I suppose I should try to view it more as an investment, but when the goal is to save money, all those dollar signs seem to add up even more quickly.

Take, for example, the weekly shopping. The weekly shopping takes us an hour away to Lincoln, to two stores and one library. To save a bit on the gas (not to mention the time) we are thinking about changing this to a monthly trip. Which means a LOT more groceries at once.

And the need for a place to store it all.

Now, I don’t need fancy cabinetry, but I would like to avoid just stacking it all on the floor. And the mouse that chewed through my five pound bag of flour emphasized the need for containers for dry goods.

And really, another deep freeze would be very helpful in this endeavor.

But that all costs money. And while it may pay for itself in time, hopefully in a season even, it isn’t always easy to lay down all that money up front.

Another challenge for us is that we eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. Now, our local market is relatively competitive for fresh goods and our monthly shopping trip to Lincoln isn’t going to keep me from trips to our local market. Nor will it keep my husband from picking up milk on his way home from work. But fresh fruits and vegetables are pricey.

We have space for an orchard. In the spring, we may even have the money to plant it. And after several years of care, it will hopefully begin to pay for itself. But until then, we’ll be pruning and fertilizing and fencing and hoping to see a return on the investment.

There’s also the garden. And while I have great plans for it, the three pounds of green beans, two pumpkins and four cucumbers it has produced this year hardly justifies the money that was put into it last spring. We are preparing it for some winter gardening at the moment. And while it would be lovely to have garden fresh salads all winter without having to pay for them, we still need to build the cold frames and purchase the plastic to protect the little plants as they grow.

And did I mention my carrots? Carrots don’t grow particularly well in our soil. They like sandy loam and we have clay. Rocky clay at that. Carrots don’t cost all that much so I’ve never really worried about it, but so long as I’ve been reading about everything else under the sun regarding gardening, I’ve come across a bit about carrots. And my children really do prefer the carrots fresh out of the garden. And I know there’s a lot more nutrition in something they pulled from the garden ten minutes ago as opposed to something that was grown who knows where, packaged, shipped, brought home and stored in the refrigerator for another week before being eaten.

So we’re getting ready to experiment with some indoor container gardening focusing on carrots. A few plastic tubs won’t set us back too much. Nor will the soil. And the lighting isn’t that expensive. But a one pound bag of carrots is less than a dollar. This little project will pay for itself if it is successful, but it may take a year. And maybe some lettuce and green onions tucked into the corners.

But still, we’re spending money now in the hopes to save enough in the future to make it all worthwhile. But when a tightening budget is the motivation, it isn’t always easy.

What have you been working on to make a little extra room in your budget?

Exhausted and with sore feet, legs, back and even hands, I began walking from the east side of the state fair all the way back to the western most edge of the west parking lot. My mission: to retrieve the car so we could load dog, kennel, children and grandmother after twelve hours at the fair.

By the time I made it back to the entrance, I decided I was going to have a baby right there in the middle of the road. I wondered how long it would take one of those guys on a golf cart to take pity on me and drive me to my car if I were to just sit down on the asphalt and refuse to take another step. I didn’t really want to find out, but as I looked at the seemingly endless sea of cars before me my muscles rebelled. They refused to take another step.

Just then, the parking fairy arrived in the form of a John Deere tractor towing a large trailer. I didn’t really care where it was going. So long as I got to sit, I was willing to ride along. Slowly, the trailer filled and the more people boarded, the quieter it got.

One lady verified with the driver where the trolley would be headed.

The man across from me whispered to his wife that he hoped it wouldn’t break down, being a John Deere, and all.

But for the most part, we sat quietly, staring at nothing in particular, careful only to not let eyes cross with strangers.

Suddenly, a young purple finch flew in and flapped wildly as it attempted to land on the hand rail in the center of the trailer. Everyone was instantly alert, watching the little bird’s plight as it desperately tried to land. It flew up into the awning, meeting the same fate with the metal bars holding up the awning. Exhausted, it came down hard, barely catching hold of a lady’s crutch and perching for a moment as the woman tried to move it to encourage the little bird to fly elsewhere.

Again it rose, but it was out of energy. It crashed into her shoulder, coming to rest on her back. We all watched. She gave a bit of a nervous laugh, both pleased at the unexpected encounter and perplexed at what exactly to do. As she shifted, the little finch dropped to the floor of the trailer and stopped, worn out from its exertion, oblivious to its surroundings.

A young woman cupped her hands, gently lifted the bird and looked for a place to move it to. Aiming for a nearby bush, she gently tossed it and we all watched the little bird fly for a tree. Success!

A cheer went up, followed by applause. No one spoke directly of the finch, but the conversation no longer took place in hushed whispers between couples. We talked about the fair, it’s move from Lincoln to Grand Island, the traffic, the drive. We talked, we joked, we laughed. All because, for a few brief moments, we were not merely inconsequential strangers aboard the same parking trolley at the fair. We had found a common interest in the welfare of a young bird whose fight for survival had landed it in our midst.

Well, school is back in session for the Hanley children. This year marks a number of changes, but so far mom is happy.

As long as we sort of pretend days one and two didn’t happen, that is.

Days one and two involved a young man of seven crying under the table. Over things like being asked to write the word “Geography” on a piece of paper. They involved a young lady of eleven telling me every chance she got about how boring it all was.

Her math and spelling, you see, suddenly have levels attached. And she knows the levels attached don’t correspond to 6th grade. Unfortunately, her spelling and math are a bit patchy and there are things here she really needs to know.

Days one and two also involved a young man of 18 months disassembling everything we took out as he participated with his own brand of toddler helpfulness. Which is amazingly sweet and cute for some activities, like feeding the chickens, and amazingly. . .patience testing. . .for things like school manipulatives.

But Bear was finally coaxed out from under the table with math, and the one year old finally satisfied with a bag of dominoes. Mouse failed a test, convincing her that maybe she wasn’t ready for the level 6 spelling book, and aced it after the lesson without undo copying and repeating which gave a boost to her confidence.

Even if it only expressed itself in a sly grin she wouldn’t dare admit actually had anything to do with spelling. And math got more interesting once we started playing a game. And the fact that she’s taking her current book seven lessons at a time has her figuring out just when she’ll get the level she thinks corresponds with 6th grade. Something that looks more like the algebra her friend is in.

And all the children have seen the pile of books I’m doing my planning for science from. Which has my son pouring over them, asking if we can renew them after I’m done and wondering just how many of the projects I’ll let him do.

It took three days for the children to get used to the school routine:  a little bit of work, a little bit of activity, a little bit of free time.

With this being the first year we really took a whole summer off, however, I guess that isn’t too bad.

Oh, and my other two children, you ask? The five year old and the three year old? They’ve loved every minute of it. In fact, their only criticism of our school day is that I make them stop and put their books away.

How is homeschooling going on your end?

If there’s one thing I fell in love with in southern Texas, it was aguas frescas. Silly thing is, I never realized just how easy it was to make. All that stood between me and the most refreshing beverage on earth was a little melon, some water and sugar. And of course the knowledge of what to do with it all.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups cubed watermelon
• 12 cups water
• 1 cup sugar

Directions

• Add watermelon and four cups water to a blender and blend thoroughly. This brought my children up from the basement asking for milk shakes. You can see why we have a blender.
• Pour in a pitcher and add the rest of the water.
• Add the sugar and stir well.
• Chill in the refrigerator. This is a beverage best served cold, but without ice. The ice dilutes the flavor too much. If you must use ice, cut back on the water a little.

Now isn’t that the best, most refreshing summer drink you’ve ever tasted? It’s really good with cantaloupe, too. In fact, I think I prefer the cantaloupe aquas frescas, though I don’t actually like eating cantaloupe. Serve with a little pollo con aguacate and have yourself a Mexican street stand night!

(Pollo con aquacate with aguas frescas was the first thing I ever bought at a street stand in Mexico. I have no idea how it was made, but my made up recipe goes something like this: two chicken breasts diced and fried over medium heat. Mash and stir in one avacado in the last minute or so of cooking. Serve in tortillas with sour cream.)

And when you’re all done with that, you can preserve some of the deliciousness of late summer’s bounty with some watermelon rind jelly.

Ever since Almanzo’s older sister chided her younger brother for wasting his watermelon rind on his pig in Farmer Boy, I’ve wanted to try watermelon rind jelly. I mean seriously, what good is watermelon rind? Up until now, I’ve fed it to the chickens or put it on the compost pile but couldn’t help but wonder what old time deliciousness we were missing by tossing aside the rind.

So I finally tracked down a recipe and Mouse made some for the county fair.

Watermelon Rind Jelly

Ingredients

• 4 cups cubed watermelon rind (not the hard green peel! Just the soft whitish green part you normally don’t eat.)
• 3 ounces liquid pectin
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or ginger. I want to try that next!)
• 3 1/2 cups sugar

Directions

1. Puree watermelon rind in a blender.
2. Add watermelon rind puree, lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon in a saucepan. Stir and bring to a boil over medium heat.
3. Add the liquid pectin and continue cooking for fifteen minutes. Stir to keep from burning and skim the foam.
4. Remove from heat and process in a hot water bath.

Now we must wonder no more and our first batch turned out so good, I may buy our next melon for the rind.  Fortunately, I’ll never have to worry about what to do with all the left over red stuff.

(Unfortunately, my camera isn’t playing nicely with my computer or I’d share a picture of one of my children enjoying the juicy fruit. Maybe the one in which my 18 month old son is covered in seeds after a watermelon seed spitting war.)

Disclosure: The link is an affiliate link and I could theoretically earn a few cents from it. It’s never happened before, but you know. In theory, it could happen.

Check out my review and giveaway for the new Robby wash laundry ball!

I sit in a tent in our backyard watching my children silouhetted against the Milky Way. They’re watching the northeastern sky intently, waiting for a streak of light. It’s only 11, long before the Perseids are projected to peak, but we’re hoping to see a few anyway.

“Look at all the stars, mom!” Bear says with wonder in his voice.

“This is my favorite day ever,” says Bug as she rolls backwards, kicking her feet in the air.

“I saw one! I saw one!” shouts Mouse as a meteorite streaks across the sky.

“Where?” demands Bug, righting herself again.

We try to explain that it is over, but that if she watches, she may see another one. Encouraged by her sister’s success, she leaves the tent to see the whole sky.

And as I watch her stand there looking to the heavens with awe as her siblings tug at her nightgown, chiding her to get out of the way, I think,

“This is how I want my children to remember summer.”

_____________________

If you missed the Perseids peak show yesterday, it isn’t too late. We saw a lot of meteorites Monday and Wednesday, though the skies were too cloudy to watch on Thursday. This is one of the best meteorite showers of the year, and well worth a late bedtime with the children as you share the beauty of the night sky.

If you would like a more formal way to enjoy astronomy together as a family, check out IFAS’ Novice Observing Challenge, a free 66 page e-book full of information and hands-on projects for anyone interested in space to learn a little more. On page 47, you’ll even find a meteorite observing log to begin recording the meteorites you see.

For those of you who read through a reader, you probably have an entry that isn’t actually here–OK, well now it is here….a review and giveaway post for the Robby Laundry Ball.

I had one goal for the day, one task set before me: to see how many of my strawberry plants yet survived amidst the weeds that have taken over my garden. Little did I know what suffering that would bring.

Now I was pleasantly surprised at the number of plants that had staked their claim to their patch of garden and had not succumbed to the weeds. I was mildly amused to find that those which faired best were those in the heaviest weeds.

Partway through, however, I noticed a bit of an itch starting on my ankle. It wasn’t bad, but I decided to change from sandals to boots. By the time I was finished, I couldn’t tolerate anything on my feet. By bedtime, the itching was so bad I couldn’t sleep. I lay there, willing myself not to scratch but unable to stop myself. Any time my thoughts wandered, I began rubbing my feet together.

Which resulted only in pain, yet I couldn’t stop.

In desperation, I made a paste out of baking soda and water and applied it liberally. That took some of the edge off it. It made the itching resistable. At least until I’d start to doze off and immediately find myself rubbing my ankle against the side of the bed.

By morning, it looked like the skin around my ankles was boiling with new welts appearing before my eyes and the whole area red and swollen. I was desperate, and baking soda wasn’t the answer. So I dumped out a box of lotions and creams on the bed to see what might be found there.

Hydrogen peroxide? Might be a good idea if I couldn’t stop the scratching, but I doubted much relief would come from that bottle.

Neosporin? Might need that in a couple days after I succeeded in rubbing off the skin around my ankles.

Mederma? Might help with the scarring after the massive infection I was going to incur.

Aloe vera lotion? I couldn’t imagine that would be any more effective than the baking soda.

Then I found it. A bottle of grape flavored Anbesol. I had stuck that in my mouth once and was rather surprised at just how well it worked. It numbed my gums, the inside of my cheek and my lip. It only lasted a few moments but no wonder babies like that stuff. I never used it again after that, thinking maybe it was a little too potent for something like teething pain.

But on my ankles? It was worth a shot.

Sure, it was kinda sticky. And sure it made my feet smell like Baby Anbesol. But in 30 seconds, the itching was gone. And the relief lasted for six hours. Long enough for my husband to get home and bring me some of the more socially accepted itch relief in the form of Sarna.

Sarna works, too. The main plusses are that it isn’t sticky and it doesn’t smell like grape medicine. But then, it also stings more when I put it on, doesn’t take away all the itch and doesn’t last as long.

I’ve been using it all day, but I need sleep tonight. I’m seriously contemplating breaking out the Anbesol.

Ah, there’s nothing like talking curriculum in July. It’s my favorite month to talk about the technical side of homeschooling because it is all so exciting.

• We got two packages in the mail last week which set my children to begging for “Just one lesson mom? Please?”
• I just spent two hours punching apart little cards with my daughter as she asked questions and sounded genuinely interested. In spelling!
• We have a stack of school supplies divided amongst four crates, our new organizational tool for this year. And the children can’t stop looking at them and through them and wondering what treasures they contain as they beg, “Just one lesson mom? Please?”
• And yet more stuff will continue to trickle in over the next few weeks as we near the magic start date marked on my imaginary calendar: August 23, 2010.

It’s all so exciting, and it’s all so perfect. Because my plans for the year always work on paper. The children always love the fruits of my labors and never quarrel and never storm off in the middle of lessons until we actually begin doing lessons.

And I need all the excitement I can get. Truth be told, I’ve had a little difficulty mustering enthusiasm for the coming school year because it represents a major shift in how we do things, one that sort of feels more like giving up than moving forward. Well, at least until some online friends and I decided to leap into this thing together, but more on that later.

See, up until now, I’ve always written my own curriculum for everything but math. The Internet, library and occasional Amazon purchases have been the staple of our homeschool diet, and I rather enjoyed the creativity, learning and control that gave our family over what we were learning, how and when. But then we moved. To five acres in the country. I have a growing flock of chickens to tend to. And geese. And now ducks even. I have a 3000 square foot garden. And I’m expecting number 6 in November.

Something had to give. And I decided it was planning. One of my favorite parts of homeschooling, to be sure, but also the most time consuming. So now we’re chaining ourselves to someone else’s plans, someone else’s goals, someone else’s ideas of which ideas in history are worth lingering over and just how long we should linger there. This year’s line up:

For Bible: Walking With Jesus. This has actually been sitting on my bookshelf for two years. It looks really good. I just have a lot of stuff that looks really good.

For Spelling: All About Spelling. Mostly because this program looked the most like what I was already trying to do with spelling but never quite got it pulled together as well as I would have liked.

For History, Geography, Literature and Science: TRISMS, History Makers. And the greatest part is that I’m not doing it all by myself which turned my general thoughts about handing over history to some book publisher from resignation to enthusiasm. I also liked the fact that the lesson plans aren’t too detailed so there is a lot of room to modify and adapt. I know you can do that with any curriculum, but you don’t know me. The last time I tried to follow a publisher’s plans, well, it ended badly as I tried to do every single little thing written and got way too overwhelmed. The only real problem I have with it is that it moves frighteningly fast, covering 8,000 years or so of human history in a year. Seriously, how much can you really learn about Ancient Greece in a week? So I’m glad we all agreed to slow it down and take two years.

For Math: Right Start. I’m yet to find a math program I actually like, so we’ll see how it goes with this one.

For a sort of science supplement extra curricular sort of thing: Chickens, chickens and more chickens! My daughter seems to be getting hooked on showmanship this summer as she prepares her little Ameraucana and nine little broilers for the county fair. I can’t believe the amount of time she is investing in those birds and in her spare time she is researching starting her own flock of salmon faverolles for next year. Anyway, she has decided to join the APA/ABA Youth Poultry Club and has a notebook to fill out and levels to test for and poultry shows to prepare for as she plans for and manages her little flock.

I’ll let you know what I think of it all later, once we actually start. But for the moment, my children really like packages in the mail that are then stored in a closet. Who knew you could build so much anticipation just by putting away boxes?

For more curriculum posts and to share your own, check out A Classic Housewife in a Modern World and Heart of the Matter. And don’t forget to let me know how you “do school.” Have you used any of these products? Or have you found something else that just really works for your family? I’m sort of new to this whole curriculum buying thing…