Panda Academy: Where Teacher is Spelled M-O-M-M-Y

• Mar. 22, 2008 - the conrete block laying is done!

Thanks to my poor aching back fixed by Advil liquid gels and my "loves to dig" 10 yr. old son with a great mind for finding solutions to awkward spacing problems, the tomato, herb, pepper, lettuce, and K.'s experimental beds have been built! It was just half the gazebo too! lol! We dug up soil down to the asphalt, laid in new layers of concrete cinder blocks (48 in total,) shredded leaves, shook them onto the bare asphalt, replaced the soil, cheered at finding our "rescued from becoming fish bait" Wal-Mart earthworms still alive, and killed the two tiny grubs we found. We also refilled most of our bird feeders, admired the snow crocuses that had popped up, looked at our lovely garlic that grew (anything that grows in our garden is to be celebrated!,) and talked about all the work and fun that's to come. We want to paint cool pictures of fruit, vegetables, and flowers on the garden boxes once planting is done. Our red and blue/purple potatoes arrived today so it was off to Lowes to buy wood and hardware along with a few other supplies. We'll be painting the wood come Monday. Overall, a very productive first week in the garden as well as a great way to start 5th grade. I took pictures but you know how long those take to get posted - forever lol! ~CoffeeHeidi

Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• Mar. 4, 2008 - Oh those wonderful sci-fi geek children!

You know you've done your job in passing down your geekiness and love of sci-fi to your child when he decides to turn his Egypt history pocket cover page into this: For those not in "the know" he's added Goa'uld, from Stargate, features to one of the characters. I'm such a proud mommy tonight! ~Heidi

Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• Mar. 3, 2008 - A couple of new photos

Thought I'd share these in between loads of laundry. I promise to update my blog soon. This is the evil Math Monster. K. drew it rather than work on his math assignment. He was in a grumpy "I hate math" mood and thought he'd get in trouble for it. Instead, I tried a bit of reverse psychology and praised it. Afterall, it's a great drawing! It now hangs proudly in the living room where we do most of our schooling. How does my child learn best? With Daddy Puppy on his head of course! The dear stuffed animal goes with him everywhere. The understanding is that while Daddy Puppy can help with school work but isn't allowed to help him cheat on tests. ~Heidi

Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• Feb. 29, 2008 - In Memory of My Dad

This is my dad with my step-mom, Carol. He passed away in July 2007 from a very nasty and virulent form of brain cancer - Stage 4 Gilioblastoma Maliformae. He wasn't a perfect parent, as none of us are, but he chose to be my dad and that makes all the difference in the world. You see my mom had been married to a very mean person, to put it mildly, and with him had my older sister and I. Luckily, she left him when I was but 3 months old and my sister, 2. A few years later, she met my dad. They got married and dad adopted us. (The biologic didn't even show to court.) He raised us as his, not step-children, but his own, equal to that of the daughter he had with my mom. (Though we all know the youngest child is spoiled. lol!) There is more to dad, his life, his work, his faith, him always defying mom and encouraging me to walk to my own drummer...But to me, I shall always remember him as the man who chose to be my dad. ~Heidi

Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• Nov. 6, 2007 - The best smell in the world

• Oct. 17, 2007 - Welcome to the 1940's

I finally completed my WWII utility suit and 1939 everyday dress. What follows are preliminary pictures as they're from the cell phone (i.e. not very clear and I look like a grumpy goose in the suit) and I'm not wearing proper makeup for the time. But, here they are along with the patterns used. Sorry about looking all weird and grumpy. I wasn't really, just in a hurry to get the picture taken before the light faded. You can't see the blouse very well. It's the same one from the pattern. My husband says this outfit is scary. He always feels he'd jumped back to the 1940's when I put it on. LOL! You can't see the hat very well, nor the 2 feathers stuck to the back. It was made using a Vintage Vogue pattern - which looked great on the model but not when made and not on me. I'd chosen it because I saw a similar one on the grandmother in the PBS series "1940's House." I took the hat, removed the front pleat, and then folded the brim and a good portion of the rest of the hat up inside. The result was 100% better. The Folkwear Pattern I used. I eliminated the back zipper as well as the pocket flounces. The dress is green swirls in a diamond shape with little leaves inside. I found silver buttons with near identical swirls. (Totally cool but I wish I hadn't used 8 of them ) The head scarf is simply a large square of black and white polka dot fabric with the edges encased in a tight blanket-type stitch. It's not the most flattering of dress for a large-hipped person like me, but it suits the time period well and can only serve to enhance our history lessons....sorry, make that "embarrass me to death, mommy!" Why does it keep looking I'm lopsided? LOL! Just a side note: I CAN NOT get my hair to curl into any semblance of a 1949's style. I did my research, bought curlers, styling gel that was also a volumizer, and a curling iron. I did everything I was supposed to do. Yet still my below-waist length fine and bone straight hair that hasn't been curled in over 10 years hair refuses to obey. (It will braid beautifully though.) I ended up simply parting my hair down the middle, leaving it a bit "soft" and putting the length into a twisted bun at the nape of my neck. I apologize to all 1940's aficionados, but I refuse to cut my shorter just to make it work for this one time period. Thanks for reading, ~CoffeeHeidi

Comments (2) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• Sep. 23, 2007 - Adding close-ups of my son's costume

• Sep. 23, 2007 - My fist attempt at canning

I won't bore all my HSR friends, yet, with a repeat of my canning experience. Right now, I just wanted to share the results - 6 lovely pint jars of herbed tangerine (the variety) tomatoes. ~CoffeeHeidi

Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• Sep. 23, 2007 - The Civil War Day Dress is Done!

I'm one of the those insane moms, and embarrassing if you ask my son, that using homeschooling as an excuse to indulge her love of historical clothing. And I'm fortunate enough to have a kind husband who hands over his wallet and shake his head while muttering, "Well, I knew she was crazy before I married her" every time I get it in my head to make a new outfit. My costumes-period clothing aren't completely historically accurate. I don't hand stitch ever seam, nor buy reproduction fabrics. But I do try my best to at least get the look and feel of the period. God bless all those that do create such marvels! Recently I came across "the perfect fabric" for a Civil War era dress that I've been dying to make for couple of years. Dying is a good word as I soon discovered that the project was going to be a lot harder than I originally thought. Homeschool Reviewers that read my post can skip the next part as I'm just going to copy and paste. Go ahead and skip down to the pictures. Simplicity #4551, View A (see picture below) is not for the faint of heart nor novice sewer! I'm intermediate and oh, will never make it again unless forced to. It does make for a lovely costume/outfit for history lessons. But oh, the time, sweat, and tears involved...Not to mention trying to figure out some of the directions and coming up with your own better way of doing them. The carriage pleats turned out to not be a huge problem and would've been easier if I'd sewn the twill tape to the correct side of the fabric. (Note to all, have more coffee if you plan on doing this at 3:30 a.m. LOL!) If you increase the bodice width like I had to for I am of "ample waist and hips," you won't necessary have to increase the sleeve width as the seam lines don't match up (per instructions) and the sleeves are wide to begin with. All the marking dots ended up making no sense, even though I'd adjusted them, and so I just went off the arrows. They turned out fine. Also, the dress is heavy (8-9 yrds. of fabric) and hot if you're wearing all the proper undergarments (chemise, corset, drawers, and a petticoat. Corset cover should be worn but I haven't made one yet.) I'm so hoping we'll be studying the Civil War during the winter LOL! There's lots of hand sewing involved, more if you'd like it be more historically accurate and have hand sewn button holes, etc. (I'm not.) Pop in all those DVDs you haven't had a chance to watch. I went through the first 2 seasons of "Sliders" and am working my way through season 3. HSRers, you can start reading again I finished the dress last night after 2 1/2 hours of hand sewing the hem. Thank goodness I got it the right length the first time! (Thanks for the help, dear husband ) We took pictures today and probably scared the neighbors while doing so. The pics are a little fuzzy as they're from our cell phone. Sorry about that. You can't really see it, but I did sew a lovely floral cameo button to the neck in between the "won't frelling stay put" collar. First, the pattern, Simplicity #4551 Here's the fabric used. The background color is more of a light cream than what the image shows. The print is a little larger too. Overall, it's a very lovely fabric, much better than it Iooks onscreen. (Praises to JoAnnFabrics.com and their email coupons and online specials. )   Now the results... Thanks for reading. I'm off to work on my Afghani Nomad Dress (Folkwear patterns,) 1939 day dress (also from Folkwear) and WWII utility suit (Simplicity.) ~CoffeeHeidi P.S. Are there ever words you just can't spell no matter how many times you've written them and seen them spell checked? I couldn't seem to spell Simplicity nor originally once today! LOL!

Comments (3) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• Sep. 15, 2007 - Halloweeen Costume is Finished!

To make a long story short, my son finally decided what to be for Halloween this year. Every year it's the same request - some obsurce video game character that even most kids don't know. Anyone ever heard of Plantman from the Gameboy Advance game Megaman Battle Network 3? Me neither, yet that's what he was 2 years ago. For this reason, I've taken to carrying around a picture or two of what he's supposed to be. Every costume takes weeks of sewing, pricked fingers, cursing, customized pattern pieces based on brand name patterns, a thousand fittings, and seems that need to be ripped out and redone (hence the cursing.) It always means a break from homeschooling and one of numerous reasons we were delayed last year. (I consider it as payback for having my dad help me make chicken wire and paper mache' heads for my childhood Halloween costumes.) After begging K. for 6 months to choose this year's costume, he finally did after the dire warning of, "If you don't choose within the next 2 weeks you'll have to have...store bought! (No offense to those that do buy costumes.) So he narrowed his many choices down to 10, I make notes, narrowed to 3, and finally, one was chosen. K. is going to be Lucario from Pokemon Diamond & Pearl, a Nintendo DS game as well as the movie "Pokemon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew." He requested that his favorite stuffed animal, Daddy Puppy, be Rioru, which evolves into Lucario. Being insane, I said, yes.  Here's the link to the image in order to give the artist his/her due: http://coshi-dragonite.deviantart.com/art/Lucario-and-Ricoru-41069034 For those that don't want to go the website, here's the main image for which his costume was based off of. (I had many more views thanks to my husband's Googling expertize. :-) Here are the results of a 14, 16, and a few 6-8 hour stints of sewing for K. Daddy Puppy's costume took 11 hours. And did I mention the 5 hour (6.5 if you include driving time) trip to the fabric store? Oh how I wish we lived closer to a JoAnn Fabrics, that Rag Shop didn't close down, and that our local Wal-Mart didn't reduce their fabric department to a 10th of it's size. Does no one else in our part of NJ sew? First, K. and Daddy Puppy in a before shot. Next, the pattern I used: McCall's M5228 The front of their costumes... The back... The side... Some close-ups...   Close-up of the head where you can actually see one of the eyes. The spike on one of the hands and lower arm The sleeve-hand opening. I made the hand/3-fingered glove attach to the sleeve with an elasticized opening that would allow my son to take his hand out of the glove should he need to. And here's the tail. Personally, I think I should've have wired it but my son liked it just fine only being stuffed. He said it would be easier to sit that way. lol! Daddy Puppy needs his close-ups too. Okay, that's it for now. I'm off to work on my costume...er...clothing to enhance our American history lessons...a Civil War day dress. Thanks for reading. ~CoffeeHeidi

Comments (1) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• Jun. 15, 2007 - Sorry, I'm away for awhile

Sorry to all but I'm going to be away for a little while longer. On top of PMS, or maybe because of it, I'm trying to do an uber cleaning-dejunking of my house. Of course it's going VERY slow. If I were one of those ultra-organized, loves to clean people, I would've been done by now. But I'm not. I'm one of those, "I just cleaned out the old cabinet thingy where I keep half my baking wear. Boy am I exhausted! I think I'll go watch some TV"  folks. To be fair, I also made my son a neck pillow and cut out the pattern for a child's play Tee Pee. Since my son *isn't* the hands-on project kind of kid, I'll at least have one cool project to coincide with his Native American studies. You know the kind - the ones you see pictures of with the perfect homeschooling family in the background and you get all jealous because you're lucky if you get one project done per year despite having a ton of art supplies. I'll let you know if we finish it by the time he's 12. LOL! Okay, off to remove a drawer and sort through it while watching the Christmas episode of Bones: Season 1. ~CoffeeHeidi

Comments (2) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• May. 31, 2007 - Math, Worms, and Science Experiments

We've had a couple of good homeschooling weeks. Kiran's been doing most of work his without much complaint. He freaked out at his math test, not because it was too hard but merely for the fact that he had to do it and "suddenly lost the ability to do long division." I let the test go for that day and came back to it two days later. He freaked out yet again (did I mention I even let him do a lot of it orally?) Then around midnight or later he comes to me and asks for the test saying he's figured some things out. Low and behold he had. Only 3 problems missed and one was a simple reversing of places (ones for tens) in Roman Numerals. The child has always understood math instinctively. No drilling of facts needed for him. A two day brain freeze does not equal being stupid. Now if only he believed it himself. I bought him a poster clearly explaining long division. It's the same way as described in his Rod & Staff 4th grade textbook. But of course, he has yet to believe any method in a math book as "his way" is always better. So I'm hoping the poster will work like his Roman Numeral one and that he'll learn simply by walking past it "20,000 freaking times a day" when he goes to his room. It's in the same spot as the R. N. one and it's how he learned them.  Now onto the topic of worms. Since nearly every inch of soil in our Asphalt Garden was bought and made by us (not counting the leaves) we feel it's only proper to add worms in order to help build the soil and create a healthy environment for the plants to grow in. If we wanted to be proper gardeners, we'd go online and buy composting worms (red wigglers to be exact.) But since we're lazy gray thumb gardeners, we go to Wal-Mart's sporting goods section and buy tubs of Canadian grown nightcrawlers. You could say that we're worm rescuers. No ending up as fish bait for these guys! Here's Kiran with our purchase - 250 worms (10 tubs of 25 each.) Kiran asked that 2 tubs be used to feed the birds, seeing as how the baby robins were getting huge. He laid out the tubs and put some worms in a hollowed out pumpkin he's been hoping birds would nest in. The birds didn't go for it. However, mamma robin cheerfully plucked worms that we'd placed in the garden beds. The hungry bird will always catch the worm that's too slow to burrow itself. I did take a picture of her but it didn't come out. I've only the cell phone and not a digital camera. I do have a pic. of Kiran about to place worms in the tomato bed. Science Experiments One of Kiran's favorite science experiments is playing with acids and bases, testing for ph, trying to create a food derived acid that will melt nails, etc. One of his first homeschool moments was doing just that at age 6. Sure the house stunk for a week but you never saw a happier child. This time he'd asked to do one of the Young Scientist Club kits (#13 to be exact.) So it was off the grocery store at 9 pm in order to buy red cabbage and a ton of soda. Kiran had his own plans for the kit.  Here are some pics. My husband did try to help but he's a left brain "do it by the book" kind of guy whereas Kiran is a "fly by the seat of your pants - who needs directions when you're having fun" mad scientist. My husband did ask that I not put up his picture as it's not flattering, but, I did anyway. As soon as I can find one of the really good ones of him (it's there, somewhere in one of our 3 computers) I'll post that too. (Sorry hun, but folks haven't seen you yet.) In case you noticed, that is indeed a 1950's cast iron Kenmore stove straight out of the days of June Cleaver. It came with the house and has served us well. There's a 1930's Hartwick stove in the basement. Not only is it one of the first gas stoves, it's still hooked up. Anyone want to buy a perfectly preserved piece of history? I've got pictures (You can't blame a gal for trying. We've certainly tried everywhere else.) Okay, that's it for now. More coming as soon as the pictures get downloaded and resized. Oh, and the homeschool fair is this weekend so you can bet your ears I'll be rambling on about that. LOL! Take care, ~Heidi/CoffeeHeidi

Comments (4) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• May. 26, 2007 - Thing are a growin' in the Asphalt Garden

Just a quick post before I go out to work in the garden. Since a couple of folks have asked on the HSR board, I thought I'd list all that I'm trying to grow. Trying being the operative word. I don't have a list in front of me of flower seeds we planted, so I'll just give you the edibles. In the gazebo we have.... Tomatoes: Supersteak Brandywine Big Rainbow Sweet Tangerine (3 of 'em) Tomande (3) Rutgers Black Pearl (3) Tami-G Hybrid Cherry Juliet Roma Grape Black Krum (this one is actually in one of the garden boxes so it doesn't cross pollinate) Lettuces: Iceberg A Crisphead Little Caesar Romaine Four Seasons Butterhead Simpson Elite Loosehead Spicy Mix Mesculun Herbs (no variety names, just common ones): rosemary sweet basil thyme oregano sage (not doing well this year) marjoram oregano lavender Misc: peppers (I *think* my son planted a yellow and red bell pepper and then one spicy variety) crooked neck gourd some green variety of eggplant Bright Lights swiss chard marigolds (as a beneficial companion) red cabbage (1) Avon Hybrid spinach In Garden Box #1... Peas: Wando Garden Sweet Super Sugar Snap Mr. Big Beans: Gold Mine (yellow) Burpee's Tenderpod Bush Snap (green) Sequoia Bush Snap (purple variety) Misc. 3 cucumbers (some slicing and pickling variety I picked up at the store) dill Black Krum tomato plant that grew out of the compost pile. It's either cantaloupe or pumpkin. Detroit Dark Red beets marigolds and nasturtiums as beneficial companions In Garden Box #2... Melons: store bought seedling cantaloupe variety Early Silverline Honey Girl Crimson Sweet watermelon Pumpkins: Ghost Rider Jack Be Little Carrots: Purple Dragon World Vision (a packet from World Vision charities that I received in the mail ages ago) Short 'n Sweet Little Finger Misc. red cabbage (a whole bunch of 'em) nasturtium (beneficial companion) Yellow Detroit beets Garden Box #3... 14 purple asparagus plants, only 2 of which are actually growing Purple Dragon carrots Nantes Half Long carrots (bought this as seed tape and they're not sprouting nearly as much as regular seed) Elsewhere in the Asphalt Garden... Roma Beauty (I think) apple - assuming it doesn't succumb to black rot again this year Granny Smith apple - ditto strawberries - variety mint (either wintergreen or spearmint. It's been growing for years and I honestly forget) 3 blueberry bushes - Jersey Blue and another variety grapes (Eidelweiss I think) blackberry (only 1 of 3 seemed to have survived their fall planting) lingonberry (also planted in the fall. It's alive but not exactly growing) more nasturtiums (they are edible from what I've read) Purple potatoes - Can you believe my milk crate experiment is actually working?! We still haven't dug out a place for corn nor sunflowers in the side yard. That might have to wait till next year. Flowers that I do remember... phylox (my favorite flower as it happily grows in our shaded areas and reproduces itself) lamb's ear (reproducing like crazy in our front flower bed) hydrangea (living but not thriving in a shaded spot in front of the house) butterfly bush (happy) tons of bulbs (see pics of dear Panda's flower bed) pincushion flower sweet peas Ostrich fern collisus (something like that. It's a varigrated leafy plant) 3 miniature roses (Praises to Nor'east Miniature Roses! Wonderful quality, best packaging and shipping ever. Best of all, I can't kill their plants and they actually thrive in my garden! They'll have my business for many more years to come.) Well, I said this would be short and it turns out it hasn't been. Time to go put up netting in between the vine support poles my husband I finally built. Have a great weekend everyone. ~CoffeeHeidi, I'm not a professional gardener. I just play one in my dreams. Edited to add that I found a couple of recent pics. They're of my garden plans. Normally I'm the most disorganized person, especially gardener, in the world. This year though I was *nal as all get out with diagrams on graph paper and everything.

Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• May. 24, 2007 - We started our 4th year today!

May 24, 2004 is a date our family will always know. It was the first day that my son didn't have to attend public school and was able to get away from a truly horrible Kindergarten teacher. His experience in psK is a long story that I'll save for later. It took nearly a year to deschool Kiran. To turn him back into the happy, outgoing child who loved to learn once again. That is the greatest gift homeschooling has given us - we have our son back again. Educationally, he's thrived despite many breaks and my never-ending search for the elusive "perfect" curriculum. He completed 2nd grade in 4 1/2 months. 3rd in just 6. Currently, he's 1/2 way through 4th grade, a grade ahead of his ps peers. He might have been closer to completing 4th grade had I not had to take so much time off sewing all those Christmas trees which had seemed, at the time, an easy and inexpensive Christmas present idea. Despite the ups and downs, days when I felt like pulling my hair out, months of loneliness when we couldn't find hsing folks we could connect with, I can say with certainty that it's been wonderful for us, most especially for Kiran. He has friends. He's happy. He's allowed to go uber-fast in math and science yet slow down in spelling and in learning cursive. For me, I get to be with this amazing human being every single day. I get to see his smiling face, laugh with him, and watch as he discovers amazing things he might not have had he been stuck in a classroom all day. And even though I'm unsure if either of us will live through the Trying Nines, I'll never regret this time with him. Of course, none of this would be possible without my husband. It is a rare man that would take on a full-time night and weekend job in addition to his daytime professional one. (When we started hsing I gave up my job as a professional desktop publisher which briought in half our income.) Sleep is a rarity for the poor man, let alone time for himself. Yet he endures it with unconditional love for his family. I am doubly blessed by God for allowing me to have my husband and son - my two favorite people in the whole wide world. Okay, that got a bit too mushy. Sorry 'bout that. I promise more fun later on with pictures of worms and science experiments - but not science experiments on worms. LOL! Have a wonderful homeschooling week everyone ~CoffeeHeidi "My life is different...but it is my own." ~John Crichton, "Farscape"

Comments (1) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• May. 23, 2007 - Sci-Fi Geek meets Homeschooling Family

First, I think I'm going to cry. I just spent over an hour and half typing this entry when I guess I hit the wrong keys because the computer rebooted. I lost all of it! Not even "restore your previous session" could get it back. So, I, who am already up far too late and must drive to a play date tomorrow, shall try again. Forgive me if I'm not as witty as I was just a few frelling minutes ago. There was some great stuff Sorry, I think I'll just post this for now and come back and write the entry later. I'd planned on getting some writing done tonight and a few hours of sleep. Sorry folks. ~CoffeeHeidi Alright folks. I think I'm ready to try again. I'm going to take a different approach than last time. If I'm not that funny blame the hour. Here goes.... Begin tour and bad snooty male British accent. Welcome guests to the tour of the home of CoffeeHeidi.  You shall soon see just why it has often been described, namely by her, as "Sci-Fi Geek Meets Homeschooling Family."...Excuse me, sir? There's no smoking on this tour. Could you please put it out? Thank you...Let us continue, shall we? Upon first entering the domicile one is drawn to the large Farscape poster upon which is the gorgeous, leather-clad figure of one John Crichton portrayed by the ever-droolable Ben Browder. Now really! This was not in the original script. Somebody call my agent and get me a drink. clearing throat... On the wall above the couch hangs a colorful diagram of a Reliant class star ship. At least, I think it's a Reliant class, the ink got smeared on that bit. Surrounding it are portraits of the family's only child as well as drawings of the parent's fictional characters. You'll have to read the Tell-All for that story. Ah, the couch. It is where the family does most of their homeschooling. The mess in front of the couch is the coffee table piled with the week's homeschooling books and other odds and ends. It is also where the family eats as the kitchen table is for the sewing machine and other bits. In the background stands a bookcase crammed with books, magazines, and DVDs. Shall we step into the kitchen? Oh what a lovely...cough...view of garbage and recycling bins. I believe the lady of the house wanted the map of the world pointed out. So there, look, a map of the world. You must be thrilled. Here we have the room of a child who will grow up to be either very brilliant or very poor from all the therapy he will require. One cannot help but notice the walls covered with science fiction, space, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Hamtaro posters as well as those that are educational, spouting off such facts such as diagraphs, contractions, multiplication tables, American Sign Language symbols, and the periodic table of elements. Next, we see three pictures of the hallway that leads from the kitchen into the library. Upon these walls are in order from top to bottom: a brilliant sketch of Vincent from TV's "Beauty & the Beast," (acquired by Miss CoffeeHeidi at her very first sci-fi convention when she was but 18 years,) a "Let's Get Along" poster, a poster of geography terms, map of the United States, parts of speech poster, Farscape photo stills, Kiran's artwork, and again the a map . Unseen, as they are high on the walls, are photo stills of the family's most beloved movies and television shows. As we step into the library, one immediately notices the row of 5 full-sized bookcases, 4 of which are stacked back-to-back "library style." Proudly displayed atop these cases are models of star ships. Three of the book cases contain homeschooling materials while the center two are literally crammed with over 3,000 science fiction and general fiction books. Here we have a close-up of the bookcase that holds secular/non-religious science materials. The blur of white are all the Young Scientist Club kits that have yet to be done. A close-up of the bookcase which houses Latin, religion, and the many books and DVDs that Miss CoffeeHeidi has collected to go along with her 4th-5th grade secular American & World History lesson plans. (Please see her if you'd like a copy of said plans.) In the foreground one sees the homeschooling table, upon which currently, little homeschooling is actually done. In the background stands a bookcase filled with old National Geographics that the family purchased for only 10 cents a piece at the public library. Yet another homeschool bookcase. Atop said case rests a much beloved AT-AT. Unseen is the son's computer desk upon which sits the mother's old computer. Seen is the hardcase to son's old computer. Miss CoffeeHeidi would like it stated that should her husband be reading this that he, "save all of Kiran's old game files, box up his old computer, and return it to the Avenger folks. We need the room!" Lastly, we have the family's brand new Dell computer. It is in Miss CoffeeHeidi's personal space. Sketches and pictures of the characters she writes about are taped to the large file cabinet on the left. If you don't count her Letter-to-the-Editor in the last issue of Farscape Magazine, Miss Heidi is not a published author. Rather she is a "I Hope to Finish My Sci-Fi Novel Before I Die" person. She has written a children's picture book but as of present has only received rejection letters. However, they were the good "your manuscript does not meet our needs at this time" kind rather than those of the "don't quit your day job you illiterate moron" variety. And so, she continues to be hopeful. I do hope you have enjoyed this tour. Please leave all objects that you have attempted to steal upon the sofa. Though the tour was indeed free, donations are gratefully accepted. Thank you and Good Day."

Comments (1) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• May. 17, 2007 - Insomnia

INSOMNIA Inability to Nap...to snooze to... Sleep Oh when May I drop into blissful slumber? Nighttime only holds a restlessness. Will I stay Awake forever? ~CoffeeHeidi, overcome with insomnia yet again

Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• May. 15, 2007 - 16 Tomato Plants

First lesson learned from this gardening season: Remember what you ordered because all those detailed graph paper diagrams won't remind you that you ordered 13 tomato plants and had no need to pick up 3 more from the store because you were too impatient for said order to actually arrive in the mail. And so, a family of 3 with dh being mildly allergic and ds won't touch 'em as he's a very picky eater, will be dealing with a lot of tomatoes even if only 1/2 of 'em live. Looks like I'll get to try out canning after all LOL! As of today, all of the edibles except for the spinach and mesculin have been planted. Yay! Of course there's still the flower beds that need planting, phlox and lamb's ear that need to be separated and planted elsewhere, weeding, mulching, vine support built, roof to the gazebo built, apple trees resprayed with fugicide, and the garden boxes varmit proofed. You know, nothing too major. I'm glad my son insisted on us trying to grow red cabbage again. Nothing proves it more than tonight when we had to make a 9 pm drive to the grocery store for red cabbage so it could be boiled down for an acid/base science experiment. (Did I mention we're night owls?) Hopefully, we'll be able to actually grow it before the rabbits and squirrels eat the plants.) Here's a few pictures for you including 2 of the Asphalt Garden sign. The sign was made from an old political yard sign, spray painted black, hand painted in artists acrylics, clear coated, stuck into a cinder block flower bed, and then tied a broken coat rack. Sweet peas have been planted in the bed and are just beginning to sprout. The pink blossoms are from the flowering cherry tree behind the sign. The gazebo half planted. On the left is the tomato, basil, and rosemary bed. By the wind catcher spinny thing is the main herb bed. Planted in it is: lavender, oregano, thyme, marjoram, and sage. To it's right will go the spinach and musculin. To the front right is the lettuce bed with 2 tomato plants which got planted today. Next to that on the right, but unseen, is Kiran's experimental vegetable garden bed. The clematis and miniature climbing rose slowing making their way up an old metal arch that was interwoven with grape vines last Fall. That's it for now. I hope to add new entries later this week. Thanks for reading. ~CoffeeHeidi

Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• May. 9, 2007 - The Story of the Asphalt Garden - part 3

Here's what we've been working on the past couple of weeks. I've mentioned it before on homeschoolreviews that each year we take out time to work in/on the Asphalt Garden. Kiran has been wonderful and working really hard at it. He even mucked out all the silt in front of the gazebo, a task I kept putting off. I chalk it up under Home Ec.- Life Skills and Science. He's always finding some cool insect or plant. Yesterday we discovered a robin's next sitting on top of the alarm box attached to our neighbor's house. Poor birds must have a terrible fright every time it goes off. It's LOUD! Kiran breaks up top soil and manure in the wheelbarrow. (For those needing a wheelbarrow, we've had no problems with the plastic one we picked up for under $40. The aluminum adjustable hand tiller is good too.) Kiran's experimental garden bed is in the back. It's half planted as of yesterday. He's growing 4-5 kinds of peppers, green eggplant, and Bright Lights swiss chard. The bed in the foreground will be topped off with Mommy's Mix, etc. and be planted with 4 different kinds of lettuce. You can see the purple potato crate bed in the background. Kiran shows off my latest crazy creation - purple potato beds made from old milk crates lined with cardboard that once carried curriculum to us through the mail. The crates were then covered with chicken wire and an an old screen in hopes to keep out vermits. Kiran standing in front of the giant oak tree in the front yard. Small purple flowers that we planted from bulbs last fall, are in front. Kiran smelling the wonderful flowers that he planted last year. The brick in the foreground marks the grave of his beloved hamster for which our homeschool is named. He wanted her to have pretty flowers to look at. I planted a yellow miniature rose bush to left of the bulbs but you can't see it. The bush you can see was there when we bought the house. Kiran in the front yard by the Japanese maple tree. You can see the front flower beds. They haven't been tended to this year. We'll get to them after all the edibles are planted. Kiran showers bring May flowers. This was taken yesterday. Kiran, like many kids, loves the garden hose. He decided to "make it rain." All the pink you see are the blossoms that have fallen from the flowering cherry. This scene is what made me think of what to get nearly everyone for Christmas. (I'm not saying it here because my relatives may actually read this.) Kiran takes a much deserved rest. (Please ignore the blue car. It's been sitting there for years waiting for my husband to donate it to charity.) The new tomato and herb bed that I built out of a ton of concrete cinder blocks. It's inside the gazebo, on it's left. A close up of the bed. I do believe that's it for now. Seeing as how it's 7 a.m. I should go run a load of dishes, get my bath, do some other chores like take out the garbage and recycling, and then it's off to homeschool bowling. Thanks for reading and putting up with me. ~CoffeeHeidi

Comments (1) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• May. 9, 2007 - The Story of the Asphalt Garden - part 2

The story continues with my brilliant and crazy plan to make the garden pretty and functional while using many found-recycled items. First, we have The Gazebo. It's an old "fence thingy" the previous owners had used for outdoor parties. I'm assuming it had a top to it as some point. Otherwise, how would one keep out the bugs? It was folded up and filthy lying at the back of our non-weather proof garage. I can't find any decent pictures of the gazebo as it was first put up and used last year, so I shall include a few from this year. (Sorry for the pic sizes. They've been coming out either way too small or too big.) The red box is new and holds a newly planted-teeny tiny lingonberry bush as well as some strawberries and some small pink flowers that Kiran picked out. Another view of the gazebo. (It looks purple but it's not.) In front of it is a barely-visible flower bed. The old wading pool is covering the compost pile. This is a new strawberry bed, our lamp post with suet feeders hanging off of it, one of 2 blueberry & strawberry boxes, and plastic covering covering soil from the old garden bed in order to kill any weeds and nasties. (It worked, BTW.) Next, we have the Garden Boxes, 6 in all. This was the majority of my Big Plan in making the garden pretty. They cost about $50 a piece to make, $60 if you count the vine supports we're building out of electrical conduit piping. They're made from 4x8x1 (maybe 2) and 4x10x1 (2) inch boards that we bought all nice and precut at Lowes. They've been primed, painted, and lined with a heavy duty plastic drop cloths. Because I like color, they're color-coded. The red one is for the lingonberry bush. Blue - blueberries (with strawberries in there too.) Green - garden vegetables and fruits. (The perfect green paint was bought on clearance for only $5!) They're filled with a ton of shredded leaves. On top of that is a thick layer of "Mommy Mix" soil - 1 bag top soil + 1/2 bag manure + generous helping of peat moss, with a layer on top of that of Mel's Mix (Square Foot Garden) - 1 part each of compost, peat moss, and vermiculite (though we mainly use perlite.) Sprinkle on some Osmocote time release fertilizer (trying it for the first time) and cover with weed preventative fabric. Do you really want to know how much time and effort has been put into these? We're still constructing the vine supports and trying to figure out how we're going to vermit proof them. (My original plan would be too costly this year.) Kiran applies primer to the wood used for the garden boxes. Call it "Homeschool Art and Life Skills." Kiran standing next to some of the garden boxes. In the background is the Asphalt Garden sign which stands in front of the coat rack KnitCindy was so generous to give us. It served us well during the winter until it broke. Now it stands...leans...surrounded by concrete blocks and soil from which, with luck, pretty sweet peas shall grow up and around it. Okay, that's enough for this entry. I shall get to Part 3 in a moment. Thanks for reading. ~CoffeeHeidi

Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link

• May. 9, 2007 - The Story of the Asphalt Garden - part 1

Warning: potentially bragging content follows. I wanted to start with a pic of our sign but apparently I didn't take one with the cellphone and goodness only knows when I shall get around to developing actual film. I'll take one this week and post it. What exactly is the Asphalt Garden? First, let's go back 10 years (probably more like 15-25) and meet the previous owners of our house. They, for some reasons a previous neighbor thinks is true, decided to asphalt the back yard. Yes, folks - asphalt. The kind of black surface cars drive on everyday. They even asphalted around a big ol' flowering cherry tree. Where there wasn't asphalt they laid down landscaping marble. The stuff you buy at Home Depot for $4 a bag yet I can't give away 3,000+ lbs I hauled out of the side yard (and from around trees and flower beds) and stashed under my front porch. The frelling stuff is still messing up a corner near my porch that's already doomed by all the shade. It's like a gravel sink hole - you can't remove it because it never ends! Anyway...take us, the 75+ year old house's latest owners. After giving up trying to rake and bag a TON of leaves (there are 3 large trees and 3 smaller ones on our whopping 50' x 100' lot which includes the house) I discovered that plants had started to grow on said leaves. There was even an oak tree sapling growing in our gutter. Always wanting a garden, I decided to start piling on top soil. My husband thought I was completely nutters. He still does but now he's come to realize that at times my insanity works. Hang on a sec. ...even insomniacs listening to ABBA Gold/Greatest Hits need coffee...Yeah, yeah, yeah, if I didn't drink so much coffee maybe I could sleep. No, if my mind wasn't racing a mile a minute and if my husband didn't snore so loud the windows shake then I could sleep. Where was I? Fast forward 9 years (that'd be last year) and few decent tries at getting a garden going. We had some success but the frelling rabbits, squirrels, and ground hogs (yes, ground hogs when there's asphalt under foot!) kept eating 1/2 the crops. I bought one of those Better Homes & Gardens "look at our beautiful yard and gardens that we could only achieve because we're retired and have lots of money and time to put into it" magazines. Believe it or not, this one was actually inspiring and I thoroughly admired what the couples had done with their small spaces. The one I loved the most had used many "found-recycled" items. I fell in love with the idea that our yard/garden should not only be practical but pretty as well. Here are some pictures of the back and side yard from 2 years ago. Back yard with "termite infested why won't it die" garage on the left. That barbed wire fence in the background separates us from a major company that never cuts their brush and even more rarely takes care of their poison ivy problem. Gee, I'm not bitter; after all doesn't everyone like getting p.i. over 80% of their body? The view as taken from said yard. That's obviously our house in the background. You can see the windows to our home library. The two on the right are the ones I look out when I'm on my computer. "Hi! " This is the right side (as viewed from the house) of our back yard. In case you're wondering, those are indeed old window screens trying to help keep vermits out of the main garden bed. To the right is our new neighbor's fence. (Groaning because the previous neighbors had chain link and this new fence added shade to an already shady area. ) The tree you see is the termite-infested-how-is-it-still-alive-flowering cherry. The side yard. Image this 10 years ago completely covered with black plastic and thousands of pounds of white landscape marble. There had also been 2 other bushes and an old spinning laundry line thingy. A single red tulip still blooms every year. That's it for this entry. It's already long enough! Onto the story part 2.

Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link