Busy Busy Busy

What have we been doing besides school work?  Lisa is back home, the grand kids came for a visit, setting up appointments for check ups; hubby has three weeks on second shift, on and on.....


Have ya'll started 'window shopping' for the Christmas holiday yet?  I have been looking about trying to figure out just what theme I would like to get for the boys and Lisa.  Hubby and I don't exchange gifts because if there is something we want and need; we get it as necessary.  No tokens are needed.


This year, I am leaning heavily towards educational gear with a slant to hunting, camping, or anything outdoors.  Saenz and Zephyr are really into sports like paintball and airsoft target shooting.  I am kinda leery, I don't want my hens bothered by two big game hunters.  Since, I have spotted quiet a few 'fox' tracks out behind the hen houses; this may not be a bad sport for them to pick up. 


Did you know how to tell the difference in animal tracks?  The canine variety usually have nail prints included whereas, feline have usually have no nail prints and larger front paws. I take the time when the boys are with me to explain the difference so, they too may learn what comes before them in the night.  I also think the next time we have rain, I will teach them how to make moulds of the prints left behind which is super easy with feral hogs since, their prints are usually easy to find and distinctive.

http://icwdm.org/Inspection/tracks.asp
http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_circulars/circ561.html
http://www.nwf.org/Kids.aspx
http://www.ehow.com/identify-animal-tracks/

I hope we will be finding more animal scat to see what is visiting us as well -- so far we have found rabbit, hog, canine, and chicken.  I would like to find eventually -- predatory bird pellets since, there are always Caracara and hawks buzzing about.  Finding things to keep my boys interested in nature is pretty easy around here, we put out acorns we gathered on the ground next to the porch steps.  The next night, a racoon the size of a medium dog was eating those acorns.  It's just too bad the boys were in bed. 

Since, we live here in South Texas; we planted our first winter garden.  I know what you may be thinking; garden????
Yes, most of our days are spent well above freezing even at night.  So far, our broccoli and cabbage are spreading out nicely.  The tomatoes and peppers are hanging in so, I am thinking our next foray will be into carrots, pole beans, potatos, asparagus, squash. 

Eventually I would like to can all our foods like Mrs. Melissa; you should check out her blog -- she will be my primary canning school teacher.

 Yesterday, I happened to find on eBay a set of 60 glass bottles that are about 2 inches in height.  Now, you are probably wondering just what is she going to do with all those.  We have been harvesting chili petins which grow wild on our property.  If you follow this link http://www.alcoholian.com/?p=22#more-22 this author has excellent info on these little treasures.  I would like to eventually grow a few bushes next to my house.   I plan on pickling all that I find for sale along with our  offering our eggs.  


Have your hens slacked off on laying?  We are not getting as many eggs as our normal daily amount. I have calculated the cost of each egg though at .09 cents due to supplementing their diets with scratch grains since the insect population has died down. 


So other than that; nothing going on but, our lives here.  Hope ya'll are having a wonderful day in your slice of heaven.

Back to School

After two weeks off to enjoy autumn.  Can you believe it -- in South Texas?  The boys went back to school today.  Much to their dismay and sighs.  This week Saenz and I are learning fractions through cooking and baking cookies.  Zephyr is learning how to read entire sentences and writing.  I hope to get back into science next week with a dash of spelling, reading, agriculture (gardening), and maybe I will add in an incubator of eggs?  Though, it would be a tough feat to accomplish since, winter may come early.  We have been seeing lots of wild geese, ducks and other birds headed South; don't know if that is an ominous sign of bad weather.  Or just cooler weather.

I am writing this here so ya'll will keep me on the straight and narrow.  I quit smoking cigarettes on the 20th -- cold turkey now for five days.  It has not been that bad with cravings; I just go mow something.  But, sleeping in the hotel was darn near impossible.  I am 44 years old and had been smoking since I was 16 (actually started younger).  I figure if I tell ya'll then maybe I will have to keep honest.  The boys have be extra encouraging, next my flubber will be coming off since I have added a koozie of fat since retiring from the Air Force.

More on that later...... ROFL

I have forgotten to post the links to My Passport to India for days 3 through 6.  Enjoy -- very enlightening and like Tali; I may pull out my Indian cookbook and teach the boys how to make Tandoori chicken and Naan.  I love all the spices Indian cuisine has and its flavors using fresh produce.  YUM YUM

Day three, shows the hospitality of the India people and their living conditions. Day four, Mr. Chris visits a little boy's home.  What a difference of living standards there; I had Saenz imagine our entire family living in his room without electricity. Day five shows the differences in clothing from village to village and really ornate temples. Day six talks about illiteracy in India. This has been an eye opening experience for our sons.  

Links here:
http://www.mypassporttoindia.org/day-3/
http://www.mypassporttoindia.org/day-4/
http://www.mypassporttoindia.org/day-5/
http://www.mypassporttoindia.org/day-6/

Just one small thing I noticed at HEB (local grocery store chain) was small planters of herbs like cilantro being sold for $4.  Can you believe it?  The herb cut inside the store costs .33 cents for a bunch as big as in the planter.  Have we really gotten so lazy, we can not figure out how to grow fresh herbs?  Our winter garden is coming nicely especially the broccoli.  Who knew? I sure had no clue it would grow so well -- it has doubled its size.  One of our weekly lessons will be starting a pineapple tree from its top cutting.  The how to's are found on this link which gives excellent directions:

http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/Pineapple/pineapple.htm

Any way, I am too wordy so I will leave you now. :O)

Today's Experiment: Drying Beef

Today's main lessons were on the science of perserving food, the history surrounding preservation of food, and the social impact if there was a time of crisis say drought, famine, or war.  For our classroom experiment; we used top sirlon steak sliced milanese thin, I sliced into uniform strips, the boys made a marinade , mix meat and marinade, let mixture rest, and then put into the dehydrator.

We also covered other preservation methods like: fermination canning, freezing, dehydrating, sun drying, and vacuum sealing.  Next, we make powdered egg from already scrambled and then reverse the process.  It's really simple an easy enough for a child to do almost himself. NOTE:  MOM will scramble the eggs before hand for safety reasons.

Our almost finished product inside the Nesco.

Day 9 of our seed growth. We have progress. I am guessing cilantro but, time will tell.

Let's see today we covered: Phantom Tollbooth at story time, Addition, Averaging, Measurements, Science, History, Social Issues and had some Physical Education earlier.  All this happened within three hours of actual learning time and it was not a pressured day. Now, everyone is milling about before I take one of them with me to start making dinner for Dad.  It is such a beautiful day in our slice of heaven!