Disappointed

My dad's sister, my aunt Linda, was supposed to come to Florence tomorrow to spend the day with me. We've been planning it for a month, and I was pretty excited. We were going to have lunch and then go out exploring the city (she used to live here, but it's been about 20 years since she moved away and there's been a ton of growth). 

I was really touched that she wanted to drive two hours just to see and spend time with me. After my dad died my relationship with my mom broke down to the point that we're now estranged, and it's been hard effectively losing both my parents. Lately I feel sad about it a lot. It's nice having one blood relative left who seems to care about me. I was looking forward to showing Aunt Linda my house and garden and letting her meet Marco, George, and Poppy, and then spending the afternoon doing fun stuff together. I requested a personal day off weeks ago for it.

Then I woke up with a scratchy throat and a tickle in my chest on Sunday morning.

So, you guessed it...I'm sick. I felt so awful yesterday afternoon that I stopped on the way home from work and got a Covid and Flu at-home test. Both were negative. I'm guessing it's just a bad cold, but it's really knocked me for a loop. I really hated and hesitated to admit I didn't feel up to the visit, but last night I finally let her know. My aunt was super kind about it. She assured me we'd reschedule soon and told me to focus on feeling better. She also said that she's flying to Virginia this weekend to visit her son and his family and it might be wise to postpone and not risk getting sick herself right before her trip. Tonight she texted me just to check on how I was feeling, which was really nice. We agreed we'll try again in a few weeks. 

I'm still taking my day off tomorrow since I've been feeling so bad, and I need to use up some personal days anyway. I'm not looking forward to it except as a chance to get some extra rest. Then this weekend is Mother's Day and the thought of that makes me feel even more low. My mom made it plain to me last year that my cousin and her kids are her family now (she calls the children her grandchildren) and that she doesn't need or want me in her life. Which was honestly just a relief at first, but as time goes along it's come to feel more like grief. 

Worth the backache

My back has been killing me this week. I stayed home from work on Monday and spent the day in a stupor from muscle relaxers. I realized when I pulled the bottle from the medicine cabinet that my doctor had prescribed them to me exactly one year ago this week. It's pretty obvious that my garden and all the work that goes into it in April is the culprit!

Backache aside, the garden is doing well. The vegetable raised beds are planted and starting to grow. And my roses? Heavenly. The Eustacia Vye I planted last year has been absolutely covered in dozens of rosebuds, and the two newbies (Benjamin Britten and Desdemona) both have several flowers and they were bare root plants less than three months ago. I'm in love!

Just look at these beauties. 

A great week to be a Bear!

What a great week it's been at work!

Wednesday was Administrative Professionals Day and I (along with the receptionist and the records/attendance clerk) received a lovely gift basket full of tulips and small gifts, plus a card signed by almost the whole staff. The sweet art teacher made us all candy bouquets, too. Three years in, and I still love my job and my coworkers. It doesn't get much better than that. 

Also on Wednesday, for the third year in a row our school was the top performer for this area in the American Heart Association Kids Heart Challenge. We have more family participation and raise more money than anyone in the district and our local AHA chapter head presented us with our third plaque and trophy.

But after all this excitement, yesterday was the absolute cherry on top. Our entire school gathered in the gym at 9am to watch the SCETV live stream announcing the winners of the state's Palmetto's Finest Award for 2026. Half the district office, the school board, the assistant superintendents all joined us and every waited with bated breath. (The superintendent watched the livestream from his office, citing his superstitious fear that watching at the school with us would be unlucky, haha)...

AND WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our school is this year's Palmetto's Finest elementary school winner! We all but raised the roof with cheers and applause and a spontaneous dance party!

Congratulations flowed in from all across the district (and even the state). Kids and staff high fived each other and hugged in the halls all day. Not much work got done, I can tell you that! It's such an honor. We're all very, very proud.

It's been a great week to be a Carver Bear!

My garden in April

These are a few buds from my second year Eustacia Vye rose. The bush is absolutely loaded with them (over 4 dozen at last count) and ready to burst forth into a glorious display. 

This Desdemona rosebush was nothing but a bare-root back in February, and today the first bloom opened. It already has a sweet, lemony fragrance. I'm in love!

The beans are really taking off.

And if someone could give me good advice on how to thin carrots, I'd appreciate it. I'm certain these are too closely planted, but maybe I'll get a few small ones.

Also, I have a huge kiddie pool "bowl" of salad! Look at this beautiful lettuce! I've already had a couple of handfuls of tender baby leaves.

Last but not least: my method of quickly hardening off young tomato plants: cover them lightly with pine straw mulch for shade. So far, I've planted 14 seedlings without hardening them off, and they're doing just fine. This weekend I'll plant the last 5 still to go as well as the pepper plants, and this year's garden will be ready to rock and roll.

 

Oh, the pain

I hope that everyone who celebrates had a nice Easter. In our house, it's like most other holidays, an excuse for a good meal and dessert. I nailed the good meal part (ham, rice, fresh asparagus, buttermilk biscuits) but the dessert was an utter failure. It was my first attempt at pound cake, and very discouraging. I don't know if I got a bad recipe, or if the cheap butter I used was an issue, or if I simply did something wrong, but all that work and it went right in the trash. The cakes (I used two loaf pans and had doubled the batter) were greasy, heavy, and, oddly, had turned a dark color on the inside with an unpleasant, almost nutty flavor. Trust me, they were gross...and after all that work! 

(Any bakers out there who might know what happened?)

Another thing about making the doomed cakes (as well as all the other cooking I did) was what it's done to my back. For some reason when I spend long periods of time standing at my kitchen counters and sink, my back will sometimes hurt like hell afterwards. *  Earlier in the day I'd spent a few hours working in the garden, then I came in and stood working in the kitchen for about 5 more hours. By bedtime my back was already getting stiff and sore, and when I got up yesterday morning it was worse. Last night I merely coughed one time, and my back went into such painful spasms that it made me gasp out loud. I'm lucky to have refills on muscle relaxers, and since I'm off it doesn't matter that they make me tired. I'm hoping it resolves before the rest of my time off is gone, though!

*I got a bad pulled muscle at work years ago, and my back hasn't been the same since.

A much-needed break

It's officially Spring Break for me! We're out of school tomorrow for Good Friday and then all of next week. 

The past two weeks at work have mildly stressful for me and the other bookkeepers. Between really serious federal Title 1 budget deadlines (with constant memos and reminders from the CFO and senior accountants), and a general budget freeze that takes effect this afternoon but wasn't announced until Monday, we've had to scramble to get everything done. At the elementary level, the bookkeeper and school secretary positions are combined, so there have been other job responsibilities on my plate as well. And to top it all off, I've had a mild cold coming on this week, so every day has been just a tiny bit harder because of that. I'm tired! The one great thing about these tight deadlines is that when I go back to work after the break, most of this year's budget is gone and can't be accessed. My job will get a little bit easier and soon summer (and really easy days and easy hours) will be here. All good stuff!

I really need to work in the garden next week, and it's time to plant tomatoes. I have way too many seedlings, as usual, but this year I've only potted up enough for my own use. I've decided to give away the extras while they're still small and needing to be potted up, because all that potting up is a lot of work. Gregg has a buddy, Tyrone, who always texts him in spring to see if I have extra plants I want to give away. He has a large garden and so does his dad, and they're always happy to take all the extras I'll give them. I'm glad they get good homes!

My lettuce and carrots are really doing well, and by the end of the month I should be getting some of both. My rattlesnake beans (that Mary Moon convinced me to grow) are getting big, too, and this year I planted more of them. They really are fabulous! Everything is off to a good start (knock wood) but I still have a lot of work to do. A week off this time of year is perfect timing.

April Fools!

 

So disappointing! Haha!

A week of goodness

This past week, my birthday week, has been really nice and I've felt lots of love from friends. I'm sharing some of it here for my own future reference!

Last Sunday afternoon I went over to Marla's house for a little while to see her puppies! Her Boston Terrier, Flynn, had a litter of puppies back at Christmas. There were five pups total, and they're keeping two of them. Two more have gone to their new homes and there's just one female left. Several people are considering taking her so I'm sure she'll be adopted out soon.

Here's Carsen with the pup she picked out to keep. She named him Remy.

Aren't they adorable? 

When I got to work on Monday morning, one of our regular substitute teachers, Judy, had seen on Facebook that it was my birthday and she brought me a gift bag full of goodies! I was so surprised. She's such a sweet lady.

Pens, stationary, Hershey kisses, and a Sonic gift card. So nice of her, but it was the thought that I really appreciated!

Then the next day, Tuesday, the mom of two of my favorite little kids showed up with them at school and said, "Why didn't you tell us your birthday was yesterday?! (She had also seen it on Facebook). "The kids and I love you!"  They presented me with a little rose bush. How sweet is that?

Later that same morning, the art teacher left a card on my desk while I was away for a moment. This made me so happy! She's also a very sweet lady and I adore her.

One last thing I meant to mention is that Little P. (who has the same birthday as me) turned 13 years old this week!!  How is that possible?! He's not "Little" anymore! I texted him and his mama on Monday and we've made plans to get together soon and have dinner. I'm going to give him money for a gift, because I don't even attempt to buy presents for teenage boys. I cannot believe my little buddy is a teenager now. Kids grow up entirely too fast! Meanwhile, I'm just over here getting old. :) Haha.

Two March hares

Today is a special day: my dear blogger friend Meike's birthday! Meike blogs from Germany and I love reading about her life and adventures there. A fun coincidence is that we're almost birthday twins; tomorrow I'll be 51 years old. Together, we're two mad March hares! *

I don't have any big plans for my birthday. Yesterday Marla and Martina came over for a few hours, and we had some simple appetizers and cake. I'd recently purchased a new charcuterie board and was eager to use it. The cake came from a local bakery (chocolate fudge layer cake).

Today, I want to pot up some more tomato seedlings, and maybe plant rattlesnake beans in the garden. The weather is warm and gorgeous and it's going to be a good day to be outside. All the early spring blossoms are popping at the moment: dogwood and redbud trees, wisteria, Carolina jessamine, azaleas. I even saw a few very early purple and white irises starting to bloom in a neighbor's yard!  I've always been glad I was born this time of year. Spring is my favorite season.

As for my actual birthday tomorrow, it's just going to be an ordinary workday. A simple and pleasant weekend with friends and my husband is more than enough for me. 

* Happy birthday Meike! I hope you're having a wonderful day!

Barely a stiff breeze

I'm happy to report that yesterday's weather forecast ended up being a bust! Aside from some gentle rain showers, nothing happened. Of course, some idiots on social media are dragging the local weather guy instead of being grateful we dodged a bullet. I struggle to understand people sometimes. I guess they'd be happier if we'd had widespread damage and destruction! 

Anyway, it ended up being a very productive day for me. I was only able to get the basics done for my job, but in the afternoon when the receptionist took over phone duty, I got my taxes done! Now that's a great feeling, not to mention a relief. We're even getting a modest return this year! That will certainly be welcome and will come in handy. 

My driver's license expires next week on my birthday, and I'm planning to take a personal day off work tomorrow to go renew it, and this time I'm getting a "Real ID" for federal identification. I've had to scramble to get all the documents needed for it, including a copy of my birth certificate. (There's no way in hell I was going to ask my estranged mother for it). After completing our taxes, I gathered all the documents I'll need to take with me tomorrow. It seems ridiculous that I need seven (!) forms at minimum to get the Real ID, but at least after tomorrow that will be done. I've been worried about it for months because now you can't board a domestic flight without one. Not that I have any immediate plans to fly, but you never know what might come up, and at least now I'll be ready. 

I also made Poppy an appointment for her shots and checkup, which will be tomorrow after I finish at the DMV. I figured I may as well use the personal day off to get as much done as possible. One day soon I'm going to take a personal day or two off JUST FOR ME and do something more fun.

Anyway, thanks for the good wishes on my post yesterday. I'm grateful that the terrible storms didn't materialize and the garden is safe.

At home today

Our crabapple tree has started to burst into bloom. Isn't it pretty?

Today is an unexpected work from home day for me. We have very strong storms set to roll through the area in two waves, bringing extremely high winds, large hail, and the possibility of tornadoes. The district made the call last night to switch to an e-learning day (along with other districts across the area) for safety reasons. I can answer the school phone via the Zoom app on my personal phone, and there are several tasks I can complete from my home computer. It's nice to sip coffee and work in my pjs, not to mention sleeping a bit later since I didn't have to be logged on until 8:00 as opposed to being physically at work at 7:00. It's also nice to be able to write a blog post while "at work"! 

It was a nice, warm, sunny weekend and I got a lot done. I'm in the process of potting up dozens of tomato and herb seedlings, and my lettuce and carrots (planted out a couple of weeks ago in the raised beds) are growing nicely. The two new roses are leafing out and doing really well, too. Hopefully we won't get large hail today that could easily damage them. And I dread any major storms because of how stressed out the dogs will get. I got up early and made sure they were fed and taken out to relieve themselves, because once it starts to rain hard (and especially once it starts to thunder and lightning) they'll refuse to go out. One can hardly blame them!

I'll report back later on any storm damage. Here's hoping it's not too bad and doesn't wreak havoc in my garden. A work from home day isn't worth all that!

Palmetto's Finest

Have I ever mentioned that I have wonderful office windows? They give a great view of the eastern sky, and since I arrive at work by 7am, I'm often treated to beautiful sunrises.

Here are two from this week alone.

Work has been hectic for a couple of weeks now, because our school was named as a finalist for this year's Palmetto's Finest Award. This was the week we were expecting a second team of evaluators to visit and spend the day at our school, without knowing the exact day they would come. Palmetto's Finest is a very prestigious state award, and everyone's been very excited. The administration, teachers, staff and students have been working hard to prepare to make the best possible impression, and the superintendent has seen to it that the maintenance department and landscapers and others have been working tirelessly every day to make sure our school shines. 

Well, today was the day! The evaluation team showed up at 7am and stayed all day right through dismissal and afternoon carline. What a relief that it's finally over! Everything seemed to really go well, and the day went off without a hitch. Whether we win or not, I think we all did ourselves proud!

Here's part of the email our principal sent out once they'd finally left. I sure feel lucky to work in such a great school!

I want to thank each and every one of you for an amazing job you did today. The lead evaluator called this a phenomenal visit and noted they saw many positive things. Please thank your students as well. They behaved very well. 

This is truly a testament to how wonderful we are as a staff. You already do amazing things. I just want others to see this and know it as well. 

Staff may wear jeans tomorrow. 

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

In like a lamb

On Sunday the weather was spring-like and beautiful. Temperatures got up to 75 degrees (23 C) and the sun came out after several days of rain. It was good to get outside and forget about the state of the world for a few hours. Gregg and I took the chance to get some garden tasks done while soaking up the sunshine. We re-mulched the rose bed around the two new shrubs, swept and tidied the porch, and planted this year's lettuce. Have I shown you how I grow lettuce? 

Small kiddie pools (with holes punched in the bottom for drainage) make great containers for growing lettuce. The depth is fine for the short roots, and the circumference gives you lots of room for a large crop. It's economical, because the pools are cheap and will last for several years if stored out of the weather when not in use. Even the two bags of garden soil I used in it will be recycled, because when the lettuce is done, I add the leftover soil to the bigger raised beds for volume.

Another thing I did yesterday was bring my tomato, herb, and marigold seedlings out to the porch to live. We're still sure to get cold weather, but they're all fitted snugly into large Styrofoam boxes that can easily be moved inside if need be. The 10-day forecast looks very warm, and the sunlight filtered through the porch screen should really make the little plants grow. I hope to plant out in about a month.

 

One last sure sign that spring is here is Louella's tree bursting into bloom. This is about two weeks past its absolute prime, and it's still so beautiful! These trees are always the first to bloom in our neighborhood, and I look forward to them every year.

More roses!

On Friday my two new bare root David Austin roses arrived! I didn't waste time; yesterday morning I did the recommended root ball immersion in buckets of water, and in the late afternoon I planted them on either side of the Eustacia Vye. That particular bed is finished now (aside from some possible future companion plants for the roses). It's on the south side of the screened porch, and the three rose varieties are Benjamin Britten, Eustacia Vye, and Desdemona. Considering that last year my Eustacia bloomed less than two months from planting out, and then bloomed again in the summer, I have high hopes of seeing all three flowers this year.

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Blooms and a Brat

Marla came over on Monday afternoon (she was off for President's Day) and we had snacks before watching trashy TV for a couple of hours. Look at bratty Marco going after some of our treats! *

Also on Monday afternoon, I took a picture of my blooming orchids. They're really showing off right now.

*The dogs didn't act much better
 

Two Valentines

It's February break for me, which means no work this week. I love these breaks that aren't tied to major holidays so there's no pressure to do anything except exactly what I want. Gregg and I don't make a big deal over Valentine's Day, but I did get us Chinese takeout that night and a small (made for two) strawberry cheesecake. 

Here's something sweet I wanted to share. On Friday the kids at our school made Valentines for teachers and staff members and the PTO sorted them and passed them out. I didn't expect to get any, because as the bookkeeper/secretary I'm not really  working with students very often, if ever. But much to my surprise, I got two! 

The first is from Anson, one of the four kids I made friends with early on who still come by the office first thing every morning to say hi and give me hugs. The second is from a little girl who waits in the office for the nurse to arrive every morning (she takes daily medication) and likes to hang out with me. I taught her to read an analog clock (something kids are not able to do these days as a rule, which is insane to me) so that's why she thanked me for "teaching her time". I was really touched to get these two little Valentines! 

Soup for supper

Sunday afternoon I made a pot of soup from scratch that turned out to be the best I've ever made, along with two loaves of homemade bread that also turned out exceptionally well. We've been eating big bowls of soup with torn pieces of crusty bread ever since. Delicious!

Italian Sausage and Lentil Soup 

A rainy Wednesday afternoon

The last of our snow and ice melted away last night. I'm not sorry to see it go--it always starts to look slushy and dirty after a day or two, and then it's just unnecessarily messy. Not fun. Speaking of messy, it's been raining since late last night. Even though it's warmed up quite a bit, it still feels really chilly since everything is sopping wet. A little while ago I had to put a leash on George and force him to go outside. He hates rain, and he hadn't peed all day. Both dogs will walk to the back door, look out, and turn right back around. I don't blame them, but I do feel bad for them.

Since I'm stuck in the house and Gregg works on Wednesday afternoons, I'm making a loaf of homemade bread. I made a loaf a couple of days ago and it's almost gone. Making bread seems to get easier the more I practice. That's true of everything, I guess.

Oh! And look what came in the mail today! My first seed order for this year. 

I'll be starting my tomato seeds this week, since they need to be ready to plant by mid-April. The three bigger packets are two kinds of lettuce (Merveille des Quatre Saisons and Forellenschluss) and carrots (Red Cored Chantenay). It will soon be time to start those, too.

Winter weather weekend

Today is an "e-learning" day for the schools in our district. There wasn't all that much melting of snow yesterday, and what little there was froze overnight (it was 12 degrees, or -11 Celsius, at sunrise this morning) so the roads aren't safe.

 I like working from home; I brought my work laptop home so I can finalize payroll and take care of some other daily tasks, and the receptionist and I are dividing up the day to answer the office phone via Zoom app. I'll be done with my "shift" before lunchtime.

When it was just starting to snow on Saturday, one of the squirrels we're always feeding showed up at our dining room window and looked in at us imploringly. I took a big handful of shelled walnuts out there and put them on the windowsill, and the squirrel had a little feast.

I'm not sure I showed you a picture of the new ottoman we got for the front room for Christmas. Here it is in the cozy spot by the fireplace where we watched the snowstorm come in.

And here are the makings of a treat I had Saturday night while sitting by the fire. Guess the cocktail? 

Late Saturday night when it was really snowing hard.

Early Sunday morning...

Late yesterday afternoon.

The full moon rising last night.

Also last night...look at all these icicles! The house is covered in them.

It's been a real winter weekend here in Florence!