I took joy this morning in the mathematics of the trees, again. The powder blue criss-crossed with burnt umber at angles and intersections. The mist out of and into which a hawk soared above the branches, pointed out by the younger eyes beside me. As I am contemplating twists and turns and melancholy steps waiting for the future paths to reveal themselves, it all resonates with a similar tone, rich and varied underneath, and forming to a harmony that says ‘for now, look.’

Algorithms.  Parabolas.  Integral Trees.  Patterns of Dispersion.

It's in the mathematics of the trees, the stones under my feet, the approach and the descent.  It is in the heads of small growing plants rising up through the flat planes of soil.  It is in the steps that we take down the road and the patterns of the many feet running by in the forest, and behind the fences.  It is a rhythm and a harmony of music that is mostly silent, but like music, gathers over time into the patterns and meaningful phrases.  It is in the wrinkles of a face, or the tracing of hands through their motions day after day, and in the tracking of eyes on the horizon waiting for a sign through the passing of astronomy and birds and rain.

I get into this state, seeing this whole that is so much larger than myself but so invisible to most... and I don't know what to do with it.  I can draw, write, record.. but I am only a drop in the river, waiting to see where I will end up and if anyone else is listening to the same music.  It is such a solitary music, even when shared, that still .. a reminder that we are Being, and that over Time there is no such thing as Chaos.. as even the rain on the window tends to fall back together after it has fallen, somewhere, somehow.

Rex and his adopted mom and aunt

Can you tell that Minerva is his adopted Mom?  They have been chewing up the blankets this winter and Rex seems to think that all the toys belong right next to Mom's butt.  I have a cartoon almost ready for Monday for the comic strip - tune back then and see it :)

Rex loves! He ate several of the pretzels as a puppy and now carries his dumb-bell toy everywhere as his 'happy thing'. The Kongs are the very best - they bounce and can be carried and dropped down the stairs to great effect. If you have an aggressive nervous chewer the Kongs are really the best thing ever!

Genmaicha tea or Why are you heating dry rice in a pan at 10 o clock at night?

I remember years and years ago at the little health food store in Grand Rapids (the one on the street across from Janicke Bakery) buying something called Genmaicha tea.  It was green tea with toasted brown rice in it.  Here is the Wikipedia link to Genmaicha tea.    I bought it at the Asian grocery in Fargo, too.. but have not found it or any good source for it here in Tennessee where I live now. 

I've been craving some for a few years now, but it is always expensive to try to find it and ship it in.

So last night, by some half-awake 'Eureka' of the mind, I thought 'Hey, I could toast some rice of my OWN... and get at least halfway to the idea.'  Well.  Let's just say Mark saw me come home with a bag of rice from the store at 10 o clock that night after work and I was stirring dry rice in the pan when he wandered downstairs to wonder what that smell was.   I had to convince him that no, I wasn't sleepwalking yet and yes, I did know there was no water in my fried rice. *heh*   When he heard my story about the tea as usual he just chalked it up to 'weird things Rhe does sometimes with food.'   I think it worked though.  Several of the little pieces of rice popped during the toasting, which is supposed to happen.

I have a small container of cooled toasted brown rice (that I might toast darker in the oven this morning) and it does make the green tea taste different when soaked with it.  It's been more than twenty years since I drank this on a regular basis...I'm not sure if I've got it right.  But, it was worth 80 cents and a few minutes to give it a try.  I threw some Oolong tea in my Amazon cart, as I really like having a large array of teas to choose from and was reading the benefits of oolong vs. 'regular' green tea.

I also had brown rice on the mind because I had been looking up some work lunch ideas.  One of the ideas was brown 'sticky rice', which was an intriguing idea.  I'm not sure if I can get that to happen.  I'm not sure if I want to buy a rice cooker next month (half the recipes seem to think it helps a lot).  I found this recipe How to Cook Brown Rice from Japan Centre.  It mentions sushi vinegar, which is vinegar with salt and sugar in it.  I may have my cooking ideas occupied for a week or more.  I'll note that I found this cooking lesson from Kitchn.com a much more feasible recipe alternative to the one where you let it sit for 2 to 3 hours in the water before you cook it.

Today I just want to make some plain brown rice and add a bit of avocado to it on the side, with my red curry paste.  I had the last of my Greek Yogurt this morning with almond butter and honey roasted sunflower seeds in it.  Only one dog thought that bowl was fit to lick - and that was the bluetick.  It's odd, as she hardly likes anything.  When I made the red cabbage the other day all of the dogs were huddled around me anytime they smelled it.  So my cooking has fans, but not the two most people would suspect in the household.

Process Thoughts and bits

Day note: We found another Adam Rubin book. It was awesome.  Esme read most of it herself and said it is her new favorite book - 'The Squirrels Fly South for the Winter'.  I found two extra copies of the Nat.Geo with the extinct species article at the library booksale for 25 cents each...after already ordering one for 5 dollars shipped.   I found THREE, actually, but left one for the next person.  What kind of odds are those - there were only 15 or so on the shelf and 1/5 of them is what I was looking for to order?

Planning:
Some more of the same ... School Day process ideas: breakdown...
Plus she is asking so many more questions already... We also played mancala tonight...she didn't do very bad...I still won both when she went first and I went first.  Now she wants to figure out why/how.

Science : 

Chemistry - hands on experiments, talking about elements a little again from last year's cards.  Cooking is chemistry, too.  Geology relation between elements and rocks.

Biology study - 'aquarium' find a specimen in a National Geographic and look up information online, write our info in a file card.  Identify where on the world map the creature lives.  Draw a picture of the 'specimen', cut it out and pin it on our board.  Put the file card in the pocket.    Might start a bug file, too - if we feel like it.  We have several free DVDs (I hope) coming to use for down days... // How did they find the first dinosaur?  How did they name it?  // Genetics - she is asking a lot of these quetions but it is hard to explain to her.  Our 'extinct species' discussion is venturing into discussion of cloning, so we should find a good youtube about DNA and see she understands what the Jurassic Park 'blood sample' really holds and why it is important.

Geology: and the microscope - tie that with maps, discover why people want that mineral/gem and what it looks like, where it is found, how it was originally made, how it is obtained and what it is used for.

Astronomy - night talks, book, online program and perhaps a trip to the planetarium - astronaut and space talks.

Body Chart - talk about a specific system (bone, nervous, digestion, senses), organ or etc. and locate it on the body chart.  Write it out on a card and place it up on the chart.  Talk about what that system does and how we keep it healthy.  Tie in with nutrition etc.

Math Spies:  Go out into the world, forest, store, park ... and find the numbers in things.  Do calculations on our calculators, write down notes - play!  Put the 'spy notes' away - and when we get home (or the next day) we will go through what we saw and wrote down and decide what it means, what it relates to etc.  Expand our actual math study and Khan activities to relate to what we saw in the world.

Social Studies:  Cities and neighborhoods, systems, monuments and landmarks, maps and symbols.  Groups of people, families, family tree tie-in.  Tying our maps of the world with places we are planning to go to (day trips).  Geography studying of countries using the Passport system - have her ask questions and try to answer them, find Youtube videos etc...French language again (we did a tiny bit last year) when we do France first, then she wants to study China and/or Japan next.  There is a new Japanese restaurant in town (2 now!) and she was very interested in the billboard.  Time for Kids Day in the Life

History:  Make notes of different historical places we see - monuments, plaques etc. - lay them out on the map, talk about how things change over time.   Family tree tie-in.  Some of our extinct species talk can count as history - and we will talk about the idea of reviving dead species, which she asked about with Jurassic Park.  Timeline of EARTH geology events and extinction....after we watch the Mesozoic dvd and maybe while we watch the Transitions evolution dvd.  Photo essays of amazing places and things - Statue of Liberty, National Parks etc.  // Question: When have they read the heiroglyphics, can they even?...told her briefly that yes- someone did figure it out, and we'll touch on it somewhere there, discussing early writing systems and maybe do a 'code' exercise where we write symbols and decipher them.  Forgot to tell her it was the 'Rosetta stone'...  She has asked more questions about Stonehenge, too, the circle rocks in the circle etc...got a Nat;Geo by luck that talks about it.

Spelling/writing/alphabetization (dictionary use), journal entries on writing prompts.  Cursive writing her signature.  Working on punctuation again.  Spelling words pinned up next to aquarium board that I do a 'pop quiz' on her when we aren't in sight of it.  Remind her to study those words when she passes by so she gets them into her visual memory.  Sentences with  rearranging pinned words and discuss tense changes, punctuation, capitalization in those terms as well.

Reading Comprehension : workbook... reading several novels together over the year as before - graphic novels online, reading news site for kids and telling me what she read.  Poetry reading in printed book. 'levelled' school discard books, picked up a new one that has longer but good level stories for her about kids caring about their neighbors and community.

Time fillers with learning involved - because every day doesn't have to climb a mountain: Minecraft, Dragon City (reading and math) and Here Be Monsters (maps and 'encyclopedia' lookup for recipes plus some ingredients are regionally-based, so she has to find out where, devise supplies to get there, and perform the right actions (harvesting or fishing) to get the required object), drawing, painting, Sewing, Cooking, cleaning up, animal care, crafts, P.E., rollerskating, biking, walking/hiking, soccer

bits of here and there with rain and frogs

Esme with her pretend frog home jar.  This is a babydoll type night shirt I had finished for her.  It was made from the smock pattern I was trying out.  She had a real frog and grass in the jar yesterday - and we had her let it go just after sundown.  There was rain and flooding all through the area - but I made it home with only a little go-around and one area where the road was nearly washed out.  The sky was very very strange at 5:30 am this morning, with a greenish sunrise light coming through the thick fog.  So, I got up and started poking around doing things.  We might go to the co op today if the flooding has receded -- and there is a load of laundry to fold and things that can be organized to good use...

The smock pattern was not quite what I wanted - but I hadn't tried it yet.  It had a lot of circular yoke gathering... which makes it hang very loose by design... maybe a bit too loose for me.  I could alter it a bit and give it another go around or just go back to my go-to shirt for her and make several of those for going to town this summer etc.    She wants me to make a Mike green alien toy for her, but at one point last night requested a rag doll, too.  I've got some stuffing and one or the other of the projects could be done easily

I am trying out some cooking things today - a squash filled with pepperoni and cheese, a stab at using the old cornmeal mix, and maybe some French madeleine cookies later on if we don't get busy doing other things.  We have lots of eggs from the chickens to try using up, and dogs more than willing to eat mistakes.

I was reading a bit on a minimalist blog of getting rid of things -- but even though our house seems cluttered at times, I am still much more focused on creating things out of the things we have than simply making garbage or 'giveaway' boxes that never get given away.  There are some areas I can clear out paper clutter and such...  I would like to use the minimalist tendencies on the budget where I can, and learn some better cooking with things we have on hand... we have been making very good use of food on hand lately instead of buying lots of snacks etc.

Note.//  I had planned to plant my Mayflower beans in the corn but when I got out there the star sport from the Shackamaxon was all that I planted in four little places - it was dark black beans with a darker stripe over it and occasional yellow flecks - like a cross.. but I'm just not sure what happened there and want to see what comes of it.  They were planted by Rattlesnake beans and Hopi String beans last year - both of which have the stripe thing.

Made the French madeleines - although I used a muffin pan and papers in it.  The beating of the eggs and sugar together for five minutes or more was VERY long... and I think I should have let the butter cool a bit more.  We only have one muffin pan.  Next time I will try to make two runs worth instead of pouring the extra batter into a pie plate.   And I should have cooked them longer the first time - put them back in to see if they would form a crust and they did.  This will be a recipe I will try again to see if I can make it a bit better.. and it used up eggs pretty well.  Our eggs were so yolky that maybe putting in 3 eggs and 2 egg whites would be a better mix than 4 whole eggs.

Recipe :
4 eggs, mixed with 2/3 cup of sugar - beat together for 5 to 10 minutes
add vanilla before the flour
add 1 cup of flour in thirds while beating
add 1/2 cup (full stick) of butter melted and cooled (before you start step 1) in thirds
pour into muffin cups or a madeleine pan 2 tbsp at a time.
bake in our oven at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes instead of the ten in the recipe.

will be an eggy spongey cupcake like thing with a crust on top and bottom from the pan.

I'm thinking we can tackle custard next week - studying up on it!

We lost another chicken today - think it flew over the fence after standing on the garden hose like we had seen it do once last week... not sure, as we were gone to town when it happened.  That puts us down to four hens and a rooster... 

bits

Feeding the chickens greens out in their coop - they really love clover, 'headknocker' which Grandma says is the name for a certain sort of garden weed we have in abundance, and honeysuckle flowers.

 Our potato plants, seeded from some kitchen potatoes we had left too long in March - are doing very well.  I think the flowers are very pretty.  I had remembered Potato flowers being yellow, for some reason - bright yellow-green yellow, from my childhood.  I wonder if I was just mistaken or if this is just a different kind?  I really think I was just mistaken...as all the pictures I can find are purple or white, and that seems to ring some, too.

Washing and counting the eggs after she brings them in.  We had five, today. 

She said one for each hen, but not one for each rooster.  There were four lying in the box and one in the coop, and she was able to tell the hen to give her that one in the coop and not have it break.

We received a large box of fabric from a lady at work the other day - it was being passed down in her church to find someone to use it.  I am planning making some things for Esme out of it but haven't gotten started on anything more than washing a few pieces and going through patterns.  She has grown quite a bit since the last time I did this!  She is now in between the size 6 and size 7 patterns - which is just where she 'should' be... I should make a few for summer and then start on a few for next year.  There is a gorgeous royal blue with darker blue flowers fabric that is in many pieces - but I can almost see a long sleeved dress still coming together out of it.  The lady at work said she saw the 'patchwork' possibilities in the box - and that is the main reason she thought of my sewing style and Esme's dresses.  :)  There was also a big bag of a pretty green metallic yarn, which I am kind of thinking of as a random birthday present.  I was thinking about green yarn :)  Even though my birthday isn't until next month, I am looking forward to that day to have off, sit in the sun, and think.  So much has happened this year.

I took a long nap today - had a bad stomach event last night after feeling bad since Friday morning... trying to find a way back to feeling okay but in the meantime it means I haven't gotten much done.  We did give away several kittens... that was yesterday.  Esme is a bit bummed that I haven't played more with her.. but she is bopping around the house entertaining herself mostly.

 Pink primrose is very pretty, too. Oenothera
I have a pot of lavendar started in the house that I want to plant near this, and there is a volunteer Cherokee Rose starting there, too.  Our perennial garden is going well.

We went fishing for a bit.  It was humans 5, fish 1.  One of them took off with my hook after it got dropped/knocked out of my hand and got the string caught up under the dock where I couldn't get to it anymore.

run by posting

I have been on a blog hiatus lately - partly the season, and the time of week with work... and the fact that I haven't done anything photo worthy in a while.  Now we will have two days off and Esme is in bed with washed and combed and braided hair for school in the morning...

 I got a call on my voice mail the other day from my dad - saying my mom is not doing well again... she is in the hospital and they are running more tests.  She was very tired when I spoke to her a few days before that - could not stay awake.  I have been trying not to think about that, in truth.  I still have thought some about it - about how she has not seen Esme and I should do that to be a good daughter, but how dangerous the last trip was and not wanting to put Esme in that danger... feeling torn but Mama Bear at the same time.  It is hard.  And there is always work, and then 'recovery' from work, and work again... this was my seven day straight week and I am glad that it is done.  I have buried myself in my books and have also been playing Skyrim with Mark and Esme fighting dragons and vampires and sneaking around the countryside in the game with my bow and arrow, which is very satisfying. 

Esme is doing very well, happy - learning about lots of things and was very happy to advance to a new 'see behind your head' car seat in our truck ;)  She was very proud of it, and being able to see more things.  This morning she and Mark drove me to work and she said the sun was on the ground - it was just rising for the day.  She commented on that a lot all the way to work.  She was reading a lot of signs today in traffic and in the store - she is picking things up pretty well.  She was out with Mark all day long and they came to pick me up afterwards, at which time we bought her a toy at the store - a Nerf type soft dart gun - which she found a small toy dog at our house and rammed it inside the barrel -- almost ruined it but Mark fixed it. I have no idea why she thought that was a good idea... I even heard her talking about the toy dog going in there but it never dawned on me until too late what she was actually saying she was about to do...

I am laying out fabric for a few days of sewing - Esme picked out some ladybug fabric she wanted at the store.  There is also a good store of fabric still left from the box Sharon gave to me which has come in handy for several pairs of pants this past week.  I have some red gingham and plain red for a possible dress, some red with thin white lines that could nicely become a raglan robe coat (like her fish one) and several other fabrics that can become pants.   There is that yellow, red and green gingham I bought last year for a dress but have not yet brought myself to make -- as if I am saving it for something special?  Or maybe because it is just so much yellow...  the plaid reminds me of what my Mom dressed me in for my Kindergarten school picture, it was like something out of the 1950s....  I wondered again if I would still be making Esme's clothing for Kindergarten coming up... and I find that I really don't know and probably won't until it happens.  The last few days she has been wearing the dress tops I made in November, and they are still fitting well.  She tried on the velvet dress she wore at Halloween (store bought handmedown) and it barely fit at all..

a bit here and there over the weekend

I woke up with an idea for a circular brick pattern for quilting... of course, it will be difficult to even attempt. That is how these dreams are - show me something I like and then when I actually think about it - it turns out to be a mathematical experiment in cloth. Ha. This is the image I made this morning to start with - and then quadrupled in size, made a line drawing and printed out. I'm staring at it now wondering how to go about the task - probably in pillars, not in courses.

The circular brick quilt idea for a pattern. It would be placed around a central circle cut out of something else and probably surrounded with something else as well... I'm not thinking huge quilt here, I'm thinking - look what I can do small thing or a throw pillow. I ordered some pretty fabric the other night with some Etsy money - and it might be a great one to do this and draw the colors out using the brick pieces.

a trial run with some scraps on the table

I caught a blog post to a 'Glorious Applique' quilt as well. I think her colors really made the show on it, and it showcased her work all the more. I wish I had the patience for this - and this is me saying this! Glorious Applique house and horses quilt. It is very folklorical, which suits my tastes at the moment. I have something else in my mind for a dress for Esme, but I don't want to go digging through the fabric pile for it at the moment. She asked me for more t-shirts last night.. clothes without zippers or ties, she can take off by herself (but still not quite get on). It's happening... I told her Mom would have to get a bit more money before we could go and have her pick out some.

As for other things - it is extremely cold, and I have the weekend off. I didn't realize I had the weekend off until yesterday halfway through work - so it was a nice surprise. I have the 'gift' that I can forget my schedule as soon as I write it down... That is actually a big thing, considering my memory for visual information. I think it helps me not worry so much that the week is going on and on and on..., but once in a while it also begets nice surprises.

Esme is going to bounce awake soon - maybe.. she went to bed very late after playing Skyrim a bit and having a laze around in a bubble bath she did not want to exit. I am almost done with the bed afghan - I keep saying that.. really I think I am almost done! The pair of gloves is down to two fingers left to go - I wished I had them done yesterday morning as I chipped ice off the windshield!

bits

I've been working on a shrug type sweater out of my Christmas yarn, and it is very wearable, super warm, and supposedly washable. I've ordered a few books from online for Esme, dinosaur level 1 and 2 readers and a laminated labelled anatomy chart that shows the names of the bones and muscles. Esme and I have been talking more about different 'natural science' things, mostly 'how things work' type explanations. The other day while I was cleaning we had a talk about rain, water, floods, faucets and drains. I told her about the day in Fargo when it flooded and I had to drive my truck across town with the rain up to the windows - and how the truck stopped, and I had to be picked up by another truck and taken to the other side of town. She really thought I was 'being pretend' about that - but I told her it was for real long time ago and that I had to sleep on the floor at a place all night until the water went down and someone could bring me home again. She has been really enjoying her Cat in the Hat 'inside your outside' book and we have been talking about blood and how it carries air from the lungs, food from the stomach and etc etc... She is very interested in many parts of that book! I am hoping to win another one of her level one 'dick and jane' readers. I've been talking with several people I know trying to find out more about the local education system and how and when to do the homeschool registration.

notes to self:
more dry erase markers - they were on clearance at L
look for a tote about 18x24 minimum, 18-24 inches tall with a locking lid. Would like to find one of these to put her specifically lighter and smaller 'homeschool' books and items in so they do not get scattered and potentially ruined. The heavier hardbacks could stay on the place I have for them on the shelf - but as I gather these 'Level one' readers and other small books she will need somewhere to keep them separate and special.

ordered today: 'Meet the Dinosaurs', and 'Dinosaur Babies', both from Nana's gift certificate