the end is a new beginning

The nation spent last week focused on changing the direction of American politics. What a historic and exhilarating election day -- definitely the best day of my voting life. It's the end of a Washington era I'm glad to see come to a close.

Alachua County voters also approved a levy that will fund many of the education programs cut or facing the chopping block in our public schools. I spent many hours helping to spread the word, and the 65 percent approval knocked my socks off. While it's not the end of education's money troubles in the state of Florida, it certainly helps ease many concerns about where we'll find money for next year.

The week before that the Rays competed in a bizarre but ultimately disappointing World Series. I was given the chance to go to my first World Series game (and the only series game the Rays won) on Thursday, Oct. 23. When the season began I never thought it would end in such an exciting way -- from worst to first in the AL East! Even though the season didn't end the way I wanted it to, it definitely ushered in a new beginning for the Rays in Tampa Bay.

And the day the Rays lost the pennant coincided with the biggest day in my personal life in some time. Tim moved from his home in Clearwater to Gainesville. To my house, now our house. It's the end of two separate lives and the beginning of lives truly shared. I spent several weeks vacillating between excitement and dread, but it turns out I had nothing to fear. We have come together almost seamlessly -- I am amazed at my ability to adapt to change after living alone for so many years. We look at each other all the time with those silly, giddy grins that come from happy hearts. The decision was definitely right for us.

Change seems to be the theme of the moment. And I am excited -- for my country, my job, my favorite baseball team, and my relationship. New beginnings used to make me nervous. Now, all I have is hope for the future.

so long, farewell

Summer is leaving. The sun is setting earlier. The pine needles are starting to fall. And I finally had to close the windows tonight and pull the jacket out for school tomorrow. This is always a bittersweet time of year. I know I'll still wear shorts for several more weeks, but it's no longer a given. I will have to check the weather forecast first. *sigh* Goodbye summer. I'll miss you.

football is everywhere

Saw this on an endcap at Publix last weekend. Printed fun Pop-Tarts sound cool, but I'm not sure college mascots are really playing to your target market. Unless the Pop-Tart target market is college kids. Hmm... Well I guess maybe that does work.

In other news, Tim scored us tickets to the Rays' first-ever ALCS game. They'll play the BoSox Friday night at the Trop. Our tickets are perfect: in right field next to the Rays' largest heckling crowd. Should make for an entertaining evening. Go Rays!!

Oh yeah, and we still don't have air conditioning. It's been 7 school days. The A/C crews have promised to get things running countless times. We've had fits and starts of A/C here and there, but they never last. There are 12 classroom affected. Parents and labor union have been called in to help. Let's hope one or the other works soon.

hot for teacher

And students.

We have no air conditioning. Late September doesn't seem like a bad time for that, but we live in Florida where cold doesn't come home to roost until late November at the earliest. Making it worse is the fact that we have a very cold classroom normally so we all come dressed pretty warm (I had on long sleeves and a sweater.) Have you ever tried to teach a group of 20 sweaty children with already low attention spans? It's like herding cats (an expression I never fully understood until now.) And the air will be out "for the foreseeable future." Tomorrow we will be the school nomads, traveling across campus in search of cool spaces. Wish us luck in our journey.

Did I mention that I have the beginning of a sinus infection and therefore have a fever and chills intermittently? On the bright side, I get to wear shorts to work tomorrow.

they're there?

When I got home from Clearwater last night I found a package waiting for me by my back door. One of my friends left me this:

I have no idea how he knew my kids have been studying these words on our word wall or how he knew they had struggled so much I kept them up for an unprecedented second week. Of course I wore it to school today.

I love when the world comes together in a quick burst of synchronicity. Thanks tw.

birthday blur

Tim's 30th birthday was last week. We planned on catching a couple of Rays/Red Sox series games to celebrate. Instead, while at a game during the Yankees series the week before, Tim won tickets to the last game of the season. And not just any tickets, mind you. Tickets for the exclusive Whitney Bank Club, which include a brunch and lunch buffet throughout the game along with beer and wine. The above picture was taken by the waiter for our section (about 40 people), who was wonderful about keeping up with anything we wanted/needed (despite not being steady with a camera.) We even had the Bucs game on at the bar, which was nice since the Rays were still a bit sluggish and hung over from Saturday's post-season-clinching win. Sadly, the Rays lost both their opening and closing home games for the season. Let's hope their post-season record is better.

Also, five minutes after arriving at the Whitney Bank Club, I ran into a teacher from my school and her twin sister. How crazy is that?

There are lots of changes on the horizon for us in the next few weeks, so it was wonderful to spend the weekend visiting some of our favorite St. Pete haunts. I left feeling sad that I haven't sold my house yet. I love it down there.

P.S. You can't tell from the blurry pic and the hat, but Tim finally got the hair cut he's been talking about for months. It's super short (maybe 1/2 inch?) and completely adorable. He, of course, hates it.

whose choice is it?

I try to keep politics off this blog as much as possible, but this is something that really frightens me. While the rest of the country is consumed by the economy and the Obama/Palin dramas, W is attempting to quietly pass a few last pieces of legislation to solidify his legacy as the worst president for women that this country has seen in decades.

His latest attempt to push women out of the workforce and back into the kitchen comes in the form of proposed regulations from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that could cripple women's access to basic reproductive health services. The rule would allow health care providers -- both individuals and institutions -- to deny women access to birth control based on the provider's personal religious beliefs. It allows these providers to REFUSE to provide information about basic reproductive health care. Simply because of their religious beliefs. The rights of the patient to become informed and weigh her own options will be completely thrown out the window.

While most of the people reading this blog have access to reproductive health care choices via other avenues, many American women today have limited choices. Unfortunately, some women ONLY learn about their reproductive options from a limited number of sources (mainly government-run health departments or free clinics.)

Can you imagine what would happen if police officers only had to enforce laws they personally thought were okay? Or if lawyers didn't have to give their clients information that could change their cases just because they thought their client was guilty and deserved punishment? This rule would turn every health care provider into a vulnerable woman's judge, jury, and executioner.

Regardless of your personal belief on reproductive care, you must agree that other people making decisions about your health without your input is a BAD IDEA. Tell the HHS to keep their rules to themselves. Go here and make sure your voice is heard. And tell all your friends. But hurry. Public comment is only open on this issue until September 25th.

rock on

These are the remains of our final rock experiment. The gumdrops were part of our sedimentary rock experiment from yesterday (complete with SweetTart fossils.) The chocolate chips in the corner are left over from the melted-chocolate igneous rock experiment earlier today. Obviously, this is the metamorphic rock experiment, which combines both igneous and sedimentary rocks (chocolate chips and gumdrops) with heat and pressure (melted marshmallows and puffed rice.) The kids were pumped. And sugared up. Thank goodness science class is at the end of the day.

More from the fourth-grade front:

The new computers showed up two weeks into the school year. I decided to keep all five, putting my computer in the office. The new giant screens are awesome for showing off all sorts of graphics for the kids, most recently helping us track Hurricane Ike (who conveniently made his way through the Gulf just as we started the hurricane section of our weather unit.) Unfortunately, the computers are still lacking all of the necessary programs that would make them actually useful in the classroom, but I suppose you can't have everything. At least my network is finally not dropping offline three times a day anymore.

Yes, this is a new rug. My kids finally told me the rug I purchased just for our classroom and thought was so cute was also prone to shedding. Red fibers. All over their clothing. *ugh* I went groveling to the custodial staff, who found a dirty, stained rug with the binding coming apart hiding in storage. I claimed it sight unseen, and it made its way into our room that very day. The new rug has completely transformed the focus problem in my room. My kids now believe I can do anything. I am Superteacher.

six weeks

Today is the first day in six weeks that I haven't done anything related to children. Even when I went out of town, I took kid work with me (boxes of it -- literally.)

I spent this glorious free day catching up on books and magazines, working in the yard, and watching my fantasy players tackle the first week of the NFL season (note to self: Atlanta's Michael Turner should be in my line-up every week!) Let's hope this is a sign of better things to come. Maybe I'll finally have enough energy to get to those craft projects dancing in my head?

lol

I opened the mailbox yesterday and saw this. I thought it was a joke or maybe a letter trying to get me to convert my vote because of McCain's VP pick. It turns out that, unbeknownst to me, I am a valued member of the Republican Party whose help is needed to thwart a Democratic takeover. Wow. If they're wasting postage on me, they must really be desperate.

times are changing

I was a little sad when I read this story today. After SEC and MLB baseball (of course!) I have a huge passion for SEC football. I grew up in this small college town only 8 blocks from Ben Hill Griffin -- so close you could hear the crowd roar through an open window and watch tailGators enjoy the pre- and post-game festivities on the street outside. I learned all about football in high school when my father and I would go to as many home games as we could -- back when the Gators were still just trying to win an SEC Championship. When they were on the road, we would watch them on TV. This gradually led to me watching more and more football until I reached the point where I watch almost every SEC game on any given Saturday (about 3 games a week, give or take.)

The noon game was almost always reserved for the Jefferson Pilot Game of the Week. Everything about the JP broadcast (which was bought out by Lincoln Financial and then apparently Raycom) was second or third rate. The announcers mispronounced names, the camera crew had trouble following the ball on the field, and they never, ever had timely updates on other SEC games (you'd have to switch to ESPN for those.) You made fun of them, but eventually the telecast grew on you. It was regional sportscasting in an age of big media. Some might call it quaint.

All that will be over come the 2009 football season. The SEC signed a contract with ESPN to pick up any games not chosen by CBS. Up-to-the-minute stats will replace Excel-style graphics, a crisp HD picture will most likely stand in for grainy '80s-highlights-quality footage. It will be different. A cookie-cutter version of a beloved southern pastime. I will make it a point to watch as many JP telecasts as possible this season and enjoy the last bit of regional flair in SEC sports. I will be sorry to see them go.

here we go again

It's not a real storm until the Asplundh truck convoys start to roll through town.

We were only in school for three days before TS Fay decided to swing our way. The school board's automatic notification system reached me at 10:47 p.m., well after I had gone to sleep. Grrr. I wonder how they reached the kids whose phones don't work (ie. quite a few of mine)?

It's 11:30 and we've barely had more than spitting rain for the last 24 hours. *sigh* There goes a hurricane flex day -- and one of our scheduled four-day weekends! You know the worst part? I'll probably go into work anyway. There's too much to do to let a little rain get in my way.

my new home

I've decided that moving classrooms before school starts is like moving into a new house and having to host a fancy party two weeks later. Only in my case it was moving into a house that was still full of someone else's stuff (it took me two days, 8 garbage bags, and a freebie day for other teachers just to clear it out!) You can't just toss boxes out of sight to unpack later because the contents has to be available for kids to use. The decor has to be finished and things need to be cleaned. Not to mention I can't plan until I'm organized!

That being said, the classroom is finally finished and ready for kiddos. It started out in Miami Vice colors: the walls were teal and orange in a nod to the 'Phins with a wall of magenta thrown in for that South Florida flair. At least that's what I'm guessing:











But thanks to Tim's bright color selection and our 10 hours of painting in a non-air conditioned classroom a couple of weekends ago, I now call this home:



These are views from my front door. This place is so much bigger than my old room.



This is my teacher area. The star bulletin board will eventually hold kid work.



This is my office. Yes, my very own office. I would have painted it too, but I share it with my next-door neighbor (and I'm only showing you MY half -- it's huge!) It will be used mainly for storing teaching materials and other crap from the district. I have so much storage space in there that I had to label cabinets because I kept forgetting where everything was. I prefer to plan out in my classroom because I'm inspired by my kids and their work. But it will be a great place for one of my many college volunteers to tutor kids in a quieter space.



This is the reading center and Word Wall area. I'm going to lower the table for more comfortable seating. The books are all from my personal collection (except for the library books on the table.) Can you tell I love reading?


I now have an actual space for my computers. I'll be getting another one in the the next month so I'll have four for the kids to use! Our school also just added wireless so I'll be able to use my Mac at work for lesson planning and such. I don't have a Smartboard like some other classes, but maybe soon...


Here is our Math Meeting Board (not quite together yet), our recycling center (lovingly schlepped home weekly by yours truly since the school only recycles office paper), and the geography center. The cabinets house art and cleaning supplies.


This is my Accelerated Reader book area. The labeled cabinets all hold kid materials for math, language arts, games, and art projects. I prefer to have them out on open shelving so the kids can see what is available, but it will help keep the dust and dirt at bay. Also check out the flowers on the window sill outside. I hope they survive!


And this may look like just a door, but it's a door to the most amazing thing in the world to me: more storage. You had to have seen my old classroom where I stacked plastic tubs three high on top of the built-in cabinetry (and used a precarious ladder of chairs, tables, and stools to get them down) to really appreciate how much I love this closet. I will post a picture of its interior sometime this afternoon. Oh, and that cabinet on the right is holding more tubs of primary teaching stuff. It was supposed to be a coat closet. In Florida. How silly!

Thank you for visiting Miss Lynn's 4th grade class. I'm sure I'll post more about what we're doing as the year progresses. Right now, I'm just glad to have it done!

scaredy cat

This was as close as Madeleine would get to Mouse (and she was interested in getting to know Mad!) A dog afraid of a cat -- isn't that sad?

Sorry for being a non-posting person. I decided to take a break to deal with real life for a while. Honestly, the last month and a half have been filled with so many changes. It started with a change in grade level for me. I'm going from teaching primary to intermediate. I am quite upset, frazzled, you name it. I love teaching little ones -- this is such a scary move! I was in the middle of changing classrooms (think moving houses) when my principal "retired" due to low test scores. Getting a new boss -- especially when you've only had one in your professional career -- is nerve wracking. So far I like my new principal, but it's only been two weeks. School starts Monday, and I've been working 10+ hour days for the last two weeks trying to get ready.

In mid-July I decided to put my house on the market and move to St. Pete. I interviewed for jobs, got offers, but can't sell my house -- so I'm stuck in Gainesville for at least a few more months. Going back to the classroom also means going back to teacher's union work. I love fighting for teacher's rights, but let's face it: being a teacher in Florida right now is down-right depressing. Even the superintendent has teamed up with the union to fight against several state constitutional amendments slated to go on November's ballot. Pay close attention to 5, 7, & 9. They're going to destroy public education in this state.

Anyway, I'm back to blogging. Look for an update on what I've been up to for the last two weeks coming soon (ie. classroom pictures!)

sweep!

We went to two of the Rays/Sox series games for my birthday. Let me tell you, major league baseball with first-place implications is not for the faint of heart. It certainly rivaled any UT or FSU game I've ever seen in Ben Hill Griffin in terms of excitement.

And when Rays fans drowned out Red Sox fans' cheers with "Let's Go Rays," well, that was the best part of the evening. I hope the fans keep turning out, even without sweeps.

priorities

The Countryside Publix in Clearwater's definition of a storm basic. You can tell they've been through a few hurricanes.

vacationing by the numbers

Number of days gone: 13
Number of beds slept in: 12

Number of miles driven: 2460
Number of miles driven by me: about 500

Number of miles walked in new heels to meet friends for dinner in downtown Cincinnati: 1 1/2
Number of blisters gained from said walk: 6
Number of times we walked/ran across the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge going back and forth from Cincinnati to Covington, Kentucky: 7







Number of weddings attended: 2
Number of dresses for weddings left hanging in a closet on the other side of the state: 1 (the one I needed!)

Number of flights of stairs climbed to do laundry in Cincinnati: 6
Number of times we had to climb them: 3 (mercifully)

Number of baseball games attended: 4
Number of baseball games attended where the home team was celebrating both youth recreation day and senior citizens day: 2 (really, what are the odds?)
Number of Jimmy Buffet cover bands performing after a baseball game: 1
Number of fans who stayed to watch the Jimmy Buffet cover band: about 600 (yes, including us)




Number of homemade lemon meringue pies eaten by each of us: 1/2
Number of ice cream-based desserts eaten by each of us: 5
Number of pounds gained by each of us (despite running): 5 1/2

Number of times finding a great song on the radio changed our mood: 4
Number of books on tape I fell asleep listening to: 2
Number of times a five-lane interstate full of traffic was stopped for a funeral procession: 1 (that was one brave cop!)

Height (in feet) of the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: 6,643
Number of miles we climbed to get there: 1/2
Height (in feet) we climbed to get there: 330
Angle of said climb: unknown, but very, very steep





Number of times I wanted to come home: 0

We had an amazing trip. More pictures should be up by the end of this weekend.

room with a view

The downtown Cincinnati skyline as seen from our friends' terrace. I know I make fun of Ohio, but this city's skyline is gorgeous. We stayed across the river in Kentucky a couple of nights ago and had similarly breathtaking views that included both the Bengals and Reds stadiums.

brrr

We've had a busy several days filled with family and friends. And lots and lots of driving. Through it all, I have been proud of myself for maintaining the discipline to run every other morning. But this morning presented a true test. I woke up, threw on running clothes, and stepped out into a 50-degree northwest Ohio morning. Yikes! I decided I was tough enough to handle it. By the time I got back, I couldn't feel my fingers and my nose was runny.

*sigh* I packed exactly 3 short-sleeved shirts and 7 tank tops for this trip. Will I ever learn that summer does not mean the same thing in all parts of the country?

Update: The edge of Lake Erie across the street from Tim's grandmother's house near Cleveland. It's easily 50-some degrees before wind chill. I owe Tim's mom Jane a huge thank you for loaning me the sweatshirt. It saved our vacation.

corduroy chicken

Well there it is, my new summer bag. I like the green corduroy, but not nearly as much as I love, love, love the pink chicken fabric.


Hmm -- funky lighting in this picture. Anyway, the bag is deeper and wider than the last bag I made. I customized the pockets again to fit my cell phone, camera, and various other things.

*yawn* It is almost 1:30 in the morning. I think I'm finally ready for Ohio.

procrastination queen

I am supposed to be getting ready for our trip to Ohio. I should be doing laundry, cleaning the house, packing...


Instead, I stayed up until 2 this morning working on my latest great idea -- coordinated travel shoe bags, lingerie bags, and laundry bags. There are 5 bags total -- 4 shoe/lingerie bags and one laundry bag -- all with drawstring ties. I've been using a Winnie the Pooh pillowcase as a laundry bag since I was in high school -- I figured it's time for something new.


I also finished the laptop bag I've been wanting to try. It didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it to (a little tight and not roomy enough for other stuff like cords and chargers) but it will suffice for this trip. And don't even get me started on the hell that was putting in the zipper (I think I ripped it out about 4 times before being marginally content with it.) At least I won't have to rely on clothes in my suitcase for laptop protection anymore.


The entire impetus for going into the craft room was the desire for a new summer tote bag. That was only started at 1 this morning. Hopefully I'll finish before our departure tomorrow at 8am. I'll post pics on my way out the door.

step-by-step guide to homemade jam

Making your own jam seems like an antiquated thing your grandmother did. After all, jam is easily found at the grocery or at the farmer's market -- there it's even sure to be homemade (albeit by someone else.) But it's a fun activity to do with all the extra berries you have left over after a trip out to a you-pick farm. Blueberries are easy to preserve since they freeze well. But I've never had any luck freezing strawberries -- they always taste like mush once you thaw them. Jam is a nice alternative.

The hardest decision to make is whether to can your jam or just leave it in the refrigerator. Canned jam has a shelf life of about one year (which is why I can make them now and give them as Christmas gifts), but refrigerator jam should really be used up in a month or so. If you decide to can, you'll need a couple of extra ingredients: a canner (or large stockpot) and canning tongs, which are covered in plastic to grip hot jars securely. I'm not sure where I found my canner, but it was probably at a thrift store for a few dollars. I went ahead and bought the tongs new, along with a wide-mouth funnel for ladling in the hot mixture into the hot jar -- both were very good investments.

I have the easiest jam recipe I can think of. It uses what seems like a lot of sugar, but when you keep in mind that most strawberry recipes use twice as much it's not so bad. This is a combination of several different berry recipes I've tried over the years. I don't like my jam too sweet, so feel free to add more sugar as you see fit.

pen loves paper's All-Purpose Jam Recipe

2 pounds fruit
2 cups sugar
juice of one lemon
6 1/2-pint jars, with screw tops and new lids

Really. That's it. It's what you do with it that makes a difference. First of all, don't bother with a scale. When you're at the you-pick place, ask them to bag your haul in two-pound increments. Extra berries should get their own bag (for nibbling or making mixed-berry jam.)


Add the two pounds of berries to a large glass or ceramic bowl with the sugar and lemon juice. Mix together and let sit on the counter for two hours to macerate, stirring several times. The above photo shows three different batches of jam: strawberry, blueberry and mixed-berry (strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries.) Your strawberries will turn to mush within an hour, the blueberries barely do a thing. This is what the mixed-berries looked like:


If you are canning, place 6-7 newly washed jars into your canner and cover them with water to over an inch above the top of the tallest jar. Put the canner on to boil a half hour to an hour before the berries are done macerating. My canner takes forever to heat up, so I put it on almost immediately after starting the macerating process. If you aren't canning, just add the clean jars to super hot water in the sink about 10 minutes before macerating is over and let them sit until you are ready to use them. Next, add your berry mixture to a saucepan and bring to a boil on medium-high heat, stirring often. Watch it carefully, as it tends to froth and can run over the pan as it reaches a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn down the heat to low-medium and boil for 18-22 minutes, still stirring. Add the lids (not the rings) and enough water to cover them to a small saucepan and bring to a boil.

What you do next depends on what type of jam you like. I like my jam runny since I use it more on ice cream and in cookie recipes than on bread. If you like thicker jam, you will need to boil it an extra 5-15 minutes. It also depends on the berries you use. Blueberries are done much quicker because they don't give off as much liquid during the macerating process as the strawberries.

How will you know when it's done? There are two schools of thought on this (I personally use them both.) One is to stir the mixture and then run your finger down the back of the spoon. If your finger trail stays, it's thick enough. I use this as a primary measure. Then I try this: place a small saucer in the freezer. Once you think the jam is thick enough, spoon a small amount onto the saucer and place back in the freezer for one minute. Pull it out and push the edge of the jam with your finger. The jam should have formed a coating of sorts and ripple when you push it. If it doesn't ripple, boil it for a few minutes longer and try again.


When your jam is ready, turn the heat to low and pull the jars out of the boiling water one by one and lay them on an old towel you have doubled or tripled over (make sure it's old, you will definitely get stains on the towel.) Ladle the jam into the hot jars using the wide-mouth funnel, filling them up to the screw lines on the jar. It depends on the type of jam you are making to how many jars you will fill. Blueberry and mixed-berry jams made six 1/2 pints each, the strawberry only made five. Use a wet paper towel to wipe the edges of each jar. Using tongs, pull the lids out of the water and shake dry before adding them to the top of the jar. Add a screw top to each.


Use the tongs to add the jars back to the boiling water. Allow jars to boil for 15 minutes. Pull the jars out of the water and place on a towel to cool. Do not be alarmed if you hear a strange ping/popping sound coming from the cooling jars. That is the sound of the jars sealing. Let the jars cool overnight on the towel. Then label them with contents and date. If you aren't canning, add contents and date to the lids and store in the refrigerator. Either way, that wasn't too hard was it?

a berry busy day

I decided to go out to Santa Fe Berry Farm last Saturday to pick blackberries and blueberries. It's located in tiny Earlton off SR26 right on Lake Santa Fe -- check out the view from their house (they welcome visitors to check out the lake):


I chose to go there instead of my usual organic haunt because I've always wanted to pick blackberries but end up going too late in the season to have any luck. It took a long time to pick the blackberries because of their thorny bushes, and by the time I was ready to switch to blueberries I was already hot and sweaty. Six pounds of blueberries was what I needed to make jam, but I gave up long before that due to the heat -- my fault for going berry picking at 11am. I ended up with almost a pound and a quarter of blackberries and 3 and a half pounds of blueberries (and at least a pound of berries in my tummy!) all for about $10. Not bad for two hour's worth of work.

Another fun thing about Santa Fe Berry Farm is their flowers. They grow huge sunflowers, black-eyed susans and zennias that you can cut to make your own bouquets.


If you decide to go (and I'd highly recommend you do) don't forget to wear close-toed shoes, bring a hat and your water bottle. You may even consider gardening gloves to get to some of those hard-to-reach blackberries without endangering your fingers.

Since I didn't get enough blueberries to make the amount of jam I wanted, I drove over to Roger's Farm to pick several extra pounds of strawberries so I could make mixed berry jam instead. Picking strawberries can hurt your back, but it's certainly quicker than blueberries or blackberries -- and you can't beat the price of $1 a pound! They had dropped the price of pickling cucumbers to 60 cents a pound, so I bought more of those too. If you're going to spend the day canning, you might as well go all the way, right?

war and peace

They're back. I got a migraine at a baseball game a few weeks ago -- one of those really, really bad ones that require total silence and darkness to feel even remotely okay. The next day it still wasn't completely gone, which is unusual. Since then my head has been at war with the rest of my body, and I've been battling several headaches a week. It's like living in a constant fog.

Peace has finally come to the garden in the form of rain -- real rain -- several times this week. Peace also comes to mind every time I look at this orchid that finally bloomed last weekend. These certainly rival the beauty of my favorite hibiscus.

Step-by-step guide to making and canning your own jam coming soon -- contingent on headache frequency.

pickles!

I apologize for being MIA lately, but I've been working like crazy -- even at home -- and then Tim was in town for a week and, well, we were so busy I don't think we even really had a chance to relax. We saw UF's amazing series sweep of perennial SEC-dominating Vanderbilt (oh, and UF's win against Tim's eventual PhD alma mater USF), traveled down the Ichetucknee River with friends, celebrated my Dad's 60th birthday, and did a lot of canning. Yes, canning.

I found a great refrigerator pickle recipe several years ago that I used as my entry into the world of preserving veggies and fruits. But since I crave these pickles long after their refrigerator life is over, I decided to try canning them properly this time. If you've ever thought about making your own pickles, I highly recommend trying this recipe -- it's really worth it!


It starts with the cucumbers. You need to use pickling cucumbers that don't have wax on them (that goes for any fruit or veggie you preserve.) We made the annual pilgrimage to Roger's Farm (off of SR 121 on the way to Raiford) to get cucumbers. I use about 2-3 per jar, so I bought 24 cucumbers at 70 cents a pound! (If you're local, you can always get them at Ward's but not nearly as cheap.) I am growing cucumbers in the garden this year, but with the drought and all, they are far from ready. We also picked some strawberries for jam, but more on that in a later post.


I buy about two heads of garlic, since I like to use 3-4 cloves per jar, and a medium dill plant so I can keep making these all summer. You have to cut off the ends of the cucumbers so they'll fit in the jars, and I like to cut them into wedges so they're easier to eat right away.


This recipe makes about 7 pint-sized jars of pickles. The jars are reusable, as are the rings, but the lids must be replaced with every batch. For refrigerator pickles, you can sterilize the jars in hot water in the sink. If you plan on canning them, sterilize them in boiling water in the canner for 10 minutes before laying them on a towel to cool briefly before filling them.

pen loves paper's Garlic Dill Pickles

2 heads of garlic, about 3-4 cloves per jar, broken into cloves and peeled
1 bunch fresh dill, about 4-5 sprigs per jar
21 pickling cucumbers, washed with the ends cut off and sliced lengthwise into spears
2 1/3 cup water
3 2/3 cup white-wine vinegar (look for large bottles at specialty food stores like Fresh Market)
1/3 cup sea salt
2 teasp pickling spices
1 teasp dill seeds
1 teasp whole black peppercorns

Combine the water, vinegar, salt, and other spices in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil on high for 3 minutes. Leave to cool. Begin to sterilize the jars.

Pack the cucumbers 2/3 full in each jar. Add the fresh dill sprigs and garlic throughout each jar, then wedge in as many cucumbers as possible until it's full. Don't let the spears go above the lower lip of the jar.

Pour the cooled mixture over the cucumbers to cover by 1/2 inch. Seal the jars and label. Store in the refrigerator for 3 weeks before eating. Use in 2-3 months. Alternatively, seal the jars and process in the canner for 10 minutes. Rest the jars on a towel to cool to room temperature. Label and store in a cool place from 3 weeks to up to one year.

oh my!

The gas light in my car turned on as I was driving home from work today. I turned into my neighborhood gas station when I saw something that shocked me:


I said something that as a school board employee I shouldn't repeat on my public blog, so use your imagination.

Wow. Just wow. *sigh* And my bike broke Tuesday as I rode it to the library. Guess I'll have to really jump on getting that fixed.

sneak peak

A quick look at some of the material for my latest project. What could I be making this time?