The end of our school year has come. We finished up our work last Thursday and to celebrate we got up at 5:30 am on Friday morning to spend a day in the life of Ye Olde Village.

It's been a full month of May. Certainly not very warm overall and the wind has kept us strong. But I did take advantage of the few hot days and got the garden planted so I can now enjoy watching it grow. Unfortunately the weeds grow too. As a friend said yesterday: I can look at the chore of weeding as simply decluttering my garden. Makes it seem lighter.

Yesterday I was inspired by this friend and decluttered dandelions for two hours. 

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He asked.

She said yes.

Our family is growing.

Great cheering for the new aunt by the kidlets.

Brother and sister-in-law sigh with pleasure.

We haven't heard yet from the parents or the sister and brother-in-law.

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We watched her walk across the cornfield to our house. We had no idea where she had come from but she seemed to feel at home here and enjoyed the food and shelter we provided. The children called her Missy.

One day it rained and rained all day. Nobody remembered having seen Missy. We haven't seen her since. Good luck, little Clucker. Hope you find a roost to call home.

Today's bird sightings:

• a pair of american goldfinches


• a red-breasted nuthatch (see photo)


• house sparrows


• grackels


• chickadees


• starlings

The finches and nuthatch are new this spring and a delight to watch. We love to sneak up on them through the window. They're feeling rather brave actually and we get frequent if not long peeks. They do love to flit around!

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A sunny day today tricks us into thinking it is warm. The forecast for the weekend is though. We will enjoy it no matter what does or doesn't get done. The garden is top of my list. Pieman may have other priorities. The kidlets will no doubt play, read, eat and sleep.

Today BTG participated in Shakespeare's birthday party at our local theatre. She learned sword-play and MacBeth as the 55 or so students involved acted out a version of the play. I was a little disappointed for her that the expected big stage was not used, the rehearsal hall being substituted. (This is different to the reports we had from friends who were involved last year.) BTG, however, thought the rehearsal hall a less intimidating space and was glad. She had a blast and gave us a thorough demonstration of the sword-play, complete with quotes of how they unseamed their victim.

Meanwhile, the boys and I visited with our Spanish-speaking friends over a coffee. Maria from Ecuador invited us to get together with her and her young children for some extra practice. These arrangements can be so loosely phrased that they never happen so I'll have to work on some concrete plans. I think it will be fun! How I long to be fluent in Spanish. Longing alone doesn't make things happen though. It is good for me to set in place those things that compell me to learn more and practice what I learn.


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a lesson learned

There is a land called Crete in the midst of the wine-dark sea, a fair land and a rich, begirt with water, and therein are many men innumerable and ninety
cities. (Odyssey, XIX)

So begins our history section today from a book by Dorothy Mills called The Book of the Ancient Greeks. All ears are open and careful hands intently draw into notebooks what the ears hear. Narrations of the paragraphs are thoughtful; CTM even goes on to tell the rest of the story from another book he has read. The next paragraph I read out is in fact this story. We read the other book too. (Wings by Jane Yolen) The drawings are quick yet precise. No dawdling today.

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Easier it is to read the blogs of others than to write my own post.

Here are a few I enjoy regularly:

PeaceLedge
the real life home
Higher Up and Further In


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