tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798388305127543972024-03-14T06:42:23.222-10:00Hapless HomesteadWe're transforming our raw land in a rain forest area of Hawaii into something useful and productive. Occasional forays into the joys and perils of teaching and raising teens may take place.NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.comBlogger574125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-80694676168330867612016-09-15T14:45:00.001-10:002016-09-15T14:45:14.411-10:00New Blog I started a new blog today: <a href="https://losinglucasblog.wordpress.com/">Losing Lucas </a><br />
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I just thought that since I canʻt find anything really that helps me, that doesnʻt fill me with despair over the loss of my son, maybe I can write what I canʻt find. Maybe it will help me, and maybe it wonʻt. Maybe it will speak to someone else, and maybe it canʻt. <br />
<br />NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-55473585281501995662016-08-31T13:03:00.001-10:002016-08-31T13:24:49.339-10:00Storms Internal and External<p dir="ltr">I just posted something I wrote in May. It's so full of angst and stress, but oh, how I want that week back. </p>
<p dir="ltr">My son died in a car accident last week. My beautiful, talented, wonderful son is gone. And the storm in me far outweighs the hurricanes churning toward us. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Life is so precious, so fragile, and all I want is to roll back the hands of time. Instead, there are legal matters and personal matters to deal with. Moving the things I so lovingly and excitedly bought out of the dorm. Dealing with insurance and police. Dealing with the tremendous outpouring of grief from school and our small community. Dealing with my own immense, unmanageable, almost unbearable anguish. </p>
<p dir="ltr">My husband has been great, and my parents and my sister-in-law. I can't think of anything for the services, not one detail, except one song. I went to work one day, because it helped me and I believe it helped the other kids. But, as terrible as it sounds, I am glad for the storms, for the chance to rage with the winds. His middle name meant wind.... and he was that: often full of passionate intensity, with the capacity for gentleness, unfailingly polite (not always at home, mind you - the boy could belch louder than you'd imagine and he loved to stir us up at the dinner table, but only at home). </p>
<p dir="ltr">I miss him. I am broken and will never be completely mended. </p>
NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-44300846018232594182016-07-13T13:04:00.002-10:002016-08-31T13:01:56.930-10:00The Last WeekHave you ever heard of FutureMe.org? You can send your future self an email. I just got one that I sent to myself because this is my number three childʻs last week in high school. I told myself to be patient and mindful, because I knew that the now-me would be a bundle of emotions and feeling quite nearly overwhelmed with all the teacher-y year-end stuff. When you get your email from your past self, you have the option to email a future you. So, of course, I sent an email for next year - for the Friday before my last childʻs high school graduation.<br />
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Now that is going to be a killer. It might be even more killer the first day of the school year here without any of my kids. When I first came to this school, my oldest son was a senior. The year after he graduated, I found myself looking for him in the morning protocol bunch and feeling sad that he wasnʻt there. He wasnʻt far, but he had moved out into an apartment, was attending college, had started his adult life (with a few bumps on the way). I suspect that my youngest <i>may</i> be the only one that gets enough scholarship money to go to the continent for college... and that will be hard. I wonʻt be able to drop off food, or just generally check in (not that I did enough of that, frankly).<br />
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I feel like this graduation (which is my last official work day of the year) is this big hurdle that I just have to get over, but the truth is, itʻs just one. As a teacher, I count my years from August to July, and this year has been a doozy. Iʻd like to think that once those lei get placed around the graduatesʻ necks (my fingers are sore from making lei), the year will be over and all itʻs challenges behind us. But, the truth is, my second son may need another lung surgery, we have to continue to be vigilant about the possibility of recurrent cancer for my husband, and next year is another senior year hell of applications for colleges, scholarships, AP tests and SAT tests and all the rest of it.<br />
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That sounds really gloomy. I donʻt actually feel that gloomy - hence the email to myself to be a little more patient and mindful. Although helping kids with college scholarship applications is pretty darned stressful for me, itʻs also a pretty joyful process. All that guiding and encouraging, cheering on and nagging unmercifully, is paying off. Applying for scholarships, reading the essays they write for them, itʻs a celebration as much as it is a prayer (or begging, I donʻt know) that they get the means to follow their dreams is a way that wonʻt bankrupt their future.<br />
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<br />NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-16810867065672050452016-07-13T13:04:00.000-10:002016-07-13T13:04:38.605-10:00The Last WeekHave you ever heard of FutureMe.org? You can send your future self an email. I just got one that I sent to myself because this is my number three childʻs last week in high school. I told myself to be patient and mindful, because I knew that the now-me would be a bundle of emotions and feeling quite nearly overwhelmed with all the teacher-y year-end stuff. When you get your email from your past self, you have the option to email a future you. So, of course, I sent an email for next year - for the Friday before my last childʻs high school graduation.<br />
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Now that is going to be a killer. It might be even more killer the first day of the school year here without any of my kids. When I first came to this school, my oldest son was a senior. The year after he graduated, I found myself looking for him in the morning protocol bunch and feeling sad that he wasnʻt there. He wasnʻt far, but he had moved out into an apartment, was attending college, had started his adult life (with a few bumps on the way). I suspect that my youngest <i>may</i> be the only one that gets enough scholarship money to go to the continent for college... and that will be hard. I wonʻt be able to drop off food, or just generally check in (not that I did enough of that, frankly).<br />
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I feel like this graduation (which is my last official work day of the year) is this big hurdle that I just have to get over, but the truth is, itʻs just one. As a teacher, I count my years from August to July, and this year has been a doozy. Iʻd like to think that once those lei get placed around the graduatesʻ necks (my fingers are sore from making lei), the year will be over and all itʻs challenges behind us. But, the truth is, my second son may need another lung surgery, we have to continue to be vigilant about the possibility of recurrent cancer for my husband, and next year is another senior year hell of applications for colleges, scholarships, AP tests and SAT tests and all the rest of it.<br />
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That sounds really gloomy. I donʻt actually feel that gloomy - hence the email to myself to be a little more patient and mindful. Although helping kids with college scholarship applications is pretty darned stressful for me, itʻs also a pretty joyful process. All that guiding and encouraging, cheering on and nagging unmercifully, is paying off. Applying for scholarships, reading the essays they write for them, itʻs a celebration as much as it is a prayer (or begging, I donʻt know) that they get the means to follow their dreams is a way that wonʻt bankrupt their future.<br />
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<br />NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-65601729862923138702016-07-13T13:03:00.002-10:002016-07-13T13:03:36.007-10:00Chicken Coop ...after a hiatusWhen my husband makes animal shelters, he makes them like Fort Knox. He says itʻs because he learned from our early efforts (some of which fell down in bad weather) and wants them done forever. In any case, this chicken coop is made of hollow tile and the bottom half of it, at least, could be a bomb shelter. <br />
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At the moment, all those chickens are free range. We used to lock them up at night, but weʻve given up, and they just roost on the pipe rails of the horse and sheep stall. Heʻs luring them in daily with food, but some of them would rather snatch a few morsels of sheep feed than to get their full ration of layer pellet. Weʻd like them to come in at night where there are lovely egg boxes, so that they will be tempted to lay their eggs where we can find them. As it is, they lay more often than not in the forest (we think), where we canʻt find the eggs. <br />
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Itʻs frustrating to feed 20+ chickens and not be able to find the eggs. <br />
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At the beginning of the summer, we had plenty of eggs, but once they figure out we "found" the nest (sorry, ladies, but the corner of the horse stall is not very hidden), they move. Itʻs also possible that mongoose are getting some of the eggs, and, honestly, my dog Mellie could also be a culprit, but I never catch her at it anymore.... Wherever they are, whatever is happening to them, the eggs are not in my fridge, so that means weʻre feeding hens for nothing. <br />
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I keep threatening them with freezer camp, and amusingly, it seems that every time we have a school break, and I have the time to actually make good on my threat, the eggs magically appear. Letʻs hope it happens next week, when summer school is over, because I donʻt want to buy terrible store bought eggs. NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-40180847990215089782016-06-29T12:28:00.001-10:002016-06-29T12:28:18.448-10:00Cleaning Up the Fence LineLife HAS been crazy - and the craziness is not stopping - but my husband pulled out the tractor and cleared the east (very overgrown) fence line. The whole line needs to be replaced there, and weʻd like to do some interior fencing so the goats can help tame the jungle up toward the front of our rather long, narrow lot. <br />
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My old dog, Cinnamon, and I checked out the work: <br />
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You canʻt see her well - a little bit like playing "Whereʻs Waldo" (and now I AM dating myself!) minus the stripes and glasses. Sheʻs quite old for a shepherd mix and is slowing down, so it was nice that she felt like exploring. <br />
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I planted those trees a long time ago - the pines. Itʻs nice to be able to see them. The ferns in the picture are uluhe, and they grow up and smother everything. <br />
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I am teaching summer school, so no time for projects. I will have a week off before my sonʻs surgery, a week to help him recover, and then itʻs back to work for me. Good thing I truly love teaching! <br />
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<br />NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-73372191726611038702016-06-16T16:07:00.003-10:002016-06-16T16:07:36.706-10:00Starting Summer SchoolI basically did nothing much useful in the two weeks I had off. First I had some very unfortunate upper respiratory thing over the week that my son graduated, and then my youngest had Driverʻs Ed every day (every...single...day...even Sundays and the one local holiday) and, theoretically, sports practice, although she also got some very nasty bug and has missed quite a lot of those. <br />
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My second son will be having another surgery next month. He had a pneumothorax (full collapse) of one lung in September, and a partial collapse on the other in April. To prevent another, bigger collapse of the second lung, the pulmonologist is recommending a corrective surgery. I am a small bit freaked out, although we were able to schedule it between summer school and regular school. <br />
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Well, anyway, all my lofty plans of cleaning and organizing came to almost naught - I did slog through cleaning my filing system (I didnʻt finish). I am happy to report, though, that I am <i>delighted</i> with my two writing classes this summer: my students have lovely, can-do attitudes - the few who are a little sour that they their parents have chosen summer school for them over lolling around the house were relatively easy to jolly out of their I-miss-my-bed funk: mostly because theyʻve been in my class before and I reminded them, "Ah, I am not so bad; weʻll have fun. You KNOW I am going to do something ridiculous at some point that will make you laugh...." <br />
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The perks of being a total goof and being a teacher.... watching for the goofy moments is totally engaging for a 16 year old, so I can be my goofy self and itʻs a useful tool instead of just an embarrassment. NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-18067037032822237332016-05-18T12:53:00.001-10:002016-05-18T12:53:32.912-10:00Shamelss Promotion of My Animal FamilyHereʻs my Gibby boy: <br />
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I think heʻs very distinguished in his middle age, even if he does need a good brushing. <br />
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And here are the goat boys: <br />
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Poor camera quality, but they are so cute. They love to give kisses (or maybe they just think my hair is food). NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-60065776031325527992016-05-17T10:23:00.001-10:002017-04-17T13:22:34.674-10:00Treating AbscessesThe pasture horse, Gibby Crazy Horse (who is getting less crazy the more he does lawn ornament duty), has an abscess in his front left hoof. I am <i>very</i> familiar with abscesses and hooves, to my sadness, because of my late, beloved Ohia, who was laminitic.<br />
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Of course, the lingering craziness of Gibbyʻs mind makes treating the issue a little more difficult than Iʻd want. I find trapping him in his stall, stalking him until I can put the halter on (a matter of two minutes now - rather than 15) and firmly pretending heʻs not scared at all works just fine. Horses are very amenable to suggestion: projecting that theyʻre not panicking tricks them into thinking they arenʻt panicking. Itʻs pretty fun to watch. The nice thing about horses that are scared of people is they reliable run away from you, not over you. Donʻt take that as safety advice - it works for Gibby, but not for every horse!<br />
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I slapped a poultice of bran, epsom salt, and iodine on his hoof. Heʻs still a little sore this morning, but much, much more comfortable.<br />
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Nice to know I still got it - although I hope I donʻt need it that often! NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-78985565454874050272016-05-15T15:20:00.000-10:002016-05-15T15:20:29.043-10:00Two Down, One to Go At least this year.... graduations, that is.<br />
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My oldest two graduated yesterday. My daughter decided not to walk, which saved us logistics of trying to figure out how to attend two ceremonies on two different islands. She flew in just in time to see her brotherʻs ceremony. <br />
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It was really, really long, and really, really uncomfortable. It was held in the Edith Kanakaole Tennis stadium - stadium seats are not my favorite), and there were 900 graduates. I am fairly sure my own college graduation was about the same size - and half the length. My younger son said, definitively, "I am not walking in four years; that was awful!" Oh well, I still had time to tear up when older son marched in to Pomp and Circumstance and turned around to wave at us (well, probably, really, his girlfriend). Also, by fortunate chance, happened to sit in the row below my best friend. We donʻt teach together any more, so it was super great to see her. She even brought a maile lei for my son. I am a terrible friend and didnʻt remember her daughter was graduating, too! Sonya is someone ver special! <br />
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I got a great picture of all the kids together (rare), and my son gave his sister the mortarboard cap to wear so they both looked like graduates! <br />
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On the farm front, Gibby Crazy Horse has an abscess brewing - I spent part of the morning soaking him up and giving him horse aspirin. Poor guy. I havenʻt had to deal with one of these for years, since I put Ohia down. <br />
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The bucklings are making no progress at all at cleaning that obnoxious new weed that is taking over the pasture, although they are valiantly trying. I think I need to think about more goats - or at least a doe, so I can raise my own goats. They are quite a bit more expensive than sheep here.<br />
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Two more weeks of school. Really only a week and a half - although the graduation is in 13 days. I would get a LOT more excited about this if I werenʻt teaching two summer school classes - writing intensive (with the emphasis on <i>intense</i>). I am excited, because I love to teach these classes and I am a little apprehensive, because I think I may just be flat out exhausted at the end of the 5 weeks. On the home front, this year has been - well, itʻs been terribly stressful. On the school front, itʻs been great - I have a new partner teacher whom I love working with. Weʻre even sharing a room this year, and itʻs been pretty cool. For one thing, I get to not have to totally float (weʻre short rooms, so one person in each department floats), and for another, we got to the point where we co-plan and so we get to see each other teach the lessons we planned together. The class that happens at the end of the day gets the best version of the lesson because we change right there. Fortunately, classes rotate around, so itʻs not the same class every day. <br />
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I think I need to get into blogging again - this is all over the place! Thanks for bearing with my ramblings. NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-13305521643641990732016-05-11T08:01:00.001-10:002016-05-11T08:01:04.352-10:00Returning Oddly Late to the Game Well, if anyone is still around, I apologize. Itʻs been a wild year and a half for our family. <br />
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The end of 2014 was full of the angst of the hurricane and a few other large storms, one of which took out our greenhouse, and the lava flow which took part of a cemetery and exactly one house in a nearby town. Thankfully, it slowed and eventually stopped at the lower end of the flow. Itʻs still flowing merrily at the top, but not, at the moment, threatening any human habitations. Sometimes, I look at the vent - itʻs about ten miles away and sometimes I can see it smoking - and ponder Mauna Loa, which periodically inflates - and wonder in a way I never have the entire 20 years weʻve lived here whether someday weʻll face what Pāhoa faced. <br />
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2015 was filled with finishing my National Board for Professional Teaching Standards work, waiting semi-agonizingly for the results (I passed, Thank God, great kids, and a wonderful mentor), and dealing with surgeries: cancer (husbandʻs), pneumothorax (son, 100% collapse of left lung), a bout of pneumonia (mine) - or maybe the flu: I was too busy handling the surgeries to figure out why I had a 103 fever for six days and a yucky junky cough for much longer - and yay! baby bucklings. <br />
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Rufus and Biscuit joined the family in December of 2015. We bottle fed them from a bucket fitted with nipples for three months and they are quite merrily a part of the family now. <br />
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Since then, weʻve had one more (much smaller) pneumothorax - same son - much angst over college and scholarship applications and a few more family medical emergencies. Folks, I am a complete emotional mess and waiting for the school year to end - joyfully and semi-emotionally, as three of my four kids graduate from one school or another (two from college and one from high school). I look at my kids and see these beautiful, wonderful young adults, and I also see the enthusiastic, loving little folks they used to be, and itʻs killing me. I am so proud of the now-people and I miss so much the then-people. And if I think this is bad...I suspect the baby graduating next year will well and truly put me more firmly into emotional basketcase-ness. <br />
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I have to explain graduations at the high school where I teach and where my kids attend. Itʻs one big emotional, beautiful, crazy wonderful ceremony - hula, chanting, singing, Hawaiian names that take half a page to write and which tell a whole story in the one name (my kids arenʻt that lucky - their Hawaiian names consist of one Hawaiian noun each - well actually, my second child has two middle names, but thatʻs another story). The song that they each sing breaks my heart <i>every single year</i>. Itʻs called "The Prayer" and they sing in four-part harmony in both English and Hawaiian. If you are a parent, it is guaranteed to kill you. I have been to years of these graduations; itʻs the same song every time and it kills me every, every time, but especially in the years my personal kids, my biological kids, graduate. <br />
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Soon, I know it will be too soon, my oldest son will get that job that heʻs been working so hard for (cʻmon Google, hire the kid - heʻs awesome) and leave the islands. My oldest child will find her place and I can only hope itʻs still here in Hawai'i, and my younger son will be off to college. I have one more year with one child in the nest, and then itʻs a new phase of life. <br />
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I wonder what it will be like, and I mourn the life I am leaving, all at the same time. <br />
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<br />NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-2383656000550580822014-10-14T16:06:00.000-10:002014-10-14T16:06:07.092-10:00Here We Go Again (Maybe)Apparently, there is another possible hurricane on the way. The kids are excited, because it is meant to hit us on PSAT day - which means not having to come to school on a Saturday to take a big test. <br />
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I am not so excited about it, because storms are a lot of work. I'd rather read the PSAT script and do the mind-numbingly boring work of watching kids bubble in answers with a number 2 pencil. I'd even more so like to stay home and continue the productive work I did during our Fall Break (I canned and froze 20 lbs of pumpkin, deep cleaned the kitchen, and painted 10 interior doors). <br />
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I suppose if it is blowing 80 mile an hour winds on Saturday, I could still paint door jambs and organize closets, but I probably won't want to. I'll probably just be looking out the windows hoping more trees won't come down - or if they do, that they don't hit things like the house, the water tanks, or the barn. My husband really trimmed a lot of the heavy stuff off the bigger Mexican cypress that didn't fall down, hoping to encourage the trees to snap off at the top rather than pulling out at the roots like the other trees should there be another storm - that way, they'll probably just block the driveway, rather than smashing anything vital. <br />
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Hopefully, the storm will just scoot around us and be just a scare, because Puna district really doesn't need anymore of this. The lava is slowly, inchingly, heading for Pahoa town and if (when, they say) it crosses the highway, three communities will be cut off from the rest of the island - including several teachers from our school. There are alternate routes being worked on, but they will be dirt roads, very slow - and eventually, these routes will possibly cut off as the lava heads for the ocean. That will mean a 30 minute drive to town will turn into a 90 minute drive and there will be several thousand more cars on my highway (two-lane, not really built to handle that much traffic). They suffered a lot during Iselle (power, water, etc, out for weeks), and the lava is hanging over everyone's heads, and now, possibly another storm. <br />
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The last one was pretty scary - and I've been through a couple before. I think it was because it was largely at night. I kept hearing things outside, and we could see the trees whipping wildly by flashlight, and at 8 or 9, we could see the car port had come down - and there just wasn't a lot of information coming through. I thought, "If this is just the beginning, we're in real trouble." <br />
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This new storm might have higher winds than the last ones, but - then again - the uncertainty is there - it might just divert and go around. The vast majority of hurricanes in the Pacific over the years have done just that, actually, and if we hadn't just gone through one, I wouldn't even be worried. <br />
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I guess worrying doesn't do anything, anyway. No point. Maybe, I'll just admit to speculating. And I'll pick up some extra animal feed and fill the large water bottles in case our generator poops out again (it started AFTER the power came back on in August). We do have a little 12 volt pump that can charge on solar, so we can have some water from our tanks for toilets and (cold) baths, but the drinking water is a different matter. I am not looking forward to no cell, no land line, no internet, no lights, and minimal running water, but it's not really that big of a deal. The only thing that bothered me was not being able to tell my family on Oahu that we were fine. <br />
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Probably, it will be nothing. NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-37705452600489094192014-09-10T14:57:00.001-10:002014-09-10T14:57:11.144-10:00Poor PunaIt's been just over a month since the storm. FEMA is declining to name the area a disaster area, and apparently, our state spent the hurricane fund. If people are carrying hurricane insurance, and it reads anything like mine, the fact that it was downgraded just before hitting shouldn't make a difference - my policy says any damage within 72 hours of a Hurricane warning declaration. I told my friend that, because she has roof damage and was a little dismayed - she didn't say whether she actually has the hurricane rider, though. <br />
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Now, there's a lava flow heading downhill. It's moving 300 yards a day, and it's getting pretty close to some homes, but these things are unpredictable. Some of the projections have the flow crossing the one highway that goes in and out of the area - even wiping out the main town down there. I read an article that says they are moving a police substation and some ambulances to what could be the "far side" of the flow, so there are police and paramedics if the community gets cut off. Somehow this feels a little ludicrous to me - the ambulances have a limited supply of medical equipment, and they won't be able to get to the hospital. I guess they could send in helicopters, though, and something is better than nothing. <br />
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The flow is relatively close, as the crow flies, to us, but it's downhill - because our roads situation here is a bit sparse, it takes nearly an hour to drive to where the flow is, but on the map, I was kind of surprised that it's not that far. The one good thing that might happen is that they are working to open old abandoned roads to make alternate routes - something sorely missing on this island. There are some old government roads down near the ocean that used to go straight to Hilo dating from the time they were building the Hilo Breakwater. We used to have a railroad on this island for the cane fields and for the supplies for the Breakwater. I wish will still had one. It came all the way up to my community, and the roads that ran along next to the track are still faintly marked on maps, but their largely gone. <br />
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Well, the next few weeks should be interesting. The mayor is making political hay over it - promising engineers right on the spot as soon as the flow crosses the road. What an engineer is going to do about an active lava flow, I do not know, but hey, okay. It's not like you can bulldoze fluid lava until it is well cooled. I don't blame him for giving the people down there hope - they've been through a rough time in the last 34 days. NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-51844308094386202852014-08-27T17:23:00.002-10:002014-08-27T17:23:17.044-10:00Waiting for Eggs and other Rambling Thoughts So, my pullets will be sixth months in about a week and a half. At this point, I don't believe I have seen any eggs. I did see some pullet sized eggs a couple of months ago, but that was too early, I think. Kind of wondering if they are laying in the bushes - particularly all those trees that are still down and laying around in our yard - or the large piles of cut up trees that are the remnants of what fell on our driveway. Kind of getting annoying feeding these birds and still having to buy store bought eggs. The old hens are past my forbearance period, I think. <br />
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Between starting school and the storm, I have broken out in weird hives. I get a little itchy, I scratch, and the lines pop up. I can even write on my arm with my fingernail and have word shaped hives. Cool, if irritating. I am just chalking it up to stress - or maybe a week of eating an ounce of almonds every day. Who knows. It's irritating, but hardly life-threatening. I've never been allergic to anything, so this is just baffling. I did have a babysitter when I was little who was allergic to 97 things - a fact which filled me with awe at the age of 9 or so, but now inspires me to a new kind of awe - his mother must have been driven absolutely nuts (no pun intended). <br />
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The only problem with having the trees down is that three of them are laying on top of what used to be my garden. I didn't like that garden spot much - and to be honest, the trees were always shading the spot for a large part of the day, so having them gone is probably good - but now I don't have a place that's been dug up and filled with compost readily available. Also, the tree that broke in half rather than hitting our house fell on my roses. It's still on my roses, and is likely to stay there until we get a break from the school calendar. I wonder if the roses can wait that long? <br />
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It's Cross Country season again - and guess who didn't have the guts to say, "NO!" to team mom? Well, actually, I did say no to the girls' team - I would have to be nuts to do both the girls' and the boys' teams - but since the girls' don't have a team mom, guess what? If they don't have a team mom - they don't get asked to volunteer or to bring anything to the potluck (Next WEEK, OMG!!!). I have to get my parents to bring enough food for over 200 people or I have to cave and be...no, I won't. They have concessions (snack bar at athletic meets). Not going there. I want to cry. In fact, I have, a few times, on the sly, when no one is looking. The only awesome thing about it is that one of our new freshmen boy's parents have a HUGE rice cooker - it cooks enough for 100 people. In fact, they have TWO of them. Now, that's a Hawaiian family! Another family has a catering business, so you know, I really don't have all that much to worry about. <br />
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I used to be so laid back about this whole thing - but then the girls' team mom drummed the fear of "failure at potlucking" into me. Her girls have graduated, but somehow, I still feel that fear. It's dumb; we always have enough. We always have way more than enough. Of course, I was counting on the girls to bring drinks, desserts, and plates/utensils....oh gosh, I just am not good at this stuff. I don't have the time to be good at this stuff. I thought I was doing good by offering up the boys' parents for the main dish and substantial sides - they just bring what they like anyway, but at least I could say to the girls: please bring the little stuff - although, plates are kind of crucial, actually. <br />
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It's all so manini; I know I am being ridiculous, but I guess you face what's in front of you, and the potluck has always stressed me beyond proportion. Last year, I totally and completely embarrassingly burst into tears, because I was told I had to stay with the food instead of watching my kids run. It was the first race for my youngest daughter, and I was devastated. It was my 8th year as a XC parent - you'd think I wouldn't care by that point, but I really did. I chalk it up to hearing my counterpart saying (as she always did), "Nancy, there's not going to be enough!" because the parents come, often, at the last minute bearing large pans of pasta and chili and it always looks like there won't be enough until suddenly, there is.... But by that last minute time, I am always wound up so tight from the implied blame that I didn't do enough, that it would fail because of <i>me</i>, that bursting into tears feels like a viable option. <br />
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The coaches say that the "parents do this out of the goodness of their hearts" but really, it's their deal. I do wonder if some parent decided to do this a million years ago (or at least 11 when our school started) and it just keeps going, or if it was one particular coach's idea, and he keeps the fiction going that it is some kind of spontaneous parental miracle every year. I love these coaches, I really do, but I feel this little kernel of frustration at the yearly speech at how wonderful we parents are - when I feel like we've been brought to this point by a certain element of duress. <br />
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I am really not that much of a crybaby. Really. It's just this aspect of being an XC parent that brings it out in me, I guess. You see, we never did the soccer thing, so all of this team mom/snack/participation thing is just not an old habit with me. <br />
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Oh well, if my hens would just start laying eggs - it would all be grand. I think I'd be so happy all of this would recede into a blip of annoyance. I keep dreaming of hard boiled eggs and custard and scrambled eggs that taste a million times better than store bought...yum. Plus, eggs are so cool. After all these years of keeping hens, I still get so happy when I pick up those new eggs - it's like a treasure every time. <br />
<br />NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-82380395978121458642014-08-18T16:18:00.000-10:002014-08-18T16:18:02.267-10:00Post-Hurricane Well, I guess it was a Tropical Storm by the time it hit us - although I wouldn't be surprised at all if the winds hit us at elevation at hurricane strength. It's been surprisingly hard to deal with the aftermath in our area. People are still without power, reliable phone, cell, or internet. I feel really fortunate to have power, but my cell and internet come and go, seemingly randomly. (I haven't shared my deep loathing for Verizon Wireless, but let me just share that they went down for over a week - and still charged me for using data. For the 8th month in a row, I have had to argue it out with Customer Service. Tiring - and therefore, they are losing our business). <br />
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Our school held a hurricane drive - various necessities like canned goods, toilet paper, heavy duty garbage bags (for ice), drinking water, flashlights, batteries (hard to find commodity here).... Several teachers and lots of kids were affected. It's been a long week and a half. <br />
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The district got some attention because two precincts couldn't vote in the primary. One hotly contested Democrat US Senate race was down to the wire - they needed those two precincts to determine the outcome. Both candidates showed up to visibly help and garnered some ill will doing so - doubt they would have been here unless without an election to win. Now the election is over, and they're out of here, and Puna is once again out of the limelight. It still stinks in lots of the deep rural areas of Puna, though. <br />
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I didn't have it at all as bad as some of our staff and students, but I am still so tired - like a hurricane hangover. I even have hives, but I kind of think that might be from eating almonds every day of last week - I've never been allergic to anything, but maybe I overdid it. It could be from stress, though - having a big storm and starting school at the same time was pretty stressful, to be honest. I am really grateful my husband got that part-time teaching job, but even good change is stressful. <br />
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We still have lots of trees down, but we're just leaving them for now. Too many other projects to get done. I won't be planting a fall garden, because three big pines are covering that spot - killed my struggling laua'e ferns, sadly. <br />
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Hopefully, the big storms that our out in the Pacific stay far away from us (we're having an active year), and people get back their power, and the electric company and the state highways people decide that cutting all the trees that surround (and grow around) all the phone and power lines is a good idea and they upgrade our fairly antiquated phone system (in rural areas, anyway) - in other words, we learn from this. NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-86433783832658551182014-08-11T08:44:00.000-10:002014-08-11T08:44:25.141-10:00Hurricane UpdateSo, we were without power for 36 hours, which is much better than many of my neighbors, as well as phone, cell phone, internet, running water (for the most part). We did have a wind up radio, but our Civil Defense was light on news on both Thursday and Friday. In the aftermath, they are quite diligent about announcing shelters and ice and water pick-up sites, but it was maddening during the storm and the immediate aftermath not knowing - especially with Julio right on the heels of Iselle. At one point, about 8 pm on Thursday night, the wind was so strong and we could see that big trees had fallen and the roof on part of the barn was off, and we had heard that the worst was yet to come. It was so hard to have NO information about the track of the storm once the tv was out. There was nothing on the radio, except people calling in with what was going on in their area. I thought, "If it gets worse than this, we are in big trouble." <br />
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I live in the area hardest hit by the Hurricane, but we were remarkably blessed. My son said, "I prayed for the us, the house, and the water tanks." I prayed for those, too, and for the animals. It appears those prayers worked - all our animals made it through. We left the chickens out of the coop and fed them in the horse stall which has two strong hollow tile walls. The sheep have an enclosure that is built like Fort Knox. The only thing that would have gotten them was if a tree fell on them - which, thankfully, didn't happen. Several very large trees and clumps of waiawi fell across our driveway, but they didn't hit the water tank. The greenhouse and even the papayas (which are very fragile trees) were protected by the house, but the barn carport roof fell down. The roof fell across the cars, resting on the two (not running, project cars) convertible Spitfire windshields - they didn't even crack: the only damage was a very small dent in the kids' Volvo. That felt miraculous, to be honest. <br />
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Our house got power-washed by the storm - all the mold and ick that built up over our very wet summer just got scrubbed off. One big pine snapped in half - if it had uprooted like most of the other pines that went down, it would have smashed our roof. <br />
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My family (my husband, in particular) were amazing. We had to chain saw and haul off all the trees blocking the driveway, which took about 8 hours, just to get off our property. We drove to town, because I knew my family would want to know we were okay. Once we were in town, we had internet and cell phone, so I was able to tell my parents and sister we were alive. The next day, our friends came and helped us dismantle the car port and chop trees that were going to go down. There are two really big trees I am worried about - if they go, we could have damage to our house and water tanks, after all. They are at least 100 feet tall, and I keep looking at them, because they are leaning just a bit more than they used to. In the afternoon, my two sons and my husband put the car port back up! <br />
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I used to grumble all the time, because my husband keeps putting 1 liter bottles of water in my freezers - they take a lot of space, but they really helped during the storm. We didn't lose any freezer food at all. My husband also keeps a 12 volt battery for the water pump - it isn't strong, but our basement bathroom had a flushable toilet and a little bit of water for the shower - it wasn't that warm because there wasn't a lot of sun for the solar, but at least after working very hard for 8 hours we could clean up a little. Our generator froze up, so that's something we'll need to replace. <br />
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He really tied down every thing so well, my husband, and he has worked tirelessly for the last 4 days to get us back to some normalcy. <br />
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The freaky, spooky horse has gotten a lot friendlier over the last two days. Every time I go outside he runs over to get close - not quite close enough to touch, but just right there. He must have been scared. The chickens and the sheep seem basically unaffected - although the sheep hung around up front near people for most of the day after. <br />
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There are neighborhoods that will be without power (some of them on my road, which is weird to me - I have power, how come some of my neighbors don't?) for a week or more. Some of the lower areas in our district look like a bomb went off. Some of the people in the remote areas (we're on a county road) on the private roads could still be in real trouble, and no one would know. I hear the news casters say, "People's cell phones are running out of batteries," but the real issues is that there is <i>no</i> <i>cell service</i>. Every time the power goes out, even our wall phones go out, and cell is spotty in our area anyway, and now it is completely down. That scares me. I don't remember the land lines going down in power outages when I was young. I think we may be hearing of deaths as people get more into these remote areas. My daughter's friend's garage was smashed flat - I mean the car is about a foot thick now - if the tree had fallen a little to the left, that family would be gone, and there are many houses like that. <br />
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I'm still praying for our community. The primary election here kind of knocked it out of the news to some extent - although that might change because the last two districts couldn't vote - and we have one really close US race. It will bring a lot more attention to our hardest hit areas. <br />
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I'll put pictures up later; they are just taking a long while to load from my mobile device. <br />
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<br />NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-70249000013794574092014-08-07T08:28:00.002-10:002014-08-07T08:28:42.324-10:00Hurricane(s)It's been awhile, but I thought it might be noteworthy to mention the two hurricanes on their way before the power goes out. You might think we'd be used to hurricanes here in Hawaii, but, in reality, we don't have them very frequently. The last three that had impact were in 1959 (Dot), 1982 (ʻIwa), and 1992 (ʻIniki). I was alive and around for the the 1982 and 1992 versions. <br />
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ʻIniki was very destructive at the north end of the state, and that's the one that comes up in the media. I saw one Reuters article, written by a woman who grew up here, that referenced that one and said the only hurricane of note before 1992 was in 1959. I can't figure out how she conveniently forgot the 6 days without power (and in some cases, county water) in 1982. Barbecuing the turkey for Thanksgiving is certainly engraved in my memory. We had a close shave in 2007, but it turned out to be nothing. I think people (like me) are simultaneously thinking that this will be the same thing and that it's going to be bad. Maybe if you are as old as I am you have the second thought, and if you are young like my kids, you think only the first thought. <br />
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School was supposed to start today, but has been canceled for both today and tomorrow. Most of the students came to campus yesterday to pick up their school computers and some were helping to prepare the garden area for the storm (taking down tarps, putting away implements). When the call went out (the school has a system that pushes recorded messages to our phones), I heard a boy whoop with joy over the news that school was canceled. I actually feel a bit sad, even though I am relieved we're all off the roads and safe - some of our kids commute from hours and hours away. <br />
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Anyway, this is what we have to think about:<br />
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The barn roof is perfectly situated for our regular winds, but it is like a big wing for the direction of the hurricane winds. If we do get the 60 mph winds with gusts to 90, we could lose the barn roof. The chicken coup is not wind proof, so the chickens need to go in the tack room, which is fine if the roof stays put, but it means I need to take all the feed out and the tack out and clean out a LOT of chicken poop tomorrow. The overabundance of classic, semi-working cars and kids' cars need to be accounted for. I think, if we move things around, we can fit 2 spitfires, the Chevy, and the small hatchback in the main garage. One more Spitfire could probably squeeze in with the tractor. I don't know what is going to happen to my greenhouse, but I will have to hope that since it is close to the house and in a low area that it will be okay. All the tarps we have up (over the trampoline, etc) need to be taken down. The barn carports and the old sheep stall next to the horse stalls have old roofing. I'm worried about those. We'll put the sheep in the new stall, which my husband built like Fort Knox. <br />
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I really wish we'd figured out a pond liner. With all the rain we'll be having, the pond will be pretty full for a few days - it would be nice if it stayed that way. We have 10,000 gallons of catchment. That's awesome - unless a tree branch crashes into the fiberglass tanks. We've had really strong winds before, so I am relatively confident that will be fine, but if it's not, it would be nice to have the pond, too. <br />
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There are lots of things that need to be stowed away - like the cement mixer and wheelbarrow we had out to work on the new chicken coop, some fencing materials, a few odds and ends. I am kind of wondering about the building materials for the cottage, but probably we can just move those in closer to the barn. <br />
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So today is Iselle - and she appears to be heading, basically, right for my house. However, we do have these two massive mountains, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, that have <i>always</i> steered hurricanes around the Big Island. They keep talking about 10-12 inches of rain - and that's just a bad day, not a disaster, in a rainforest. We had this one storm where we had 24 inches of rain in 24 hours, and it didn't even register at my house - although when I went out a few days later there were bridges and whole chunks of our highway washed away. We've even had 80 mile an hour winds when we lived in the shack and not even the waiawi and cheap fiberglass barn blew over - it did fall over later when we had a big muddy long period and the horse rubbed up against it (an embarrassing, early moment in homesteading) My husband was out on the roof, putting in all the screws he never got around to in the middle of it, but nothing happened. In town, people lost roofs, but nothing up here. <br />
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So, again, I have this "Well, we'll see." attitude. On the other hand, here I am in a Hurricane Warning and I am thinking about making cookies, and my daughter on Oahu is only on Tropical Storm warning, and I am flipping out about her. She's one of those who is saying, "They always say it's going to be bad, and it never is, ho hum," and she may be right in this case, but if not, she's there, and I am here, and even those she's 22, she is still my baby. <br />
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In a couple of days, Julio will be close to the islands. That one, so far looks like it will go a bit north of us, so I am not even thinking about it. NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-48621104073756831512014-07-01T08:37:00.001-10:002014-07-01T08:37:24.673-10:00Trying a New Web Tool. I chose not to go to ISTE, but I can follow it on Twitter and learn some new tricks. Here is a web tool called AnswerGarden. I am going to try it in my classroom (although it just looks like an uglier Padlet, frankly) It's easier to share on Blogger, though. <br />
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<a href="http://answergarden.ch/view/98864#.U7L_c4FB6bs.blogger">AnswerGarden: What is your favorite project around your home? ...</a>NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-90484861781423741172014-06-27T07:28:00.002-10:002014-06-27T07:28:46.299-10:00Not at ISTEOkay, when the invitation to apply to ISTE for this year came out back in November, I kind of had this moment of dread. I just didn't want to fly all the way to Atlanta. San Antonio just about killed me last year - plus, I was all excited about the possibility of teaching Summer School. <br />
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Now, I am half way through Summer School, and the folks all left yesterday for ISTE, and I am watching Twitter and feeling mildly sorry for myself for not being there. On the other hand, they met at the airport at noon yesterday and only landed a few hours ago, so yeah, getting there sounds like my own personal vision of hell. But...all that excitement, all that new stuff to learn, being in the same state with my 3rd child and making sure he's okay.... (I do admit reason three is lame, and the umbilical cord was cut 16 years ago!). Also, I always put off a certain kind of session, because there is so much to do - and now I wish I experienced and Ignite session. I feel in need of some "passion igniting" right about now.<br />
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I come home from work earlier than I ever can during the regular school year, but I am about 10 times more exhausted. I think it is because each day is like 2 and a half regular days worth of lesson planning and work. I want to do so much with these kids, but there is only so much a human brain can get at a time. I'll have to re-think some concepts next year - especially if I leave this open to 10th graders, again. They really aren't ready for it, in general. Not all of them, I have some super 10th graders in the morning session and a couple in the second session, but most of them need an essay writing class first - which is how we did it at my old school.<br />
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No gardening or even cleaning is getting done (by me, at least). My husband did an incredible amount of laundry over the last few days. He took the opportunity to clean out the son's room while he was gone. I can't believe how many clothes that kid has - he got some from his brother, some from his cousins, some from me, and apparently, he hasn't had to do laundry for something like 3 months. I am barely exaggerating, and yes, I know that is disgusting. Oh my goodness. Piles and piles of folding. (I helped with that.). He's coming home to a reduced wardrobe. <br />
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Two weeks left and then I can do at least one project before the real school year starts! <br />
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<br />NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-86008037764573191662014-06-25T07:54:00.003-10:002014-06-25T07:54:47.366-10:00Griddle Done! I am so happy with how the cast iron turned out. I had to spray the griddle three times with oven cleaner, but it looks great, now. What a satisfying project. <br />
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In the process, I have also discovered coconut oil. I like it! I bought it because my daughter wanted it for her hair, but it worked wonderfully for the cast iron. I cooked eggs with it, and ham, and it didn't taste coconut-y at all. Even though I bought it, it is nice to think that if I were so inclined, it is something that I could make from locally grown plants. <br />
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I have two and a half weeks left in Summer School, and I have all these dreams of finishing my quilt and getting my house in order in what's left of summer. The reality is that I really only have a couple of weeks left, and some of them are extra volunteer work days for technology in-services and SAT prep in-services. So, maybe I can do part of one project. I want to ride my horse (a project all on his own, since he's so skittish) and get a few blocks done on the quilt - but I really should do those big household projects that get put off to major breaks. The other reality is that even though this Summer School class is a blast, the schedule is exhausting. I am plum worn out, to be honest. I haven't figured out how to teach without making myself so worn out by the end of term that I need to sleep for 3 days. <br />
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Part of the tiredness is that the youngest daughter came up with huge post auricular lymph nodes, which necessitated various doctor's trips and blood tests (I really don't like driving into town much and worrying is tiring all on its own) and resulted in a rather amusing incident where I asked to feel her spleen and we got the giggles. It is probably Cat Scratch disease, but I am also wondering about leptospirosis, because of a family expedition to a waterfall. Both of those are scary, but she just seems mildly ill - like a cold, although if she runs, her abdomen hurts a bit (hence the spleen request). Her running coach is probably irritated, but I am not risking a ruptured spleen for June conditioning. <br />
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At least I got the cast iron project done. <br />
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<br />NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-54137215157948972772014-06-23T09:06:00.002-10:002014-06-23T09:06:30.439-10:00Restoring Old Cast IronI was inspired to go out into the old cabin and find the cast iron we had. It was in pretty bad shape, and I was wondering if I could fix it. A bit of googling, and I decided I could try. <br />
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I sprayed both pieces liberally with oven cleaner. I do have a self-cleaning oven, but the last time I used the function, the oven box developed holes. I don't want to make the problem worse, so I am stuck with the oven cleaner and trash bag method. <br />
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This did work very well with the Griswold small frying pan which only had surface rust and not much gunk. The skillet is much more gunky and I had to re-apply the oven cleaner several times. I am considering a wire brush if I can't remove the gunk with a rag this evening. <br />
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For the frying pan, I sprayed it twice and let it sit for about 24 hours. I rinsed it off and then let it soak for about an hour in a vinegar and water solution and scrubbed it with Hawaiian salt to remove the rusty bits. I heated the pan over the stove and then rubbed it with coconut oil and popped it in the oven. I had two different directions open - one said 450 degree oven, and the other said use the smoke point of the oil. I went with the later, which meant an oven at 350 for 45 minutes, with an additional couple of hours in the oven with the heating element off, but still warm. <br />
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The pan came out black and the scrambled eggs I made for dinner didn't stick at all! I am pretty proud of my self, and I hope I can have a similar success with the skillet. <br />
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I did a little research on my pan, and I am figuring it was made somewhere between 1920 and 1950, which is pretty darned cool. I haven't braved the thick coating of oven cleaner on the skillet to find its providence, but we'll see tonight. <br />
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I feel guilty that I let them sit out there for 10 years (!) without a second thought. I never had good results with cast iron - thing stuck to the pan and I didn't quite know how to clean them properly, but after research, I kind of got excited about the whole subject. I do have a Dutch oven made of cast iron that I really like, but I have been having mixed results with taking care of it. I live in a rain forest and there is a lot of environmental moisture, which complicates matters. I am looking forward to reseasoning it with coconut oil rather than olive oil (it kind of stays tacky and sticky) and seeing if I have better results. NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-13683903915531075552014-06-17T16:16:00.001-10:002014-06-17T16:16:38.637-10:00Just Call Me MIA...Sorry, it's been a crazy few weeks.<br />
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Yes, I am done with National Boards - at least until I find out I didn't pass (although I certainly hope I do!) I took the test on May 30 - it was actually so much fun. I quite enjoyed reading the new literature and writing about it. By the 6th essay, I must admit I was pretty tired - and that last one is a piece of student work. You pick out errors and tell what you would do to correct them. (I am allowed to say this - the directions are available online). I was so tired and the sample had so MANY errors, I kind of got stuck on where to start. I wasted 10 minutes of my 30 just looking at it and thinking, "Umm, all these errors are massive. Where do I start?" Other than that, though, I got done and felt a bit disappointed it was over. <br />
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I am sure I qualify as a geek. <br />
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I had a very short break, in which I tried to clean the house and organize things, and then I started Summer School. We're only on day 4 of Summer School, and I am totally exhausted. Teaching two 3 hour classes is much more strenuous than teaching four 80 minute classes and one 20 minute class. I think it's the fact that lunch is only 30 minutes. Also, I have 23 papers to grade every three days - detailed grading with a ton of descriptive feedback. It's a lot of fun, but I am tired. <br />
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Over the weekend, I walked 12 miles (my usual walk, two days in a row) and then we hiked to a waterfall and swam. It was a very nice weekend. <br />
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The hens started laying a new spot and now it's like Easter all over - they keep moving their laying spot. My husband is getting there on the new chicken coop with the fancy laying boxes, though, so hopefully, this will be a problem of the past soon. <br />
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I have looked at the greenhouse and thought about planting lettuce - isn't that lazy of me? We have two coffee berries on one of the larger seedlings - which is exciting, but isn't going to make anyone even a cup of coffee. Maybe a teaspoon of coffee. <br />
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<br />NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-68021717067350685982014-05-09T16:50:00.000-10:002014-05-09T16:50:39.591-10:00Easily Pleased and Other FlawsI work for an extremely generous organization. They offered me two days off to work on National Boards. I took them. I usually don't take the offered days off because I would seriously rather be in my classroom, but I am finishing up on my last two entries and I needed this day. <br />
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One of my co-workers told me to go to a coffee shop to do the work, but I wasn't that tempted to do laundry or clean the floors or go outside and weed. I just want to finish this thing and upload it and forget about it until December, when they tell me the scores. I'm at the point that every time I re-read my entries, I find something I can do better, and I just have to finish it. I have been doing every end-of-the-year checkout thing they send me right away and turning right back to National Boards. (Except, well, I haven't graded the 75 essays - though I have been hounding the kids who didn't turn them in). I did spend 7 hours in intense concentration, finishing the penultimate entry. <br />
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But now I am distracted! At this moment, my son is pole vaulting at the State Finals. I wish I were there. I wish, at least, my daughter was there so she could text me. I have no patience - I just want to know if he got a PR. I would be happy with a PR - and so would he, which is more important. It won't get him even in the top six, but it would be cool. <br />
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So, I am sitting here, distracted, needing to hoʻomau and just get through this last stupid entry. Thinking about my son. Thinking about (everything else that needs to get done). <br />
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I am also thinking that the sound a chicken makes after laying an egg is awesome. It's like trumpets announcing a present when you have old hens who are sporadic layers. Yay! An Egg! <br />
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I am easily pleased. I admit it. I am easily pleased; I forgive at the drop of the hat if someone is even remotely kind; I have the sense of humor of a 15 year old. I consider all these things both flaws and blessings - blessings because I am pretty happy a lot of the time, and flaws because I look foolish a lot of the time, too. I mean, who has chickens for years and still gets ridiculously excited when she hears that egg-laying cackle? <br />
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Okay, time to get back to work. I really want to not have to do this tomorrow. I want, on the contrary, to go to work tomorrow and scan my entries on the nice copier and upload the entries on their nice internet and then finish writing my final exams, grading papers, and studying for the test portion of National Boards. Tests I like better than watch videotapes of me teaching over and over and over and over again and then writing about what I see. Ugh. I guessed I am not so easily pleased when it comes to myself. NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-26664396079802238332014-05-06T16:58:00.002-10:002014-05-06T16:58:48.787-10:00ProgressNot farm progress - well, that, too, I guess. My husband jerry-rigged the tractor to mow the lawn (we've been having a problem with the belts - the expletively expensive John Deere belts that break the first time out). It looks great. He still gives credit to Gibby Crazy Horse for keeping it mostly mowed and making it easier. The new hens are completely integrated with their older flock mates with not much squabbling. And I weeded a little, a very little, around the greenhouse and in the asparagus. <br />
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No, the progress is on my bid for National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification. I <i>think</i> I am done with two of the four entries. I feel like I dived deep into writing today during my Study Hall, during my preps, during my meeting (cancelled) period, and during lunch. I barely looked up from my drafts or computer screen. I can't believe I've been in this room for 10 hours. Fortunately, there were two periods with kids in here, but other than that - yikes. I can't even tell if what I wrote makes any sense. I need to step away and not think about it for a few hours. <br />
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In the middle of all that, I fielded tons of email and wrote one version of my final exam - two more versions to go! I corrected one paper - just 74 more to go! I texted my husband to ask him to pull something out of the freezer because I am so fried, there is no way I can cook tonight. I had the temerity to ask my walking buddy if she wanted to go for a walk, but she's getting the school newspaper out, so I went back and persevered with my National Board. Good thing, because one part I thought was pretty solid -I re-read it and it was utter crap. Well, half utter crap, and half so-so. Now it is all so-so. Sigh. I don't think any of it is perfect, but it's due, so it's done. You know what I mean? NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279838830512754397.post-51705110725320032852014-05-03T13:36:00.002-10:002014-05-03T13:36:37.004-10:00Lunch from My Garden Well, more or less...<br />
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I dug up a sweet potato, picked some bok choy, flat parsley, and garlic chives and combined then with green lentils and black beans from the pantry and seasoned it with paprika, coriander, turmeric, and tahini. It's not very pretty, but it tastes good. <br />
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We're thinking about ducks. I haven't had much truck with ducks, but I am interested in trying. We generally have a standing puddle-like pond - it only ever disappears in a <i>real</i> drought. We almost never have even two completely dry days in a row, so it's not much of a worry - if we ever did, we could just put out a kiddie play pool. Now, I am just researching how much of a pain in the butt ducks will be. I like the idea that they eat slugs and lay large eggs that are good for baking. And they are more of a meal than a chicken would be, also a plus. Muscovy's are very popular here, so I am leaning along those lines. If anyone has positive or negative feedback about ducks, I would love to hear it! <br />
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In other news, my son is "under consideration" for the State Finals for Pole Vaulting. We'll have to wait until maybe Tuesday to hear if he's made it to the event on Friday. It's on Oahu so if he goes, there may be an opportunity for grandparents. On the other hand, the school where it is taking place is actually kind of a pain to get to, so maybe not. For any Grandparents who are reading - Pole Vaulting is several one second bursts of adrenaline interspersed between rather long periods of waiting (or other parents' bursts of adrenaline), and Your Grandson is clearing about 12 feet and the top guys in the state are older, have more reliable access to a proper pole (long story), and will probably clean his clock. It's still a great opportunity, so prayers and crossed fingers in order, please. <br />
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We were so cheap we didn't want to pay the $20 to get all of us in to the Regional Finals, so we stood at the top of the hill outside the fence where we had a decent view. We still couldn't see the height placard, so I texted the running coach who was down on the field and asked him. I do love technology. <br />
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My younger daughter has decided to start running next week. Track is over and conditioning for Cross Country doesn't start until June, but she heard the times for the upcoming 9th grade girls on their 8th grade Big Run and is a bit scared about her place on the Varsity. Nothing like someone nipping at your heels to get you going, as the sheep would say. <br />
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<br />NancyDehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09565369052850975336noreply@blogger.com2