We made a fairy garden! Marty took scrap wood and a piece of leftover wood from the garage "siding" and made a raised garden box about 2' x 4'. He was so happy that it was completely free! It's about 1' deep and he drilled holes in the bottom for drainage.
Jane and Ruth and their cousin John painted the planter with a day and night theme. One side is dark blue with moon and stars and the other side is light blue with sun and clouds. It's darling! In an effort to be "green", I put a bunch of those styrofoam peanuts that have accumulated over the years, in the bottom. They are lighter than rocks and provide good drainage. Then we filled it with a mixture of dirt, sand and potting soil.
The best part was putting in the plants and figurines. We planted strawberries, parsley, bugleweed, a miniature succulent, scottish moss, a pretty flowering trailing vine, daisy moss (it shoots up these darling miniature "daisy" flowers...it's my favorite), spicy basil (it's a "tree"), and some thyme. Finally, the figurines get placed. We have three fairies, a little girl laying on her belly, two little girls that are identical (the girls say they're twins, of 'course), a little boy on his belly, a little girl sitting with her feet dangling; she sits on the edge of something. They also got a bird bath, bunny and raccoon. We laid some interesting looking rocks in the dirt and some other "treasures" we've found in the yard. One of the fun things about living in a century home (133 years, actually) is that they used to burn their trash. They'd dig a whole in the back and fill it with all kinds of trash and burn it and fill it back in with dirt. We continue to find bits of pottery, dishes, old glass bottles and china doll pieces - treasures for our fairies! I don't know who is having more fun, the girls or me!
This summer I'll be watching the daughter of a friend of mine on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. She is a year younger than Ruth and my girls just love her. Her name is Emma. Jane said last night that she knows it's really summer when Emma starts coming over; what a sweet thought! I'm sure Emma will enjoy the fairy garden and her family has a backyard pool, so sometimes we go over there and swim. It's wonderful:)
We are in school over the summer, but I consider it fun school. Ruth will be learning about plants in June. See how tricky I am? The fairy garden isn't just for fun! Ruth is also helping her Aunt Karen with her garden. My sister and her husband have a fairly large garden in their backyard and Ruth got to help Aunt Karen plant the radishes and beans. Over the summer, Ruth will continue to help with weeding and harvesting. In total they've planted, radishes, beans, squash, corn, tomatoes, peppers and a host of other things I couldn't identify. Plenty of hands on learning!!
Jane will be doing math and history over the summer. I'm so proud of her. She is really taking charge of her education and doing a good job. It's not perfect (what is?) but she is learning, maturing and being very sensible. It's her plan to work on her math, history and reading some classics over the summer. The trick now is for her to follow through. I'm still working over the summer and the beautiful weather is a temptation! She doesn't have trouble doing her school work, she just doesn't always work as hard or long as she should. I think that's like most 15 year olds!
One of the benefits of my working part-time is the girls' relationship. They've always been the best of friends, but now it seems like they've developed a part of their relationship that is all their own. I never thought any two sisters could be better friends than I am with my 3 sisters, but I think Jane and Ruth are actually closer! It was always one of the things that I liked about homeschooling; it really provides the time and opportunity to strengthen family bonds. I used to build into our daily schedule time for all 5 of them to play together and time for them to have one-on-one time with each of their siblings. I'll never regret that; striving to build strong bonds between my kids. Now with my working, Jane and Ruth have a real care-taking relationship that is beautiful to see.
We bought a painting eleven or twelve years ago. It's a picture of an older home with a red roof, a porch, some trees and flowers around it. At the bottom it says:
Dishes done; papers read
Children snuggled into bed.
Hours past the setting sun,
I count my blessings, one by one.
Well, I don't know about the dishes being done or even the kids in bed (those dang teenagers!), but counting my blessings could keep me up all night!
Musings on the daily trials and triumphs of a homeschool family.
