Wednesday, late August

Ahhh. We got a good rain and the air has cleared up. Have been able to resume my long walks with no burning throat and streaming eyes. Felt like years since I’d made my favorite trek to the dog park and back, a meandering route that takes me past my favorite gardens in the neighborhood. (Note to self: plant zinnias next year. This cutting garden, about a mile from my house, took my breath away.)

Here at home: the tide came rushing in and carried my high-school freshman (!!) off to his new school this week. I dove straight into high-tide lessons with Huck and Rilla (Beanie gets another week). This is one of the ways I cope with long hours closeted away, writing furiously (or more likely, gnashing my teeth at the screen and clutching fistfuls of hair): filling our mornings with good, rich homeschooling adventures before I slink away behind the closed door.

(When I finish: autumn. It’s already ablaze in my head; it will be glorious. This time last year, I was in radiation treatment.)

A glimpse of our high-tide mornings (sans photos because I haven’t remembered to snap any pics):

—stretches & math facts (we recite times tables while doing planks: not easy for this spaghetti-armed mama)

—German (continuing with Felix & Franzi; this year we’re doubling with ASL, learning signs as we add new German vocab. Each one reinforces the other.)

—Shakespeare memorization (continuing with Twelfth Night)

—singing (currently Irish & Scottish folk songs and some German songs)

—nature walk

—readalouds: Farmer Boy; The Penderwicks on Gardam Street; The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs; tales of Ancient Greece (various)

—study of ancient counting systems (an Earthschooling lesson block—we started this a while back and picked it back up this week. It’s Rilla’s favorite thing. She’s fascinated.)

—breadbaking and sourdough starter

—sewing beanbags (I found the sewing machine power cord!!!! after a year!!!)

—embroidery and cross-stitch projects

—composer study: this week Scott picked Debussy

—watercolor painting

Not all of that every day, of course!