Folks, believe me, there will be updates. Today we switched roles; I worked in the kitchen all day and my dear darling husband, a.k.a. “Chuck,” worked in the garden. I made pizza from scratch, watched the Packers beat the Lions, and went to a furniture shop at halftime. Meanwhile, Chuck got out his tools and built a new garden area out of repurposed boards. Photos to follow, folks.

It’s getting cool at night. I am gradually clearing out those plants that are no longer thriving. The dill met its end last weekend. Next? The herbs may need to come inside for the winter. The tomatoes and peppers are still producing, so I’ll leave them alone until there is threat of a killing frost.

Meanwhile, I made more pear sauce tonight and canned it in my newly found 12 oz. jars. Yum!

And one more meanwhile – It’s off to the neurologist Monday afternoon for me. This is the first appointment in six months. I hope she’ll pronounce me healed, mostly. I have very few symptoms, almost none, and I’m quite a bit stronger than I was last time I saw her.

So, my faithful friendly readers, all is well at the O.K. Chorale. Photos of the garden expansion are still on my camera. You’ll be the first, or almost the first, to see.

So meanwhile, leave a comment and let me know what you’re doing!

I was searching for an appropriate encore post, and instead I found one paragraph that struck a chord with me.

Part of the locavore menu involves eating what’s ripe and in season. By the time it’s our of season, we’ll be tired of it and ready to move on to something else. About the time my family rebels and shouts out “No More Rhubarb, Mom!” strawberries will be coming into their prime. Then I can mix strawberry-rhubarb pie, strawberry-rhubarb crisp, strawberry-rhubarb dump cake — bwahahahaha! Just kidding, family. I’ll be more creative than that. Maybe.

That was a spring post from May 2011.

More recently, the family has complained about some of my overuse – well, they’ve warned me not to go there. I stocked up on squash at the last farmers’ market. 6 squash for $5! How could I go wrong? Oh. Wait. Never ask a question unless I really want to know the answer, right? I learned that years ago while substitute teaching.

The family, a.k.a. Da Boyz, a.k.a. Chuck and Amigo, cautioned me not to feed them squash every day – like I’d served too much asparagus last June. 

Oops. I guess I’d better turn to the freezer and the hot water bath canner instead of feeding them the same in-season vegetables over and over.

Oh, dear, and I just planted an asparagus bed. It’ll be ready to harvest in a couple of years, and then we’ll have lots of asparagus. Lots.

Honey, maybe we need a new freezer. Honey?

I can’t help it. I’ve been skeptical ever since I heard Alfie Kohn, author of Punished by Rewards, say that the main result of Pizza Hut’s Book It program is a bunch of fat kids who don’t like to read.

Intrinsic or extrinsic motivation? It’s true that reading more builds reading skills and stamina, which in turn improves reading ability. But does the pizza reward for reading really encourage reading for its own sake? I doubt it. I sincerely doubt it.

But today I investigated their expanded website to see what I can offer my students’ parents (a.k.a. learning coaches). There is a lot of wisdom, and a lot of it is in vocabulary many parents can understand.

So… how do I share this with “my” families? That is, how do I share this resource with those parents with whom I teach?  If I’m honest with myself (which isn’t always the best policy, really), I’m actually asking this: How do I share this resource with families without giving in to marketing and handing out little pizza certificates? 

Sigh. It’s such a complicated world.

It’s September at the O.K. Chorale. How can you tell? Here are the signs.