5 Things That NEVER Go on Vacation

Dear Lissy,
School's completed for another year, the state paperwork has been filed, and our curriculum for 2011-2012 is on its way. Summer is fun, busy, and all-too-brief here, so this will be my last letter for a while. I've got mondo work to do in the flower and vegetable gardens and we're doing a major overhaul of the house, too, so we can get ALL of the walls and attic fully insulated before winter.

Free PDF Download: Weekly Planning Overview

Dear Lissy,
I wrote to you some time ago about my weekly plan, but I have just put it out in a document sharing folder to make it accessible to the dear ladies who read along with me as I write these letters.  I'm going to explain each part of the template here as clearly as I can, but if you have questions, please feel free to ask me.

This beautiful oil-on-canvas is available from
www.valeriehardy.com

Camping Recipe: Breakfast Bobadilla

Dear Lissy,
We finally celebrated Mother's Day yesterday, and it was worth the wait!  I slept in until 10 (with you snuggled in beside me) while Dad & the boys went to Men's breakfast at church. After lingering over our breakfast we went for a long walk in the wooded trails behind the cemetery and came home to a big surprise:  Dad got me a Jetboil Zip!!!  Dad's not long on cards, or gift wrapping for that matter, but when the gift comes in an L.L. Bean bag, I'm not going to quibble over details.

The Jetboil in use. The parts pack
into the mug for travel.

Sharpening A Pencil with A Knife

Dear Lissy,
A deliciously warm day, and you've spent hours looking inside flowers with a magnifying glass and making dandelion curls. I'm planning to go on a geocache for our afternoon exercise, but I need to find a few baubles to leave behind in place of the ones we take.  It's the time of year I love to sketch all the beautiful little details God has hidden.  I find it much more practical to sharpen drawing pencils with a knife than with a sharpener, a skill that's simple to master to keep your pencils in good nick.