I took Dilara to a Halloween Party last night. She was Rainbow Dash, I was Boudica. We invited Ciara from her school, and it was fun.
Dilara's dad just bought an Adventure Science Center Premium membership, which included 1 guest per visit, which will make it really nice since Dilara's older sister and brother don't enjoy spending hours doing the same things Dilara does. We almost went to the ASC today, but we did other things instead. She had her last soccer game today, and her Dad took her to that, and then to the pizza party. I went there to pick her up. We went by the Warner Parks Nature Center afterwards.
I felt quite ill today, but It was beautiful outside, and I had to get out anyway to pick up paw paw seeds that a lady who works for Warner Parks saved for me. I missed the email she sent me last month saying that they were ready for me, and since Dilara has been in school and we don't spend 2 days a week on the other side of town (where her Dad lives), we haven't been there in a while.
Today we got paw paw seeds, and dogwood seeds and we got some persimmon seeds a little while back. We will experiment and see what happens. When we went to the Music and Molasses Festival last week, we were offered Tulip Poplar seedlings that the Master Gardeners were giving away, but I declined. I am trying to focus more on edible landscaping. We still want some more fruit trees. Dilara has been asking for a cherry tree for 2 years. I'd also like an apple tree. Our 3 in 1 Pear Tree is doing well, I think, but I think I picked the pears too late this year...they had that kind of grainy texture, but we are learning a little every year.
We will spend a lot of time this winter (more if she is homeschooled, less time will be available if she is still in public school), planning out yard and garden projects for next year and working through a course on permaculture. We never got our rain barrels set up this past year like I wanted to. We need to make a level, raised platform for them to sit on.
When we were at Warner Parks, we checked in on their organic garden. We need to be putting our garden to bed soon. The fish ponds were grown over with vegetation. It is interesting to notice how different it looks at different times of the year.
I pushed myself to go on the "storywalk" with Dilara on the short trail they have for kids. Then we went to the outside play area that we rarely visit, because it is usually too sunny. It was perfectly shaded around 3 in the afternoon today. They had a huge pile of dirt that some kids had dug a hole in and were pouring water the hole and calling it a "volcano". Dilara slipped and got muddy when she climbed up it to pour water in.
After I got the mud washed off her, we went into the Nature Center and she worked on puzzles. The puzzle drawer was quite a jumble, but she did a good job of putting it in better order.
After we got home, I noticed some pokeberries an told her we should make some ink soon. Before I knew it, she had picked a handful of berries and juice was oozing from around her fingers. I didn't feel like starting a messy project, but I gave her a tea strainer, a spoon, and a jar so she could mash the berries without staining her hands. I knew she would be interested in ink, since she was so interested in writing with a feather quill pen last weekend and the Tennessee History Festival with her Dad.
She is working on some art at the moment. She found a gray crayon called "timberwolf" on the ground at the park. She commented on how it was a compound word, and she wants to draw a picture of a wolf in the forest.
Even when I am sick, I expose Dilara to a lot of rich learning experiences. I told her Dad that I do more with her when I am sick than he does on a regular day. We always have more activities we want to do than time to do them in. She has a good life.--Lydia
Dilara's dad just bought an Adventure Science Center Premium membership, which included 1 guest per visit, which will make it really nice since Dilara's older sister and brother don't enjoy spending hours doing the same things Dilara does. We almost went to the ASC today, but we did other things instead. She had her last soccer game today, and her Dad took her to that, and then to the pizza party. I went there to pick her up. We went by the Warner Parks Nature Center afterwards.
I felt quite ill today, but It was beautiful outside, and I had to get out anyway to pick up paw paw seeds that a lady who works for Warner Parks saved for me. I missed the email she sent me last month saying that they were ready for me, and since Dilara has been in school and we don't spend 2 days a week on the other side of town (where her Dad lives), we haven't been there in a while.
Today we got paw paw seeds, and dogwood seeds and we got some persimmon seeds a little while back. We will experiment and see what happens. When we went to the Music and Molasses Festival last week, we were offered Tulip Poplar seedlings that the Master Gardeners were giving away, but I declined. I am trying to focus more on edible landscaping. We still want some more fruit trees. Dilara has been asking for a cherry tree for 2 years. I'd also like an apple tree. Our 3 in 1 Pear Tree is doing well, I think, but I think I picked the pears too late this year...they had that kind of grainy texture, but we are learning a little every year.
We will spend a lot of time this winter (more if she is homeschooled, less time will be available if she is still in public school), planning out yard and garden projects for next year and working through a course on permaculture. We never got our rain barrels set up this past year like I wanted to. We need to make a level, raised platform for them to sit on.
When we were at Warner Parks, we checked in on their organic garden. We need to be putting our garden to bed soon. The fish ponds were grown over with vegetation. It is interesting to notice how different it looks at different times of the year.
I pushed myself to go on the "storywalk" with Dilara on the short trail they have for kids. Then we went to the outside play area that we rarely visit, because it is usually too sunny. It was perfectly shaded around 3 in the afternoon today. They had a huge pile of dirt that some kids had dug a hole in and were pouring water the hole and calling it a "volcano". Dilara slipped and got muddy when she climbed up it to pour water in.
After I got the mud washed off her, we went into the Nature Center and she worked on puzzles. The puzzle drawer was quite a jumble, but she did a good job of putting it in better order.
After we got home, I noticed some pokeberries an told her we should make some ink soon. Before I knew it, she had picked a handful of berries and juice was oozing from around her fingers. I didn't feel like starting a messy project, but I gave her a tea strainer, a spoon, and a jar so she could mash the berries without staining her hands. I knew she would be interested in ink, since she was so interested in writing with a feather quill pen last weekend and the Tennessee History Festival with her Dad.
She is working on some art at the moment. She found a gray crayon called "timberwolf" on the ground at the park. She commented on how it was a compound word, and she wants to draw a picture of a wolf in the forest.
Even when I am sick, I expose Dilara to a lot of rich learning experiences. I told her Dad that I do more with her when I am sick than he does on a regular day. We always have more activities we want to do than time to do them in. She has a good life.--Lydia