Category Archives: pets

Weekly Photo Challenge – New

adventure, Challenges, Family, Life in General, pets, postaday, Teaching and Learning, Weather, Weekly Photo Challenges, , , , , , ,

It’s a new year, with the some of the same responsibilities. Perhaps, I need a new outlook?

ivythesnowdog
new fallen snow and Ivy the Dog – the wonder dog

 

Normally, January 1st is not the day I choose for resolutions, usually my resolutions fall in early June when school lets out for summer and I have more time to reflect, rest, reset, and restore. But, that is summer or rather ‘some ‘er’ which sounds like summer but means some are – as in some are and some aren’t. Some summers I am more successful with the ‘reflect and reset’ than others. This past summer was one of those in which the reset was not complete. Now, I find myself in the beginning of winter and new fallen snow is beginning to cover the landscape. It brings a new outlook to the world; it’s fresh, clean, pure, and powdery. Ivy tested it earlier and came inside, curled up on the hassock, and went back to sleep. It’s a new beginning, sort of.

new snow – looking north, sort of
new snow, looking south

Continue reading Weekly Photo Challenge – New →

Weekly Photo Challenge – Texture

adventure, Challenges, Cooking, Life in General, pets, postaday, Science, Weekly Photo Challenges

 

peach and blueberry crisp with salted caramel ice cream...hmmmm
peach and blueberry crisp with salted caramel ice cream…hmmmm

Texture – the way a food or drink feels in your mouth – smooth, crispy, crunchy, chewy….

MW_textureThat’s Merriam-Webster’s definition, but like most words we use we end up having a working definition of the word. To me texture means many things, it’s the way I wear clothes, to the way our house is landscaped, but I love to cook, to create, and have fun but the food on the plate needs to have a different texture and different feel when you eat it.

Continue reading Weekly Photo Challenge – Texture →

August morn

adventure, Family, Life in General, pets, Reading, Science, sports, teaching, Teaching and Learning, Writing, , , , , , , , ,

cinFriday morning, August 1st, twenty more days and I’ll be back at school or work. I promised myself that when I began to call it work, I would get out. I still call it school, though there are days when it seems like work. There are years when I learn more from the kids than I ever thought possible and then there are years, like the year ahead, when there is a lot to learn (and re-learn) about what I am teaching and I re-invent myself.

Nevertheless, it is the first day of August and I am still Up North. I had plans to be home the last couple of days but my procrastination de-railed me. Sometimes my procrastination is a positive, because this time I get to spend more time at the cottage along the lake AND I get to spend come more time with my mother-in-law, aka grandma. She arrived last night and it is good to see her. I don’t know how many more trips she has in her, but I am determined to make her days here count.

When she arrived she noticed the yard, the flowers, the beds, and the deck had been painted and all the hard work B and I have put in. Actually, she noticed the results of all of our hard work. She also noticed the dent in the hassock and wondered what happened. We knew what had happened, but didn’t tell her. Ivy did it. I know, I know, blame the dog trick #1, blame the dog….but really, it is blame us, because we are the ones who allowed Ivy to jump up and sleep on the hassock. B and I looked at each other and winked, we feigned we didn’t know. O almost spilled the beans, but we winked and she got it. Continue reading August morn →

Another summer day, sort of

adventure, Family, geography, Life in General, pets, Reading, teaching, Weather, Writing, , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s another cold winter day. It has been over a month since my students have been at school on a Monday morning. It is our third bad weather day this year, and it means summer vacation will start three days later, maybe four if the schools call off tomorrow, which is highly likely. I think moms are at their whit’s end. I am, too. Last week it was cold, though not as cold or windy as it is today, or will be today. I had morning bus duty last week and it was cold. A few kids climbed off the buses wearing shorts, or a light jacket. I have no idea how they got out of the house dressed like that, but they did. It was cold. But, today is even colder and the temperatures are going to drop even more throughout the day.

IMG_2178
last Friday’s sunrise, on my way to school (and bus duty)

Today is W’s birthday, he’s 16 today, and actually, he’ll be officially 16 sometime around 10:30 PM. I remember the day well, though B probably remembers it differently. It seems like the other day, and some days it seems a million years ago. Saturday we watched him wrestle and take second place in the conference for his weight class. He has come a long way, we all have. Continue reading Another summer day, sort of →

Thank you Ion

adventure, Family, Life in General, pets, Reading, teaching, Teaching and Learning, Weather, Writing, , , , , , , , ,
Monday's weather
Monday’s weather

I came home Saturday night. The kids and B left the cottage Friday afternoon, leaving Ivy and I to our own devices. I wanted to stay for one more day, to enjoy the peacefulness of the cottage and do a bit of grading a prep work for the coming week. In reality, I never want to leave the cottage. It is an incredibly relaxing place to be, I’ve always felt that way and I can understand how Grandma Weaver feels when she is there. There is nothing like waking up and sipping coffee looking out onto the lake and just thinking. However, there is a time and place for everything, as I was reminded by my own ‘A season for everything’ post from 2013. Indeed, there is a time and place for everything and Winter Break does come to an end, eventually. Continue reading Thank you Ion →

Blame the dog

adventure, Family, jobs, Life in General, pets, Reading, teaching, Writing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

the last day lily of summer
the last day lily of summer

I am up north for the weekend. It’ll be the last weekend for a while and I enjoyed the sunset last night and the morning view with my coffee for one last time this summer.

I drove up by myself Friday after school. B and the kids stayed home; W had a football game Friday night and again Saturday morning along with loads of homework, I do hope he is making a dent in it, and O had softball Friday and Saturday, too. It’s strange being here alone. I had a long list of things to do and I added to it as I walked around yesterday. The boats are out and stored for the winter, the dock and boat lifts, too. The patio furniture is in the garage and I have shuffled the organization from summer to winter mode with snow shovels and the snow blower ready for action when we come back this winter. I have a few more chores before I close up and leave this afternoon and I am debating about leaving the vents open and scheduling one more trip before winter sets in to close them. Continue reading Blame the dog →

Endless summer

adventure, Family, history, Life in General, pets, Reading, sports, teaching, Weather, Writing, , , , , , , , , ,
the score board reads HOME 17 - GUEST 14
the scoreboard reads HOME 17 – GUESTS 14

It’s Labor Day weekend, the unofficial end of summer, and I am home instead of up North. I should be there, we should be there; there is work to be done, boats to be pulled out of the water, and a dock to be pulled out, too and so many more chores – summer is over and winter is coming. We planned to be there but it didn’t happen.  We didn’t leave. Usually, for labor Day weekend we leave Friday evening and come back Monday afternoon. But, with W’s football schedule we’d planned to leave Saturday after his practice session. That meant we could take in the varsity game Friday night; it was a big game against the defending state champion who had beaten us the past two years in a row.

Last week was the first full week of school; it was exhausting – mentally, physically, and emotionally. I was drained and with one look in W’s eyes, I could see it had been a long week for him, too. Going back to school (or work) after a vacation is difficult but the weather changed to make it even worse. The week began with a heat wave and ended with a spectacular storm Friday night. If it hadn’t been for the storm, I’d be sitting at the table and looking out at the lake, instead I am home sitting at the dining room looking out at the neighborhood. Continue reading Endless summer →

Summer’s fading

adventure, Family, Life in General, pets, Reading, teaching, travel, Weather, Writing, , , , , , , , , , ,
chair crop
a slice of what is to come

Yesterday morning I awoke early, too early, around four thirty, it was dark, the kind of darkness that is complete except for the light that spills over into our yard from our neighbor’s security light. I looked out onto the lake and it was dark almost black it was such deep blue. The stars covered by a blanket of invisible clouds completed the late night and early morning darkness.

Ivy was up before me, in fact, she was the reason I was up as early as I was, she was concerned with something in the yard, her yard, and letting me know in her own way, loudly. I let her out and lay down on the couch to read, or try to read. After she had searched the yard, I let her inside and she jumped up and nested between my legs at the foot of the couch, rested her head on my calf, and fell back to sleep. It wasn’t long before I joined her and drifting off with the book open on my chest.

That was how my Friday morning began, slowly. Continue reading Summer’s fading →

A New Morning

adventure, Cooking, Family, Life in General, pets, Reading, Scouting, teaching, Teaching and Learning, Weather, Writing, , , , , , , , , , ,

I didn’t sleep well last night. I woke at 3 and went back to sleep. A couple of hours later, Ivy was up and wanted to go outside and I stumbled to the door, clipped her tether, and opened the door. The full moon shone brightly over the lake and I could see ducks on the water in front of the cottage. I am sure it was more than the ducks that woke her but she silently inspected the yard and was at the door, wanting to come in, moments later. I went back to bed, but couldn’t get back to sleep. I grudgingly got up and took a few photos of the moon hanging over the lake. I took the photos below with my iPhone, couldn’t get the camera to take a snap, too little light. But the iPhone didn’t care.

the moon slips down across the lake
my view from grandma’s chair

I’ve been up ever since. Continue reading A New Morning →

Cottage Time

adventure, Cooking, Family, Life in General, pets, Reading, sports, teaching, travel, Weather, Writing, , , , , , , , , , , ,
Ivy WILL NOT be left behind
Ivy WILL NOT be left behind

I am at the Michigan cottage now, it has been 1600 plus miles in one week. That’s how far I driven since my trip to Mississippi and back and to the cottage last Friday morning. That’s a long way. The drive down to Mississippi didn’t seem to faze me, but the drive back took its toll. I was whacked, the following day. All I wanted to do was sleep, I would sneak off to lie down and catch a short nap, if I could. It only frustrated B because there was much to do, there always is, especially when we were packing and heading north for a week. Continue reading Cottage Time →