Author Archives: Jamie Oliver

Snakes, Bluebirds, and Dirt Bikes…the Daily Farm Adventures {129}

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The farm is busy with Spring, spring, spring these days! We’ve been working in the yard, starting the garden, and cleaning up the winter compost piles in the weekend sunshine lately. The tractor blew a hydraulic hose and was stuck in the field for a few days. The worst part was that Coal was right there at the fence line with me, opening the gates, and got sprayed too. He wasn’t hurt, but I don’t like using dish soap to wash the dogs that was the only way I knew … Continue Reading…

20 Picture Books of Amazing Women in History and Science

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As you might have seen, The Engineer’s Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood was on my recent Farm Reads list from February. Great book! I’ve also been working on some picture book manuscripts of my own and reading a lot of current picture books as research. So it was really cool to come across the Secret Engineer: How Emily Roebling Built the Brooklyn Bridge. This lead me to a wonderful rabbit trail of new picture books about amazing women in history! So many of them I wasn’t even familiar with before … Continue Reading…

Let the Outside Work Commence…The Daily Farm Adventures {129}

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With longer days and decent weather, we are back to hitting the outside chores hard around here! Some of it is farm work and some of it is sprucing up the home. Since we live on the farm (obviously) the line between the two can be a bit blurry. Sometimes it’s hard to set priorities because you want to make farm business decisions, but you also have to live here and enjoy life and make the quality of life decisions too. And it’s not just about (sometimes not even mostly … Continue Reading…

All the Seasons in One Week…the Daily Farm Adventures {128}

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Ah, Spring in Virginia…when you get all the seasons of the year in a week. Every week. For 2-3 months. One day it’s sunny and 70, the next it’s rainy and 40. We had snow flurries overnight, and then tee-shirt weather 48 hours later. Crazy. But the green is starting to haze the fields and the irises and daffodils are coming up. Even the daylilies are starting to poke through. The crew got dirt bikes for Christmas, so I’ve got one that’s been out hitting the mud every time the … Continue Reading…

Farm Reads Book List for February 2021

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I’ve always been a bookworm. Really, from childhood. Those Pizza Hut Book It! challenges were my bread and butter growing up. (BTW, did you know Book It! is still around and runs a great summer reading program?!) I go through phases now where I have a lot of time to read, and then less time (or motivation). But I always have a book list to be read and usually stacked up on my night stand. I go through spurts where I’m reading a lot of young adult fiction to preview … Continue Reading…

10 Book Series About Library Adventures for Middle-Grade Readers

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Are you a book lover, or have a book lover in your home? Or are you hoping to make a bookworm out of a more reluctant reader? I’ve stepped out of my historic fiction box lately and found a couple of new middle-grade series that are all about BOOKS. Library adventures, book characters coming to life, the hunt for a famous author, falling into the book’s world…fun fiction adventures to give the kids a mental break between assigned reading. The Book Scavenger Series. By Jennifer Chambliss Bertman Mr. Lemoncello’s Library … Continue Reading…

How To Prep for Summer Storms, Emergency Preparedness Checklist for the Homestead

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Well, we’ve passed through the first “named storm” of the season in our location. Isaias was a hurricane when it hit NC, but a tropical storm when it got up the coast to us. That’s normally the protocol for us. We focus our emergency preparedness on a hurricane, and we get a tropical storm–which is fine with me! I’ll take “only” 40-70 mph sustained winds over 79+ mph! There’s more than enough clean-up to do afterward regardless. With Isaias, we lost one porch fan, a piece of siding, and a … Continue Reading…

Reading Log Book Selfies Printable for Summer Reading

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Do you have a daily reading requirement for the kiddos over the summer? Or even during the school year? We do. So after reviewing a ton of book lists and reading log options on Pinterest, I came up with these fun printable Reading Log Book Selfies for our kiddos to use. Based on Instagram and good old-fashion Polaroids (which are all the rage, again!) they are snapshots with either book spines to be completed or blank to insert an “actual” selfie or draw a picture. Then they can be posted … Continue Reading…

Daily Learning Routine for Non-Homeschooling Moms

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Boy, the world is quite a mess lately, hmm? Our kiddos are home full-time until September and Mr. Fix-It and I are both Essential workers at our off-homestead jobs, so our house has been kinda reeling lately. A little bit of organization goes a long way! We have always done summer home-learning activities, but I had to look over my previous activities and make some adjustments for this new phase of Crisis-Schooling. It’s not really the same as homeschooling. I’m not trying to cover a complete school year or curriculum. … Continue Reading…

Coal Mining Communities Unit Study for Middle Grades (5th-8th)

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Resources for a Unit Study on coal mining communities, including FREE Amazon and YouTube video list, website links, book lists, and templates for student projects and reports. Perfect for grades 4-8, but could easily be aged up or down to suit a general family unit study as well. via Walking in High Cotton

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Hot, Dry, and Dusty…the Daily Farm Adventures {127}

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October is apparently coming in with a heat wave this year! We’ve been in the 80s and 90s for a week now and not a speck of rain on the horizon. The fields are looking parched instead of lush with that late Fall rush of green. A few of the trees pretended to turn leaves, but really, Fall is coming in about the same as June. We even have enough humidity that we have foggy mornings without clouds! We spent the weekend at football on Saturday and my phone overheated … Continue Reading…

Books and Jets and Tired Boys…the Daily Farm Adventures {126}

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We went from 60s and barely 70 degrees last week to the first week of Fall jumping back to the mid-80s. Ugh. The nice thing is that the weather has been dry since Hurricane Dorian blew through so it’s been easy to be outside. Even mid-80s isn’t too bad if there’s a breeze. And the evenings are definitely cooling off. Being out at football practice 3 days a week I’m noticing the daylight slipping away earlier and earlier too. We had a bit of a rocky start to the school … Continue Reading…