Summer Before Summer Time and Open Invitation

The past few weeks we have been enjoying temperatures in the upper 80's to mid/upper 90's.  I'm told this continues well in to September.

I know this sounds very difficult to many, but for us these temperatures are lovely.  Some days when we walk outside it is humid, but not so oppressively humid as we had experienced in Pennsylvania.  Even on the hottest, most humid days here, it doesn't last long.

Everyone's gardens are well established; their yards are manicured; they are adjusting their schedules to get their yard work done super early in the mornings.  Then there are those of us from Pennsylvania who, although we've adjusted our schedules too, continue to struggle getting the young folks to understand getting their yard work done early is the best thing they can do for themselves.  I have to laugh though.  In Pennsylvania we always did yard work after 10AM due to allergies.  Here it done long before 10AM because the temperatures could be 85+ degrees by then.  They are learning and they are understanding more of the "why" now after a couple days of needing to finish a project.

This is our house last August, before we moved.  It looks a little different now with things trimmed and the grass mowed.

The swimming pool has been open and (giving us fits) being used daily.  The previous owners were not able to care for the pool and after getting the water tested we've found that it has Mustard Algae in it.  We are having a difficult time getting it cleaned off the side walls due to the toughness of this particular algae.  We've done everything suggested and continue to do everything suggested,but the algae doesn't go away.  I'm not sure what the solution is, but I'm not going to worry about it because that's my husband's department.  I don't know much about pools.  I go out and skim every other day for half an hour before I swim.  I'll do whatever is asked of me other than that, but I have no experience or understanding of pool care.  My Mr. G has worked in this area about 23 years ago, so this is his arena.  My area is inside the house.  

You can't see it in this picture, but the deep end has a lot of mustard algae.

Looking to the south on historic state route 41

My husband is a shutter bug.  He loves taking pictures of clouds and weather formations as they come across the land.  He's done this for years.  When he hears of some awesome storms rolling in, he heads out with the camera as you can see in the above picture.  :)  Now he has me doing it!  LOL

I walked out of a W*lmart neighborhood store and found this!

The Lord met me at the door with this beautiful sky when I walked out of the store.  I stopped and took the picture while everyone around me looked at me funny.  It's ok.  I enjoy stopping and taking pictures of the beauty God blesses me with.

As we continue our new lives here in Georgia, the learning curve is still there, still steep at times, but still there.  We are adjusting, adapting, improvising, overcoming obstacles and making changes as needed.  The Lord has been so very good to us.  We've had some obstacles that has caused us to question whether or not we're supposed to be here, but the Lord has brought us reminders many times over that "Yes!" we're supposed to be here, right where He's brought us.  We greatly miss our Pennsylvania friends, church family, work friends and the area and life we knew.  We are working currently to make a place for guests to stay when they come this direction, even just for over night.  We're only a mile off the interstate, so it's very easy to get to our house.  Those of you who are traveling south are more than welcome to stop by for dinner, over night, or just stop and stretch your legs and visit for a bit.  We have lots of room!

God Bless,

Beginning our 12th Year of Home School

The beginning of our school year is in full swing.  We started our book work on Monday August the 5th with very light school and very low expectations.  I gave them only 2 days worth of school, but months ago we were planning to go camping and we've had to wait to see what new schedule my husband was getting since his promotion.  I just kept the original plan of 2 days of school in place and had them work at their own paces to get their feet whet for school this year.  Now that we have 2 full weeks of school under our belts, we're well on our way.

I've counted days for school since July 1st, however.  We've done tons of things that are education related like field trips, work, drama, VBS, consumer math, hospitality, among a host of other things.  Our "book work" began in August.  How can I "get away" with starting to count days on July 1st?  We live a lifestyle of learning every day.  Each thing we do establishes a learning opportunity.  Even though every day can be different, it is still bringing us learning experiences.

I have a Senior, a Sophomore and an 8th grader this year.  I have very little to help them with daily because they're independent learners now.  I check their work to see what they're having problems with, explain and teach when necessary with the older 2.  With my youngest I have a bit more to do, but it is decreasing with each passing year.

As much as I enjoy not having as much teaching time, it leaves me with time to sit on the front porch with my hubby talking, enjoying our coffee and doing our Bible study together.  It is such a blessed time for me to spend time with my husband studying the Bible together.

I didn't take "first day of school" pictures at all.  I use to do that, but it has fallen by the wayside this year.  I think it is just because our first day of school came and went without fanfare.  However, I do have a picture that I took with my phone of the 3 children together not too far from July 1st, at a wedding at the end of June.  =0)

From left to right:  JL(14), HJ(15), & Daniel(18)

My husband tells me that once our children turn 18, we can address them online by their first names.  Daniel just turned 18 on August 19th.  We took pictures when we woke him up, but I don't think he was ready to wake up.  LOL 

Needless to say, he and Mr. G continue to look for just the right car for him.  Of course it has to pass Mr. G's expectations.  Once he gets a car, he'll take his behind the wheel exam a second time.  He took it with our Suburban and when he parallel parked, the front driver's side corner was sticking our 6" too far and forgot to turn his blinker on once, so the tester failed him. :0(   Now, we wait until Daddy can find a car for him. =0)

This school year began with a rotating schedule for my husband.  Now that he's been promoted, he has regular predictable days off each week.  I've adjusted our school schedule to accommodate Daddy's days off so each of us can rest, have fun, and work together on a variety of things.  Since this is Daddy's 2nd week in his new position, it has left my kids a little out of sorts.  While we usually take Sundays off, rarely have we taken 2 days off in a row on a regular basis.  They were looking around and at times, wandering around wondering what they could do with themselves.  LOL

As time moves along here in the next week, we'll probably increase the amount of canning that we're doing with the tomatoes ripening.  We count canning time as school too.  I just remove their computer school work from the day so it doesn't "pile up" on them.  Young folks learning how to can the produce from the garden is important, so we integrate that in to our days in the late summer.

A life style of learning is something that has allowed us to not be encumbered by limiting our learning to just school times, but has expanded our learning to all parts of our lives.  Just this morning I left the weather loop on the computer for the kids to see when they came past.  Daniel found a map of water temperatures when upon closer inspection, they discovered where water currents are due to those currents being a different color.  

Life is full of learning experiences.  It encompasses each of our daily lives.  What a wonderful blessing, if we recognize those potential learning opportunities and embrace them with thankfulness.

Summer Plans

One of those things we have not really ever done is taken a vacation during the summer.  We've stayed locally to where ever we've lived and done day trips and outings, but nothing on a grand scale.  We've pretty much kept our vacations and trips away during the late fall, early winter or late spring.

Our summer plans are very simple.  When we return from whatever trips we take in the spring, if any, we get to work like busy little beavers on our yard, garden, flower beds, herb beds, transplanting, pruning, planting and tilling the dirt.  We generally do not put anything in the ground until June 1st.  We know full well that in most cases, June 1st is so very late.  However, we live in an area where we JUST had frost last week!  Yes, FROST!  We just put our plants in the ground on June 1st to make sure the danger of frost is past.  So, with that said, it doesn't make sense to concern ourselves too much with things until then.  Once the weather breaks from the winter weather, but it is still cold, we usually plan to go on vacation.  Why wait when we can go south where it is warm while we wait for the warmth to come to PA?  LOL

I spent quite a bit of time outside planting my flowers, pruning and weeding today as well.  My youngest son came out and just started helping me weed.  What a wonderful time working side by side with him!  We talked about the Rapture, science and when technology makes so many mind boggling advances that it's the sign of the times when Jesus comes again.  We need to be ready in our hearts for His return, but still busy going about our daily tasks and the work He has given us.  What a wonderful time of fellowship!

I plan to do bunches more tomorrow in my herb bed.  I plan to dig up shoots off my thyme, oregano, and chives tomorrow to swap with others who have perennials that I'm looking for.  If anyone wants any other perennials, I'll dig those up as they request because the others are a bit more transplant "shocky" so it makes more sense to get them out of the ground and back in to the ground quickly complete with lots of water for about a week. Black Eyed Susans and Purple Cone Flowers are that way.

At some point, we'll be waiting on the garden to yield it's lovely fruit.  What we plan to do is take the camper to a campground for a couple days, then come home to tend to things, kind of like a "mini-vacation".  Nothing overly spectacular, it's nothing overly expensive, just a couple days at a campground.  It should be a nice time away.

In July we plan to help as a family in our church's VBS.  This is a first for us since my  hubby will be joining us this year.  What a blessing!  He'll be doing the games, I'll be teaching Kindergarten and the kids will each help where they can.

After VBS, I'll begin my lesson plans for teaching Physical Science Lab for 8th graders in preparation for the 2013-2014 school year with our home school group.  I'll be canning in between everything, picking blueberries and freezing them, making all kinds of jams from our own black raspberry bushes, peaches, and whatever else I can get my hands on.  I'm hoping to can 3 batches of salsa this year.  We ran out of salsa in April, so it's time to increase how much I make.

I'd like to go down to Georgia for a few days in August this year, but I don't think that is going to happen, unfortunately.  It's a long story as to why, and it's one that I don't understand well enough to explain--since it is vehicle gear related [and that's all I know]--so suffice it to say that we'll try to get down there soon!

August is also the time of year when we settle in and begin school in earnest.  I count school days from July 1st because we're learning every day, but book work and computerized school work will start in August this year.

Of course, we'll have our Family Birthday Bash in August and have fun with everyone then.

Then, there are the festivals, yard sales and chicken barbecues that we'll attend.

I'll make my sauce again this year, Lord willing.  We've got green beans coming up in the garden that we'll can as well.  I hope to get even more to fill our shelves this year.  Take a look at the side bar and see what's in the plans for this year.  I'll begin dehydrating very soon, if not tomorrow!  :)

Golly!  I guess we're just a little busier than I originally thought.  LOL

What are your summer plans?

Warmer Weather

I'm loving the warmer weather as of late.  The flowers are starting to come up and my hostas are beginning to make their appearance.  I have plans to thin them out, putting half of them on the opposite side of the back porch.  We took out barn stones and these evergreen bushes a couple years ago and after amending the soil and trying to decide what to do with the area, decided to put the hostas there.

The picture above shows the area, sort of, behind the two chairs to the left.  My bee balm is already there, but it's time to add more plants.  :)

In the front yard, plans are continuing for our new sidewalk.  We need to get a load of gravel to line the bottom, then fill in the sides with the forms, then start mixing concrete.  After the sidewalk is in, we'll add more top soil, then start planting some other perennials.  I'd love to line the sidewalk with Spring flowers and lavender.  I'm quite fond of lots of perennial flowers.

My daughter has asked to plant some flowers this year as well.  She is doing marigolds, zinnias, cosmos, and daisies.   I'm not sure where we'll put those this year, but we'll find a place. :0)

At some point this summer, we plan to replace the fascia and repaint the trim on our house.  It's a slow process, but it will be done nonetheless.

It has also come to my attention that we need to rethink watering the garden and how we do it.  When our well went dry, we needed to feed a hose through the laundry room window to attach it to the spigot for the washing machine.  This year, I'm not sure what my husband will decide to do, but installing a spigot on the outside of the house under the laundry room window would be a very welcome idea.  

I'd love to have all of this stuff done by the end of July.  That way when canning season comes around, we can concentrate our efforts on that instead of home improvement projects.  

This morning, though--I think I'm going to get my work clothes on and go do some raking after I have my yogurt.  The temperature is at 50 Degrees right now and the sun is shining.  What a perfect time to get some raking done!  :0)  I'd venture to say some prayer time while outside is a given.