This morning I read a beautiful article about “Creating a Sacred Space in Your Heart.” It was about really focusing on drinking tea, instead of just drinking it mechanically. If we focus o...
Yesterday, I tuned into the radio just in time to hear the announcer say the title of the previous song, “Pot. Kettle. Black,” and it stuck with me the rest of the day. The old saying woun...
“Long, long ago, in a village far away…” And so begins a story, that holds our attention all through dinner. Benjamin, my 8-year old, told a story that he’d heard at sch...
A Red-Breasted Robin perches on a limb at the edge of an airport runway. As a plane approaches and slows to zoom onto the landing strip, I wonder at the bird eagerly watching. I remember standing on t...
It turns out, our goats are not pregnant. Yes. We are beginners, and we thought they were, and didn’t really know what to look for, and were confused by how not fat they were. Birthing time came...
Recently, we did the Diet Coke & Mentos deal for Science Night. The same night my Lab Coat arrived in the mail so I could completely nerd out for fun. Ever since, we have been trying to figure out...
Tonight, when I got home, I told the boys that the plan for the night was to build a tower using spaghetti noodles. Ben’s eyes got huge, and then warm, and then delighted. He hugged me with ever...
Last night, before bed, Ben drew a quick picture with a sun in the corner that was so pointed, angular, and symmetrical, it made me think of Art Deco. Happily tonight was Art & Music night, so we ...
We get pretty excited over math night at our house. I know this is unusual. It hasn’t always been my most favorite thing in the world. In fact, I think I am like so many people who are either in...
Thursday night, my new lab coat arrived, all crisp and white, with pockets. Scott called to tell me I had a package at the house, so on the way home, I picked up this mess of things! We watched the My...
The plan was to look at Oxymorons because they are hilarious. However, the best thing about our outlook on learning is that we can change on a dime based on the interests of the kids. Ben’s mini...
The other day, I quoted something about the literati during the time between the two world wars. My dad commented that the revolutionaries used to be educated, and that it didn’t seem like that ...
T.S. Eliot is another one of my favorite poets. The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock, perhaps, being one of the most haunting and beautiful poems I have ever read. He has a way of speaking that is lilti...
It dawned on me recently that I have really been slacking off when it comes to Science Night. We’ve watched a few YouTube videos of the science of flight, or time lapse photography of plants gro...
Of all the garden books I have, this one has become my favorite. More than anything, it is a poetic journey into the soil and into the very heart of how things grow. Most of my other books have lots o...
The other day, I was reading Billy Collins poetry and he started one with the Paul Cézanne quote, “With an apple I want to astonish Paris.” It only took a quick Google search to find that ...
Just thinking of the word Perspective tweaks my brain a tad. There are so many points to consider. Last night, my boys and I worked on the idea of a Vanishing Point in art. We looked at some YouTube v...
In only seven stanzas and a little introductory phrase, a quote by Paul Cezanne, I am plunged into the world of beauty, where art, science, philosophy, farms and haystacks, baseball, the history of ar...
The animals have a large area to roam, but they really like to be walked by one of us. Here, Benjamin is walking the pigs and the goats. In the first picture, SweePea is getting really close to Ben, h...
That is Madrone (or Mama), one of our goats due to deliver any day, being super curious. These are not the clearest pictures, because those babies won’t stay still. But this shows how tiny they ...
We have new baby goats, picked up today from our Goat Mentor, Sue. The babies like their new home and are dancing around. Our pregnant goats are all curious and crazy over them. This should be fun!...
It has been a while since I have written strictly for the fun of it, just to let my mind wander and circle around something ephemeral, and then dance with the next thought that popped into my head; sp...
Scott just loves this picture of a proud, happy, baby pig sunning himself in the mud!...
In summertime, we will once again have eggs for sale. Our Chickens are not producing a lot of eggs this time of year. This just cracks me up....
This is our Benjamin. At eight-years old, he has become the Chicken Charmer. Every single one of our chickens will let him hold them. Sometimes, he swears, they snuggle. Ben and Bean with Cousin Olivi...