We use vinegar for many purposes, not the least of which is for cooking and making dressings. Raw apple cider vinegar renders many health benefits, and I would not be without it if I could help it! When we came back from our furlough in 2007, I brought with me a big jug of Bragg's Vinegar, which I think might be the best on the market.


...But as you can see, my jug is just about empty. I searched for a source of raw apple cider vinegar in the markets here, but all I could find was pineapple vinegar. I'm partial to the flavor of apple cider vinegar, so my only option seemed to be to learn to make it myself!


What forms vinegar from apple cider (or any other juice) is called the "mother". It is a living mass of good bacteria (and other critters), and while it is not a pretty sight, it is necessary. I asked around, and found a woman who makes vinegar, and she was willing to give me a piece of her mother (my piece pictured above).

Hers is massive. She keeps it in a big bucket and feeds it once a week with panela (a raw form of sugar) and water. As I said, I want vinegar made of apple cider, but I thought a mother is a mother... It should work with my juice, right?


So I brought it home and rinsed it out. I made fresh apple juice with my wonderful juicer and settled that little mother down into my juice, covering it loosely with a cloth. That was a little over a week ago. This is what I have now:


It has a clear, leathery film on top, which is a new mother forming. I have no idea how much time it needs to convert from juice to wine to vinegar. Anybody have an idea?

Anyway, it seems to be working, and I'm so excited!

...to a homeschool mom.

Johanna is four and a half years old, just about ready to start school, and she loves books (just like her big sisters). She will sit down with her younger brothers and "read" books to them, partly reciting from memory what the book says, and partly drawing the story from the pictures.

Children have a natural enthusiasm for learning! I think the key to real education is to encourage that natural enthusiasm, and not squelch it with rigid, textbook education (unless the child likes to learn that way).

I'm trying to discern what each of my children need, and how to balance order with spontaneous learning. I would love to hear your ideas, and any good books you know of on that subject. How do you encourage the love for learning in your children, so that they don't lose it as they get older?

Lately I've been playing around with the idea of making laundry soap, for several reasons. One, it would be something less harsh to wash my family's clothing with. Two, it's cheaper than the laundry soap we can buy here. And three, it just looked like fun! So when we ran out of powdered laundry soap yesterday, well, necessity provoked some invention.

Most of the recipes I found online called for a bar of plain soap, borax, and washing soda. I did find one recipe without borax, and that was good because I can't buy borax here.

So I shredded a bar of soap into a saucepan and melted it with a little water. Then I poured that into a bucket with 2.5 gallons of hot water.

Then stirred in a cup of washing soda. Actually, all I could find was a laundry treatment powder made of 1/2 sodium carbonate (which is the "washing soda") and 1/2 sodium percarbonate, thinking that it wouldn't make much difference. Would it?

The recipe said to set it aside to cool. Which I did. And the stuff just kept foaming up... and UP...

...and UP SOME MORE.

Perhaps that sodium percarbonate made it do that, because none of the recipes I saw said anything about the soap foaming up.

Anyhow, what we ended up with was a nice liquid gel laundry soap with a foamy head. We stir it up, then use 1/2 cup of it per load, or a little more for particularly dirty loads. It works great, and smells so fresh!

I hope you all have had a blessed weekend! Ours was...interesting. We were planning to have company over for lunch on Sunday, but the power went off on Saturday! It was raining and lightning outside when we heard a loud POP, and the lights went out.

When the power goes off, so does the electric pump that draws water from our well, so we were also without running water. We had to cancel our plans to entertain, call the power company, pray, and hope for the best.

A cool, dark house on a rainy weekend can definitely get dreary! But we are getting good at making do. We were definitely thanking the Lord that our stove is gas, not electric! So there was no trouble making hot meals. The older girls love to light candles all over the house (they are very careful), and Daniel fires up a Coleman lantern, and it's like camping out, only more comfortable :o)

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Hebrews 13:5

Sometimes in the evenings we roast marshmallows, or play Bible charades by lantern light. Once Daniel even hooked up the computer to the power inverter in the car, and I was able to check email while the car ran outside! Not a necessity, but it was nice. :o)

All that to say this: Even when things get difficult and don't go as we plan, we are blessed if we can be content. There are many blessings to enjoy along the way if we'll just look for them! Each week our family learns about a good character trait, and guess which one it was this past week? Contentment! Looks like the Lord wanted to give us a good lesson in contentment, and it really was a blessing. Thank You, Lord!

"...For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." Philippians 4:11

Jessica and I were in the bathroom, getting ready for the day, when she sighed and made this comment: "Mom, you don't fix your hair and adorn yourself like most other women do. But you know what? Thou excellest them all!"

Her opinion of me blessed my heart deeply, and also humbled me. I am utterly unworthy of such a high compliment. Another scripture comes to mind, besides the one she alluded to:

As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.

Why did that come to mind? Because now every time I have dealings with her, I find myself being more careful what I say to her, my tone of voice, my countenance. I WANT TO BE WHAT SHE THINKS I AM! She thinks I am lovely and sweet and kind. Her brief but heart-felt comment has had a purifying effect on me, causing me to notice the flaws I need to remove from my character.

So this is another tried-and-true proverb, a treasure that I can put to use. Why not praise my children more often? It will help to purify them, it improves my attitude toward them, and it doesn't cost a thing.

Johanna (our three-year-old) loves critters. Lately, she has especially taken to the "roly-polys" that she finds in damp places inside and outside, capturing them and carrying them about like little pets. Unfortunately, her little hands are not as gentle as are her intentions, and often the poor creatures do not survive her affections!

Today I was helping her wash her hands after playing outside, and she had to put down the roly-poly she'd been holding. She carefully placed it on the floor and said, "Mommy, I set it fwee!" then cheerfully went about the business of washing her hands. I looked down at the poor thing. It was not moving.

While her efforts to be gentle are awkward, I know she is trying her very best. Someday gentleness will be one of her loveliest aspects. Until then, at least she is helping to keep the roly-poly population in check!