Oh My Gourd!

We officially kick off our homeschool year starting on Tuesday. I've been using the last few days for time for myself and catching up on some crafts. Last year, I grew of ton of gourds and was pretty happy with the crop at the end of the season. This year, I'm not sure what I'll get. The vines have just started to flower and no fruit is even set yet. I have a good two months to go before I would need to harvest them so I'm hoping that I at least get a few.

My gourds from last year have been sitting on a shelf, well, collecting mold. Mold is good for gourds. It helps them dry out and creates amazing patterns on the gourds.

I've been painting decorative gourd birdhouses. This one is my favorite sunflower. I love how all the shapes of the gourds are different. They all have to be sanded completely and it is only after sanding that the true beautiful pattern of the gourd is revealed. The ones that don't have spectacular patterning are the ones that get painted.

This one, is gorgeous with its patterns of sworls and tortoise shell pattern.

It looks like granite. All of these patterns are caused by mold. Mold is good.

I love this Goddess Gourd too. The shape spoke to me. It was all curvy and female.

Here are the three gourds together, all shiny from being polyurethaned. I'm very happy with them. I started sanding several more gourds today. I don't know what they will be yet.

Homeschooling Home Economics Class

It's been an eventful two days. We installed Tae's computer game that he got for Christmas. My four and a half year old is amazing on the computer. Of course, he feels a need to change everyone's screen saver. The game he is playing is called Bailey's Book House. Highly recommend it. He has just started on it and the first section is rhyming words. Mind you, he has no idea how to read but the pictures with the words are on the screen. Sometimes he doesn't know what the pictures are but after telling him he can figure out if they rhyme or not. Look closely and you'll see our cat Kiwi sleeping in between the two computer screens. It's a prime napping spot. Hmmmmm-thinking....thinking.

He was supposed to choose the (pea) pod but couldn't figure out what it was. Once I told him what the picture was he was good. He loves this game.

This is the gourd that I started to sand the other day. It has beautiful patterning. Sometimes the gourds have soft spots and my thumb went right through the side of this one. For every three gourds I sand, I usually lose two. The Buddha would say that the gourd did not want to be a Shekere'. It will be a birdhouse. This one went much better. It is smaller but also with nice patterning. I cut the top of this and sanded it and will start beading it tomorrow. The top edge still needs to be leveled and sanded and before beading I think a coat of oil will be best to show off it's beauty.

So why did I call this post Home Economics? Because my kids are learning how to do laundry and make dinner since I can't. Patrick made delicious grilled cheese sandwiches today and Morgan did the white laundry. I'm so glad I have such giving kids that never think twice about taking care of their mom when she needs it. Patrick said to me today, "But you always take care of us when we are sick, we can help you too." That's what homeschooling does for us. It brings us closer and allows us to depend on one another without question or complaint. Okay....maybe sometimes we complain.

This is a picture of my new IV that went in today. Sorry so blurry but you try taking a picture of your own hand. Geez I look puffy. I'm being treated intravenously for my Lyme Disease after a few difficult weeks. On Wednesday I'll receive a new larger midline catheter that will take me thru the next few weeks. I got my first dose of antibiotics today and it made my mouth water (not in a good way) and made me throw up. Nice.

I get to give myself all my own drugs because insurance companies are too cheap to send out nurses anymore. But since I'm a nurse I think I can handle it. Gee, maybe I can lose some weight now. Nausea is not necesarily a bad thing.

And here is the delivery I got today in the mail. A bag of saline flushes, heparin, bandages and the IV Antibiotics. The antibiotics are in the refrigerator next to the pork roast. I'd rather eat pork. The kids were all really facinated watching the IV go in and the nurse so appreciated Tae putting his paintbrush down on his sterile field. He also told the nurse that sometimes our toilet stinks too.

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