Mother Culturing: Second Quarter 2026

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

For the first time in a few years, after a few months of overwhelming busyness, we are actually having a quieter summer. And it has been a wonderful respite.

In April, my husband traveled for his business for the first part of the month at the same time that my son had a full week of activities for his STEM/Aerospace class, which also ended later in the month. It was such a great opportunity for him, and I’m so glad we did it this year. Unfortunately, the Colorado Congress changed funding for homeschool enrichment programs, so I’m not sure he’ll have a chance to participate again. My son also continued the weekly Friday counselor training sessions for our annual horse camp.

In May, we took an 8-day trip to New York to visit my husband’s mom. We have been planning this trip (or another one to visit her down in Arizona where she used to live part of the year) for a few years now and even had reservations made at one point, but then something would always happen at the last minute (usually travel for my husband) which kept us from being able to go. This year, it finally happened!

On the way, we stopped in Nebraska to visit my mother, a few national parks (Indiana Dunes and Cuyahoga Valley), the Mississippi River (which was a big deal for me as I used to drive over it every day and have been wanting to introduce my kids to it for a long time…..I may or may not have gotten a little emotional), and my kids experienced ticks for the first time (fortunately, not attached to them). Our time in New York was awesome as we reserved an Airbnb on a lake that offered kayaking and was right next to a little wooded area beside a wetland, so there were so.many.birds (which is what I dorkily happily sat and observed while everyone else was kayaking)! We also drove up to Niagara Falls and took the Maid of the Mist into the falls, something I’ve been wanting to do for years, and it was such a neat experience. On the way back, we stopped at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and rode to the top, so I was able to add a few more stickers to my water bottle and a few more trees to our map. It was our first “big trip” since we went to California in 2023, and aside from a stressful morning involving the smoke alarms going off nonstop at home and having no way to turn them off, it was a good trip, and I’m so glad we were able to go! At the end of May, my husband had another work trip, but was fortunately able to come back just a few days before I left for my trip in June!

In June, just after we “finished” our school year (we’re still doing things into the summer, so that’s a loose definition), I went to the AmblesideOnline 25th Anniversary Celebration Conference with several friends and had such a good time. It was so neat to be able to say hello in person to several people I’ve only known online over the years, see other friends I haven’t been with in a while, and meet so many of you who came to say hi! I was so glad to meet all of you!

The day after I got home was our annual horse camp. This year, I didn’t volunteer, so I actually thought I had a full week of mornings after dropping off my kids in which I could walk with a good friend who also had her daughter in the camp, as well as catch up on work things and start school planning. This did happen the first three days (plus a trip to the History Colorado Museum to see the Freedom Plane documents!), but then my daughter got sick (again) on Thursday and missed the last two days of the camp (as well as the year-end celebration for our homeschool group, which was so sad for all of us), so I stayed home with her. Fortunately, she was well enough (and got permission from the camp director) to perform in the show on Saturday, which was a gift amidst all the disappointments, but I was sick at that point, so I wasn’t able to go. It was a rough start to the summer, but we’ve had a few weeks to recover and get into our summer routine, and I’m praying we have several more weeks of low-key activities, and even more time than that of good health!

Read (or Finished Reading)

For Me

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 6 and Vol. 7 by Beth Brower. Still so enjoyable, but I took a break after Vol. 7 as I think I was a little Emma’d out (don’t hurt me, local friends who love her!). I do need to finish it soon, though, as Beth Brower has hinted that she’s nearing the end of writing Vol. 8!

Rembrandt is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art through the Eyes of Faith by Russ Ramsey. For the Art Book Reading Challenge. If people already know that I have an art history degree, or after they learn that I do, this is the book that most Charlotte Mason moms recommend to me (followed by Art and Faith by Makoto Fujimura, who, ironically, wrote the foreword for this book). I had tried listening to it on audio, but didn’t get far into it until I knew there would be things I’d want to commonplace. I then got a copy from the library, but it was an interlibrary loan, and I am a slow reader, so I knew the six weeks I had with it wouldn’t be enough. After several more people recommended it, I finally just bought the darn thing and read it cover to cover. As ironic as it sounds, I struggle with books written about art, because sometimes interpretations of paintings are presented as fact, even though there is no indication anywhere that the artist intended that interpretation at all. Because of this, I was a little worried when I started reading it (and maybe that’s why it took me so many tries) that Ramsey would be like that, too. Thankfully, for the most part, I don’t believe he was. I don’t agree with everything he said about Caravaggio’s work, but I don’t think he went off the deep end, as some authors have when it comes to art. What I appreciated the most, though, was the special care he took with Vincent van Gogh. I am especially fond (and probably more than a tiny bit protective) of van Gogh, and Ramsey treated him with gentleness and, I think, saw through the mental instability that is so often the default “fact” about him, to the deeply thoughtful and sensitive soul that he was. I also love that he included Henry Ossawa Tanner (another favorite) as well, as he is so often overlooked in favor of the many giants of late 19th-century art.

Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell. I read this per the recommendation of two good friends who both loved it. I’m still thinking about it. There is a level of Victorian histrionics that I find annoying in almost any book written in this time period. That aside, though, it was such a sad and thought-provoking story, and I wanted to hug Ruth and tell her that she was loved (and how amazing are the Bensons? I want to hug them, too). It was a beautiful example of self-sacrifice and, obviously, there is Jesus to be found in that as well.

Hard Times by Charles Dickens. Pre-read for AmblesideOnline Year 10, the Read Your Bookshelf Challenge, and another recommendation from the friends mentioned above. Another sad one with some pretty awful people in it (described in true Dickensian tongue-in-cheek humor), but there was also redemption and a more….happy? ending than Ruth.

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy. Pre-read for AmblesideOnline Year 9 and the Read Your Bookshelf Challenge. I remember enjoying this in high school and seeing the musical version when it came to town, but I couldn’t remember the plotline at all before I started this re-read. It was a fun story, and I enjoyed it again. But is Percy extremely handsome and quite large? And is Marguerite extremely beautiful and quite tiny? She didn’t really talk about that much…

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society by Eugene Peterson. For my Fruit of the Spirit books (patience). Even though the title does not mention patience, I felt like it radiates the spirit of patience. It was a journey through the Songs of Ascent (Psalm 120-134), and the timing worked out well, as I was reading these Psalms with my kids during our Bible lessons at the same time. Though it didn’t end up being quite so much about patience as I thought it would be, Peterson offered many good ideas and thoughts that I want to return to often in the future.

Becoming Sage: Cultivating Meaning, Purpose, and Spirituality in Midlife by Michelle VanLoon. This was a gift from my friend Dawn to the other CMER team members at this year’s retreat. It addresses the things experienced as we enter midlife, and though I am probably not yet the target demographic (I felt like it was geared more toward older women whose kids are out of the house, which makes sense as the other team members are all at least six years older than me and have at least two kids out of the house), I’m not too far away and there were very helpful ideas and things I hadn’t considered about what’s coming. I will probably want to read it again when I’m there.

For School

(Unlinked books are on the AO website to respect their licensing. Linked books are not on the AO schedule.)

Richard Halliburton’s Book of Marvels: the Orient by Richard Halliburton. For AO Year 6. My last time through Halliburton! What a fun book to experience with both of my kids.

The Iliad for Boys and Girls by Alfred J. Church. For AO Year 6. It’s funny to me that I never read the Iliad or Odyssey in any form until I started homeschooling. These are such fascinating stories, and I appreciated being able to get to know all of these often-referenced characters better both times that I read these books with my kids.

Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot. For AO Year 9. This was an interesting follow-up to Jungle Pilot in year 8, though I admit that I was really dreading reading about January 8th from the perspective of a wife who was there. I think my favorite part was the two Epilogues, one from 1958 and one from 1981. It was interesting to see how her perspective had changed in the years between, and it made me want to read Becoming Elisabeth Elliot, which friends have recommended and I’ve had on my shelf for a few months.

Common Sense by Thomas Paine. For AO Year 9. He convinced me. 🙂

For the Love of Physics: From the End of the Rainbow to the Edge of Time – A Journey Through the Wonders of Physics by Walter Lewin. For AO Year 9. I added this as a science “biography” for my son as he made his way through physics. I found it fascinating, but a lot of it was over my head. B enjoyed it also.

The Royal Road to Romance by Richard Halliburton. For AO Year 9. This was a last-minute geography addition after we finished Longitude in Term 1, and I decided not to move on to Undaunted Courage as I had originally planned. This was such a fun little trip down memory lane and so fitting as I was reading Halliburton’s Marvels books with my daughter at the same time, and many of the stories in both books just happened to line up.

Currently

I pick up a few more books in the summer when I (theoretically) have more time. Right now, I’m working through Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, Permission to Feel: The Power of Emotional Intelligence to Achieve Well-Being and Success, and (listening to) Les Misérables. For my morning liturgy, I’m reading The Poetry of Robert Frost and Our Good Crisis: Overcoming Moral Chaos with the Beatitudes. I’m also intermittently reading Parents and Children with my local Charlotte Mason book group.

With my son, I’m reading The Two Towers, and with my daughter, I’m reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Reading Challenges

Follow along with my reading adventures on Storygraph and Goodreads!

Commonplaced

Some favorite quotes from this quarter’s finished books:

Rembrandt is in the Wind

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

(There were a lot!)

Becoming Sage

Made

Food Garden

There was obviously food made this quarter, but there was also a lot of eating out and convenience meals because it was just so incredibly busy. After having let my milk kefir grains die earlier this year (or maybe last year?), I did manage to revive some grains that have been in my freezer since last year, so that’s an ongoing project again. Otherwise, my kitchen goals included finding some kind of food to put on the table every day, and lofty goals beyond that were tossed out the window.

The big project the kids and I have been working on for the last few months is the garden. When we’re done with our regular school year, we switch to our summer schedule in which we spend a half hour outside in both the morning and the afternoon (with more outside time optional during their free time). We either start seeds earlier in the year, or get starts from Azure in May, and after those go in the ground or our raised beds, our outside time is spent tending the plants and weeding. So.much.weeding. But I enjoy this time as we work together, chat, and make our yard a better place. We have a lot of ideas for things we’d like to do, and this hour each day helps us work toward those goals.

From last year, my lavender, bergamot, echinacea, parsley, and comfrey (so.much.comfrey) all came back. This year, I planted basil, marigolds, rosemary, sage, thyme, chamomile, peppermint, plantain, lemon balm, and yarrow. I also planted garlic in the fall, which is coming up nicely and should be ready to harvest soon. Yarrow and plantain grow wild here, but I like having a little patch in my backyard. My hope with all of these is not only to have fresh herbs for cooking but also to make herbal remedies. C planted flowers and blackberries, and B is, once again, handling all the vegetables and strawberries.

Project 333

At the end of June, I pulled out all of my clothes and did my first summer wardrobe switch since I began Project 333 last September. Next quarter, it will have been a year since I started this project, and I think it has gone well. I put away the rest of the “cold weather” clothes that I kept out because spring can sometimes be chilly in Colorado, donated a few others (I turn the hangers around at the turn of the quarter and see what I never pulled off the rack), and reduced it quite a bit. I don’t have a lot of “hot weather” clothes because, honestly, I’m really uncomfortable in shorts and generally avoid wearing them in public. I want to invest in some longer skirts and dresses as an alternative, but my wardrobe budget is pretty tight right now, so they will have to wait until next year. I did have a credit on thredUP that was expiring, so after I had gone through everything and had my final count of items, I found a t-shirt, a tank top, a button-down double-cotton gauze shirt, and some hiking pants. The gauze shirt and the hiking pants didn’t work out, so that leaves me with:

26 items. I’m still not a fashionista in any way, shape, or form, but I appreciate that this gives me a wardrobe of items that I actually like to wear. I’d still like to find a button-down shirt to wear with the tank top, so I’m keeping an eye out for that, and of course, dresses. I also have some wiggle room with only 26 items, so if I see anything else I’d like to add, I feel like I have the freedom to add a few more things. Of course, as usual, this does not include loungewear or hiking gear, and in the fall, I might take on the extra challenge of including my loungewear because I wear it so much, but we’ll see how hectic life is.

Moved

I made such good progress in March on getting back into a good walk/workout routine, and then fell off the bandwagon again as busyness and (yet again) sickness took over. Our family has never gotten sick or had weird medical things happen in the past as often as we have this year so far, and I’m really ready for it to be done.

Aside from sickness, our hiking group has missed a few weeks, and we’ve had some travel as well. I mentioned above that we went to New York to visit my husband’s mom in May, and then I went to the AmblesideOnline 25th Anniversary Conference at the beginning of June (I was happy a friend asked to go for a walk between talks so I could keep my Strava number-of-weeks-straight streak alive!), but there are a lot of blank spots in my totals above.

I also finished the NML beginner workout plan in April and then began her Strong 20 program (with the plan of spreading it out to 2-3 times per week until I finished it), but because I took so much time between workouts (May 11th to June 22nd), I was extremely sore after that second workout and barely got through it, so I might actually go back to the beginner plan again and try to get back into a good rhythm. As I always say, hopefully next quarter will be better!

On the Blog

New in the Shop

Nature Sightings

Sadly, as with so many things, I’m behind on my lists, so I only have them partway through May. I’m hoping to catch up soon. Here are new wildflowers and birds since the first quarter, including the ones I saw on our trip to New York: