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Calcifer and Snow
I got a call in early November from the guy I call my brother--John's best friend, who the kids call Uncle Tex. "I know what I'm getting you for Christmas.""Oh?""Yes. I'm getting you a pellet stove."...
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A nightcap
I've had trouble sleeping lately. So has John. We both like cold bedrooms, and we're plenty warm under our comforter especially in this mild winter. So it surprised me when John's solution turned out...
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Happy 13th Birthday, TNH!
The New Homemaker is 13 years old today! I wonder if it'll start getting petulant and slamming doors on me now--which is a weird thing to say, considering that my (human) teenager doesn't do that. I...
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An anniversary
I meant to make a note here yesterday but got distracted. ("ooohh, shiny...")I have now lived ten years past my first heart attack.First heart attacks usually kill women. My theory is because the...
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An Economic Lesson
When you unschool, you take your educational opportunities where you can find them, and usually they're everywhere. Sometimes they're lessons learned the semi-hard way.This morning, Louisa (just turned...
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How to make "fizzy," aka country wine
A video tutorial from meeee! If you can't see the YouTube video below (for instance, Chrome isn't displaying it correctly), here's a direct link. We call it "fruit fizzy" at our house, but fermentation...
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Salmon Fritters
I am always looking for ways to use up leftovers, especially fish. Getting leftover fish into my family is nigh-on impossible.Except this way.These are salmon fritters. They're gluten-, dairy- and...
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Snow Day
Every year my husband's family goes on a snow day. Except me. My sister-in-law never did go; she hates snow. I hate being outside for long periods in the snow--I chill easily, and it's really not good...
View ArticleAttention Knitpicks customers: you may have been hacked
About three weeks ago, someone tried to use my debit card to buy something at an appliance store--a $500 something. Would have wiped my account out. Luckily, I have a super-vigilant card company; they...
View ArticleFred Rogers Day
Fred Rogers may be the closest thing our secular society has to a saint. He was awesome, by every report of anyone who had anything to do with him exactly as he appeared on television. Even gorillas...
View ArticleDon't Tax Credit Unions!
Did you know? The banking industry is trying to kill off the credit union system. There is legislation in Congress to tax the member-owned, non-profit CUs, which would effectively end them.For years...
View ArticleI'm getting rewired
I'm going in for heart surgery this Friday the 19th, a procedure I've been dreading the better part of a year. It's minor as heart surgery goes. They're not opening my chest, for instance. But they are...
View ArticleOn the mend
I'm recovering well from my heart surgery of the 19th. They ended up replacing the whole shooting match, so I'm all brand new in there--ICD unit, wires and everything. I stayed in hospital one night...
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Raw Lemon Coconut Truffles--Try These!
I came across this recipe a couple of days ago. Now, I'm always trying to find things everyone here will or can eat. Jo is lactose-intolerant and we're all gluten-free (except Lou--she eats it...
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What a Weekend
First the good part. Louisa has found her tribe: the cosplayers. Cosplay, in case you don't know and why would you, is short for "costume play." Cosplayers dress up as their favorite characters from...
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A milestone
It had to happen some time. Josie (who's just turned 16 if you can believe it) is in college. She's been accepted into a scholarship program at the local community college that allows kids to earn...
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The last of the pickling cukes
I made three batches of pickled cukes this summer. Two of them did not survive the week they were packed into the fridge; LouLou the pickle fiend made short work of them. The last batch? I still have...
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Finishing projects
I'm on a finishing kick! i just wove in the thousands of ends (or so they seemed) of a pair of gloves for Jo. And for me: Just in time to sit in a drafty room for several hours, here is a moebius...
View ArticleReason number I-lost-count why we homeschool: standardized testing
Every day I read at least one item that reminds me why we chose to homeschool our girls. Here's today's: A teacher’s troubling account of giving a 106-question standardized test to 11 year olds:...
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