HSMJ - Melbourne Skyline

Melbourne Skyline at 8AM this morning.

In my life this week…

Things have been busy and I am a little tired as this is week seven in school for us.  I usually school for four weeks and then we have a week of holidays.  I am on a slightly tighter schedule due to our recent trip to South Africa and our upcoming trip to Queensland for the solar eclipse so we are schooling for longer periods so that we can have a break at Christmas.
I am excited as it's my birthday this weekend and my family have been scheming about my present ! I have also been feeling a little out of equilibrium as I can't believe I'm turning 40! My time definitely flies and I never quiet saw myself as being here right now.
watched an episode of: Race to the Olympics , Episodes 4 & Episode 5
In our homeschool this week…

• We have continued with Abeka Math and progressed onto learning to tell the time.
• Slowly worked our way through Core A.
• We watched an excellent video called:  Secretariat which is based on a true story.  Really interesting.
• Listened to the audio book: Nate the Great.
• I have been looking over the Sonlight website as I am wanting to update my Core B to use with Sir N in the new year and I am looking at using Piano Wizard for him.  

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

• Twaddle Free Literature by Grade
• Artist of the Week for KidsInformation and links on various artists with links to learn more and to projects to explore.
• The Temptation to Stuff the Student 
• Top Ten Favourite Read Alouds from Homeschool Grads.  Great list of books from three graduates.
• Stargazing for Everyone over at How to Homeschool my Child.

I am inspired by…

• When Younger Moms are the New Titus 2 Women over at The Good Life. What a well written and balanced post.  I came away encouraged and refreshed.  A woman who has put into words the secret things of my heart and made them not so scary and normal. (Point five spoke volumes to me as I am walking this road at the moment)

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

• This week has marked the beginning of swimming lessons for this term for us.
• The T family came over to help us celebrate Sir N achieving his Maxi Pink certificate for swimming last week.
• Paul has been home and we have enjoyed a few free DVDs from the local library.
• Sir N and I went to the library to find some more books to explore upcoming topics. (Olympics, England, London,)
• We visited my sister for breakfast this morning :)
• We are counting the days till we leave to explore Australia and see a solar eclipse in Queensland.

My favorite thing this week was…

• Seeing how excited Sir N was to go with his Dad to shop for a birthday gift for me. 

What’s working/not working for us…

• Moving all the books off the shelf in the lounge back into the rumpus room and then using this space to store all the library books we have brought home from the library.

Questions/thoughts I have…

• Do you have a Pinterest ?  If so please leave a link in the comments so I can pop on over and follow some of your boards.

Things I’m working on…

• Reorganising my Pinterest boards so I can more easily find my pins.  Some of my boards are far to broad in the subject area.

I’m reading…

• Shutter Speak 2 over at Amongst Lovely Things.  A little bit about photography.
• When do you read aloud ?
• the blog How to Homeschool my Child. 
• How to avoid becoming over whelmed by Beverley Paine
• Words of explanation - two generations in a row over at Living, Laughing, Loving, Learning.
• My List of Excellent Christian Parenting Books over at Women Living Well. 

I’m cooking…

•  Milk Tart
• Lamb shank casserole.
• My own chicken stock.  This was fun I did it overnight in my crock pot.

On Pinterest I found...

• Christine has a great variety of Homeschool boards. 
• Tiffany @ The Learning Effect.
• Marci Cawley has some wonderful Homeschool boards for you to browse and pin from.

I’m grateful for…

• Lori over at Always Learning and her encouraging posts.  On Monday I read: Is He really that Bad ?  Great reminder to us as wives and mothers to make our homes a sanctuary.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

“In discussing preparation, may I also encourage you to avoid a temptation that faces almost every teacher . . . That is the temptation to cover too much material, the temptation to stuff more into the hour—or more into the students—than they can possibly hold!” - Elder Jeffrey R.

 Blessings

Chareen

This post is linking to:
Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers
iHomeschool

South African Milk Tart

Milk Tart is one of my all time favourite tea time deserts. We are currently studying South Africa in our Expedition Earth series so wanted to share it here with you.

Recently while on holiday in South Africa  I asked my Mom in law to please teach me how she makes Milk Tart.

She shared with me that she makes the crusts well in advance and stores them in a cake tin for when ever she wants to make a milk tart. She either bakes them in a glass pie dish and removes and stores the crust or she bakes them in aluminium pie dishes and stores them in those.

Crust (I do not know how many this makes I think around two)

• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 egg
• 4 ounces butter
• 1/2 cup sugar

Method

1. Cream butter and sugar
2. Beat egg well and add to mix.  Mix well.
3. Add dry ingredients and combine.
4. Roll out and cut circle to line pie dish.
5. Line pie dish(s) decorate edge with a fork.
6. Prick the center
7. Bake at 180'C till light brown (approx 10 Min)

Filling (This is enough filling for ONE tart)

• 2 cups Milk
• 6 teaspoons sugar
• 5 ml vanilla Essence
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• Pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoon corn flour
• 2 teaspoons flour
• 2 eggs beaten well.

Method

1. Gently heat milk in pan with sugar, vanilla, butter and salt.
2. While the milk is heating, add a splash of milk to a jug and mix corn flour and flour in the jug till no lumps are present.
3. Add eggs and mix well.
4. Once Milk is warm and all sugar is dissolved just before it boils pour in the flour/egg mix while whisking fast.
5. Return to stove and cook till it thickens.
6. Pour into crust and set aside to cool for 15 min
7. Sprinkle with cinnamon and place in fridge to cool down completely.

Serve cold with afternoon tea.


What dessert / afternoon tea delight do you enjoy from your country ?

Blessings
Chareen

TT - A Little Princess

 Welcome to Tuesdays Treasures.  I started these posts as a way of sharing great books in honour of my friend in New Zealand who would arrive with the treasures she had unearthed at her weekly trip to the library!

There are so many wonderful books out there hiding on shelves so I invite you to blog about a book on your shelf, one you're reading or one you found at the library and add your post to Learning All the Time Favourite Resource Link Up. 



This week ...

 A Little Princess

Frances Hodgson Burnett

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
• Language: English
• Format: Paperback
• Number of Pages: 336
• Vendor:  HarperCollins (December 9, 1998)
• Publication Date:
• ISBN-10: 0064401871:
• ISBN-13: 978-0064401876 
• Author : Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Illustrator: 

 This is such a beautiful book.  I can remember my children begging Paul to please read the next chapter.  They would stand at the door waiting for him to come home from work so they could hear what happened next .

A Little Princess was originally written in 1888 and revised and expanded into it's present form in 1905. I almost think of Cinderella with a twist when I think of this book.
Sara Crew is a beautiful intelligent young daughter of a wealthy soldier stationed in India.  She is sent to London to receive a formal education. Miss Minchin dislikes Sara from the start but tries to be on her side because of her fathers money.
During her stay at the school she celebrates her birthday and it is during this celebration that Miss Minchin is informed that Sara's father has died and there is no money in his estate.  Sara is immediately stripped of all her possessions and sent to live in the atic with another young girl.  The two become fast friends and work to keep the school clean.  At night they share stories and vivid imaginary games become their comfort.
The story takes an interesting turn when the neighbour's butler takes an interest in the two little orphans living in the attic and blesses them with food, clothes etc.
By the end of the book Sara and her father are reunited and Sara's true character that of a Princess is revealed.

I love the romantic nature of this book and even more the depth of character revealed in Sara.  Ms Burnett weaves a story of character and sit on the edge what's going to happen next book.  Her wonderful vocabulary is enriching and so pleasant to read, but not so high that you need a dictionary to understand what you are reading. She is better known for her book The Secret Garden.

On a side note once we had read a couple of her books we were definitely spoilt and no longer could pallet reading "twaddle".

“Whatever comes," she said, "cannot alter one thing. If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess 

Blessings

Available for purchase from: Amazon, Kindle,Christian Book, Fishpond, Fishpond,
For Free: Classic Reader,