tally-ho for September

The produce total for September is 90.1 lbs. That means the total for the year is 605.6 lbs. This includes eggs. When I say it out loud it sounds good, even though this hasn't been that great a gardening year. I love eating out of my own yard.

field trips

The best part of homeschool is the field trips. We've had a very active homeschool group for the past .... 16 years. It has been the one perfect part of my life. Now it has fallen apart. We are trying to arrange something for this Thursday, but all the main members have grown up and moved away and I'm on my very last year with my very last kid, it just feels like we are scraping the bottom of the barrel. We've had such a good run.

Every month we'd have one field trip and one academic activity. Long trips in the mom vans with the seats all packed with the kids playing cards games and talking. The moms nattering away about life. Visiting interesting museums and historical sites. Eating lunch together. The kids climbing trees and running through the woods. It has just been wonderful.

Some of my favorite memories-- Butt bumping down the smooth capital steps when no one was looking. Gathering the kids together to look at a deer, who promptly squatted down and dumped a load. Finding out how much Mary Todd Lincoln's sister hated her. Watching Lewis and Clark canoe into St. Louis. Touring Powell symphony hall immediately after watching "Phantom of the Opera." Finding out that Daniel Boone's daughter was married to Governor Boggs. Camping together during a torrential downpour. Country day reports, complete with food samples. And, of course, going apple picking every year.

I love homeschooling. I'm going to miss it.

Shall we whine?

I'm tired. Every Monday I try to get to the bottom of my inbox. That means doing all the financial stuff, taking care of all the paperwork that flows this way, just clearing out the incoming stuff. I'm amazed by how long it takes to do. It generally takes me at least an entire afternoon, usually most of the day. That's always a happy feeling to be able to see the black wire of my wire inbox. Usually it is covered with papers. Oh well. Now that I'm done with that I can get to the rest of the work I haven't done yet today.

new soaps

I haven't even packaged them up yet, but I had to show off how pretty they turned out. These are my newest soaps. They smell heavenly and I think they look really pretty. I tried some artsy techniques on them and I think they turned out really well. We'll see what the customers think!

kids

It's been fall for a few weeks now and I'm in the routine of seminary, high school, homeschool, soapmaking. Each new activity takes a bit of time to settle in. The farmer's market goes for another month and a half and then I'll have a new adjustment to make. I'm looking forward to having a bit more time for projects other than the business. It feels funny to have so few kids around here. I sure miss having the whole bunch of them. I've only got two left at home (and a third who comes to visit once a week). I am most comfortable with the roll of "busy young mother." I'm not settled into my new roll in life. Old coot. I have to force myself not to cook as much. I don't need to do laundry every day of my life. Even my shopping has gone way down. I sure miss the fun we had together. Homeschooling for all those years. This is my last year of homeschool. But it's not like I'm not busy all day long. I've still got two kids to take care of, my wonderful husband, the business, seminary, the chickens, the garden, and a ton of other things. Can I still miss having all the kids at home?

homemade noodles

One of the advantages of having chickens is all the eggs I get to cook with. These homemade noodles have eggs as a main ingredient. They are delicious.

my daily bread part two

I messed that entry up but the picture did appear. I am so tech UNsavvy. How will I survive without my kids?

ANYWAYS, the picture represents one day's pickings out of our garden. Well, garden plus chickens. But, obviously, it was a good day. A better than normal harvest. It is wonderful how much food we get out of our garden. It isn't enough to feed the family for the year but it is a good amount of food and every year I try to expand it and get more.

my daily bread

early September day

It is a beautiful fall day. It's only the very beginning of September so maybe it is too early for fall, but it is lovely. Last night for dinner we had fresh salsa made from the garden. I love it when I can do that. We've eaten all the onions I had stored. I think I'd have to plant an acre of onions to make them last the entire year. I use a lot in my cooking. I'm getting tons of peppers right now. I prefer to eat them fresh, but frozen will have to suffice because they are coming in too fast. I love eating out of my garden. I know exactly what has been used on it (nothing) and how fresh it is (very).