The greatest accomplishment of this past month has been creating a schedule for school, and then sticking with it for four weeks. The kids look forward to school, they've been getting their chore chart check marks and Brooklyn took her nicely loaded debit card to Target last week to expand her Barbie collection (I found a cute filing tote while cleaning and we discovered that it's the perfect size for Barbie storage - and pink lined, to boot!) I've been told more than once, by both of them, that they love school. And  the schedule has become sufficiently self sustaining that on the day I had a tension headache that laid me out I wasn't worried about what to do/what they were doing, because they were doing what they were supposed to be doing. It's wonderful. A couple of months ago I mentioned the examen practice . I've continued doing that every week, and a couple of things I've really liked about it is how, with repetition, patterns become apparent, and also...

Most recently finished first! I made an Elemental Raglan a few months as a shop sample for Kandy, and when I saw that she had the yarn in this great red, I decided I had forgiven it for being garter stitch in the round and wanted one for myself. I think it's going to be a great garment for an Arkansas fall, which is honestly more like Summer Lite. Before I made the Elemental, I did get to the third (of six) color on my Exchange Wrap . I don't hate it yet, and I'm looking forward to wearing it - and confident that I can finish it by November (which is when I have something that I want to wear it to). I also found an awesome hammered brass crescent moon hair piece that I plan on using as a shawl pin with it. After mentioning last month that I don't crochet much but enjoy it when I do, I was contacted about a possible commission. Someone saw Tom Daley wearing a rainbow jumper and was willing to pay a fair price for one, so that's my current project. I haven't ac...

At the end of every summer, I do a thing that might best be described as "reverse nesting." I think of nesting as getting cozy--this is a big clearing out before the cozyfying. It's still hot but I'm ready for the shimmer to fade from the asphalt so we can go back outside, and I take out my annoyance at the wait on our closets. Recent personal revelations (and physical changes--I don't know if it's pandemic squish or Being A Woman In Her 30s squish, but honestly I've been underweight for enough of my life that I don't care what number is on my jeans at this point) led to a clearing out of most of my wardrobe, and the kids are all mid growth spurt so we've been making near weekly trips to drop off donations. I cleaned up my side of the closet which prompted my partner (who is honestly a much tidier person generally than I am) to do the same to his side, and also took a hard look at what I really need and what's just filler. A metric I always kee...

Up to this point in our homeschooling journey, we've done "unschooling" (that is an actual thing, feel free to Google). It's essentially a belief that small children do best with only gentle guidance and don't really benefit from being put in chairs and told to stay there for hours on end, but rather being encouraged to follow where curiosity leads.  Somewhat to my chagrin, neither of the Bigs had shown much curiosity about reading, despite gentle prodding from me (I was an early and voracious reader and Do Not Understand the reticence). But over the summer they both started getting the hang of it, and Brooklyn agreed with me in discussion that while she appreciates how I've been letting her explore phonics (and therefore phonetic spelling - I think my favorite so far has been "kulring paij"/coloring page) it is now time to learn spelling and get a bit more organized about how we learn (although I'd definitely like to continue our commentary-on-e...

Happy September! In my mind, I associate this month with open windows and the scents of school supplies and falling leaves, although the pencils really happened last month and the only reason leaves are falling right now in the US South is because it's been 100*F and the trees are all kinds of done with that nonsense (so the windows are staying tightly closed, too). It's still the beginning of my favorite season, though. A time to switch from the high energy of August and begin the slow turn inward for winter, this is when I generally do my Gathering. Neither nuts nor potatoes to fill my cellar, but books for my shelves to occupy the lengthening evenings, and small beautiful things to enjoy when the world goes drab. This is also when I attempt to put systems into place to help all of us in this little house coexist peaceably, setting up schedules and chores and routines for myself and for the kids. Some years that goes better than others--I'm feeling good about this year, t...