Growing Colonies Of The Fuzzy Kind

I thought it would be fun to share just what we're growing in the kitchen this week :) No it's not vegetable seedlings or easter grass.... think a little more creepy *grin*. We're raising our own colony of bacteria :)

We started with three petri dishes and to try and keep it as scientific as possible I got my oldest to boil and sterilize all of the dishes before we started so that we could keep as much extra bacteria out of the equation as possible.

As soon as our petri dishes were ready to go we filled them with agar or in our case gelatin since I didn't have actual agar :) We brought one cup of water to a boil, stirred in one teaspoon of sugar, one package of knox gelatin and a few drops of orange food coloring and simmered the whole thing for 30 minutes. Once the 30 minutes were up we portioned out the gelatin equally into each of the three petri dishes and waited for it to cool and set.

The next step was to decide just what we wanted to swab and transfer into our dishes. K had such a hard time picking since we could only use two dishes and he wanted to try so many different things :) So he settled for the kitchen sink and the telephone with our third dish as the control.

At each place he took a clean q-tip and swabbed it all over their surfaces and then he took it to one of the petri dishes and gently rubbed it over one quarter of the gelatin then turned the dish 90 degrees and rubbed it again over the quarter section making sure that he pulled some of his strokes through the edge of section he swabbed last until the entire dish was covered :)

With each one carefully labeled...

it was time to wait and see just what would happen!

We're five days into our experiment and things are growing and remember all that sterilizing we did in the beginning so that we would have a super clean control petri dish? Well that baby is growing some funky fuzz of its own! LOL.

If you grow some colonies of your own let me know. I know my son would love to see what grows in your petri dishes *grin*.

Hugs,
Rosina

PS. Looking for more crafty ideas or inspiration? Pop over to Natural Suburbia's Creative Friday and see what others are up to :)

Peek-A-Boo

I think I want to be like this guy. Hanging out in the pond, partially submerged, taking in the scenery but keeping outta sight *grin*.

My days seem to be moving at lightning quick speed lately. So fast that I can't seem to catch up. We're still working on repairing outbuildings and getting the garden beds weeded and on top of that I've stepped up our homeschool routine. Those of you who know me well know that I'm a bit of a tidal homechooler with our learning coming in waves of high activity followed by more calm and relaxed phases. Well right now we're in hyper drive *grin*

I like to finish up our school year by the end of May because we have better things to do like camping and playing outdoors but that means we have to hit the books hard :) We're right on track though! K has finished up his math and english texts and we have a few key topics to touch in science and social studies still but it looks like we'll be done on schedule.

I'm actually really proud of him. I have never done any testing of any sort but I thought since he's getting a little older now and heading into grade 7 that I'd feel him out and see how he would handle some light quizzes where he knew he had to do the best he could. He really took to them and got A's and B's for his marks :) He was so proud of himself and it gave me a really good gauge as to how he's retaining this year's materials. Looks like things are sticking! LOL.

Most of my online time this week has been spent reading the homeschool boards and checking out what is available for our fall semester to. I was talking to Hubby on the phone the other night joking that I've been eating, breathing and sleeping math texts LOL. I had no idea that there were so many choices for math and I have come across some really cool looking science programs to. I love picking out new books :) We're still using Sonlight as our core for history, readers and bible but I always supplement their english program and add more science materials and of course add in math and the extra electives.

So that has been keeping me mighty busy but I'm hoping to pop over to see what's happening on your blogs this week! If you've emailed me and haven't heard back from you I promise I'm going to catch up :)

Hugs, Rosina

Exploring the Estuary

Yesterday we packed up the kids and headed off to one of my favorite local trails but when we got there we found that the bridge heading into the estuary had been fenced off.

It's hard to believe that this weathered foot bridge used to be a single lane bridge that I drove my car across four times a day, three times a week to reach an elderly woman I did home nursing for. Over the years the decking started to deteriorate so they built a foot bridge over the old bridge but it is getting soft in spots and sometime this summer the whole thing is going to be removed. Hopefully they will replace it but that is still not a sure thing.

Of course us local yokals don't get scared off by a few signs with bold red lettering and we skirted around the edge of the fence and headed on into the forest *grin*.

To be on the safe side we did go single file except for the little guy who went along with his daddy :)

As we wandered through the forest we were surrounded by amazing old growth trees. They are true giants!

This one was actually completely hollow inside and was big enough for all three of my kids to fit in and my dad for a photo. So much fun!

Where the old cottage used to stand there is now the above sign with all sorts of information on the different plants and animals that can be found along the trail. When the elderly lady that lived here passed away the property was donated to Ducks Unlimited and all of the old buildings were removed so that the grounds could return to their uninhabited state. I used to stand in this very spot when it was her kitchen and stare out the windows watching the river, swans and deer pass by. So many fond memories.... now only stories to tell to my children.

Just past the old homestead site is the estuary :)

The kids had fun exploring the grassy banks of the river. It wasn't long before the rain started though so we had to head back into the forest to take cover *grin*.

As we wound our way back around the loop to the main trail we took our time checking out all of the different mosses, poking and petting each one and talking about how they were all unique.

This tree always draws a lot of interest when we visit to as we try to guess what sort of animals may have been gnawing away at its pulpy insides :)

So many things to investigate along the way. The poor little guy got all tuckered out towards the end though and Hubby was more than happy to carry him like a good old sack of potatoes *grin*. What a turkey!

Hugs,
Rosina

Weekending

Oh happy weekend :) We got to see some more of that ever elusive sunshine so I took my baby tomatoes outside for a little light therapy *grin*. They were outgrowing their little jiffy sevens anyways so it was time for an upgrade to larger pots. One of the cool things about tomatoes if you have never grown them before is that you can re-pot them and bury them right up to their necks in soil so that just their leaves and a wee bit of stem are sticking out of the top of the dirt. This actually helps them to grow a stronger root structure all up that buried stem. The only tricky part is when you have short and tall seedlings. Sometimes the taller ones don't get buried quite as deep as you would like :)

Hubby tackled the big job of trimming all of the hedges that surround our home. They are quite extensive as they run up and down our long driveway and fully enclose our backyard but this year he had it a bit easier :) In past years he would cut them using heavy clipping shears but he finally spoiled himself and bought an electric one which makes the job much easier and quicker!

L and I spent a good chunk of the morning out in the field raking up leftover hay from feeding the cow over the winter and putting it into the compost bin. I took a minute to turn some of the compost already in the bin before adding the hay and it is already turning into black gold. It won't be long now and we'll be able to use it :)

The boys kept themselves busy in the dirt pile creating roads with their tonka machinery and creating pirate hideouts for their playmobil men to play in. Of course a pirate play scene wouldn't be complete without an ocean to float their boat in so a mud puddle was created *grin*.

I had mentioned how we were dreaming of camping the other day and Hubby must really have camping on the brain because out came our travel trailer and it got a good scrubbing :) All of the windows got a new coat of silicone around them to prevent any leaking and it's all plugged in and raring to go!

And today we loaded up the kids into the truck and hit one of my all time favorite trails along the estuary. I'm completely exhausted tonight so I'll have to share more photos of our nature walk tomorrow :)

I hope you all had a great weekend to!

Hugs, Rosina

Felted Mushrooms with a Secret

Last December I made a couple of these wonderful little felted mushrooms to send to my seasonal swap partner and I have been meaning to make more ever since and I finally got a chance to do it :)

I found a lovely tutorial for creating a secret mushroom with a great hiding spot for a message or poem to be hidden within the wooden tree limb stem. I just happened to have some alder limbs that I had cut into smaller chunks drying in the basement and used hubby's power drill to drill the hollow spot in the center and it was just perfect for a rolled scroll to fit in :)

I didn't have any sheets of red wool so instead I used some of my dyed merino wool roving that I had and created a felted circular shape. To create the wavy mushroom cap I actually put the felted wool circle on top of the wood limb and wrapped an elastic band tightly around the cap about one inch from the top. As the elastic pulled tightly around the wool it created a gathered and ruffled sort of appearance and then I through the whole thing into the dryer for about 10 mintues *grin*. When I pulled it out the heat had dried the wool up nice and tight and held its shape perfectly when I pulled the elastic band off :)

Of course since we are jumping head first into spring and we spotted our first dandelion today I thought it would be very fitting to hide one of our favorite dandelion poems inside :)

O' DANDELION

O' Dandelion, yellow as gold, what do you do all day? "I just wait here in the tall, green grass, 'till the children come to play."

O' Dandelion, yellow as gold, what do you do all night? "I wait and wait, while the cool dew falls, and my hair grows long and white."

And what do you do when your hair grows white, and the children come to play? "They take me in their dimpled hands, and blow my hair away!"

~ by Marlys Swinger

I can't wait to hide more little notes inside them for the children to find!

Hugs,
Rosina

PS. Looking for more crafty ideas or inspiration? Pop over to Natural Suburbia's Creative Friday and see what others are up to :)

right now, I AM

....listening to the frogs croaking *grin*.

They're back! Over the last couple of days nature has made a sudden and very vocal comeback and it is music to my ears :) There are so many more birds now visiting the feeder and chirping away, dozens of robins can be seen scouring the fields all the time as they look for bugs and turn the manure piles over and tonight the frogs are singing. And not just one frog but a chorus of them. Not long and there will be multitudes of eggs clinging to the reeds and grass around our pond ready for little fingers to poke at and inspect :)

Hubby and I were just talking and making plans for future camping trips to. He figures it's a little to cold to go now but come the end of April I think we'll start venturing out. I'm looking forward to going further north to one of our favorite spots where we can camp right at the top of the beach along the ocean. It's a little chilly in May but is the only time that we can just pop out whenever we want and get a front row seat to the ocean. I love to spend the afternoons scouring the beach with the children looking for shells, crabs and other cool things that we come across and then at night we get to sleep to the sounds of the waves crashing up onto the rocks :)

There are so many things I am looking forward to :) How about you?

Hugs,
Rosina

Click the frog to learn more!

Dirt

I just finished watching the documentary Dirt! The Movie about the destruction of the earth's living skin... the dirt. It's a wonderful film that takes you all around the world talking about how dirt is a living breathing entity and how it is essential to our lives. Scientists, professors, farmers and others share with you all the different ways that dirt is used and abused. From the traditional earthen homes that are still built today and the important part dirt plays in many cultures to how 1/3 of the earth's soil has been lost in the last one hundred years. I love what one of the farmers said... Sometimes he feels like a father to the soil as he takes care of it. Other times he feels like the soil is his mother as she provides food for him and at times he feels he is in a relationship as they 'care' for each other :)

It's definitely an eye opening view to how agriculture has ravaged the soil over the years with the practice of monoculture planting which leads to massive pest infestations and heavy pesticide use that kills the vital microorganisms in the soil. All this leads to sick soil and the overuse of nitrogen fertilizers which in turn have adverse effects on the surrounding life.

But of course these aren't the only things that are harming the soil that we have left. It also touches on strip mining, desertification and more, but the movie isn't all doom and gloom! There is so much good going on around us as others try to replenish the earth's dirt :)

In Los Angeles an organization called Tree People has a goal to plant one million trees in the city. Schools are tearing up the concrete and blacktop that surrounds their buildings creating green space and student gardens. I thought it was quite interesting as at one point they mentioned that some people were concerned that without all of the concrete play areas at the school, where would the children play?? Have we really become this disconnected with what is below our feet?

Even though we get out in the garden every year using organic methods, compost and recycle what we can I still watched with my children as I thought it was a great way to really get them thinking more about how important it is that we treat mother earth well :)

Even if you think the problem is just to big and there is nothing you can do to fix it, you can! I love this short little animated folktale by Dr. Wangari Maathai below. It tells of a forest fire and a little tiny hummingbird that felt he just had to do something to stop the fire. As the other animals of the forest helplessly looked on they tell the hummingbird that he is just to small to do anything as he takes one drop of water at a time and drops it on the fire. So he turns to them and says "I am doing... the best... that I can". So simple and so smart. Let's all be hummingbirds together and do the best that we can :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Firewood

Firewood seems to consume a great many months of our lives. In the fall it starts with the loading of wheelbarrows and the lighting of stoves which continues through the many winter months and spring brings the cutting and chopping of more wood to replenish the woodshed.

K has been out alongside my dad helping this year.


Together they have been cutting down some of the leaning alders and cutting them into the exact lengths needed to fit our woodstoves.

My younger two have been out checking out what they've been up to as well. They love to use the rounds as balance beams, seeing who can last the longest as they walk along them rolling from side to side :)

One big perk to having a growing boy is that he can help with some of the manly chores. With his dad away for work so much of the time this is definitely appreciated by this mama...



Plus there are some monetary rewards that make the work just a little bit sweeter *grin*.

Hugs,
Rosina

Making Sushi ~ So Fun!!

Our study on Japan for K's research paper is finally finished and the culmination of the entire project was to meet up with the three other families from our homeschool book club and to not only share our reports but to also bring along a special dish from the country we studied.

So sushi it was for us :) I made a special trip into the city to find Nori which is the seaweed wrapper, sticky rice and some different vegetables and fish for the filling.

We both took turns rolling the nori with sticky rice and a mixture of smoked fish or crab and avocado and cucumber. It took a little bit to get the hang of rolling them in the mat and less is definitely more when it comes to the filling part *grin*.

We made some similar to the California rolls with the crab, cucumber and avocado and then sprinkled black sesame seeds on the outside...

a smoked salmon, cream cheese and cucumber roll with thin slices of avacado on the outside called caterpillar rolls...

and then we thought we'd get really fancy or at least try to look like we really knew what we were doing *grin* and made Shikai-maki which are a decorative four sided version of regular sushi rolls. You can see they are the square shaped ones below and we filled them with kiwi and pineapple and had a special fruit and honey dipping sauce I made for them :)

They turned out great and were a huge hit! I never imagined that everyone would love sushi that much. There wasn't one left when we were finished *grin*. Personally I don't really care for the taste of the seaweed but the kids liked them so I will probably make them again :)

They had so much fun trying to eat them with the chopsticks I brought to :) It was a great potluck! There were samosas with chutney, special fried rice, a fluffy fava bean dip with naan bread and a ravioli pasta for everyone to try.

The whole thing really got K excited about studying other countries and it was his first big report he has actually had to write so it was great intro into thesis statements, APA style format for laying it out, bibliographies and more. All of the artsy fartsy stuff like making his kimono and geta, the salt dough map he made and the sushi making broke it up into nice little chunks of hard work with the writing and and then nice easy breaks of creativity which really kept him wanting to keep at it :)

Hugs, Rosina

Kimono Sewing and Geta

It was so nice to pull my sewing machine out this week and listen to it hum along. K has been working very hard on his big research project all about Japan and to go along with his big presentation I thought it would be great if he could dress up in some traditional clothing making it more interesting for the other kids.

We had a few crafty books as part of his project that showed how to make zen gardens, theatre masks and among the projects was a very rough idea of how to make your own Kimono.

When I say rough, I mean rough *grin*. Just a few thumbnail sized photos and a couple of suggestions on how to create the basic body shape but the actual cutting, measuring and getting the sleeves to fit in was a bit trickier. It sure makes a guy have a greater appreciation for those little pattern markings that show you exactly how far to sew and where to attach pieces!

While I fiddled around with the finishing touches on the Kimono I rounded up Hubby to do a little woodworking for us and create the wooden bases for a pair of Japanese Geta.

Geta are wooden shoes with a raised platform bottom. They were traditional Chinese footwear that were later adopted by the Japanese and were especially useful in the winter and rainy times to keep their feet high up off the ground so that they stayed dry.

The top of the shoes were a basic cloth sandal style so after Hubby made the base he drilled in some holes so that K could create the straps.

He used jute and some of the scrap fabric from the making of his kimono and he was so pleased with how they turned out :)

Actually he was quite thrilled with the whole outfit *grin*

For a twelve year old boy he still loves to dress up LOL. Albeit it is usually in a pirate costume like Jack Sparrow off of the Pirates of the Caribbean but he was having quite the time getting the hang of walking around in the restrictive kimono and tipsy shoes :)

I think it all turned out rather well :)

I spent $1.50 at the good will for the two sheets and we had the scrap wood on hand already and we created an entire outfit *grin*. What have you been creating this week? I'd love to stop by and see :)

Hugs,
Rosina