School Days--Bear

 School Days is a reoccurring feature in which I ask people about their early memories of school. Everyone has a story to tell about this and I hope to give them a voice here. (Note: School Days will be a bit different today. We are interviewing Aunt Martha who will tell us about her dog's school days.)

Here is Today's Story

Bear went to puppy school when he was six months old in 2004. His school was held in a vet's office after hours.

Tell me about Bear's experiences at puppy school.

The purpose of classes were to work on basic obedience and socialization. They were once a week for a couple of hours and lasted for several weeks.

Did Bear like going to class?

Well, not exactly. The classes were about 25 miles away and he got carsick, so it was hard to get him into the car. We tired various remedies for car sickness with only limited results. I didn't like this part.

How about when he got there, were things better?

Well, sort of. Bear is a flat-coated retriever--a big dog with high energy and a happy enthusiasm for most dogs and people he meets.  So, he was excited by everything that he saw and barked every time that something happened in class. One class, we had to go into one of the exam rooms for a timeout because of his barking and they forgot to come get us.

Also, since he was big and excitable, we had to go behind the counter when it was free time. They were afraid that he might hurt some of the small dogs in the class with his enthusiasm. So much for learning socialization.

As time went on, did things get better?

Well let's just say at the end of class, he didn't get the award for "Most Improved." He got the award for "Most Talkative"  Today, Bear is a happy, well behaved dog. Thank goodness.

Food Waste Friday--May 4, 2012

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. 

Here it goes for this week.

Let's just say that this week instead of wasting food, I reappropriated it. I found lime juice on my refrigerator door that had a Use By date of July 2011.  It smelled okay, but rather than risk ruining the lime chicken dish I was making, I found another use for it.

I used it to tackle hard water stains in our toilet bowl. I poured what was left of the lime juice, about 1/2 cup, into the bowl. I came back about 5 hours later and did a little scrubbing. Success. Total Success. All of the buildup was gone. So, I'm declaring this a no waste week.

In case you're interested, here's a site with other uses for lime (and lemon) juice-- The Many Uses of...

Second Look--May 2, 2012

I don't know what to say about these days except, wow. The earth is happy and so am I. Here's what I found this week during a Second Look.

 Our white azalea is always the last of the azaleas to bloom.

The oak leaves are finally starting to come out.

The bees have really been buzzing around the rhododendron blooms.

Star of Bethlehem is poking up here and there.

The first bearded iris has bloomed. It joined the Siberian iris that started blooming last week.

The cranesbill flowers are emerging on top of its mound of green leaves.

The ever present dandelion.

Blue jay from below and above
 

The moon has been rising in the afternoon this week.

School Days--Wendy

 School Days is a reoccurring feature in which I ask people about their early memories of school. Everyone has a story to tell about this and I hope to give them a voice here. 

Here is Today's Story

Wendy started school at age 4 ½ in the mid 1940's in a small town 30 miles outside of London. 

Tell me about starting school or an early school memory.

The school I started in was around the corner from where my parents had a pub. It was in a poorer part of town and somewhat rough. When I was in first grade, I got a twin doll carriage for Christmas. A twin carriage was quite special. One day in first grade, I took it to school on toy day with my baby dolls and the other girls were jealous. They wanted it, and a fight ensued. When I went home with my hair literally pulled out from the other girls fighting for my carriage, my mother said that I was not going another day to that school.

She enrolled me in a private school run by the two Miss Mitchells. One of the sisters was quite big, and we called her Big Miss Mitchell. She taught Latin. The other sister was quite small, and we called her Little Miss Mitchell. Little Miss Mitchell taught tennis. It was a coed school and had about 150 students in all 12 grades. We kept the same classroom and got a new teacher every year. I liked to talk and got moved around. I ended up with a desk in the corner by myself that I liked.

It was also a finishing school. When we studied art, our teacher came from the London School of Water Colors and when we studied music, we had teachers from the London Symphony. In the older grades, we had a formal dining room where we learned how to plan menus, set tables, and instruct servants.

That's a very different school experience than I am familiar with. I hope that we can learn more about it another time.

 

Neighbor

Neighboring Amish Farms

Today, Ward and I visited Amish farm country. While there, I heard something from a farmer that gave me food for thought. I am going to try to think about this each day.

"If someone asks if I'm a good person, I could say anything. If they really want to know the answer they should ask my my neighbor."