Winter Plans/Update from the Farm

 This afternoon on the farm is cold, overcast, and windy--and noisy, because a calf got separated from his mother, and she is admonishing him sternly (and repeatedly).  Also, the bull escaped from his pasture and is now casually grazing in our lower field, munching whatever green stuff he can find (not much!), and secure in his knowledge that none of us want to brave the cold to drive him back to his usual spot. (But I wouldn't do it even if it were warm outside; the bull and I are not on speaking terms.)

Annie asked me to teach her to crochet, and so although I only know the chain stitch, we went to the craft store last week and acquired a huge skein of yarn, an ergonomically-friendly crochet hook (she didn't want to use my all-metal ones), and a book on easy early crochet projects for kids. She just turned 10, so we'll see if she has the patience for learning to crochet.  I have my doubts, because Annie is a highly-kinesthetic, active, always moving, ballet dancer kind of child who rarely sits still even for schoolwork, much less to learn to crochet.  But maybe if I play an Audible book for her she'll be able to sit still for 10 minutes.  We'll see!  First lesson is today, since it's a quiet weekend day.....

Annie (who is, obviously, a primary driver of fun around here) decided that she wanted all four of us to read the same book and have a book club discussion.  So January's book is The Mysterious Benedict Society.  My husband finished it a few days ago.  The kids are almost done.  I'm in the middle--lagging behind because I was so into another book I am reading. My husband gets to pick the book for February, and then I get to pick a book for March.  What shall I choose?! It needs to be a book that will be appropriate for a 10 year old, a 13 year old, and 2 adults.  (My husband originally suggested Ten Thousand Leagues under the Sea for his book, but I suggested he start reading it first.  He came to me later and admitted that it's too hard for Annie! Which I figured....) Suggestions welcome....

The first two weeks of January have been very busy for us here. I thought it would be quiet and wintry, but it has just been busy.  Annie had to start physical therapy due to tendonitis, so she has PT appointments now and stretches to do.  We had a big day of dental appointments. Annie had her top braces removed one week and the next week she had to get her retainer.  Finn was invited to record a piece for a local honors piano recital, and it must have taken me an entire day to figure out how to properly record and send that video--but first, we had to get our piano tuned.  And our piano tuner is blind, and his driver was getting tested for covid, so I ended up going to pick him up and take him home!  That took nearly a whole day!

On top of all of that, we are investigating a hybrid academy for Finn for school for next year. It's a private Christian academy that offers classes on-campus a few days a week with classes at home the rest of the time.  It's also half an hour away, in the city.  The kids and I went to an information session one morning, then our family went for a family interview and facilities tour another afternoon. In a week, we plan to have Finn shadow a student there. (If nothing here changes due to the virus.)  So I've invested a lot of energy into this--not just the organizing, driving, and applying (we had to apply to do the family interview), but also the mental energy of thinking through whether or not we really want to do something like that next year. I am rather torn about it. On the one hand, it could provide some good new experiences, and the faculty looks great; on the other hand, we would sacrifice a lot--most notably, time, energy, and freedom. (Annie would not attend the academy.  She will still be home with me, reading books.)  My role with Finn would shift from primary educational enforcer to facilitator/encourager, and some days that sounds great, but other days that sounds terrible! :)  

Other tidbits:

-I am reading several fascinating books. Happiest activity of most days is crawling under the duvet to read for a while. Second-happiest is drinking tea while talking to my children or husband. (I drink Yorkshire Gold in the afternoon, but my new favorite when I don't want caffeine is Bengal Spice by Celestial Seasonings--it's so cinnamon-y and warming and delicious!)

-My friend helped me redeem some wool yarn that I'd tried to make into a felted cloche hat years ago (and I stopped about 2/3 of the way through because I didn't have enough yarn and Annie was a baby and I was utterly exhausted....etc...), and thanks to her inspiration I figured out my Ravelry username and signed on (I hadn't been on there in *years*), and I'm hoping to start a new knitting project sometime this winter.  I want to make a new hat for myself.  Actually, I don't think I've ever knitted a hat for myself!  I've only ever made hats for babies before.

-We are gearing up to have our kids' bathroom (which also doubles as the guest bathroom) demolished and re-done. It will probably be summer before the project begins, because I'm still in the very early stages of trying to decide what to do, but soon we'll get a quote from our contractor. It's a room that has an exterior wall, but no window, so part of the plan is to cut a window into the wall, but that's also in the shower stall, so there will be tile, and there's a lot to think about and plan there!

-The newest member of the farm is my second-cousin, three-month-old Baby J, whose delicious shock of black hair and soft cheeks are the best things to happen on our farm in years.  He is darling!!  Three-fourths of us in this household are crazy about babies and I would hold Baby J all day if I could.  He's so precious.

And here are my hopes and plans for the next two or three months, until the forsythia blooms:

-Knit a hat!

-Read copious quantities of books. Listen to books. Books, books, and more books.....

-Write.  I have a retreat scheduled for next weekend. I will be spending part of Friday, all of Saturday, and much of Sunday in a remote spot, alone, writing. 

-Figure out what school may look like for 9th and 5th grades.  :) 

-Exercise as many days of the week as possible. 

-Homeschool diligently 

and--most of all--

-be kind and loving to my family.  Always my top goal!