My Social Life Would Die

Today writing an essay was not on the minds of my middle school students. It is exam week. We wrap things up on Friday at 10:30. The sun was shining, they didn't get their usual break in the morning, and many of them are just plain worn out!

Getting in the last juicy gossip, finding out the final decision on "who is going out with whom", and deciding which classmate is playing with them at Hoopfest are so much more important than sitting at a desk writing out an exam. We heard cinnamon gum made you think better, so I even helped them along by handing out Big Red this morning! As they pushed their pens, chomped on their gum, and furrowed their brows I paced around looking over their shoulders just to try to keep them encouraged.

Later I was reading a new poetry book and came across this title. If I had given them a chance to speak their minds today, these may have been their words.

My Writing It An Awful Mess

My writing is an awful mess,

And my teacher asked me why,

" I zoom through my assignments,"

I told her with a sigh.

" I want to finish all this work

So I can yack with friends,

I simply cannot wait until

The school day finally ends.

" I never check my spelling and

Punctuation, I don't try,

For if I spent my time on these,

My... social life would die.

"It's talking with my friends each day

That keeps my whole world bright,

And I don't want to give this up,

Just to get my schoolwork right."

-Kalli Dakos

The Gloaming

gloaming - the time of day immediately following sunset

My husband's favorite time of the day is the gloaming. At our house the sun sets west of our gardens. During that time of evening it is beautiful. This is what I caught as our gardens were preparing for the gloaming this evening.

"This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on seas and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls." -John Muir

Sibling Assignment # 24 : A Room From Childhood

The sibling assignment this week was to reflect on a room from childhood that had special significance. You can find my other siblings’ assignments here and here.

We grew up in a house with one bathroom. Fortunately Dad showered at work during the week. With a family of five the bathroom was a busy place. If you wanted to take your time with a bath or anything else you were often interrupted by somebody knocking at the door. We also ran out of hot water on busy bathing nights.

The room I loved in childhood was the bathroom at my Grandma Woolum’s house. Grandma was a small woman and it seemed like the bathroom was made just for her. Because the room was small I think somebody shrunk the claw foot tub to fit. For many years there wasn’t even a sink. That tub also seemed like it was designed just for me. Grandma had an apartment upstairs that also had a bathroom. Mom told me recently that originally the little bathroom was probably a pantry.

During my grade school years nobody lived upstairs so when we came to visit that meant there were two bathrooms. Such a luxury! I could take a bath at Grandma’s for as long as I liked. Spending a week-end at at her house was an adventure anyway, but I always looked forward to Saturday night and my soak in the tub. Grandma used Cashmere Bouquet soap which now seems a bit strong, but back then it was a scent from heaven. She also had fancy bubble bath powder that she couldn’t use. Many things made Grandma break out. These items that had been given as gifts such as the bubble bath and pastel colored Avon scented soap were mine to use. I loved the warm, sudsy water, the mixes of fragrance, and the privacy. The bathroom was right off the kitchen, but by the time I took a bath in the evening everyone had moved to the living room. She always had soft, freshly laundered white towels waiting on the toilet seat to wrap up in after the bath and Jergen’s lotion since it was the only type her skin could handle. I loved the original cherry smell of that lotion as I rubbed it on my arms. Between the soaps, bubble bath, and lotion I must have carried quite a fragrance as I emerged from the bathroom. I remember feeling relaxed, clean, and refreshed. After a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows I was ready to crawl into my favorite roll-away bed for a night of peaceful slumber. That bathroom was my own sanctuary before I knew I needed one. I would think, soak, sing, play with the bubbles, and enjoy every moment of bathing with nobody knocking on the door. Bathing at Grandma’s was pure bliss for this ten-year-old girl.

Sunday Scribblings and a Keeper from the Recipe Box

The Sunday Scribbling topic this week is Spicy. I love to bake, but I stay true to recipes. I guess I don't know enough about the different tastes and textures of spices to experiment much. The smell and taste of each of the spices above are familiar, but when it comes to mixing up a recipe I just follow the spices and amounts listed. Recipes that create a warm, spicy flavor are favorites of mine. Ginger can stand alone in a cookie and have a delicious flavor. Most of us have had cinnamon alone in a crisp or on toast. I like cinnamon in small doses. I like it blended with other spices, but not when it overpowers the others. Cloves reminds me of the gum we used to chew as kids. I also used to love to take off the lid of the whole cloves and smell them at Christmastime. My favorite of the four is nutmeg. I love rice pudding with nutmeg only. It gives a special taste to rhubarb custard pie. It adds a nice finish to hot drinks like eggnog and Tom and Jerry's.

I don't care for allspice and the pumpkin pie spice and apple pie spice you can buy now. The combinations don't seem right. I just go back to my traditional spices and follow the recipe.

The recipe below is one of my favorite sweet bread recipes. Combining pumpkin, chocolate, and these spices creates a delicious bread. The nutmeg is the perfect spice for the glaze. This may not sound good in early summer so tuck it away to enjoy "when the frost is on the punkin".

Pumpkin-Chip Bread
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cooked or canned pumpkin
1 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped nuts
Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 TB milk
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Cream together the butter and sugar, blend in the eggs. Add dry ingredients (which have been combined)- alternately with the pumpkin- beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Fold in by hand the chocolate chips and 1/2 cup nuts.
Spoon into two greased and floured 9x5x2 1/2-inch pans. Sprinkle with remaining nuts. Bake at 350 for 45-50 min. Test for doneness. Remove from oven, let cool five minutes. Remove from pans and drizzle with glaze. Best held overnight before slicing- it gives the spices a chance to set in.
Yield: 2 loaves
Freezes well also.

For other Sunday Scribblings posted using Spicy go here.

One More Week to Go

It is hard to imagine that in five weekdays another school year will come to a close. To cheer myself up before the students came in this morning I wrote out this list of things to do. Revisiting the list I think I should do all of them.

As I wrote up the daily routine on the white board this morning I felt a hint of sadness. As a group we have cried over death, laughed over mishaps, sang over birthdays, and celebrated over books we enjoyed. We have bonded and learned much together.My desk did have a stack of "stuff" this morning to put in piles to do before the year ends. At least I could find my desk. There have been times when that was impossible!

As I sat quietly in the morning sun before any students arrived I thought back to the beginning of this journey we embarked on this year. Because of staff adjustments we had to combine our middle school students. I had a 6-7 group and a 7-8 group. At first students were unhappy, but as we all adjusted to the changeit worked out okay. I think students ended up working in teams much better than expected. I will have two of the same grade levels again next year and the 8th graders will just be in the other building. That is what I like about a small school district. Tomorrow I will watch my former students go through the ceremony of graduation. There will be luncheons and parties to celebrate. This is a landmark year for me. When the seniors were in kindergarten it was the first year I taught at this school. They are the first group of students I have known and taught through twelve years of school. Congratulations to the Class of 2007!

The Reasons I Love Roses

I love roses for many reasons. I love them because they are surprising. Just when you think one is dead from winter kill it pops up and presents this bloom.

I love roses because they smell so fragrant even if your nose is stuffed up still from a cold.
Roses combine with other blooming shrubs like this honeysuckle for a lovely contrast.
This Peace climber is hardy. That is another reason I love roses.

Some roses can be moved numberous times and still continue to bloom like this Rio Samba.
Roses do what you want them to do. JEJ trained this climber to move over to the shed a couple of years ago. It is doing just that.

Gertrude Stein said " A rose is a rose is a rose." That is another reason I love them. They are pure perfection.