I have a long way to go before I have a fully running edible landscape. However, I am thankful for what I have so far. I am not an expert at gardening, but I am learning as I go. A great book that is helping me is called Desert Gardening since I live off the coast and closer towards Palm Springs. It seems that July & August just scorches my entire garden and Jan gets frost. So, it seems in Southern California I have a few short seasons to work with although I can grow year round. I have so much to learn.
I need to be diligent with watering since missing one day can wipe out all my hard work (which has happened a few times). I did get straw to mulch and that seems to be helping. However, it blows all over the place (as seen in the video). I still have more beds to mulch now that the plants are larger.
Here is a list of what I have so far:
Trees fig (Black Mission), plum (Santa Rosa)
Bushes 2 blueberry varieties (O’neil & Misty)
Vine grape (red flame) and kiwi (about dead by the sun)
Berries blackberry, raspberry, boysenberry, strawberries (again near scorched)
Herbs oregano, basil, chamomile, aloe
All raised beds have wire to keep underground gophers from getting into the goods. My dog, Hailee has been keeping all the birds from landing and mice, possums and gophers from having a party in my yard. The compost seems to draw in the critters. Which is why it is in a trash can with holes so I can put potting soil over the clippings and put a lid on it.
Annuals corn- sweet, white, & bi color Anaheimchili’s tomato (a few varieties) watermelon cantaloupe pumpkin spaghetti squash zucchini patty pan cucumber- 2 varieties tomatillo
To do finish nylon netting for vertical growing front yard flowerbed along the wall needs to be re planted (most everything there is a volunteer and I didn’t have the heart to rip them out.) install an irrigation system finish the side area of the front yard next to the small raised beds. BTW, I double dug under all those and amended soil about 1 foot down. I don’t have wire to block gophers though. I hope it isn’t a problem in the future, but from what everyone tells me it will be an issue.
After it cools a bit I hope to plant trees in September like citrus and stone fruit. As well as putting all the plants that are still on pots in the ground. I need to be careful since the soil I have is clay and very tough to work with. I know it will be a while before I have awesome soil.
I receive many questions from mothers who want to home school their children but don’t know where to start. I would recommend moms to find other mothers in their community that are homeschooling. I would consider myself to still be somewhat of a novice even though I have completed 3 years of homeschooling with my kids.
Selection I belong to a charter school. The kids receive their funds from public schooling and we have vendors that we are able to select programs, books and so forth from.
Accountability We meet with an Educational Specialist every month. This is when I turn in work samples, lesson plans, attendance and grades. I also consult with her to find more resources and options that could better suit our needs.
Testing My children are still required to complete the same testing as public school children do. In California it is STAR testing. The children meet every spring at a public location and the tests are set up the same as traditional school. In addition, my children are accessed at the beginning and end of the school year with an online test called Scantron just to see their starting point and their growth at the end of the year.
Special Services My son has always needed the assistance of speech therapy. So he is receiving that through the school as a free service. I am also enrolling in LARP (Language Arts and Reading Program) for parents to learn more effective ways of working with their children’s learning styles.
1st Year Curriculum ( 3rd and 5th grade) Our first year of homeschooling, the kids attended half day enrichment classes two days a week just for social interaction and to be a bridge between public school and home school. I had no clue how to home school so I did a box kit curriculum with Varsity books. Basically it was set up as a normal teacher teaching public school. I downloaded the class lessons and conducted class just like a normal school setting. It was quite a challenge considering I was teaching two different grades. I was separating my son and daughters curriculum and doubling up on the work load. Honestly, the first year was really tough and we struggled to maintain a system that was generic and didn’t meet our lifestyle.
2nd & 3rd year Curriculum (4th & 6th grade) I kept the language arts and math curriculum separate, but combined all the other subjects like science, history, life skills, art and PE. My children selected their own special interest. This system was much simpler and we found ourselves enjoying the learning process together whereas before we struggled to do everything “by the book”. Along the way, I found it much easier to start writing our own lesson plans based on our lifestyle. Here is what we did last year:
Language Arts READ a book that they enjoyed (I would pull books from the required reading of public schools for their grade level, but found the kids took more interest in the books they selected themselves) WRITE a page a day especially in their journals (encouraging gratitude, creating) or stories Spelling & vocabulary- Latin based- Red Hot Root Words Grammar- Daily Grams
History Story of the World series
Science Life Science (7th grade) Kits- Solar Science, Edible Landscaping, Square Foot Gardening, Human Body
Math Teaching Textbooks
PE Gymnastics
Life Skills computer skills, typing (roller typing program), blogging personal & family responsibilities raw food recipes
Special Interest guitar lessons, horseback riding lessons art- painting, drawing
Now I am approaching our 4th year of home school and I feel like it is time for another change. My kids are a bit older and are expressing career directions. I observe what they do during their independent time and I am looking to nurture their interests and habits. It seems that we are less and less concerned with standardized testing and learning skills that are not applicable to them at this time. I am not too sure how this is going to be received by our wonderful ES, but I am sure she will show us how to incorporate it all into the typical subjects.
I feel as a mother it is important to honor their direction and support them. I need to remember that learning is supposed to be fun. It is pointless to waste their time if the brain is not activated. I watch to see their natural inclinations and curiosity. I do not act like I know all the answers, since I know I don’t, but rather just express a love for learning all through life.
Priorities Knowing & supporting their end result Nurture their nature & passion Have fun & keep their minds curious Prepare them to be self reliant
My kids are entering 6th and 8th grade next month. Here is what I have set up so far.
Language Arts Reading- whatever they enjoy (Alex enjoys reading the Harry Potter series, Eragon series, Twilight series) Write- in their gratitude & create journals & writing projects pertaining to other subjects Spelling/Vocab- Latin Grammar- Daily Grams book
History Story of the World However, public school focuses on US history for my kids grades. However, I much prefer a chronological global view.
Math Money generation and management Teaching Textbooks (typical class)
Science Sustainable Living: health & environment Earth Science (typical class)
Life skills computer skills, typing, blogging, social media Entrepreneurship Self Reliance
PE wrestling horse vaulting (gymnastics on a horse)
Special Interest Alex expresses a desire to excel in sports (currently in wrestling) and music(taking guitar) , computers. I would love to find a course he could take to learn about programming and just overall computer knowledge.
Mehgan expresses an artistic desire to be in the fashion world of modeling, creating her own clothing and jewelry line, singing and performing arts. She loves interacting with animals. She is working on selling her jewelry online from her blog and Etsys. I need to enroll her into a performing arts program.
Finding What Works Everyone has their own approach. I am not even sure that I am doing things right. All I know is that most of the stuff I learned in school is information that I do not apply in my life. I want to make sure that what they are learning and doing they are enjoying. I want them to retain and apply their knowledge versus memorizing and regurgitating.
Over the weekend I spent alot of time with family. I have two sisters Amanda who is 5 years older than me and April who is 12 years younger than me. We had our girly chats and got to talking about dating.
Watching my older sister (who is also a single mom) get calls from her “potential” guy had me thinking about my romantic life. Or perhaps the lack thereof. I don’t know what is up with me. Most of the time I don’t even think about it. Now, I know I put out a couple of videos about dating as a single mother, but I just haven’t felt driven to date since the last 2 videos.
Is there something wrong with me? Am I too comfortable? Am I too independent? Am I just in a rut? Why isn’t romance really on my brain? Have I waited too long and lost the memories of what it feels like to be in love? Am I going to be single forever? Do I have a vision of a romantic partner?
My sister was asking me why I didn’t date. I replied that I felt good focusing on my kids and raising them. I also expressed that I really wanted to create and generate multiple streams of passive income and have a wonderful financial system in place. Besides that, I do have some insecurities with my body. I know it is ridiculous, but it is something that I allow to keep me from saying yes to a date.
So, now I am at a point. Should I just keep doing my thing and work on my business and kids and leave dating out until I am more established? I really don’t crave romance, or at least as much as I see others going for it. I feel like it is there whenever I want it, but do I feel worthy of it? Do I feel complete as I am? Or maybe I just haven’t met the right guy? I dunno, but I definitely see a lack of romantic drive. Of course, every now and then it sounds good, but those thoughts are not predominant.
My sister seems to think that at this rate I’ll be single forever. I don’t like the sound of that. I am not sure if that is just social conditioning that makes me think there is something wrong with staying single or if it is a true deep down yearning for companionship.
I don’t feel lonely. In fact I feel quite satisfied, but watching others go nuts over romance has me wondering if I am out of the loop. I am not yearning for connection. I feel like I enjoy lots of intimate and satisfying relationships.
What is my deal? Will the craving arise after my kids are grown, I rock my bikini body and I have a very secure financial life? Am I afraid and finding excuses to hide behind? Or have I just come to feel secure in who I am and the relationships that I have already that I feel complete? Or have I not fully accepted myself and until I do that no one will walk into my world?
Hmmm…… so I am at the point….to date or not to date? Why do I bounce between the both of them? Maybe nothing will happen until I make up my mind.
Just sharing some random thoughts. Share yours if you feel inclined. 🙂
It was January 2005, I just closed escrow on my first home. I was happy to get the keys and move in. I had taken the day off work to start the moving process. However, a client called me very early that morning needing my assistance. I normally took the kids to school, but I made arragements to have my long term boyfriend take them so I could go see this client and then get started on moving in.
However, on my way I was involved in a hit and run by a drunk driver that could have ended my life. I was sitting at a red light waiting for it to turn green when I was hit full force. I don’t remember being hit. I was knocked unconscious, but I remember coming out of it being surrounded by a group of people, not knowing where I was or what had happened. Luckily, people saw the accident happen and chased the person who hit me and fled the scene.
The back end of my little 4 door Honda Civic had been smashed all the way to where the back seat was almost touching the back of the drivers seat. I had my massage table in the trunk of my car at the time. The impact propelled the table through the back seat and over my head to the front windshield.
I was laid up in bed for 3 months to heal from head trauma, vertigo, neck and back injuries in addition to some left sided injuries to my shoulder, elbow and knees. The vertigo (severe dizziness and nausea)was so severe that I felt like I got off a really fast merry-go-round. I couldn’t see straight, everything was moving, at the slightest movement I felt like I would throw up. If you have ever been drunk and closed your eyes and felt the whole world spinning, that’s how I felt 24/7. I couldn’t hold up my head. I couldn’t think clearly. I couldn’t take pain pills because my body rejected them. I spent time in the ER dealing with a bad reaction to Vicodin. I was throwing up non stop and heaving into exhaustion. I felt like I had no quality of life. I couldn’t even function: physically or mentally.
During the healing phases, I would get flash images of the accident reoccuring in my head. I was brought to tears when I realized I would normally take my kids to school that morning. Thoughts went through my mind of my children no longer being in my life. I was shaken! My kids are such a huge part of my life, but at that time I was working, my kids were in public school. I taught evening fitness classes and time with my kids was somewhat limited.
Thoughts went through my mind, “Was this a life that mattered?”, “If I died today, did I give my kids the skills they needed in life?”, “Did I make a positive impact on my kids?” I thought about that being my last day to live and questioned the way I had been living. Did I live a life that I could die a happy person feeling totally confident that I had done all I could do in my life? Did I spend my time in ways that mattered most? Did my kids know how much I loved them? Did I savor them or take them for granted?
I wanted to hug them, cuddle them, kiss them, tell them how much I loved them. I wanted to laugh with them, to grow with them, to watch them experience life. I wanted to support them and share this gift of life we had. Even if it was only one more day.
This was the beginning of a major life shift for me. I felt gratitude for the accident, because it made me reevaluate my life. I started shifting my life immediately. I did not return to work full time. I only saw clients when my kids were in school and in the fall of 2005, I enrolled my kids in a charter school. I began a homeschooling program. I really didn’t know how to homeschool or anything about it at all. However, I repeatedly had the intuition and inspiration to do it,so I trusted that guidance.
Other changes evolved as well. I ended a 5 year relationship that seemed to no longer be syngergistic. I discovered raw foods. I decided to take my career into my own hands and become self employed. Freedom in all life aspects became very important.
I was given another chance to live. And ya know, we don’t have to wait until something like this happens to start a new life. Every morning the sun rises we are given another lease on life. What are you going to do with it?
If you are running through life feeling overwhelmed and not really making the impact you know you want, or wishing you felt alive and filled with passion then you are going to LOVE me!
