Book Review - Letters from my Sister by Valerie Fraser Luesse

 

This moving family story centers on Callie in turn of the century Alabama.  The characters are well-drawn, and I liked the variety and depth displayed.  I really enjoyed the story.  I do think the back cover gives away too much, and doesn't accurately describe the core of the story. Also, I expected the book to be told more in letter form, but although there are some very important letters in the story, it is most definitely a narrative tale.  The author paints a clear picture of the time and place, and I enjoyed the sisters' relationship very much.  I recommend this story!

I gratefully received a copy from Revell, but all opinions are my own.

Holes and Such

 Lydia got two more sets of earrings on Sunday.

Her ears are bruised and sore now, but she's happy to have them pierced.

The poultry enjoyed some watermelon rinds.

These two guys have been adjusting quite well to homeschool.  They keep me on my toes, and we have our challenges, but they are both learning.  On this day, they were working on school while I was harvesting seeds from dried radish pods:

Outside, my flowers are starting to really bloom:

And our baby chicks are still so cute.  Unfortunately, one of the lavender ones died yesterday, so we are down to four chicks.  As Malachi would say, "Big sad."

Here are about half of the pink oyster mushrooms I grew from a kit Malachi gave me.

They were very yummy.  

Lastly, here's another baby Emry picture, because he's just too cute.

Big Changes

 It seems quite a bit emptier around here.  Malachi and Pilot left for college on Thursday.

Elijah and Nathaniel helped move them into their dorm rooms.  They are in different buildings, but both seem to like their roommates so far.

Pilot took his car to college, and they are planning on coming home Labor Day weekend and collecting anything they may have decided that they will want.  

And just before he left, Pilot made Emry's day.  He found some pictures of baby Emry:

Emry's been wanting to see a baby picture of himself for years, and I tried so hard to get him some, but all attempts ended empty-handed.  Pilot was able to find some pictures of himself around Emry's age, and Emry as a toddler.  Unfortunately, Pilot doesn't have any baby pictures of himself, but he really made Emry so happy.  

Getting Along

 

One of the chicks accidently escaped the chicken yard, so Lydia got to hold it and put it back by mama hen.  The chicks are doing great.

I did a lot of canning yesterday.  We got some seconds tomatoes from June, so I made a batch of salsa.  Also, Nathaniel helped me peel the rest of the peaches, and I made another batch of jam.

Lydia has been working with the animals, trying to get Panther to tolerate Acorn, and trying to get Acorn to not just stick her nose up Panther's butt.

It's a work in progress.

Finally, my flowers out front look good, even if the deer ate a lot of the veggie plants, and several of the flowers.

Last Day of Summer Break

 Yesterday was the last day of summer break around here.  The orchard near us was advertising seconds peaches for $20/half bushel, so I loaded the youngest boys up and went to the farm.  

The farm has added several things to the play area.  Still, Gyunay mostly wanted to swing:

Emry enjoyed trying everything.

Both boys did the human hamster wheels.  Those are always a favorite.

We were there, of course, to buy peaches.  I asked for three of the half-bushels.

A half-bushel of peaches is about 25 pounds, but these seemed much heavier, so we weighed one.  It was 37 lbs!  So we got even more peaches than planned.  I already canned 14 quarts of honey peaches last night and aim to can more later today.  Today, of course, is primarily known as the first day of school.  Here is Lydia this morning just before she ran to catch the bus for her first day of high school:

She looks slightly bemused.  It is her first venture back into public schools since third grade.  Emry, on the other hand, is starting his first day of homeschool.  Gyunay, of course, is just starting a new homeschool year.  We do still have all of the big boys at home, but Malachi and Pilot leave next Thursday for college.  Things are changing around here!

Kids' Fun

 I never posted any pictures of the kids' trip to the Indy Children's Museum.  My in-laws sent me these:

It sounded like they had a great time.

They also washed Grandma's truck when they got home:

Some of the kids and I went to visit my family for a couple of days.  I only got a few pictures.

We celebrated Gyunay's and my nephew's birthdays.  

Back at home, Mama hen and her chicks are doing well.  On a whim on Sunday night, Nathaniel and I bought 6 chicks from Rural King.  We had a broody hen, so we stuck them under her that night.  She's taken to being Mama very well.

She now has 3 lavender orpington chicks and 2 barred rocks.  

She's doing a great job with them.

Although I haven't been getting much from my garden, I have been doing quite a bit of canning.  

We picked blueberries in northern Indiana, plus we bought cherries in Michigan.  Last week, I also gained a bushel and a peck of peaches from a local orchard, and my mom just sent a bunch of frozen strawberries home for jam.  I've made several batches of jam and some honey peaches.  I still have a lot to work on, though.  My family goes through a lot of jam, and we give out quite a bit of it, so it takes a lot of half-pints to last us a year.  I hope to can over 70 half-pints.  Plus, most of the peaches are going into quart jars of honey peaches.  They are a favorite at breakfast club, and they are so easy for me to grab and go!

July Harvest Totals

 It was a pretty pathetic month of harvest, but here it is:

Beans, Blue Lake - 1 oz

Beans, Dragon - 1 lb, 2 oz

Eggs - 132

Kale - 2 big bunches

Radish - 5

Turnips - 2

Also, mint, parsley, sage, oregano, chives, rosemary, thyme, and radish pods

And now I'm singing "parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme" again.