Oh, June. Where did you come from? I think you're going to be pretty good to us. I do promise do be very good to you... planting more berries, adding more compost, pulling the weeds, making strawberry jam and strawberry pie, loving your sunshine, warm days and cool nights. We are in this together.
Emily has joined the vegan journey. Day one, fruit salad and hearty breakfast cookies in the morning, not a bad start. She made a bucket list of sorts, 15 things she'd like to accomplish before turning 15. Vegan for a period of time is one of those things... the timing and support from the current 30 Day Vegan session made it fall into place for her. We'll see how it goes!
I am so thankful for good thrift stores. You just never know what you'll find. I love landscapes, but not always the kind that look like they should be hanging in the dentist's waiting room. But look at this mama in her pink dress and grey knitted shawl, holding her baby and watching her man ride off in the wagon. Adam says it looks like he's headed to war... sigh.
The back of the painting is signed and titled. Interestingly, the original title "Goodbye in Spring" is crossed off and next to it written "Farewell in Spring." Goodbye is too permanent. Maybe he is headed to war.
Better yet, the elderly woman who had the little booth in this particular shop painted this herself. She took painting classes as a young woman and this was the very first piece that she painted. (The first!)
The turquoise sky, white picket fence, beautiful maple tree, long cotton dress, winding dirt road, horse and wagon, a family of three...
Everything about this is so me, except for the frame. It's a good solid frame (maple I believe), and I am not one to casually paint wood that has yet been painted (it's a thing of mine)... but this painting calls for something lighter around its edges. Butter yellow, creamy white... yes.
My cousin's husband is a great conversationalist. He has a strong set of personal values and beliefs, yet he has the ability to talk to anyone about anything and not impose his own thoughts or be disrespectful of theirs. Quite a unique quality to have. I remarked to him once how amazing it was that he could strike up such great conversations with people he'd only known for moments. He replied, "I was raised to be able to talk to people. My father told me a man wasn't worth his salt if he couldn't hold a good conversation."
Imagine. The art of conversation.
Our homeschool these days is very much about conversation. As we fully enter the scholar years for Emily, I am concerned less and less with test scores and textbooks (I was never too concerned with them, but we do use some curriculum that calls for both of these things). What I really care about is, "Can she talk about this subject? Is she well enough versed in this particular author or political act or scientific discovery to be able to have a conversation about it, could she teach it back to me?"
Isn't that what the pursuit of knowledge is all about?
Emily finished her math curriculum a little early this year, so Adam's been pulling discussions and topics from 50 Mathematical Ideas You Really Need to Know. Listening to the conversations they have about this book illustrates a far better measure of her understanding than a mere test score.
I write this down so I can remember...
Good old fashioned peanut butter and jelly, sliced fruit, and iced tea, before a stop at the batting cages then an evening softball game. Summer is in the air everyday now.
