Savoring Summer

Our summer started later than normal, due to lots of rain, and it does not look like warm summer weather will be dragging on into October. Bummer. But it is what it is and what it has been has been a very good summer. One of my favorites, actually. We have tackled house projects, I have considered starting school several times and each time decided to start later. I have decided to start later all summer! We will officially start next week. Classical Conversations starts then, so that is my motivator.

This summer I have cleaned out, rearranged, organized, read books, watched movies, spent lots of time with family and just enjoyed living life with a more flexible routine. But it is time to get back into a more structured routine. It is time to catch up on the things I have put off. And, dare I say it? I am feeling ready for Fall! As much as I have enjoyed the summer weather, I am really looking forward to all that Fall brings. Starting up school, getting out Fall-themed decor, long pants and long sleeved shirts and the general coziness that comes with Fall.

It is still August, so I want to savor it, but I feel ready to transition on to the next season. Today my list of to-do's includes doing the final preparations on our school area, meal planning for next month (I haven't done meal planning in months! I need the structure back in that area right now.), putting on the calendar the last summer activities to squeeze in, tidying up the office, a stop at the local thrift store to drop off some bags and whatever else seems to pop up. Whatever ends up actually getting done, though, I want to savor these days, they are precious days. Days to enjoy and live as fully as possible.

Mini Pizzas=Easy Lunch

A favorite lunch of ours is mini-pizzas made on English Muffins. Since I typically make pizza (or calazone) for dinner on Friday nights, I set aside a bit of sauce and store it in the freezer. Then for an easy and fun weekday lunch we make mini-pizzas. A dab of sauce, a little pepperoni, pineapple, olives or whatever we have on hand and there is a lunch everyone loves. It is also a lunch that the kids enjoy putting together themselves. And that makes it even better! Bake these pizzas in a 350 degree oven until they cheese is melted and they are warmed through.

Aunt Mary's Rose by Douglas Wood

The review on Amazon said this book is for ages K-3rd grade. I think this is one of those books for people aged 3 to one hundred and three. It might even be enjoyed by those younger than 3. Although, I will admit that I am not an expert in assessing age appropriateness of books and my field research with this book was limited to my family. That said, a book that is enjoyed by every member of my family and that left four out of six of us in tears is unusual. We often all enjoy books together, but this is the first one that brought out four hankies during a book reading.

My 14 year old came and told me, after M read it to our family, "Mom, that is the best book. That is the best children's book." A said, with his usual humor, "We laughed, we cried. It moved us." And it is true. The first time I read this book I cried so much I couldn't see through my tears and my voice was choked up to the point that the kids couldn't understand me as I read. This is truly moving story. The beauty of the words are complemented by the artwork that is often sepia-toned and aged looking. Only one other time have I checked out a book at the library and decided I needed to buy the book. This book is so good that it needs a permanent place on our bookshelf at home.

After first reading it to the kids, they wanted me to read it again. I said, "No way, I can't do that again right now. I need time to recover my emotions. Ask Dad tonight." Now, that was sort of mean of me. It was true, I did need time to recover my emotions. But my suggestion to, "Ask Dad" was a bit more sinister. I really wanted to see if he would be moved by the book. I wanted to see if he could get though reading it without pausing to get himself back in check. That evening at dinner we presented M with the book for him to read. He could tell something was up. Even the kids wanted to see the impact this book, that had left me blubbering, would have on their dad. He choked up when he read it to us. He had to pause partway though before continuing on. And that only made the book reading more endearing.

Not only did our children benefit from twice hearing a sweet story. It is based on a true story, by the way. The children were reminded by their dad that emotions are okay to express. They saw that good stories don't just move moms to tears,but truly good stories move the emotions of people, regardless of gender. And that is an incredibly valuable lesson. Learning to appropriately express emotions and to have empathy for others helps us to be more like Jesus. Jesus, who cried along with Mary and Martha over the death of Lazarus, Jesus who had empathy for the leper asking for healing. Stories that move us to reflect the character qualities of Christ are, indeed, beautiful stories.

The Final Worm Set Up or We Are Hooked on Vermicomposting

Here it is! Our final set up! Basically it is the same as it was in the last post, except it now has a ribbon tied across the front to prevent tipping. It is working out very well. I have not had any tipping since placing the sturdier cookie sheet underneath it and tying the ribbon across the front. We have now had the worms for over 2 weeks and they are great! I put in a bit of paper on occasion, as well as used tea and coffee. I did put a bit of bread and some strawberry stems in once, but they grew mold and attracted fruit flies. Now, I take things like that to the chickens and put non-mold prone items in with the worms. The worm bin is not stinky at all and none have escaped so far. I love knowing that while we go about our daily routines, those little worms are making some great soil for our future gardening adventures. We have not had a garden at this place, but we are talking and making plans, so when we get around to it, we will have some great compost to use!

All in all, this is looking to be a fun project. It is super low maintenance and a great opportunity for the kids to observe one more aspect of this amazing world that God made. It is truly incredible to see how garbage goes in, the worms process it and nutrient-rich dirt comes as a result. I think it will be especially exciting when we are able to use the dirt in a garden and experience the whole cycle of it all.

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A Bit of a Glitch or Two With Our Vermicomposting Project

So, the directions said to remove the shredded paper from the bin, moisten it and put it back. Easy. There were a few layers, so removing the shredded paper to moisten it would allow us to set up the first layer of moistened peat moss over the heavy paperboard liner on the very bottom of the tote. I followed the included directions and it was so easy. I even had a tote handy that we had used to pack food in from the weekend camping trip. I grabbed the tote and put the shredded paper into it. Then I poured water over the paper. I should have clued in when B asked, "Does that tote have a crack?" "Nope!" I confidently replied. Only as the puddle was fairly sizable and quickly expanding did I notice that the tote did indeed have a crack in the bottom of it. The easy job of moistening the shredded paper morphed in to a mad scramble to mop up all the water that was spreading over our kitchen floor. Suddenly the worm bin set up wasn't quite so fun. It was messy and I was hot and the kids were all talking and asking questions. Of course, if the tote had not had a crack in it, this part of the set up would have been a breeze. I accept that this was a situation of "user error."

Once the floor was mopped up, we layered the paper, dirt and worms. That did go rather smoothly. Now all we had left to do was put the worms in the place I had dreamed of for them to go, under the sink. Oh, wait, the tote is too big! No problem, I can put it in the mudroom, on top of the dryer, oh wait, they don't like vibrations. Placing them on appliances that vibrate is not recommended. UGGGGG! Where was I going to put them? I briefly considered putting them in the pantry, but that was really unappealing to me. What if they escaped in there? I couldn't do it. Plus, at that point the pantry was a mess. I had stashed stuff once too often and needed to go through and reorganize it. That wasn't happening right then.

I spied the baker's rack. It was serving as a bookshelf for my cookbooks. It was the only spot that would really work. I needed some place accessible, but out of the way. I hoped it would fit on the bottom shelf and still leave me two shelves for cookbooks, but no, it was slightly too tall. I could fit it on the bottom shelf, but it left me with one shelf for cookbooks and a pile of cookbooks on my counter. Sigh.

The other problem that arose was that the shelf holding the worm bin was slightly too narrow. The tote tipped off a couple of times, once when L showed the worms to my mom. When the tote tipped, it bent the disposable cookie tray, sent to catch water under the tote, and spilled the water in the cookie tray all over the floor. This was not going so well. I needed to have the bin set up so water didn't spill each time it was bumped or opened. I would need to open it on occasion to put paper and scraps in there.

I threw away the bent up disposable cookie sheet that came with the bin and dug out an old, and very stable, cookie sheet that I rarely used and placed that under the tote. It helped make the bin more stable. It was a good temporary fix, but not a permanent solution. At that point, I needed to focus on making dinner and I was hot,tired and cranky. I sent M a text message that said, "Just a heads up-NO NEGATIVE worm comments when u get home. There were complications, I am sweating, super tired and have a pile of cookbooks to reshelve. Other than that I love the worms and they will be great once we get the kinks worked out. Just be kind!" To which he replied, "Thanks 4 the heads up coming home now love you." Awwww! I love him too. Did we get a final, workable set up for the worms? Watch for the next post.

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The Arrival of the Worms or Our Vermicomposting Project

This is the bin that arrived. It held all that we needed to set up a happy worm habitat. I love the twine used to hold it shut.

Awhile back I started hearing about worm bins. Actually, it was a very long time ago that I was introduced to the concept of worms and compost. My dad gave me the book, Let It Rot, probably 15, or more, years ago. I knew that someday I wanted a compost pile. When we first moved into our house, almost 4 years ago, I gave myself a compost container as a housewarming gift to myself. It sat under the kitchen sink, waiting, until recently when we finally started using it to store kitchen scraps for the chickens.

When I mentioned, to M, the idea of a worm bin that would fit under our kitchen sink, he was less than thrilled. I think he might have even said it was, "gross". Then one day I happened to notice that Azure had worm bins for sale. I also learned that the red worms that came with the bin were a good source of protein for chickens. I shared this with M and he just gave me a look. A look that said, "I am not even going to act excited about this,but go ahead and order worms if you want to." The worms were ordered. And I had enough excitement for the both of us!

The kids were excited to get it all set up. C was gone, but she didn't seem overly disappointed to have missed the set up process.

Look, it had everything needed to get set up with for the worms! There was even a letter that began, "Congratulations! Your vermicomposting project is about to begin! You will soon have a harvest of gardener's gold (worm castings) that is higher in plant available nutrients than traditional compost or manures. All natural, no chemicals! You will also have redworms to add to your garden, feed to your flock of chickens or use for fishing." The letter was very affirming. I had made the right choice! And it went on to tell me how every item in my kit had been recycled from a business local to the worm farm. The letter also included a couple of redworm facts. It was a warm introduction. It affirmed my enthusiasm. That was good, because in the process of setting up our worm bin, I would need my enthusiasm affirmed and renewed.

Good thing worms don't bother me because some escaped from their travel container. When I first, accidentally, touched one while reaching into the bin, it did startle me. They are a bit creepy and slimy. I soon got over the ick factor and read the complete instructions. It sounded easy. I had everything I needed to get started. Easy, right? Well, stay tuned for the rest of the story...

All ready to dive in and set up our worm habitat!

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One Change Per Month: Recycle Can and Trash Can

One can for trash, one for recyclable materials, like newspaper.

Notice how full the recycle can is and how empty the trash can is?

A more recent change that we made in our family was to place two trash cans in several rooms of our house. We have this two can set up in our office, schoolroom, and bathrooms. One can is used for trash and one for recycling. It is a visual reminder to recycle and it makes recycling super easy. The trash can and recycle can are conveniently located and easy to use.

By recycling we save money on our garbage bill because we are able to use the smallest and least expensive garbage can. In our area, recycling pick up is free. Simply put, it pays to recycle and having two cans makes sorting super easy. This change is a painless one that really pays off!