TanksHill...Roll on!!

[Henrietta23]

I actually had not written much about the kids and their school stuff. I am just a bit frustrated with the lack of attention my kids are getting. Our schools here are overcrowded and I feel the ESL students take a huge amount of attention. Sorry but it's true. DD is having reading issues. Son has an IEP but the jr high lady says her job is just to give a bit of homework help. Uhhh no I don't think that's true. I need to talk with my sil, she has experience with this, and then call the district.

g

It is true in my district too. It's unfortunate that the ESL kids bring down test scores and we are soooo driven to get those scores up. If scores don't go up we lose out on funding which is just a$$ backwards thinking to me. Who needs more funding than a school with failing test scores??? Overcrowding makes everything worse. We've now been taken over by the state more or less and we have a "Special Master" telling us what to do. We are all very intimidated by him but the fact of the matter is, the system isn't working and change needs to be made.
Good luck with DS. That IEP should be a legal document, at least they are here in CT. If they're not following it, they're in violation. I don't know how you go about it but here occasionally a parent will bring in an advocate when they feel they need to get the system to follow through or make changes to get a student what they need. I've never been directly involved though so I don' thave any real good advice.

 

[TanksHill]

Hey Dacs, yes processing the chickens has been a great SS accomplishment for me this year. Good to see you. I hope all is well for you.

Karen, all is well. I always have a lot going on. I lik e to keep busy.

Pam, I agree with your logic about trade schools and being hands on. Ds is very mechanically inclined. I am definitely steering him that way.

Hen, I thought that was the case. SIL used an advocate to help her. I will need to talk to her about it.

Well I guess that's about it.

G
By the way I had a knee pain. Not sure if I told you before but my knee gets pains before earthquakes. Yes I know its crazy but I have lived with this all my life. just like to document it now and then.

 

[savingdogs]

You get so much accomplished! You should be proud of yourself. I could not even process ONE chicken the other day.

 

[Farmfresh]

I would save those fatty girls for roasters! Also they would make amazing gifts! If you have a good friend that has never tasted truly delicious REAL chicken, one of those birds at Christmas might explain everything about this weird life that we live to them.

My kids LOVED the Little House on the Prairie series so much, I bet I read the whole series at least 4 times to them. It is great that you are reading Farmer Boy at breakfast. Not only a captive audience, but also starts the day off nice.

 

[TanksHill]

Thanks SD and FF. The chickens are not that bad to do. takes a bit of set up, but then I just push through. Thanks FF I knew those birds had a purpose.

Well I am up early. I had a icky bad dream. Startled awake. Only to find the fridge door ajar. It 50 deg inside. the problem is when I closed the door the compressor did not kick on. I am worried its fried. This has happened before and normally I find the door ajar and it humming trying to keep up.

I might be building a cold box like sunsaver if this thing is broke. It's another fine example of an expensive item we built in and could never afford to replace.


As I sit here finger typing my fridge just turned on. Thank God.

Well off to read a bit.

G

 

[framing fowl]

Morning! Sittin' here with a cup of hot tea catching up. Hope your knee is wrong. Happy Sunday!

 

[TanksHill]

No earthquake so far FF.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqscanv/FaultMaps/119-34.html
Just a we one off the coast. But the weather is sure right. The heat is back. Forget fall it's summer again here.

Catching up on some sewing. 3 skirts hemmed for DD.

Ran an errand to pick up my free beer mash. I pick up the spent grains form a guy on Craigslist. A 5 gallon bucket or more usually once a month. Gotta love free feed. The guy lives near the coast. The view heading down to his house is amazing. Its so clear here today we could see a Cruise ship out in the ocean. My girls ooed and awed.

I used some of the cubed and blanched potatoes I froze last week. Fried them up for a breakfast scramble. They were great. I think I might process another 10 lbs later today. I have 30 lbs still in the canning pantry.


g

 

[FarmerJamie]

Yeah for the free grain! I have 3 co-worker city-living "suppliers" who always hated throwing in the garbage. During the heat of the summer, I will put the grain in a pan and freeze it. It makes a nice disk "chick-sicle" that is cool and gives the girls something to peck at. I give my buddies some eggs now and then.

Yum on the taters, too.

A picture of that cruise ship would have been cool to see.

 

[TanksHill]

What is up with the weather? Now I am really thinking earthquakes. When the earth goes from cold to stinking hot so quickly it usually has a stretching pain.

It is frigging hot has heck here today. Must have been close to 95. I stayed in the house most of the morning where it was relatively cool. Then the mail man showed up on my driveway around noon. Had to go out for the mail. It felt so oppressive. The hot dry air enveloped me like a bad habit.

I wish we had some nice cool coastal fog right now.

Not much going on. Did some sewing yesterday. Made two more knotted fleece blankets for Christmas. My kids didn't get theirs last year. I was knotted out. So they will get theirs this year. One more to go.

Still trying to figure out what to do for the cousins. 6 I need to craft or shop for. I don't want to spend a lot but need to figure out something.

Been kind of lazy this week. Accidentally took ds to school late yesterday. He has late Mondays, instead of early Wed. Got to school yesterday at 9:20, the proper late Monday time. The only problem, It was Tuesday. I laughed, he almost cried. But all ended well.

Well, I cooked up some chicken breast for dinner, now I need to make them into something. I am thinking green chili enchiladas. But it might just be to hot for the oven. Maybe we can get away with soft tacos or something.

DH is feeling a bit discouraged again. Work is getting him down. I am trying to involve him in the house stuff so he "gets it". Might not be a good idea. I just kinda get tired of being the only one working at being frugal and saving money.

Problem is now the house is worth less than last year and a lot less than the year before. So selling and getting out of dodge is going to be much more difficult.

Same story different year.

g

 

[Farmfresh]

DH is feeling a bit discouraged again. Work is getting him down. I am trying to involve him in the house stuff so he "gets it". Might not be a good idea. I just kinda get tired of being the only one working at being frugal and saving money.

Problem is now the house is worth less than last year and a lot less than the year before. So selling and getting out of dodge is going to be much more difficult.

Same story different year.

g

My hubby gets the downs about work pretty frequently as well. It is too bad that we are not wealthy enough for him to just quit and allow us to move on to something that is more fulfilling for him.

It was HARD getting him interested in our homestead, but he is starting to come around now. When he gets involved with the aspects of SS that HE likes - his hot peppers and home brewing - it seems to really help lift his spirits and give him a boost.

At first I worked stealthily towards the goal of introducing him to gardening. (Remember ... one year of a hot pepper (his favorite things) planted by the front steps, one year a single pepper in a porch pot, one year a pepper in a big pot and then on to growing his own from seeds and now he has a container garden of his own with 10 big pots full of peppers and tomatoes.) Then the kids bought him a simple brew kit. Now days he comes home from his often frustrating job and often spends 10 -15 minutes on the front porch (where his containers are) before coming into the house. The kids laugh about how he checks the pots for moisture, waters them, and seems to pet his plants looking for ripe fruits. His first act of coming home is to fix a big plate of sliced tomatoes, and peppers to snack on.

Each year now he seems to be expanding those interests. Last year he ASKED me to teach him how to make salsa. Then he learned to pickle his peppers. This year it is all about the dehydrator and his new little mini food processor. (We have enough different pepper powders to run a Mexican restaurant! ) He has gone from making beer with the canned brew kit ingredients to experimenting with different types of wines. Plus I think he "gets it" about why I do what I do more and more because of his little projects.

So I am here to encourage you to keep working with your hubby! Find the aspects of SS that make HIM feel the most fulfilled. Remember that he is a raw beginner. Even if something is so easy and old hat to you (like making a simple salsa) to him it is a new skill. My only regret is that I didn't start including and encouraging him more years ago. I just never acknowledged the fact that he did not have the childhood experiences that drew me to being SS that I did. Because of that he missed out on this feeling of accomplishment for too many years.

We are very alike in another way. We BOTH have a long time dream of moving to a more suitable home. I have to believe that one day that WILL happen for both of us, but right now we can still be SS and successful - right where we are planted. Let's just take this time to learn all we can, so the next move will be even more productive for us.