Friday, October 07, 2011

7 Quick Takes Friday: The Holy Spirit & raspberry cordial

(1)
I was about to start writing these and then I looked at the clock and I was all "11:28 a.m.?  Why do I feel like I should be doing something else?".  Oh yeah.  School.  Seriously you guys, I've totally been accidentally unschooling the last few days weeks and I go back and forth between feeling SUPER guilty and INSANELY happy about that fact.  There are people who, like, buy curricula and follow the rules, ya know?  Us?  Not so much.  Anyway, as you can see, I'm still writing and clearly not schooling ("un" or otherwise).  So if you'll excuse me for just a moment, imma go throw some math worksheets at my kids real quick.
(2)
It is 12:22 now.  I did almost literally throw worksheets at them as they ran out the door because my darling helpful hubby agreed to drive them to their theatre and clay classes just like last Friday and they'll be doing them in the car.  But instead of telling you how awesome he is for doing that (taking them all) I'll talk instead about how happy I am for him that he got to work 4 days this week.

Woo hoo!  Work!

Yep, last week a contractor who had helped fix our garage last year stopped by our house out of the blue and told Tommy he was going to need some help on a couple of jobs this week (house painting and roofing) and would Tommy like to help and he was all "Yippee!" and I was all "Yay!".  And David (that's his name) even came and picked him up every day so that I would have access to our van (remember that thing about how we just have the one vehicle?) for general children entertainment and hauling.  It was so great.

(3)
I'll save the part about how Tommy once again found himself accidentally evangelizing during those four days because I'm thinking that deserves its own post, but can I just tell you how amazing the power of the Holy Spirit is?  When you can feel the Lord speaking from your heart straight to someone else's, it almost brings you to your knees.  Which can be dangerous if you're doing a roofing job, but don't worry...they both survived.

(4)
Please tell me I'm not the only one whose 18 month old won't let them shower in peace.  Please.  Because she won't.  That cute, crazy, diaper-clad child bangs on the bathroom door as if I've just shipped myself off to Zimbabwe for an indefinite amount of time (don't tempt me, child) and then throws her self onto the floor in a clear demonstration of "depths of despair".  Sometimes she actually manages to break in and proceeds to try and climb INTO the bathtub whilst I am trying to shower.  SO...it is now 3:03 p.m. and I am still writing this because I decided to use some of my alone time to take an interruption-free shower.  It was everything I hoped it could be!

(5)
As promised, we actually did make raspberry cordial and pound cake yesterday in honor of finishing Anne of Green Gables together.
I think I might do a whole post on our culinary adventure some other day, so you'll have to hold tight for the rest of the photos, but I assure you...they were both delicious.

(6)
You know what else I haven't gushed about yet?  Fall.  Autumn.  That wonderful place between sweltering and frigid, that place of no bugs and no scarves.  No sunscreen and no salted sidewalks.  Open windows and pumpkin patches.  It. Is. GLORIOUS.
Yes, this was voluntary, but no, they were not cleaning the yard (have you lost your mind?).  They immediately jumped into every single pile they made, even climbing into that tree so as to shake more leaves off the branches.  The yard is WAY messier than it was yesterday morning, I can promise you that.

(7)
Anyway, now that the fall "harvest" is over (read: 2 bags of pole beans.  Yay.  At least next year the soil will be better.  At least that's what they tell me.), it's time to start thinking of prepping the garden for winter.  We have two huge bins of compost, a chicken coop full of soiled shavings and as many mulched leaves as your little heart desires.  What do we do now?  And when?  Do you have any favorite gardening sites that will walk us through soil amendment and fertilization of a vegetable garden using organic matter?  I can use all the help I can get!

Funny finishing words that might count as an 8th take but I just saw it and had to share: LOLSaints (because sometimes laughter really is the best medicine).  Thank you Cari!

(I'm linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary, but I think the image was doing wonky things, so no snazzy quick takes image whilst I experiment.  Please don't cry!)

post signature

21 comments :

  1. I'm so excited to hear about Tommy getting to work. Woot woot!! That's great news. :) And great news also about your interruption-free shower. That's always nice. I can't wait to hear more about your pound cake and raspberry cordial!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yay for Tommy! And... you MADE raspberry cordial? You just won homeschooling, I'm pretty sure!! Unless you then got it mixed up with currant wine and got a little tipsy.

    No, I take that back. That would also be winning at homeschooling. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Prayers answered in so many ways, big and small! Yay!!! OK, now you'd BETTER share that Raspberry Cordial recipe!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. So happy that Tommy got some work! You are not alone in never getting a shower without an audience. Rose is fascinated with the bathroom in general and will lay at the door and peek under it no matter who is in there (quests included). I think you can just till your compost into your soil... we've done that with good results... (that one time we did it.)
    Enjoy your pound cake and raspberry cordial... sounds yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love your description on Fall. So true :) Glad that Tommy was able to work a little! And that raspberry cordial business sounds lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  6. My mom homeschooled me and my four siblings. My brother and sisters were very high-maintenence, so I ended up being more "unschooled". I barely saw the inside of a textbook until I started college, and I turned out fine:) Plus, you know, went to college.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm dying with the LOLSaints. I keep hearing my Protestant and atheist friends going, "What? I don't get it."

    ReplyDelete
  8. Awesome post! So uplifting!!! Great news that your husband had work! Love that you "threw" the worksheets at them ;)
    And the 18-month old thing? YES! I don't even close the door anymore...because it's so much worse to hear her crying and banging on the door while I'm "almost done, honey! Be right there!"

    ReplyDelete
  9. LOLSaints... LOL! ;)

    I heard a rumor you get to shower in peace again when the last one leaves for college. Provided the first one hasn't already moved back in.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Life is working out so well for you and your family Dweej, totally well deserved!!! That cordial looks yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Awesome that Tommy got some work! Give this a try http://www.lowescreativeideas.com/GardenGrowAlong.aspx

    ReplyDelete
  12. I let our 23 month old climb onto a chair at the sink and "brush her teeth" while I shower (my husband lets her "shave"-- so yes, she bugs him, too! Then, she occupies herself with tub toys, and gives me my towel when I'm done.
    Organic matter etc-- I've started to believe it's hype to see how many suckers they can get to pile their garbage in a random bin in their yard! Our garden is a miserable failure this year (again) growing more weeds faster than the speed of light, and the compost has not composted, despite two summers out there! So, I'm not much help there.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh how I wish I could also confuse rasberry cordial for current wine and win at homeschooling!

    The other day we saw a school bus driving by, and Aiden (our 4 year old going on 17) who has been DYING for a formal education, told me that now that he thinks of it, he thinks having school at home will be better for him and Car-keys (Thats Carson in Aiden tongue)

    Could it be, that our sweet dear little Aiden has in fact come around to my inner aspiration to homeschool?!?!?! Oh please make it so!

    He should start Kinder next year, and by golly, I think I would have to start drinking NOW in order to been brainmushied enough to let him go without turning into a blubbering fool!

    Granted, blubbering foolery is probably inevitable be it sober or happily thrown by the wayside of sober, either way, I love that you are doing it! Makes me reach down into my chicken poop soul and tell me-self, by golly, if you can do it, with chickens and plants and house remodeling and current wine making, then so can I!

    <3

    ReplyDelete
  14. Cool post. I need to do some looking into of homeschooling and "unschooling"... sounds really interesting.


    Jamie
    For Love of Cupcakes

    ReplyDelete
  15. We pretty much did unschooling for the first couple years we were homeschooled. Oh, what am I saying, I was homeschooled for nine years and it wasn't until I was a junior in high school that I realized I'd actually have to um, like finish my school work (I did correspondence study for 7-12; I like structure . . . or I thought I did) if I want that diploma thingy. (A diploma was one of the perks of correspondence study.)

    I love that you made raspberry cordial. That brings back such warm memories of my childhood.

    Yay for Tommy and work!

    ReplyDelete
  16. P.S. Maybe when the girls are older, you can make some Marilla's currant wine too. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  17. The way you write makes me laugh out loud (I mean literally...not the overused, devoid of meaning LOL...but real laughing!). This time of year in the garden we usually dig in all organic matter, leaves, teabags, ashes from the fire, eggshells, veg peelings, turn the soil over a couple of times a week and let it all just blend in...works wonders! I also use up any leftover homemade plant feed by pouring it all in there...like being a kid and making mud pies again! :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. 1. LOVE the raking photo. Nice sun flare. 2. Emmy is 17 months and has only recently decided she will tolerate me showering if I bring every one of our plastic animals in the bathroom and I have to ask her for various types (not that she brings them to me, she does what she likes) and then she lines them up on the tub ledge while I shower. At least she's not screaming! Maybe you just need to figure out what she'd like to fetch for you ;)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Yay I Finally got to read this post. I feel so accomplished now.

    ReplyDelete
  20. There are a lot of new homes that began as farmsteads. I really want to make the move to a bigger house with the accompanying landspace, but alas, work beckons.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...