In my life this week…
Not much going on in this household this week. We did some yard work over the weekend and pruned the tree in out front yard. It needs a severe haircut every year to keep it reasonable and we don’t think the previous owners took very good care of it. The tree is a called a Tamarisk and is what we named our homeschool after.
This weekend is the kids class feis for Irish Dance. Feis roughly translated means festival. For us its a competition. Its a long day but fun for the kids. My wife is planning on taking them. So I will stay home with Ian.
As promised from last week here is a picture of my cleaned desk. That also happened on Saturday when I wasn’t outside helping trim the tree.
In our homeschool this week…
Philip has one more section of math to do for the year. I expect that he will finish it off next week. We also worked on the resources of British Colombia. He read about a lot of them. We then picked one and did a mind map of what it was used for. For there I had him pick one of the things it was used for and mind map out that one. So he started with water. We have lots of rivers and lakes here. One of the biggest uses is hydro-electric power. We took that one and listed its uses. One of which is a big aluminium smelter. I then had him write a paragraph on each; water, Hydro-electricity, and aluminium.
He also has and on going project of writing a short story. I give him time every afternoon to work on that anyway he sees fit. One of the resources he has decided to us is a podcast called Writing Excuses. I have listened to a number of them myself and have found them useful. He has now listened to more of them that I have. They are done by four published authors and are each only 15 minutes long. The podcast are aimed at adults but Philip gets good information out of them. An aspiring teen writer would find them helpful. I have not listen to all of them so I can not vouch for the appropriateness of all the content but I would be surprised to find anything I would find objectionable.
Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
The Writing Excuses Podcast from the above. I would start with season 1.
My favorite thing this week was…
I found a six and a half pound, enamel coated cast iron stock pot in a thrift store. The price tag said $12 but there was a half off sale so I got it for $6. I would love to know the brand but there is no identifying markings on it. I have wanted one of these for a while but the price tag has kept me away.
I’m cooking…
We broke out the BBQ for the first time last weekend and did up some burgers. I did up a pork roast with Sweet Potato Aloo Gobi, a recipe I got off the food network. It worked out great and will go into the repeatable box. I’m on a bit of a experimental phase in my cooking right now. The leftover pork roast got stretched out into pork fried rice.
I got a trick from the show, Chef Michael Smith’s Kitchen. He grates frozen butter into his flour when making biscuits. Cutting in the butter is the step that always makes me think twice about making biscuits. I haven’t had a chance to try it yet but I will sometime this week.
I’m praying for…
The entire US. It has been a rough week down there with the bombing, the ricin and West, TX. I have spent way to much time this week flipping between news sites and watching events unfold. I can not truly express my feelings over these tragedies but I have said a lot of prayers. Right now I am praying for closure on the Boston bombing. Let the good people of Boston get back to their lives in peace.
A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…
You know you are a SAHD if you have ever used a screwdriver to separate frozen sausages.
I have used this trick and it is very effective. You don’t hurt hand trying to bang on the back of a knife. I now buy a large box of frozen sausages that are easier to separate.
Linking up at:
Why haven’t I ever though of that? Grating frozen butter for biscuits is genius! And your pork fried rice looks awesome! I haven’t cooked outside yet, but I’m tossing around the idea of getting a new lil’ grill. The kids love to have dinner outside, but my old lil’ grill isn’t working so hot (literally) anymore. Nice deal on the pot! I found a traditional Boston Baked Bean pot the other day at the Salvation Army, but it smelled funny! LOL (And was $25!)
The pot is an AWESOME find. I’ve not gotten one because of price tag, too. And thanks for sharing the podcasts. I’m going to have my 11YO check them out.
Hello, I found you at the Weekly WrapUp. I don’t know any SAHD’s, so I must admit I was a bit curious!. It’s very nice to meet you!
I’m not much of a cook or baker, but the frozen butter makes biscuits sound much easier. I can cook and bake, I just don’t like it. But tricks like this are so helpful, my family might actually get biscuits with ideas like this.
What do you use the large cast iron pot for? I have one; it’s even blue. But I have no clue what to do with it.
The cast iron pot is replacing an older pot that I used mostly for making big batches of soup in. I also use it for making rice crispie squares. I should be able to put it in the oven and make baked beans with it. I am little concerned that I can’t find any markings on it so I’m not 100% sure its oven safe. It should be but…