Poem of the Week: An Old Road

An Old Road

By Edwin Markham

A host of poppies, a flight of swallows;   

A flurry of rain, and a wind that follows   

Shepherds the leaves in the sheltered hollows

   For the forest is shaken and thinned.

Over my head are the firs for rafter;

The crows blow south, and my heart goes after;

I kiss my hands to the world with laughter—

   Is it Aidenn or mystical Ind?

Oh, the whirl of the fields in the windy weather!

How the barley breaks and blows together!   

Oh, glad is the free bird afloat on the heather—

   Oh, the whole world is glad of the wind!

HT: Poetry Foundation 
Image HT: Quiksilver

I know I've done this one before, but I've been memorizing this one lately and I find it so delightful!

All the Things Part 3: the Kitchen

First off, I should mention what you aren't seeing.  We filled our entire carport twice with trash and recycling, and gave away nearly as much stuff. I find this level of organizing equally exhausting and liberating.

 Anyway, the main problem we had in the kitchen was that we had literally worn through our (16 year old) counters.

The new counters should outlast me- they are engineered quartz, and we had them professionally installed.


Oob picked them out, but I love them too.  The pattern is called Ocean Storm, and to me, they look very much like the stormy North Atlantic of my childhood.

I liked the ocean theme so much, we painted the walls blue with creamy tan trim.

 Our biggest problem was the floor.Honestly the kids did most of the hard work on this.

We had to scrape up two layers of vinyl tile and sometimes a layer of vinyl sheet, then we had to patch the floor.

Then we installed vinyl planks.







It was our first experience doing a floating floor, and I have to say, I really love it.  It feels uncannily like actual wood, but it's completely waterproof.

Klenda expertly color matched fabrics and sewed pillows for the window seat.



I put a few favorite shells in the window.

And I hung my grandmother's painting of the ocean!

We even finished all the trim before the boys returned, but that was down to the wire.

I thought I miter might not make it.
.

All the Things Part 2: Room Switch and NJ

 At the tail end of June, Mxyl, Klenda, and Zorg returned from North Dakota (to a hero's welcome).

Three days later, The Emperor, Choclo, and Oob set off on an epic two week camping adventure to the wilds of northern New York, near Canada.  More on that in another post.

What did the rest of us do while they were gone?

Watched Pride and Prejudice.  Then watched Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  Definitely the most horror like movie I've ever watched willingly, but a lot of fun with the oldest four!


And then we pulled the whole house apart.


The big project for the summer was updating the kitchen.

Shortly after that was underway, my Dad took a turn for the worse and we realized that my parents might need to move in with us on short notice.

In a bit less than two weeks, we completely emptied and resorted the office, the chapel, and the guest room, and redid the whole kitchen!

 The new chapel (old office) looks like this.

That's a monstrance in the center of the main altar.




This room would be my parents' living room

The guest room is the same (except, you know, the closets are empty and you can use the bed and see the floor).

There's also a small bathroom attached.

This would be my parents' bedroom.

 The new office (old chapel) is on the bottom floor, and is large enough for 4 desks.

We have Klenda's desk, then Lenna's, Zorg's, and mine.

And it still fits all the homeschool stuff and art supplies!

We also resorted the museum to make space for a small office for my folks, although we'd likely have to share that room. We need a certain amount of storage on the main floor and, currently, Klenda is using it to paint.


Near the middle of those crazy two weeks, I went off for a quick visit to New Jersey. Which seems a bit crazy now that I write it down.

My dad was a tiny bit better.

The tomato plants in the coal buckets had turned into trees.

The lake was gorgeous!

One morning I heard what sounded like an irate chicken, but, looking out I found it to be this pileated woodpecker, or, as I like to call them now, a tree chicken.

And then I went home and finished up the kitchen before the boys came back!  I think I better put that in tomorrow's post.

All the Things Part 1: June

Oh, wow, it's been a month since I posted!  Sorry about that!

Let's see: June.
Mxyl, Klenda, and Zorg went to North Dakota and helped out at a summer camp for the St. Ann's.

It was beautiful!

They worked with my sister and they all had a great time.



Mxyl ran science classes (I'm so proud!), Klenda did water games and art including face painting, Zorg did crazy games and a lot of singing of crazy songs (thank you Scouts).




While they were gone, I took the other three up to see Mumpy and Pa.
















They gave Choclo and Oob the much coveted Millennium Falcon Lego kit, and Leena an ocarina, which she promptly taught herself, sending haunting melodies echoing across the lake.

Also in June,  Leena got a haircut (did you notice?), and went swing dancing!

We had a good time, and it was fun to be the oldest for a change, but I think she missed her older siblings a lot.

 Meanwhile, Choclo and Oob got more into cooking.

Also, they had a birthday party, even though their birthday was actually in May.

Lastly, the Emperor and I had a big Dominican meeting!

Not only did our chapter receive a new novice, our daughter chapter professed a new member.... and our daughter chapter got approved to be it's own independent chapter!!!

I can't tell you how happy this makes me, not just because they are all excellent Lay Dominicans, but because they repopulated our mother chapter.  In other words, the chapter that had formed us had literally died out, and we split off almost half of our chapter to recreate that chapter in a location that made it easier for many people to get to.

More good people to praise, to bless, and to preach!

Deo gratis!

Poem of the Week: The Chairs

The Chairs That No One Sits In

By Billy Collins

You see them on porches and on lawns

down by the lakeside,

usually arranged in pairs implying a couple

who might sit there and look out

at the water or the big shade trees.

The trouble is you never see anyone

sitting in these forlorn chairs

though at one time it must have seemed   

a good place to stop and do nothing for a while.

Sometimes there is a little table

between the chairs where no one   

is resting a glass or placing a book facedown.

It might be none of my business,

but it might be a good idea one day

for everyone who placed those vacant chairs

on a veranda or a dock to sit down in them

for the sake of remembering

whatever it was they thought deserved

to be viewed from two chairs   

side by side with a table in between.

The clouds are high and massive that day.

The woman looks up from her book.

The man takes a sip of his drink.

Then there is nothing but the sound of their looking,

the lapping of lake water, and a call of one bird

then another, cries of joy or warning—

it passes the time to wonder which.

HT: Poetry Foundation

Poem of the Week: In Lovely Blue

from In Lovely Blue

By Friedrich Hölderlin

Translated by George Kalogeris

Like the stamen inside a flower 
The steeple stands in lovely blue 
And the day unfolds around its needle; 

The flock of swallows that circles the steeple 
Flies there each day through the same blue air 
That carries their cries from me to you; 

We know how high the sun is now 
As long as the roof of the steeple glows, 
The roof that’s covered with sheets of tin; 

Up there in the wind, where the wind is not 
Turning the vane of the weathercock, 
The weathercock silently crows in the wind.

HT: Poetry Foundation   
Image HT: Klenda from North Dakota

Portfolio Review Round 2: Science, Social Studies and Whatnot

Science:  I'm pretty sure I mentioned my epic high school science survey course where we did Astronomy, Geology, Oceanography, and Genetics.
Here are a few of the books I used to develop the class.

It was a toss up between Oceanography and Paleontology, but the squids won, and I did Paleontology for the younger kids in the spring. So fun!



Choclo and Oob and I also did some Great Courses on The Science of Birds, and Birding in North America, both of which Oob had gotten for Christmas,  We also did a lot of birding...  Oooh!  We loved Blue Planet II!

And we often watch science based YouTubes during lunch.  We like Veratasium, It's OK to be Smart, Smarter Every Day, TED ED Lessons, Lesley the Bird Nerd,  and The Kid Should See This.

Social Studies: The big thing this year was the Awesome Geography Class, supported by the excellent Geography Now. Links coming to the sidebar soon!

We also did CNN 10 for current events, and lots of rabbit holes and reading based on historical interests.

I guess we could stick Philosophy and Business classes here?

Whatnot: PE: So many outings, hiking, biking, climbing!  This was the year I felt we really got active as a family.










Special to Zorg: He's continued doing work on role playing games and  working out his own stories.  He's found a great love of philosophy, a possible vocation to the priesthood, and a real heart for service.  Right now he's volunteering at a summer camp for reservation kids in North Dakota.  This year he made Eagle Scout, and graduated high school!

Special to Leena: This year she started getting paid commissions for art, voice acting,  and composing music.  She wrote a novella, then turned it into an audio book that she is publishing a chapter at a time on her You Tube channel.  She's doing the art, composing the music, acting, writing, and directing.  She's also doing voice work on dozens of projects, and composing and acting for Red Star Games. Her Sound Cloud is here.

Special to Choclo and Oob: They have been writing and illustrating books, doing photography, making videos and creating fun games that we all play!  They have also been creating skits and plays to entertain family and friends.  And they've been doing a lot of biking, birding, and Legos!

Portfolio Review Round 1: Religion, English, and Math

Now, at long last, you can assauge your endless curiosity of the nitty gritty of our educational progress!

First off, this portfolio post will look different because I am trying out an umbrella group after 15 years of doing our reviews with our county school system.  The short story of why I switched: Yes, I was always getting positive reviews, but they were changing things constantly, including who was interviewing me...during the interview.  That was enough for me!  I'm now trying out Tower of Ivory with a few close friends who are long term home schoolers.

Keep in mind, these are resources that worked for me, but my experience has been that God will put in your path what will work for you.

Religion: Here's something new: I'm getting reviewed on teaching religion for the very first time!

Besides these books, we did a bunch of Ascension Presents DVDs.

We started out with The Bible Timeline, then did Altaration (on the Mass), and No Greater Love during Holy Week.  Of course we also did a bunch of Fr. Mike Schmitz podcasts on our Lenten Video Retreat.

If you're wondering how I afforded that many programs, I was sharing them with my mom  and sister.

The Emperor was doing sections of the Docat after dinner with all the kids, similar to the way he went through the Youcat.

With Zorg and Leena we also did selections of our favorite religious books to expose them to some of the books that had important effects in our religious lives. 

Choclo and Oob did more saint stories and the Education in Virtue stuff.  And altar serving!  And all the Lent and Advent stuff, of course.

We also do a daily prayer time and Bible time together, often using the Gospel of the day. What I hope to pass on to my kids: Sacraments, Scripture, Service!

English: This is a bit weird because Zorg and Leena took a bunch of college classes that checked this box (Drama, Expository Writing, and Speech) but also Philosophy and Business Management which also required research papers.

We also did a deep dive with Frankenstein and watched and discussed a total of seven Shakespeare movies (thank you BBC).

 For younger kids we did tons of reading and writing, and lots of fun workbooks.

We have a set of the excellent Language of Literature textbooks, and we enjoyed going through the grade 6 and 7 volumes.

Plus I like poetry, so, you know how that goes.

And then all 4 kids did pages and pages of creative writing, because everyone is always writing a book.  I have nothing to do with this, it just happens.

Math: Older kids did Math U See's Stewardship and reviewed Geometry and Algebra 2.  They also did the Accuplacer Math Test Prep book, since the computerized test determines which math class you can take at college, and doing math on the computer looks different when you've only done it on paper.




Younger kids did Life of Fred: Fractions and Life of Fred:Decimals, plus a variety of math workbooks, test preps, and games.

More tomorrow!