The Sinister Scribe

Yesterday was co-op day. We did Harmony Art’s Green Hour #7.

Before class, my kids and I decided on our “focus areas.” Me, edible plants; Sam, birds; Jessie, bugs and amphibians. I made up 4 copies of each of our first cards (Spring Beauty, Pileated Woodpecker and Spring peeper) so that each child could have the start of their own field guide. I stuck a 3×5 index card inside the printout to give it some stiffness before sealing it in contact paper.

We took a walk through a beautiful sanctuary. I tried to keep them focused on their “focus areas.” I was kinda successful but spring was in the air and continued focus wasn’t. We heard a woodpecker, red bellied I think. Found some tent-worms and different fungi. I took a few pictures here.

We came back and talked briefly about what we saw and what card we’d each work on next: me, may apple; Sam, cardinal; Jess, ladybug; Snowflake: poison ivy; Vrooom: red-bellied woodpecker.

There wasn’t time for a nature journal entry unfortunately. It is hard to fit everything in to 45 minutes! I am thinking next time we’ll trade our cards and do a journal entry.

What do you think someone your age can do to help reduce the amount of pollution in our environment?

lets see… i can turn off lights when there’s no use of them on, i can use more alternate means of transportation like riding buses and riding bikes and walking and stuff of the sort. ask the local owner of the closest park and chose a spot to clean up trash in the area, recycle as much as possible, compost food scraps and other perishable foodstuffs if possible.

The sunflower seedling is very fuzzy on its plumule (eventually develops into the shoot). The clary sage true leaves are even fuzzier. The deer tounge lettuce is getting leggy (not enough sun light). Need to repot or direct sew when garden plot is ready. Green tomato seedlings are taller.

The sweet pea seeds did not sprout. We dug them up and they were gooey.

We had a rather hurried tea time but we had some very special treats with it. Fried dandelions and fried dandelion cakes. Recipe found here. I used sorghum rather than white sugar. The kids preferred the cake version. Me too. Unless the flower heads were fresh from the pan. Hard to have a relaxing tea time eating them from the kitchen.

Later I even tried my hand at a dandelion, green tea and honey cordial. Based on the recipe here. (yes, I know the recipe is from HER. Sorry) The honey really darkened the liquid for some reason. I swear my pan is stainless (not aluminum) so I don’t understand why. At first the liquid was rather murkey and rather unappetizing looking. It has settled and looks like the end result won’t be too bad. Looking. Hopefully it will taste good too.

Yesterday was an insanely busy day. I really, really try not to schedule so much. (house work and school work usually suffers not to mention everyone is generally cranky)

Yesterday morning (7:45 am) the kids and I dropped off the Earth Day bags at Moser’s. Then drove out to Lamanana’s farm to help with alpaca and llama shearing. We had so much fun!

Jessie befriended a ram appropriately named “Chocolate Bar.” (no wonder they got along so well) Sam had the alpacas leaning on him by the end of our 4 hour stay. I came home with a pound of each fiber (Squeeeeee!) and I think I found my calling. LOL! Here are more pictures.

I had a blast traipsing around the farm in my overalls and wellies lending a hand where needed. ‘Course 4 hours is nothing like actually living on one. Might change my tune then. But I can at least dream that I’d really like it. The kids are really jonesing to go back.

We’d have stayed there all day but we had to be across town at 1:00 for a homeschool co-op. So off we dashed smelling like llamas. I did a green hour lesson (more on that when I get a second) and read Eric Carle books trying to imitate his art style. I’m not sure I really captured the kids attention with my segment. I *think* I’m just not explaining my expectations well enough up front. *shrug*

Gotta run… bread is done!

Today at the co-op I lead green hour challenge #9. Click here to go to be beginning of the photo Album. Since not all the kids pictured are mine, I’ve used pseudonyms on all.

Many discoveries were made… fragrant dogwood, unusual flowers, mysteriously fizzy water. Most everyone settled right in and seemed to enjoy the time outside. Except for my Rampant Swan. She is showing little interest in organized activities right now. *sigh* I didn’t really “participate” either but rather enjoyed flitting around to see what everyone was doing.

Next time I will do a better job of describing the activity more before hand and taking a little more time for everyone to share what they learned afterwards.
Next week, I think we will work on #7: Your own field guide.

The Night Is a Big Black Cat
by Clark, G. Orr

The Night is a big black cat,
The Moon is her topaz eye,
The stars are the mice she hunts at night
In the field of the sultry sky.

~~~~~~~

We’ve been diligently doing our poetry unit study from Homeschool Share along with tea time. The kids are loving it and I am loving that. Found this poem in The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. You can also find it many places online. Like here. Anyway, it reminded me specifically of this picture of Mirage so I thought I’d post it. Enjoy!

My cough seems to be going away finally. Huzzah! ‘Course now I’ve coughed out my back and pulled a groan (groin) muscle. Sheesh! Can something else fall apart please…?

So much happened this week, much of it not fun, that I don’t know where to start. Perhaps I should take that as a sign not to. Basically: trip to OK was uneventful… got lots of knitting done on NESOBs… it was good to see family. I seem to be much recovered from whatever I’ve had since my birthday. The dog is recovering from something he ate in OK. Sadly, the frog (my sister gave us two) may not live. Her partner is MIA.

Now, if I can just hold the old bod together it should be a fun weekend. We’ve started seriously getting into the house remodel… starting to rip up carpet. Weee! Our weekends will be consumed by the house for many months to come. But when we’re done it should look pretty awesome. We’ll have a great feast to officially open the Inn of the Three Legged Dragon.

Spring is also starting to sproing. Fi-nuh-lee. Park days are starting back up for the homeschooling group too. Glad we’ve got most of our hours logged already so we can really take advantage of this time of year to get outside.

After reading Dotchi’s post about her boys yearly portfolio I’m thinking of doing one for this year. It has been in the back of my mind for a while but I’m just not sure how or where to begin. It would be great to get Sam involved in his and (eventually) Jessie in hers. What a great way for us all to see their progress! But then exactly what to include? I guess the ultimate use would dictate that… official or personal? Could it be both?!?

*Yawn* Ok that is more than I thought I was going to write tonight. Its getting late and I’ve got an early day tomorrow. Sam has TKD and we’re going to the MU Vet dept’s open house. Gotta get that pic with the 16 foot python.

What is your most indispensable possession and why?

my most indispensable possession………. hmm…………….. dunno…… my dog would be!

he can be as sweet as an ice cream or as disrupting as heck itself; he’s a good dog to snuggle with, especially in a chair, or on my bed……… haaaaaaaahhhh…….. hm? oh, sorry…… he has learned to do some tricks like roll over, sit, twitch (only when we have a treat that he’s literally begging to get)

the majoram plants have grown really well, their true leaves are starting to become noticeable; the large sunflower was attacked by the cat and sadly didn’t make it; the sage is sprouting with what we believe to be a misplaced deer tongue; the second sunflower is finally growing; and the rest of the deer tongue that are not withered or withering are bent over a lot ‘cause me and my sister were holding the jiffy-pots that they were in.