Lydia's Grade Eight: June Arrives

Things we need to do for school this week:

Finish King Lear.

Almost-finish Plutarch's Life of Timoleon.

Almost-finish Churchill's The New World.

Do some math and some Latin

Work on the Weather module in Apologia Physical Science

Finish the chapter "In Darkest Africa" in Journey to the Source of the Nile.

Special finish to John Donne's writings: read "Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions--Meditation XVII." Otherwise known as "For whom the bell tolls."

AmblesideOnline retreat in July

Are you looking for CM inspiration this summer?

Have you heard about the AmblesideOnline retreat happening in July?

More info at that link.

Lydia's Grade Eight: Week 34

Three weeks of "classes" to go, then exams. Who'd have thought.

We are a bit off schedule, but Lydia has been working hard this week to catch up on some of the readings. So these are some of the places we're supposed to be this week:

Finish Book 2 of Mere Christianity. (That's as far as I assigned for this year.) Continue The Holy War.

Continue our study (together) of Ecclesiastes

Up to James II in The New World.

Continue King Lear. Continue Plutarch's "Life of Timoleon."

Read a few more poems by John Donne.

Read the second-last chapter in Journey to the Source of the Nile.

Finish reading about earthquakes (together) in Why Geology Matters. Read "Factors That Affect Earth's Weather" in Physical Science, and some of Eric Sloane's Weather Book.

Do some Latin (we've been skipping).

Found antiquing: spice shakers

I like kitchen bits and pieces, especially with food names printed on them

Good weekend reading: on used bookshops

Not to miss: In Praise of Used Book Stores, on the Circe Institute blog.

What's for supper? Chowder and burgers

Tonigh's dinner menu:

Red and Yellow Chowder, from Saving Dinner

Hamburgers on the barbecue.

Saturday Yardsaling

It was a perfect day for yardsaling.

Stack of baskets, fifty cents apiece

Pretty box, fifty cents

Something for Lydia (who wouldn't like a Hello Kitty gluestick?)

Folding and stacking cooling racks. A dollar for the set.

But the best score was Mr. Fixit's. Besides a couple of record albums, he found a recent-vintage phone, the kind with the little tiny keyboard. They were asking a dollar.

What that says about the state of the world, I'm not sure.

What's up around here?

In Treehouse news:

If you hadn't gathered this already, I have been working on a book, both the writing and the rest of it. It's the rest of it that feels like I've taken on a full-time job, but I think the worst is over. I promise to let you know more about it soon.

Mr. Fixit expanded the local side of his antiques business, so it's been interesting seeing how that's working out. We have been watching DVDs of Ironside (the original series) and The Number One Ladies' Detective Agency.

The Apprentice has had a successful financial internship, except for breaking her foot last week. She's the only Squirreling so far to actually break a bone. Anyway, it looks like she will be staying on there for awhile.

Ponytails is almost done high school, and she just got hired for a food-related job that she is happy about. Tonight is her last school choir concert.

Lydia is battling dandelion allergies, catching up on Churchill, and planning a belated birthday party. She is hoping to do some volunteering over the summer.

What's for supper? Silly Pasta

Tonight's dinner menu:

Pasta with meat sauce. The pasta is a combination of broken spaghetti, penne, and ditali (mini rings).  Because I didn't have enough of any one thing except for elbows, and elbows are kind of boring.

Raw veggies.

Chocolate chip cookies.

Book Binge: The Indie Author Guide, The Winds of War

Currently reading and almost done: The Indie Author Guide, by April L. Hamilton. Very practical and hands-on.

Also reading: The Winds of War, by Herman Wouk. Big fat bestsellers are not my "usual," but Wouk talked a lot about his War books in The Language God Talks, so I checked this one out of the library.

Book binge: Leisure, the Basis of Culture

I let Cindy and other people read Leisure, the Basis of Culture for me for too long. This one made Francis Schaeffer's books seem like a walk in the dandelions. But now at least I can say I've read it.

Quote for Sunday:Josef Pieper

"...the one who experiences wonder is one who, astounded by the deeper aspect of the world, cannot hear the immediate demands of life--if even for a moment, that moment when he gazes on the astounding vision of the world." ~~ Josef Pieper, Leisure: The Basis of Culture

Book binge: Francis Schaeffer

Finished: No Little People, by Francis Schaeffer, which is a collection of his sermons, loosely tied together but readable individually as well (which is why I didn't finish it the first time through, I was just going one by one).

One chapter, "David: Lawful and Unlawful Vindication," was such a clear presentation of the effects of living outside of God's laws that I am planning on using it sometime soon for Lydia's Citizenship class.

This one's a boy

Congratulations to Heather and Chris (at To Sow a Seed).

Book binge: Herman Wouk

I finished another book on the list: The Language God Talks, by Herman Wouk.

Yard-sale find

What is it? A little alien ship?

No, it's a yogurt strainer. Like a coffee filter, for turning yogurt into spready cheese without the messy cheesecloth. Includes a recipe booklet by Graham Kerr. I thought they looked useful.

Time for another book binge?

I go through times when I read a lot in a short time. Then I do something else for awhile. Make Christmas presents. Write things. Then I need to fuel up again.

Right now it's time for some reading. We went yardsaling yesterday and I found a copy of Frederick Buechner's The Alphabet of Grace. I've already finished it (it was that good). (Review coming.) There are a few books sitting on my shelf that got halfway done, so I guess those are next.

Read that one again?

Lydia was reading a news headline that said the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would probably be naming their new baby Sunday.

Her comment: "Why would they name her that??"