My cloth bags had a workout!
It was a busy trip to the market today. Nice breeze, good music, nice people, and good food for sale. The wheeled bag was quite heavy by the time I finished, and I had two bags over my shoulder as well! From left to right: butternut squash, peas, lettuce, carrots, yellow beans, brussel sprouts, poblano peppers, apples, corn, more apples, and more corn. I have a busy weekend ahead!
It’s been a random day – or several days full of randomness.
Chuck started cutting the lawn Monday evening, and he came too close to a hornets’ nest. They stung him and chased him around the house. He had trouble knocking enough off that he could come in the house! Several stings on the left hand, a few on the right, and he was in pain and more than a little freaked out.
The exterminator came Wednesday. He found the nest, sprayed it, and informed Amigo that the bees would be “angry today, but dead by tomorrow morning.” Result: Chuck didn’t attempt to mow again until Thursday.
Thursday he stepped outside to start the mower and the rain started.
The lawn looks like a wheat field. Or alfalfa, maybe. I’m thinking we should expand the garden and just quite mowing altogether.
Something about the first week of school makes me crave smoothies. Maybe it’s the transition from summer break to being a schoolie again. It could be the heat and mugginess. There’s also the possibility that I just like the smoothies from City Center Plaza, and City Center Plaza is only a few blocks from my workplace. On the way to the smoothie place, I saw this.
Someone spilled the beans.
I helped set up our book fair for the upcoming first day of “school” on Tuesday. We asked the driver of the truck if he ever sees kids waving at him. Why? He has Clifford the Big Red Dog and a few other classic characters painted on his truck, bigger than life. We teachers decided that Scholastic should paint Clifford on our vehicles and pay us to drive them around town.
So then Amigo and I went to a local pub that has a great Friday fish menu. I tucked a napkin into my shirt to prevent clam chowder spills and I had a frightening realization.
I was wearing a Milwaukee Brewers shirt in a Chicago Cubs bar.
I left the napkin covering the logo on my chest until we left.
So, readers, all in all, life is good. School starts Tuesday, and I’m looking forward to meeting my students and their families. Good times are ahead! Meanwhile, I’ll relax and have a weekend.
Amigo complains that I’m a “Green Freak” when I look for alternatives to gift wrap and tags. He doesn’t know that I have another use for old cards – decorative tops for canned goods.
It all starts with two lids, one regular and one large. Those are the patterns, templates, tracers, whatever you’d like to call them. If I have a choice, I’ll cut out a large one because I know I can make it smaller if I need to. Add a box of cards (holiday, birthday, etc.), a scissors, and I’m ready to work.
Getting to work!
I cut apart the cards to make gift tags or round tags for my canned goods gift giving.
Finished Circles – in two sizes
More finished circles
Some cards are too special to cut into pieces.
This one is a keeper.
The rest are now in a manila envelope on my bookshelf Any time I’m giving away a few jars of goodies, I can reach for some nice, classy pictures to decorate the tops.
Okay, readers, let’s build on this. What other uses do you have for cards? Do you scrapbook? Make new cards from old? Leave a comment sharing your ideas.
My educator friends – do any of you use Teachers Pay Teachers to buy and to sell material?
I’m a relative newcomer to this corner of the Internet where teachers can post lesson plans and more in the hopes that someone will pay a few bucks for the privilege of using those materials themselves.
Here’s the cover image.
I’ve posted a few things. I’ve only sold a couple, so the money thus far is just a drop in the bucket. If I’m optimistic (and I try to be optimistic), I might remind myself that if there are enough drops, the bucket might fill.
My “store” name is Ideas from the OK Chorale. If you’re an elementary teacher and you’re looking for a few good plans, please take a look!
Meanwhile, I’ll push myself to post a few more goodies to appeal to other creative teachers who might benefit from my experience and ideas. In my spare time, that is. Yea, yea, I hear you snickering at your monitor.
So, readers, what are your experiences with online buying or selling? Etsy? Teachers Pay Teachers? EBay? Leave a comment and let me know.
Did I really neglect posting this last week?
Last Weekend’s Market
I made applesauce with a hint of cherry, cherry jam that didn’t jell, and froze more and more beans.
Then Wednesday came.
My Last Midweek Market
You can see potatoes, peaches, spinach, bunny food, and the un-jelled cherry jam peeking around the back.
I prepped what I could, but I didn’t buy anything that required major time investments because I knew Amigo and I would be gone Thursday and Friday.
So Saturday came again — see the results?
Today! Food, glorious food!
Everything has a purpose.
Apples: applesauce.
Peas: supper and freeze the rest.
Beans: freeze.
Zucchini: anything I want it to be.
Corn: a baker’s dozen (the vendor likes me) -half dozen for Sunday supper, the rest to freeze.
Meanwhile, I’m steaming cauliflower and carrots for supper tonight. They’ll be mashed with a little butter, salt, and pepper. Mmmmm.
I took a walk while Amigo went fishing with a friend. It was a nice trail, part of the rail to trail system in Ashland, Wisconsin. According to this sign, horses can’t use the trail and neither can riders on ATVs. But what is the one in the middle?
It’s a rail trail.
Dune buggy? Tractor? I don’t recognize the symbol or the vehicle. Readers, can you help?
I was grinding coffee beans and discovered the scoop was missing.
And then I saw it.
Buried, hiding in the coffee grounds.
Found and Rescued with the help of a wooden chopstick!
Think of the possibilities – I might have made unmeasured coffee for days!
An encore post with a few updates – all updates in Italics.
In the midst of Back to School preparations, it seems appropriate to discuss the juggling act we call work-family balance. Sometimes we’re juggling tennis balls, all the same size, all the same weight, all responding the same way. Then someone tosses us a watermelon, and the whole juggling act changes.
Back in my regular classroom days, preparing for school meant something different. Here are a few examples.
I also make a point of spending time outside. It can be as simple as weeding or watering the garden or reading a book on the deck, but getting out is an important ingredient in self-care. Back to school means back to my cubicle and much, much more. The process may look different on the surface, but underneath the hustle and bustle it’s the same: getting ready for a new group of kids and parents.
The flurry of posts and memorials for Robin William’s death has subsided a little. Life goes on and on.
Meanwhile, I keep going to the Farmers’ Markets. The act of going & the act of buying followed by the process of preparing and freezing or canning or cooking… Let’s start over before I create a huge run on sentence.
Wednesday’s Market
The act of going to the market is therapeutic. I get to talk to people, ask questions, and interact positively.
The midweek market is a place filled with happy people! If you look closely at the photo, you’ll see two bunches of carrots. A vendor gave me the second bunch for free because I bought peas and beans from him. He was just being generous and nice – he didn’t know I had a pet rabbit at home waiting for fresh food like this.
No Parsley or Sage
Rosemary, Thyme, and Lemon Basil hang in the attic. They’ll hang from those hooks for at least two weeks until they’re dry or pretty darn close to it. Like gardening, hanging herbs for drying demonstrates a belief in the future. They won’t dry overnight.
Like gardening, drying my own herbs is a process, not a product. So on we go, growing and harvesting and gathering what we’ll need for the future. The future looks good.