The End of an Era

Feeling a little saddened today. Over the past few days, I've been researching and comparing pricing with the overseas 'super-stores'. The issues we've had is to factor in the high cost of shipping from the US to our store, plus then the shipping to our customers, and of course, we also need to add on the dreaded GST. All this means we're completely at a loss - to list the same products on our site, at a competitive rate, means we'd need to sell products at a loss of around 30%.

When we first began Adnil Press 11 years ago, we were easily able to price our overseas products at the same or less than one could order it direct from overseas. But times have changed. And homeschooling has changed, too. It's just as easy now for a homeschool Mum to order from overseas as it is to order from a local supplier.

So, it's sell-out time! We're keeping a few items, as we have a printing contract with IEW, we're able now to focus on those products, as well as our own. We are also organising to become affiliates of the larger stores, so as each title sells out, we shall put up a link to these other sites, from where you can find the products needed for your homeschool.

And, as I stated, some items are here to stay. All products from 'The Institute of Excellence in Writing' will STAY. This includes associated products such as All About Spelling and Teaching the Classics. Of course, we'll also continue to stock our own resources (including 'Australia, the Wide Brown Land for Me!'), our other Australian resources, and there will no doubt be a few smaller suppliers as well - such as Times Tales, Life of Fred, etc.

For the rest, as of this moment, everything else is on 'sell-out' status. This includes God's Design, Story of the World, Memoria Press and even Apologia Science. We are very saddened to have to take these steps, but unfortunately, we are simply unable to compete in the pricing wars, and we understand the need to purchase products at the best pricing possible. We hope you will support us by using the affiliate links that will be appearing on our site as our stocks run out.

We thankyou for your support, and hope that somehow, the reduction of our business and our stock will open doors elsewhere and in all, work towards the greater good.

God bless,

Linda.

Our Holiday to NSW

Recently, we took some time out to attend a homeschool camp in NSW and to spend some time with friends. We spent nearly three weeks away from home. Our first stop was to visit with our good friends, Lynn and her family. Then, it was off to the camp for a week, and finally, we travelled back down the coast to spend the third week with some more special friends. We had an absolute blast! It’s so difficult to capture the highlights in one blog post, but, we shall try!

We arrived on the Thursday night at Lynn’s home, where we spent several nights. Lynn has 12 children, so it truly felt like we’d walked right into the movie set for ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’! During our stay, we rode horses, played with frogs, cats and dogs, and even took a visit to the local dolphin pool, where we were ‘kissed’ by the dolphins and the seals! During the evenings, we were privileged to join in with the family’s prayer time, and what a blessing it was, to see families joined together in prayer, with little ones, teenagers, and adults sharing time together. We also managed to fill up the church seats quite well on Sunday! After that, we all set about packing, ready to leave for camp on Monday morning.

The camp was so full of activities, it’s difficult to summarize! There was kite-flying on the beach, a visit to the rock pools, a sports day, concert, dancing, singing, and of course, daily prayers and daily Latin Mass. We caught up with many friends that we’d met last year, and met several new ones as well. Fr. Rizzo was a delight, and it was wonderful to see a priest who could connect so well with all the age groups, but especially the teens. The final night was bonfire night, and the teens headed off to the beach, while the younger children had their own bonfire at the camping ground. I spent the evening with the younger ones, and we had a merry time telling jokes, singing songs and chatting. But, all too soon, the camp was at an end, and once again, it was time to pack up, and move on.

So down the coast we went, and began our week-long stay with Erin & family. I can’t say that all went to plan – at midnight on the 1^st night, the vomiting began, and over the week, most of our family and theirs came down with some sort of bug But fortunately, it only hit each person for 1-2 days, so we were still able to make the most of the holiday. Our days included a trip to the local soccer grand final, walks around the property, lots of chatting, a birthday party, LAN computer games, and many hours out on the dune buggy! Even Bill and I took a ride. The children are all such great friends, that it was very difficult to pack and leave, but again, time catches up with us in the end, and it was time to come home.

The return trip saw one blown tyre, but otherwise, we returned home safely. Mind you, I did learn an important lesson about saying ‘yes’ when the GPS asks if it’s OK to take the dirt roads – more like fire tracks! Here is one of the ‘roads’ it took us on in NSW – for over an hour, we travelled through the middle of a forrest, with no fences, houses, or other signs of life, along dirt tracks, through deep creek beds and slippery, sandy pathways. Some of the roads looked like they’d not been used in years – and yes, that is a tree growing up right in the middle of the road! At one point, it was quite like an obstacle course, with dear hubby darting to the left and then to the right to dodge whatever trees were in the way!

But, we got here in the end. We have arrived home exhausted but relaxed, enthused, and encouraged. It was a long trip, but worth it to know that when the opportunity presents itself next time, we have wonderful friends who we will be visiting once again. In the meantime, we’ll no doubt be making use of blogs and emails to keep in touch. And not surprisingly, the countdown to next year has already begun…

Linda.

Treasured Moments

Do you find yourself falling into a pattern of daily grind, skipping the 'fun' activities because you don't have time or lack energy?
Do creative arts, nature walks, drama, read alouds or spontaneous acts seem only a distant dream in your life?

Yet these Treasured Moments shared with loved ones uplift us, nurture our soul, remind us of the beauty and joy in our lives.

We want Treasured Moments for ourselves, for our children, for our families but how can we make it happen?

... Commitment ... Encouragement ... Support ... Ideas ... Plans.

I invite you to join us every Saturday and share your plans and ideas, your targets and goals and your stories ... your 'Treasured Moments'. In this way we may inspire one another, encourage ourselves and start achieving our dreams.

1
Our holidays, including a homeschool camp, and time with our friends, Lynn B and Erin at Seven Little Australians - we've returned home refreshed, encouraged and full of enthusiasm - thankyou so much!

2

Discovering All About Spelling - it's been some time since I've found myself excited by a new curriculum - I think this one will suit our needs very well.

3

Finally, my son has been 'cleared' to apply for a driver's licence. It's been several years since he last had an episode, and having spent the past year medication-free, he is now no longer classed as epileptic.

4.
Our new car. Dear hubby purchased a little Ford Fiesta on Sunday at the local auction. It is the one Daniel will use once he has his learner's.

5.
All my children are at home! This week, we have Jessica and Rebekah home for a visit, so all our children are under one roof once again. It certainly becomes more difficult as they are growing older!

6.
Our local show is on Monday! We have 126 entries in the art, craft and cooking section, and we will be performing with our concert band.

7.
We begin term 4 this week - probably Wednesday.


Please join us for more Treasured Moments, hosted by Erin at: Seven Little Australians

My Book Love

My good friend Erin from Seven Litte Australians has tagged me for a Meme. This one is to share some of my favourite books - from childhood, as well as my favourite novels and read-alouds.

There are so many to choose from! As a child, I loved to read, however, as an adult, I find my reading patterns changed from novels to 'how to homeschool' books, and more factual readings.

Fortunately, though, in recent years I have once again discovered the fascinating world of fiction. Although my time is limited, I have managed to re-discover old friends, and find some new ones in the past couple of years. Here are some of my favourites:

Favourite Books of My Childhood
Magic Faraway Tree & sequels - Enid Blyton
The Wishing Chair & sequel - Enid Blyton
Heidi - Johanna Spyri
Little Women- Louisa May Alcott
Little House on the Prairie (and other books in the series) - Laura Ingalls Wilder
Seven Little Australians - Ethel Turner

Picture Books:
The Poky Little Puppy
The Saggy, Baggy Elephant
The Easter Bunny (or something like that - can't quite remember the exact title!)


Favourite Books I Have Read Aloud to My Children

John of the Sirius and of Sydney Cove - Doris Chadwick
Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter
Winnie-the-Pooh - AA Milne
The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
The Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
The Little House on the Prairie - Laura Ingall Wilder
The Restless Flame - Louis de Wohl
Adam of the Road - Elizabeth Janet Gray
The Door in the Wall - Marguerite de Angeli
St Patrick's Summer - Marigold Hunt
And, many of the picture books from the 'Catholic Mosaic' booklist - in particular,
The Little Catepillar who Came to Church,
Pascual and the Kitchen Angels, and
The Squire and the Scroll.
Also anything else by Tomie dePaola!

Books I'm Reading Aloud at the Moment
The Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis.
This year, we have completed 5 of the 7 books. It is our goal to read all 7 books before the year is out.

Favourite Novels I have Read
Far from the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
Eragon - Christopher Paolini
Little House on the Prairie - Laura Ingalls Wilder

Novels I have Recently Enjoyed
Inheritance Cycle - Christopher Paolini

Novels I am Currently Reading
The Two Towers (I'm determined - I WILL make it through all of Lord of the Rings ONE DAY!)

Novels I'd Like to Read
The rest of The Lord of the Rings,
The Once and Future King - T H White
and I'm very much looking forward to the final instalment of The Inheritance Cycle.



Naturally, there are many more that could be added to the list!

Thanks, Erin!

Linda.

Our 'Babies'....

Take a look at our 'babies' now!


Louis:




Trisha:




Wow - they are growing so fast! They now happily venture outside to go 'exploring', and are finally accepting the dog and older cat. They can also jump from couch to couch, and have tried, on occasion, to venture onto the kitchen bench and the dining room table (no, thanks!).

But the best thing they love is to be thrown a paper ball, which they send flying across the lino floor, then chase after it. No doubt about it, it is rather difficult to get anything done with these cute, little, distractions around!

Linda.

Card Making

As you know, I 'dabble' in art - painting, drawing, and the like. Over the past few months, however, I've been trying out scrapbooking (must devote an entire post to that one day), but more recently, card-making.

While searching the net for ideas, I came across an excellent tutorial for a 'tri-fold card', at:

The Craftiblog

and

procrastistamper


So, I decided to give it a go. By using my 12" cutter, alternating from the cutting blade to the scoring blade, using various 'bits and pieces' from my paper collection, and adding a stamp or two, I found that a complex-looking card can actually be quite simple, and fun to make.

Just take a look at the results!








I've since tried out a few different colour schemes, stamps and so forth, and have ended up with several beautiful cards. I'm hoping there are more tutorials out there of a similar nature!


Linda.

Kitten Update....

Well, it seems that 'Trisha' and 'Lucy' are actually 'Trisha' and 'Lucius' - so I think there will be a little 'operation' coming up!

They are growing so fast - and they are soooo active! They can now jump, pounce, and spring from one couch to the other. As they've lived inside now for several weeks, the 'big wide world' is very... 'big' to them, but we're taking them outside each day, so they will get used to it.

This weekend, we 'babysat' a friend's lamb, and the kittens were none too impressed. However, the good news is that our older cat, Moppett, is slowly getting used to the intrusive babies. She still does hiss at them, but she is venturing inside now on occassion, so that is certainly progress.

Life is never dull!

Linda.

Logic - Maher Style

I started off the year with, as usual, grand plans and hgh hopes. This was going to be the year where we finally got around to studying formal logic. It would be a challenge, I knew, but we were going to do it!We started off using 'Traditional Logic' by Memoria Press, and we were moving through it slowly, however, I began to wonder about using it - the bored faces were teling me that perhaps, this was not the best curriculum choice. But, we plodded on.

Now, I know that formal logic can be very useful, and I know others have used this programme successfully - it IS a good programme, however, we eventually decided to try using the 'Critical Thinking, Book 1' instead. This is not a course in 'formal' logic as such, but rather, as the title suggests, in 'Critical Thinking'. After comparing the two programmes, it seemed as if the Critical Thinking book may be more 'useful', at least in the immediate sense.

So, we put Traditional Logic aside, and began on Critical Thinking. It is still a challenge. But, instead of bored, 'Do we really have to?' faces, my teens have found something that has held their attention. Especially when comments arise in the book such as, 'Go home and tattoo this phrase to your forehead', and the next lesson, 'this time, tattoo the phrase to your forehead backwards, so you can read it in the mirror (Waring: some parents may object to you doing this)'.

And the lessons themselves follow good progression and offer interesting examples. This week, we are working through the chapter which has us substituting complete thoughts, such as 'I like red cars', with a symbol, eg. 'R". Add to that the squiggle '~' for 'not' or 'false', and an arrow for 'if - then' statements, and we're ending up with a class that rattles off sentences like:

"Squiggle D arrow T" or "Squiggle D or squiggle squiggle T arrow Q"

which suits us all just fine!

I don't know if we'll ever get back to formal logic - somehow, we've never quite reached the great heights of curriculum levels that I planned, but, we're doing OK. I'd rather have teens showing an interest in their lessons, rather than completing texts 'just because', which leaves them bored and disliking their schoolwork.

And, as the lessons are fairly short, it also leaves us more time for games such as Chinese Checkers. They haven't figured out how to beat me yet!

Linda.

Cats and Kittens

Around lunchtime today, we realised that we had not seen our dear old cat all morning. She sometimes has trouble with her spine / back legs, and as it was rather cold last night, we set about looking for her.

We hunted in all the usual places, but to no avail, so we began a wider search. Eventually, we found her leaning up against a wall, and sure enough, she was unable to move. We brought her in, and she's now in a box in front of the fire, but she is such a bad way, that I shall be phoning the vet in the morning. This has happened several times now, and she usually is up and about again within a few days, however, this time, it is looking so much worse than usual.

While we were all out hunting, I decided to check around the back of the house. I was calling out for her, and listening for any replies, when I suddenly heard a strange sound. It was a cat, but not our old cat. As I stopped to listen again, the sound was unmistakable. It was the cry of a kitten! Sure enough, Margaret soon appeared around the corner, with a huge smile on her face, and a fluffy bundle in her arms. In the search for our old cat, she'd come across not one, but FIVE kittens! We have had a stray around our place the past few weeks, and in the old, disused chook shed, she'd had her babies.

They weren't new-borns, either. I'd estimate them to be 5-6 weeks old. Their eyes are well open, and are changing from the blue colour, and they are just learning how to walk. Of courese, my girls were delighted! They spent the afternoon patting and swooning over the new-found babies, and selected a couple that they'd like to keep. I cautiously reminded them that Dad would make the decision as to whether we would keep any of them, but I didn't like his chances of saying 'no!'

During the afternoon, mother cat (who will not come any where near us) decided enough was enough, and moved the kittens. We had two inside at this stage, and we have no idea where the family has gone. Being a stray, she may still be on our property, but she may not. So, I'm guessing we now are the proud owners of two kittens! Dad seems OK with it, and of course, the girls are delighted. They are taking a little milk, and seem very contented, so, I guess it is all OK. Of course, if the family still is in a back shed somewhere, we'll need to deal with that at some stage.....

Anyways, here they are: 'Lucy', and 'Trisha'. They are just the cutest little things!





You just never know what each day will bring, do you??


Linda.

The One & All Sailing Ship

As you know, I have several children who often go 'a-sailing' on the One & All . But it seems, no more.

Last Friday, the One & All ceased operations, due to lack of Government funding. We are devastated! I don't know yet who we can contact about it all, but one person who may be able to help is Leon Byner, who runs a radio talk-show in Adelaide.

If you are so inclined, please write or call him, or write to your local member of parliament.

I can tell you I was a little nervous the first time I sent my teens off on the ship 20 months ago - but it has turned out to be a most valuable, wonderful, experience for them. My son recently spent several weeks on the ship as a volunteer, and the skills he has learned are just incredible.

How the government can deny funding for such a worthwhile endeavour, I just cannot understand. Besides offering trainee voyages for the youth, in the past year, they have had onboard groups from Hong Kong, Singapore, Outback Australia (many of whom had never even seen the ocean), and even a group from Camp Quality. While there are a few paid employees (now out work), the ship is also run by a host of volunteer workers.


Anyway, if you are interested in voicing your concerns, please contact Leon Byner at:

Phone: 08-8223-0000
Email: onair@fiveaa.com.au


Thankyou!


Linda.