INFJ

Your Personality is the Rarest (INFJ)

Your personality type is introspective, principled, self critical, and sensitive. Only about 2% of all people have your personality - including 3% of all women and around 1% of all men. You are Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Judging.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

Yeah, I knew that. Personality is one of my hobbies. Do you know what type you are? Do tell...

Wordless Wednesday

Mt Fuji, Japan, from the air

(notice the switchback trails climbing the side of the mountain)

The Chess Set

One of my blog readers requested more pictures of the polymer clay chess set my son made when was in 7th grade. She would like to delve into polymer clay with her kids. We used to have polymer clay spread across the table for weeks on end, so my son was quite familiar with working with clay when he made this set. Having always been a big history fan, he chose the Greeks and the Barbarians as the theme for the two opposing sides.

The clay he used was Sculpey III. After it was formed and baked, he antiqued the pieces by painting on a thin wash of burnt sienna acrylic paint and then wiping it off while it was still wet. The small amount of paint that remained in the recessed areas gave the pieces an antiqued feel and brought out their dimension. The last step was to load an old scraggly brush with some gold acrylic paint and then wipe the brush off on paper towels. The brush was then rubbed across the pieces to leave a slight golden sheen on the highlighted areas. This technique is called "dry brush" as there is very little paint on the brush after wiping it off on the towels.

Shawn also made the chess board from a piece of wood. He divided up the board into the appropriate grid using a ruler and a pencil. Then he used a wood burning tool to create the detail. Next, he used a small brush and some stain to give the board its distinctive dark and light spaces. Last, he coated the whole board with polyurethane.

Chess anyone?

The Barbarians

Up close on the Barbarian side: The bag of loot represents a knight, the sword and shield represent the rook, the coins represent the bishop, and the fabric with the crown atop represents the queen. The texture on the loot bag came from pressing the clay onto a piece of fabric.

The Greeks

Up close on the Greek side: the column represents the rook, the cup and drapery represents the queen, and the block of stone with a metal band represents the knight.

Shawn had a lot of fun designing and creating this set. We've played with it often and it has held up pretty well. The king, Poseidon, on the Greek side had a laurel wreath around his trident at one time, but it broke off. The other casualty over time has been the shields on the Barbarian side coming loose from their rock supports. A little hot glue fixed them back up in no time.

Set your kids (or yourself) loose with some Sculpey and see what you can create!

Soap

Soap is what is wrong with America.

I was happy with my Dove beauty bar, religiously washing with it in the shower and at my sink, replacing it almost weekly as it melted away into nothing more than a white film that coated my shower floor and necessitated weekly scrubbings. I never wondered why it lasted such a short time or why my skin felt soft and youthful (and oily and coated) after washing with it. I felt comforted by my constant stash of the conformed white bars lined up neatly in their boxes on my shelf.

Then I went to Europe. And I bought soap. And it was hand made soap. From a monastery. In France.


This new soap lasts. It doesn't soften and deteriorate, but the amount it is diminished by daily is the amount actually used, applied, scrubbed with, rinsed off. There is no residue on the shower floor. The colors are lovely and natural, not "conformist white". The bars contain flecks of actual plant material that gently exfoliates as it cleanses, not needing to leave an oily film behind in order to soften the skin. And then there is the smell. It's not perfumy or contrived. You are overcome with the presence of a faint garden, of whole lavender blossoms and lemon verbena swaying in the summer wind on tender stalks.

As the Dove sits melting away, deserted in the shower stall, I have begun to realize that this is what is wrong with America. We settle for, even desire, the transitory, the artificial, the man-made. We want cheap convenience wrapped in little white boxes sitting sedately on the shelf so we will never have to do without.

How does your soap measure up?

Wordless Wednesday

My niece's dog, Sienna Marie

(You know you want one)

Changes

January seems to be the month for change. We start the new year with resolutions and goals of our own devising, but sometimes life forces other changes upon us. Some changes that have happened this week and this month so far:

-Truffle has been doing well on his diabetic cat diet of Fancy Feast at least three times a day, but he has been waking us up after only six hours of sleep because he is hungry. We've changed his diet to include a free-feeding bowl of high protein, dry food for overnight. Hopefully, his blood sugar levels will not change and he will adjust well. It's been like having a baby in the house again!

-The homeschooling boards over at The Well Trained Mind that I frequent have changed drastically this weekend. Some members are thrilled over the new format and others are trying to decide if it's worth the adjustment. I hope most decide to stay, it would be hard to see our little family of homeschool moms split up.

-What began as an additional website which I could send prospective students to has changed to a website I can send prospective employers to as well. An art teaching position at a local Christian school may be opening up and I've already spoken with the school and picked up an application. If there is indeed an opening, it would be for this fall. Shawn would be a senior and only a part-time homeschooler, hopefully taking classes at the Community College. This could be an answer to prayer, so please pray. We will soon have two kids in college and a second bread winner in the family would be a blessing.

-After much consideration, we left our church before Christmas. Not having a church family over the holidays was less than idea, but we felt led to leave and leave we did. We have now settled into a new home, same denomination (Christian and Missionary Alliance). Shawn seems to like the youth group, Julia has already volunteered to help with children's church, and Earle and I are feeling right at home. Church change can be such a disturbance in your life. The new pastor at the church we left was difficult to adjust to. The whole temperament of the church changed. Many, many people decided not to call it home anymore. Many of the elders have left as well and feel as though the decision to call this new pastor was not the right one. Time will tell what God has in mind.

With all this change to deal with my physical system has had a bit of a breakdown. Yesterday, I had one of those twice-a-year all out, puke my guts out and spend the day in bed migraines. I thought my temples would explode. If you are a migraine sufferer you know of what I speak. I get frequent migraines, but only a few a year that are so severe that I am physically nauseous.

So, I've been dealing with a lot of change. Hopefully, the next month will be smoother sailing, but I am suspicious that it will bring more of the same.

What changes have you been dealing with? How have they affected your life? Do you deal with change well?

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Hebrews 13:8

(New King James)

Thank God for that!

Wordless Wednesday

The Helper

"Shawn, what are you readin'? Oh, The Scarlett Letter, one of my favorites. What about that little girl, Pearl, isn't she precious? Just like me, little old Daisy Mae, huh? What do you mean by a pearl grows from an irritant?! I hope that insult wasn't intended for me?"

"How much longer do ya think you'll be reading?"

"You know, Shawn, I think there's a real interesting part somewhere back here...where was that now? Are you going to be writing a paper on this, because I would be a big help picking out the quotes to use. That Dimsdale guy is kinda 'dim' don't ya think? Hehe, purrr."

Hey, Shawn, are you almost done cause I'm gettin' a little bored with this book."

"That's right, we could just play for a little. Mrs. Schmuck, your video teacher, won't even notice you're goofin' around in class. See, she's too involved with her 'real' students to even notice you. Come on, poke me again, this time I'm going to get that pencil, you'll see! I knew you couldn't resist my belly spots and come hither look for long!"

I'll fill ya in on the book later, let's play some more!!"

"Man, all that reading was exhausting. You're on your own with the paper."

Reading Retreat

Before the holidays some ladies on The Well Trained Mind boards were discussing books to read that had a Christmas theme. I don't recall who suggested the Miss Read books: No Holly for Miss Quinn, The Christmas Mouse, and Fairacre Christmas, but I am grateful to that person beyond measure! After devouring those stories, I've requested the first three Miss Read novels from our local library. I intend to read the series, beginning to end. I found them spellbinding and transporting. Whenever I find a spare minute I escape to the English countryside and the small villages and simple lifestyle enclosed within the pages of these books. They are like a sanctuary, a retreat from the chaos of busy 21st century life with its electronic din. To lean back against a plump pillow and crack open the pages is like a breath of fresh, Fairacre air. I am hooked. My free time is no longer my own, a whole community waits on my presence!



After some research about the author, it is no wonder I find her work appealing. She states her major influence as Jane Austen and the current author who was most influenced by her is Jan Karon. I adore both of those writers' works and count them among my favorites.



Speaking of Jane Austen, be sure to watch Masterpiece Theatre on Sunday evenings at 9, beginning tonight. They will be airing a series of adaptations of her novels and a biopic of her life. View the schedule at PBS. The last two Sundays they aired an adaptation of Jane Eyre, one of my favorite novels. If you missed it you can probably catch it another time. It wasn't the first time they'd shown it, but be sure to tune in tonight for the first Jane Austin: Persuasion.







On the end table, next to one of my reading spots: Christmas at Fairacre, Home to Holly Springs (our latest Jan Karon acquisition), The Well Educated Mind (a Christmas present from my wonderful husband), a daily devotional by Billy Graham that my sister gave me for Christmas (she has her own copy and we both read it daily), and lastly, an adorable sheep made from wool from the local monastery (a Christmas present from Gretchen). What's needed here is a cup of tea with cream and I'm all set!

Did you receive or give any books for Christmas? What were they? Have you read them yet? Have you discovered any new favorite authors? Do tell.

Art of Nature

One of my art students, an eight year old girl, finished a wonderful painting of a blue jay yesterday. I've been working with her once a week for about six months now. I use Artistic Pursuits as a spine and add many of my own ideas. Each week we work together for about 30-45 minutes, learning new techniques, art terms, and artists. We complete a small project to reinforce the new ideas and then she is given a weekly assignment to fulfill on her own. She worked on the painting exclusively in lesson time for about five weeks. I know she is very proud of her painting and I'm sure proud of her accomplishment at only seven years old (she turned eight just this week so much of the work was done while she was seven).

If you are also interested in birds and in drawing and painting birds I highly recommend learning more about the artist and naturalist John James Audubon.

Start by exploring the National Audubon Society website where you can read about his namesake organization dedicated to wildlife preservation and about Audubon himself in a brief biography. You can also view Audubon's most famous book of bird illustrations there, Birds of America. After you have viewed the book on the web, be sure to also check it or another of Audubon's books out of the library. You can get a much better feel for the artwork looking at it printed on actual paper than you can viewing a web pic.

While you're at the library, search out this book if you are working with children or appreciate children's books yourself: The Boy Who Drew Birds. There is a teacher's guide for the book online at the Houghton Mifflin site.

Another book I would recommend if you are a naturalist/artist at heart is Keeping a Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie. It is an inspirational and beautiful piece of art in its own right as well as an invaluable resource.

Yet another resource you won't want to miss is a blog by a fellow artist-homeschooler, Handbook of Nature Study. Barb has spent a great deal of time and energy inspiring beginning artists, young and old.

So, grab your camera, your sketchbook, and your library card. Head out in search of birds and other wildlife in you neighborhood. Then try your hand at drawing, painting, and photographing what you've observed and studied.

Be inspired by nature.

Wordless Wednesday

For the love of dogs....

Tainan City, Taiwan

Going to the Birds

Lately it feels like this place is literally going to the birds. In the back yard we have two feeders, one with thistle seed for the finches and other small birds and one filled with sunflower chips for the cardinals, titmice, and nuthatches. Then, we sprinkle safflower seed on the ground for the platform feeders like the mourning doves and jays. The suet cage hanging in the bush attracts all types of woodpeckers, chickadees, and jays as well as the occasional starling sporting its white tipped winter garb. Often we scatter seed on the deck right outside the sitting area at the end of the kitchen so we can watch our feathered friends up close. The cats, of course, enjoy that benefit as well.

Earle snapped some wonderful shots of a male cardinal last week on the deck. Isn't he lovely in his scarlet robe! The feeders are rather bare today though. The current temp outside at 2:38 in the afternoon is 64.5 degrees! Obviously, the snow in the pic is long since gone and the birds are enjoying some protein meals as they track down insects who were fooled out of hibernation by the unseasonal weather.

Julia and I are going for a walk. It is too nice a January day to spend it all inside and the weather will soon return to its winter temperatures as we move into the snowiest months of the year. I am looking forward to a few good blizzards, but today's warmth is a welcome winter surprise!

The Kids

We've had a nice holiday vacation from school and responsibilities. Our days have been filled with chatting online with friends, playing our new highly addictive game Ingenious, playing floor hockey, playing computer games, watching movies, and cleaning the house in preparation for school season to hit once again. Shawn is ready to start his schoolwork on Monday. Julia is on semester break still until the 14th.

When Shawn and I start back up he will be continuing with A Beka English which I am quite pleased with. The teacher fills in all the gaps I would have left. She has such great insight into the authors and brings such depth to the literature selections. I enjoy watching the dvd's right along with Shawn. The thing I would change about the program is the amount of writing it provides. I would like to see more writing assignments. This can be accomplished in other curriculum areas though.

For history, Shawn will continue where he left off with American history using the Boorstin text recommended on the Well Trained Mind boards by Jean. He is so enjoying this text! It has been a good choice and similar to the Spielvogel text he used for world lit last year with its primary source documents and art reproductions. More importantly, the depth of detail is there that wasn't there in the history curriculum we began using at the start of the year in September.

For math I will be ordering the A Beka Consumer Math text and we will also review material from Saxon Algebra II and Advanced Math one day a week as a refresher. Once the kids get to this level at math they are shipped off to the community college to finish up. He will be doing just that next year. My old brain can only handle so much math these days!

Science has been a bit of a struggle this year with this non-sciency kid. After a false start with chemistry, which we decided to drop for now, he has been working through the computer curriculum Earle wrote a few years ago. He is just about done with the completed part of the text. Next, Earle will spend a little time giving him some hands on experience and some instruction in programming, probably using Visual Basic as he did with Julia. I'm not sure what next year holds in store for Shawn in the area of science. Perhaps we'll just skip over chem and head straight for physics, Earle's field of expertise. I did the same thing in school and it wasn't a problem for me. There will be time to deal with that when we come to it. For now, I have to figure out what science we'll use to finish out the second semester of this year. Any thoughts?

Shawn's electives include finishing up drawing I and moving on to art history using the dvd course I asked for, and received, for Christmas from The Teaching Company: Art Across the Ages. I am very much looking forward to delving into this new course! Also for electives he will continue fencing lessons. Floor hockey and time spent at the YMCA lifting weights and jogging the indoor track will round out his physical education requirement. As always, Shawn continues various small woodworking projects of his own design and choosing. German will have to wait until the community college. Progress is too slow and tedious for my liking without an instructor and a class to practice with. The arts school where he takes fencing is offering a class in conversational German, but alas, it is on Tuesday evening, the same night as floor hockey. I may take it though! I'm still considering my options.

Last but not least, Shawn is continuing A Beka American Government. We decided to throw this in as an elective for his 11th grade year instead of saving it for his 12th grade year as A Beka has it laid out. We just couldn't pass up studying this topic while the election season heats up. Since he already completed Economics last year his senior year will be open for studying whatever advanced history elective he chooses. I'm not sure this is something we'll outsource to the community college because of the liberal spin that will be placed on the study of history there. Perhaps we'll try an online course.

Julia will be starting a new semester when the community college starts back up. On her slate this time will be: Biology II, Differential Equations, French II, Psychology, and her wellness component which is something to do with meditation and stress management. She did really well in her courses last semester and looks forward to tutoring in Biology to make some gas money.

After almost a year at Kohl's she gave her notice last week. The managers were all sorry to see her go and insisted she return in the summer if she so chooses. Not many people make the one year mark in a retail store like that. The turnover rate is very high. She is hoping for some sort of a co-op job this summer through Earle's employer, but these are few and far between. Be praying something opens up for her in a science field.

The most important new adjustment for Julia is finding ways to keep busy so she doesn't miss Derek so much. He returned to school on January second and will be there for about a year until he is done with the program. There is a summer component he needs to stay for. He will be home for breaks, but this will be a long stretch. His school is about four hours away and leaving on weekends isn't an option in the winter as he has counselling duties at the snow camp they put on for Christian teens. After being home a semester and working he decided to finish at the two year program he had started. Then, he will move on to a Christian four-year school to complete a degree in math education and also in preaching, two areas he definately has been gifted in.


I think we are all ready for the work to begin. Before I know it my youngest will be completing his last year as a full-time homeschooler. He will be ready to launch off into community college courses without me. He is almost ready to take his driver's test and has been looking for his first job. How did all this growing up happen right before my eyes? All of a sudden I am mother to two fine young adults whom I am very, very proud of for many reasons. I will surely miss this homeschooling adventure when it is at a close, but it will also usher in a new era of my life and I must admit I am equally looking forward to what lies ahead.

Winter is for Memories

The snow-covered yard and feeders brimming with hungry birds are a pleasant change after the holidays. The white snow washes the world creating a fresh new start for a fresh new year. It's time for reflection, warmth, quietude, and joy. It's time for closeness by the fire, laughter around a lively board game, serenity on a walk in a hibernated landscape, and sweet slumber beneath fluffy blankets as heavy flakes fall lightly just outside the window, creating their own blanket for the wintry world.

“Winter must be cold for those with no warm
memories”

Make some winter memories to last you through the dark months ahead. Reflect on the joy that 2007 brought to your life in large or small doses. Say good bye to the worst of 2007, reassured that whatever trials came your way, you are stronger because of them and more ready to be blessed in 2008.

Wordless Wednesday

Wrapping Up the Holidays

Christmas and New Year's have come and gone. The long awaited quiet has begun to settle over the house like a thick blanket of snow, muffling the holiday hubbub. Monday morning Shawn and I start school up again. Time to head back into the routine of life.

Heard earlier in the living room:

Shawn said, "Mom, we start school this coming Monday you know."

I said, "Yes", not paying much attention to the young man's warning.

Shawn insists, "You need to get your act together and be ready!"

I let out a groan and return to some mindless activity...

Here are some random Christmas memories I wanted to share with you all. I hope this holiday season brought great blessings to you. I am full of Earle's homemade chipotle chicken chowder, snuggled on the couch near the one remaining Christmas decoration, the tree, feeling safe, warm, and blessed in the cocoon we call home.

Our German pyramid of tiny wooden carolers whirrs round and round atop the piano.

Smokey incense wafts from the mouth of our German chimney sweep smoker as he scents the room.

Earle and Shawn performing an encore presentation of a British comedy skit for the family's amusement on Christmas Day at my sister's house. For a good laugh, watch the real Bird and Fortune as they present their skit on the sub-prime mortgage situation.

The chocolate cherry mouse brigade. Is it just me or do they look a little nervous?

Old fashioned English wassail. A family tradition.

An apron for my favorite baker! My first attempt at sewing in years and years. Not too bad! The pattern is on line free here:

Susan Branch Scalloped Apron Pattern

What are cousins for? Adam adds some much needed adornment to Shawn's new fencing attire.

Yes, I am flying a helicopter, in the house. Yes, it is heading right towards me. I had no control, just as I suspected. You may laugh with me now.

Holiday Blessings