Creativity

What other word could be used to so aptly describe THIS situation! "Hey, Mom - come look! I am buckled in my car seat!" Uh, you sure are - in your braillewriter backpack!

Has anyone mentioned to you lately that cooler weather - cool enough to wear a turtleneck, usually means you wear something besides shorts? Oh, wait - we do live in the PNW - turtlenecks, shorts, socks and sandals - all ok!

Forget you saw uncombed hair. Well, hair combed by a sister - same thing!

My Lovin' Daughters

No, sweetie, you haven't grown for the last 4 years, I don't think you are destined to be among the tall.

Cantarsis Bowin

Don't ya know, can't you recognize her? Well, of course that is who it is! Cantarsis - now who comes up with a name like that? Chicka does! On a multi-million times a day basis! Creative is a perfect description for that girl.

Not So Pretty

Not at all pretty, as a matter of fact! What are they?

Well, after we strained our honey there was a pile of mostly wax but some honey. We set the bowl out by the bees and they promptly devoured the honey that was in there and we were left with beautiful powdery wax!

We put the wax in a double boiler and warmed it enough to be able to handle it and made a couple of candles! Note the exquisite precision forms? Heck, they burn - even if they aren't beauties! And, we found that we could make them easily! Next year we will focus on perfection. Yeah, right.

They sure smell good, too!

On a different note - here is a fruit that we have on a tree that we simply cannot identify!  It grows fuzzy and then looses the fuzz.  At first we thought it was an Asian Pear.  It is GROSS!  It sucks any and all moisture from your mouth when you bite into it.  Maybe it just isn't ripe yet?  We haven't got a clue!  The moisture around the seeds is gelatinous.  Any ideas?

Remember me, Geocaching?

Well, life seems like a blur these days. One of my favorite activities, geocaching, had gone by the wayside. A few days ago, with the help of a new app on my ipad, we struck out on a gorgeous fall day to find a few, and enjoy God's loveliness around us.

This was an old, abandoned dynamite shack.  You would NEVER see it from the remote logging road that it was on, unless you were looking for it.  Even then, we nearly didn't see it!  Yes, it is also hunting season, thus the fashionable attire.

Captain, of course, has to examine the internal structure of the shack.  Not very much left of it!

Miss JiJi found an old abandoned boot.  Hmmm, wonder what the story of THAT is????  She wanted to include this photo for your enjoyment - she pointed to the boot - a little off, but you can see it behind her finger.  Close, sweetie!  We have been working on body gestures and how sighted people use them all the time.  She loves to nod or shake her head to tell me yes or no.  Unfortunately, she doesn't know if the person she is answering is looking at her or not, so we sometimes don't communicate effectively!

The New Style

What 'cha think????

Honey Harvest!

Well, a little, anyway! Can you see Chicka's tongue hanging out in anticipation????

This summer, I had a swarm arrive in one of my empty brood boxes  - not ready with frames in it.  Don't mistake me, I am super glad that a swarm just happened by the 'hood and settled.  They are "busy bees" they are.  UNFORTUNATELY, since it was an empty box with no frames, they built their own freestyle comb.  It was only attached in one little bitty spot to the "roof" and upon our regular visit to the hive, it detached and collapsed onto the frames below.

So, upon our hive visit today, IBoy and I did some housekeeping and removed the top portion.  Since the girls had been so busy all summer, they still have more than enough stored to feed them over the winter AND we got an especially sweet treat!

Thank you, bees!

Not too bad - from the land of "milk and honey"!

Study of China

We just finished our first country study and the girls are pleased with the results. They thought you might enjoy a peek . . . .

Study of China Part 1A

Miss JiJi's book was modified slightly to be more meaningful to her - some tacttile features were added, too.

Study of China Part 2

This is the back of the China portion - the other countries from the continent of Asia will follow the dragon tail.

The girls had just finished the study when we had a scheduled meeting with a group of government delegates from China last night so they brought their books to show them.  The head official of the CCCWA (the branch of the government that handles all of the adoptions for the country) asked if he could take one of the girls' books back to China with him!  I think they liked the fact that former Chinese citizens are learning about their birth country.

Chicka was willing to relinquish her book, which was actually more detailed than her sisters, but, not knowing that we wouldn't be returning home with her book. I had not taken any photos ;-)

FYI, I never made it clear to the officials that we are homeschoolers - wasn't quite sure how that would fly!  I figured that they could just assume what they wished!

Girls Weekend

Ah-hah! We did it! The Girls (minus one - we have been buds since 2nd grade) were able to make a get-a-way and spend the weekend visiting and shopping at one of McMennamin's restored historic locations. So much fun to learn the history of the building (we stayed in a former room of ill repute).

As a bonus, I found a bee supply store full of great information and was able to pick up some winter supplies for my girls.

Movin' and Groovin"

Miss Zabi wanted to show Miss JiJi some dance moves - I missed the video that JiJi had her arms on Zabi's hip and shoulder to figure it out - she got it!  Where Zabi learned the move I have no idea!  She was really just enjoying her kinky hair after I took it out of the braid and went on from there :-)

Sweet Kids

The two baby kids and their mom are going to their new home tomorrow, so Miss JiJi wanted to feed Tuffy his last bottle at home.  Fortunately, the human kid IS home, and will remain home!