My Own Friday Fourteen: Reasons I Am Glad Summer is Still Here

Even though I hinted that autumn is in the air in my blog yesterday, we do still have lots of summer ahead of us. It is just that those of us that are on the " school schedule" ( teachers, parents, and students ) see the seasons changing a bit quicker!

Fourteen Reasons I Am Glad Summer is Still Here:

1. I can enjoy late night reading of a novel I can't put down.

2.There is the smell of lilies, phlox, and scented geraniums in the air.

3. We can enjoy fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and beans.

4. Apricots and peaches are ripe and ready to pick.

5. The Ferry County Fair is a few short weeks away in Republic.

6.Morning sunrise is still beautiful as the rays shine through the pine trees.

7. I have the time to pickle, can, preserve, and freeze our garden bounty.

8. Family members can come and visit before beginning the fall school schedule.

9. We can still enjoy fresh bouquets picked from the flower garden.

10. As one last baby swallow waits in the birdhouse we can watch the mother bring him food.

11. There will still be time to go camping.

12. The yellow jackets challenge our eye-hand coordination, patience, and humor each day (and maybe that is not a good thing!)

13. The lake is still warm enough for swimming.

14. The last reason I am glad summer is still here is because soft vanilla ice cream cones from Sandy's Drive In by Kettle Falls always taste better in the summer.

My Own Thursday Thirteen: Autumn is Just Around the Corner

Today I began to notice that autumn was in the air . My favorite season begins when school starts the day after Labor Day. That is fall on my calendar.

Thirteen Ways I Can Tell Autumn is Just Around the Corner

1. I used a throw to wrap in when I sat outside drinking my coffee this morning.

2. I got a welcome back letter from my principal in the mail yesterday.

3. The peaches sign is up at Sherman Creek Orchard.

4. Chrysanthemums are just beginning to bloom.

5. Today we harvested dill, put our thumb in the winter squash, and pulled carrots.

6. The cats are coming inside to sleep more.

7. I read a funny cartoon today and thought it

would be great to use the first day of school with my students.

8. The grape leaves are covering the flower bed and the clusters are getting bigger.

9. The coleus is showy with it's vivid purple and green leaves.

10. I wore socks today.

11. I found the school supply list I had made for my students at Wal Mart and checked out the choices of pens for myself.

12. The Autumn Joy sedum is about to turn its lovely color of apricot.

13. I set my alarm for this morning to get in the habit of once again being an early morning person.

Happy Birthday to The Princess!

Today my niece The Princess celebrates her 17th birthday. Here she is on the 4th of July with her dog Sadie. I composed a poem in her honor today:

Princess
Funny, talented, intuitive, energetic
Daughter of Silver Valley Girl and PKR
Lover of her computer, Sadie, Hollywood, coffee
Who belongs on the stage singing and acting
Who needs her cell phone, friends, and Family Guy
Who gives love, encouragement, and smiles
Who fears clowns, strangers, and Lester
Who would like to see a play on Broadway

Who always makes me laugh out loud
Resident of her castle
Princess

Here is a picture timeline of the Princess. I was there when she was born and here she is enjoying some sunshine in her crib when she arrived home. We all took a trip to Eugene for a family picture. She is practicing her pose. Next The Princess getting her first bike from Papa Pert ( my dad). She was so pretty at our wedding celebration as our flower girl. She took the opportunity to set up a photo shoot while camping at Canyon Creek. I think the photo shoot was more exciting than the camping experience. Recently she starred in "Nightmare at Dream Gulch, or...Wake Me When It's Over." at the Sixth Street Melodrama in Wallace, Idaho as a sweet Irish girl. Later in the show she sang some Gershwin. The photo collection ends with the Princess ( including crown) as we celebrated her birthday Saturday and last, but not least, another pose with Sadie. As the poem illustrates my niece is talented, funny, smart, and caring. I feel blessed to have her in my life.

Have a happy birthday Princess and may your year be your best one yet!

Words

"You can say anything you want, yessir, but it's the words that sing, they soar and descend . . . I bow to them . . . I love them, I cling to them, I run them down, I bite into them, I melt them down . . . I love words so much . . . The unexpected ones . . . The ones I wait for greedily or stalk until, suddenly, they drop . . . Vowels I love . . . They glitter like colored stones, they leap like silver fish, they are foam, thread, metal, dew . . . I run after certain words . . . They are so beautiful that I want to fit them all into my poem . . . I catch them in midflight, as they buzz past, I trap them, clean them, peel them, I set myself in front of the dish, they have a crystalline texture to me, vibrant, ivory, vegetable, oily, like fruit, like algae, like agates, like olives . . . And I stir them, I shake them, I drink them, I gulp them down, I mash them, I garnish them, I let them go . . . I leave them in my poem like stalactites, like slivers of polished wood, like coals, pickings from a shipwreck, gifts from the waves . . . Everything exists in the word . . . "
From Memoirs by Pablo Neruda

I Love Zucchini #2 and a Keeper from the Recipe Box

My love affair with zucchini continues this week with another great recipe that you can double, triple, freeze, or just eat in large quantities. Remember, zucchini does grate easily and freezes well. Find my first post on zucchini here. There are lots of excellent recipes for zucchini bread. The taste and texture of this one makes it one of my favorites.

Zucchini Bread Plus

Mix these ingredients at medium speed until thick and foamy:

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup olive oil

2 cups sugar ( I use Splenda and about 1 and 1/2 cups)

2 teaspoons vanilla

Stir in the remaining ingredients:

2 cups zucchini, unpeeled and shredded

1-8 1/2 -ounce can crushed pineapple-drained

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup chopped nuts

Grease and flour two 5/9 inch loaf baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes. Yield: two loaves. Freezing improves flavor. I always use the smaller size baking pans and it made 6 small loaves. Enjoy!

taken from Best of Friends, Etc. Cookbook by Darlene Glantz Skee

Sibling Assignment # 30: Moscow, Idaho

My mom the day she graduated from the University of Idaho in Moscow in 1967.

For this week's sibling assignment, I asked my siblings to think of a town that evokes memories from a time (or times) spent there. They couldn't write about Kellogg, Spokane, or Orofino. Raymond Pert's is here and Silver Valley Girl's is here.

When we were growing up in north Idaho we often passed through Moscow, Idaho and stopped to visit our Aunt May. There was something about the tree-lined streets, an A&W drive-in, beautiful gardens of flowers, streets named for the presidents, and the buildings at the University of Idaho that I liked. I always looked forward to passing through Moscow.

When my mother was hired to teach school she only had a two-year degree. For many summers during my childhood Mom worked on earning her four-year degree in education. One summer she stayed at Aunt May's during the week while taking classes on campus at the University of Idaho and Grandma stayed with us in Kellogg to help Dad with our care. After my sister was born we had an unforgettable summer in 1966 when Mom, Silver Valley Girl, and I moved to Moscow for the summer term. My brother and dad stayed back in Kellogg, but my brother did come and visit. I loved living close to campus. We could hear the chimes ring at the Administration Building each hour. Later in the day "Here We Have Idaho" played and I could sing the words while taking my sister for walks up the grassy knoll to the famous I Tower. There was a sense of routine and ritual that I loved as we lived in an apartment on the edge of campus that summer.

We did things we didn't often do at home. We made Jiffy Pop, we ate at the A& W, we got yummy homemade ice cream at Roger's. I fell in love with the University of Idaho and Moscow. It was a pleasure each day to walk around campus while caring for my sister. My mom was going to class, studying, and doing projects. I don't know how she did it.

Later in junior high and high school I would return to the University of Idaho for the music festival each year. Again, I was at the same end of campus and I would look down the street at that apartment on Deakin Ave. and up the hill at the I Tower and remember the summer of 1966. Each hour again the chimes would ring and I could look up and see the time on the Administration Building clock. I knew I wanted to return to this campus for college.

The University of Idaho is a beautiful campus. It has a mix of old ivy-covered buildings blended with modern structures. There is nothing more stunning than Hello Walk in the fall when the trees have turned from green to red, orange, and gold.

In the fall of 1973 I did return to Moscow for my college education. I look back fondly on those years. When I was struggling with a class or feeling homesick I would wander back up Hello Walk where I could see the I Tower, that apartment, the Music Building, and hear those chimes play just for me. I could reminisce about that summer when life was simple and I was content wandering that end of the campus. Those rituals would ground me again and I would continue on my way.

As an adult I have continued to return to Moscow to attend reunions, teach, watch sporting events, and visit old friends. The apartment is gone on the corner of Deakin Street. The original A&W at the end of town is also gone. The Music Building is renamed in honor of Lionel Hampton. The I Tower, surrounded by trees, still overlooks the campus from the grassy knoll. The chimes continue to play every hour. I love to return to Moscow and be part of those rituals and routines. I love places that are preserved in time. I love the University of Idaho and Moscow, Idaho.