Our summer vacation is drawing to a close early this year as we have some exciting travel plans in the spring and we need to get back to school. There should still be time for the beach and ice cream in the afternoons! In fact we have vacations with extended family in August and in September. This month I spent a lot of time figuring out when we will do our 36 weeks of school work. Thankfully the kids are mostly on board with starting school next week. Without further ado, here are my July favourites.
Read
I read Charlotte Mason’s sixth volume, A Philosophy of Education. In my next post I’ll share a hack that I used to motivate myself. It was certainly worth the effort (which was actually less than I expected). She shares so much wisdom that I’m convinced by her philosophy more than ever and I hope to blog more about her ideas in the future.
I spent two months reading The Brother’s Karamazov, my first “big Russian novel” (823 pages). I was fascinated by the volatile emotions and the varied structure and style.
Andrew finished reading me Ireland by Frank Delaney, which took us maybe a year off and on. It’s the story of an Irish boy searching for an old storyteller who once visited his home and in between those narrative portions are many, many tales of Irish legend and history.
I only got through one readaloud with the kids this month because it had many more chapters than our June books. I’m glad I read Swallows and Amazons for the first time, though I could do with less sailing terminology and one of the characters being named Titty!
I Hear a Pickle is a fun picture book about the five senses with all sorts of examples and cute illustrations.
Eat
- This Italian dressing made excellent pasta salad and I’m glad the kids were much more willing to eat it than in previous summers.
- Turkery burgers with peach churtney and peach-glazed salmon were seasonal recipes I made for the first time.
- Korean pork barbecue wrapped in lettuce was quite easy to make and I enjoyed it with kimchi from Trader Joe’s and quick pickled carrots.
- I made German potato salad which I remember from childhood meals at my grandparents’ house.
- Shredded chicken in the Instant Pot was an easy way to feed a crowd.
- Tiger birthday cake!
Do
- As usual the kids loved VBS (the theme was sea voyages using the story of Jonah) and I got quality time to work on school planning.
- We went to a Fourth of July picnic which was also a 50th anniversary celebration. The weather was perfect and the food was abundant.
- Another visit to the Children’s Museum.
- We saw Adirondack Raptors for the second time and this time I held an owl (a screech owl named Wednesday).
- We met a bunch of friends at Waddington Beach, though some families couldn’t make it due to sickness so I hope we find a time to go back.
- My girls had a sleepover with a couple from church, who took them kayaking and swimming, made s’mores, and treated them to Pizza Hut. Meanwhile Malcolm got a sleepover with a cousin at Grammie and Grampie’s and Ralph and I watched the fireworks for the Seaway Festival.
- The boys and I went to a Civil War battle reenactment with cousins, then met the girls at a contra dance in Lisbon.
- At the end of the month we spent time with Gran and Grandad at an Airbnb on the St. Lawrence. It was rainier than ideal, but better than predicted. We all had a fabulous time kayaking, swimming, playing badminton and board games, soaking in the hot tub and shooting off stomp rockets.
Grow
Already things have changed since the first day of August, but I’ll try to give a July garden report! We have picked and eaten sweet yellow banana peppers, green beans, romaine, and zucchini. I have been chopping and freezing kale for soups. The tomato plants are weighed down with green tomatoes and at least two eggplants are growing. I think I should have harvested the garlic a week or two ago — at least I can use it now if it isn’t good enough for long term storage. The marigolds on the front steps are thriving but the acidanthera did not put out any blooms and the sunflowers did not survive.
Ponder
“There is no lesson so profound or so useful as this lesson of self-knowledge and of self-contempt. Claim nothing for yourself, think of others kindly and with admiration, that is the height of wisdom and its masterpiece. Never think yourself better than the next man, however glaring his faults, however grievous his offenses; your are in good dispositions now, but how long will they last? Tell yourself, ‘We are frail, all of us, but none so frail as I.'” – Imitation of Christ (emphasis mine)
Meditate
For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust [confidence] shall be your strength.”
– Isaiah 30-15a