Pocketful of Pinecones

Our new laminate flooring is dangerous! I have to be very deliberate when siting down on our wheeled computer chair so that it does not roll away from me. Yesterday I leaned against the cedar chest and that moved. I am not accustomed to that.

Our house is still not back to normal because we ran into a little snafu when they put the laminate into the living room. They found a strip of raised cement in front of the fireplace which had been covered by the carpet.

Short of grinding it down, there is no way to make it level. The new plan is to have them fill it in to make a slightly raised platform, and then tile it.  We are waiting for the tile to come in. We are also waiting for the steps to be finished, so until then, our bookshelves and couch remain cramped in the middle room.

Now a few things have happened because the house is in disorder. First, I have grown fond of the couch in its new location; it is warmer, it has more light for reading, and my husband has to sit on it with me when he is watching television. Coupled with a period of abstinence from Spider Solitaire, it means that I have been reading more. The second thing that happened is that three of our five bookshelves are blocked, forcing me to read not what I had planned, finishing that book The Vatican which I had started before we moved the shelves, and then going on to read Little Men. Instead I grabbed Karen Andreola's Pocketful of Pinecones which I had purchased years ago when I was homeschooling and never read. I figured now was the time, and that I would have one less book on the shelves when I was finished.

Karen's book was an easy read so that I was waiting to get back to it when I took lunch breaks or picked it up late in the evenings. It is written in the form of a diary of a mother homeschooling in the spirit of Charlotte Mason  in the mid 1930's. The emphasis is on nature study, but includes other ideas of Charlotte Mason as well. She refers often to Anna Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study, another book which I purchased for homeschooling, but used not nearly enough. Each chapter ends with scientific names of flora and fauna observed during their day, and often includes a related hymn or poem. She also includes questions to prod mother and students on in their studies. The back of the book contains source notes in the event that the reader wishes to track down originals.

The scientific names and quotes are not in a readily usable textbook format, They would only be useful insofar as they would be copied for a one-time reference. Their inclusion does serve as an example of items which might be contained in a nature journal.

I found many similarities between the examples given of Charlotte Mason, and methods used in Laura Berquist's Mother of Divine Grace homeschool program - narration and dictation in the early grades, use of a timeline, keeping a nature journal, and reading books written by a single author in addition to, or in place of text books for history and science. I assume Laura adopted these ideas after studying Charlotte Mason herself. Although we adopted Anne at an older age, I found these ideas very appealing when we homeschooled. I have already started nature walks with my granddaughter, and may have her start a nature journal when she starts first grade. I found that I had many of the books which Karen recommended for homeschooling because Laura Berquist had recommended them in her program. I had others, such as Thornton Burgess' stories and postcards of Audobon's drawings, because I like Dover Publications!

Since finishing Karen's book, I am thinking that I need to make much more use of my copy of the Handbook of Nature Study. Perhaps Anna Comstock will have the answer as to why the geese we saw the other day seemed to circle around and around instead of just flying south in their "V" formation.

One other fun reference which Karen threw in her book was the book, Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. I only know about this book because I found it in the library at St. Mary Help of Christians School when Anne attended there. I pulled it off of the shelf to read to the students coming in for library time. I had no idea it was based on a real story, but I share Miss Rumphius' love of lupines. Someone brings wild blue lupine seeds in packets with a lovely hand-painted picture to the Pioneer Arts Co-op at Silver Bay on the Minnesota North Shore. I buy at least one packet whenever we stop. I did have some beautiful lupine plants in my garden, but they died when I purged plants which were growing around them. I must have disturbed the roots.

I will not keep Karen's book, but it might be an interesting read for anyone considering homeschooling. It is an easy introduction to Charlotte Mason.

The Lost Sheep

Today the gospel reading at mass was about the shepherd going out to find the 100th, lost sheep of his flock. I am the 100th sheep being carried back to safety on the shoulders of my Good Shepherd. I am hungry, thirsty, and frightened. I am filthy. My wool is wet, caked with mud, matted, smelly, and loaded with burrs. My pelt may be of little value next shearing, since it is so dirty. Yet, the shepherd still seeks me out. I am not a pleasant creature for the shepherd to have to carry. The heat of my body and my coat makes him sweat all the more as he struggles to find safe footing among the rocks on the hillside. But He is MY shepherd, and there is more rejoicing in heaven at my having been found than by all of the other 99 sheep who were not lost.

And Fr. Timothy's words still ring in my ears. We think there is a place reserved for us in heaven just because we go to mass, or pray the rosary! How I need the grace of that mass and rosary so that I can be repentant and humble! Good Shepherd, carry me on your shoulders today to the place where you wish me to be.



We are having company today, so I am making cracked wheat bread. I forced myself to add in almost all of the  flour before turning the dough out of the pan and kneading it. After resting the dough was very nice to work with. I did not have to add any additional flour. I am expecting this to be my best cracked wheat bread ever!