check out what my students have been up to.....
http://rvhsart.blogspot.com/
Monday, April 27, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Mediation
26 hours away from my baby + cost of 12 hours of driving (environmental, mental, physical, financial) + $75 in fees + one conference call + missing a full half day with Kassy + endless e-mails, compromise, and staying calm = NOTHING. So glad we made the effort... and agreed to a second session. That bought them a good 6 months of dragging this out. And another strike in the end. THE END... when is that?
Friday, April 3, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
spring break
There are many perks to being a teacher. Sharing my love of art, hearing students excited about learning something new, seeing what they create, having a relaxed work environment, caring for such great kids... and Spring Break!
We started at the city museum in St. Louis (on our way to Chicago).
The city museum is one of my favorite places. It is a old warehouse converted by artist into this amazing place. I suggest you take the photo tour a try.
Next we spent several days in Chicago.
We saw blue man, a comedy show, art museums, lots of fish, and lots of drunk people for st. patty's day. It was certainly an adventure.
We had a few days at home to take care of a dr's appointment for Kassy and to work on some spring cleaning! Grandma Bonnie came for a great visit, complete with several hours at the park.
Justin did some work on a book and the woman that hired him offered up her cottage in the flint hills for a family trip. We just spent one night there... and can't wait to go back! The first day Kassy needed a break from walking (we did a lot of walking in Chicago and had walked to the library that morning) so we just went a little ways into the hills and painted.
Willow played with the grass mostly.
The next morning we did a little hiking, read books, and enjoyed the day. What a beautiful spot!
What a great week!
We started at the city museum in St. Louis (on our way to Chicago).
The city museum is one of my favorite places. It is a old warehouse converted by artist into this amazing place. I suggest you take the photo tour a try.
Next we spent several days in Chicago.
We saw blue man, a comedy show, art museums, lots of fish, and lots of drunk people for st. patty's day. It was certainly an adventure.
We had a few days at home to take care of a dr's appointment for Kassy and to work on some spring cleaning! Grandma Bonnie came for a great visit, complete with several hours at the park.
Justin did some work on a book and the woman that hired him offered up her cottage in the flint hills for a family trip. We just spent one night there... and can't wait to go back! The first day Kassy needed a break from walking (we did a lot of walking in Chicago and had walked to the library that morning) so we just went a little ways into the hills and painted.
Willow played with the grass mostly.
The next morning we did a little hiking, read books, and enjoyed the day. What a beautiful spot!
What a great week!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
This Recipe has changed my life!
It makes great pizza dough too!
Makes 4-1 pound loafs
3 cups water, lukewarm
1.5 T yeast
1.5 T sea salt
6.5 cups flour
Mixing and Storing the Dough:
1. Heat the water to just warmer than body temp (about 100 degrees F)
2. Add yeast and salt to water in a resealable lidded container (lift a corner, never seal to be airtight!) Don't worry about getting it all to dissolve.
3. Mix in flour (measure correctly, no packing it down in measuring cup). Mix with spoon. If it gets too hard, use wet hands. Do not knead the dough! Dough should be "loose" enough to conform to the shape of the container. (wheat flour does not do so well... it is really solid)
4. Leave out for min 2 hours, max 5 hours. Then put in the fridge (at least 3 hours before using). This can hang out in your fridge for up to 2 weeks. It taste better second day! The longest one has lasted in our home is about 1.5 weeks. It has tasted good every time.
On Baking day:
5. Prepare a pizza peal (or the back of a cookie sheet) by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal. Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour, then cut off about a grapefruit size piece. Make it round-ish.
6. Place ball on the pizza peal. Let it rest, uncovered for 40 minutes.
7. Twenty minutes before baking, put baking stone on top rack and cookie sheet or broiler pan on bottom rack. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.
8. Dust top of loaf with flour and slash a 1/4 inch deep scallop or tic tac toe pattern into the top.
9. This is the tricky part! "With a forward jerking motion of the wrist" slide the loaf off the pizza peel onto the hot baking stone." Pour about a cup of water (it says hot but I've used cold or room temp) into the pan below. Close oven quickly to trap the steam. Bake for about 30 minutes. (check after 20, look for brown and firm crust).
If you are making pizza, take the dough out, roll it out on pizza peel (with cornmeal), top, and bake on hot stone at 500 for about 8 minutes. So fast and easy!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
gardening
We had a speaker at our last Green Dream Meeting (I am the chair of this group at my church) I took these notes and thought others might want to read them.... does anyone read this blog? :)
Minutes from Green Dreams Meeting- March 23- 7 pm- Fellowship
Alice Brooks, a master gardener from the extension office, spoke for about 30 minutes. She then took questions until a little after 8. A great deal was discussed in that hour. This is an overview (the best I could do, writing quickly!)
Our next meeting will be the last Monday in April at Bailey and Justin's home, 136 SW Kendall Ave. 7 pm.
Soil:
In the Fall- Till your land and then add manure, straw, and/or compost to the section you plan to use. During the winter, the nutrients will settle as the ground freezes and thaws. I don't think you have to "double dig" if you do this... but I may be wrong.
In the Spring- do a process called "double digging". I had to draw a picture of this process.... this may help. If that sounds like too much work, you can think about a raised bed. Then you don't have to dig as deep. (but you have to build the walls) Add about 3 inches of compost (manure, grass, straw, leaves).
After you think your soil is ready, do a soil test. Dig in several places, 6-8 inches down. Stir this around in a bucket, take 2 cups to the extension office. They will want to know what you plan to grow and how big your plot is. Then they can tell you what you need to add to your soil to have the best growth. This cost $10, but right now it is FREE... they have a grant. The funding could disappear at any moment.
Some ideas on how to feed and water your garden:
Cut milk jugs and fill them with manure. Bury the thinner end near other plants. Water the jug as you water the garden. Here are other ideas for using those jugs.
Dig trenches along the edge of your garden. This will allow water to pool and keep feeding your garden. A garden needs about an inch of water each day. Tuna cans placed around your garden will help you to know when you've done enough.
A garden needs 6-8 hours of sun.
Making compost- be careful what you add to compost and mulch. Black Walnut Trees hurt many types of plants. Even the leaves. If you use grass clippings, make sure they are untreated!
Weeds-
Raised beds are easier to weed and care for.
Keep unwanted weeds and insects from your garden area by creating a mulch path. This can be done with layers of newspaper (8-10 thick), covered with hay or mulch. Straw must be "ugly" not fresh. To create ugly straw, water it and let it sit in the sun. Fresh straw will burn up your plants.
Container Gardening- After we got over laughing about this being called "pot gardening" we learned these things: If you are doing a container garden, they sell dwarf varieties that work best. She mentioned bush zucchini, little eggplants, cucumbers. You may want to use 5 gallon buckets and drill 5 holes in the bottom. It helps to add half a tomato cage to the top of this. Fill with potting soil. If you use soil that is made to "retain water", be careful because if it dries out it is BAD.
Other random tips-
Think about what you want to do with what you plant. For example, if you are canning you may want a jet star or celebrity tomato. If your are making salad you may want a big boy or better boy.
You may want to plant a wind block for your tomatoes.
Want to save money. Buy tomato plants later in the season, take off most of the leaves, and plant most of the plant under ground. This gives the plant a head start on a rooting system.
If you are not canning, you may want to plant in succession... like a bean plant once a week, so you can eat them longer.
Got Rabbits- Cheyenne pepper or pepper spray help. Can make pepper spray by mixing hot peppers and water in a Cuisinart.
Cilantro grows early and late in the planting season.
Basil grows in hot weather. Plant in the middle of May.
Cut worms can ruin your plants. Think about using a toilet paper roll around the base of your plants... paper works too.
If you are canning, get a good pressure cooker.
She said that www.ksu.edu is a great website for gardening questions.
Minutes from Green Dreams Meeting- March 23- 7 pm- Fellowship
Alice Brooks, a master gardener from the extension office, spoke for about 30 minutes. She then took questions until a little after 8. A great deal was discussed in that hour. This is an overview (the best I could do, writing quickly!)
Our next meeting will be the last Monday in April at Bailey and Justin's home, 136 SW Kendall Ave. 7 pm.
Soil:
In the Fall- Till your land and then add manure, straw, and/or compost to the section you plan to use. During the winter, the nutrients will settle as the ground freezes and thaws. I don't think you have to "double dig" if you do this... but I may be wrong.
In the Spring- do a process called "double digging". I had to draw a picture of this process.... this may help. If that sounds like too much work, you can think about a raised bed. Then you don't have to dig as deep. (but you have to build the walls) Add about 3 inches of compost (manure, grass, straw, leaves).
After you think your soil is ready, do a soil test. Dig in several places, 6-8 inches down. Stir this around in a bucket, take 2 cups to the extension office. They will want to know what you plan to grow and how big your plot is. Then they can tell you what you need to add to your soil to have the best growth. This cost $10, but right now it is FREE... they have a grant. The funding could disappear at any moment.
Some ideas on how to feed and water your garden:
Cut milk jugs and fill them with manure. Bury the thinner end near other plants. Water the jug as you water the garden. Here are other ideas for using those jugs.
Dig trenches along the edge of your garden. This will allow water to pool and keep feeding your garden. A garden needs about an inch of water each day. Tuna cans placed around your garden will help you to know when you've done enough.
A garden needs 6-8 hours of sun.
Making compost- be careful what you add to compost and mulch. Black Walnut Trees hurt many types of plants. Even the leaves. If you use grass clippings, make sure they are untreated!
Weeds-
Raised beds are easier to weed and care for.
Keep unwanted weeds and insects from your garden area by creating a mulch path. This can be done with layers of newspaper (8-10 thick), covered with hay or mulch. Straw must be "ugly" not fresh. To create ugly straw, water it and let it sit in the sun. Fresh straw will burn up your plants.
Container Gardening- After we got over laughing about this being called "pot gardening" we learned these things: If you are doing a container garden, they sell dwarf varieties that work best. She mentioned bush zucchini, little eggplants, cucumbers. You may want to use 5 gallon buckets and drill 5 holes in the bottom. It helps to add half a tomato cage to the top of this. Fill with potting soil. If you use soil that is made to "retain water", be careful because if it dries out it is BAD.
Other random tips-
Think about what you want to do with what you plant. For example, if you are canning you may want a jet star or celebrity tomato. If your are making salad you may want a big boy or better boy.
You may want to plant a wind block for your tomatoes.
Want to save money. Buy tomato plants later in the season, take off most of the leaves, and plant most of the plant under ground. This gives the plant a head start on a rooting system.
If you are not canning, you may want to plant in succession... like a bean plant once a week, so you can eat them longer.
Got Rabbits- Cheyenne pepper or pepper spray help. Can make pepper spray by mixing hot peppers and water in a Cuisinart.
Cilantro grows early and late in the planting season.
Basil grows in hot weather. Plant in the middle of May.
Cut worms can ruin your plants. Think about using a toilet paper roll around the base of your plants... paper works too.
If you are canning, get a good pressure cooker.
She said that www.ksu.edu is a great website for gardening questions.
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