Thursday, August 19, 2021

Tea & Lit...and all the things

 

WAIT! 

We  planned to meet at the  tea table daily....to touch base with one another and check in on school....but school is taking SO long....An idea is born! Brit Lit discussion will be much deeper and EASIER if we can do it daily....why don't we couple it with tea?  We tried it - Tea and Lit. It works.  It took some planning, but it worked...we're figuring out the schedule. 

I enjoyed reading Beowulf. Going through the guided discussion questions from Sonlight with the girls is making the experience even more enjoyable.  I love this line...it so clearly describes how Christ calls us to live - though that may not have been the point of the author. LOL 


Before Tea & Lit I spent a lovely couple of hours with a friend. She is right, my love language is quality time and she filled my depleted tank. 

I got home just in time to grab dad and race him to physical therapy. He thought it funny Michael had to put a gal of gas in my tank from the garage to get us there. 

The weather was clear again today - what a BLESSING -  we missed the mowing window yesterday. I wasn't able to help with the perimeter mowing  as I was discussing lit with the girls....but it looks great. 

And about that pairing of tea with lit - genius. I HAVE to have the discussion with the girls, it's part of work expectations if you will. It enhances their study and helps prepare them for the AP test. It needs to happen.  There is NEVER time to just sit and relax in the middle of the afternoon....but THIS took the guilt away from sipping tea while Michael toiled at yard work....and we all got done what we HAD to get done.  PLUS I love the bit of connection and that will motivate me to do lit on days when I'd rather be done with the whole school scene. LOL 

We got dinner on the table...look at Millie. Stacia has been working  hard the past couple of weeks to train Millie to stay on her bed while we eat dinner. Tonight, she didn't even have to say a thing throughout dinner. She did give Millie a few "mommy looks." 


Everyone is tired as the week nears a completion. 

Full time college and 60 hour work weeks can wear a guy down. Nolan finished another course and began one on finances for managers. 

Grandpa went to bed at 8. The girls headed for bed EARLY. Nolan was clearly sleeping. Alex is gaming in his spare time. Michael went out to finish some chores in the garage. 

I processed a few things from the #everybitcountschallenge.  Day 19 -   I dried 4 more trays of kale. It turned into another 1/2 gal of processed kale. I have a few more plants in the garden but the majority of the kale is processed.  I made strawberry apple fruit leather - 4 trays full. I used some of the organic strawberries from co-op and my previously canned applesauce...a no sugar "added" treat.  I had some brine left over from pickling. I've been putting  stray cucumbers in the brine as I wait for a big enough harvest to make more pickles. They tasted pretty good. I had one tray left and wondered if I could make a dill-pickle-chip-like snack. NO - not a good idea. WOW...they are CONCENTRATED and not very good at all. I may play with it a bit. After all I've made kale chips about 20x in the last 10 years before I found a way I like them. LOL 


When I finished putzing with the dehydrator I went to find Michael. I mentioned I had hoped for a campfire but everyone had gone to bed. ::snort:: He said to meet him at the fire ring...where we sat and enjoyed one another's company until 11:30 p.m. ...and hardly missed our young adults or Grandpa at all. 

*dehydrator note...the cucumbers actually have promise after they cooled and crisped. A bit spicy but I can adjust that. The fruit leather, unfortunately, is more like fruit chips...but they'll still eat. LOL  The instructions said to dry until they were "no longer sticky"....and they never reached that stage. I cooled them and they're pretty crisp. I like recipes that give clear time guidelines. LOL