This weekend

I planned another family day yesterday. Two of us are enthused about these; two of us aren't. (eyes rolling)

We've had fabulous weather, high 70s, blue skies. We stopped by a house on the Parade of Homes tour and then went on to a Medieval Faire. My camera ran out of batteries, so no pictures! It was a nice, low-key, family event, not at all like the more adult Renaissance Festival that came to Colorado every year. We did a little shopping in town, including another nice Kroger--my idea of fun shopping, and even Robert liked the grocery store, lol.

These are from our walk late this afternoon along the creek.


Although there were a lot more leaves on the ground, the trees don't seem to be changing colors yet. Lucky came along and took off ahead. We caught a glimpse of him chasing deer (or maybe turkeys?). I wasn't worried about the other animals. I know my dog, and he wouldn't know what to do if he actually caught anything. I was more worried about him finding his way back home; I don't have much hope in his intelligence.


But as we headed back home, we eventually heard him crashing through the brush on a ridge above us, and I could relax again.


This will be a busy week. Holly's will begin some accelerated work in history, along with more writing. Trevor's science book came in. We have a four day school week, since her birthday is Thursday. And Rob's mom is coming out on Saturday to spend a week with us. :)

Trev's been busy

We began studying the Celts this week, a topic which has always fascinated Trevor. When he was five, he was extremely impressed to learn that the Celts, during battle, would paint their bodies blue and fight naked. (Okay, he was more grossed out than impressed, but things like that stick with little kids, you know?)

My plan was to spend a few weeks covering Celts in depth this time around. Unfortunately, my library here is woefully short on Celtic materials, and my "choice" was limited to Fiona Macdonald's Celtic World. Trevor grabbed this book at the beginning of the week and took the initiative to do several of the book's activities.

A Celtic grail.

He wrote out a brief shopping list and we bought everything he needed at Walmart. (There's no way I'm dampening this enthusiasm!) He started a paper mache pottery vase, but since it's not done, I didn't get pictures. He made a cool Celtic hut with straw, cardboard and a little masking tape. He made a rune and a Celtic pottery pig out of modeling clay and had lots left over.

Various Pokemon and Ben10 figures.

There were a lot of leftover balloons (from paper mache), so he made several into characters from The Wind in the Willows. You recognize them, don't you? L-R: Toad, Badger, Mole; Ratty, baby and Papa Otter.


He's stuck with Harry Potter for three weeks! While I've known that he could read this, he's never shown interest in committing to a big book for this long.


We haven't been to the Spiderman coloring page website in some time, and they've added a lot of great pictures. He's been printing them out like crazy all week to color.


His week was already packed with co-op, swimming (um, although he didn't get wet), chess club, the Blue Ridge Institute, family day yesterday, and carving another spear and making a wooden sword today. Maybe he'll have a chance to rest during school this week?

Book Review - The Riddle of Amish Culture by Donald Kraybill

This book caught my attention on Jen's blog, and I was pleased to find that my library carried it. Like many people, I find the Amish a bit fascinating, yet I don't know much about why they believe and practice what they do.

The author details the history of the Amish, from their German roots to their church divisions. Using mainly the Lancaster settlement as an example, he describes cultural issues such as family structure and dress, religious life and church organization, education and employment. As the Amish continue to strive to be independent, separate from the world, they also make compromises with regards to technology; bargain with the government to be exempt from social security, employment laws, and educational standards; and conform to regulations regarding dairy production and occupational safety. Also discussed are the adaptations the Amish have made as their population grows yet farm lands become cost prohibitive.

The book also covers what the future holds, and how the Amish will navigate through inevitable changes in the rest of society yet maintain their own Amish identity.

While a bit more textbookish than my normal non-fiction reading, it was not difficult to read through at all. In fact, it was the opposite; I would pick it up, read a few paragraphs, and easily pick it up later to continue reading where I left off. If you find the Amish interesting to read about, I'd recommend reading this. (Thanks, Jen!!)

Book Review - Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson

I've read this series from almost the beginning. Author Diane Mott Davidson lives in Evergreen, Colorado, upon which the fictional Aspen Meadow is based. I remember when she would have book signings at both the Tattered Cover and small independent bookstores in Denver. I can imagine that those signings are a lot busier now!

This is the 14th book in the Goldy series. I've always enjoyed these books immensely; not too much mystery, an appealing character, recipes thrown into the mix. Goldy is a caterer and inevitably stumbles across dead bodies in her line of work. She then will work to uncover the killer, and along the way, more people always end up dead. (Okay, it's much lighter than it sounds.)

But it's time for Goldy to retire. While most of the storylines (and dead bodies galore) are always a little far-fetched, this book brings back a character who supposedly died in the last book. Goldy's detective husband repeatedly shares confidential information with her time and time again, to which extent has not occurred in earlier books. Goldy's son's character, always quirky and likable in the past, is incredibly boring here, and his presence only used to explain the location of one minor incident in the book. (I thought I could see it coming and expected something far grander.) Assistant Julian shows up, leaving his own life in Boulder, with no explanations, no background provided, and his character also remains one-sided in the story. Marla's turned into an obnoxious gossip, motivated only to find out bits of private info from town residents. Over the past two books, characters have become seamier--yuck. Goldy recaps the case in her head, time and time again in the book, as if the author is either trying to take up page space or remind us of what we may have forgotten.

Apart from the story, the recipes are listed only in the back of the book. I prefer them to be scattered throughout the story, as in the past, so I can see what Goldy's making as it's mentioned. Within the book text, there's no way to tell what recipes are included, unless you check. BUT I will be trying a few of them. Several recipes from past books have remained favorites in our family.

If this had been the first Goldy book I'd read, it would have been the last. Not a good showing for a series that I said I preferred over Hannah Swensen . . .

I'd recommend it if you have read all earlier books AND have nothing else interesting or pressing to read . . .

Curriculum! (Part 2)

Our language arts choices have been mostly unchanged from last year.

Writing. Holly continues in Writing Strands. Many of the exercises are easy for her; she needs no instruction at all in her creative writing. WS is written to be used every other week, and she spends much of her free time writing her own stories.



Trevor is again using Spectrum Writing. I bought this book for Holly several years ago out of desperation, a last minute purchase to use something for writing. I was really pleased (more like surprisingly shocked!) with the content, and we've used several other levels since.

Spelling. For several years, Spell to Write and Read was my favorite curriculum. It's only fallen down my list since my kids are older and don't have as much need for its superior phonics instruction. Based on Romalda Spalding's Writing Road to Reading, SWR was written to be taught at home. Holly first learned Spalding in K and 1st grade before we began hsing; the part time school she attended in 2-3rd grade also used Spalding. By that time, I realized how valuable this method was, and I was able to sit in the classroom and watch the teacher's approach for several weeks. This is definitely the last year Holly will have formal spelling; Trevor has a few more years to go.

Latin. For several years, I'd wanted to teach Latin. Each time I'd look at curriculum, I'd become dazed, more convinced that I'd never be able to teach it. Finally, last year, we began v-e-r-y easily with Prima Latina. It's an early elementary introductory Latin program--and it was just the right level for ME. (Both kids surpassed me within the first two months.) I posted about teaching Latin and Prima Latina last spring.

This year, we've moved into Latina Christiana. It was one of my last choices--I don't know why, but I was dead set against it, until a used teacher's book showed up on Chris's book list. I bought it for a couple of dollars and liked what I saw. I also liked that many of the words we'd already learned showed up early on here.



My intention is for Latin to cover grammar concepts this year. Holly and Trevor have both used Shurley for a few years (thanks to Holly's part time school, this was another curriculum we began using at home). Shurley's pretty intense for elementary grammar. Trevor could still work on grammar mechanics, and since I have the Shurley 5 TM already, I bought the corresponding workbook for him to use. We haven't done so yet, but we still have 90% of our school year to go. :)

Curriculum! (Part 1)

The kids were surprised when I told them that we are already 10% of our way through the year. Actually, they were elated, lol.

I've been wanting to post our curriculum choices for this year. I suppose I'd better start now, before the year's through.

Literature. We're continuing our literature selections that I read aloud while Holly and Trevor eat breakfast. So far this year, we've read Wind in the Willows, and Sun Horse, Moon Horse, a Rosemary Sutcliff book which ties into our history time period. We loosely apply Teaching the Classics to our reading. Teaching the Classics has been my favorite curriculum for a year or so; I watched the DVDs with a group of hs moms in 2006 and really would like to get my own copy to watch again. I choose the books based on what I think will be interesting, classical books, old favorites, etc., and I try to balance what might appeal to each of them.

Memorization. In the past, I've chosen Bible verses, silly poems, things with historical significance such as 13 Colonies, and the Preamble. One selection last year was Twas the Night Before Christmas (in its entirety, yay!). We have a great system to continue to review pieces that are learned, and we'll continue that. I don't have anything big planned for this year--yet. They're working instead on Latin conjugations and prayers, and I'll see what comes up in history.

Bible. Over the last several years, we've tried a variety of workbooks, lesson plans, devotionals. They never seem to last for long, and we always come back to just reading straight from the Bible and discussing. So I won't be attempting anything new this year--Holly and Trevor prefer this, and I do too. Currently we're reading Proverbs, but we may bounce around.

Math. Both kids used Singapore last year and have picked up where they left off. Holly did one of the Intensive Practice workbooks last year too, which worked well, so they'll use those after each book when it might be of benefit. I plan to use Challenge Math for a bit of a break. For several years, we've used MCP Maps, Graphs and Charts workbooks. We're not too into workbooks, but Holly and Trevor seem to like these fine, and I like the skills that are taught.

My goal is rarely to "get through" a year's worth, or one specific level, of a book/curriculum within a year. We just move through at the right pace, sometimes more slowly; sometimes faster. I never want to feel like we are "getting through" anything, yuck.

* * *

This is the beginning of our morning schedule before taking a break, so it's a good place for me to break too.

Update

Our third co-op class was Tuesday, and we've decided to drop the class for now. It's not what we were hoping for. Later that afternoon, we gave the homeschool P.E. swimming a try at the YMCA. It was terribly unorganized, and after a 20 minute wait, the kids still weren't allowed to get into the pool! Trevor was upset that the kids were made to sit so long at both of these activities: "These poor kids just sit around and get stupid everywhere we go!" and even commented that he'd rather be home doing school work. (Poor Trev!) At least we know we're not missing out on anything, and we'll continue to look for something that is a good fit for us.

* * * *

TODAY IN PICTURES

We took a quick drive to beautiful Ferrum College.


Located on the grounds is the Blue Ridge Institute with a small museum featuring local exhibits of interest.

(You can stop laughing.)

We know we're in the "Moonshine Capital of the World," and it was fascinating (to me at least) to read a little more of the history.


Around here, it's a little more serious than Grandpa in the back shed fixin' up his personal stash. We're talkin' shootouts, corrupt local governments, and all kinds of fun stuff. And that was just last week (okay, that's a joke).



We walked around the 1800s homestead, although the buildings were closed.



Trevor made easy friends with Clara.


And we finished the visit with -- what else (is around here!) -- Dairy Queen.


We came home a new way (one of my now-famous shortcuts), ate dinner, and Holly and I did our evening walk.


A great day!

Tortellini Salad

TORTELLINI SALAD

9 oz. package cheese tortellini, cooked and drained (this is the kind you find in the refrigerator case, like Contadina brand)
1 red or yellow pepper, cut into strips
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 c. black olives, sliced

1/4 c. crumbled feta cheese

Dressing:
1/4 c. white vinegar
1/4 c. oil
1-1/2 tsp. dried mint
1-1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 T. dry sherry (I didn't have any this time so skipped it entirely)
3/4 t. seasoned salt
1/2 t. garlic powder (I used 1/2 t. chopped garlic)
1/8 t. crushed dried red pepper

Combine dressing ingredients in bowl and mix well. Add tortellini, peppers, onion and olives and toss gently to coat with dressing. Top with feta. Serve at room temp. or chilled. Leftovers last for a couple of days in the fridge.

How to Win Friends by Robert and Kristine

Of course one of the things we looked forward to when we moved was meeting our new neighbors. So, on the FIRST day we moved in:

Robert met Pat as he was driving down our street. He was going twice the speed limit. Because our street is only wide enough for one car, she pulled over so he could continue on his merry speedy way. Pat's husband Bill is our homeowners association president. (We have one just to maintain our private road.) Later that day, Bill very kindly mentioned to Robert that the speed limit is 15 mph and that some of the residents notice when you go too fast.

Moving day was a bit of a fiasco, and the local company sent only one guy to help our driver unload. Later in the afternoon, Robert saw a second man show up, and Robert asked him if he was ready to help move stuff. That's when Ken introduced himself as our neighbor.

It was also on moving day that we discovered our stove outlet did not work. The realtor made arrangements for the electrician to show up. Robert was down the street and saw the electrician coming in his truck. Robert flagged him down and explained the problem. The man replied, "I don't know anything about your service call. I'm your neighbor. But if you need help in the future, give me a call!"

And yet the neighbors are still talking to us, all three of these families included. :)

* * *

Today at co-op, another mom was telling me about the curriculum she's using. No reason for me to give details here, because different things definitely appeal to and work best for different people. (We all KNOW that, right?) But it was a stressful morning for me and I blurted out, "I would find that horrifying."

* * *

We read Proverbs chapter 10 this week, and one of the underlying themes is chattering fools and talking too much. I really need to be paying attention . . .

Weekly menu

Dinner:

tortellini salad with feta cheese; hummus and pitas

Cracker Barrel

chili cheese dogs, __________

BLTs, cottage cheese

spaghetti, garlic bread

Marlboro Man sandwiches, chips

quesadillas, guacamole

Lunch (with or for):
strawberry soup
smoothies
grilled PJ&J

On the back burner:
grilled flank steak
fondue
watermelon salad (I really want to try this, can I still find watermelon--cheap?)
Molasses Crinkle cookies from Strawberry Shortcake Murder
turkey/avocado subs, chips
taco salad
will it ever get cold enough to make Emily's Tortilla Soup?

Sunday

Robert and I walked down the "road" that runs along the creek. It's obviously an ATV road. The neighbor kids ride them occasionally, and they aren't nearly as loud as I remember.

It was a totally different perspective to go along the back side here. I like knowing exactly where I am, and I didn't. Next time, I'd want to bring a compass. I'm not worried about getting lost; I just like to SEE exactly where I am, in what direction I am going. (I wonder if my GPS would be of use for this?) I have a bit of a map obsession.


It was a great surprise to come out onto a couple of open fields. They certainly can't be seen from the street!


I ran (okay, I walked) home and checked out the online aerial photographs so I could see exactly where we'd gone, which houses we'd glimpsed through the trees, and whose property we were walking on. I know all of this used to be a dairy, but everything I've seen up to this point is now wooded.

On a slightly different note, we've seen many smaller animals that live here--mostly as roadkill: snakes (small), salamanders, groundhogs, possum, raccoon.

City child of mine: "Who takes care of the dead animals here?"

Mom: "No one. Uh. Just other animals."

Oh, yeah. We saw a black vulture today too. Alive.

Pics from this week

I don't get down to the creek very often but when I went, I took my camera. It's a couple of feet across and pretty shallow right now. I'm looking forward to seeing how it changes over the seasons. (What can I say about Trevor wearing his Crocs? I was wearing mine too. I never have to worry about them staying dirty, lol.)


We back up to 40 acres or so, and there's a wide dirt "road" that goes along the creek, across the back of the 5 acre lots on our street. I don't know what it's used for. The kids next door sometimes take their ATVs out, but I don't think they go back there. We ran into our neighbors walking back there too, and they said that we were the first people they'd EVER seen!

More of the creek.

Trevor decided to make a couple of spears last weekend. He found and cut branches the size he wanted and set to work with his Swiss army knife. He did an AWEsome job, working on this for a few hours for two afternoons. He didn't even complain about his arm or fingers aching the next day, although I'm sure they did.


Trev with a finished spear.


We've planted a few plants in the front, including crepe myrtle, Rose of Sharon and this hibiscus below. I am SO not a gardener and (quite happily) know nothing about plants, but the different things that will grow here are so cool! Rose of Sharon has become our tradition, and this is the third house that we've planted one by the front door.


The really funny thing we brought out here in my car were our flower baskets from our old front porch. We knew they would instantly brighten up the new front porch and make it seem like home. The four baskets took up a lot of room, but we stacked them on top of everything else.


Everyone says that we won't have as much color this fall since it's been so hot and dry this summer. To us, I'm sure it will still be stunning. Each day seems to bring new changes in the leaves.


I missed the best color before grabbing my camera last night. I am beginning to think that the orange I see at sunset has something to do with the clay dust . . . (Not really!)

Chicken Souvlaki

While the sound of this recipe might set Liz's children writhing in dismay (her words!), my family LOVED it. After tasting a little Greek food last weekend, Trevor was asking for more.

CHICKEN SOUVLAKI

3 T. oil
2 t. lemon juice
1-1/2 T. dried oregano, crumbled
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1.5 lb. boneless, skinless chicken, in 1" cubes or less

In a small bowl, combine the oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt, and pepper. Toss the chicken cubes in the oil mixture. The original recipe called for skewering and bbqing or broiling; but I just left the chicken in the bowl for an hour or so and refrigerated.


2 c. plain yogurt (I used non-fat) (NOT vanilla!)
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, grated
1 t. salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1/8 t. pepper
1/4 -1/2 t. dried dill, depending on your preference

Put the yogurt in a strainer lined with a coffee filter, or a paper towel, and set it over a bowl. Let drain for 15 minutes. In a medium bowl, combine the cucumber with salt; let sit for 15 minutes. Squeeze cucumber to remove liquid and put back in the bowl. Stir in drained yogurt, garlic, pepper, and dill.


Light the grill or heat the broiler, and grill chicken over high heat or broil, turning once, until done, about 5 minutes in all.

Instead, I cooked on the stove on medium high, waiting for it to brown on one side before turning.

Transfer the chicken to a plate or bowl for serving.

6 pitas, cut in half
3 T. butter
1 small onion, sliced in rings
2 tomatoes, cut into thin wedges
1/3 c. Kalamata olives (or other black), pitted

Melt butter in large fry pan over medium high heat. Brown pitas quickly in butter, turning once, and removing from heat.

To serve: Put everything, including onion, tomato and olives, on the table individually so everyone can choose their own toppings.

* * * *

It was easy and fast to make. I prepared the yogurt sauce and let the chicken marinate ahead of time. Pulling everything together--cooking the couscous, the chicken and pitas, slicing the tomato, onion and olives while they cooked--took less than 15 mins.

My family likes these kinds of meals the best because each can pick and choose what they like. Robert and Trevor stuffed their pitas with the souvlaki. Holly ate everything separately on her plate. I put my pita down, and topped it with everything.

I also made up a box of "instant" couscous to go along with it, and they all liked that too. Who'd have guessed? The couscous was nice because it was SO fast, and everything in this meal was pretty healthy.

* * * *

Holly and I continue to walk after dinner. It rained most of today before stopping in the late afternoon. These are great rains, coming down nicely but without wind. It was 70, so we kept the windows open. It was a little foggy out tonight. Here's another of the purple and orange sunsets, you can see a little of the gray from the clouds too.

Book Review - Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne Fluke

This is the second title in the Hannah Swensen Mystery series. Like the first book, it was a quick and easy read. I appreciated that many of the characters' story lines have continued from the first book, and a couple of these recipes looked good enough to try too! I don't want to write much about it, because one of the victims in this book was a familiar character from the first book. :)

If you liked the first book, you'll like this one too.

I'm a painting (or something!)

Cynthia had this cute --and quick! -- "test" on her blog. You take a brief personality test and it generates a painting for you based on your answers.

Click here to create your own painting.

Field trip!

We joined our new hs group for a field trip to Dixie Caverns today.


It was a good thing that Robert didn't come. I drove the way he said we would NEVER drive again, lol. And I drove it twice. (I don't know if it was really a shortcut, but it's the fastest way, and since my kids don't get carsick, it works.) Thanks to my not-really-a-shortcut, we arrived a good 15 mins. before everyone else, and Holly and Trevor had a chance to poke around the gift shop.


These aren't the biggest caves in Virginia, but they were larger than I'd expected.

You can see how big this is compared to the people in the right side background.

We stayed afterwards and ate a picnic lunch with a few others.

I'd planned out the rest of the day. Trevor's been asking for bagels, and I think we finally found the only place in Roanoke that sells them fresh. We stocked up.

I'd also researched Kroger's, trying to find the biggest and best one in town. JACKPOT!!!! The guy at the deli thought I was a nut. (Boar's Head. Fancy deli salads.) I told him that I felt like I was at Disneyland. After I started taking pictures, he asked if I was a spy.


I'd told Holly and Trevor that it was SERIOUS mom shopping time.


Ah. Kalamata olives. Pesto. Laura's Beef (and marked down!). FRESH pita bread. Sesame oil. The clerk knew what tahini is! Civilization! It was a great day!

* * * *

I'm joking about "civilization." I LOVE living in Stickville, love, love, love, love it. We have not had ONE single regret. (Although the first few days, we wondered whatintheworldarewedoing.) But it's nice--it's fun--to find familiar foods, find our way around, feel like we can have the best of both worlds. This is a great life. :)

In the middle of the night

We don't get a lot of traffic on our end of the street. Although our old house was at the end of a cul-de-sac, we had more "wrong" cars turning around there than we have "right" cars driving past now. So when I woke up at 2:45 a.m. the other night and heard a car, it was a little surprising.

While still in the throes of grogginess, I realized the car was turning around. Who in the world would make a wrong turn, then drive a mile down our street before turning around?

I looked out the window, through the trees, and could see the car stopped on the street right in front of my house. It paused for several seconds and began driving away. With just parking lights on--no headlights.

If you can't already tell, we live in the sticks. We live almost at the end of the sticks. There are definitely no street lights. The nearest street light is probably five miles away, maybe even further. It's all I can do to wind my way up our street with my lights on. In bright daylight.

Who in the world would be driving on my street in the middle of the night without headlights?

Poachers? Drug dealers?

(Please, it's the middle of the night, and I'm not thinking clearly here.)

I debated waking Robert up. But he doesn't usually sleep well, and I hated interrupting him. And what exactly would I say? Instead, I waited there for 45 minutes, my head hanging off the bed to get a better look out my window, my ears straining for any unusual sounds. (The crickets and other bug noises drown out almost anything.)

Totally exhausted, I finally fell back asleep.

The next morning, I told Robert what I'd seen, what I'd heard. He looked at me rather oddly for a moment and asked, "Do you think it could have been the newspaper guy?"

Uhhhh . . . do ya think?

I'm SUCH a dork.

(Is it any surprise that he looks at me rather oddly quite often?)

Book Review - The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men by Christina Sommers

After reading Jen's review of this book on her blog, I checked it out from my library. It tears to pieces the studies shoved at us in the 1990s by the media about girls being ignored in the classroom, the decline of girls' self-esteem in their teens, the advantages boys hold over girls.

Any parent of a boy would have doubted these to begin with.

The truth (and don't we know most of these already?): girls outperform boys academically; classrooms are suited to girls' learning styles; more females are admitted to college than males; girls' self-esteem suffers no more than boys'.

It was a really eye-opening book.

My only issue, however, is during the author's brief mentions of Columbine High School. She repeatedly and erroneously referred to "Littleton," "Littleton schools," and "Littleton School District." While Columbine High School has a Littleton post office, it is in unincorporated Jefferson County, and NOT part of Littleton schools. Columbine is part of Jefferson County School District, about the 20th largest district in the nation; and the proper name for the district that is in Littleton is Littleton Public Schools.

Minor errors? Am I being picky? Not when the author's focus throughout her book is the repeated, constant, errors in the prior studies. In this instance, credibility and fact checking--and re-checking--are crucial. Glaring and obvious (to me) errors like these leave me open to doubt everything else written.

So. A great book, very interesting topic. I definitely recommend it, but like many other things, you can't be sure it's absolutely, entirely accurate.

Weekly menu

Dinner:

giant burritos

dilled chicken pasta salad, fruit

manwiches, lettuce salad

pizza

chicken souvlaki; couscous

breakfast

taco salad


Lunch (with or for):
strawberry soup
smoothies
tuna salad on English muffins
grilled PJ&J
taquitos
frozen pizza
HUMMUS!

On the back burner:
grilled flank steak
fondue

Book Review - Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

Several ladies on my hs list have mentioned this series, and I don't know why I didn't pick this book up earlier. While I don't like "mysteries," I knew that this was written more like light fiction with a murder thrown in. It was a little surprising to see such a blatant parallel between this Joanne Fluke series and the very popular Goldy Bear series by Diane Mott Davidson. I've been a long time fan of Davidson's; it's hard for me to not compare these two authors.

Like Goldy Bear, Hannah Swensen seems to stumble upon dead bodies in the course of her every day job--Goldy is a caterer; Hannah owns a cookie store. Both books feature several recipes; Goldy's are varied; Hannah's focus on cookies/sweets. Both main characters are slightly neurotic, their personal lives are in a bit of a shambles, and they often second guess themselves. Both have police officers in their lives, whom they try to help as they "solve" the crimes: Goldy's boyfriend, and Hannah's brother in law.

Hannah's character is not nearly as developed as Goldy's character. I have a definite personal soft spot for Goldy, and no wonder, with 14 books in 14 years--and I've read the first 13, on hold at the library for the 14th. It's obvious that I prefer the Davidson series.

BUT I'll continue to read this series too. The stories are less involved, quick to read, and I don't have to concentrate too hard to remember who's who or what part they have in the story. I don't read as much fiction as I used to, and this will provide a nice break. Sure, I'd recommend it overall.

Recap

It rained all day yesterday but it did not deter Robert from bbqing last night. (Okay, the truth is that he really didn't want to, but I asked since I had no other brilliant ideas for dinner.)


It was sunny and bright this morning, beautiful blue sky as the mist burned off.


I was itching to get out and do something, you know, like a family is supposed to. Holly begged to stay home by herself; Robert said he had things to do here. But I was set on that happy family thing, so I forced everyone to get in the car to start our wonderful day of togetherness.

To get off on the right foot, I drove a new way to town. It's a shortcut. (Robert seems to think these are my famous last words, but I DO have a great sense of direction.) It's the way Holly and I drove back in May that I said I would never drive again. Back then, I called it a "twisty, horrid little country road." Apparently, I'm used to them now, because it didn't faze me this time. But Robert was pretty adamant: "We will never drive this way again." LOL.

We checked out the Home Expo, which consisted of 14 hot tub booths, 6 windows booths, and a "discount blinds" booth. When I asked about a covering for my bathroom window, I was quoted, "including tax and installation, about $400." I about fell over. Discount? I can buy something nice at Lowe's for 1/10th of that. We breezed through the whole thing in 15 minutes.

I had an ulterior motive for going to town. I really wanted to check out the Greek Festival.


It was pretty crowded but we parked only 1/2 a block away. There was free admission and lots of food. We feigned interest in the "Agora" (Greek market).

Actually this pottery was quite spectacular but quite out of our price range.

Pretense over, we beelined for the food: gyros, lemonade, baklava.

And you know what Trev thinks of the camera.
But he liked his gyro.

We headed to a new Walmart. I stocked up on avocados, since they were $.20 less than what I pay at my Walmart. (Why does saving a mere $.60 make me so happy??) I was thrilled to find the Annie's Shells and White Cheddar that the kids have been wanting too.

As we headed for home, we stopped at Barnes & Noble and found this terrific book.

It was exactly what I'd been looking for. We had the Colorado book last year to go with our Flying Creatures science. I like how the birds are organized by color. Each bird lists similar looking birds so you can be sure you have identified the right one. It's a small book, with a perfect amount of information, and not very expensive. We started looking at it as soon as we got in the car, easily identifying birds that we've already noticed regularly.

In all, a very nice day, a very nice day of family togetherness.

:)

Sucking up

There was a time, before kids and pets, when I neither owned nor needed a vacuum. A friend of mine had one, and it was enough to borrow hers once a month.

By the time I got a cat, I had my own vacuum and began using it once a week.

And by the time I had a husband, two cats, two kids and a dog, I adamantly stuck to vacuuming once a week, whether it needed it more frequently or not. My (ever so) wonderful husband never complained--when he thought it needed to be vacuumed, he'd do it himself. But when he vacuumed, I would feel guilty that I wasn't doing my job, and I'd get grumpy at him for doing it. You think I'd be a little appreciative, but the truth is that the poor guy couldn't win.

After Cynthia confessed to vacuuming daily, I began to see that it was a minor thing that my husband would appreciate, and I began making the effort to vacuum before he could. As silly as it sounds, this was a turning point, for me, in my marriage--not that I was vacuuming more to make him happy, but that my attitude was changing. With a little effort on my part, I could make his life more pleasant. Why was I so stuck on ONCE a week? Would it really kill me to vacuum when it was needed? I no longer had to feel guilty or mad that he was helping. I quickly went from vacuuming weekly to vacuuming every other day or so--whenever needed. I even had my timing down to vacuum just before he came home from work so it would be "fresh."

Amazingly, our current inexpensive vacuum has lasted four years. Other than a frequent bag change, we've never had to replace anything in it. (I think I changed the bag once in all that time; Robert changed it the other 411 times. Funny how I never felt guilty or mad about that.)

But the old vacuum was for carpet, and I don't have a lot of that in this house. I really needed something that would go easily between carpet, tile and wood, all of which I have on my main floor. And I really wanted a Dyson but couldn't justify that expense. As I sifted through internet vacuum reports, I found one on amazon that looked great. Lucky for me, Consumer Reports rated vacuums in the latest issue. Sure enough, the same vacuum was rated a "best buy." Isn't it cute??!!


I didn't really want a canister, but that's not so bad. I was thrilled that I put the whole thing together by myself when Robert wasn't home. I don't how to figure out the way things work much, and this was, well, almost fun. It has a great little switch on the handle to turn on the beater when I use it on carpet. The cord is long enough that I can plug it in one spot and vacuum the whole downstairs. The vacuum is so cute--and soooooo quiet--that I like using it. And I like grossing the kids out by showing them all the dirt and pet hair that it gets, lol. I wasn't sure if I'd mind a bagless vacuum, but I haven't minded dumping out the filter one bit.

Robert used the vacuum for the first time today. I'm not mad about it; I vacuumed late yesterday. He just wanted a test drive, and it was a first when he had to ask me how different functions on it worked. I hope this one's around for a long time. (. . . meaning the vacuum. I'm pretty sure my husband's here to stay.)

:)

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Random Observations About This Place

1. Late sunrise. We are not in the path of any mountains (and believe me, out here they are mere hills), but it doesn't get light until quite late. This was 7:30 this morning, very pretty pink tinged clouds.



2. High cloud cover. In Colorado, you know when it's cloudy. The clouds are either giant and puffy in the bright blue sky, or they sit, hanging, dark and low, threatening to dump rain and snow. Technically, it's cloudier here, but it's a very high cloud cover. You'll notice the white sky in lots of my photos. It's still very bright, hot, and leaves shadows as if it were sunny.



3. Predictable weather pattern. The humidity is high early in the day, often 70+%, drops in the early afternoon to 40%. While it sometimes rains lightly in the afternoon, most of our rain has come at night. While this is a record hot and dry year here, I find the night rains oh-so-convenient. :)


4. Twisty roads. I am the one driving to town typically, with Robert in the passenger seat. I've discovered this is a very good thing, as I'm a Barf Queen, and the road is curvy and hilly. Every week or so, I forget, and Robert drives. Makes me feel a little green just thinking about it. (In true pathetic form, I used to get queasy when he'd back down his parents' driveway.)



5. "Unfettered" highways? Most of these highways have no speed limit; our neighbor calls them "unfettered." There are two speed signs: "Reduced Speed Ahead" apparently means to slow down to 35, that there will be several houses. When the houses end, the next sign says: "End 35 mile speed."

Most people seem to go 50--and right down the center of the double yellow line--but it's not like the roads are crowded.



6. GPS = "Get Possibly Somewhere." I've already posted that GPS is iffy, at best. Fortunately, I've been blessed with a good sense of direction. (Robert will probably die laughing if he reads that.)

(Okay, really I like my GPS, it's just not super dependable here.)


7. I love my front porch. It's big, 40' wide, 8' deep. It's covered and faces north. It's been a wonderful respite from the heat, and I can peek through the trees and see the occasional car pass by. It's definitely one of my favorite places to sit.



8. There is no Mexican food here. I've also yet to see flank steak (by that or any other name), and the guy at Walmart was baffled when I asked for the refrigerated pasta section. Mushrooms are not sold loose, only in packages; vegetables are more expensive. But the produce section carries okra, collard greens, turnip greens and mustard greens, things I've never seen fresh before. (I've eaten one of those greens before, and it tasted quite like it had been cooked with an old shoe, thank you very much.) There's also an amazing selection of canned goods.


And "pork fatback," whatever exactly that might be.


And the grocery stores carry wine. They don't in Colorado, and even though I'm not a wine drinker, I find this convenient. Betcha've never seen this wine before.


They carry a red version too.


9. No garbage disposal. Blech. This means I have to dump out that sink strainer frequently. I actually have to touch it with my fingers. I don't care how clean it is, it's never clean enough that I want to touch it. I think this is what "they" mean by "country life."


10. Faster cooking. At a higher altitude, water boils at a lower temperature and everything takes longer to cook. I've really noticed how much more quickly things cook here, not just water, but even baking in the oven. Food stays hotter longer too, and my coffee reheats faster in the microwave.


11. Dust in and out. Red clay dust is a reality. It looks scarier than it is; we've not had a problem with it in the house. But it does not come out of clothes, even using (septic safe) bleach.

On the flip side, I don't know if it's the higher humidity, or the wood floors/berber carpet, but inside the house does not get dusty. I could have dusted every day in Colorado; here, I can dust once a week just because I should. I can't imagine how long it would take to be able to write your name in it.


12. Butterflies are everywhere. We've seen several different kinds frequently. The most common are big and blue with black edges. Monarchs are popular too. Trevor found it on the ground, and we thought it was dead. Robert picked it up, and it rode on his hand all the way home. He put it on a flower here and we watched it fly away.



13. From the very beginning, this has been the smoothest move. Ever. Yes, a few little bumps but nothing that could be considered truly challenging. We know this is a time of adjustment, but the hardest part is past, and we can see the longer road ahead. We have prayed so long for wisdom, for clarity, for direction, for strength. While wisdom might be futile in our case (haha), it's been amazing, amazing to see God so visibly.

And we know that in all things God works
for the good of those who love Him,
who have been called according to His purpose.
Rom 8:28