Happy 49th Anniversary to my parents!

Today is my folks 49th wedding anniversary--we celebrated last year by visiting the church where they were married and the campus where they met--Aren't they cute?

And Another

If Greek myths were real, people would be freaking out.

A Boy-ism

Heard at the dinner table:
The Boy, "If I was going to get a tattoo, and I probably won't, I'd get a tiger on my wrist."
The Girl, "What about when you're old and have flaky skin and stuff?"

Pancakes without milk

This post is brought to you courtesy of The Girl, who finished off the Thursday milk delivery by Friday afternoon (and a brief Internet search by me). The recipe is pretty simple and similar to our usual recipe. I doubled it, the original said it made 6 pancakes..ummm..not quite enough! I also only used about 3/4 C water.

 Recipe (already doubled)
2 cups flour
6 Tbsp sugar
4.5 tsp baking powder
5 Tbsp melted butter or margarine
1.5 C water  (I used about half of that)
2 eggs (the original recipe says that the eggs can also be replaced with 1.5 C water, if you need eggless, too)

In other news I'm proud of myself for writing this using only my phone while sitting on the deck....ahhhh....

What I read in June

There is a list a mile long of things I'm "supposed" to be doing this summer...including reading a book that our whole faculty is reading...instead I've read a whole stack of summer reads.  It helps that we are still a one car family, so I've been carrying a book in the car to read while waiting in parking lots to pick up people or waiting places to be picked up.  The other day I pulled a hardcover novel out of my giant purse while waiting somewhere with The Girl. I think she snorted before saying, "When did you steal Hermione's bag?"  (In the Harry Potter series, one of the girls has a small, beaded purse that she has magically expanded so it can hold a tent, several changes of clothes, a whole library of books, and so on...).  Needless to say, I've read quite a pile this summer...Again, I'm trusting that you can google or amazon these if you are interested in more or different information than I'm giving:

1.  Aspen (Rebekah Crane)--One of the choices for my students to read this summer.  It is definitely a "teen read", entertaining, with a little plot twist at the end.  Like many of the other books on the summer reading list, death is one of the themes, but this one was not as dark as some of the others.
2.  A Lesson Before Dying (Ernest J. Gaines)--One of my new favorites!  My office mate told me I would love it and did.  It is set in the 1950's in the South and is about a young teacher and his discoveries about himself as he visits with a former student who is condemned to death.  Also on the summer reading list, also a serious book, but it was good...I ended it feeling hopeful, not sad like some of the others on the list.
3.  American Wife (Taya Kyle)-When I told one of my students that I wasn't thrilled with American Sniper, he suggested I read this book.  It was a more satisfying read, pretty much the same back story, but with Taya's twist, and then a description of her life after Chris's murder. Interesting read, worth the time.
4.  The Girl on the Train (Paula Hawkins)-This has been in all the "must read" lists this summer.  It is a mystery, had some good twists...a decent summer read.
5.  Castle of Colorado (Ann Westerberg)--Pretty much a coffee table book about "Castles" in Colorado, but had lots of good history and pretty photos.  We've been to a few and would like to go to more, so it was research.
6.  Ender's Game (Orson Scott Carol)--Also on the summer reading list.  I tried to read it last summer and didn't care enough...I think it must be one of those "you either love it or hate it" books.  I guess I didn't really hate it...I just didn't really enjoy it.  The Boy loved the moved though--so we've decided that the target audience is ten year old boys, so it makes sense that it isn't my favorite book ever.
7.  Somewhere Safe With Somebody Good (Jan Karon)--Another that might make the "top 10 of 2015".  Years ago I read "all the Mitford" books and enjoyed them--I remember when one was coming out each year that  I started to get a little tired of them, and then they were gone.  When my book club decided to read this one, I figured I'd have to read "a bunch" of books that I missed...only to discover there has been a gap of almost 10 years since the last book...which I did read!  It was nice to return to Mitford and find out how all my "friends" were doing--a nice book, probably stands alone if you haven't read the others, but if you are a fan, read it.  (Another comes out this fall...)
8. Jurassic World (David Lewman)--Ok, this was actually a "Junior Novel adaptation" of the movie--took me about an hour to read (took The Boy about two hours) and allowed us to postpone paying to go to the theatre to see the movie.  It was good (for a Junior Novel)...entertaining...someday we'll see the movie.
9.  The River (Beverly Lewis)--I couldn't find anything I wanted to read (not even on the pile by my bed), so I looked on Overdrive and this was available for immediate download.  Very typical Beverly Lewis book, a good summer read (Formerly Amish girl returns home to face her history, runs into old boyfriend, faces choices, choices made, everyone lives happily ever after)
10.  The Heir (Kiera Cass)-The long awaited fourth book in "The Selection" series--picks up 20 years after the 3rd.  It was good...only disappointing thing was that there is going to be "one more"...so now I wait again...
11.  Named of the Dragon (Susanna Kearsley)--Susanna Kearsley never disappoints me--this was not her best book, which is probably why my library had to borrow it from somewhere else, but it was entertaining--a little romance, a little mystery, a little supernatural suggestion--enjoyed it--worth reading.
12. Wild (Cheryl Strayed).  Good  book-drew me in, enjoyed reading it...but I have a problem with the fact that this inexperienced girl hopped on the trail with a giant pack and no clue of what she was doing...ugh.
13.  One For the Money (Janet Evanovich)--While The Girl is at "Strength and Training", The Boy and I have been waiting for her at the school.  One of our activities is walking (me) and running (him) the track.  Since he wears his headphones, I was looking for something to listen to and this was available for immediate download...so I did... and if you look at the next few books on my list, you can see I enjoyed it.  The first book is about Stephanie Plum, a recently laid off lingerie buyer in New Jersey, who become a bounty hunter (working for her cousin, a bail bondsman).  There is a mystery, there is a little romance, lots of funny characters (like Stephanie's 80 year old grandma, who wants to start dating and get her driver's license).  The following books each follow kind of the same format--they are quick and good summer reading...and there are a bunch of them (19? 20?), so until I get tired of them, I will have something to read...
14.  Two for the Dough (Janet Evanovich)
15.  Three to Get Deadly (Janet Evanovich)
16.  Four to Score (Janet Evanovich)
17.  High Five (Janet Evanovich)

Speaking of Hogwarts...the last five read like a Hogwarts required book list...all by the same author..he, he, he...

The Garden, 2015 verson

Don't worry, we haven't been neglecting the garden (well, no more than usual), just neglecting writing about it.  It has been a bit of a traumatic early season--between raining the entire month of May, followed by a brief respite, then a few more days of pounding rain (literally drowning my first round of cucumber plants)...But I think we are in a good place now...Here is a photo tour of what's happening in the back yard at least...the front yard is making slow progress--the gnomes are out and about and most of the plants have finally started sprouting...here we go..

We moved the palm tree, affectionately known as "Salad" (by Alice The Cat) to the patio..hopefully prolonging its life.  If it doesn't get hit by hail.  But at least Alice isn't eating it.  Some of the roses finally bloomed.  Here's a sign of how wet it is..we have mosquitos! The tanish canister is actually a citronella candle.

Not real flowers.  But pretty!  You can see how crazy the shrubbery is though

This is a little worrisome--our sweet little sequoia trees seem to have brown patches on their branches.  We're hoping they are making pine cones, not dying :(

Another view of the our of control shrubbery..

I think my birdbath has a leak--earlier this summer it seemed to be holding water again, but the water was gross, so I cleaned it...and now it doesn't hold water again...d'oh.

Roses and grass.  The catnip didn't come back yet--Alice and Tigger are very sad.

Patio, with both tables and umbrellas...we moved the fire pit to the other patio, thinking this way we'll have more shade?  So far it means that every time the wind whips up I dash outside and put the umbrellas down...but it has been cooler in the kitchen and on the patio with both umbrellas.

Another out-of-control plant...we still don't know what it is...We think it could be some kind of tree...any guesses?

Before you start thinking we're too awesome...here's the side yard..still a work in progress...Can't you picture it terraced a bit, with a walking path and plants (not weeds)?  Someday...

Ladybug on my overgrown chives.

Yes, I gave in and planted potatoes in a bucket...year three was a late start and used only one sad starter potato that was rotting in the fridge.  We'll see.  I'm not hopeful on this one.

Lots of peppers and tomatoes in pots instead of in the garden.  There are a few tiny green tomatoes and we've had a couple Anaheim peppers.

The actual garden--lots of spinach, sunflowers are growing nicely, chives are out of control. Some garlic, some onions.  The peas and beans did nothing--they grew, but no veggies :(  Cucumbers are coming along nicely, we had a couple off a plant in a pot, which promptly died as soon as we had our two cucumbers picked.  Grr.  The stepping stones are new, made from kits we've had for years and rocks gathered at Hoeft State Park last summer.

The heart in the background marks where the Tiger Lily bulb from mother's day was planted.  As you can see, the mint and chrythmums came back.  The buckets are Mr. IM's project--some Japanese lettuce and Ung Choy, perhaps?  I'm sure he'll correct me :)

The apple tree has leaves, but isn't looking great (better than the cherry tree though--we're pretty sure it is dead...no leave).  We'll see what happens, but I'm not expecting apples this year.

Last fall we bought two yucca plants on clearance.  We were pretty sure we'd lost both of them, but this one seems to be growing and even has little friends joining it in the pot...so some research to see when/if we can transplant one of these little guys seems to be in order.

Another view of the veggie garden, with the dying cucumber plant front and center..

And finally, the "flower" garden--the ducks are happy that the lavender is growing--the hostas have taken off around the corner and the peach tree at least has lots of leaves (no peaches, but at least its not dead...)


There you have it....an update on our slow start garden!

Audio Books are our friends

I have fond memories of my mom reading the entire Laura Ingalls Wilder Series, as well as many other books, during our family vacations.  Unfortunately, our long car trips often consist of me solo...and before the kids could read (and before we had a DVD player in the car)...it was hard to read and drive...don't worry I didn't really try it!  Even when Mr. IM drives, I get car sick trying to read in a moving vehicle (on planes, too...blech)....so audio books have been my friend for a long time.  Long ago I bought and borrowed cassette tapes, then CD's, and now I have several favorites burned onto my car hard drive (yes, my car has a hard drive, that is a story for another day) as well as the magic of borrowed play-aways and electronic books (through my phone!) and the car blutooth connection...The public library has been a great resource...the other day I downloaded an audio book for myself to listen to while walking....Anyway...here are some of our favorites over the years with commentary when appropriate.  If the "reader" matters I'll try to note the "right" reader...sometimes that makes all the difference!  (For example...I LOVE Percy Jackson...but the way the reader reads the Pegasus's voice ruined the whole audio book series for me---d'oh!!! and don't get me started on the time I picked up a Elizabeth Peters book read by someone who was NOT Barbara Rosenblat...)  I'm particularly fond of the series books, but there are several stand alones that are quite wonderful.  Many of these would work well as a read-aloud, too--but these are the books that we really enjoyed the reading by someone else.

1.  Masters of Disaster  by Gary Paulsen, read by Nick Podehl.  I've listened to it twice in one day...
2.  Harry Potter.  Any of the Harry Potter, as long as they are read by Jim Dale. I have them all on CD, but I hear they are on audible now.
3.  39 Clues Series --The plot is a bit much sometimes, but the reader is pleasant to listen to (not too pleasant though, doesn't sooth me to sleep) and stimulates a lot of conversation based on the stupid exciting things the main characters do.
4.  Prince Caspian read by Lynn Redgrave  I love, love, love Narnia... but this is the only reader I've found that doesn't put me to sleep or annoy the heck out of me.  I would be very happy if I found any of the other Narnia books read by someone who's goal was to keep me awake, rather than lull me into a coma....
5.  Any of the Peter and the Starcatchers Neverland books read by Jim Dale.  Here's one...There is a second series that we haven't started yet, but it has the same authors and Jim Dale reads it (so it can't be too bad!)
6.  Red Jacket Girls Series --cute little mysteries, nothing too spectacular, but good enough that I'm disappointed there are only 4 or 5.
7. Henry Huggins-picked up this and Tales of a FGN (below) at the half price book store when they were on clearance.  They are very short, but entertaining enough to pass an hour or so.
8.  Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
9.  Percy Jackson series, (and the 2nd series, and the 3rd...)read by Jesse Bernstein...as long as the Pegasus doesn't talk, I enjoy them...Again, usually because they generate conversation if nothing else.
10. From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler.  Love this book...forced the children to listen...they loved it (despite the clearly dated museum security...)
11.  Other Gary Paulsen humor books--like Mud Shark, Lawn Boy, Lawn Boy Returns...Hatchet is ok, but stressful in the car...the funny ones are better
12.  Treasure Hunters Series by James Patterson.  I think there are three now...A little is lost in the translation, as they say, in this one--there are a lot of pictures and graphs, but we solved that by checking out the book as well...and honestly, we discovered  we weren't missing much.
13.  The Gregor Books by Suzanne Collins (these are actually better in many ways than Hunger Games...they are a longer series written for younger kids...the last few were a bit too violent but ok)
14.  Moon Over Manifest--again, loved the book and the reader is good...nice choice in the car
15.  The Westing Game--another favorite that they resisted then loved :) I'm tricky.


Slightly questionable for (some?) children...but still among my favorite car trip "reads" (and The Boy loved it last summer...)
Night Train to Memphis By Elizabeth Peters, read by Barbara Rosenblat (Really anything read by Barbara Rosenblat is lovely).  There really isn't anything really objectionable...really no more than most kids books, and Rosenblat has the most lovely reading voice...but I'm prejudiced since I love anything Elizabeth Peters anyway, I suppose.

So what have you read in the car or listened to on CD/playaway/audible?  We're always in the market for something new and good!!