The Upside

This homeschooling thing has had me a little shook.

We hadn't planned to undertake it, but did so because we had kiddos dealing with some wacky health issues and felt we'd be better able to get on top of it all if we had the kids home where we could be in control of most of the facets of their lives.

Smart idea. Hard solution.

I like to P-L-A-N. Methodically. Deliberately. Thoroughly. In triplicate. With charts and outlines and diagrams. Winging it is not my thing. Ever.

Winging it on something as important as my kids' education has had me in vapors. But, I've talked to lots of people who are good at this, have read a lot and have spent hours at the library (that new resource I discovered recently). I did this for a few weeks, then figured we'd better just get started. We've jumped in and it seems to be going OK. We're two days in.

Here's my big concern: my kids are really, really smart. What if, in 3 short months, I break them? Like, the smart part of their brain will be irreversibly broken by my feeble attempts at educating them? It's keeping me awake. Seriously, my eyes are extra dry these days because I'm spending what should be sleeping hours with my eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling.

I'm sure it will be fine. I'm going to keep at it, and we'll be fine. I'm certain of it. How much damage can I do in 3 months? OK, never mind. I can't go there. I'm just going to stick to the belief that somehow it will all be OK.

The kids are calm so I suppose I can be, too. Tentatively.

We did discover two upsides today:

1) Because we're doing this learning thing together, I'm learning new things, too. Like, did you know that they found ancient graffiti in Egypt? Translated it reads, "Go hang yourself." I'm not kidding. Can't you just picture that early tagger hoodlum, wearing a gold ankh upside down on a big chain to flash his gang sign, standing lookout while his buddy used spray soot & vegetable gum ink to leave that scathing graffiti on the side of some big-wig's pyramid? Ahhh, kids.

2) The other upside? When the kids are using all of the Internet sources in the house for their schoolwork and it's not my turn to do the dishes, I'm left at loose ends. Me + loose ends= Cooking!

The kids have discovered that "school lunch" can be a beautiful thing. That is, if you think honey glazed salmon, rice and spinach are beautiful things. Around here we do.


The kids discovered today that school lunch in Momland does not mean squeaky chicken nuggets or cardboard pizza. They'll soon discover it doesn't mean salmon every day, either, but why burst their happy little bubble before we have to?

I have to say this was a particularly yummy dish. Want to try it yourself?

Here you go:

Honey Glazed Salmon

4 Salmon fillets
2 Tbs Canola oil
1 Tbs Honey
2 Cloves minced garlic
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place salmon in an ungreased 9 x 13 pan; sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, mix the oil, honey and garlic. Brush on fillets.

Bake covered for 10 minutes; uncover and bake additional 10 minutes.

Serve with steamed rice and vegetable. We started with everything side by side on the plate, then just mixed it all together. We had steamed spinach as our green thing. It was a great choice.

Enjoy!

Love from the farm,
Teri

(UPDATE: Oh good grief. My fears of being inadequate are confirmed. It wasn't Egyptian graffiti, it was Pompeiian. See? I don't know what I'm doing. Criminy.)

We've Got Some New Voodoo Around Here

I'm not saying we're about to embark on some weird, hippie-dippie adventure around here or anything, I'm just saying that my shopping list yesterday had things on it like this:

• Xylitol


• Amaranth


• Spirulina


• Senna leaf powder


• Apple pectin


• Green clay powder


• Psyllium husk


• Marshmallow root


• Skullcap


• Wormwood


• Walnut hull


• Mullein leaves


• White oat bark


• Wheatgrass


• Feverfew


• ...and more

I couldn't pick these exotic little packages up at Safeway or Bashas'; no, I had to go to the quaint little Sunshine Herbs cottage in Show Low to collect these unusual new members of our household.

Why, you ask, did I stop at this paltry list? Why not pick up eye of newt and cobweb strands while I was at it?

Because, in spite of it sounding like I've got a cauldron bubbling back at the farm, what we've actually got brewing are plans to undertake a major lifestyle change.

One that involves my stopping drinking Pepsi.

I'm scared.

Yet resolute.

And scared.

But really, really resolute.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Wish me luck.

Love from the farm,
Teri

(P.S. I realize that for the mildly health conscious person, these are not exotic items at all. I know this and am ashamed. Because it points to just how far outside the "natural" health world I've lived. Ah, well. There you have it. Now, I need to go water some moss.)

Dreaming of Chickens

I dreamt of chickens last night.

Rather, I dreamt of one very odd looking chicken - she was black, with a long neck, bushy head and scrawny body. In my dream I was a little alarmed when I saw the chicken. I don't know if it was because she didn't belong to us, she hadn't looked so weird the last time I'd seen her, or if it was a case of every time I looked at that particular chicken, I was shocked by her appearance. You know how dreams can be woefully short on back story. I suspect it was the latter - that every time I came into the chicken yard, I was shocked by her appearance.

When I woke this morning, I knew only one thing for certain.

It is time to order Spring chicks.

We need to get our little flock growing again so we can have eggs by late Summer. (I like to capitalize the seasons sometimes. Seasons are exciting so I think they bear emphasizing. Plus, I think there is a time when it's grammatically correct to capitalize them. I'm not sure when that time is so I do it every so often just in case I hit the mark occasionally. Kind of an accidental smarty moment. Or not.)

Anyway.

We'll be getting new chicks soon - breeds selected to provide us with brown eggs, white eggs and green eggs. White eggs are kind of boring but the Leghorns who provide them are fantastically consistent, giving you pretty much an egg a day, every day, and I'm looking forward to that kind of dependability in a flock.


We will of course have at least one of these guys:




Solely because for more than a year I have wanted to name a chicken "Reggie," and if this guy doesn't look like a "Reggie," I don't know who does!

Now, responsible chicken owners will have the brooder box ready before ordering the chicks, so that's what we'll do. Or what I hope Mike will do since he has the next 4 days off.

With this decision made, maybe the chickens won't come to me in dreams. Maybe eggplants will come to me in dreams, because I really need something to spur me along on seed starting.


I just hope eggplants in dreams aren't scary.


Love from the farm,

Teri


(P.S. Yes, Mom, this means I have flip-flopped on the decision to continue to have chickens. I know you'll be astonished to hear this of me.)

(P.P.S. We had already made the decision to get new chicks. The dream only reminded me to get on it. I do not make decisions based on dreams as I am not a Biblical prophet. Just to be clear on that.)