Saturday, September 30, 2006

I realized that I haven't blogged for a few days, so let me update you.
Yesterday I took my mother to the Botanic Garden to help with the Roadside flower sale. Every year the Botanic has a sale of dried plant material, artistically arranged in beautiful containers. Volunteers collect the material all year from their gardens and dry it. Some even grow it just for the sale. People donate containers too. Then a small army of volunteers arrange the materials into some very interesting things. There was a huge turkey, all made of plant stuff. Most of the rest of the arrangements were traditional. Somebody donated a large number of German beer steins and there were some nice arrangements made for them. It was a lot of fun and my mother really enjoyed herself. She has always wanted to do this, and this was the first time that it worked out. The sale is next weekend. Everything is for sale. The arrangements, the dried materials that weren't used in the arrangements, the leftover containers and homemade pourpouri. That is made of flowers that were broken off of the stems. If you are in the area, go and see it and buy. Most of the arrangements are reasonably priced. Last year they made over $15,000 which goes to support the Botanic Garden.
My teaching is going well. I am concerned about the attendance, since someone is always absent.
Today I got my hair cut. It is shorter. I also had a manicure and pedicure, so now I look glamorous.
The storm damage is now all cleaned up and the neighborhood is back to normal.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

An Unusual Evening

Last night we had a unusally strong thunderstorm. We heard on the news that the trains on the lines in the western suburbs were stopped because of the weather. When we lost our sattelite tv signal, we knew that the bad weather was on the way. The sky kept getting darker and darker, the street lights went on. I knew that the wind was picking up when the tree branches started to sway. Then the hail started. The pellets hit our skylights hard and sounded like rocks. The grass and sidewalk was covered with hail. The deck was flooded, so was the street. The rain was coming in almost vertically, and was full of bits of leaves. This lasted for about a 30 minutes. When it stopped, we saw that there were a few branches on the front lawn and the street was flooded to over the curbs.
This morning, we really saw the damage. We escaped with nothing except a few branches down. Next door, they lost a tree, which is now blocking the sidewalk. Across the street a tree split. The alley was blocked by a downed tree. A tree broke into two parts in the cemetary, but the split was about 10 feet above the ground. The streets are covered with a layer of leaf bits. The sidewalks are also covered with leaves. The damage was confined to a small area of Wilmette, a few blocks north and south of our street.
Today, the rain started up again, and it rained quite heavily for several hours. The streets flooded again. I don't think that the rain is over yet. Maybe more tomorrow. I hope that the drought that had affected northern Illinois for the past several years is over.
Pictures tomorrow.

Friday, September 22, 2006

I am reinvented as a College Teacher

I began my new life as a college teacher on Tuesday. I can't say that it is much different from my old life as an junior high teacher. I have a class of 15 women of various ages, from just out of high school to the 30's. Several of them have families, all of them have jobs. They seem to be motivated to do well in this class, because they have to pass out of it in order to take something that is actually a graduation/major requirement. Several of them want to become nurses. Two of them work as CNAs in nursing homes, which is a hard, low paying job. Becoming a registered or practical nurse is a big step up the economic ladder. I had 5 students who didn't show up on Tuesday. Two of them came Thursday, one dropped. On the plus side, I had several who signed up on the day of class so I am still at 15, which is the limit. Students begging to get into a class is new to me. I said yes to all of them, but several of them didn't register. Thursday was my computer lab night, which was somewhat of a disaster. 5 students haven't bought the book yet since payday is still 2 weeks away. They couldn't sign on to the software. Several others had a lot of trouble signing on, which was surprising since I gave them a sheet with very specific directions and hovered over them. I now have to call an 800 number in order to straighten it out. I wrote up a detailed lesson plan and finished most of it. now I have to work on next week's plan.
On the other side of my life, I went to the Botanic Garden to do a Kitchen Botany program with 3rd graders. They attend McKenzie School, which was my son's elementary school. Were they ever filled with energy! Compared to the college students, who come to school after working all day, this is like teaching a group of jumping beans. They were interested in the program and were great participants. We walked over to the fruit and vegetable garden to see the plants in action. Most of them were excited to see vegetables and fruits in their natural state. They were also surprised to find that we eat all parts of plants, roots, stems, leaves, flowers, buds and bulbs. With that thought, I will sign off.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Another beautiful fall day


Today is one of those crisp fall days where the sun is bright, the air is cool and everything looks beautiful.
I am a little paniced however because my class starts tomorrow and I can't find my parking sticker. I do feel ready for the class. I have to go over to Oakton to xerox a few things and then go to Office Depot for a few supplies. I wrote my lesson plans for the week, I'm happy with them.
I went to my Weight Watchers meeting and I lost 3.6 pounds but I wasn't the biggest loser. I'm still happy. The biggest loser get to take home a stuffed animal for the week. Maybe next week.
This is my arbor which is covered with clematis paniculata. The tiny white flowers have a spicy smell and when they fade, they are replaced with an interesting seed. The seeds have a little bit of fluff attached, like dandilions, so the wind carries them away. Next year I will find clematis seedlings in my flower beds. They are remarkably hardy. I dug up seedlings and replanted them, now I have clematis vines covering a screen which hides the recycling bins and the electric meter. In the foreground of the picture, you can see the pink flowers of sedum "autumn joy," another great fall blooming plant.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

A Big Change

Today we had a summery day. It was sunny, warm and humid , so I did some garden work. I decided to move a few plants around which took most of the day. Then the weather changed--clouds blew in and soon it was raining, complete with thunder and lightning. The prediction is for much cooler weather. I knew that this was a possibility, thus the gardening. My orchids may have to move indoors soon.
My fall garden is going well. My sweet autumn clematis is starting to bloom. Everytime I walk under the arbor, where it grows, I get a whiff of the flowers. The pink asters are over 4 feet high and just going into flower. My containers are blooming profusely, probably because they have about 4 weeks until frost ends their flowers.
I joined Weight Watchers last week. I have followed the program carefully, probably because I am motivated, but also because I can keep track on-line. I have been hungry, but I found a recipe for a vegetable soup that doesn't count into the day's totals. It tastes fairly good. That and baby carrots have kept me in line. Tomorrow is weigh in day. I hope that I lose something.


My pink container. It is a mix of im-
patians, wax begoinias, inch plant and a
beautiful varigated leaf begonia. It is
actually in 3 pots.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

I'm Glad I never majored in Botany

Today I went to the Chicago Botanic Garden for a Master Gardener education class. As a master gardner, I have to take 10 hours of continuing education every year. So, I signed up for a class in prairie plant identification. Since I give a children's class on the prairie, this was perfect for me. Actually, it was quite interesting. There are different types of plants in different types of prairies, but most of them are remarkably similar in looks. Sometimes it is only a matter of size, sometimes it is flower shape, or type. Sometimes it is the pattern of the leaves on the stem. It was confusing, since the instructor refered to them by their botanic and common names interchangeably. If I worked there, it would be easy. But it was a beautiful day, quite warm, and the gardens were beautiful, as was the prairie. So I enjoyed myself.
I might have nightmares about identifying all the plants. But for the children, general categories of plants is just fine. Goldenrod, or solidago, has many manifestations. There are many members of the silphium family. The important ones for the children and me are prairie dock and the compass plant since the pioneers used them as they crossed the United States to settle the west.
Check out the Botanic Garden link to learn more about prairie plants.
On another subject--I finished the syllabus for my class. I am so happy. Now I can start working on my lessons.

Monday, September 04, 2006

Encore Lafayette LA



Layfayette is a nice town, but it does have a few quirks--like the swamp in the middle of the college campus. Another was the was the All Seasons garden center. It was nice, with some really great fountains. Their sign was the biggest attraction. Do you think that some one stole the "s?"
The strangest thing I saw was the drive in daiquiri place. No, you didn't read it wrong. There are several drive in daiquiri places in Lafayette. You are not supposed to drink the daiquiris in the car when you drive. They are "sealed," which means that you have to unwrap the straw. You can buy one and get one free, or get two for $7, or even a gallon ($17/gal) They also have other mixed drinks to go. As you can see, they were doing a good business.

Friday, September 01, 2006

La La Lafayette


The swamp in the middle of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Campus.

Layfatte or as many say in the area. Laff-ayette was an interesting stop on the way home. We drove about 3 hours from Houston to Layfayette, the center of French--or Cajun Louisiana. The drive was easy, since it was on Saturday, the traffic was light. We did have some rain, which seems to be our nemisis on this summer's trips.
So, our map quest directions were not good, so we had to call to find our way to our relative's house. When we got there, we immediately got into a discussion of where to eat. This was one of the themes of the visit. We finally decided to go to a Cajun local spot, Don's where I ate a crab plate. There was crab in many presentations, gumbo, fried claws, stuffed, salad and au gratin. Most was tasty, but I think that there was a little more than I wanted to eat. The next morning we had another discussion of where to eat breakfast. The Hub City Diner was selected. This place was really busy and we had to wait. Now, Lafayette is a small city, but it has a lot of restaurants and people who like to eat in them. They had a "pelicans on parade" event recently (similar to Chicago's cows on parade a few years ago) and there was a big fiberglass pelican named "Pelvis" just inside the door. Elvis and the 1950's was the decorating theme here. I had a omelet, everyone had some beignets. Biscuits are big here, and they ran out of them! On to see the sights of this small, but interesting city.
We then went to the University--University of Louisisana at Lafayette, where our neice teaches, to see the swamp. This was pretty interesting. It is in the middle of the campus, and really is a swamp with cypress trees, Spanish moss, turtles, big and small fish, including Alligator gar, carp and several real living alligators. Lots of fun for young and old.



The alligators are small. Nobody knows what happens to them when they get larger.

Then we went to St John's Church, where we say the huge live oak tree. That was some tree.
In the afternoon we saw the Alexandre Mouton House, (on the National Register of Historic Places) who was the founder of Lafayette La. Finally, another discussion of dinner venues. We went to Randols, which is a Cajun restaurant and dance hall. The food was great. I had crab cakes, and they were good! The dancing started, which was Cajun music, and people started to dance. The single women sat on one side, the couples on the other. My little grand nephew had the best time of all--he danced, solo, all of the dances. He even forgot to eat! We left the next morning at 6, but not before having another meal out--this time we went for breakfast ad Edies, which features biscuits. They were really good. I had a cinammon biscuit, which was drenced with cinammon syrup. Lots of calories. My husband had a ham and cheese and a sausage. I wonder if McDonald's got the idea for their breakfast biscuits from Cajun Louisiana. I do recommend that if you are in Louisiana, you make a stop in Layfayette to eat.

The live oak next to St John's Church. I am with my grand niece and nephew. Just look at the size of the trunk!