Busy Spring Break

A few random photos of flowers Mr. M. kept covering to keep from freezing. The broken sticks are to keep the covers from crushing the plants. And then it didn't get as cold as predicted.

Pansies

Violas

Peonies

The week has flown by. Last Friday we drove to Memphis to see Garrison Keillor at the Orpheum. Thanks Joey & Jessie for the tickets. He was joined by his pianist Mitch? and singer Heather Masse. It was an entertaining evening of stories and songs.

Then back home-time change-long list of to-do/to-sew/to-read items.

Checked off

Tax forms completed and sent

Cat Sitter book read

Turbo Twenty-three (Janet Evanovich's latest book) read

Ava's Quillow finished

David's Quillow started

Liam and David entertained

Mom's patio chairs painted-Thanks Mr. M

Fannie Flag book read

Recent photos printed and put in photo album!

Fudge made with Liam's help

Four bunny ear drawstring bags made

I think that's it. I didn't think I would get that much done. There are a few things on the list that have to wait for Sunday night-emails and school stuff.

How was your week?

I recommend these books

Well, back to my original purpose for this blog...

I am recommending two books for my many readers.

Tuesdays with Morrie came my way because two of my high school students are reading it in English. They had to have a copy of the book and asked me to buy it. They work after school and weren't sure when they would be able to get to a bookstore. I bought it on a Friday and couldn't get it to them until Monday... so.... I read it on Saturday. It is a great book for thinking about life. Not sure 10th graders are going to be that wild about it but if you haven't read it, you should.

The other book was a Christmas present. I had it on the list to read but had not gotten around to buying it or getting it from the library. The thing I like about Dispatches from Pluto is the writer's perspective on my home state, especially the Delta. We lived in the Delta for a short time in the 70's.

It is a different kind of place. Not at all like the Mississippi of my childhood and youth. Mr. M. wasn't as fond as I was of this book. Maybe you have to be from Mississippi to connect with it.

Now a few photos of flowers to finish up this post.

Weird February weather today but these flowers brightened my day.

Read a good book?

Mid Winter Musings

In the bleak mid-winter...

In Mississippi it isn't too bleak. Sure the days are shorter and the weather is unpredictable but there are still plenty of growing things around our house.

The baby doll bed has a healthy crop of hardy succulents and the viney things in the corner will continue to live through the cold in their protected space near the bubbling fountain.

Violas and parsley are doing well in this pot and Mr. M recently planted pansies in a sunny spot.

These red berries look festive by the front door. I think if the birds get hungry enough, the berries will get eaten.

I'm enjoying all the Christmas music on PBS-TV and radio.

What am I reading? I've started a binge on mysteries by Leslie Meier. The setting is Maine. It's not hard to visualize since we visited Maine on our way to PEI a few summers ago.

This two week break is flying by. I'm trying to savor each day and not hurry back to thoughts of work.

How about you? Do you like this time of year?

Summer Books from ILA Convention

Here are three books I received this summer at the ILA Convention. I may have mentioned in an earlier post that I mailed a box of books to myself from Boston. One good reason to attend the conference is all the free books that publishers give away to the attendees. 

These books are for young adults-mature middle and high school students. Most of my students aren't ready to read on this level, so I'm giving these away to a friend who teaches high school English.

Unexpected Everything is a great book about an independent girl who rigidly organizes her life and finds in the course of the book that experiencing unexpected things can be rewarding.

The Graces really pulls the reader into the narrator's life and explores the manipulation of teens from different view points. The ending is very surprising.

Iron Cast is science fiction that travels back in time to the early 1900's to an imaginary place where some people use the arts to create fantasy situations for all who see or hear. These special people are misunderstood, hated, and feared. A great way to explore differences in people.

I enjoyed reading these books and the others in the box. Can't wait for next summer to get some more books to preview.

November's almost gone

The month is almost over and it is feeling like fall.

I was inspired to do a little fall planting.

Added violas to this pot with a geranium.

I decided to convert the doll bed into a succulent garden. I hope these make it thru the winter.

The parsley has been moved into the pot with the geranium.

I finished reading the books I was given at ILA in July. Most of the books were for middle and high school students and are too hard for my students to enjoy. I'm passing them on as door prizes at the reading conference in a few days.

This book is now in stores and was a good read. Target audience-teen girls.

What are you reading?

Is it fall yet?

My many followers may wonder what has happened? Did she fall of the edge?

No, I have been busy adjusting to a new job with slightly different hours.

I now have time in the mornings to enjoy the birds and flowers in the backyard, eat breakfast, and read the paper before I head to work. That's the plus side of working closer to home. The downside is I have students until 3:40 pm and get home in the afternoon later. Also, leaving early on Fridays is not happening. I am enjoying working with older students and being responsible for fewer students.

For my birthday Anna and Steve took us out to Ship Island. It was a beautiful day. I hadn't been out to the island since I was a child. Mr. M. had never been. 

We walked from the sound side over to the gulf side. It was hot walking-not a bit of breeze. Grumps gave Liam a ride on the way back to the boat. They explored the fort while I talked to the park ranger.

Glad we took time from our usual routine to experience this with friends and family.

Thanks, Anna & Steve!

Liam and Ben

looking for dolphins. We saw several.

View from the top of the fort.

What I saw around Savannah

Last week I participated in a National Endowment for Humanities teacher workshop in Savannah, Georgia. It was a great learning experience with quality speakers and field trips to places of significance in the story of Gullah Geechee people.

This was a whipping tree that was on a plantation that later became a cemetery.

This statue commemorates the people who came to Savannah as slaves. It is located near the river. Not sure what message the artist wanted to convey with the people in modern dress.

Isaac, whose 'basket' name was Dog, let us feel the difference in crab nets plain and dipped in paint. Guess which one lasts longer in sea water.

Tom tried his hand at making a loop on the crab net after I tried it. I thought it would be more like crocheting but it was more like macrame.

This was a former oyster shucking shed. Now it is part of a learning center.

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Closer view of oyster shed.

We had a cultural immersion/low country crab boil at the Pin Point Center.  It  reminded me of a crawfish boil. They didn't use quite the same spices and there was no remoulade or come back sauce.

Another field trip was to the Penn Center in South Carolina. This former school was started in 1862 during the Civil War. The morning was spent on traditional school subjects and the afternoons were spent learning trades like basket weaving, farming, carpentry, and cooking.

The grounds were filled with trees covered with Spanish moss.

In the 1960's Martin Luther King, Jr. met with his supporters and associates at the Penn Center.

We enjoyed hearing Ron Baise sing. Have you heard of Gullah, Gullah Island? It was a TV show that Ron and his family were on a few years back. 

This room in the library was made to look like a sweet grass basket. The community was involved in the planning of the library and it was an important place in their community.

We visited this praise house on our way back. Each community had a praise house where people came to worship Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday nights. They would take care of problems with sassy children, wayward church members, and other small disputes here.

There are more photos. I'll try to post them soon.