A bit of this and a bit of that

The days are growing shorter and the light is thinning and fading, even as the heat of late summer remains. Somehow I seem to have missed summer.

I didn't get out much to enjoy the outdoors this year. There always seemed to be something more pressing to do -- and even the times I did get out there weren't very soothing this year for some reason.

Maybe it was stress. The trends continue. (Rod's older brother was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer late this spring and we just heard that the friend who has been facing leukemia with her 'just turned 3' son is also facing cancer with her mother. These are diagnoses, and there is still plenty of hope, but it adds worry to the already mounting loss. Mark is doing much better this time than he did last autumn, but we can't help worry about him. John is doing lots better, but we can't help but worry about him.) Stress can certainly distract us from being in the moment and enjoying nature.

Maybe it was the drought that we're having this year. We have had some rain this summer, though none lately, but it wasn't as much as we're used to. The grass is brown and crunchy under our feet and not nearly as much fun as it usually is. The smaller plants are hanging on tenuously if at all, and even the deep rooted trees are looking very, very distressed. We are watering the fruit trees, but everything else is just having to hang on the best it can. On the bright side, that has also meant that the garden plot, which never did get any plants, took Jack and I about 6 minutes to weed yesterday -- and that was the first time this year that we've done that.

We postponed painting the bedroom this weekend (again) in favour of canning a bushel of local Romas as sauce and freezing two lugs of local blueberries. I may have missed summer, but I'll be darned if I am also going to miss autumn - - especially this year, when the price of food this winter is predicted to rise to outrageous level, what with the cost of corn (not a big part of our diet, but it means that the cost of everything else will rise to take up the slack for unaffordable corn reliant products), the cost of fuel (again, we try to eat mostly local but the competition for local products will be stronger this year), and the very, very bad growing season. (It was too wet to plant until very late in the spring, and it has been too dry since then.) We can paint when there is no more produce to preserve. ;) Besides, canning is one of the things we can do that adds a sense of normalcy to our unsettled mood.

Jack was a big part of the canning project this year, and I couldn't help comparing this year to the first year we did any canning. Jack was a newborn that first year, and Rod and I had to take turns working because Jack wanted to be held (and, mostly, nursed) constantly. This year from the washing of the produce, to the chopping, to the pureeing of the sauce to filling of the vat of sauce and the stirring, Jack was an extra sets of hands a and a real help. Jack's cooking is no longer just about his experience -- it has become easier to do it with him than without him. Wow. I can't believe that went so fast!

We discovered this weekend that our credit information has been stolen. We found out within a couple of hours, so the damage was minimal and we haven't actually lost anything -- but it does mean that we're doing commerce on a cash basis, with one ATM card between us. That certainly cramps our style. ;) Cancelling the card meant that part of the order for the last of the school books that had gone in, but had not yet been billed, has been cancelled. We'll have to wait a while, see what comes, and then reorder the ones we still need. (I don't know what I was thinking, but I deleted the messages from the online booksellers notifying me of which orders had been cancelled.) Fortunately, the library has the most critical one and the parts I need are few enough that I can copy those pages and print them out to add to our reader.

I have compiled and printed the readers for both units 1 and 2, and I am just about done with the checklists, so then Rod will have what he needs when he's ready. (And I will publish them for anyone who is interested to have a look at.) It's interesting that, even knowing about the danger of "resource creep" (where the planning never ends because just as you think you're done, you hear about yet another amazing resource you want to add) I fell afoul of it. I have drawn a line in the sand and said "Unit 1 is complete as soon as I add the things I have already gotten". Anything else will have to be added to a later unit or not at all because there really are some cool resources out there.

Have you ever noticed that very few books for kids make school sound like any fun at all? From Pinnocio to Tom Sawyer, to the Bobbsey Twins, to Beezus and Romona and Laura and Mary of the Prairie, it's as though the world is in on a secret campaign to promote homeschooling! Unfortunately, that has tainted the word "school" for Jack and he has declared that "school is boring, stupid, and junk!" and he is resisting starting on his formal lessons this fall. Since he has eagerly gobbled up what I have introduced so far, I think he really is going to enjoy it -- but perhaps we'd best come up with a new name for what we're doing.

Jack talked me into going to play miniature golf this weekend. I have never enjoyed it before, but for one reason or another, it was actually quite pleasant...in spite of my starting to play on the last hole and losing my ball immediately. Jack and I shared his ball for several more holes, and then I decided to focus on just taking pictures. Jack was a lot better at it than I expected him to be, though his style could use some work. We had fun, and we've decided that next time. we're going to get three balls because one went too fast. Then we went out for ice cream, and came home and drew pictures together until bedtime. Lucky for us, Dad came home bearing fast food for all, because we completely forgot to have dinner!

I mentioned a while back that Rod has gone off his blood pressure medication completely and (we think for the moment) permanently. I have to say that having him fully functional has been wonderful! And he's working with a naturopath to try and get at the underlying cause of the high blood pressure and resolve that. It's been several weeks, and we are beginning to see a real improvement. Not in his blood pressure -- if he's checking that, I have no idea what he's seen -- but in his overall health. Rod's feet have been swollen and a worrying shade of blue as long as I have known him. I noticed yesterday that the swelling is down (though not gone) and his feet were PINK -- really, really pink and healthy looking! I am so excited! Even more exciting is that I noticed because he commented that his legs and feet felt so light and energetic -- more than they had in years! He has a new spring in his step that tells the tale and hasn't needed to sit down and rest nearly as often as he was having to just a few weeks ago. I can't help but think that this obvious sign of improved circulation has to be good for his circulatory system as well as his feet and I am giddy with delight!

I have gotten about two thirds of the way through the astrology primer I am writing for Jack. As far as I have been able to determine, there are *no* books for the very young about astrology, which strikes me as peculiar. Well, soon, there will be!

I would still like to write the Australian history books for children -- but it has since dawned on me that I know next to nothing, and it will take a serious amount of commitment and research...I'm willing and even eager, but I'm not sure when I will find the time. I'm keeping my eyes open -- maybe someone somewhere, maybe even someone with actual talent, will have the same thought I have and will beat me to it. I hope so.