“Kindness and good intentions can be an insidious path to destruction. Sometimes doing what seems right is wrong, and can cause harm.” – Terry Goodkind 🕊️

GOALS THIS WEEK: Surprised to be cleaning the house for the end of the year already.

Last Week: Wanted to make some more strategic plans and think about what to cut out to make time for paperwork.

This Week: Got to make it through the kids being ill before I can realistically do extra new habits.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Been dark and gloomy and angry, but also grateful and satisfied and aware of what’s going on in my life and mind.

Physical Health: Sick with what is going around town again.

Social Health: Noticing where I need to be assertive, set boundaries, take more time to myself, but also it’s hard because I am a bleeding heart for my friends.

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LIFE JOURNAL:

“Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.”

– Roberto Assagioli

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Last week putting sunflowers in was cool because the flowers were a gift to me, a gift into a gift, something beautiful about that. This week passed in a blur, had my daughter’s friend for a sleep over, trying to encourage good study habits, you wonder if what you say falls on deaf ears about school leading to skills that matter, but you never really know if the school work really does matter for a kid without knowing where they are headed, where the world is headed, what jobs or pursuits will even exist in 10 or 20 years? But though the school work or maybe school may not matter, being the captain of your own soul and your own life I think will always matter, so time management, opportunity cost, good communication, honesty with yourself, I think learning any of that is worth the effort.

Sunday: Last week a lovely Halloween party after going to the zoo. Here I am a week later and I can’t believe it’s only been a week. Fall weather hit hard, which feels like a monsoon in our area. It feels dark, cold, somehow the days feel tired and it seems not just our family, but most families are sick with the cold weather transition. I can’t believe just last week we were franticly getting ready for Halloween and hoping to do things with the year still, now it feels like there is only one breath left in this year. I am halfway inspired to do something cool with these last slivers of year, but halfway tempted to gather strength for next year and start reflecting on what I am and who I am now.

Monday: Last week, was Halloween day, it was a nice night singing with the kids at home. This week I spent my whole garden budget, this week I haven’t yet been able to catch up with gardening, but I didn’t know I would be sick. We did do some Krita Art Class, and I did the first activity of the Digital Illustration Class, an eye, which was fun. I guess I’ve slowly gotten used to the computer tablet over time. We did some Duolingo classes, I haven’t been as active as I wanted to be with that as an individual, but I am happy to have started some other students with it.

Tuesday: Last week I was reflecting on the Permaculture Principal: Use the edges and value the marginal, it did inspire me to clean and garden, but being sick and especially the kids being sick drained me so that not a lot of progress happened between last week and this week. I try to surrender to the fact I will lose days and weeks to being sick and to taking care of my kids, but emotionally I still resist accepting that I won’t always make progress toward what I care about. A student caught up on science class, the first in his family, when I asked what he wanted to do he said “Scientist,” which is awesome. There actually are a good amount of science jobs in this area, Oceanography, Astronomy, everything at the college, it’s not a bad job market in our location.

Wednesday: Last week wonderful day, we did karate three times, we did giant bubbles. This week we stayed home from the beach sick, the complete opposite. But I did do some Non-Profit Corporate Bylaws Paperwork and I have more to do… A student caught up on math class today, it was nice, emotionally we moved from I’m not a good student, to I’m a good student, but I hate math, to I’m a good student and I don’t hate math, but it is boring and from I’m not going to do it to I’m going to do it and don’t know why I need it to, I know why I need it, I am going to do it, but I don’t like it. Eventually, I want to get to I am good at math, and math is a tool that helps me do things I really enjoy.

Thursday: Last week I did research crop rotation and think about what I wanted to do. This week I am soaking 8 kinds of onions to see what grows well where I am and start crop rotation at step 1 the Alliaceae family. Covered a bit of reading coordinated some paperwork stuff. I am now feeling positive about the longer 501 process, that being so hard it is also a good opportunity to set the tone for the future of what kind of conduct, values and principles we expect to take place when we are gone if the Adventure Scouts are sill around to ensure that it doesn’t become cookie laundering for just girls, while boys go on kayak trips and adventures.

Friday: Last week got two tubs of yard waste off a fence. This week did our cooking, which I was tired to get started on. We covered some English, which I remembered not liking, and set up some foreign languages. I was proud one of the students was exercising and jealous also. I want to start exercising, I want to spend more time outside, I want to draw more and do music and get the house cleaned. I want to finish the paperwork and be a good person and stay organized, will I ever do all those things?

Another week bites the dust… and another one’s gone.

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Secret Forest to Farm

Cherry Blossom – Waiting for cold germination. ⌛

Lavender – Cold stratified, germinated via heat mat single-side paper towel and light. The seedlings look fine. Doing a second germination. 👍🏼

Sunflower – Germinated in 3 days after 24 hour soak. Grown. Distributed. Growing well. 👍🏼

Morning Glory – Germinated in 1 day via cup of water to paper towels > grow bags > Distributed. Growing well. 🌱 They look good some are vining now. Some pest damage on the leaves, center holes medium size.

Roma Tomato – Germinated in 2 days via paper towel. Grown. Distributed. Some early blight! Some that went into the community are growing fruit already. 👍🏼

Clover, Alfalfa – For the Hilo Garden A. 🔮

Blueberry – Germinated in a few weeks paper towel method, spouts are so tiny, but doing well.

Raspberry – Germinating…

Koa – Germinated first week and kept staggered germination. The one from last year is looking beautiful.

Something new this week: Did a kind of accelerated learning boot camp with a student for the first time, interesting, I hope it was helpful for them.

Something good this week: I stayed home from the beach because we were sick and didn’t feel bad, which is good, something shifted with my boundaries where I enjoy my friends, but don’t feel obligated to take care of myself or my family first.

Something unexpected: We has a guest who asked me if I was ever going to use the fountain top in the garden, which just came.

✏️

“People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it’s true, or because they are afraid it might be true.” – Terry Goodkind 🕊️

GOALS THIS WEEK: Celebrating and realizing the year is almost through.

Last Week: Taking stock and making it through the three birthday pile up in the end of October.

This Week: Want to make some more strategic plans and think about what to cut out to make time for paperwork.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Feel like almost at peace with the year, kind of want to do MORE.

Physical Health: Fighting off flus, drinking tea, pretty comfortable, but not all the way normal.

Social Health: Trying to ignore my friends more and do more paperwork, or hang out “smarter”.

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LIFE JOURNAL:

“Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.”

– Roberto Assagioli

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Last week we came home from camping. This week putting sunflowers in, it was cool did about 50, but, definitely need to weed that garden further… these Mexican Sunflowers are pretty, but their leaves make great fertilizer and they create a great farm ambiance which is food for the soul. The bright yellow is such a healing color for my heart, I’m surprised the heart’s colors are not officially yellow. This garden is on a steep slope, I’m not an expert at working with that, but I think perhaps those grid messes filled with soil or gravel would shore up paths and plant levels…

Sunday: Last week we had my daughter’s friend over. This week a lovely Halloween party after going to the zoo for Halloween pictures and a different friend stayed over, who we hadn’t had over in a long time. The party was so beautifully done with glow sticks and buckets, tons of food, a spooky trail, trick or treat, a memorial altar with candles. It was so cool and so thoughtful. My kids didn’t want to wear their costumes, I should try to remember not to get them expensive ones, because they can’t tolerate being uncomfortable. It’s a time of year death is on my mind, but it’s nice having company in the fall because I like to be a hermit in the winter.

Monday: Last week, we started playing Pokemon cards online it was a cool thing to start doing, I didn’t realize how well made they made the online system. This year Day of the Dead rolled into Halloween then ever before, but it was nice singing with the kids, bringing out our dead pets and butterflies lights, and experiencing a celebration of our dead that was actually fun, I guess it replaced the Obon we missed, where we would have danced around and remembered our ancestors in the summer if it hadn’t been canceled for the 3rd time by the pandemic. Good riddance it seems like to shutdowns that I don’t think were done in a smart, effective way. If there are no masks in 2023 it will be better than 2022, I didn’t know I liked showing off my face, but I guess I do and I know I like breathing well in hot weather and not having one more thing to remember that is a fight with my kids.

Monthly Garden Budget

This is for the pond, I hope to repair it. $35 for a 100-foot cord. $25 for the electrical spike, so $60 of electrical that you don’t even notice in a pond. Tape to fix the leak that has been on my plate all year bothering me at the back of my mind $17, new top peice for the the waterfall $38 and $83 so like $197 for pond repair/upgrade.

$38 for the train garden edging.

For the garden we haven’t started yet, $20 of decor to try to kick off the theme, $25 of veggie beds that will still need soil.

$30 of grafting stuff for more avocado-tomato experiments at least the greenhouse is back up so I have somewhere for these kinds of tools to be.

So I spent November’s budget on Halloween Night, but mostly I made these notes to see how long it takes me to install this stuff.

Tuesday: Last week started cleaning up the office after camping. This week the house could use some more cleaning. Use the edges and value the marginal is the permaculture principle for this month, maybe I can use that to help me clean up the house not only to help with the garden.

Wednesday: Last week we had a music week at the beach. This week was wonderful day, we did karate three times, we did giant bubbles. It was kind of painful how nice of a day it was. It’s painful feeling the peace and joy and knowing it’s a high water mark, or thinking that. It’s painful thinking those not with us are gone and we can so easily forget them and be in the moment and someday we will be gone and other people will party like it’s their birthday like we did today. I don’t know what makes it painful, but it is painful. It was nice seeing kids not usually happy, happy, seeing kids that got to know eachother more opening up, it was just a nice day with clean water and good company and abundance of everything good from art supplies to laughter to help to good weather. The kind of day that spoils other days.

Thursday: Last week I did an installment of a train garden. This week was much different, visited a friend, noticed my garden was growing. It’s so rainy today, it’s quite soothing, but really makes me feel like staying inside. I didn’t do a lot of outside farming, but I did research crop rotation and think about what I wanted to do.

Friday: Last week we did some drawing for once! I had been wanting to do that for a long time. Got two tubs of yard waste off a fense, but it seemed difficult to get started, kind of a chaotic day with the yonger kids and emotional one with the older ones. The garden is doing well overall though. I learn a lot from group thinking and have a lot of fun, but it also kind of keeps me from reflecting. Some times I feel like I need silence to catch up with all the words I’ve said, heard and thought throughout the day or week. I’m grateful to have friends and community, it gives me perspective and insight and new ideas, but also I feel like there are too many good ideas and too few good actions for my taste and I want to make sure we don’t get side tracked as a group more than I want to be a part of as an individual. I get scared to loose track of plans vs ideas and jump from idea to idea without further details, planning and action, that’s not something I’m interested in chasing or encouraging, it’s not something I value and although I’m guilty of having those tendencies I want to make sure I commit to being more consistent and focused bit by bit rather than less consistent and focused. It’s human nature to want to do a lot, but it’s not the path to the future I want to bite off chunks and spit them out or choke on them.

Another week bites the dust… and another one’s gone.

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Secret Forest to Farm

Cherry Blossom – Waiting for cold germination. ⌛

Lavender – Cold stratified, germinated via heat mat single-side paper towel and light. The seedlings look fine. 👍🏼

Sunflower – Germinated in 3 days after 24 hour soak. Grown. Distributed. Growing well. 👍🏼

Morning Glory – Germinated in 1 day via cup of water to paper towels > grow bags > Distributed. Growing well. 🌱 They look good some are vining now. Some pest damage on the leaves, center holes medium size.

Roma Tomato – Germinated in 2 days via paper towel. Grown. Distributed. Some early blight! Some that went into the community are growing fruit already. 👍🏼

Clover, Alfalfa – For the Hilo Garden A. 🔮

Blueberry – Germinated in a few weeks paper towel method, spouts are so tiny, but doing well.

Raspberry – Germinating…

Koa – Germinated first week and kept stagared germination.

Something new this week: Buying fountain repair stuff, I’m excited to try to fix that.

Something good this week: The kids enjoyed the slime and bubbles. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t…

Something unexpected: The strange happiness of watching pumpkins grow.

⛅

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.“ – Martin Luther King Jr. 🕊️

GOALS THIS WEEK: Celebrating and realizing the year is almost through.

Last Week: Camping always takes a lot of clean up.

This Week: Plants waiting to be tended.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Enjoying the fall, but it does feel hectic as well.

Physical Health: Doing medium okay energy, but kind of fighting being sick.

Social Health: Feel kind of overwhelmed, almost forgot about the math decathlon.

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LIFE JOURNAL:

“Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.”

– Roberto Assagioli

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Last week my husband came to visit. It feels like a long time ago already now. This Saturday was the day we came home from camping, hiked the lava tube and sent my husband back on the airplane. One day of camping is kind of enough for me right now with my 3-year-old. The kids made movies this time around, I was happy with the amount of kids who participated and the attention to detail they showed. I added music with Movavi and had the videos up on our website, adventurescoutshawaii.org pretty fast, so pretty proud of myself actually.

Sunday: Last week I put down the path and new garden bed I was so happy so much got done. A new garden bed makes me feel like a farmer again. This week we had my daughter’s friend over, so we were doing some joint study, a lot of spelling, reading, language study ext. It was good for us because she would throw spelling fits with me, but together with her friends she didn’t want to throw fits so it saved us a lot of spelling fits. It’s been more work adjusting to more kids, but it’s been helpful overall now that a lot of time and curriculum has passed I can see how they add relevance to one another.

Monday: Last week, my husband said I could have a $300/month budget to work on the garden. This week we started playing Pokemon cards online and did some study groups. It was fun to see the kids happy, but on the other hand, my paperwork is just waiting I can’t do it with constant interruptions. I didn’t want to stop “working” on our projects to do the paperwork, but also I haven’t finished that, so there is that conflict between responsibility and creativity that never seems to go away in my heart. It’s been a fun year compared to most the years of my life, but also draining to navigate the post-pandemic social norms.

Tuesday: Last week got a domain name for our scout group, adventurescoutshawaii.org. This week started cleaning up the office after camping, not everything is clean, but a lot more got done this time than in the summer, camping is hard, but I’m getting used to it more and more. My kids both worked hard in reading and completed their English classes. I’m proud of my kids, they are both really smart, the older they get, the more I see it, but as a result I feel that I have to do more with them since they can understand it, so it becomes a cross to bear in a way that I feel they could be finishing their basics faster and doing advanced work mixed in with it.

Wednesday: Last week my daughter had her 7th birthday party. This week we had a music week at the beach, it was bittersweet to see some friends before they had to leave, but I think good to see them too. It was the Math Decathalon and it was nice to have it over for the year actually. I’m happy with what got done, but I also want to shift to more creative pursuits as the seasons shift. I’ve gotten used to the pain of loss more this year than I expected to, the economy is shifting a lot of people away from where I live, people who stay have to pair down to what is essential, work double hard just to live normally or leave.

Thursday: Last I was getting ready for camping. This week I did an installment of a train garden, that was fun, also watermelons, which got stalled to plant and I wonder if it will affect them, they also may have early blight from white flies or just been over eaten by flea beetles. Told a friend I want to wake up and do paperwork in the mornings and I do want to… but so far I haven’t made the habit. Things are not perfect, but the little garden projects that I have done have soothed me and calmed me down, definitely my ikagai, where as teaching the kids is my duty, gardening is my passion and writing is my therapy. It could be a different mix for a different person, but that’s how it is for me.

Friday: Last week camping was fun. This week it seems like I need to organize and also check in with my plants. Had some friends over, it was a bit hard between cooking and teaching, every time I do both I know I prefer teaching to cooking. My mind keeps spinning at night lately, something pretty uncommon for me, when I was young I had to write my thoughts down to sleep sometimes, maybe I’m returning to the person I used to be, who I can barely remember.

Another week bites the dust…

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Secret Forest to Farm

Cherry Blossom – Waiting for cold germination. ⌛

Lavender – Cold stratified, germinated via heat mat single-side paper towel and light. The seedlings look fine. 👍🏼

Sunflower – Germinated in 3 days after 24 hour soak. Grown. Distributed. Growing well. 👍🏼

Morning Glory – Germinated in 1 day via cup of water to paper towels > grow bags > Distributed. Growing well. 🌱 They look good some are vining now. Some pest damage on the leaves, center holes medium size.

Roma Tomato – Germinated in 2 days via paper towel. Grown. Distributed. Some early blight! Some that went into the community are growing fruit already. 👍🏼

Clover, Alfalfa – For the Hilo Garden A. 🔮

Blueberry – Germinated in a few weeks paper towel method, spouts are so tiny, but doing well.

Raspberry – Germinating…

Koa – Germinated first week and kept stagared germination.

Something new this week: The story boards from camping were filmed, and that film is online so kids can see their own work on the internet, I find that really cool.

Something good this week: Installed a train set I was putting off.

Something unexpected: My kids finished their school work, so they can do more creative stuff and work ahead.

🪦

“There is magic in sincere forgiveness; in the forgiveness you give, but more so in the forgiveness you receive.“ – Terry Goodkind 🕊️

GOALS THIS WEEK: Trying to get through kid birthday and camping.

Last Week: Been pushing hard in the garden.

This Week: The front watermelon bed has been going well.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Gathering strength to exercise and do paperwork and take care of my plants.

Physical Health: Doing much better, but still burning off a stomach flu with fevers here and there.

Social Health: Almost forgot about the math decathlon.

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LIFE JOURNAL:

“Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.”

– Roberto Assagioli

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Last week bought soil to replant my son’s apple tree and then also some linoleum. The apple tree got replanted this week. My husband came to visit the kids late Friday night and the kids are really happy to play with him. It wasn’t bad having time apart and it also is nice to have time together again and help with the cars. It’s nice for my husband to notice how much the kids change and grow, I think being apart helps make it easier for my husband to see that, though I see it too. Went to a cool break dance event and it was really inclusive and fun and I was surprised how awesome it was to be there with friends and talk and play and enjoy the creative arts, which I always push aside but that always revives my soul.

Sunday: Last week my daughter got in trouble for breaking the rules of what she is allowed to do on tablets. This week I had a great time in the garden, I put down the path around where I wanted a veggie bed all year. I put weed cloth and mulch and then filled the bed with chicken manure compost, steer manure compost, Norwegian Kelp and vermiculite.

Forest to Farm

Monday: Last week, I was pretty ill. This week we did a hike to see the lava in person for the first time, I was happy my son was happy. Amazing how much better I felt this week vs last week, I have my full strength and engergy back and I’m open to new things and new ideas, when I was sick I felt very careful not to start anything new that I probably couldn’t finish. My husband said I could have a $300/month budget to work on the garden and I really hope he doesn’t regret that or redact that later, because I’m excited to develop a plant start program, that’s where I feel like I fit into the community well.

Tuesday: Last week catching up on my journal and cleaning. This week, got a domain name for our scout group, adventurescoutshawaii.org, it was a long time in coming, but good we did that, we should also get a bank as well. Baked blueberry cake, chocolate cake and more chocolate cake for my daughter’s birthday party. Getting through the mochi and cake felt like it took all afternoon after laying hay mulch in the morning, and completing the pathway and moving the green house. This week was the first round of Amdro bait on Tuesday right before moving the green house, cutting down a tree and rebuilding the green house with the new wood. When I was moving the fallen down green house I remembered the rise stronger together banner down town and I felt a commitment to get back to where we were before the Kona Low and hurricane Darby.

Wednesday: Last week decided on a war with fire ants. This week my daughter turned 7, and I have to admit I like older kids better than little kids. I’m glad my daugther had a nice birthday with her friends, I was stressed about it, but then it was really fun and relaxing. So many people helped decorate or brought food or gifts, it was really awesome. I brought nasturtium flowers that I grew to repell squash vine tunnelers, it was pretty fun. We also had the coin microscope out for the kids, it felt pretty good between fun at the beach, friends and the microscope, though I do miss teaching karate class more often.

Thursday: Last week realized I didn’t have banana aphids, but rather flea beetles. Well I was getting ready for camping, a student of my student was finishing up Kindergarten math seven months early, he outpaced my own kids who had a head start of many years. That’s pretty cool, a lot of early learning focuses on 0-5, but this student was 5, so it’s cool to see for myself that 5 isn’t too late to start accelerated math or learn a new passion as compared to the 0-4 range. Actually, I’ve been learning cooking and dancing this year for the first time and I’m 37, so it’s really never too late, especially if you have a better method of learning. Like learning in a fun way, or learning from a master, or learning with friends, those hacks can help give you the advantage age may not give you.

Friday: Last week my daughter got a new bike, she had an old one, but getting a new one revived her interest. This week camping was fun, high interest in movie making, light saber personal values craft, the principal box craft, it was nice having help to load up after, it was nice not worrying about food, the after hike was nice, overall it was a good time for me and a good time for the kids, of course kind of draining, but I think years later the memories the kids have will be worth their weight in gold.

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Cherry Blossom – Waiting for cold germination. ⌛

Lavender – Cold stratified, germinated via heat mat single-side paper towel and light. The seedlings look fine. 👍🏼

Sunflower – Germinated in 3 days after 24 hour soak. Grown. Distributed. Growing well. 👍🏼

Morning Glory – Germinated in 1 day via cup of water to paper towels > grow bags > Distributed. Growing well. 🌱 They look good some are vining now. Some pest damage on the leaves, center holes medium size.

Roma Tomato – Germinated in 2 days via paper towel. Grown. Distributed. Some early blight! 👍🏼

Clover, Alfalfa – For the Hilo Garden A. 🔮

Blueberry – Germinated in a few weeks paper towel method, spouts are so tiny, but doing well.

Raspberry – Germinating…

Koa – Germinated first week and kept stagared germination.

Something new this week: Helping the kids learn story boarding to make movies camping was really interesting, because as story teller and an artist I never did comics, nor animation, nor story boarding, so I never connected the art of story and the art of art before in real life and I think it was awesome that kids about 5 years old were not only able to, but well suited to put together making story boards and then filming the shots. Children are so powerful in creative realms.

Something good this week: My family helped me with the camping trip, loading, delivering, picking up, that’s awesome.

Something unexpected: I have a lot of new friends this year, I didn’t set out to make new friends, but a lot of people lost friends during the pandemic and shifted around socially after, so here we are.

⛺

“Passion rules reason, for better or for worse.“ – Terry Goodkind 🕊️

GOALS THIS WEEK: Trying to clean the house after being sick.

Last Week: It’s hard to remember now, only a week later.

This Week: Little garden projects, hoping they go well.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Doing between alright and not alright, I guess it’s called stressed.

Physical Health: Had a stomach flu really bad Monday, but feeling better today.

Social Health: Two birthday parties in addition to my daughter’s, in addition to Halloween, in addition to camping, in addition to day two of the math decathlon, so I kind of wish people spread out their kids more geez.

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LIFE JOURNAL:

“Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.”

– Roberto Assagioli

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Last week we placed a watermelon bed. This week it felt like everything was delayed, pests took over the plants, from pickleworm, squash borer tunnelers, banana aphids, white flies, this is the first year slugs weren’t a main issue at least. A squash borer tunneler catapillar jumped out at me while I was holding a vine trying to figure out what was in there… that was kind of helpful and also starting. I can’t remember if it was Friday or Saturday that we went out to the garden, I feel like it was Friday actually, but then what did I do Saturday? I guess I bought soil to replant my son’s apple tree and then also some linoleum.

Sunday: Last week laid soil into a watermelon bed. This week covered a lot of English Language, some Earth Science, and some Astronomy. At night my daughter got in trouble for breaking the rules of what she is allowed to do on tablets, so that was unfortunate for me that she felt like breaking the rules, because I don’t really enjoy punishing her, but I really feel compelled to push her away from the edge.

Monday: Last week, I overspent on camping stuff. This week I threw up at least four times and was pretty ill, it was so nice my sister helped my with my kids who also had friends over, I really appreciate that she had the day off that was lucky for me. The kids were good, they did a lot of math actually and other school work like English without much help and without much candy, instead saving for game time. They also spent a lot of time singing Pumpkin Jack, by the Singing Walrus, together, which was really cute.

Tuesday: Last week went to the olympic pool. This week catching up on my journal and cleaning, this is becoming nostalgic already, I guess after 10 months things feel nostalgic. We cleaned the kids’ bedroom, my daughter decided to move back into my son’s room again, so they are sharing a room now, which is cool, going to get them a bunkbed someday. For a long time I felt like I didn’t know where home was, now I feel like it’s here in Hawaii, no matter where my husband moves later, I feel at home here now.

Wednesday: Last week we had a wonderful block day and made poi. This week I’m happy with the changes to the kids room, happy overall with school, feeling sick though. It was different not going to the beach, the day goes by and it’s not bad, but I do think it is usually worth the extra effort to see the kids friends on a normal week. Spent a lot of time over analysing the possible fire ant war cost and trying to decide on if I should poison them or leave them alone. It was kind of paranoid and isolated like Branch from Trolls…

Thursday: Last week we identified some bugs. This week I realize I didn’t have banana aphids, but rather flea beatles. So, resting up from the stomach flu and not much else except school. Hitting reading hard, math going well, this year my daughter got really good at telling time, decimals and started fractions, she got better at hand writing and a bit at typing, the only thing lagging is kind of essay composition. My son is doing great, but to advance in math he needs to write the problems out so he is learning manual writing and is good 0-3, so 4-6 is next. School is going well, music lessons are going well, I should be more happy about it, but I’ve been kind of demotivated temporarily since having the stomach flu.

Friday: Last week went to the pool, picked up mulch, and dropped it off, pretty productive day. This week productivity fell off due to the stomach flu, but both kids made it to 80% in English so that we will probably do a double year in English actually and still do some extra music and drawing stuff. I’m happy the kids are doing well, I had fun watching Sustainable Me tomato video today and it inspired me to go clean up my tomato plants a little, but then didn’t have time before my dad wanted to go to get my daughter a birthday gift. She ended up with a new bike, wish there were more places to ride around us, but at least she is interested again.

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How’s it Growing?

Cherry Blossom – Waiting for cold germination. ⌛

Lavender – Cold stratified, germinated via heat mat single-side paper towel and light. The seedlings look fine. 👍🏼

Sunflower – Germinated in 3 days after 24 hour soak. Grown. Distributed. Growing well. 👍🏼

Morning Glory – Germinated in 1 day via cup of water to paper towels > grow bags > Distributed. Growing well. 🌱 They look good some are vining now. Some pest damage on the leaves, center holes medium size.

Roma Tomato – Germinated in 2 days via paper towel. Grown. Distributed. Some early blight! 👍🏼

Clover, Alfalfa – For the Hilo Garden A. 🔮

Blueberry – Germinating…

Raspberry – Germinating… seem all gross, not sure if it’s just the way the seed capsule is.

Koa – Germinating via paper towel.

Something new this week: My daughter started riding bikes again after a small fall on a hill she had stopped for a few years.

Something good this week: When I watched Sustainable Me Tomato episode it brought me back in time to when I started gardening and I wanted to grow to eat, before I found out about all the slugs.

Something unexpected: I was surprised how much my attitude changed when I thought I had banana aphids caused by fire ants vs when I thought I had flea beetles, I stopped being mad at ants and was just more calm in general.

🏔️

This Month of Emotions

Week One: The first week apprehensive being in charge of new kids, trying not to break any rules or start any bad habits for them, I felt pleased to exercise, start a new garden and in general get stuff done after so long not getting stuff done, felt motivated to do our social studies and more music and civ games during school time, I felt satisfied when we decluttered the bathroom even though it took quite awhile, I felt inspired by the four kids who participated in the math decathalon, I felt exhilerated doing farm work it felt like I was good at something good, which is a great feeling at the end of the week I felt touched my friends threw me a surprise birthday party.

Week Two: I was optimistic to try grafting, that our camping trip felt so right overall, the next day I was upbeat decorating for fall, even though I was sick again, I was inspired giving away plants, drained the next day doing some garden work, I felt happy with myself for making it to the beach for martial arts, I was so motivated to work in my own garden cleaning the play house area. I ended the week satisfied because we did some music lesson together, so I was happy in a sense but also a little disappointed about how chaotic the world and the year was in a personal sense and a global sense both.

Week Three: The thired week started I still felt intoxicated with fall farming/gardening, I felt really inspired doing some mini-chain saw work, I felt optimistic and amused reseeding the grass lawn with bent grass, then I was festive planning my daughter’s birthday, the next day I was motivated thanks to more sleep since my youngest stopped night feeds, then I was excited because we found a place for pumpkin and watermelon beds, the next day I was happy to buy soil and pleased to put it in the next day.

Week Four: I felt inspired working with bamboo and jute twine, motivated the next day creating more staging area for my small plants, troubled the next day knowing some things that matter are being left undone, frustrated making the swing set since the kids lost one nut and I didn’t want to search around for it at the hardware stores, I was disappointed to have the math decathalon over shadowed by unwanted drama about sharing the beach space, then I was happy because I got to see a girl happy with some Double Knock Out Roses. I ended the week stressed doing paperwork, paperwork is not my favorite thing, even if I do it right or it seems right to do it, it’s really not my favorite thing at all.

Today is October 11th, I’m still a lot more tense and jittery than I used to be, I don’t know if that is something that is easy to fix with exercise or something that is going to be lingering, but I don’t think I used to be that way.

Meta Emotion: Looking back at the nineth month I was really happy gardening, even though I didn’t enjoy drama at the beach, which is usually my happy and peaceful place. I felt like my kids were being good and I was being good to them, something I don’t usually feel because my daughter is usually acting pretty badly for attention, by habit or for whatever her reasons are.

Physical Health: Some health and exercise.

Social Health: It’s easier living with just my sister, but also temporary, I don’t know what to do to destress about my dad, I don’t know exactly why he bothers me as much as he does, but I just find myself on edge and uneasy when he is standing over my shoulder.

Mental Health: I can see I’ve been overspending, but I don’t feel bad.

🪩

“Kindness and good intentions can be an insidious path to destruction. Sometimes doing what seems right is wrong, and can cause harm.” – Terry Goodkind 🕊️

GOALS THIS WEEK: Putting the second pumpkin patch and watermelon patches in hopefully.

Last Week: Wanted to destress and did in a surprising way by spending more time with friends.

This Week: Look for site for greenhouse, put down mulch.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Doing alright need to start more paperwork, but wondering when.

Physical Health: Doing pretty well, almost at full health, but fighting off a flu.

Social Health: My friends are supporting me right now, but as our group gets larger it becomes harder to deal with.

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LIFE JOURNAL:

“Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.”

– Roberto Assagioli

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Last week we did a lot of science learning collaboration, Life Science, Physical Science, and Human Body, Acellus Science. This week we built a planter, planted a coffee tree, painted part of a bunk bed, painted some pallets, placed a watermelon bed, and ordered soil, landscape fabric, and mulch. Having a great time watching pumpkins grow so far.

Sunday: Last week I taught more math and science, dancing, and language with Duolingo. This week did gardening, picked up a carful of soil and mulch and laid soil into a watermelon bed, laid weed cloth onto a pathway, and mulch on that. It feels good to be making progress towards some kind of complete project. I think each project leads to another project and the over spending never ends, I should be more responsible, it’s always been a power struggle between creativity and buying good supplies vs being responsible and saving, sometimes I go one way, sometimes the other, but it’s hard to find the perfect balance.

Monday: Last week, paperwork for a friend. This week planning to do my paperwork, brainstorming/think tank Saturday, and synthesis Sunday. It’s very close to the big dance battle and my dance hasn’t improved very much. I overspent on camping stuff, I don’t really have much of an excuse, but for once it doesn’t feel wrong it feels right. Covering a lot of English and Spanish right now, and learning some Korean on the side myself, I don’t know why I like foreign alphabets so much, but I do.

Tuesday: Last week a lot of paperwork and a lot of reading with the kids. This week went to the sail camp and the olympic pool, so much sun, but had to go to town anyways to do errands. I wish I had my large hat, it helps so much with the sun. The kids have gotten bit by fire ants lately, I did last night too, so now I have to look into cleaning up indoor fire ants…

Wednesday: Last week we had a lovely block day, this week was unexpectedly block day again, with even more blocks. Made poi with kalo from the garden, blueberry muffins, black beans, and broccoli to eat rather than buying sandwiches, but still spent money on gas and groceries anyways. Plus two more birthdays, just little gifts, but still. Friends are sick with the stomach flu, hoping it misses me.

Thursday: Last week we saw had a cool little picnic dinner at the beach with friends. This week we identified some bugs, possibly Banana Aphids, White Flies, as well as Mexican Cactus Flies. I sprayed the White Flies with soap, I actually find them pretty so for a long time I just let them grow on my avocado tree, but I didn’t know what they were. Had some friends over and was able to cook blueberry muffins and pizza for them, which is cool, it gets easier and easier making the dough for anything each time I make it. Did a bit of weeding and distributed the garden club hoses. Got the train project approved.

Friday: Last week had a good time talking to my friends and having ice cream together. This week helping take care of the spark plug wires the car has been needing for a long time. Plan to pick up mulch from Home Depot. Went to the pool, picked up mulch, and dropped it off, pretty productive day.

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How’s it Growing?

Cherry Blossom – Waiting for cold germination. ⌛

Lavender – Cold stratified, germinated via heat math then single side paper towel and light. Seedlings look fine. 👍🏼

Sunflower – Germinated in 3 days after 24 hour soak. Grown. Distributed. Growing well. 👍🏼

Morning Glory – Germinated in 1 day via cup of water to paper towels > grow bags > Distributed. Growing well. 🌱 They look good some are vining now. Some pest damage on the leaves, center holes medium size.

Roma Tomato – Germinated in 2 days via paper towel. Grown. Distributed. Looking good. Some early blight! 👍🏼

Clover, Alfalfa – For the Hilo Garden A. 🔮

Blueberry – Germinating…

Raspberry – Germinating… seem all gross, not sure if it’s just the way the seed capsule is.

Something new this week: New sleeping bags for camping make me look forward to going.

Something good this week: Pretty good stamina coming back, eating poi seemed to help I wonder if it really was that? But that was the timing.

Something unexpected: Happy but surprised I made poi this week from the Kalo from our garden.

🥦

“People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it’s true, or because they are afraid it might be true.” – Terry Goodkind 🕊️

GOALS THIS WEEK: Even though I have a lot I want to do I feel so stressed I want to destress somehow.

Last Week: Continuing to garden.

This Week: Look for site for greenhouse.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Too overwhelmed to be guilty or anxious. Camping is coming up, visitors, my daughter’s birthday, and Halloween, I need to do the minimum for awhile or I’ll go crazy.

Physical Health: Caught this same flu x3, sadness.

Social Health: Not looking forward to October, just seems so stressful a gateway to the holiday season that I detest.

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LIFE JOURNAL:

“Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.”

– Roberto Assagioli

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Last week put up a gate and did some community cleaning, it was a really nice day. This week we did a lot of science learning collaboration, Life Science, Physical Science, and Human Body, Acellus Science, and some math, stuff we normally do on Friday, but on Saturday, that felt kind of weird, but at least sciencey so that’s nice in a way.

Sunday: Last week I was teaching the second set of 5 letters of Japanese and some math, it was nice. This week I taught more math and science and did some dancing with the kids, it was pretty fun. Started some new Duolingo users, which is awesome. I’m getting behind in cleaning, which makes me feel a little uncomfortable, but at least I have Kyara’s birthday and Halloween figured out.

Monday: Last week trying to get my house in order, mentally, and actually his week a lot of reading and some paperwork for a friend. Paperwork kind of makes me anxious, not about the paperwork I’m doing, but about what I am not doing and “should” be doing. I really want to get some paperwork done, yet at the same time, it’s not easy to set aside enough time to make it feel significant.

Tuesday: Last week the school schedule, I made two weeks ago was not working, which I’m okay with. This week a lot of paperwork and a lot of reading with the kids. kind of thinking about life. Getting in the Halloween mood, and noticing my son is so big and such an independent person already. I want to do music and dance and exercise every day, but I don’t know if I ever will or if I will end up moving each thing to once a week, it’s really draining doing music and exercise, dance is a bit easier, but all three things are draining.

Wednesday: Last week we had the math decathlon and I’m proud of the kids, very proud. This week was block day, I found it lovely and wonderful, the sun felt warm rather than burning, the surface of the water was beautiful, it was one of those days kind of like falling in love, but no new love interests in my life, just such a beautiful day each section was romantic in its splendor. I was able to talk to some friends in a meaningful way despite us all chasing our kids and I felt really blessed in that because often it feels like I brush aside my well-being for my kids, and that’s fine sometimes, but it felt magical for them to have fun and me to have fun, it felt like a miracle. We jarred some bugs in the garden this week, it was okay, definitely not all the bugs, but some of them.

Thursday: Last week Crook Neck Squash and Nasturtiums went into the garden, this week they are small, but looking good. We saw what looked like Spotted Eagle Rays at the beach, it was pretty cool, had a cool little picnic dinner at the beach with friends. Not the most chill day for me, but happy my kids were happy, to a point. My daughter jumped from the local high spot and it was cool to see her so brave as she normally is. Learned some Korean at night I used to know the alphabet and it’s coming back really quickly, I remember the coworker who taught it to me and when he bought me a burger, it was cool, just one small nice gesture with no pressure, there isn’t enough kindness like that with no strings attached in this world.

Friday: Last week there was stressful paperwork looming over my mind, this week there is still more paperwork, but I’m not going to worry about it. Instead I’m stressed about my dad coming back, cleaning up, my husband visiting, my daughter’s birthday, the camping trip, but I don’t want to stress about the camping trip so I think I won’t. I put three slugs into the slug jar today, leapord slugs, which are super gross to me, beyond being gross they have paracites in my area. Sprouted some crook neck squash they smell good, really good as sprouts. My cherry seeds are struggling to sprout. Lavender is doing good though. Going to try some cococoir for the cherry seeds soon. Saw my friends, cooked some curry and watched a fried rice demo. Helped set up Duo Lingo for Japanese. Moved some roses from the Southside to the Northside of a garden. Had a really good time with my friends. There was three of us adults and it felt like we could really talk in that amount compared to the large group on Wednesday.

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How’s it Growing?

Cherry Blossom – Cold stratified, paper towel. Getting moldy, switched back to the fridge, thinking of scarafying and moving to coco coir. ⌛

Lavender – Cold stratified, Germinated in weeks via paper towel with heat and light. They are sprouting bit by bit, seedlings look fine. 👍🏼

Sunflower – Germinated in 3 days after 24 hour soak. Grown. Distributed. Growing well. 👍🏼

Morning Glory – Germinated in 1 day via cup of water, moved to paper towels > grow bags. Grown. Distributed. Growing well. 🌱 They look good some are vining now.

Roma Tomato – Germinated in 2 days via papertowel. Grown. Distributed. Looking good. 👍🏼

Clover, Alfalfa – For the Hilo Garden A. 🔮

Blueberry – Germinating…

Raspberry – Germinating… seem all gross, not sure if it’s just the way the seed capsule is.

Something new this week: Played tick tack toe in Korean.

Something good this week: Friday having the three of us together felt cool.

Something unexpected: Thursday saw spotted eagle manta rays.

🌊

“There is magic in sincere forgiveness; in the forgiveness you give, but more so in the forgiveness you receive.“ – Terry Goodkind 🕊️

GOALS THIS WEEK: Start thinking about a paperwork day.

Last Week: Getting soil beds ready for pumpkins.

This Week: Continuing to garden.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Guilty about everything I didn’t do, overwhelmed by everything I want to do, enjoying working on projects, but scared I won’t finish as much as I want to finish.

Physical Health: Doing a lot better, crossing my fingers I won’t catch this same flu x3 (x2 was enough I hope).

Social Health: Uber into gardening, trying to finish up projects, pathway part B on Sunday maybe, pumpkin, watermelon, tomatoes hopefully going in soon.

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LIFE JOURNAL:

“Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.”

– Roberto Assagioli

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Last week another “mulch party”. This week going to check on a project left unfinished. Hoping to put in a lot of watermelons and pumpkins. So did work on both projects, planted more watermelon, pumpkins, and sunflowers, used some bamboo I grew to put up my first fence, a weak garden fence, but it sets off the area the kids are supposed to stay inside of at least. Baited for LFA at two gardens. I was really in a flow state with bamboo and jute twine. Kind of did some kaizen stuff with organizing after doing the permaculture stuff, it feels better to do the garden stuff. Pizza Recipe 🍕.

Sunday: Last week I moved the small plants out of the patio and onto a medium plant staging area. This week it feels like a long time has passed since last week, I moved about 40 of the pumpkins out of the staging area into the community. I was teaching the second set of 5 letters of Japanese and some math, it was nice. It was kind of a rainy sleepy day. I calculated most seeds I grow cost $0.04, the bags cost $0.05, the soil costs a lot more $0.45, but dropping off plants anywhere kind of costs $10 with gas at $5/gallon, and my car only gets 18 miles/gallon and we live about 30 miles out of town… so 60 miles round trip and that takes at least 3 gallons, so it’s noticeable now, yet thankfully I can still do it for now. $0.54 per plant is my average cost growing from seed right now, if I had better natural soil it would be $0.09 but the difference almost doesn’t matter alongside the $10-15 it costs to deliver anything anywhere. I am toying with the notion of becoming a lavender farm right now, who knows what the future holds for anyone? I enjoyed moving pumpkins along the line to fill the gap where the ones that got planted were taken from, I still have four little tables of pumpkins, tomatoes doing well and a full table of watermelon with some herbs, and morning glories. My rosemary is doing horrible, but my friend’s rosemary is doing well (I could steal some!). I have more serrano pepper than I probably need coming up, and finally some cilantro, some green onion planted, and some pumpkin and butter lettuce. I’ll miss my plants when I leave.

Monday: Last week cut a pathway through the woods and my son did piano and Spanish homework for the first time, he was so cute and happy. This week I feel very unsettled, I feel like life is off kilter for some reason. I’m trying to get my house in order, mentally and actually, and I know I have paperwork waiting and my social life even though I enjoy it, is draining me, so I feel conflicted about where I can spend less energy and time to be able to do the things I need to do and I don’t really know what matters the most or what to do first. I’m thinking of a leaking boat and I’m the boat.

Tuesday: Last week I was trying to work out the school schedule, this week it’s already not working, but that’s okay. Been gardening, starting seeds, transferring seeds to soil, clearing places, at night swings came, we made them with the kids, but the kids lost one nut so it’s going to be a longer process to assemble them, which is okay, just feels like every process surrounding the home becomes a long process.

Wednesday: Last week we placed the sites for pumpkin and watermelon got a de-slugging station set up. Wednesday it was a nice day at the beach overall, brought some roma tomatoes, we had the math decathlon, which was nice, yet also there was some conflict which I hope we can better avoid in the future. It’s hard to say, yes I had fun with the kids making oil and water stuff, but at the same time things happened that were not positive also, so it’s hard to find a way to phrase that there was good and bad, and it’s a bit hard to accept that my most peaceful place was less peaceful, but that’s reality, the good with the bad.

Thursday: Last week I the pumpkin patch soil went in (Friday), this week we planted Crook Neck Squash and Nasturtiums and put copper mesh around the growing areas, so that was really cool because it went from an idea to a reality very fast, I didn’t think the seeds would arrive and germinate so fast, it seems like it went from idea to reality in a week. Dropped off some roses, which was cool, I never appreciated roses much, but these Double Red Knockout Roses are so vibrant a red here next to the vivid green of Hawaii.

Friday: Last week we had a super cool rainbow cake. Doing some paperwork really felt like it bogged down the day, we also made cookies, pizza and started a student on Duolingo, which is nice, but the paperwork somehow dominated everything. It was fun letting the kids play a bit more car racing then normal. I think it’s not just paperwork being draining, yet also that it reminds me of my guilt over not doing more paperwork…

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How’s it Growing?

Cherry Blossom – Cold stratified, paper towel. Getting moldy doing a hydrogen peroxide soak. ⌛

Lavender – Cold stratified, Germinated in weeks via paper towel with heat and light. They are sprouting bit by bit, seedlings look fine. 👍🏼

Sunflower – Germinated in 3 days after 24 hour soak. Grown. Distributed. Growing well. 👍🏼

Morning Glory – Germinated in 1 day via cup of water, moved to paper towels > grow bags. Grown. Distributed. Growing well. 🌱 They look good some are vining now.

Roma Tomato – Germinated in 2 days via papertowel. Grown. Distributed. Looking good. 👍🏼

Clover, Alfalfa – For the Hilo Garden A. 🔮

Blueberry – Germinating…

Raspberry – Germinating… seem all gross, not sure if it’s just the way the seed capsule is.

Something new this week: Macadamia Nut milk is okay, ran out of everything else, used it for baking, coffee ext, it was fine.

Something good this week: Toned down on the spending by buying 7 bags of steer manure instead of 20, it was nice to start gardens, yet it’s good to reign it in.

Something unexpected: I’m so into gardening again after being not into it for awhile, I don’t know what makes me hate or love gardening so much more or less, but sometimes it feels magical and other times pointless.

🐘

“Passion rules reason, for better or for worse.“ – Terry Goodkind 🕊️

GOALS THIS WEEK: Get better and take invetory.

Last Week: Trying to germinate pumpkin, watermelon, lavender, and cherry blossom.

This Week: Did germinate pumpkin and watermelon. Lavender, and cherry blossom still cold stratifying.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Trying to do the paperwork for our 501 soon.

Physical Health: Whole house sick again, but it’s passing a lot faster this second time.

Social Health: Still super into gardening, trying to finish up projects, pathway, pumpkin, watermelon, tomatoes specifically.

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LIFE JOURNAL:

“Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.”

– Roberto Assagioli

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Three weeks ago I grafted cherry tomato from my first year here onto an avocado tree in my daughter’s square-foot garden, last week my daughter said thank you, this week it has failed, but we will try again. I’ve added new soil to the square foot garden already, this week another “mulch party” we did so 10 bags this time, it was cool, did a good job, layed down 2 bags of straw on the second half of the project going to tarp that down with weed cloth soon. Tried out the mini chain saw for guava wood, wow it’s hard wood, but the mini chain saw works well. Worked on the lawn a little.

Sunday: Last week we put our fall indoor lights up, which felt tiring but good. It felt good when people came over and noticed the change. I moved the small plants out of the patio and onto a medium plant staging area I cleared. Reseeded the grass lawn and cut more levels. When I sit on the grass and hand cut it I feel like a little Pickmen and it’s a really fun feeling.

Monday: Last week went to the zoo with a pack of kids. This week cut a pathway through the woods, cleaning the patio and trying to organize the seedlings. Ordered my daughter’s birthday stuff, which is mentally draining, but glad it is done. Started the day with spooky Singing Walrus songs it was fun. My 4lb hammer came in the mail, it feels awesome. My son did piano and Spanish homework for the first time, he was so cute and happy.

Tuesday: Last week we planted about 80 pumpkins and about 80 watermelons. This week I have a bit of a runny nose, I am supposed to go shopping. I should take out the trash. I’ve been up since about 4AM looking at pictures of tree houses. My son started not drinking milk at night a few days ago and my daughter sleeps in her own bed most the week now, so I’m getting better sleep finally. 90% I’m happy to be getting better sleep, 10% I am sad that my kids are growing so fast, it does feel like I didn’t slow down and enjoy them much because I was rushing to do the laundry, shopping, cooking and recover from it all. There is some regret, but also we are all moving on and learning new skills and becoming better people together. I learned to cook and play violin, my son to use the computer and read and do math, my daughter learned Spanish, manners and a lot of reading and science.

Trying to do more with the day, school is going well, but trying to add more cleaning and exercise now that meals are more under control. Sleep > school > meals > exercise > cleaning tends to be how I get life in order.

SCHOOL – 7 AM Advanced Learning: math+ on the computer with my son, then 8 AM Review Learning: daughter, math, reading, language, coding, piano, while my son reviews meet the math facts, 10 AM Fun Learning, Singing Walrus songs and more playful school and outside, then 2 PM Deep Learning/Integration like civilization games, cooking, gardening ext.

EXERCISE – It’s been a long time since we exercised much… exercised with the kids at 11, it helps to have a schedule. We did Alphabet Exercise it was okay, not easy, but not hard, medium for coming off not exercising.

CLEANING – This is a new routine. We vacuumed and mopped before exercising, it makes a big difference, I was on a spot under the chairs and got all itchy, but then cleaned it and was fine, I’m not uber sensitive, but I am sensitive. Finished washing and making the beds, that always feels crazy hard…

Wednesday: Last week did martial arts, which felt nice. This week I want to teach fractions so I’m not going to teach martial arts, even though I’m tempted to teach martial arts, if I do no one else is going to teach fractions and the math decathlon is next week, so that won’t do. I prepared the fractions materials and I’m going to do it. So I did talk to a few students about fractions, which was cool, not everyone, but it was good. Taking the day off of martial arts was really nice, I had more fun in the water not having it hanging over my head, it was a beautiful day. We placed the sites for pumpkin and watermelon got a de-slugging station set up. REMINDER TO SELF – BRING SWORD AND CHESS BOARD NEXT WEEK.

Thursday: Last week I weeded around my daughter’s playhouse, this week I should weed the rest of that area for my pumpkin patch. It’s raining, I picked up 20 bags of steer manure compost and dropped them off. At home we made Sugar Spun Run’s pizza dough, pizza with olives and bacon, made cranberry muffins as muffins and cake and made lime tofu pie.

Friday: Last week we made strawberry cake and did piano. This week we had rainbow cake, lime pie, cranberry muffins, and curry. Put in 200 gallons of good soil to two grow beds, took two loads of trash out, and brought two loads of soil into the garden, so it was a cool balance in a way. Really looking forward to continuing in this garden, had three kids under six watering the new plants and planting in the pumpkins, which is pretty awesome, maybe later the older ones will get involved.

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How’s it Growing?

Cherry Blossom – Cold stratified, paper towel. ⌛

Lavender – Cold stratified, paper towel. ⌛

Sunflower – Germinated in 3 days after 24 hour soak in cup of water, sprouting well. Grown. Distributed. Extra growing. 👍🏼 Mine are fine. Northeastern Site doing excellent. Southeast gone, overeaten by rabbit.

Morning Glory – Germinated in 1 day via cup of water, moved to paper towels, moved to grow bags. Grown. Distributed. Extra growing. Planted in my front garden too. 🌱 They look good some are vining now.

Roma Tomato – Germinated in 2 days via paper towel. Grown, doing well almost reading to distribute. 👍🏼

Clover, Alfalfa – For the Hilo Garden A. 🔮

Something new this week: Daughter having first sleepover, it’s comfortable more than I expected, but definitely a little sentimental.

Something good this week: New community garden going in, a good place to distribute plants, and maybe a great precursor to our art garden we hope to build someday.

Something unexpected: I didn’t know I would learn so much about pest control from our scout group, I was hoping I would, but I didn’t know it, since learning about cabbage moths I may be able to protect my pumpkins better this year, maybe have my own pumpkin patch for the first time. So thankful for people who share knowledge freely.

🍰