Six and a half weeks ago Joe and I were beside ourselves with excitement. Our Netherland Dwarf bunny Chipmunk had just given birth to a litter of four and, fingers crossed, one looked like it might be a chocolate.
Chocolate is a recessive color in bunnies (unless apparently the bunnies are from Hershey!)In addition there are very few breeders of chocolate Netherlands in our area; a couple in New York but none around here. So we were eager to welcome our little addition.
As the weeks went by it became clear that she was even rarer than a simple chocolate, she was our very first chocolate silver marten. A silver marten is a bunny with a silver triangle on the back of the neck and silver ticking along the sides and legs with a light colored belly.
We handled the babies daily and took weekly photos to display in my kindergarten classroom. One of the sweet little boys in the class named her Lickety. Each week the class checks on the bunnies progress and next week the rabbits come in to visit kindergarten.
But early last week it became apparent that Lickety was not flourishing like her more hardy brother and sisters. In spite of her eating and drinking and still nursing, she felt thinner and more fragile than her litter mates.
Concerned I separated her mom and Lickety from the rest of the litter and brought them indoors to our cool laundry room. There under our watchful eye Lickety and her mom settled in. However even though she was eating, drinking and playing bunny games she continued to have that failure to thrive look.
There is a condition in young bunnies called 'fader' where a bun, right around Lickety's age just fades away even though a few weeks previous the rabbit appeared perfectly sound. Although rabbit research is pretty limited breeders over the years have theorized that it has to do with the improper development of the flora and fauna in a rabbit's hind gut as it transitions from mother's milk to solid food.
Some breeders have recommended feeding the baby some of it's mothers night feces, which are partially digested food that bunny's expel then re-eat to finish the digestion of the fiber rich foods they require.
I have done this once before with success (Julie's famous holland lop Mustache was a fader who went on to an eventful show carrer.) But success with this has been limited. We thought this morning that we were out of the danger zone. Lickety was silly and playful and full of spunk like any baby bunny and too adorable for words.
But tonight Joe came across her while she was in the midst of a terrible seizure. He scooped her up and raced her upstairs but she died within minutes. Heartbreaking.
I am always amazed by the life cycle how a creature is there one moment and gone the next. Catholics do not believe animals have souls. But I am not sure that is correct. I have been at 2 human's ends of life on earth, a dog, a couple of cats, a duck (poor skippy), a few chickens, and many bunnies.
Something happens in those last moments. Something real and very spiritual. Certainly I felt it with the humans. Not always with the animals. But those creatures that had a particular bond with people, I tell you something happens.
Poor little Lickety had a great 6 1/2 weeks. We had such plans for her, plans a bunny would truly love.
I won't tell my little kindergarten kids that she died as they do not need to hear that. They will hear that she was too little to come to school. They won't mind because her littermates and mom and dad will be there to inform and amuse.
We have raised rabbits for more than 15 years. We have had bunnies die before. Heck I put bunnies down when necessary. Of course it is a necessary part of sharing your life with livestock. But tonight I am truly sad. Tomorrow we will bury Lickety out under the beauty bush in the front yard where her remains will feed the growing tree. But oh boy I am sure crying hard about a little speck of life that fit in the palm of my hand...
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
A secret revealed
So blogger friends I have kept a secret from you since mid September. I wanted to tell you. Many times I started to mention it or refer to something related to it, but each time at the last minute I deleted. I just felt I had to wait until I got official results in.
Well today online the unofficial results came in and that is close enough for me, I cannot continue my silence. Yes my friends today I received word that although my actual scores are in the snail mail, I have passed 3 of the MTELs.
Thought I was referring to something else perhaps? Huh, don't I wish. But no I am neither pregnant.....like I could keep THAT a secret, nor have I won the Megabucks....like Donnie could keep THAT a secret.
Instead I just heard that I achieved passing scores on the Communications and Literacy 2 part test and the Early Childhood MTEL 1 part test. I still have to pass the Foundations of Reading test in late November in order to get my Preliminary Teacher Licence in Early Childhood preK to 2nd grade children with and without disabilities. I will also take the Reading Specialist test since I have to study for the Foundations test as well and this can give me a Preliminary Licence as a Reading Specialist All Grades.
I then have 5 years to take a 2 year teacher prep course and a certain number of professional development credits. But the theory is as soon as I have my preliminary teacher licence I could begin teaching full time in the classroom....Very grown up.
Future employment or educational plans can be discussed in a different blogpost at another time. What I wanted to mention here is how hard it has been not to talk about this with many people. Usually I never have a single thought left unexpressed! But I was not sure if I could even pass the exams and I do not have a clearly marked out path of next steps so perhaps I was not open to other people's opinions. The problem with that of course is by keeping a secret you do not get the opportunity of other peoples support.
The next 2 tests however that I am scheduled to take on Nov 20th are way harder, WAY HARDER so I am sharing now because I am really gonna need other folks support just ot get thru them!
I assumed the first 2 tests which are basic requirements for all educators in Massachusetts, the Communications and Literacy would be fairly easy. Sure enough the first time I tried an online practice test I scored 100% on the multiple choice!
I originally majored in Communications in college although I ultimately graduated with my BS in Psychology. Still I have subbed for 3 years and have had children in school for the past 20 odd years so we can safely assume I can communicate well enough!
The Early Childhood multiple choice part too was fairly easy. There were a few theorists who I had not studied so I simply researched any wrong answer I got and learned a couple of new learning theories. But much of it was common sense. Between the education I received, the on hand experience as a kindergarten para, and the dozens of foster/birth/and adopted kids that have been about this house I really knew my stuff.
The 6 essays of course were a bit stressful but all in all I had pretty good confidence in my abilities. But this reading stuff wow!!!! Most of my children learned under the Whole Language theory of reading. But guess what? Studies show the old fashion phonics approach has better results (the way we were taught as a kid!)
But do you know the synthetic approach to phonics instruction? What coarticulated sounds are? How about phonemic awareness? Can you demonstrate the Onset-Rime of a word? What are the voiced and voiceless sounds? Whew, you see my challenge.
I can follow a lesson plan in reading. As a matter of fact I adore helping early readers as a para or a sub. I often know what to do with them and I take direction from a teacher very well. But answering the hows and whys in a test situation? Whew.
I had no idea what the first 5 answers were to the multiple choice part of the Foundations of Reading test. I have been studying about an hour every nite and I can now answer correctly the first 8 questions.
As you can see I have many more hours of studying ahead of me. One of the intimidating things is how many times some people take these tests. The day I went for the tests I was confident on I sat with people who were retaking the same tests for the third and fourth time! Talk about getting psyched out. Plus there is a whole cottage industry set up of courses you can pay for to help you prepare to pass the indivuidual tests. Since the tests cost say one hundred and the courses another couple of hundred, well you can imagine howq this all ads up.
Anyway, as you can clearly see I have a big challenge on Nov 20th that I need to prepare for. But tonight I wanted to share with you all my secret that I accomplished so far!!!!! Fingers crossed please!
Well today online the unofficial results came in and that is close enough for me, I cannot continue my silence. Yes my friends today I received word that although my actual scores are in the snail mail, I have passed 3 of the MTELs.
Thought I was referring to something else perhaps? Huh, don't I wish. But no I am neither pregnant.....like I could keep THAT a secret, nor have I won the Megabucks....like Donnie could keep THAT a secret.
Instead I just heard that I achieved passing scores on the Communications and Literacy 2 part test and the Early Childhood MTEL 1 part test. I still have to pass the Foundations of Reading test in late November in order to get my Preliminary Teacher Licence in Early Childhood preK to 2nd grade children with and without disabilities. I will also take the Reading Specialist test since I have to study for the Foundations test as well and this can give me a Preliminary Licence as a Reading Specialist All Grades.
I then have 5 years to take a 2 year teacher prep course and a certain number of professional development credits. But the theory is as soon as I have my preliminary teacher licence I could begin teaching full time in the classroom....Very grown up.
Future employment or educational plans can be discussed in a different blogpost at another time. What I wanted to mention here is how hard it has been not to talk about this with many people. Usually I never have a single thought left unexpressed! But I was not sure if I could even pass the exams and I do not have a clearly marked out path of next steps so perhaps I was not open to other people's opinions. The problem with that of course is by keeping a secret you do not get the opportunity of other peoples support.
The next 2 tests however that I am scheduled to take on Nov 20th are way harder, WAY HARDER so I am sharing now because I am really gonna need other folks support just ot get thru them!
I assumed the first 2 tests which are basic requirements for all educators in Massachusetts, the Communications and Literacy would be fairly easy. Sure enough the first time I tried an online practice test I scored 100% on the multiple choice!
I originally majored in Communications in college although I ultimately graduated with my BS in Psychology. Still I have subbed for 3 years and have had children in school for the past 20 odd years so we can safely assume I can communicate well enough!
The Early Childhood multiple choice part too was fairly easy. There were a few theorists who I had not studied so I simply researched any wrong answer I got and learned a couple of new learning theories. But much of it was common sense. Between the education I received, the on hand experience as a kindergarten para, and the dozens of foster/birth/and adopted kids that have been about this house I really knew my stuff.
The 6 essays of course were a bit stressful but all in all I had pretty good confidence in my abilities. But this reading stuff wow!!!! Most of my children learned under the Whole Language theory of reading. But guess what? Studies show the old fashion phonics approach has better results (the way we were taught as a kid!)
But do you know the synthetic approach to phonics instruction? What coarticulated sounds are? How about phonemic awareness? Can you demonstrate the Onset-Rime of a word? What are the voiced and voiceless sounds? Whew, you see my challenge.
I can follow a lesson plan in reading. As a matter of fact I adore helping early readers as a para or a sub. I often know what to do with them and I take direction from a teacher very well. But answering the hows and whys in a test situation? Whew.
I had no idea what the first 5 answers were to the multiple choice part of the Foundations of Reading test. I have been studying about an hour every nite and I can now answer correctly the first 8 questions.
As you can see I have many more hours of studying ahead of me. One of the intimidating things is how many times some people take these tests. The day I went for the tests I was confident on I sat with people who were retaking the same tests for the third and fourth time! Talk about getting psyched out. Plus there is a whole cottage industry set up of courses you can pay for to help you prepare to pass the indivuidual tests. Since the tests cost say one hundred and the courses another couple of hundred, well you can imagine howq this all ads up.
Anyway, as you can clearly see I have a big challenge on Nov 20th that I need to prepare for. But tonight I wanted to share with you all my secret that I accomplished so far!!!!! Fingers crossed please!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
a new Verizon on the horizon
"Its that most wonderful time of the year...." nope, not the Christmas season. Not birthday either nor even back to school (although don't you love that back to school commercial where the mom is celebrating the kids getting out of the house and into school?)
For me a big celebration occurs as I get ready for my brand new mobile phone. I am, as you are well aware, no shopper. I hate catalogue shopping, online shopping, and do not even get me started on a mall. If the book store and the grocery store would only combine I would never go shopping anywhere else.
Except of course when the every two years is up on my mobile phone and it is time for me to get the best bargain for my family, while coveting the best phone for me.
Don and I held off as long as possible in even getting into the cell phone game. I knew once I had one I would never be able to do without one and quite frankly I was not looking forward to being able to be intouch with every blessed person every single minute. Being the mother of 7 children means there is never one uninterupted moment. Even the bedroom and the bathroom are not off limits.
I have never been able to figure out what they expected me to do from the 'throne' when their brother hogged their couch cushion or their sister would not stop looking at them with 'that face.' Nevertheless my children have always felt I could solve any problem even from the toilet. Not only that but my children have always felt I was just dying to know every thought in their head when they were suppose to be in bed, or when I was suppose to be in bed. Children if you are reading this, here is the ugly truth. Once about 9p.m. rolls around, I am not all that into you. But I digress.
We eventually broke down and bought a pay as you go cell phone for Mary to use when she got her licence. We had very rickety cars and I was always afraid she would break down somewhere.
Since that first phone that cost 30$ for 2 months worth of minutes, we are now on a 5 phone family plan that is a cool 155 a month, Internet as a prize for me. We can send unlimited texts. Donnie maxes out at about 6 texts a month. I do about 30. Last month Jamie text-ed or received 3,000. Corey, Jamie, and Julie pay for their individual lines and help put some towards the family plan.
We of course cannot do without the darn phones and it is one of the truly great pleasures I have in finding the best free phones for the other 4 people with of course my primary phone being primo!
We are a Verizon fmaily, I get a discount as a Commonwealth of MA worker. We also receive an additional discount having our Internet, TV dish, and landline all under Verizon as well. It is only 15 a month extra to keep the landline although every year as money gets tough I debate the pros and cons of it. Best of all anytime I have ever had a problem, Verizon has a friendly person who answers THEIR phone and hleps me out! (Like the time 2 different adolescents in this house ran up 300 dollar phone bills, ahem).
Anyway I have removed Family Locator from one teens phone and have removed Internet from my phone in order to save some money. But on Dec. 5th I am due for an upgrade and oh boy have I had fun pouring over all the possibilites and crunching the numbers. December has the cheapest phone prices (and Jan the most expensive, trust me I know my stuff!) Ipod will be available to Verizon customers come Jan. but the prices will not be cheap and I do not need an Ipod!
I should be able to get 4 of the phones for free and mine at a very discounted rate. I shift through all the possible phones and all their features. I think what Julie would like or what Donnie really needs.
I would never spend a dime on myself, except of course for going out to eat! Well, and books, that goes without saying. But a new little phone every 2 years, well it is a greedy delight. Everywhere I go I ask what phones people have and what they like about thme and what would their next phone be.
Apparently I am not the only one who revels in this most wonderful time of the year!
For me a big celebration occurs as I get ready for my brand new mobile phone. I am, as you are well aware, no shopper. I hate catalogue shopping, online shopping, and do not even get me started on a mall. If the book store and the grocery store would only combine I would never go shopping anywhere else.
Except of course when the every two years is up on my mobile phone and it is time for me to get the best bargain for my family, while coveting the best phone for me.
Don and I held off as long as possible in even getting into the cell phone game. I knew once I had one I would never be able to do without one and quite frankly I was not looking forward to being able to be intouch with every blessed person every single minute. Being the mother of 7 children means there is never one uninterupted moment. Even the bedroom and the bathroom are not off limits.
I have never been able to figure out what they expected me to do from the 'throne' when their brother hogged their couch cushion or their sister would not stop looking at them with 'that face.' Nevertheless my children have always felt I could solve any problem even from the toilet. Not only that but my children have always felt I was just dying to know every thought in their head when they were suppose to be in bed, or when I was suppose to be in bed. Children if you are reading this, here is the ugly truth. Once about 9p.m. rolls around, I am not all that into you. But I digress.
We eventually broke down and bought a pay as you go cell phone for Mary to use when she got her licence. We had very rickety cars and I was always afraid she would break down somewhere.
Since that first phone that cost 30$ for 2 months worth of minutes, we are now on a 5 phone family plan that is a cool 155 a month, Internet as a prize for me. We can send unlimited texts. Donnie maxes out at about 6 texts a month. I do about 30. Last month Jamie text-ed or received 3,000. Corey, Jamie, and Julie pay for their individual lines and help put some towards the family plan.
We of course cannot do without the darn phones and it is one of the truly great pleasures I have in finding the best free phones for the other 4 people with of course my primary phone being primo!
We are a Verizon fmaily, I get a discount as a Commonwealth of MA worker. We also receive an additional discount having our Internet, TV dish, and landline all under Verizon as well. It is only 15 a month extra to keep the landline although every year as money gets tough I debate the pros and cons of it. Best of all anytime I have ever had a problem, Verizon has a friendly person who answers THEIR phone and hleps me out! (Like the time 2 different adolescents in this house ran up 300 dollar phone bills, ahem).
Anyway I have removed Family Locator from one teens phone and have removed Internet from my phone in order to save some money. But on Dec. 5th I am due for an upgrade and oh boy have I had fun pouring over all the possibilites and crunching the numbers. December has the cheapest phone prices (and Jan the most expensive, trust me I know my stuff!) Ipod will be available to Verizon customers come Jan. but the prices will not be cheap and I do not need an Ipod!
I should be able to get 4 of the phones for free and mine at a very discounted rate. I shift through all the possible phones and all their features. I think what Julie would like or what Donnie really needs.
I would never spend a dime on myself, except of course for going out to eat! Well, and books, that goes without saying. But a new little phone every 2 years, well it is a greedy delight. Everywhere I go I ask what phones people have and what they like about thme and what would their next phone be.
Apparently I am not the only one who revels in this most wonderful time of the year!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Today's long run
So today's long run was the Carver High School cross country trail. Of course since the trail itself is only 3.1 miles (that is a 5K) I did it twice to make my long run 6.2 miles (or a 10k!)
In the spirit of full disclosure I must admit however that I ran very little of it. For the most part it was a brisk walk with intermittent slow jogging. But my surgically enhanced back bone held out just fine as did the rest of me.
Donnie could not accompany me as he had afternoon hockey games to referee and his lower back is still giving him twinges. (Moving the water heater the other day did him in, both his back and his wallet suffered, something close to 800 bucks good Lord!) But my buddy Joe came along to talk my ear off and make sure I did not get lost.
The trail itself has a new change around the bogs, brought about when the bog guys moved part of one of the sand hills that the kids ran over. The course loops around both baseball fields, both softball fields, the soccer and football fields, past the tennis courts and ends up using part of the track. It also meanders through the woods and does a big loop through the cranberry bogs back behind the school.
For the most part we had the whole trail to ourselves. There was a guy jogging around the outside of the track but by the time we got there he was gone. There was also a young boy clearly trying to run off some weight for football and his older brother. Both boys "Hey Mrs. Blauss"ed me although I could not place their names.
Other than that it was just us out on this unbelievably lovely Fall day. I cannot think of a more magnificent place to enjoy the foliage than around a bog, unless I suppose one is sitting on a mountain top in New Hampshire. The crisp crunch of the leaves underfoot as we walk/ran, the spectacular colors on the trees, the deep maroon of the cranberry bogs, and the blue water along the ditches made a terrific display as we passed by.
I know there are all sorts of beautiful spots in the world but why would anyone want to miss out on a cool Fall day in New England? The air, the sights, the sounds are unmatched.
Of course it still got to be hard work by the end of the trail. It also took me just under 2 hours to do which is a terrible time even for a walk. But it is my best right now in my recovery state so it will have to do.
In the end, I did not need to call on any great stores of perseverance to make the trail. But it took all my strength not to drive the van through the McDonald's drivethru when we finished. I was absolutely starving and those french fries were calling out to me.
But I made it home and ate a healthy tuna sandwhich on whole wheat toast. I felt very virtuous although quite frankly if there was so much as a dog cookie in this house I think I would have devoured it and hid the evidence. 3 weeks to the Edaville Rail Run and I am on target. Hungry, but on target.
In the spirit of full disclosure I must admit however that I ran very little of it. For the most part it was a brisk walk with intermittent slow jogging. But my surgically enhanced back bone held out just fine as did the rest of me.
Donnie could not accompany me as he had afternoon hockey games to referee and his lower back is still giving him twinges. (Moving the water heater the other day did him in, both his back and his wallet suffered, something close to 800 bucks good Lord!) But my buddy Joe came along to talk my ear off and make sure I did not get lost.
The trail itself has a new change around the bogs, brought about when the bog guys moved part of one of the sand hills that the kids ran over. The course loops around both baseball fields, both softball fields, the soccer and football fields, past the tennis courts and ends up using part of the track. It also meanders through the woods and does a big loop through the cranberry bogs back behind the school.
For the most part we had the whole trail to ourselves. There was a guy jogging around the outside of the track but by the time we got there he was gone. There was also a young boy clearly trying to run off some weight for football and his older brother. Both boys "Hey Mrs. Blauss"ed me although I could not place their names.
Other than that it was just us out on this unbelievably lovely Fall day. I cannot think of a more magnificent place to enjoy the foliage than around a bog, unless I suppose one is sitting on a mountain top in New Hampshire. The crisp crunch of the leaves underfoot as we walk/ran, the spectacular colors on the trees, the deep maroon of the cranberry bogs, and the blue water along the ditches made a terrific display as we passed by.
I know there are all sorts of beautiful spots in the world but why would anyone want to miss out on a cool Fall day in New England? The air, the sights, the sounds are unmatched.
Of course it still got to be hard work by the end of the trail. It also took me just under 2 hours to do which is a terrible time even for a walk. But it is my best right now in my recovery state so it will have to do.
In the end, I did not need to call on any great stores of perseverance to make the trail. But it took all my strength not to drive the van through the McDonald's drivethru when we finished. I was absolutely starving and those french fries were calling out to me.
But I made it home and ate a healthy tuna sandwhich on whole wheat toast. I felt very virtuous although quite frankly if there was so much as a dog cookie in this house I think I would have devoured it and hid the evidence. 3 weeks to the Edaville Rail Run and I am on target. Hungry, but on target.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Reading is FUNdamental
I am currently in an American Revolution phase in my reading. The last time I was really into this era was probably during high school when I devoured everything I could about Ben Franklin. Since I truly am a history geek and lived through all those Bicentennial Celebrations (remember the Bicentennial parades and the Bicentennial Minute on TV?) I have decided to find nonfiction works that offer insight from different angles, not necessarily the ones I studied so happily in school. (I really do love History. In college we were required to take 2 semesters of US history and of course I had a perfect 4.0 and was bored out of my gourd. I talked my prof into letting me skip classes except for the tests- which I aced- and instead do some independent work with him. He was a Jeffersonian lover and so we met weekly to discuss various tomes on our 3rd President.)
I recently finished David Hackett Fischer's work on Paul Revere. It was during the reading of this work I have discovered a whole new way to get my geek on. Did you know if you sit with your laptop handy you can look up absolutely anything online while reading? It is heavenly to delve further into a subject, get a differing perspective, or just satisfy my curiosity.
Currently I am about half way through Annette Gordon-Reed's fascinating masterpiece about The Hemingses of Monticello. Talk about viewing history from a different perspective. It is a fascinating and sometimes chilling book and it really challenges my thoughts and beliefs about a man who we have all considered one of America's best native sons, Thomas Jefferson.
It is not an easy read. Not only is the topic sobering, a look at the slave children of Thomas Jefferson....his very own flesh and blood who were 7/8Th Caucasian and 1/8Th African and yet were born into slavery! But it is written by a woman who is a law professor. Often there are pages and pages of meticulous facts and figures to back up one paragraph of information.
It is a must read!
Funny too how my reading goes in different directions and how passions flare up and then slowly fade away. When the kids were small I had to read every single book about the kings and queens of England for instance. But I have not thought about that for years. The kids often dictate my phase in reading. Mary had me into various geneological stuff, Julie got me into my Ancient Egypt phase. Even Donnie had me brushing up on my Civil War stuff because of his fascination with an old relative who served during that War.
Well I need to get back to Sally Hemings and her children. I think perhaps the best gift you can pass on to your kids is the love of reading. 5 of my 7 kids are avid bibliophiles and I still hold out hope for the other 2.
I recently finished David Hackett Fischer's work on Paul Revere. It was during the reading of this work I have discovered a whole new way to get my geek on. Did you know if you sit with your laptop handy you can look up absolutely anything online while reading? It is heavenly to delve further into a subject, get a differing perspective, or just satisfy my curiosity.
Currently I am about half way through Annette Gordon-Reed's fascinating masterpiece about The Hemingses of Monticello. Talk about viewing history from a different perspective. It is a fascinating and sometimes chilling book and it really challenges my thoughts and beliefs about a man who we have all considered one of America's best native sons, Thomas Jefferson.
It is not an easy read. Not only is the topic sobering, a look at the slave children of Thomas Jefferson....his very own flesh and blood who were 7/8Th Caucasian and 1/8Th African and yet were born into slavery! But it is written by a woman who is a law professor. Often there are pages and pages of meticulous facts and figures to back up one paragraph of information.
It is a must read!
Funny too how my reading goes in different directions and how passions flare up and then slowly fade away. When the kids were small I had to read every single book about the kings and queens of England for instance. But I have not thought about that for years. The kids often dictate my phase in reading. Mary had me into various geneological stuff, Julie got me into my Ancient Egypt phase. Even Donnie had me brushing up on my Civil War stuff because of his fascination with an old relative who served during that War.
Well I need to get back to Sally Hemings and her children. I think perhaps the best gift you can pass on to your kids is the love of reading. 5 of my 7 kids are avid bibliophiles and I still hold out hope for the other 2.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Jamie and MCAS
When MCAS came into being all the MA school systems were overhauled, Carver being no exception. "Teaching to the test" some people cried, while others said it was a much needed effort to have graduates be truly ready to face an ever more complicated world.
So, in January of Jamie's first grade year they introduced subtraction. For the previous 17 years subtraction had been introduced in May with most kids catching on by June. Sure enough by June of first grasde, Jamie did indeed 'catch on' to subtraction. Of course it was assumed he would catch on by February and so for Jamie math has always been a race to catch up. (BTW we now teach subtaction in kindergarten!)
To be honest from the day we got him as a frightened tiny 19 pound 11 month old he has been playing academic catch up. He tested in the 5 month range and the doctor said he was 6 months behind. When I asked what it meant for the future the pedatrician gave a sympathetic shrug. If it meant he would always be 6 months behind that would be no big deal the older he got. Of course if he remained half his life behind well then we would be looking at something else all together.
We did Early Intervention and an Intergrated Preschool. We gave him an enriched and stimulating environment. I fought the schools so that he would have the opportunity to stay back an extra year in half day kindergarten because he simply needed extra time to mature.
After many years of thoughtful we research we enrolled him in the Votech for high school. I hesitated to do so for fear I was some how labeling him as not college material. But middle school with its great academic demands (we will not discuss here the social demands since we all remember nightmares from our own days as awkward early adolescents!) was not a good academic experience for Jamie and I feared he was turned off from education althogether.
But Jamie amoung his many gifts and talents has always had remarkable success with his hands. From his earliest childhood he could take apart and put together toys. He loved cars and all machines. He had a heck of a time doing the reading and writing required in 4H. But his skill with the animals was undeniable. he is even a great cook. As long as his knowledge base was hands on he could demonstrate remarkable skill. Votech was made for him.
Sure enough Old Colony with its 2 week academic 2 week shop time has been the saving of Jamie's educational career. But the poor kid still has to pass the damn MCAS. Why? I do not need my mechanic to write an essay about my engine I just need him to fix the darn car!
Well Jamie has attended 3 summers of extra MCAS help. He has participated in study groups and workshops and after school help sessions. He has I am sure driven his patient teachers crazy since he would much rather engage in conversation than write something. But they did not give up on him and thankfully although he has not always made a stellar effort, he did not give up on himself.
He passed the English MCAs by 6 points and the Science by a whopping 12. But inspite of a 42% improvement rating over his previous test scores, he missed passing the MCAS math by 4 points. 4!
He has of course 4 more chances to try and pass the MCAS but as you can imagine this is no good news for a 17 year old kid who has more important things to do with his time! Especially given the herculaean efforts he has already made.
So last night I went ot his school to meet with counselors and administration to see what we can all do to help a kid who has already put in so much effort. We have a plan in place which still requires his attention and effort and he has agreed to do this. The retests will not need to have short answers so they will simply be mutliple choice. Attendance and effort count. His sticking around for extra help will be essential particularly the 4 Saturdays before the early spring retest.
We will all have to give it our best effort and I really appreciate and admire the skill and dedication of the Votech staff. But boy it seems like so much effort for this poor kid to get his diploma.
I am sure MCAS served a purpose. but it certianly seems more moeny driven with little imput from real teachers in the field. Maybe I am wrong.
Meanwhile Jamie will be our fifth kid to graduate when he walks down the aisle in the late spring of 2012. I have had kids graduate both Valedictorian and Salutatorian. One of the boys was number 11 in his class and the other in the top third.
Jamie will not be in the top anything in his graduating class. But few kids have ever had so many people helping him to achienve what he deserves that is for darn sure.
Last night just he and I snuck out to celebrate his efforts and for the first time he really seems invested in a college education. He has big dreams my boy does of being a canine cop. Who knows, but I am very proud of child number 5 both in his academic achievement and his sticking to it. He is a good boy even though at 17 he often sits on my very last nerve. Apparently he could say the same thing about me although I am sure you would find that hard to beleive. He has worked hard and it is finally starting to pay off for him!
So, in January of Jamie's first grade year they introduced subtraction. For the previous 17 years subtraction had been introduced in May with most kids catching on by June. Sure enough by June of first grasde, Jamie did indeed 'catch on' to subtraction. Of course it was assumed he would catch on by February and so for Jamie math has always been a race to catch up. (BTW we now teach subtaction in kindergarten!)
To be honest from the day we got him as a frightened tiny 19 pound 11 month old he has been playing academic catch up. He tested in the 5 month range and the doctor said he was 6 months behind. When I asked what it meant for the future the pedatrician gave a sympathetic shrug. If it meant he would always be 6 months behind that would be no big deal the older he got. Of course if he remained half his life behind well then we would be looking at something else all together.
We did Early Intervention and an Intergrated Preschool. We gave him an enriched and stimulating environment. I fought the schools so that he would have the opportunity to stay back an extra year in half day kindergarten because he simply needed extra time to mature.
After many years of thoughtful we research we enrolled him in the Votech for high school. I hesitated to do so for fear I was some how labeling him as not college material. But middle school with its great academic demands (we will not discuss here the social demands since we all remember nightmares from our own days as awkward early adolescents!) was not a good academic experience for Jamie and I feared he was turned off from education althogether.
But Jamie amoung his many gifts and talents has always had remarkable success with his hands. From his earliest childhood he could take apart and put together toys. He loved cars and all machines. He had a heck of a time doing the reading and writing required in 4H. But his skill with the animals was undeniable. he is even a great cook. As long as his knowledge base was hands on he could demonstrate remarkable skill. Votech was made for him.
Sure enough Old Colony with its 2 week academic 2 week shop time has been the saving of Jamie's educational career. But the poor kid still has to pass the damn MCAS. Why? I do not need my mechanic to write an essay about my engine I just need him to fix the darn car!
Well Jamie has attended 3 summers of extra MCAS help. He has participated in study groups and workshops and after school help sessions. He has I am sure driven his patient teachers crazy since he would much rather engage in conversation than write something. But they did not give up on him and thankfully although he has not always made a stellar effort, he did not give up on himself.
He passed the English MCAs by 6 points and the Science by a whopping 12. But inspite of a 42% improvement rating over his previous test scores, he missed passing the MCAS math by 4 points. 4!
He has of course 4 more chances to try and pass the MCAS but as you can imagine this is no good news for a 17 year old kid who has more important things to do with his time! Especially given the herculaean efforts he has already made.
So last night I went ot his school to meet with counselors and administration to see what we can all do to help a kid who has already put in so much effort. We have a plan in place which still requires his attention and effort and he has agreed to do this. The retests will not need to have short answers so they will simply be mutliple choice. Attendance and effort count. His sticking around for extra help will be essential particularly the 4 Saturdays before the early spring retest.
We will all have to give it our best effort and I really appreciate and admire the skill and dedication of the Votech staff. But boy it seems like so much effort for this poor kid to get his diploma.
I am sure MCAS served a purpose. but it certianly seems more moeny driven with little imput from real teachers in the field. Maybe I am wrong.
Meanwhile Jamie will be our fifth kid to graduate when he walks down the aisle in the late spring of 2012. I have had kids graduate both Valedictorian and Salutatorian. One of the boys was number 11 in his class and the other in the top third.
Jamie will not be in the top anything in his graduating class. But few kids have ever had so many people helping him to achienve what he deserves that is for darn sure.
Last night just he and I snuck out to celebrate his efforts and for the first time he really seems invested in a college education. He has big dreams my boy does of being a canine cop. Who knows, but I am very proud of child number 5 both in his academic achievement and his sticking to it. He is a good boy even though at 17 he often sits on my very last nerve. Apparently he could say the same thing about me although I am sure you would find that hard to beleive. He has worked hard and it is finally starting to pay off for him!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Deciding to run
Today was a red letter day for me. If I could make the five mile loop at a brisk pace without having to stop or slow down then I was going to enter the Edaville Rail Race on Nov 13th, 4 weeks away.
Now this is a running race around the bogs and reservoir down at Edaville. The race is five miles and the money goes for a scholarship given in memory of Dorrine Merrit. She was an 18year old college student killed in a car crash practically in sight of her family's home. The family honors her memory by offering a scholarship to a student studying nursing and possessing the caring qualities of this teen who died much too young.
Last year I ran the race in a steady cold rain. It was a beautiful course or what I could see of it through my fog shrouded glasses! I had big plans this year of bettering my time, getting more friends to run with me, etc.
Of course those plans came to a crashing halt or so I thought, with my spine injury and subsequent surgery. But I have been itching to run and in the back of my mind I just did not want to rule out Edaville.
Well the race is 4 weeks away and I absolutely can walk 5 miles without stopping. So what the heck, why not enter? Who cares if I have to walk most of it? Does it matter really to anyone if I am way slower than last year? What if I come in dead last?
It has been 2 years and 9 months since I vowed that cold rainy Jan morning that I would get into shape, after I barely made a 2 mile walk. I have come a very long way since then.
But if you read fitness books you would think good health is about constantly doing more, pushing harder, doing better, faster, stronger. But this summer as I lay in the hospital bed with some dead person's bones added to my own spinal column it occurred to me that the best you can really is a relative thing.
By the time I had my surgery, three months of agonizing limiting pain had reduced my body to a much weakened state. But I was still 40 pounds less and the work I did to get into shape presurgery helped me with the surgery and now the recovery.
Oh I certainly cannot run 5 miles. For sure I am unable to do even a mile at a slow jog. But I am still down those 40 pounds. Naturally I wish I was down another 40. Shoot this summer I could not swallow anything solid for 2 weeks but did not in the end lose an ounce!!! Ah well.
But I am slowly healing and adjusting to the new neck with its cadaver bones and screw and plates. The muscles in my neck, chest, and upper back are tight as can be as they figure out how to live with the additional parts. But I am alive and kicking and I will walk that race and run the parts I can.
I will celebrate the here and now and not wish I was skinnier or faster or anything so foolish. I am very lucky I even have the opportunity to participate.
Fall in New England is a lovely time of year to work out in the outdoors and October in Carver with the bogs being harvested is strikingly gorgeous.
Today as I pushed my walking pace I had fun stepping on the bright red cranberries that fell from the dump trucks. They make a very satisfying popping sound underfoot. I walked past flag strewn bogs. (The flags are placed marking the dikes and such so that the workers can keep their footing once the bogs flood.) I shivered as the breeze blew acroos the flooded bogs making for a cold stretch of walking.
I am looking forward to my race this year, maybe more so than last year. I have talked a couple of friends into doing it with me too and its nice to know the entry fee goes to such a wonderful cause. I will walk Edaville and admire the view and I will plan next years race which I WILL be healthy enough to RUN in.
Now this is a running race around the bogs and reservoir down at Edaville. The race is five miles and the money goes for a scholarship given in memory of Dorrine Merrit. She was an 18year old college student killed in a car crash practically in sight of her family's home. The family honors her memory by offering a scholarship to a student studying nursing and possessing the caring qualities of this teen who died much too young.
Last year I ran the race in a steady cold rain. It was a beautiful course or what I could see of it through my fog shrouded glasses! I had big plans this year of bettering my time, getting more friends to run with me, etc.
Of course those plans came to a crashing halt or so I thought, with my spine injury and subsequent surgery. But I have been itching to run and in the back of my mind I just did not want to rule out Edaville.
Well the race is 4 weeks away and I absolutely can walk 5 miles without stopping. So what the heck, why not enter? Who cares if I have to walk most of it? Does it matter really to anyone if I am way slower than last year? What if I come in dead last?
It has been 2 years and 9 months since I vowed that cold rainy Jan morning that I would get into shape, after I barely made a 2 mile walk. I have come a very long way since then.
But if you read fitness books you would think good health is about constantly doing more, pushing harder, doing better, faster, stronger. But this summer as I lay in the hospital bed with some dead person's bones added to my own spinal column it occurred to me that the best you can really is a relative thing.
By the time I had my surgery, three months of agonizing limiting pain had reduced my body to a much weakened state. But I was still 40 pounds less and the work I did to get into shape presurgery helped me with the surgery and now the recovery.
Oh I certainly cannot run 5 miles. For sure I am unable to do even a mile at a slow jog. But I am still down those 40 pounds. Naturally I wish I was down another 40. Shoot this summer I could not swallow anything solid for 2 weeks but did not in the end lose an ounce!!! Ah well.
But I am slowly healing and adjusting to the new neck with its cadaver bones and screw and plates. The muscles in my neck, chest, and upper back are tight as can be as they figure out how to live with the additional parts. But I am alive and kicking and I will walk that race and run the parts I can.
I will celebrate the here and now and not wish I was skinnier or faster or anything so foolish. I am very lucky I even have the opportunity to participate.
Fall in New England is a lovely time of year to work out in the outdoors and October in Carver with the bogs being harvested is strikingly gorgeous.
Today as I pushed my walking pace I had fun stepping on the bright red cranberries that fell from the dump trucks. They make a very satisfying popping sound underfoot. I walked past flag strewn bogs. (The flags are placed marking the dikes and such so that the workers can keep their footing once the bogs flood.) I shivered as the breeze blew acroos the flooded bogs making for a cold stretch of walking.
I am looking forward to my race this year, maybe more so than last year. I have talked a couple of friends into doing it with me too and its nice to know the entry fee goes to such a wonderful cause. I will walk Edaville and admire the view and I will plan next years race which I WILL be healthy enough to RUN in.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Am I becoming a Curmudgeon?
I love to decorate for all the seasons. I do not always remember to take down the decorations (at least in the house) from one holiday to the next, but I love to be festive. Luckily my red Christmasy stuff fits right in with my red Valentiney stuff for instance.
But lately I wonder if I am getting a little crotchety and judgemental in my old age or if maybe I am right to feel disturbed. Thought I would blog about it and see what you think.
My discomfort is with all the Halloween decorations. Now do not get me wrong. I love Halloween, what could be better than dressing up and getting free food? Around here in our household Halloween is a high holiday. We all love costumes and even the college kids still manage to find a way to go out trick or treating. I even love when the older tough kids from nearby neighborhoods show up at my door looking for candy. If you wear a costume you are welcome to free food is my motto.
I cheerfully fill the house with pumpkins and black cats. I string up Halloween lights and stick trick or treat witches out on the lawn. I get bad dreams from really scary things so any skeleton or monster has to hang in a kids' room. (They of course are afraid of nothing!)
I just finally broke down and threw away my favorite hang up Halloween decorations because they were so old. They were a series of paper decorations I hung on walls and doors that depicted kids dressed up as ghosts and pumpkins, witches and black cats. So cute and cuddly. I had those pictures since Mary was a baby and I hated to break tradition but they were old, worn, and full of scotch tape marks!
So I think all of the above exemplifies my love of the season. What bothers me however is the trend for the most gruesome of scenes displayed on peoples front lawns.
Why is the creche scene or a menorah on a town hall lawn so deplorable but it is perfectly acceptable to depict hangings and decapitations splayed across the front yard?
On one of the busiest roads in our small town, closs to an intersection, you can sit waiting for the traffic lights to change while staring at a disgusting scene of corpses and broken bloddy bodies.
Everytime I drive by I get an image of 9 11 and all the falling bodies and body parts. Am I the only one to get upset? In a time when we are at war why is it ok to show limbs torn off and blood and gore when we cannot even get real images of the troops coming home in coffins?
Are bodies strung up in trees, hanging in a painful death pose really OK viewing for little kids.
I do not read scary books or watch scary movies. I understand that many many people find those wonderfully entertaining and I say good for them. They can go buy a Stephen King novel or pay for a movie ticket and they are happy and I am equally happy not being exposed to it. But I drive past that house every day. Each day another body or body part is added to the Halloween tableaux. Each day it is more disturbing to see.
There are lots of scary things or silly things or crazy things we can use to decorate for Halloween. Dead and maimed bodies should not have to be paraded before us.
I have never paid any attention to what anyone else has in their yard. I do not care if my friends and neighbors mow their lawn or have waist high weeds. I don't care if they blast their music while washing their cars in their driveway, or jam in their garage. Barking dogs, bickering kids all fine with me.
But I really really get sad to see limbs and blood and dead bodies. It truly disturbs me to see the human body being tortured as front yard entertainment.
But lately I wonder if I am getting a little crotchety and judgemental in my old age or if maybe I am right to feel disturbed. Thought I would blog about it and see what you think.
My discomfort is with all the Halloween decorations. Now do not get me wrong. I love Halloween, what could be better than dressing up and getting free food? Around here in our household Halloween is a high holiday. We all love costumes and even the college kids still manage to find a way to go out trick or treating. I even love when the older tough kids from nearby neighborhoods show up at my door looking for candy. If you wear a costume you are welcome to free food is my motto.
I cheerfully fill the house with pumpkins and black cats. I string up Halloween lights and stick trick or treat witches out on the lawn. I get bad dreams from really scary things so any skeleton or monster has to hang in a kids' room. (They of course are afraid of nothing!)
I just finally broke down and threw away my favorite hang up Halloween decorations because they were so old. They were a series of paper decorations I hung on walls and doors that depicted kids dressed up as ghosts and pumpkins, witches and black cats. So cute and cuddly. I had those pictures since Mary was a baby and I hated to break tradition but they were old, worn, and full of scotch tape marks!
So I think all of the above exemplifies my love of the season. What bothers me however is the trend for the most gruesome of scenes displayed on peoples front lawns.
Why is the creche scene or a menorah on a town hall lawn so deplorable but it is perfectly acceptable to depict hangings and decapitations splayed across the front yard?
On one of the busiest roads in our small town, closs to an intersection, you can sit waiting for the traffic lights to change while staring at a disgusting scene of corpses and broken bloddy bodies.
Everytime I drive by I get an image of 9 11 and all the falling bodies and body parts. Am I the only one to get upset? In a time when we are at war why is it ok to show limbs torn off and blood and gore when we cannot even get real images of the troops coming home in coffins?
Are bodies strung up in trees, hanging in a painful death pose really OK viewing for little kids.
I do not read scary books or watch scary movies. I understand that many many people find those wonderfully entertaining and I say good for them. They can go buy a Stephen King novel or pay for a movie ticket and they are happy and I am equally happy not being exposed to it. But I drive past that house every day. Each day another body or body part is added to the Halloween tableaux. Each day it is more disturbing to see.
There are lots of scary things or silly things or crazy things we can use to decorate for Halloween. Dead and maimed bodies should not have to be paraded before us.
I have never paid any attention to what anyone else has in their yard. I do not care if my friends and neighbors mow their lawn or have waist high weeds. I don't care if they blast their music while washing their cars in their driveway, or jam in their garage. Barking dogs, bickering kids all fine with me.
But I really really get sad to see limbs and blood and dead bodies. It truly disturbs me to see the human body being tortured as front yard entertainment.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Fall Planting and outwitting pests.
Every spring as I busily prepare the veggie garden I lament that I have so few cheerful spring flowers. But in order to have a display of lovely blooms in April and May in New England, you must plant bulbs in October.
I always intend to plant bulbs in the fall. I sometimes even remember to buy them. They are very abundant in stores in early spring but you are suppose to save the plantiong until just before frost.
Of course by the time October comes the gardening urge has long since been supplanted :>) by other more urgent needs, like school, fall sports, work. Oh ya, plus it gets cold and dark very early!
But back in February and March when the seed catalogues arrive in the mail it is hard to imagine anything getting in the way of garden fun. So I buy little displays of paper whites or receive small colorful pots full of forced daffodils and tulips. I vow that this will be the year that I plant a spring garden. But then another planting season goes by and the spring garden remains just a dream scratched out on some graph paper.
This year has been different however. For starters my gardening work ended abruptly on that cool spring morning just before Easter when I ruptured the four discs in my neck. Thankfully I had gotten a huge jump start on my vegetable garden. My impatience for new life always results in my putting tender vegetables in the beds earlier than recommended. I then hover and fret every time the temps dip below freezing but in all these years I have never lost more than a plant or two to late snows.
Anyway this year was no exception and my entire vegetable garden had all been either planted in ground or sprouted and warmed in the plastic greenhouse. But after my neck injury the only real gardening was the slow methodical weeding of the garden and feeding the weeds to the chickens.
No second sewing of peas and broccoli, no first sewing of green beans for that matter... we sat in the garden, we ate from the garden, we daydreamed in the garden, but we did not plant.
Sitting one day on the stoop in front of the house however I looked over at the garden beds bursting with produce, flowers, and silly garden nic nacs and I thought again about a spring garden. Wouldn't it be fun to step out onto the front stoop and see a carpeting of happy daffodils and stately tulips? How great would it be to see little purple Remembrance crocus peeping through the melting snow?
My very first gardening memory relates to those purple crocus. We moved from Boston to Hanson in July of 1970. The land had been previously forested with white pine. All the earth was scrapped bare to sand and then big piles of aged cow manure was heaped in hills upon it. (Cow maure make great King of the Mountain perches!) The hills were raked over the sand and in the hottest weeks of the year poor little seeds of grass were coaxed into growing.
That fall my city born and bred mother felt the stirring of Irish ancestor farmers who had toiled the Emerald Isle. With lots of enthusiasm and no first hand knowledge she boldly set about planting dozens and dozens of crocus bulbs, just outside our front door. Sure enough they were the first sign of spring. Those bold little bulbs and their progeny still come up near the front steps forty years after they were planted.
I have a couple of the babes in my own garden. But today I planted dozens more. Plus I planted daffodils and tulips. I moved very slowly and carefully. I lifted no shovels of dirt, wheelbarrow ed no aged manure.
Instead I carefully raked the wood chips to the left of the front step, in that area between the front of the house and the walkway. This area has 2 whiskey barrels that hold the only plants ever to survive the deep summer shade that covers them. (2 hosta, and a hardy corallbells plant.
This rectangular spot is bathed in late fall, winter, and spring sunlight. But come summertime the majestic oak at the end of the driveway casts a cooling dark shade over the whole area. The perfect place for spring bulbs!
After raking the wood chips (You can get them for free in Hanson btw near the little league fields!)I had Donnie wheelbarrow over for me rich earth made from our chicken and bunny manure, pine shavings, a dash of lime, and the busy work of earth worms.
The enriched earth is one of those stunning bonuses we get for caring for our livestock. So with perfect posture and measured strokes I raked the compost and then dug bulb size holes for my spring bulbs.
After covering each bulb with dirt and returning the wood chips over them I caught the eye of Stumpy our tailless squirrel. He is one of the many tree rats that I do battle with to keep the garden food for me and not them. I won the strawberry wars this year for instance but they harvested my sunflowers faster than I could. Damn squirrels!
Well that stupid Stumpy and his squirrel friends were probably watching me the whole time as if I were setting out a Thanksgiving feast for them. But I have had many months of inactivity were all I could do was think and heal. I did not spend that time frivolously, oh no my blog friends. I have a plan.
After getting the bulbs in their winter resting place I unrolled the piece der resistance! Taking chicken wire I covered the whole area so that those blankety blank squirrels cannot reach my precious spring garden while it slumbers.
I stood there rubbing my hands together, not to remove dirt but in unholy glee. Oh yes. I have not only planted my lovely spring garden but I have also thwarted those gray robbers!
I always intend to plant bulbs in the fall. I sometimes even remember to buy them. They are very abundant in stores in early spring but you are suppose to save the plantiong until just before frost.
Of course by the time October comes the gardening urge has long since been supplanted :>) by other more urgent needs, like school, fall sports, work. Oh ya, plus it gets cold and dark very early!
But back in February and March when the seed catalogues arrive in the mail it is hard to imagine anything getting in the way of garden fun. So I buy little displays of paper whites or receive small colorful pots full of forced daffodils and tulips. I vow that this will be the year that I plant a spring garden. But then another planting season goes by and the spring garden remains just a dream scratched out on some graph paper.
This year has been different however. For starters my gardening work ended abruptly on that cool spring morning just before Easter when I ruptured the four discs in my neck. Thankfully I had gotten a huge jump start on my vegetable garden. My impatience for new life always results in my putting tender vegetables in the beds earlier than recommended. I then hover and fret every time the temps dip below freezing but in all these years I have never lost more than a plant or two to late snows.
Anyway this year was no exception and my entire vegetable garden had all been either planted in ground or sprouted and warmed in the plastic greenhouse. But after my neck injury the only real gardening was the slow methodical weeding of the garden and feeding the weeds to the chickens.
No second sewing of peas and broccoli, no first sewing of green beans for that matter... we sat in the garden, we ate from the garden, we daydreamed in the garden, but we did not plant.
Sitting one day on the stoop in front of the house however I looked over at the garden beds bursting with produce, flowers, and silly garden nic nacs and I thought again about a spring garden. Wouldn't it be fun to step out onto the front stoop and see a carpeting of happy daffodils and stately tulips? How great would it be to see little purple Remembrance crocus peeping through the melting snow?
My very first gardening memory relates to those purple crocus. We moved from Boston to Hanson in July of 1970. The land had been previously forested with white pine. All the earth was scrapped bare to sand and then big piles of aged cow manure was heaped in hills upon it. (Cow maure make great King of the Mountain perches!) The hills were raked over the sand and in the hottest weeks of the year poor little seeds of grass were coaxed into growing.
That fall my city born and bred mother felt the stirring of Irish ancestor farmers who had toiled the Emerald Isle. With lots of enthusiasm and no first hand knowledge she boldly set about planting dozens and dozens of crocus bulbs, just outside our front door. Sure enough they were the first sign of spring. Those bold little bulbs and their progeny still come up near the front steps forty years after they were planted.
I have a couple of the babes in my own garden. But today I planted dozens more. Plus I planted daffodils and tulips. I moved very slowly and carefully. I lifted no shovels of dirt, wheelbarrow ed no aged manure.
Instead I carefully raked the wood chips to the left of the front step, in that area between the front of the house and the walkway. This area has 2 whiskey barrels that hold the only plants ever to survive the deep summer shade that covers them. (2 hosta, and a hardy corallbells plant.
This rectangular spot is bathed in late fall, winter, and spring sunlight. But come summertime the majestic oak at the end of the driveway casts a cooling dark shade over the whole area. The perfect place for spring bulbs!
After raking the wood chips (You can get them for free in Hanson btw near the little league fields!)I had Donnie wheelbarrow over for me rich earth made from our chicken and bunny manure, pine shavings, a dash of lime, and the busy work of earth worms.
The enriched earth is one of those stunning bonuses we get for caring for our livestock. So with perfect posture and measured strokes I raked the compost and then dug bulb size holes for my spring bulbs.
After covering each bulb with dirt and returning the wood chips over them I caught the eye of Stumpy our tailless squirrel. He is one of the many tree rats that I do battle with to keep the garden food for me and not them. I won the strawberry wars this year for instance but they harvested my sunflowers faster than I could. Damn squirrels!
Well that stupid Stumpy and his squirrel friends were probably watching me the whole time as if I were setting out a Thanksgiving feast for them. But I have had many months of inactivity were all I could do was think and heal. I did not spend that time frivolously, oh no my blog friends. I have a plan.
After getting the bulbs in their winter resting place I unrolled the piece der resistance! Taking chicken wire I covered the whole area so that those blankety blank squirrels cannot reach my precious spring garden while it slumbers.
I stood there rubbing my hands together, not to remove dirt but in unholy glee. Oh yes. I have not only planted my lovely spring garden but I have also thwarted those gray robbers!
Friday, October 08, 2010
This is not your father's kindergarten
Boy have times changes since we were kids! Of course everyone says that. I bet the real Fred Flintstone said it Pebbles.
Most changes are for the better I suppose. When I was in kindergarten (The Fall of 68) it existed in the public schools for free in Boston, half days. But when we moved to Hanson 2 years later my parents had to pay for private kindergarten for my younger brother.
I can recall many things about Miss Shields my very first teacher although who knows if they are real or imagined memories. They tend to blend together with my first grade memories since I went to the Benjamin Cushing which was a neighborhood K-2nd grade school. My sister Marge was moving up to the big Mather elementary school but we moved to Hanson instead.
We walked to and from school. Recess was out in the parking lot. No swings, no grass, just asphalt and a big iron gate that we use to hold onto and swing on until some big dopey second grader fell off it one day and broke his nose and wrecked our fun.
I think we sat at tables in kindergarten. I do know in first grade our desks were bolted in straight rows to the floor. I recall painting on the easel, the cloak room, milk in little cardboard boxes (OK that is the same!) I loved the pegboard, the blackboard (Boston's was black. Hanson was green but we all called it the blackboard just the same.)
I can remember eating the paste and practicing my letters in a big loopy scrawl across sheets of manila paper. I clearly remember the day I first learned to skip in school when I was 5. Miss. Shields clapped for me and the whole class stood in a victory circle while I skipped around them!
It was sharing and caring and straight lines, and raise your hand, and help your neighbor tie his shoe. There were very few books which is why our move to Hanson when I headed into second grade was such a revelation. There was a school library FULL OF BOOKS, as well as a gym, cafeteria, and real playground.
Still to me the amazing thing was books. At 6 I had my first library card for the children's room at the Boston Public library and once a week I was allowed to get out a book. But in Hanson not only was there a school library and a public library, every classroom had their own little shelves of reading books. I thought we moved to a very snazzy rich town when I saw that.
When I was a kid you were expected to be able to read by the end of first grade. Nowadays kids really should come into Kindergarten able to read or master the fundementals by mid year kindergarten.
My big kids, up until Nikki learned one alphabet letter a week in kindergarten. they changed that Nikki's year and my little ones this year had already been introduced to the letter from A to N by the 3RD WEEK OF SCHOOL!
I do not recall any math in kindergarten except the basics of counting and the value of ten. I do recall addition in first grade. Until Jamie hit first grade, Carver taught my other children the concept of subtaction in May of first grade. Now they introduce it in Jan/ Feb of kindergarten.
These poor kids slave away like little automatons. How can that be good for them? How you can you learn the joys of a good story when kindergarten teachers have trouble fitting in story reading some days, and I am talking about all day kindergarten!
Still the miracles that go on at the elementary school on Main Street in Carver are fascinating.
Yesterday I came into class and the kids were cutting out pictures of 3 pigs and a wolf and glueing them on a paper. "Oh I said, "What are you doing?"
"Teacher read to us about the 3 little Pigs." As I complimented one of the little boys cutting skills I prattled on about the 3 little pigs and how much I love the story. The little guy looked up at me quite seriously and said, "I had heard about the 3 pigs of course but never knew what really happened." Adorable, right? like it was some news story that he just caught on TV but had not heard all the details.
The blond girl next to me proudly showed off her coloring and whispered, "J.... is sharing his colored pencils with me. I think he should be my best freind!"
Later one of the boys sobbed himself to sleep after his mom, who had been a class room helper, had to leave. In kindergarten crying and missing your mom are all acceptable forms of behavior. His crying therefore raised little notice except some concern expressed by the kids next to him. But as he slept upright in the chair (with my arm encircling him to keep him from falling off) a number of children whispered and shushed each other.
"He's had a tough day, first doing all our writing and math,, and now missing his mom. We should let him sleep."
These days, with the workload expected, it is definitely not your father's kindergarten. But the sweetness of being five is unchanged since the days Pebbles went to kindergarten in Bedrock.
Most changes are for the better I suppose. When I was in kindergarten (The Fall of 68) it existed in the public schools for free in Boston, half days. But when we moved to Hanson 2 years later my parents had to pay for private kindergarten for my younger brother.
I can recall many things about Miss Shields my very first teacher although who knows if they are real or imagined memories. They tend to blend together with my first grade memories since I went to the Benjamin Cushing which was a neighborhood K-2nd grade school. My sister Marge was moving up to the big Mather elementary school but we moved to Hanson instead.
We walked to and from school. Recess was out in the parking lot. No swings, no grass, just asphalt and a big iron gate that we use to hold onto and swing on until some big dopey second grader fell off it one day and broke his nose and wrecked our fun.
I think we sat at tables in kindergarten. I do know in first grade our desks were bolted in straight rows to the floor. I recall painting on the easel, the cloak room, milk in little cardboard boxes (OK that is the same!) I loved the pegboard, the blackboard (Boston's was black. Hanson was green but we all called it the blackboard just the same.)
I can remember eating the paste and practicing my letters in a big loopy scrawl across sheets of manila paper. I clearly remember the day I first learned to skip in school when I was 5. Miss. Shields clapped for me and the whole class stood in a victory circle while I skipped around them!
It was sharing and caring and straight lines, and raise your hand, and help your neighbor tie his shoe. There were very few books which is why our move to Hanson when I headed into second grade was such a revelation. There was a school library FULL OF BOOKS, as well as a gym, cafeteria, and real playground.
Still to me the amazing thing was books. At 6 I had my first library card for the children's room at the Boston Public library and once a week I was allowed to get out a book. But in Hanson not only was there a school library and a public library, every classroom had their own little shelves of reading books. I thought we moved to a very snazzy rich town when I saw that.
When I was a kid you were expected to be able to read by the end of first grade. Nowadays kids really should come into Kindergarten able to read or master the fundementals by mid year kindergarten.
My big kids, up until Nikki learned one alphabet letter a week in kindergarten. they changed that Nikki's year and my little ones this year had already been introduced to the letter from A to N by the 3RD WEEK OF SCHOOL!
I do not recall any math in kindergarten except the basics of counting and the value of ten. I do recall addition in first grade. Until Jamie hit first grade, Carver taught my other children the concept of subtaction in May of first grade. Now they introduce it in Jan/ Feb of kindergarten.
These poor kids slave away like little automatons. How can that be good for them? How you can you learn the joys of a good story when kindergarten teachers have trouble fitting in story reading some days, and I am talking about all day kindergarten!
Still the miracles that go on at the elementary school on Main Street in Carver are fascinating.
Yesterday I came into class and the kids were cutting out pictures of 3 pigs and a wolf and glueing them on a paper. "Oh I said, "What are you doing?"
"Teacher read to us about the 3 little Pigs." As I complimented one of the little boys cutting skills I prattled on about the 3 little pigs and how much I love the story. The little guy looked up at me quite seriously and said, "I had heard about the 3 pigs of course but never knew what really happened." Adorable, right? like it was some news story that he just caught on TV but had not heard all the details.
The blond girl next to me proudly showed off her coloring and whispered, "J.... is sharing his colored pencils with me. I think he should be my best freind!"
Later one of the boys sobbed himself to sleep after his mom, who had been a class room helper, had to leave. In kindergarten crying and missing your mom are all acceptable forms of behavior. His crying therefore raised little notice except some concern expressed by the kids next to him. But as he slept upright in the chair (with my arm encircling him to keep him from falling off) a number of children whispered and shushed each other.
"He's had a tough day, first doing all our writing and math,, and now missing his mom. We should let him sleep."
These days, with the workload expected, it is definitely not your father's kindergarten. But the sweetness of being five is unchanged since the days Pebbles went to kindergarten in Bedrock.
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Physical Therapy
Today was my first post-surgical physical therapy appointment and what a difference surgery and 12 weeks of healing make! It was so fun chatting with the same PT again and we both marveled at the improvement from my last visit with her, shortly before the spinal fusion.
I have set up one appointment a week with her for a number of weeks, to go over my exercise regimen and help me to design a program that can get the results I want ie -stronger back and weight loss- without risking further injury.
The PT office is set up right inside Planet Fitness so she will be able to show me right there the various machines and the best ways to use them, which I really love.
I always thought a personal trainer would be awesome. I have mentioned in this blog in the past about my my loneliness in my Get Healthy efforts. Having the PT to check my form and offer solid advice will make things so much more engaging and helpful.
Certainly I re looked at the membership rates offered by Stonewood, the classy gym right here in town. That gym has the PT office in it as well. In addition it offers group classes which I am sure with my gregarious nature I would much prefer. But the price difference is staggering. Bad enough my copay with be 50$ per PT session.....
But at least for a few weeks I will have the company of my own personal physical therapist.
Of course I have to keep reminding myself to go slow and not push too far too fast. She nixed the idea of ouside bike riding for now for instance. When I asked why she reminded me that bike riding requires full head turning left and right and I still tend to turn with my whole upper body....not really possible while on a bicycle!
I am looking forward to her insights and some company for this next phase. I admit to feeling a bit nervous about it all. The further I am away from the pain of the injury and the surgery the more time I spend thinking about my back and the shape it is in and how to keep it at its healthiest. It is also Scary to think something could happen while the bones are not yet fully fused. Then there is the question, what shape are the rest of my discs, hmmmm?
Meanwhile I am back to a full hour per day of some sort of exercise and I shall keep you posted as I go along!
I have set up one appointment a week with her for a number of weeks, to go over my exercise regimen and help me to design a program that can get the results I want ie -stronger back and weight loss- without risking further injury.
The PT office is set up right inside Planet Fitness so she will be able to show me right there the various machines and the best ways to use them, which I really love.
I always thought a personal trainer would be awesome. I have mentioned in this blog in the past about my my loneliness in my Get Healthy efforts. Having the PT to check my form and offer solid advice will make things so much more engaging and helpful.
Certainly I re looked at the membership rates offered by Stonewood, the classy gym right here in town. That gym has the PT office in it as well. In addition it offers group classes which I am sure with my gregarious nature I would much prefer. But the price difference is staggering. Bad enough my copay with be 50$ per PT session.....
But at least for a few weeks I will have the company of my own personal physical therapist.
Of course I have to keep reminding myself to go slow and not push too far too fast. She nixed the idea of ouside bike riding for now for instance. When I asked why she reminded me that bike riding requires full head turning left and right and I still tend to turn with my whole upper body....not really possible while on a bicycle!
I am looking forward to her insights and some company for this next phase. I admit to feeling a bit nervous about it all. The further I am away from the pain of the injury and the surgery the more time I spend thinking about my back and the shape it is in and how to keep it at its healthiest. It is also Scary to think something could happen while the bones are not yet fully fused. Then there is the question, what shape are the rest of my discs, hmmmm?
Meanwhile I am back to a full hour per day of some sort of exercise and I shall keep you posted as I go along!
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Fryburg Fair
I was going to blog about our Sunday at the Fryburg Fair as soon as we got home because it was such a lovely day. But after unloading rabbits Don and I spent time investigating flood dammage in 2 of the boys rooms, the laundry area, and the teen area. The faucet that controls hot water going to the washing machine completely rusted through and it had to have gushed out for hours until the boys finally noticed the moisture!
Both boys' rugs have to be completely removed, although the area rugs for the teen and laundry parts of the cellar seem to have held up rather well. Laundry has been rewashed, Julie's stuff in boxes has been gone through and rescued, and now there is finally a moment to blog about what I was doing Sunday while my cellar was waterlogged!
Sunday was certainly a long day since one or both of us were awake at each hour of it! It got darn cold in that tent even with our trusty electric blanket. Don wore about 4 layers of clothes to sleep in and I did not but wished I had!
The cold simply made it easier to spring up in the morning and start the day. Don had us packed in an hour. I made us breakfast, kept a warm fire going, and cleaned and prepared all the buns and their carry cages for the show. We were at the fair in 15 minutes and that is the best aprt about getting up there the day or 2 before!
The rabbit show itself is housed in a spacious livestock indoor arena and you can even pull right into it to load and unload which is awesome! Some shows, you park in the middle of nowhere and carry everything or hope for a little golfcart to come by.
It costs 5 to park plus 10 for each adult to just go through the gates! How do people afford it? Someone has money because that fair is wall to wall people! Luckily our rabbit entry gets us in free. Also because we can drive in we bring a couple of coolers full of food and drink. Literally at the fair I only spent a 1.50 to tip the bathroom attendants and Donnie spent 1 for fudge made with goat milk. BTW the fudge was so tasty Donnie is advocating we get goats:>)
This was Don's first time experiencing Fryburg and it did not disappoint! It is a true agricultural fair with barns and barns of livestock. Marshfiled Fair has a barn devoted to cows. Fryburg has a row of barns for bovines. Then there are goat barns and sheep barns, and horse barns. There is even room for donkeys, alpacas, and chickens of course.
At agricultural fairs around here the animals face the visitors and the farmers clamber around the back of the paddocks trying to keep things neat and tidy. In Maine visitors get a hind view and the animals are put in for the convenience of the creatures and their owners. It is awesome. The livestock and their owners come first, guests second.
I went in every barn and eagerly observed the animals, plotting and planning my dream farm. Donnie patiently tagged along. We also explored the various displays and little museums. Both of us checked out the maple sugar house closely because that will be my new late winter venture. I am going to try to tap our maple trees and make the syrup.
Some of the best fun was watching families come up to the bunnies that we had out on the grooming table. Some kids have never petted a live creature beyond a dog or cat. They get fascinated by the buns.
A number of rabbit raisers dislike fair shows because of the crowds who step right up to the judges table. They hate all the poking fingers and simple questions. But we love it.
Lets face it, most people will never own more than a single bunny let alone get around to showing. But you have to start somewhere. I sent many a family into the rabbit sale barn because after they handled our animals and got many of their questions answered they were eager for their own pet. Hey, maybe I should've gotten a commission?
Anyway we got to wander the fair all day until our buns were on the table. I did take Best Opposite Sex of Breed in the show itself so that was a nice victory. Fair shows pay exhibitors depending on how well they did. Some shows we make money, others we break even. Here, we did very well and since I ended up selling 2 buns, we even had money to stop at the Cracker Barrel on the way home for dinner.
We saw a lovely sunset on the ride home and had fun singing along to the radio or chatting about the sights and sounds of the fair. Great weekend even if it did end up with a flooded cellar!
Both boys' rugs have to be completely removed, although the area rugs for the teen and laundry parts of the cellar seem to have held up rather well. Laundry has been rewashed, Julie's stuff in boxes has been gone through and rescued, and now there is finally a moment to blog about what I was doing Sunday while my cellar was waterlogged!
Sunday was certainly a long day since one or both of us were awake at each hour of it! It got darn cold in that tent even with our trusty electric blanket. Don wore about 4 layers of clothes to sleep in and I did not but wished I had!
The cold simply made it easier to spring up in the morning and start the day. Don had us packed in an hour. I made us breakfast, kept a warm fire going, and cleaned and prepared all the buns and their carry cages for the show. We were at the fair in 15 minutes and that is the best aprt about getting up there the day or 2 before!
The rabbit show itself is housed in a spacious livestock indoor arena and you can even pull right into it to load and unload which is awesome! Some shows, you park in the middle of nowhere and carry everything or hope for a little golfcart to come by.
It costs 5 to park plus 10 for each adult to just go through the gates! How do people afford it? Someone has money because that fair is wall to wall people! Luckily our rabbit entry gets us in free. Also because we can drive in we bring a couple of coolers full of food and drink. Literally at the fair I only spent a 1.50 to tip the bathroom attendants and Donnie spent 1 for fudge made with goat milk. BTW the fudge was so tasty Donnie is advocating we get goats:>)
This was Don's first time experiencing Fryburg and it did not disappoint! It is a true agricultural fair with barns and barns of livestock. Marshfiled Fair has a barn devoted to cows. Fryburg has a row of barns for bovines. Then there are goat barns and sheep barns, and horse barns. There is even room for donkeys, alpacas, and chickens of course.
At agricultural fairs around here the animals face the visitors and the farmers clamber around the back of the paddocks trying to keep things neat and tidy. In Maine visitors get a hind view and the animals are put in for the convenience of the creatures and their owners. It is awesome. The livestock and their owners come first, guests second.
I went in every barn and eagerly observed the animals, plotting and planning my dream farm. Donnie patiently tagged along. We also explored the various displays and little museums. Both of us checked out the maple sugar house closely because that will be my new late winter venture. I am going to try to tap our maple trees and make the syrup.
Some of the best fun was watching families come up to the bunnies that we had out on the grooming table. Some kids have never petted a live creature beyond a dog or cat. They get fascinated by the buns.
A number of rabbit raisers dislike fair shows because of the crowds who step right up to the judges table. They hate all the poking fingers and simple questions. But we love it.
Lets face it, most people will never own more than a single bunny let alone get around to showing. But you have to start somewhere. I sent many a family into the rabbit sale barn because after they handled our animals and got many of their questions answered they were eager for their own pet. Hey, maybe I should've gotten a commission?
Anyway we got to wander the fair all day until our buns were on the table. I did take Best Opposite Sex of Breed in the show itself so that was a nice victory. Fair shows pay exhibitors depending on how well they did. Some shows we make money, others we break even. Here, we did very well and since I ended up selling 2 buns, we even had money to stop at the Cracker Barrel on the way home for dinner.
We saw a lovely sunset on the ride home and had fun singing along to the radio or chatting about the sights and sounds of the fair. Great weekend even if it did end up with a flooded cellar!
Saturday, October 02, 2010
Celebrating good health and Fryburg Fair
The five days before my spinal surgery were spent at the most magical of places, Eastern Slope Campground in NH. Our family has camped here since the summer I was going into fourth grade.
The memories and adventures could fill a guide book! I have even blogged about our experiences here in this very blog....mostly during the 4th of July week, the traditional time to camp for the Hanlon/Blausses.
But about ten years or so ago Mary and I broke tradition and camped here during the first week in October. It was one of those serendipitous occasions that have become such a treasured memory.
When Mamie was at the height of her bunny love of Holland Lops she had convinced me (admittedly it took little arm twisting!) that we could attend both the Topsfield Fair and the Fryburg Fair and show our rabbits. The plot hatched was as follows. Get up at the crack of dawn on Saturday. Drive to Topsfield and show. Drive the 2 and a half hours from there to North Conway, hotel it, and show the next day in Fryburg, a mere 15 minutes from our beloved N. Conway.
So we did. But we did not take into account the prices of hotels in North Conway at peak foliage season. Earlier that August we had spent a mere 40 bucks in God knows where Maine to show her Hollands. Who knew price gouging and leaf peepers were a perfect storm. Stranded, as darkness was following, Donnie offered us 2 alternatives suck it up and pay the exhoribtant room price or buy a tent and head for Eastern Slopes.
Needless to say we headed for KMart, where for a mere 80 bucks we purchased both a tent (which we still use!) and bedding for a queen size bed (which Don and I had on our bed for the next 8 years!) We then paid 25 bucks to camp, free shower, electricity and toilets that flushed. Thus was a tradition born.(BTW we still saved 50 bucks than if we had hotel ed it!)
So when we were here earlier this summer, with me living in agony, limited in both movement and pleasure, Don and I spoke of coming back this Fall. Don talked of kayaking the Saco together. I sang the praises of the Fryburg Fair. (Don has never been.)
Well here we are. Granted the doctor did give the go ahead to kayak...a little. Although the raging Saco, courtesy of the Tropical Storm, nixed that idea.
But we are sitting by the Campfire on Sat nite, next to the flooded banks of our favorite river!
Last night our intention was to camp. But the flooding rains convinced us to spend the night at the Mt Whittier Inn, an inexpensive little place about 30 minutes from the campground. The price was right, and most importantly it was warm and dry. I do not mind camping in rain. I do not mind camping in cold. But I will never again set up in cold driving rain. Nope, not me!
We did get a middle of the night frantic phone call from poor Tim because our cellar was flooding. Did I mention there are 3 bedrooms, the laundry room, and a den in the cellar? Well between he and Joe the well water was shut off. Come morning it was determined to probably be a leaky hot water washing machine pipe. (Just as a note I have never ever washed anything in hot water!)
So the boys have dragged carpeting out to dry on the garden fencing. The well water is shut off except during showers. All available containers have been filled with water for toilet flushing and animal watering....
No point in worrying until we get home tomorrow night, right!
So today we set up camp, exercised and groomed all 20 bunnies and then hiked uo Hurricane Mountain. (Don and I hiked, the bunnies lounged at the camp site.) I then cooked on the camp stove, steak, beets, and buttery noodles, while Don picked up the vodka. (I am leaving out the frantic phone calls home....not about flooding but about certain teenagers causing grief grrrrrrrrrrrr, they shall remain nameless). Inow have a little vodka in me, Don has a few s'mores with him and all is right with the world.
The spinal fusion is holding out just fine, the stars are magnificent, and although the temperature is falling, the extension cord reaches the tent so there will be an electric blanket tonight.
Perhaps I am being too Pollyanna-ish, or perhaps the vodka is kicking in, or maybe after 27 years of struggle and strife with only patience and a great sense of humor kicking in, I just know tomorrow will be a better day!
The memories and adventures could fill a guide book! I have even blogged about our experiences here in this very blog....mostly during the 4th of July week, the traditional time to camp for the Hanlon/Blausses.
But about ten years or so ago Mary and I broke tradition and camped here during the first week in October. It was one of those serendipitous occasions that have become such a treasured memory.
When Mamie was at the height of her bunny love of Holland Lops she had convinced me (admittedly it took little arm twisting!) that we could attend both the Topsfield Fair and the Fryburg Fair and show our rabbits. The plot hatched was as follows. Get up at the crack of dawn on Saturday. Drive to Topsfield and show. Drive the 2 and a half hours from there to North Conway, hotel it, and show the next day in Fryburg, a mere 15 minutes from our beloved N. Conway.
So we did. But we did not take into account the prices of hotels in North Conway at peak foliage season. Earlier that August we had spent a mere 40 bucks in God knows where Maine to show her Hollands. Who knew price gouging and leaf peepers were a perfect storm. Stranded, as darkness was following, Donnie offered us 2 alternatives suck it up and pay the exhoribtant room price or buy a tent and head for Eastern Slopes.
Needless to say we headed for KMart, where for a mere 80 bucks we purchased both a tent (which we still use!) and bedding for a queen size bed (which Don and I had on our bed for the next 8 years!) We then paid 25 bucks to camp, free shower, electricity and toilets that flushed. Thus was a tradition born.(BTW we still saved 50 bucks than if we had hotel ed it!)
So when we were here earlier this summer, with me living in agony, limited in both movement and pleasure, Don and I spoke of coming back this Fall. Don talked of kayaking the Saco together. I sang the praises of the Fryburg Fair. (Don has never been.)
Well here we are. Granted the doctor did give the go ahead to kayak...a little. Although the raging Saco, courtesy of the Tropical Storm, nixed that idea.
But we are sitting by the Campfire on Sat nite, next to the flooded banks of our favorite river!
Last night our intention was to camp. But the flooding rains convinced us to spend the night at the Mt Whittier Inn, an inexpensive little place about 30 minutes from the campground. The price was right, and most importantly it was warm and dry. I do not mind camping in rain. I do not mind camping in cold. But I will never again set up in cold driving rain. Nope, not me!
We did get a middle of the night frantic phone call from poor Tim because our cellar was flooding. Did I mention there are 3 bedrooms, the laundry room, and a den in the cellar? Well between he and Joe the well water was shut off. Come morning it was determined to probably be a leaky hot water washing machine pipe. (Just as a note I have never ever washed anything in hot water!)
So the boys have dragged carpeting out to dry on the garden fencing. The well water is shut off except during showers. All available containers have been filled with water for toilet flushing and animal watering....
No point in worrying until we get home tomorrow night, right!
So today we set up camp, exercised and groomed all 20 bunnies and then hiked uo Hurricane Mountain. (Don and I hiked, the bunnies lounged at the camp site.) I then cooked on the camp stove, steak, beets, and buttery noodles, while Don picked up the vodka. (I am leaving out the frantic phone calls home....not about flooding but about certain teenagers causing grief grrrrrrrrrrrr, they shall remain nameless). Inow have a little vodka in me, Don has a few s'mores with him and all is right with the world.
The spinal fusion is holding out just fine, the stars are magnificent, and although the temperature is falling, the extension cord reaches the tent so there will be an electric blanket tonight.
Perhaps I am being too Pollyanna-ish, or perhaps the vodka is kicking in, or maybe after 27 years of struggle and strife with only patience and a great sense of humor kicking in, I just know tomorrow will be a better day!
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