I need a better system for keeping track of what I’ve learned. Repeatedly over the past month I jotted things down on scraps of paper and lost them, only to (sometimes) find them again. It must be time to get a notes app like I had on my old phone and/or a dedicated notebook for information I don’t want to lose but only need to keep temporarily. 🙂
- There’s a heron rookery at the Red Barn Preserve in Morristown, NY. (Don’t you love the word “rookery”?)
2. Empire apples are a cross between McIntosh and Red Delicious (and a million times better than either of those!)
3. Metis beadwork is a cross between Indigenous beadwork and French embroidery. It incorporates flowers unlike other First Nations beadwork, which is geometric. . (I learned this on my mom’s blog!)
4. Fuel oil is dyed red when it is exempt from taxes (i.e. used for farm equipment, off-road vehicles, and machinery).
5. A trick for making crispy potatoes that don’t stick to the pan is to preheat the pan for 30 minutes and then dump the oiled potatoes onto the hot pan.
6. Ligonier Ministries is named after a town in Pennsylvania. (I knew it was headquartered in Florida, but not that it had originated in Pennsylvania.)
7. I discovered a website called Mrs. Hale’s Harmonies that includes instructions for folk dances that you can teach to kids. I’m excited to explore it more. (So far we are working on the Sasha.)
8. I’m really happy that I decided to do a two-year geography study of the USA (free on this website). So far we have covered Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, filling in blank maps with the capitals and major geographical features, and then reading a few picture books about the culture, history, or natural environment. I’m learning a lot!
9. Written narrations are hard but good for my brain! I am slowly working through The Liberal Arts Tradition by Kevin Clark and Ravi Scott Jain, narrating each section in a notebook. I’ll have to share insights another time.
10. Nathaniel Bowditch (1773-1837) was a mathematician credited as the father of modern navigation.
11. I read The Postman Always Rings Twice for my library book club. I can now say I understand why it was banned for violence and eroticism. I will not be searching out more noir crime novels.
12. A. Barton Hepburn was the Carnegie of the North Country, donating money to found seven public libraries in small towns where he had once been the school superintendent.
13. I’m generally resistant to subscriptions, but Spotify Premium is reviving my musical enthusiasm from the live concerts and iTunes library of my youth. (And I learned that you can also listen to audiobooks.)
14. I know I already mentioned the snickerdoodle spiced almonds from Aldi, but Andrew and I loved them so much if we ever come across them again we will be stocking up!