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!