Mother Culturing: First Quarter 2024
What we need is a habit of taking our minds out of what one is tempted to call “the domestic rag-bag” of perplexities, and giving it a good airing in something which keeps it “growing”… Is there, then, not need for more “Mother Culture”?
“Mother Culture” Parents’ Review – Volume 3
On being asked, whence is the flower.
In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes,
I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,
Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,
To please the desert and the sluggish brook.
The purple petals fallen in the pool
Made the black water with their beauty gay;
Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool,
And court the flower that cheapens his array.
Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why
This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,
Tell them, dear, that, if eyes were made for seeing,
Then beauty is its own excuse for Being;
Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose!
I never thought to ask; I never knew;
But in my simple ignorance suppose
The self-same power that brought me there, brought you.
~ The Rhodora by Ralph Waldo Emerson ~
I don’t want to alarm anyone, but we are already a quarter of the way through 2024! This means many of my fellow homeschoolers and I will begin (if not already begun) planning our next school year in earnest in the coming weeks. As I wrote recently on Instagram, this time of year is becoming bittersweet for me. Previewing the feast for next year is exciting, but it’s also sad because it means we’re one year closer to graduation. Five years still! Five years!
This was another busy quarter, though it felt quieter than last year. In January, C turned ten, which means I no longer have any single-digit children. Sigh. We celebrated by painting pottery together and in February, went up to the Butterfly Pavillion north of Denver for a day of insects with friends. I held the tarantula, Rosie, for the first time ever as I seem to have overcome my fear of spiders in the last few years thanks to nature study. I wouldn’t mind holding her again.
In early February, we had our seventh Charlotte Mason Educational Retreat with Cindy Rollins, a woman who inspired me greatly when I started on this homeschooling journey in 2016, as our speaker. It was an honor to meet her in person!
We finished Term 2 in March and have been trying to catch up since then. Last week, we managed to get in an inaugural spring hike with some friends, and it felt so good to get out on a trail again!
And now on to the culturing!
Read (or Finished Reading)
For Me
Mrs. ‘Arris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico. I keep trying to find a book that recaptures the magic of Mrs. Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Maybe it was so magical because I didn’t know classic books like that existed, and it was at a perfect time when I needed a lighthearted book about an “older” woman finally having her day. I was hoping Mrs. ‘Arris would be the same, and while I enjoyed the story, it still wasn’t as good as Mrs. Pettigrew.
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal. So sad in places, but so good in others. I also loved the tour of various Midwestern states where I spent my childhood. The ending hit a tiny bit close to home and actually made me mad, not because it was poorly written, but because I had a lot of feelings while I was reading it.
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. I decided to give Fanny another try. This is still my least favorite of Austen’s complete novels, and I still don’t care a whole lot for Fanny, but I did enjoy it a little more this time than the first time I read it.
Hormone Repair Manual: Every woman’s guide to healthy hormones after 40 by Lara Briden. I think I saw this one recommended on Instagram. It was enlightening as far as what I can expect in the next decade or so, but also encouraging. I very much appreciated her positive view not only about peri-menopause and menopause but also about having cycles in the first place. I’d like to read her Period Repair Manual as well.
Babette’s Feast by Isak Dinesen (aka. Karen von Blixen). Read for the Tea and Ink Society Classics Challenge. I remember watching the movie version of this many years ago at a New Year’s Eve service at my church. I did a search for “Scandinavian classics” for the reading challenge and decided on this one because I remember enjoying the story, it was short, and it was from a Danish author (my great-great-grandparents were from Denmark). I listened to the Colleen Dewhurst audiobook version and imagined Marilla telling this story while making a pie. It was an enjoyable story.
I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger. This was an ARC from NetGalley, and, as always with Leif Enger, it was an immersive and compelling story. The characters have depth and are believable, and the likable and the not-so-likable are nuanced, which I appreciate about his writing. Post-apocalyptic stories have always fascinated me, and this one was no exception. Also, the descriptions of Superior and the surrounding area were almost like an ode to the lake, and having grown up in Minnesota, I especially appreciated that part of the book.
For (or with) the Kids
Miss Pickerell and the Weather Satellite by Ellen MacGregor. This was a free-read for our weather nature study in Term 2. Not any kind of high literature, but the kids liked it and want to read the other books in the series.
Black Gold by Marguerite Henry. This was sad but very good, as with most of Marguerite Henry’s books. C is enthralled with horses right now so she’s consuming pretty much anything by Henry.
Mansa Musa and the Empire of Mali by P. James Oliver. This is part of the Beautiful Feet Books Medieval Intermediate Book Collection, which is where B is in the history rotation right now, so I added it as a free read. It was interesting to learn about the life of this ruler, whom I had only ever heard mentioned briefly.
The Trailblazing Life of Daniel Boone and How Early Americans Took to the Road: The French & Indian War; Trails, Turnpikes, & the Great Wilderness … Much, Much More by Cheryl Harness. This is part of the Beautiful Feet Books U.S. Geography Intermediate Collection and was another fun read! I especially appreciated how they included a timeline of other events happening during that period at the bottom of each page.
The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill. This is from the AO Year 7 free reads list (though I also let my Year 4 student read it), and someone mentioned that it was a “must-read” on the AO Forums. Both kids enjoyed it and thought it was funny.
For School
(I’ll write more about these in my end-of-year recap posts in June!)
Look at the Sky and Tell the Weather by Eric Sloane.
The Brendan Voyage: A Leather Boat Tracks the Discovery of America by the Irish Sailor Saints by Tim Severin.
Peeps at Many Lands: Ancient Rome by James Baikie.
In Freedom’s Cause by G. A. Henty.
King Lear by William Shakespeare.
Currently
I am currently reading Bramton Wick, Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child’s Moral Imagination, Once Upon a River (audiobook), A Chicken’s Guide to Talking Turkey with Your Kids About Sex, Camille Pissarro: The Audacity of Impressionism, and in my morning liturgy, 101 Famous Poems, and Revelations of Divine Love.
For B, I am pre-reading Miracles On Maple Hill, and reading with him The Fellowship of the Ring. For C, I am pre-reading Children of the Longhouse, and reading with her The Children of the New Forest (we did not finish this last school year, so we’re reading it at night without narrations).
Made
Once again, I fell off the embroidery bandwagon amidst a quarter of a lot of busyness. I hope to resume soon! On other fronts, I did manage to make a lot of freezer meals and a batch of sick soup, which helps when life is busy.
We’ve also been going through Sewing School 2 for machine sewing this year for our handicraft, which has revived all of my dusty sewing machine skills, and I finally got around to mending some things that have been waiting patiently in my sewing basket for an embarrassingly long amount of time. So, while I didn’t make any “fun” things, making of a kind was still done.
Enjoyed
Souper Cubes. Part of the surge in making freezer meals over the last few months can be attributed to Souper Cubes! A friend mentioned that Costco was selling a set, so I decided to splurge and I am so happy I did! These make freezing almost anything, from stock to meals to soups to anything, much easier!
Rifle Paper Co. Mechanical Pencils. My husband gave these as a Christmas gift, and they are such a simple way to add beauty to my days!
Epsom Salt Baths. I’ve wanted to get into a good routine of doing this for quite a while (our Family Nurse Practitioner highly recommends them), and I finally did just that over the last quarter. I get the Epsom salt in bulk from Azure Standard and make a big batch to keep in the bathroom.
Echinacea + Congaplex + Sick Soup. One of us came down with the sickness-that-will-not-be-named in January, so we immediately started our standard sick protocol. This is echinacea tincture (I get this kind for the kids), plus Congaplex for everyone, and the sick person gets sick soup. The one with the sickness recovered quickly, and the rest of us didn’t get it, for which I am so thankful! I’m not a doctor, and this is purely anecdotal, but I am happy to find natural products that work well for us!
Longview Farms Goat Milk Peppermint Foot Cream. I have been looking for an alternative to Badger Foot Balm, which I love but is very expensive. This worked well, smells great, and I can buy it in bulk from Azure!
On the Blog
What I Read in 2023 (and 2024 challenges!)
Lenten Art Devotions and Fine Art Prints for Families
What is Charlotte Mason Picture Study? (my interview with Joy Cherrick)
Custom Homeschool Planner Covers (new for 2024!)
Judging Books by Their Covers (+ the prettiest books to collect!)
Caravaggio Picture Study Aid and Art Prints
Why We Homeschool (and Include Art History!) (my interview on the This Golden Hour podcast)
Charlotte Mason-Inspired Kindergarten Curriculum (free booklist!)
2024-2025 AmblesideOnline Picture Study Free Printables!
New in the Shop
Bird Sightings
The Towhees have started up their mating calls in our neighborhood, and a few meadowlarks have returned to the prairie surrounding our house, two things which are sure signs of spring. Other than that, we’ve got our usual visitors at the feeders: house finches, juncos, Eurasian collared doves, occasional mountain and black-capped chickadees, and American goldfinches. We’ve gotten quite a bit of snow in the last several weeks, so I fear for their little lives, but they always manage to make it through our random spring storms. In two weeks, I’ll put out the hummingbird feeder!
In March, I was able to cross something off my bucket list when we were at a friend’s house and had mountain chickadees land on our hands to get seed. Highly recommended!
