Just Silly About Them: A Contest

 Hold your guesses!  Someone has guessed correctly.  Tomorrow I will reveal who and tell you what we are doing with our yard.  Very nice guessing by all, by the way:-).

A friend asked for it, so here it is.  Our blog is on Facebook.  Search for 'Thy Hand Hath Provided' and become a fan if you'd like (there is also a little link in the sidebar).  I'll be announcing giveaways ahead of time there and posting pictures and other tidbits that aren't included here.  Thanks, Tim, for getting my rear in gear.

I'm silly about quizzes, contests and giveaways (can you tell?) probably because I think they're fun.  Years ago I used to enter online sweepstakes.  Yep, I did.  Now that cat's out of the bag.  I actually won stuff- good stuff.  But, do you know what I've realized I like more than winning stuff?  Helping other people win stuff!  No joke. There is a rush involved.  And helping artisans get their crafts out for more folks to see is a huge portion of that rush.  So, stay tuned for more giveaways.  I hope to squeeze a few more in before the garden starts hopping.  If you're a reader who has an Etsy store and would like to do a giveaway here sometime, just let me know (thyhand123@gmail.com) and I'll add you to the list.

To the point!

Last week I showed you a picture of our side yard and told you that something was going to happen there over the next few weeks.  Some of you started guessing.  Well, I decided to turn this into a contest. 

The previous guesses of pool, greenhouse, addition, herb garden, sun porch, patio, duck pond, and wheat patch were all excellent guesses (I would love to have them all- you know me pretty well), but they were all WRONG! 

Here are the rules:

1) The FIRST person who guesses correctly wins a year's subscription to Mother Earth News magazine (in the spirit of the season)!

2) You each have TWO guesses (guesses before today do not count) and the guesses must be left in the comments section of THIS post.  As always, if you comment anonymously, leave an initial or two for me to identify you.

3) Your guess needs to be specific.  

4) I will add additional photos as clues (in addition to the ones below) until someone guesses correctly.  Additional clues will be posted here, but I will announce and provide a link to this post when I add a new clue.

5)  If you know me personally and I've told you what we are doing, you are NOT eligible to play.  I apologize for me and my big mouth.

6) If you kind-of know me personally and you've heard through the grapevine as to what we are doing, you are NOT eligible to play.

7)  If you know me personally and we see each other or talk to each other and you want to play, tell me you are playing, otherwise I may tell you. 

8) If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below.  But seriously.  With all of these rules, I'm guessing no one will have any questions.

Here is the before photograph (Clue #1)...

Here is what our yard looks like now (Clue #2)...

Let the guessing begin!

Hold your guesses!  Someone has guessed correctly.  Tomorrow I will reveal who and tell you what we are doing with our yard.  Very nice guessing by all, by the way:-). 

Mother Earth News has nothing to do with this contest.  The subscription will be paid for out of a special blog-related fund.  My children will not go hungry this month because of this prize (in case you were worried).

Pin It

Annual Name That Sprout Post

It's so nice to look outside and see green.  Oh, and the eating green?  That is just delightful.  So far, we've been relishing every asparagus spear we cut.  Asparagus is my very favorite vegetable.  So far, we are eating it in it's (almost) purest form- just a little butter and salt, sauted until bright green and tender.

I'm dropping my weekly menu list in the right hand margin because from here on out, what we have for dinner is dictated by what the garden decides we have for dinner.  We were away for the long weekend and therefore, dinner tonight will consist of a very large (crustless) quiche (there were 67 eggs waiting for us) with asparagus and feta and a lettuce salad with green onions.  I'm looking forward to this meal immensely, but I'm not looking forward to making it knowing that before I get there, I have baked oatmeal, granola, yogurt and more baby food to make.  Coming home to an empty fridge can be brutal.

To celebrate all the green, I've taken some photos of some of the green things coming up around here, inside and out.  I've numbered them and, if you're game, you can do your best at naming each sprout.  I have every confidence in you.  For some of you, this will be easy.  For others, you may learn a thing or two.  I only ask that you do your best to refrain from peeking back at last year's Name That Sprout post. The winner(s) won't actually win anything.   Everyone is a winner today.

Okay.  Ready?  Set.  Guess!

Congratulations, Mr. H, for 10 out of 12 correct answers!

 1. (Red) Raspberries

 

2.  Pear

3.  Peach

4.  Peas

5.  Tomatoes (Basil in background)

6. Tomatoes

7.  Lettuce

8.  Leeks

9.  Tomatoes 
(I know I was being tricky- I just think everyone needs to know what tomatoes look like:-))

10.  Garlic

11.  Strawberries

12.  Stevia! 
(We're going to have to buy some plants)

I know.  This last one is pretty tough.  You're smart.  Go on, take a guess.

Pin It

What We're Studying This Year & A Quiz

We're starting school tomorrow, so I thought I'd go ahead and share what we will be studying this year. Later this week, I'll post pictures of our school room.

Sadie is three and a half and wants to "do cool, too". I didn't do any preschool with Sam, but this year it makes sense to do it with Sadie. I bought a few preschool workbooks for her which focus on the basics- learning the alphabet (she only knows a couple letters), colors (she knows these), shapes (she's got circle down pat), etc. Then, I totally lucked out and won a giveaway over at BOOKS and BAIRNS. Thank you, Mary Grace! The giveaway was for three months of Itty Bitty Bookworm, a sweet, sweet literature-based curriculum for preschoolers. When it came in the mail, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was an entire year's worth! I know Sadie will love it.

Sam is six and a half years old and is doing second grade this year. He's a little young for second because we started kindergarten early- he was already reading chapter books at four and a half (Don't look at me. He was ready and The Ordinary Teacher's Guide to Teaching Reading was a perfect match for him). We are continuing with My Father's World. This year is called Adventures in My Father's World and focuses on early American history and geography. We will also be doing the Bible and handwriting portions of MFW, too.

For Sam's math, we are continuing with Saxon Math, 2nd grade. For spelling, Spelling Workout B. For language/grammar, First Language Lessons. For science, we are starting the series Exploring Creation with Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. I printed out the notebook pages from their website, too. It looks really good and we are all excited about science.


For art, we are doing artist studies from the Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists series. I had them ordered when I read Kate's post about them over at Small Scribbles.

We're aiming for a four-day school week and I am going to try to start school by 9 am (That is, if we have Miriam's blessing). Two out of the four days a week, we will have some afternoon studies, the other two days, I am hoping to be done by lunch.

Off we go!

In the spirit of back-to-school, here is a little quiz. Who can tell me what kind of flower this is? No prize, just some brain exercise for your Monday morning:-).

The ANSWER: Those of you who guessed Morning Glory were on the right track, as it's a relative of this flower- a sweet potato blossom! They both belong to the Convolvulaceae family.


No matter what form school takes on at your house, I hope you and your family have a wonderful, wonderful school year. Pin It

Too Smart

You all are too smart. Yep, the funny-looking sprouts growing out of our basket are blue potato sprouts.

The smaller, difficult-to-use blue potatoes lived in our pantry all winter at the bottom of that basket and began to sprout about a month ago. We decided not to grow them this year, so those sprouts have become chicken food.

Pretty cool-looking chicken food. I wonder what the chickens thought they were. I'm pretty sure they're not as smart as you.

Stay tuned. Later today...cheesecake. Have a fork handy. Pin It

What is it?

Ok, folks. Here is little something to make you think. Or maybe you're so smart, you won't even have to think.

What is it?

The Answer: Blue Potato Sprouts. Great job, people!!

Pin It

Name That Sprout Results

Seven people Named That Sprout. And the winner is... Valerie!! She had the most correct answers (7 out of 8).

To see the answers, click here. This will take you back to the original pictures. The answers are written right beside the numbers above each picture. You all are such good sports...and good sprout-namers.

Tomorrow, I'll be back to posting recipes. Or maybe we could play Name That Ingredient or Name That Recipe Title or...okay, I'll stop while I'm ahead. If I'm ahead, that is. I'll just stop. Pin It

Name That Sprout

With all the pretty green sprouts coming up everywhere, I thought it might be fun to play a little game I like to call 'Name That Sprout'. Here's what you do. Leave me a comment identifying the different photos of sprouts found around our house. Number your answers to match the number with each picture. Now, I know some of you read here, but never comment. That's just fine. But don't be scared to. I won't bite. I promise.

You do not have to guess the variety. For example, an answer might be (but isn't) "carrot". You do not need to name the variety of carrot. Also, if you know me (personally) and can't leave a comment, email your answers to me and I will leave them in a comment for you. Jamey, you are not allowed to play.

Happy identifying! I'll announce the answers and winner on Monday. The winner will be the person with the most answers correct- so enter even if you don't know all the answers. Sorry you won't actually win anything. We don't play to win, now do we? We play to have fun! Don't we tell kids that?

Congratulations, Valerie!!

#1: Lilac

#2: Red Raspberry (Heritage, to be exact)

#3: Rhubarb

#4: Peach

#5: Garlic

#6: Basil

#7: Lettuce (Amish Deer Tongue- sounds yummy, no?)

#8: Tomato (Big Girl)

Pin It