You know how *they* say...."seeing the world through a child's eye".....well, I do and I will tell you I'm getting the best education I have ever had!  Since my son was born eight years ago on Feb 25, he has taken me on a journey of a lifetime.  His caring, sensitive and very passionate heart has tested me in  many ways.  He has opened my eyes to the wonders of the world.  He has pointed out things, that as an adult, we would probably just miss it because we are too caught up in our day to day processes.  He is a constant reminder to live my life to the fullest. 

As we homeschool,  I view myself as Joshua's personal facilitator.  I follow his passions and keep looking for information, programs, books, etc that will fulfill his desire to know more.  This is a very busy job, because my little boy's thirst for knowledge is big!  We laugh, we cry, we listen, we dance, we draw, we read, we discuss, we meet, we see, we compute, we problem solve and the list goes on.  As I research information, I am learning.   As we listen,  I am learning.  I never thought I would be learning so much right along with him. 

We recently started listening to the audio book "The Mayflower".   This book certainly has more info than *I* remember learning in school.  I was on the phone with my mother and asked her whether we learned a particular fact in school.    I wasn't sure if I had forgotten it or was never informed.  We both agreed,  I was probably never informed of the these facts in school.  This audio book has us discussing so many different facets of history.  It has inspired us to go see and research some of the Dutch homes that are in our area, to plan a trip to Plymouth Rock, and Cape Cod.  At dinner last night,  the whole family discussed more.   Joshua is learning history, but so much more.   He watches his parents, who are constantly learning new things.  He listens and participates in our discussions.

Joshua has many passions but his three main passions are trains, outerspace, and dinosaurs.  At any given moment we may be on a train,  a rocket taking samples of meteorite dust, or munching leaves in rain forest of a local botanical garden because we are dinosaurs.   His pretend play challenges us to dig deeper and learn more.  I ask questions.....well what kind of dinosaur am I if I'm eating a cycad?  Because of his dinosaur passion and my plant passion, we are digging deep and making new to us discoveries together.  It is all fascinating!  I have never been so excited about learning something new.  Who knew that learning could be so exciting and fun?  I certainly don't remember being this excited in school.  

Taking a cue from his train passion,  we are reading the book "The Iron Horse,  How the Railroads Changed America."    We discuss the book as a family and get excited when the book mentions local history or talk about how we recently visited a railroad mentioned in the book.  Sometimes,  Joshua plays with his trains or draws trains while I read to him.  He likes to move.  Some folks feel if a child is not sitting still and looking at the instructor,  that child is not learning.  I challenge that.  My boy moves all the time and, believe it or not, he is listening and more importantly....comprehending.  I know at first,  I too wondered if he was really paying attention.  Then,  I was repeating something to his dad about what we were reading one day and he jumped in and finished my statement.  From then on, I knew that my little boy knew his body,  knew he needed to move while listening and,  yes,  he truly was listening and comprehending.  I love that I discovered that about him early on, so he could keep learning JOYfully.  

In my last post I mentioned that Joshua's grandparents live near a train line.  My mother said to me the other day.  " I have heard those trains past several times a day all my life, and never gave them much thought.  After Joshua was here and I saw his passion, I now get excited as well when I hear those diesel horns!"  Yes,  even my mama is now seeing the excitement of life through her grandson's eyes.  He has that gift about him. 

I am now starting to sketch with my boy.  He has inspired me. Yesterday we sat in a conservatory and sketched plants together.  What JOY we both had and how he has helped me look more deeply at everything.  So thank you Joshua for helping your mommy continue her education! 

We recently spent some time at Joshua's grandparents.    Their home is not too far from train tracks.  Amtrak and CSX freight trains run quite often.  Joshua would get so excited every time we would hear the diesel horns.  You can stand at a corner of their property and look down the street to get a narrow view of the passing trains.  This is what that view looked like.

We even looked up Amtrak's schedule and walked to a local park.  He played on all the fun playground equipment while we waited for Amtrak to pass.

It was so much fun for him to watch the trains.  I enjoyed his excitement and loved his drawings.

Of course,  not all of his drawings were trains,  he had to do a few dinosaurs.  This one was my favorite.

We discovered a few scenic railroads on our way home.  We stopped at two stations.  It was cold but fun to see the stations,  the turntable and read some history.

Walking on the turntable.

Admiring the coupling mechanism between a caboose and freight car.

Walking the rails of the non-operable track  (will not be operating until May).

Train wheels

Another train drawing....

In addition to the photo cards that I make,  I've also started printing my photos on actual canvas that is treated for use in ink jet printers.  The canvas is archival quality.   After I print it, I stretch the canvas.  I'm still working on the stretching bit and I hope I get the stretching down perfect enough to sell the prints.  Today,   I'm making soap, bottling up tinctures, and working on my stretching skills getting ready for Saturday's indoor farmers market.  I'm hoping folks will buy some soaps, creams, tinctures, cards, etc for Valentine's Day gifts.    

The photo in this stretched canvas print was taken a few years ago at the Botanical Garden.  It was at an exhibit on Charles Darwin.  They had recreated his gardens and they were truly breathtaking. 

   
This print is going to someone very, very special in my life. It is for her birthday. Unfortunately, the stretching is not perfect yet, but I know she will appreciate it.  I'm sure with a little practice I will have it mastered.

It's still snowing here.  We received another 3" last night.   My sweet hubby has plowed pathways for us and the animals.  I stepped off the plowed area the other day and the snow came up to my mid-thigh!  Hubby has been removing the snow from the roof.  In the front of our house, we have a compacted snow pile of snow and ice....it is almost 6 feet tall!  We do love snow,  but I must admit,  I'm ready for some green.  I've been having trouble getting into the high tunnel from the ice and snow.  I had to chip ice away from the door the other day.   Watering the animals this winter has been tough with all the snow.  The water freezes in the barn so we have to use four water hoses hooked together.  Watering can take up to two hours by the time you hook the hoses all together,  water, and then drain the hoses.  If we don't do a good job draining,  we have frozen hoses and that becomes even a bigger job.  Walking in the deep snow also slows you down.   I think about how difficult it can be some days and then I think about how much more difficult it is right now in other parts of the world or in the past on this farm.  

I was reading about India the other day.  Someone had visited recently and said,  "the water we flush down our toilets is cleaner than the drinking water for most of the population in India."  It really makes you count your blessings.  Even when hubby was in Cambodia a few years ago,  it was the same way.  However,  one thing he pointed out...these people were happy.  Many did not have electricity,  running water, sewage, etc yet, these people were happy.  It really makes you think about things in our country and how many people in our country behave.  

We're now selling photo cards of scenes around the farm. 

You may purchase them from our website:

http://perryhillfarm.com/onlinestore/farmphotocardsprints.html

I will have more cards soon,  sets of cards, and even stretched canvas prints.

We drink nourishing herbal infusions every day.  I can say it truly is helping us all feel better.  The last few years has been tough health wise for us as we have been plagued with Lyme Disease,  Babesiosis, and Ehrlichiosis. 

Unfortunately, my Lyme was not treated timely and the bacteria went to my brain.  It caused atrophy and many lesions in the brain.  The good news is after almost two years of antibiotics (off and on), nourishing herbal infusions and St. John's Wort tincture, I am starting to feel like myself.   It was a rough ride at times and I'm so glad my body is finally healing.  I still have set backs from time to time,  like when I'm exhausted, stressed, or if I get sick.  I'm sure it's going to take a while to completely recover but I'm on my way.  

This summer when my husband had the co-infections of Lyme and Babesiosis he said he felt better drinking the nettle infusions.  Taking the proper antibiotics in time and drinking the infusions helped him to recover completely.

For more information on infusions please click on this wonderful Susun Weed site:

Nourishing Herbal Infusions

Susun Weed  is one of my favorite herbalists.  I have learned so much from her books and websites.  I am ever so grateful that this year I started working part-time for her.  I am one of her Virtual Assistants.  Currently,  I'm creating websites for her.  Yes,  I did create the Nourishing Herbal Infusions site.  What a treat,  creating websites (which I love to do) about my favorite subject.....medicinal plants.   So grateful for this opportunity!

My favorite infusions are Nettle, Red Clover and Oatstraw.   I picked red clover blossoms almost every day last summer.  I actually purchased a lot of red clover seeds this winter and plan to cultivate it,  as well as to continue to wild craft it this year.  We need a lot for our infusions and also for us to sell from the farm.  I am also planning on planting a lot of Oatstraw and Nettle.  I gathered nettle seeds this past fall.  I will be cultivating it as well as wild-crafting the Nettle.  Not only do we use the nettle for infusions,  I use it to make my nettle hair oil, and I also put the dried nettle into my shampoo soaps.  We  are going to need to grow a lot of nettle.

There is  approx. 20 inches of snow on the ground.  It is beautiful outside and my thoughts are filled with getting my hands into the soil.     Our unheated high-tunnel will soon be planted with cold tolerant greens and in about a month or two, I will start my seedlings for the plants I sell in the Spring and Summer.

Joshua is helping me work the beds in the high tunnel this past November.

We're looking for an intern(s) this Spring, Summer and Fall.  You can check out our listing on our website.
We also have listings at NOFANY, HelpX, Growfood and WWOOF.  Keeping our fingers crossed  we get someone as we could really use the help.  

I've been busy creating some new soap recipes to go with new molds I recently received.  It was so wonderful to receive molds as Christmas gifts! 

Chamomile/Calendula soaps.  Kid tested and kid approved 

 
Cinnamon/Clove Calendula Soap.  This soap smells delicious!

If you wish to order our soaps you can via our website.  We ship out all over the US.

http://perryhillfarm.com/onlinestore.html

Joshua loves sketching out dinosaurs.  He has created  a 40 page dinosaur field guide.  His latest sketch,  that I really like,  is a Spinosaurus.  We met with friends on Monday and our friend inspired Joshua to work on his shadows.

We love snow and we've been pleased as punch that we have been getting our fair share of it.

Very pretty but very cold when the wind blows!

The snow is deep!

An artistic shot caused by snow melting on the camera lens.

Yes,  he even climbs trees in the winter!

At least if he falls out, it is a soft landing.

The critters do get spoiled here,  plowing a path for them.

A very happy boy  in the snow!!

Joshua loves the American Museum of Natural History.  It  is his favorite place in the world.  When we do go, we spend 6-7 hours there at a minimum with most of that time in the Fossil Halls.  Joshua is amazing when it comes to dinosaurs, he's like a walking dino encyclopedia.   It is clearly his main passion  at the moment....although outer space and trains is in there too.  We are looking forward to meeting a young man next week who shares Joshua's passion.  They are meeting to discuss dinosaurs.  Joshua is very excited,  finally.....someone who shares his passion.  He has been working hard on his Dinosaur Field Guide.  He wants to share it with this young man.   I think he has drawn approximately 40 different dinosaurs.     My mom thought he was being creative and making up the names to all of these dinosaurs she had never heard of....nope they were real names.  That last time we were at the museum he spent some time with a "fossil volunteer"  they had some great conversations and he stumped her a few times with his questions.

He's learning just how much of this dino exhibit is real and how much is plaster cast.  This particular dinosaur is mostly real.  We learned that 85% of the fossils displayed at the museum are real and not cast.  The museum lets you know what is cast.  We also learned that the basement is full of fossils.  The fossil volunteer said if Joshua wants to be a fossil volunteer when he's older,  he will  be able to see those stored fossils.  Oh boy,  was someone excited about that!  

Joshua brought a note pad so he could do some sketches and study the fossils more.  Everyone walking by would stop and watch our little boy sitting there so intently studying the fossils and sketching them.  He didn't even notice the people stopping to watch him.

We are looking forward to another day at the museum or the Yale Peabody museum to continue with Joshua's studies.