by Tessa | Book Notes
Title: The Art of Strewing
Author: Aadel Bussinger
Publication Date: 2013
Price: $2.99
Place Acquired: Homeschooling Omnibus 2013
About the author: Aadel is a homeschooling mom of 3 children and married to her high school sweetheart, a “career army man.” Her children have always been homeschooled and her unschooling journey began in 2008 when her family moved into an RV during a military move. You can find Aadel blogging at These Temporary Tents, on Facebook or on Twitter and a few more places.
Describe: After introducing herself and giving a brief explanation of what unschooling is, Aadel explains what strewing it. She explains that it isn’t just something useful for unschoolers but that it is a technique that any parent can learn to introduce new ideas to our children. It is such a simple idea and, yet, there are still some basic questions to answer about it. Questions like: Where do I strew? What can I strew? How do I strew on a budget? What should I avoid when strewing? Aadel answers all of these questions and a few more in her book. She also talks about developing proper expectations (or lack thereof) toward strewing and how to accept the journey your child can take you on if you allow him/her.
Analyze: I loved the layout of this book. It was very simple to follow and Aadel wasted no time in jumping right into the nitty gritty. The book flowed so smoothly from topic to topic that I hardly noticed the chapter changes. It covered all the bases in how to strew in various life areas: physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, and relational. I loved the line, “We strew to get involved, to relate to them, and join them on this grand adventure!” Who can argue with that kind of logic? Using her own experiences and that of other homeschoolers, Aadel walks you through the practicalities of applying the concept of strewing to your family, no matter the circumstances you are currently in.
Evaluate: Although she calls it an instruction manual, I felt like it was more a manual of encouragement to relax and follow the natural path of parenting. Aadel has an uncanny way of delivering all the facts, answering your questions, and telling you that you’re already on the right path, all in a book that can be read in one evening. I especially appreciated her viewpoints on strewing attitude and atmosphere. I know that I can always use the reminder that my children learn more by what I do, and how I live, than by what I say.
Recommendation: Though this book is written with unschoolers in mind, I believe it is something that could be appreciated by anyone with children. As parents, we want to open all the possible doors for our children that we can and strewing is one way to do that. Strewing is something that encourages a parent to get to know their child and get involved in their child’s world. It is about showing your children the proverbial doors and letting them decide whether or not to walk through them. As an added bonus, the parents often rekindle a love of learning in themselves as well.
by Tessa | Faith
Welcome to this week’s Word on Wednesday post!
This is a verse that I’m reflecting on this week. It is a great reminder to me at this “back-to-school” time of year that neither my children nor I will learn true wisdom by sitting in a classroom. If we are open to the Lord’s guidance and instruction, nothing will be able to take away from us the Wisdom from the Lord.
It goes hand in hand with Romans 1:20 which states that “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” My primary role as a mother is to teach my children about God and this will be understood from what He has made. So we will continue to spend our time in His world and learning about Him through the life He has blessed us with.
by Tessa | Motherhood
I have some great posts that I want to write but my time is not my own these days. Currently my little ones are watching a show so I can type this out really quick and then head to my sewing machine to get some stuff ready for a trade fair that I’m attending this weekend. My house is in disarray, I have frozen lasagna for supper (and that’s the best supper my family has had in the last while!) and I feel like I’m running on fumes. Coffee fumes that is.
Quick update: The farm renovations are nearing completion. Another couple weeks and (Lord willing!) the barn will be ready to go. Which means that I have some more packing to do. God is really showing us His hand in things and, though His ways are hard to understand, I try to remember that He is in control and will take care of His children.
Bought a 20 book set about science and C and I started reading them as soon as they were out of the car. He is learning new words and absolutely loving the books.
Both boys are enthralled with the new kittens in the barn and are learning to be gentle with them. They are the first tame kittens we have had in quite a few years. Their mama is tame but usually she hides her kittens so we can’t tame them. I think that God knew we needed some soft, snuggly kittens in our lives right now.
Motherwort is being tinctured right now, echinacea wil be tinctured in the next couple of days, and herbal teas and vitamins are ordered. Hoping we’ll be able to make it through cold & flu season without any chemical drugs.
Care to share any of your favorite cold & flu remedies? I’d love to add some more natural methods to my arsenal!
by Tessa | Homemaking
I have a crab apple tree. It is nestled comfortable between my maple trees. For four summers I have watch those tart little apples drop to the ground and sit there, undisturbed, while they compost throughout the winter. I planned to let the same thing happen again this year because I didn’t think they had any purpose other than to feed the birds. Then I had this wonderfully terrible thought: why don’t I “Google” it?
Crab apples make very good crab apple butter. I was recently given a jar of apple butter by a friend and it tasted like apple pie on toast. I LOVE apple pie! (If you are local and want to give me one I won’t turn you down!)
Here is the story of my quest for apple butter:
1. Go to Google to find a recipe.
2. Google how to get the apples off the tree and discover that I’m supposed to shake them off. They make it sound so easy. It is, in fact, quite a workout. Put on a long sleeved shirt (the branches scratch something fierce!) or hire someone with strong, energetic arms (I told my husband that it would be a great family bonding activity). Plus get a couple of adorable little boogs with buckets to pick them up. Dump trucks work too. 
3. The recipe told me to cut off blossoms and stems: You could probably just take a shortcut and leave the blossoms. You’re going to strain them out anyway. And give yourself some time! Estimated time: 3.5 hours.
4. Cover with water and cook till really mushy: Make sure that the correct burner is on so you don’t accidentally burn your nice bamboo mixer. Estimated cooking time: (not including the burner mistake) 2 hours.
5. Strain: Wow There has got to be an easier way! The recipe called for a “coarse” sieve so, naturally, I grabbed my fine metal one. Decided it was taking too long so I upped the ante: my blue coarse pasta strainer. That one was not sturdy enough for me to mash through. Grabbed my big metal colander. Worked decently but took forever! The holes were in the wrong spot. So I downgraded again to my blue one. Nope, still not sturdy enough. Back to the fine mesh metal one. I should have just stuck with this one because it ended up being the simplest to use. Grabbed my spatula and started mashing. Then went to bed, woke up, did chores, and mashed some more.
Estimated time to strain all the apples: 4 hours
6. Spice, sugar and cook: I figured it was all downhill from here. All I had to do was add some spices and cook it, right? Well, I have a few tips:
- It splatters. A lot. I managed to get burned. Several times. (Then I got smart and started using an oven mitt while mixing it). I’m so glad that my aloe vera plant managed to recover from it’s near death experience after I first bought it. It’s coming in really handy.
- Also, the recipe told me it would need to simmer for 2 hours. That’s a little off. Mine simmered for a total of 24 hours. Note to self (and anyone else who makes it this far in their quest for apple butter): If it still looks like apple sauce, don’t try to can it! I was super excited after two hours to get out my jars and have my first try at canning. I had my pots all ready, tools within reach, filled my jars, and then had a thought: What is the difference between apple butter and apple sauce? So I Googled it. The difference is very small: To make apple butter you add spices and simmer longer. Much, much longer. I poured my apple sauce back into my pot.
- You get a much better texture if you blend it. I used my stick mixer but you can use whatever you have on hand.
7. Canning: The simplest way that I could find to tell if the apple sauce has turned into apple butter is to put a teaspoon on the counter and wait for 5 minutes. If there is no water pooling around it then it’s ready to can. Since I had never even seen someone else can anything I needed to give myself a quick tutorial. So, of course, I went to my trusty friend, Google. I was lucky enough to find out that somewhere along the way I managed to acquire some tools for canning (jar lifting tongs and a metal rack for the bottom of my pot). I still have no idea where they came from but I’m glad that I kept them!
8. Enjoy: I used 2 cup jars and have 7.5 of them. I’m not ready to look at them yet. Maybe when my burns heal and the rest of the crab apples fall of the tree I will be ready to move to this stage. I thought I might give the jars as gifts but, as much as I don’t even want to look at them right now, I’m going to be selfish. I worked hard for that butter and one day I’m going to enjoy it!
Make sure you don’t miss any posts by subscribing to my weekly blog newsletter!
by Tessa | Homemaking
It has occured to me how complicated we can make our effort to living simply. We feel that we need to do it all and then some. We read blogs and books and feel like if we aren’t growing everything we eat and making everything we use, we must be doing something wrong. This revelation came to me when I was reading an article on how to simplify your DIY.
Or maybe I’m just talking about myself here. I know that I have a tendency to over complicate things. I have a wonderfully annoying habit of researching the pants off of anything and then trying to dive in head first. I really should remember what my goals are for changing our lifestyle.
I have a number of reasons: frugality, health, appreciating the simple things, teach my kids the importance of work and more. But, when I dream about my goals for my life, I don’t picture money in the bank, or being superfit/healthy. I picture being able to take the time to enjoy my family. Working alongside them without being tied down by the craziness of this world. Slowing down. Peace.
Now I need to ask myself, will what I’m doing lead me to that life? I’m pretty sure that, if I attempted to learn and do everything at once (garden, canning, herbalism, soap making, cheese making, weaving, knitting, sewing, building and wood working and the list goes on) that I would just burn out. We are not designed to do it all. And very few people are able to dive in head first without drowning. That doesn’t sound very peaceful to me.
So, instead of my grand plan for our garden this year, I managed to move one step further than last year. The only vegetables I planted were tomatoes and carrots. Oh, and onions because I saw an idea on pinterest and thought it would be a simple way to use up the space where I planted my chamomile (that didn’t come up). I planted in containers because I figured it made sense to have a portable garden due to our impending move. I watered with a bucket from my kitchen sink because I have no faucet on my house. And I watched and waited. I did very minimal weeding (one of my favorite parts of container gardening) and only a little bit of fertilizing.
My garden took about 10 minutes to care for every couple of days and I didn’t lose my mind. I learned a lot about growing tomatoes and carrots. I didn’t get a huge and bountiful crop this year but I did manage to learn enough to point me in the right direction for next year’s garden.
Next year my goal is small: plant enough of a garden so I don’t need to buy veggies through the growing season. If that goes well, the year after next I’ll plant enough so that we can store some for the winter.
But, for now, 10 minutes extra into my schedule is simple. Because simplifying should be simple to do.Another couple great posts that I have recently read that are great grounders when you’re feeling overwhelmed or like you’re not doing enough:
How Do you Know When You Are Natural Enough? (Cheeky Bums Blog)
dear sweet mom who feels like she is failing (Finding Joy)
Make sure you don’t miss any posts by subscribing to my weekly blog newsletter!
[mc4wp-form]
