle, helpful, honest, obedient, perseverant and respectful. The booklet contains a form for parental input as well.

Each of the nine chapters contains a moment to dream and a chance to see how virtues could help achieve dreams. In fact, the booklet states that “ …though you add virtue to your life because it is the right thing to do, it will also tremendously improve your ability to live your dreams.”

Each virtue is defined in a very personal way. For example, Attentive is defined as….  Read more at The Curriculum Choice.

Posted in: High School, Reviews, Reviews: Curriciulum Choice, Reviews: Curriculum.
Tagged: · · ·

Wow, I’m Glad I Went to that Conference!

Apr 16th, 2012
by Annie Kate.
6 comments

This year I went to our annual homeschooling conference only because my teens wanted to attend and my friends had put so much effort into it.

It wasn’t something I really wanted to do.  After all, life is busy enough without taking an entire day off. I didn’t feel discouraged, so did not need encouragement; after homeschooling for 15 years, I did not need basic how-to-homeschool information; and I was relatively satisfied with our curriculum.  So why bother going?

Guess what?  The day was wonderful…as I had, deep down, known it would be. 

  • I talked to old friends, the ones I see only a few times a year, and chatted with people I had met at previous conferences.
  • My teens loved their sessions, and are now both reading Mere Christianity at the recommendation of one of the speakers.
  • Mr 16. is not happy with Singapore’s New Additional Math which he’s been using for pre-calculus.  He and I had a chance to look into two math programs I had been wondering about, Teaching Textbooks  and Life of Fred.  Both look very interesting, but who can really evaluate something like that in 10 minutes?  It’s time to find some detailed reviews and comparisons.
  • I was inspired to focus on nature study.  We always used to live adventurously and go out exploring nature, but that somehow disappeared from our lives.  It’s time to change.  Even if a fear of bears keeps us from venturing into the wilderness, there’s so much else we could be doing!
  • And who doesn’t need reminders to pray?  To pray constantly, specifically, and with thankfulness?
  • Most of my friends and relatives read a lot.  My online friends read, too.  So it was a startling reality check to meet a wise, enthusiastic, thoroughly alive lady who made it a point to read two books a year. Yes, two.  And her Bible, of course….   
  • In the middle of one of the sessions, I suddenly realized that this conference was a holiday for me.  I shed layers of duties and responsibilities, and just focussed on enjoying the day.
  • Our keynote speaker was a public school teacher turned homeschooler.  She listed many elements of school teacher training and showed how a homeschool mom is ahead of a school teacher on every single point.  We may not have teacher’s credentials, but we have everything we need to teach.  She also encouraged us to take as many professional development days as public school teachers do; homeschooling moms need to be refreshed and to keep learning too.
  • I met someone who owns 87 first edition Henty novels and now writes children’s history books himself. 
  • It turns out that HSLDA sells a lot of fascinating books.  I just pay my dues and occasionally call HSLDA for help, but I’ve never looked at their books.
  • Our young writer, Miss 14, met another young writer, a real life one instead of a bloggy one. 

Although I didn’t want to go to our conference this year, I’m so glad I went!  I encourage you to attend your conference too.  Take a professional development day and enjoy whatever God brings to you.

–Find more homeschool encouragement at the Carnival of Homeschooling and the Hip Homeschool Hop.

 

Posted in: High School, Homeschool, Homeschool Highlights.
Tagged:

Fit Mommy Friday: Useful Exercise

Apr 13th, 2012
by Annie Kate.
6 comments

encouraging each other to care well for the bodies God has given us

My personal goal is to regain strength after a debilitating illness so that I can live a healthy, active life with my family.

Your goal may be to lose weight, look better, feel better, or run a marathon. Whatever it is, please join Fit Mommy any time, no matter what your current level of fitness is. You can check in using the comments at the bottom of this post.

It’s spring, and that means our outside life begins again–pulling weeds, walking back and forth to the garden, planting, pruning, inspecting….  This is all good exercise, but it is easy to overdo, so I’m trying to be mindful of how much I actually do.  As an experiment, I’m trying to spend between 30 and 90 minutes a day on useful exercise, spread out throughout the day, with breaks as needed.  Often on Saturdays when I’m cleaning the house, I get too tired, and I need to avoid that.   So far, things have been going well because I’m conscious of the need to pace myself.  A benefit of being mindful about this is that I do some ‘useful exercise’ every day now; it’s amazing how much can get done in little bits of time if I don’t need to take days off in between to rest and recover from working to exhaustion!

For me, ‘useful exercise’  includes hanging out laundry on our hard-to-pull wash line, Saturday housecleaning, our daily 30 minutes of garden time (or spring cleaning if it’s raining outside),  grocery shopping, lugging books, running up and down the stairs, and daily household jobs.

Here’s how I did with my goals this week.

Record my fitness accomplishments each day…Yes.

Do 10 repetitions of my eye exercises 5 days a week …Missed a day.

Go for a daily walk and average 6200 steps a day … I went for 4 walks, including one with my son and his new airgun.  Very exciting. 

However, my pedometer is acting up again; depending on what clothes I’m wearing, it may register all of my steps or 2/3 of them or even only 1/2 of them.  Each day I did a calibration and multiplied the recorded steps by how the pedometer and I were getting along. So here are my estimated steps:  6000, 7000, 6500, 6500, 6800, 6900.  I suppose the most important thing for me to do is just to go for a good walk each day but stop before I feel too tired.

Do 6 repetitions of my physio exercises 5 days a week … No, I did not do all those repetitions.  Something about those exercises seems to aggravate my neck.  I need to double check that I’m doing them correctly.

Do 5 repetitions of my organ keyboard and pedal exercises, 5 days a week… How about 4 1/2 times?  And I’ve added some more exercises.  My fingers are definitely more nimble than they used to be, and my arms seem to have more endurance.

Be usefully active for 30-90 minutes a day, 6 days a week …  I cleaned out the flower gardens, scrubbed the bathroom walls, swept the floor, hung up many loads of laundry, and moved books around. 

Avoid sugar five days a week … No.  We had company and cake last weekend, Miss 14 developed a delicious gluten-free banana bread recipe, and I enjoyed some chocolate peanut confection.

Eat lots of vegetables, including fresh ones, and yoghurt … Lots of yoghurt and a moderate number of vegetables.

Relax daily…Yes.  Sometimes I took naps, and sometimes I rested at the computer.  The only trouble is that I’ve linked my personal Bible reading to my afternoon nap; if I skip the nap, I often forget about the Bible reading.

Have fun with the kids, including active fun…Yes, we walked, gardened, canvassed for the Cancer Society, shopped, and cared for our property.

How about you? Did you exercise, eat well, and relax happily this week?

Let’s encourage each other to care well for the bodies God has given us. Please link up your health and fitness post in the comments below, and don`t forget to link back here from your post. Then enjoy visiting and encouraging other Fit Mommies just like you.

Note: Fit Mommy Friday is the Health and Fitness Check-In column of The Christian Home Carnival.

Posted in: Fit Mommy Friday.

← Earlier Posts Newer Posts →