The Way We Learn

Last week we traveled to Half Moon Bay to visit Grandma Joan for a few days. Yippee thought I, we'll be near San Francisco and at the beach....so many learning opportunities...Alcatraz, museums, the Exporatorium; no end to my list of things we could do. But things didn't go exactly as I had hoped. Jeff wasn't as "into" the my great ideas as I was. It rained some and it was New Years and we really just wanted to be with the Grandparents as that's the most important thing and it had been too long since we had visited.

I needed to something that has taken me a L O N G time to learn to do...relax and let my ideas go. So I did

Grace, Ruthie, Sarah and Mary enjoying the surf.



We all went to the beach and of course it was beautiful and a great learning experience all on it's own (without lessons, books or even tide pools). We played tennis, mini-golf, pool and walked the nature trail. We cooked and cleaned and ate and talked with the Grands. We watched "The Yearling" for the umpteenth time (after all it's still sort of new to Pete and Joe) it's a family tradition.

A lovely dinner with Grandma Joan.


Walking with Dad.




Games in the courtyard.

On the last day of our visit Grandma and Grandpa treated us to outdoor dining at a seafood restaurant for lunch. We had clam chowder, crab cocktail...the works! It was delicious! After that we walked along a pier where all sorts of small ocean going vessels were docked. A man pointed the way to a boat named "Promise" which had just returned from crabbing. So we ventured down to the boat and bought five live crabs! Sarah declared that she wants to be a crab fisher woman someday.


Pete and Joe with dinner guests


You can guess what we studied next day when we got home...crabs. First we looked up cooking crabs on the internet. Then of course, we cooked them. After that we read all about crabs, sketched them in our Nature Journals and noted the classification. Later that evening we cracked, picked and finally enjoyed eating our crabs just dipped in melted butter.







These are Mary, Peter and Joe's nature journals. You can click on them to view larger.


God wanted to bless us and He did. We enjoyed being with Jeff's folks so much. The children were sweet and behaved quite well. The learning thing happened naturally by taking time, explaining things and answering questions. Even the lesson "plan" that I couldn't quite pull off came together beautifully when I let God lead. I'm so glad I gave up because His ways are always above our ways and His thoughts are higher than ours.


Science class around the dining room table


Extra thoughts of note:
1) The day after our crab boat visit the morning news reported that a local crab boat capsized in Half Moon Bay...that really got the children's attention. Thankfully the crew was rescued.
2) I thought of asking Jeff if we might buy some fresh seafood to take home but thought better of it so he got the full blessing of his generosity.
3) I really wanted to suggest getting some clam chowder at the pier but didn't. I'm always telling the children that a treat isn't a treat...if you ask for it.
4) I came home rested since we didn't have to "be anywhere" or "do anything" ☻

God is good and GREATLY to be praised! I think we'll look up some ocean passages and use them for copy work tomorrow. Oh, and certainly we'll write thank you letters to our generous grandparents with our very best penmanship and grammar.

Learning to do new things...

I love learning to do new things. Especially things that have to with the arts involved in homemaking. How looming some projects seem at first; new vocabulary, new equipment, new skills. And above all, where will I find the time? Amazingly, once I'm over the learning hurdle; these new skills become just part of life and becoming efficient in them, a life long quest. Learning takes time up front but certainly saves time in the long run.

Years ago, I researched buying a grain mill and mixer, finding a source for wheat, and then book in hand going through the process step by step until I had successfully baked my own bread. After many flops, and lots of bread-crumb topped casseroles and salads with croutons, bread is baked here in our home each week either by me (rarely anymore) or one of the children. (I aim to teach them around age 9). We don't look at the how-to manuals anymore nor consult the recipe (unless we're trying something new).

Recently, I made cough syrup, which is something I've been aiming to do for several winters now. It was really quite simple once I had acquired the ingredients and watched a how-to video on the internet. Nothing smells better than fresh grated ginger...especially simmering.

Here's what:
1/2 lb. dried elderberries
1 cinnamon stick or 2 or 3 :)
5 whole cloves
2 cups water
2 tbs grated fresh ginger root
1 cup of honey
I also tossed in 2 pieces of licorice root
and a handful of wild cherry bark that I
had on hand.
Here's how:
bring all to a boil
simmer covered until reduced to half (20 to 30 mins)
strain through cheesecloth
label, store

I put mine in recycled brown glass bottles. Better to use glass than plastic and the dark glass helps preserve the properties of the herbs. Prior to this I had "Sambucol" syrup on hand. It is so expensive that I felt a bit stingy with it...definitely not willing to bestow the recommended dose (to all nine of us at home) on a a daily basis. This homemade version however, I KNOW costs less. Peter dutifully caught a cold just after I made this and either this stuff is working or wonderfully or it's not too bad of a bug. Time will tell whether this will become another must make item for me.

Next on the list to learn to make: Soy Candles!! We all love candles here. I recently bought several at a 40% discount and they were still around 11$ each!

My Great Big Beautiful Birthday Bowl

This being the day after Thanksgiving, our local little thrift store had it's annual "Day after Thanksgiving half off sale". Since we were around this year we went to it. It was Grace's idea. Her idea was, that if we went right away when it opened she could buy the huge old bowl that we saw last week for me, for my birthday. We did and she did. And now I have this beautiful huge fruit bowl to replace the three or four at-a-time bowls that I usually have around on my counters. I love it! When I thanked her she told me she'd like to inherit it someday...I had already thought of that.

Going places, thinking up and doing things, homemaking and just living with my daughters (and sons) is such a joy. I never imagined life would be so good, so blessed, so full!

I think this is the first request for inheritance I've had, means I'm getting older...that's what happens with birthdays.

Never regret growing older...it is a privilege denied to many!