Holiday Highlights, Week 3: Honey, Petunias, Puppies, and More

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Outside: 

We got our first honey from Mr 15’s bees! Since it was hand squeezed it had an occasional octagon of wax, but that did not detract from the flavor at all.  The bees tend our garden and actually made the raspberry patch hum this spring.  This week they were in the flowering mint plants.  I wonder if that will make mint-flavored honey.

Miss 17 and Mr 15 drilled holes for a fence, using an ice auger I bought once at a garage sale.  A fence will make it easier to keep the dogs in and critters out.  Perhaps even the ducks will be allowed to wander around once it’s up.  Now we have a row of fence posts leaning drunkenly in their holes as they await tamping down.

This week the garden produced raspberries, broccoli, peas, parsley and other herbs.  I’m paying attention to the flower gardens again, weeding a bit here and there.  The Asiatic lilies are blooming, and Miss 12’s petunias, started from seed, have so many flowers that it is almost time for her to stop counting them every day.

We went waterfall climbing and river walking, as I mentioned yesterday, and of course we enjoyed our pool.

Inside: 

One rainy afternoon we sorted through our games and toys and found many that we no longer need.  It’s wonderful to be well enough to de-junk.  Things we don’t need can benefit other families, and we want the space.

We cooked and ate yummy food, including broccoli soup, various bean salads, a delicious new kind of gluten-free biscuit, chocolate peanut butter balls, cookies, and a pork roast. 

Mr 15 signed up for a free month trial of Photoshop.  The younger girls really enjoy their Time4Learning.  Miss 17 studies diligently whenever she’s not at work and has already written her first two tests:  advanced chemistry, and British lit. 

Extra Special: 

My husband and I previewed A Midsummer Night’s Dream which is touring Ottawa area parks this summer.  Although we’ve enjoyed many funny and exciting Shakespeare productions put on by The Company of Fools, last year’s play was a risqué flop.  Hence the preview.  This year’s production was funny, the actors engaging, and the interpretation mostly family-friendly.

While we were doing this, our hard-working fence diggers took the rest of the children out for supper.  We rarely go out for supper, and the children have never done so without us.  They were thrilled.  Afterwards they picked up Miss 17’s new puppy, an adorable little border collie.

Before we realized that this puppy had stolen Miss 17’s heart, the rest of us had committed to another puppy, a sweet, roly-poly border collie lab mix.  After chores are finished today, we’re off to pick him up. 

So how did this happen?  Not long ago I’d said we would never get another puppy and that grown dogs were better for our family.   Now here we are with two puppies!  Oh well, it will be an exciting adventure, and I think we picked our puppies carefully enough that we shouldn’t encounter any major problems.  Perhaps two puppies are better than one; they will keep each other company and not wear out our old dog with their playfulness. 

 To see what other families are up to, visit Canada Girl and Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.