Meow

two kittens looking for a good home!  They're 2 months old now.  We're keeping the two we got last year, who are now mothers.  

what's in our garden?  We have a lot of tomatoes, but something has been munching on them!  We plucked off 6 big hornworms this evening. 

the kittens here will be 6 weeks old tomorrow!  I'm worried for one who was pecked by a chicken...

we had our 1st lamb born on our farm Monday!

stringing cereal onto yarn for an edible necklace!

the Fenimore art museum had a Native American song and dance performance and it was beautiful!

my husband is digging a place for 2nd septic on our property.  The 1st one is on the other side and so can only be used by one house, not both of them.

our boys took an 8 week summer class that took place in under an apple tree, below.  We're grateful for our community here.  I'm learning about Charlotte Mason, reading her book Ourselves and When Children Love to Learn.  We've just started homeschooling again this week!  A self-portrait, after looking at print of the Mona Lisa, math games with cubes and reading Gail Gibbons The Moon Book were some of what we enjoyed.

one daughter will be here to visit us next month, the other started college classes this week and had a microbiology quiz today and got 100%

I miss them!

we harvested our first few pumpkins, gave a few to friends and baked one for us!

Acupuncture

I forgot to mention last week that I went to my 1st ever acupuncture appointment. My daughter gave me money to go, as a birthday gift. The acupuncturist listened to me about my issues with Lyme and Bell's Palsy and then cleaned the area with alcohol before inserting needles.  I believe there were a total of 7.  After, I could feel my nerves feeling reinvigorated.  Here is the a needle I brought home:

Sunrise this morning over the lake on the monastery property.  We went to the 6am Liturgy.

This past Sunday, they blessed water and also honey!  We got a jar for $25.  The monk Father Paisios cares for the bees and harvested some last week.

I unpacked a box of art supplies for the children. Crayons, markers, oil pastels, and a small package of Model Magic by Crayola.  George asked for a knife to cut it in half and gave part to Paul.  We are ready to delve into homeschooling!  This past Fri. I turned in the IHIP (individual home instruction plan) for 2022-2023.  I plan to use McGuffey readers, plenty of library books, my sister-in-law gave us a science curriculum Picture Perfect Science that she bought that came with books, Charlotte Mason Elementary Arithmetic series - Book 1, which recommends making a coin purse with $1 bill, (we also added 2 quarters) 20 dimes, 20 nickels, and 50 pennies, an art study of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa and portraits by Rembrandt, and then using a mirror draw a self-portrait. I believe we did one at the beginning of each year with Hannah and Olivia.
Friends came and camped in our yard the past 2 weekends.  It's been nice to have guests.  They seem to enjoy seeing the animals.  We currently have: 

• 10 sheep
• 8 cats
• 5 cows
• 4 hogs
• 1 goat (that belongs to a friend, who we've been babysitting for 2 months)
• About 35 chickens (5 belong to the friends also, below is their handsome rooster)
  
  Last week we went to the concert in the park and one of the ladies who I've been talking to regularly encouraged me to go to the acupuncturist. When I told her that it went well, she gave me money (it's $65/hour), so that I could go back again to help heal.  So kind!

Zucchini

We are really getting a lot from the garden now.  I have so much zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, kale, and chard.  Our corn will be ready sometime this month. I planted way too many pumpkins.  We're making a teepee!  That's George in there.

500 piece cat puzzle almost complete!

An evening sky photo looking south from our place.  Isn't the moon and pale pink pretty?

My husband and his 6 year old assistant working on another section of the main house.

We gave the monastery a bunch of zucchini and Father Paisios cooked them up for lunch Sunday!

Blueberries

Picked blueberries last week!  We also picked black currants - I read they're good for immune health, as they're high in vitamin C.

The Otsego county fair only charges $1 admission per adult on the 1st day.  We saw a lot of cool machines and animals.

Quality time with cousins on Lake Otsego at 3 mile point.  It was really nice to have them visit!

Kittens were adored, good food eaten, and 1st time playing mini golf!

My cousin brought this fish toy for the kitties, but it also seems to work as an outfit for a small child!

Feeding Bella burdock leaves.  Her calf Ferdinand is 5 months old and eats grass and also still drinks milk from her daily.  We milk her in the morning twice a week.  

Gloria gave birth to a beautiful girl Monday evening.  We haven't named her yet. Her older calf, Zippy, a boy, is one, but we're keeping him in a separate pasture for now.

Lots of blueberry muffins baked, blueberry pie filling, a blueberry and strawberry crisp and plenty eaten fresh.