weekly wrap up 6/30/17 Making a Pen and stain glass panel

A friend's husband has a lathe machine and was showing me his creations, bowl, pens and furniture that he has made.  I mentioned that I had never used a lathe machine and he invited my husband and I over to give it a try.  It was so much fun that I now want a lathe machine (maybe one day).

He had several different types of wood to choose from.

Demonstrating how to hold the cutting tool 

The I had a turn and it was so easy!  

My pen before the finishing touches to shine it up

After adding wax and comparing to the initial wood blocks we started with.

Next we added the components of the pen with this nifty tool

My completed pen.  I love it so much.

My husband had a turn and since I am better at taking photos of him I was able to catch each step of the process:)

Including how we add wax to the pen

My husband was quite proud of his pen too and took it to work.  I need to find him a pen holder to put on his desk just for his special pen:)

Our pens side be side:)  It is hard to tell them apart other than the color as mine is slightly darker.  

It was fun to learn a new skill and while I don't have a lathe machine and probably won't be getting one any time soon I will just have to stick the hobby I do know..stain glass

I have been working on a project for several months for my bathroom window.  I always color in my patterns to  help me in my glass color selection

Nearly finished with cutting out all the pieces

Copper foiling all the pieces and added re-strip to strengthen the panel as it is the largest one I have ever done.  I am hoping this will negate the need for rebar which I think distracts from the finished piece.  But I won't know until the piece is completely soldered and framed as to how sturdy the piece will be.

It is finished--I am still deciding if I need to add a rebar to the middle to help with the sturdiness of the piece

It looks fantastic in the window :) and it color vibrancy changes with the time of the day.  

Now I am working on a piece for my husband birthday in September.  It is an expensive hobby but I love it.

weekly wrap up 6/23/17-- School room clean up and Summer schedule

Our Official school year is over!!  We have moved on to our much lighter school schedule.  However I have to first clean up the school room because it is a huge mess from all the activities over the last several months and being so busy no one, including me put things back where they belong as a result the clutter was overwhelming.  I decided to tackle one part of the school room each day in order to make it more manageable for me

the kids school desk-- before picture

After picture.  I even got a new table cloth:)

This appears to be everyone's dumping ground. Before picture 

I think I threw three large trash bags of junk away---The after picture.  I still have to tackle the book case

My desk is a mess:)

After picture

Kids computer desks- for some reason only took a picture from one angle but trust me both computer desks were a mess

After picture

What I have discover from this little chore is my kids hate that I threw away old school projects!  I have to sneak some into the trash bags while they weren't looking or they magically reappeared.  My next job is to tackle the book shelves and try to thin out the books we are no longer using.

 Our summer schedule is always a bit slower and this year especially we are going to take it easy.  Since our local coop has splintered and we are at a loss for high school classes for our oldest we have made the decision to try flexie schooling at the Public highschool next fall.  This was an incredibly hard decision and Firedrake is not at all excited at the prospect of returning to school:(  I am hoping that only attending half days will make the transition a little easier for her.  Since she is only going part time she will still graduate as a homeschooler and will not be eligible for a diploma through our school district.

This summer for Firedrake 9th grade we are doing

private tutoring lessons for Japanese
attending Mathnasuim tutoring for Math -- The one area where we seem to still be struggling:(
PE we are all trying the program couch to 5K program--we all need to get better in shape
piano
Biology we are completed the last book in the EO Wilson series
Finishing up US History (we are up to the Ford and Carter years)
Piano


MarioFan 7th grade
computer coding online class
completing IEW level A continuation class (almost done)
complete 2 LOF pre algebra books
piano
PE couch to 5K program
US History (only class he does with his sister)
completing geography workbook (almost done)

We even got my husband to join us one day.  The dog loves these walk/runs:)

Kids are really spending less than 4 hours a day on school and have the rest of the day to concentrate on things they wish to do.  Firedrake usually writes or draws while MarioFan prefers to play on his electronics.  I plan on purging the book cases in the school room, and work on my stain glass:)!

Weekly wrap up 6/16/17 -- President Buchanan's home and Air Force Museum

After touring the Washington DC area we stopped by to see my parents who celebrated 50 years of marriage!!!

Happy 50th Mom and Dad

When my husband and I were dating we started visiting Presidents homes in our area (we lived in Va at the time) So far we have been to about 10 homes of former Presidents.  Our goal is to visit every one.  My parents have been telling us for years that Buchanan's home was not too far from their home so we decided on this visit to go check it out.  It was a beautiful day and we learned a little more about this president who doesn't have the best reputation;)

Front of the home

Back of the home

Inauguration cake

Banner

Carriage he rode in for the inaugural parade

The house remained in the family for may years and many of the original furnishing can be dated back to  Buchanan and his family.  While he never marry he did care for his niece and nephew and they played a major role in his life and presidency 

Nieces writing desk

Buchanan's niece played the role of first lady during his presidential term

The blinds on the window are the original blinds!

This wine bottle is dated 1837 on the label!

Many of his books are still in the library

The desk were it is believed he wrote many of his speeches

The reason the house is so precise as to the furnishings and decor is that a magazine published drawings of each room of his house when he took office.

His bedroom and bath tub

After he died his niece inherited the home and it is believed she installed a more modern bathroom

The docent was fabulous and knew tons of information about the furnishings of the home and the family history.  While they did gloss over some things, like how many believe he was one of the worst presidents ever.  It is also rumored President Buchanan may have been the first homosexual president as he did have a male friend who lived with him in this house.  It is reported that many letters of correspondence between the two men are very very friendly and thought that the family destroy some letters after his death.

After visiting with my family for three days we headed back home but first we stopped at the United States Air Force museum in Ohio.  If you have a child who loves airplanes then you must make an effort to visit!!  IT is fantastic, four buildings full of history of flight and some very famous planes!

Did you know they had helicopters during the First world War...I didn't

Most people know about the Enola Gay but can you name the plane which carried the second nuclear bomb.  You can find it here at this museum 

Kids thought the art work on the airplanes were fun

a model type plane used as training for fighter pilots

Drone

Seeing the inside of a WWII bomber cockpit

and where all the bombs were placed and how it all works

space shuttle 

seeing the many compartments

The original Apollo 15 and how it looks after returning from space -- it sure takes quite a beating on reentry

model of the Gemini

We only had about 2.5 to 3 hours to tour before the museum closed for the day.  I wished we could have stayed longer as we had to rush though the last two buildings.  Definitely on our list to return to visit.  Best of all the museum is completely FREE.