This and that...

We've taken up the habit of drinking dandelion tea with breakfast.  The tea is definately preferable over eating the leaves in a salad.  We do like the violet leaves in a salad, mixed in with some lettuce.  They also make a really good smoothie...

The leaves chop up nice and fine so the smoothie really is smooth.  Find the recipe here.  Most of the kids really do like it.  They even made it for themselves today while Gerald and I were away.

We did a plant exchange with the lady at the health food store - we had some culinary herbs to share with her, and she had medicinal herbs and a gooseberry bush for us.  Allison has an interest in herbs and was the one to bring the plants in with me.  She was quite taken with this interesting lady.

I found this book yesterday.  I haven't had a chance to get a really thorough look at it, but it seems like a good reference.  Allison has been going through it and taking notes.  We'll see where that takes us.  Suddenly the weeds in the yard have become potential treasures. :P

Gavin's eczema is already a lot better.  We don't know what has sparked the improvement...the dairy-free diet, the new cream, the dandelion tea??  The main thing is that it is getting better.  Allison and Leah have not improved, but are quite itchy and their skin inflamed looking.

Along with the weeds coming up in the garden, some spinach, radish and pea plants are appearing...

Last night a storm came through and brought some needed rain.

After standing out in it for a minute Gavin exclaimed, "Rain drops are watery." :)

The kids discovered that the eggs in the nest on the playground have hatched!  I am amazed that with the kids playing around there the mother could stay on her eggs long enough to keep them warm.  When I approached one must have hoped I was Mama Bird with a worm...

Sorry,  no worm.  Go back to sleep, little one.

The kids have parked their covered wagon and are now fixing up the pioneer hut (originally some kind of bird pen).  They are never bored.  The days aren't long enough for all the things they think of doing.

The books I ordered at the OCHEC conference have arrived and I can't wait to look through them.  At last I have my own copy of A Charlotte Mason Companion - Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning!  This should make for good reading over the summer months while I'm contemplating next year's activities.  Some of the others that I'm excited about are Exploring Creation with Chemistry, Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Phsysiology (hurray! we've been eagerly waiting for this one to be available), When God Writes Your Love Story by Eric and Leslie Ludy, Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris, and some books on worldview: Making Sense of Your World, Who is God?, Lightbearers and Understanding the Times.  So many good books...so little time. I'm hoping to get some reading in before bedtime, so I'm signing off...