This kind of blew me away,and it came at a time when I’d been praying about the direction for my blog again. As I’ve prayed for balance in blogging, writing, homestead chores, homeschool, off-gridding, parenting, being a good wife, and the myriad other responsibilities of my life, I’ve felt very overwhelmed. I took a weekend away (more on that later), and focused on prayer, relaxing, and good conversation. Oh, and writing.
It’s time for an update on our homestead building project. There has been no update of late, because you can’t report much when not much is happening. But, we’ve worked on some of our homestead projects, and I’m happy to report that little by little, some things are getting done.
Barn doors for the Shop
Making the doors
One on-going project we’ve been trying to work on, as funds allow, is our shop and cabin–shop below, cabin above. The basic structure has been built since winter, but we slowed down because of slow funds.
Recently, we got going again, so Austin and Troy began constructing doors. W decided to make them instead of purchasing ready-made doors. We always try to find a hard way if there is one! Clearly, MAKING doors is the hard way here, but they turned out very nicely! Far better than the tarps we’ve had hung up for the past several months!
Welcome to the Friday Friendship Feature, #6–School Readiness
School Readiness Impacts Kids and Families
The topic ofSchool Readinessis an important topic for all families.School Readinessimpacts homeschooling families as well as traditional schooling families. I have felt passionate about this topic ever since I began researching the topic before our boys started school. I still have not changed my mind about the importance of a child being READY to learn if you want optimal learning.
So…you want to take your kids out to the berry patch? Great plan! Berry picking with kids can be a wonderful time, or a huge frustration to all involved. The last thing you want on an outingfor funis for everything to flop!
But…as parents know, plans don’t always work out just like you thought, and while you may be reminiscing about leisurely days gone by in another berry patch, things could play out,shall we say…differently.
In God’s Garden
I can’t think of many more enjoyable experiences than to taste sweet berries straight off the bush or vine. You get to have all five senses involved.Tastethe pop the sweetness as you bite into a juicy blueberry.Feelthe air ruffle through your hair, and the texture of the soft berries between your fingers.Take inthe beauty of the bright blue sky, and varied hues of ripening fruit as youhearthe birds warbling and cawing all around you.Breathe inthe fruity aromas of fully ripened berries, and enjoy the peace of just being out in God’s Creation. Because the berry path is pretty close to the Garden of Eden, isn’t it?
The Key is Being Prepared, Mama!
If you plan well, and pack your sense of humor, your berry picking with kids can be a tremendous memory-making event, and a good time for all! Not to mention the BERRIES–blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, gooseberries! There are so many berries to enjoy!
Want to go berry picking with kids? Here are some tips that will make your experience successful and fun! What to take, and how to make berry picking fun!
Welcome to the Friday Friendship Feature #5! How to Get Published in Chicken Soup forthe Soul
Thisweek,I’mthinkingaboutWriting
For this week’sFriday Friendship Feature, I want to share a what’s been on my mind–writing! I’m sure that since many of my readers are fellow bloggers, you also think quite a lot aboutwriting.
I’ve been blogging here at Lessons and Lessons for several years now! I’ve been having a great time, and am still going strong with my blogging!
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Recently, I made the move to go blog at a self-hosted site. There were many reasons for this move. But, I have not stopped the blogging, bottom line.
I want to invite you to come over to my self-hosted blog, RidgeHavenHomestead.
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I don’t usually do random recipes, but this one hit the spot so well last Sunday that I just had to share my son’sSIMPLE RECIPE!The Refreshing Melon Freeze will cool you offFROM THE INSIDE OUT–exactly what you want on a hot summer day!
We like to work together as a family, and when the heat cranks up, we still keep going, misery or not! My husband is accustomed to working outdoors. But I am not! I’m a pitiful redhead, who’d prefer the indoors when it’s so crazy hot out there! Ugh!
Refreshing Melon Freeze. Simple and Satisfying
So when my boys and I had a day I’d weeding out in the hot sun, we came in all sticky and sweaty. We needed something to eat, but heavy food was out of the question!
Andrew whipped this up in no time, and how thankful we all felt!
Last week on theFriday Friendship Feature, #3, I shared a post encouraging us to set a consistent Morning Schedule/Ritual time so that we can bless our families. This week’s Friday Friendship Feature focuses in on another aspect of our home life: BOYS and MOMS.
We have three sons! They are different from me. And they often drive me batty.
I could end there, and you’d have a complete picture of my life some days.Seriously.But there is more to say. In ourFriday Friendship Featurethis time, I have chosen to share an excerpt from a post that really did hit home with me this week.
Friday Friendship Feature:
Boys–What Can I Say?
Even though I have been married to a male for almost twenty years, and have had the privilege of being a mom to all males for over sixteen years, I am still trying to figure them out. You’d think that I’d almost be an expert on the male gender, since I also grew up with three brothers. These things may help a tiny little bit, but, honestly,not much.
BOYS are a special kind of male. They have not matured yet into manhood, even those in their teens. They are moving in that direction, but still have a lot of boyishness left.
I will tell you a secret
When I was younger, like about twelve years ago, it became obvious that we were an all-boy family. Three little boys, and what energy they exhibited! My mom gave me a book, which I read then, and enjoyed. But…in my naive heart, I said, “My boys will never do that.” THAT, being make loud, obnoxious noises just for the reaction. THAT being also going crazy over the mere mention of bodily odors, noises, or functions. I assured my young mind that those antics belonged toother parent’s kids, but mine would surely act more refined.
Anyone who knows our family can just stop laughing now!
Our boys are all thatand more!We are definitely in the stage of noises, and I am in the stage of finding more difficulty concentrating than I used to have. This makes for some tension and trials.
Our Boys…
They make noise just for the sake of noise itself.
The more the better.
The grosser the better.
Times three.
The book that my mom gave me was this one.
The rest of the post continues below as well as the link to its original source. Please follow the link.
Foraging Huckleberries and Native Wild Blueberries at Ridge Haven Homestead
It’s harvest time for our wild berries, so time to go foraging! I cannot tell how excited we are here at our little property! Well…maybe I’m the person who’s the most excited, but I make up for everyone else’s calm demeanor regarding these native gems!
At first, we thought all of our bushes were wild blueberries! Earlier this Spring, when they began to blossom out, we noticed the dark pink flowers on most of the wild bushes. More about that and pictures from our early Spring bushes here: Huckleberry Hill or Blueberry Haven?
Some searching on the web suggested that maybe these were not wild blueberries but huckleberries! But we could not be sure until the harvest time came!
Lessons...and lessons 