Field Trip

 First, here's a group shot of those of us who made it to the wedding:

Now, onto the field trip.  I haven't been able to take the kids many places this fall, which is a shame, because it's been particularly beautiful lately.  I can't manage the zoo yet, and to be honest, I haven't even managed a Walmart trip since July.  I'm just too easily tired.  However, our homeschool group planned a field trip to Salato Wild Life Center for this week, and I thought I could manage that.

Emry got to join us, since it was during his fall break.

Most of the time, this was my view, since the turtle tank was across from my bench:

But I did go out and walk some of the exhibits.  We took a friend and met several families there, so the kids had lots of people to stick with.

Gyunay was particularly interested in the turkey:

It does look a lot like Harry, albeit not as big.

So we made a successful field trip.  We learned about quail and saw bison.  We also had a picnic lunch accompanied by the inquisitive goose you saw at the top of the post.  And then I came home and watched Halloween Wars on the couch.  

Also, I had my filter removed Wednesday, so one less doctor to revisit now!

Book Review - The Lost Melody by Joanna Davidson Politano

 

Joanna Davidson Politano is my favorite author.  I've read and loved all of her books.  This one, though, had me a bit leery.  It's set in a mental institution in the 1800s, and just like the stuff of nightmares, one of the inmates is not insane.  However, this book, although in a dark setting, is very hopeful.  I loved the thoughtfulness that went into it.  The care that went into crafting all of the secondary characters was apparent.  The main characters grow and develop.  The prose is as beautiful as I expected, and the faith-filled message is strong.  I needed to read this book at this time.  I also appreciated the historical notes at the end.  I highly recommend this and all of her books.  

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Revell, for the purpose of writing a review, but all opinions are my own.

Camping and a Wedding

 October is always busy, and this year has been no exception.  We had our annual family reunion camping trip.

Elijah and I were only there for about 24 hours, and that was more than enough for me this time.  I still have very little energy, and the campfire smoke was not something I accounted for.  My poor lungs were not happy with me.  Still, it was nice seeing everyone.

Nathaniel stayed for 3 nights with kids.  

The kids enjoyed a huge kickball game, and then a smaller group had a fun flag football game:

In between camping and another trip, Malachi became an official adult.

He's 18!

While in town for the wedding, we also took advantage of the chance to visit our favorite pumpkin patch:

And Nathaniel's cousin got married, so we cleaned up for the party:

Turkey Gender Reveal and Hands-on History

 We have spent weeks trying to figure out for sure what gender our turkey is, so when we eventually determined that he's a boy, Lydia decided that it was time for a gender reveal cake:

Also last week, we had a hands-on history day with our homeschool group.  We taught the kids how to wash clothes, grind corn, and play with hoops. It was a hit, especially the corn grinding.

I have tons of corn leftover, so Gyunay and Emry enjoyed grinding some more here:

September Harvest Totals

 I've had the worst year of production in probably 10 years.  I think I started keeping track in 2016.  Of course, I couldn't tend my garden at all for nearly 2 months, so it's not terribly surprising, but it is still sad for me.  And the tomatoes just didn't produce well anyway.  Also, this month's egg count would have been much higher, but we had a hen eating eggs.  That took some time to correct, but there would have been more eggs.  On a brighter note, the young pullets are laying fabulously.  There are only 5 of them, but we are getting 4 eggs a day from them.

Carrot - 1

Cucumber, Edmondson - 3

Eggs - 141

Green Beans - 8.7 oz

Pepper, Bulgarian sweet - 4

Pepper, Bulgarian hot -1

Radish - 1

Tomatoes - 13 (a mix of Sophie, mystery, and Black Krim)

Zucchini, tatume - 1

Also, we harvested one of the cockerels for about 3 pounds of meat.  We're eating him tonight in chicken and dumplings.