Our family has wanted to significantly add onto our home for a lot of years. We’ve done three “small” additions, but we still really want one or two larger additions to make our home fit our family better. But the addition plans keep getting kicked further down the road. One of the biggest obstacles is finding a reputable builder who… Read More »Style Refresh
Another Monday morning after another busy weekend. I was sitting at the table drinking my tea, enjoying a quiet moment, and wishing for a very long and extended quiet moment – like about 3 or 4 hours long or so. I heard the first sounds of children waking; the movement in the upstairs bedroom, the sound the curtain rings make… Read More »Making Waffles
This year’s garden was a complete failure. It’s mostly my own fault. Successful gardening, like anything else, requires time and effort, and I just didn’t put in enough. And the deer, for some reason, decided to use our gardens as their own buffet. Even my dependable blueberries were eaten by the deer, forcing us to go to neighboring farms to… Read More »Revamping the Garden
I’ve always wanted to be an artist. I never cared what medium, but I wanted to be the kind of person who could express emotions, thoughts, and experiences in a way that had some permanence. It took me a long time to realize that creativity comes in a lot of different packages. Some cook and bake, some draw and paint,… Read More »Learning and Growing – A Creative Journey
Husband and I spent a lot of time over the weekend setting up our online shop and getting it up and running. I designed our website on my own, which I did once before for a business we had several years ago, but technology has changed so much that I’ve had to re-learn things. Over the weekend I ran into… Read More »Setting Up Shop
I’m approaching my 24th year of homeschooling, and I recently posted some thoughts on my personal facebook page. My friends said they were encouraged by my post, so I thought I’d share it here as well. I am not a perfect home educating parent. I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way, and I’m sure I’ll make plenty more. In… Read More »Homeschooling Thoughts
I feel like the last few years have been a blur. I know 2020 put everyone into a tail spin and it affected everyone differently. For me, it seems that even before then things were a little out of control. Between family needs, work needs, big life events, small aging events (hello perimenopause), young children growing into preteens, older children… Read More »Getting Back to Me
In June I decided to commit to painting 100 oil paintings. It’s taken me nearly 2 months to complete the first ten, but I’m not surprised. Summer in Maine is so fleeting that taking time to sit and paint didn’t really happen very often. There have been gardens to tend (and move and replant courtesy of the local deer), family… Read More »100 Meadows Project #1-10
After a week long heat wave, yesterday’s rain brought in much cooler temperatures and lower humidity, so cooking was much more manageable this morning. Sophie asked for “those flat pancake things that you put jelly in and roll up” for breakfast. It’s been a while since I made Swedish Pancakes, so I was happy to oblige. Unfortunately, we have no… Read More »Swedish Pancakes and Homemade Lemon Curd
Our day began in a flurry. We were generally not looking forward to the task at hand – having a complete stranger evaluate our homeschooling progress for the year is daunting no matter how well prepared you are. We needed to drive over an hour away and bring along enough samples of each student’s work to show aptitude and sufficient… Read More »Unfolding the Day