“The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me, his word was on my tongue.”
King David, from 2 Samuel 23:2
Hello, Friends! ♥️☕️🌻I realize I’ve been a bit scarce as we dive into our new home educating year, I hope to get back to my 180 Day Project soon. Here’s a few shots from our week…
How was your week? Ours was good, albeit looong! 😁♥️☕️🌻🌿
Beware of any hesitation to abandon to God. It is the meanest characteristics of our personality that are at work whenever we hesitate, there is some element of self-interest that won’t submit to God.
“No one ever cared for me like Jesus His faithful hand has held me all this way And when I’m old and grey And all my days Are numbered on the earth Let it be known in You alone My joy was found”
We had a great start to our homeschool year this week. I changed our multiple journals that we’ve used in the past to one (plus a group one) for each of us and that is going very well! We so far are enjoying our books…the clear favorites of the week are our continuing a summer read of Jane of Lantern Hill by LM Montgomery, By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Around the World in 80 Days audiobook by Jules Verne. I attached some things to meal/tea time and it’s working well. I so enjoy reading public library picks with my youngers in spare moments. I’ve worked out a rhythm for working through individual work my youngest to oldest and it’s working wonderfully. We still have some wrinkles to iron out as my 12th grader 😭♥️ is working two days a week this year and we haven’t hit the co ops we are in yet. They start next week! Overall, I’m pleased with the forward motion. How was your week? Bless you as you put your hand to YOUR plow! ♥️✨🌻📚🥰☕️💌🖤
I’m usually deep diving into some topic I’m currently interested in. As a stay-at-home-homeschooling-mom, it’s important for me to be learning, too! That’s what I love about Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education. All of us involved are learning to live, be curious, and prioritize relationships with God, people current and past, the natural world, and so much more. My current interest is communism and the different countries and people involved in it.
Bookstagram/Booktube have a month long focus called #RedSeptember, but I’m just going as my interest leads. I have one book on hold at the library related to North Korea (is North Korea really Communist? There’s some debate on that?). I read a lot this past year about Vietnam and a couple chapters on Laos. I’m currently reading The Faithful Spy by John Hendrix because my older children had liked it. Wow! 😮 it’s intense but I love the illustration style. I listened to a memoir called Red Scarf Girl by Ji-li Jiang and learned so much of the Chinese cultural revolution.
I also listened to Animal Farm by George Orwell which was fascinating and a bit unnerving about how quickly we believe propaganda. The character Boxer! 😭 Such a sobering story and fascinating way of explaining! I was able to chat a little with my older who has read it before.
I do have an interesting book I found on my public library shelves called Eight Pieces of Empire: A 20-Year Journey Through the Soviet Collapse by Lawrence Scott Sheets. It is the memoir of a journalist traveling through a few of the various countries that were part of the Soviet Union. So far it’s good!
I also have the historical fiction A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles sitting here and a children’s graphic novel called Escape from East Berlin. So plenty of options! Do you have any recommendations that would give me some knowledge on Cuba? Or any favorite books on communist history? What are you currently deep, dive studying? I have plenty more of interests, but this is my focus now! ♥️📚
“Contemplation is life itself, fully awake, fully active, fully aware that it is alive. It is a spiritual wonder. It is spontaneous awe at the sacredness of life, of being. It is gratitude for life.”
Barn swallows are still here 🥹♥️Healthy meals ♥️🌿Summer read alouds winding down- so many lovely books! ♥️🥹✨Penpal catching up 📝🖊️📚📭💌📨 New homeschooling goodies…a fresh Calendar of Firsts! Keeping track of things we see in nature each day together. 🕸️🕷️🦉🌲Making my own sugar free iced coffee. Froze leftover coffee for my ice cubes so it isn’t watery! ☕️🧊Trying new planner this year. I’ve used a Walmart one for 13? years so this may be too much ‘fire power’ 😅, but needed to shake everything up! Notice Jimin 😜on cover to inspire me to keep going! 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜Sneak peek 👀 of a few of my favorite summer reads! Many of these are rereads and actually I listened to a lot of these on audiobook this summer, but I’m ok with them being all-time-and-forever favorites! 📚♥️Chicory 🥹🌿my late summer friend
How about you? What are some blessings shining out? ✨✨✨
Listening… I’m interested in learning more about communist history and there’s a readathon on Booktube/Bookstagram in September called RedSeptember. I don’t necessarily follow the prompts etc, but I started early listeningto Red Scarf Girl by Ji-li Jiang. Fascinating and heart wrenching memoir looking at the cultural revolution in China. I’m hoping to listen to Animal Farm by George Orwell next.
Reading…I’m working hard on Charlotte Mary Yonge’s, Dyvenor Terrace and The Cross by Sigrid Undset. I’d love to finish them by September! The Kristin Lavransdatter saga is so beautifully written, however the story was heavy! I’m going to be processing for awhile.
The Cross
Watching…I recently got The Boy and the Heron from the library and hope to watch it soon. I’m a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki. I’ve heard it’s a bit dark, so want to preview it without children! 😅♥️
Noticing…We saw a ‘V’ of Canada Geese last night! 😭 I noticed a cluster of beautiful brown, amberish colored cones at the tippy tops of our blue spruce trees. Autumn 🍂 is creepy in…🧡🤎🖤
I’m reading this on kindle, but saw this original illustration online! 💕
How about you? What are you listening to, reading, watching, and noticing? 🍂🌿🖤
“Words are one way we leave tracks in our world, Sol. Maybe one day you will write a book, like Olaus, or Molly Thorn. And people will read it, like I’ve been reading to you. And they will know that you were here, and a little about what you were like.”
Sol’s face remained far away. Her cheeks were white and hollow, but her eyes shone a bit, I was fairly sure.
Planning for autumn, deck flowers, and black coffee in my Betsy, Tacy, & Tib mug…Pulling out my owl vase , a few black-eyed beauties from my weedy flower bed…Good bye, summer mugs…have a good rest in the cupboard…love all the green 🌿🌱🪴🌲🌳Welcome, Autumn mugs…you feel new & fresh 🍁🍂🍄🍄🟫Butterflies and moths everywhere…🦋🦋🦋Mysterious and swoony 💗paths…where does it lead? Restored steam tractors and my hubby’s sheer delight in this 150 Case…spark show was lovely! I really loved the quiet tinkling noise this tractor makes. It’s so peaceful compared to the truck pulls! 😅 Interesting and inspiring story about the restoration/reproduction of this road locomotive. Peaches and new library reads… 💕Sky & clouds…such gifts 🩵🤍🩵🤍🩵This photo. What a brave dad! 😂😍🥹♥️
The times are so unfriendly. Play me something, would you, Rainy?
Leif Enger, I Cheerfully Refuse
{starting my 180 Days Project! More about it as the days come and go! How are you all? Blessings over your week. Don’t forget to ‘play a little music’ against these unfriendly times! 😌♥️}
Happiest August everyone! 😄♥️🌿 I realized I’m starting a lot of online buddy reads and continuing a few, too! I absolutely LOVE talking about reading 😉 (if you hadn’t noticed before 🤪) and so I thought I’d check in!
1. Dynevor Terrace by Charlotte Mary Yonge – my Victorian reading friends are huge CMY fans and I so enjoyed reading Pillars of the House with them last year. I’m still not a CMY super fan, but the conversation is lovely.
2. I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger – I’m so excited to read this fourth book of Enger’s as apart of my Leif Along this year. This a brand new book from my favorite modern author who happens to be a Midwesterner, too! ♥️
3. The Peterkin Papers by Lucretia P. Hale – sweet , family-ish tale. Excited to read a lighter story for balancing out Kristin Lavransdatter. 😅
Of course, I’m continuing with The Cross and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.
I’m also dipping into a lot of home education books for refreshment and encouragement. 🌿♥️😁📚📚📚📚 How about you? Any books you are really looking forward to this month?
A.M. Pine - Hearth Ridge Reflections 