Cherry Blossoms and Sore Throats

I just couldn't make myself go to the Buddhist services yesterday morning, and it is probably just as well, my throat was sore yesterday, and this morning it is very sore and I have nasty laryngitis - I squeak instead of my normal voice. Very odd - I usually pick bugs up from my students, but I didn't notice anyone in class with these symptoms. There were lots of absences but I chalked that up to end of the semester spring fever. Oh, well, it is 63 degrees outside right now, and the cherry trees are blooming, and the peach tree's big pink buds are going to unfurl any second now, and the apple trees have smaller buds just starting...spring is well on it's way. Today, grocery shopping, finish writing the Social Psychology test for tomorrow, paint the beehive parts that need painting, and work on the garden. The vet is coming this afternoon to give the ponies their vaccinations against West Nile and rabies, and then the farrier later to give them a manicure. Then, more work on the garden. Going to plant lots of vegetables and herbs this year. The last two years, my gardening efforts got stalled by too much stuff going on at the end of the semester. This semester, much fewer demands on my time. So, weird that I am sick. Left over conditioning from all those years being a student where the end of each semester had to be a crisis. But, no more.

Bedo's Really Good Granola

I want to put this here so that I can find the recipe next time I want to make it... Bedo's Really Good Granola 4 C. rough cut whole oats 1.5 C. barley flakes 1.5 C. rye flakes .75 C. oat bran .25 C. flax seed 1 C. pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds) .5 C. salted hulled sunflower seeds 1 C. slivered almonds .5 C. butter .5 C. olive oil 1 C. maple syrup 1 tsp. vanilla .5 tsp. almond extract 1 C. dried cherries 1 C. yellow raisins butter or olive oil to grease 2 cookie sheets Grease two large cookie sheets with butter or olive oil. Preheat oven to 275 degrees (electric) or 250 degrees (gas). Combine all grains and seeds in very large bowl and mix well. Combine butter, maple syrup, and flavorings in small pan and heat gently until butter is just melted. Do not boil. Pour liquid over seeds and grains, mix well. Divide evenly between the two cookies sheets. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring mixture and turning pans once or twice to be sure it all gets evenly heated and cooked. After 30 minutes, turn off heat and let sit in cooling oven for 30 more minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool completely. Mix in dried cherries and raisins, and store in airtight container. Excellent eating out of hand or with milk or yogurt. To make trail mix, add M&Ms or semi-sweet chocolate chips!

Weekend Chores, what fun!

Hubby went off to Tillers International to help with a timber frame barn raising - he wants to learn details of how to put up a timber frame building, and talk to their timber frame architect, since we are going to put up some timber frame buildings here and we want to do it right. This is a great organization! I am staying home to do some of the backlog of chores there are around here, according to this little ditty (sung to your tune of choice): What's the Most Important Thing? There are lots of things to do. So do the most important thing, That would be sustainable, And profitable, And fun, too! Chorus: Finish what you start. Fix what's broken. Make routine chores Efficient and fun! If it's not sustainable, If it's not profitable, If it's not fun - Is it really worth doing? Really! What's the most important thing? Chorus: Finish what you start. Fix what's broken. Make routine chores Efficient and fun! The first most important thing is to get off the internet and do a recycling run to our local recycling center. :-)

Social Psych Class wrapping up...

The Social Psychology students finished presenting their research findings today. Several of them got interesting data. Most of them learned that getting data that is analyzable requires more thought that just writing down the first 8 questions that come to mind and asking some people in the lobby those questions. Some of them had the opportunity to discover that other people really hold different opinions than they themselves do. But, they worked very hard, and most seemed pleased to have actually accomplished such a complex task. One young woman handed in the best paper I have been given in the 5 years I have been working at this college. I will use it as the example for future classes. I feel very proud of them.

Summer projects

This summer I will teach some one week pottery classes to middle school kids at a nice non-profit called the Chelsea Center for the Arts near by. We will make garden pots a couple of times - toad houses, stepping stone tiles, sundials, etc. One session will be wall hangings, where the kids will make several tiles with a theme, and connect them together with string or wire after they are fired to make wall hangings and mobiles. The gallery associated with the Center is displaying all the instructors work, so I took some pots over there. Only have a picture of one of them... but it is one of my favorite pots I've made lately. The director of the gallery admired my work and invited me to bring in some more. An excuse to get busy in the studio with some of my own work for a change! Yay! I think I'll start with making a toad house like I'll have the kids do - hopefully that will attract some students' mommies...

The Joy of Pottery

Here is a two figure work by one of the advanced students, that came out of the kiln on Sunday. These are about 18 inches tall, quite impressive in person. It is such a delight to have the kiln working - the students are applying themselves with gusto to finishing up their projects. It is a pleasure to watch them moving confidently about the studio, designing and producing works with a sense of control most of them did not believe they would acquire at the beginning of the semester.

Catching up !

The kiln is fixed, so I am firing it every other day to give the students a chance to finish up their ware before the end of the semester. Maple syrup is all made, as well. Now I will sell it to my friends, and donate half the proceeds to my favorite charity, Vision Builders, which promotes and provides health care and gender equality in education to children in the developing world, and well as cultural and environmental preservation projects in the areas where we are working with children. Vision Builders is doing a 5K race in a couple of weeks, which is what the little donation link over there is. Give money, or if you are in the area, come and run in the race, which gets rave reviews from participants. Moving on, time to think about getting ready for my bees and planting the garden, although today we are having major rain, so what I will actually do is grade a bunch of school papers and clean the house.