Lessons Learned from My Students

My eighth grade students have been working since school started on how to present speeches. We studied diction, using expression, projection, and how to avoid"fillers". Students could speak on any topic, but many chose to teach us something. As always, I am constantly learning from my students. This week I was taught not only how to use an X Box, but how to play Madden Football. I have to admit after watching that speech I can understand how kids like this video game. Everyone really got into cheering for their favorite teams.
It was also a week for learning dances. Two students decided we needed to be exposed to the chicken dance. They explained that it was a really old dance from back in the teacher's day. ( minus 20 points... lol)They felt it was important for everyone to learn it. The picture really caught the tempo of the two girls' moves as they twirled around.I had watched the native Owl Dance and Jingle Dance, but had never really learned the steps. AM demonstrated how to do the Owl Dance with a partner volunteer. It is tradition that girls ask boys to join them in this dance. She also showed all of us the fancy steps involved in the Jingle Dance. Her white moccasins seemed to make her lighter on her feet. I think a few of us needed moccasins!! We also were introduced to the newer version of PowerPoint today. I can't wait until tomorrow when I will learn how to work the Wii Rock Band Drum Set, how to do yoga, make mac and cheese, and play with a hacky sack.
Later at break another group of boys showed me the art and science of kicking a football. Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

What Remains

As summer winds down and the weather cools at night our gardens have come back to life. I love to observe what remains from the summer flowers as the fall ones begin their show. The blue morning glory is still a beacon each morning.This lovely Love rose remains.
As do these vivid petunias.
The red begonias have never looked better.
The trumpet vine blossoms keep going and going despite the heat wave and dry conditions.
We always hope the red geraniums will never stop blooming

and what is late summer without nasturtiums?

A Jar of Buttons

photo by thebrendablog.typepad.com

A Jar of Buttons

This is a core sample
from the floor of the Sea of Mending,

a cylinder packed with shells
that over many years

sank through fathoms of shirts -
pearl buttons, blue buttons -

and settled together
beneath waves of perseverance,

an ocean upon which
generations of women set forth,

under the sails of gingham curtains,
and, seated side by side

on decks sometimes salted by tears,
made small but important repairs.

-Ted Kooser from his Pulizer Prize winning poetry collection Delights and Shadows
Do you have that jar of buttons with many stories to tell?

A Treasure Close to Home: Sherman Creek Orchard

I did a post on Sherman Creek Orchard the first spring I began blogging. You can find it here. This orchard is right up the road from my house and it stretches close to Lake Roosevelt on the western shore. On the last blog post I did pictures in the spring so this time I wanted to capture harvest time in late summer. The warehouse is full of plums, prunes, the last of the peaches, early apples, pears, and nectarines. I wanted peaches to make a pie yesterday, but came home with a mix of late summer fruit. Right now there are lots of pears ready to buy. In a few weeks more and more different bins of apples will fill the warehouse. It is never a question of how many apples to buy, but what kinds are the best for what purpose! I am glad they have lists and charts because I begin to get a bit confused with so many different varieties. As I drove down the dirt road I had to stop and look closely at the pear trees just full of fruit. These pears were ripening nicely in the early September sun. Sherman Creek Orchard is certainly a treasure I love to visit close to home. It is owned by Rich and Lisa Robinson and it located at 32 Apple Tree Drive, Kettle Falls, WA.

The Miracle of Mums

There is nothing that says autumn like mums. Chrysanthemums come in such a variety of colors. They will bloom even after frost hits. They are one of the longest lasting flowers in a bouquet. They look great whatever the size or color. They really are a miracle perennial. I still have mums that I carried with me from Kennewick, to a temporary apartment, then on to be planted at this house. They are still with me.
If you are a novice gardener and want something that can be easily grown in the inland empire climate zones, buy chrysanthemums. You can go out right now and purchase them for a reasonable price at garden centers and you have instant color that will return next year. I have moved, pinched, divided, and stepped on mums ( on accident) and they still look great.
The kind you see here are called Chrysanthemum morifolium.
" C. morifolium encompasses all the varied plants collectively knows as florists' mums. They're the mainstay of the autumn-blooming perennial show- both in garden borders and in containers-not only because of their ease of culture and profusion of bloom but also because they are the most varied and versatile of mums, available in many forms, colors, sizes, and growth habits." Perennials, Sunset Publishers.
They love sun, regular water, and good well-drained soil. For other Sunday Scribblings on miracle go here.

Camera Critters: Sir McDuff

McDuff is the quintessential subject when it comes to catching critters with the camera. He always loves to pose! To find other camera critters go here.