Flower Mural

 

I have been seeing pictures of this mural on social media. So, I decided to change my route home so I could check it out. The muralist Khara Ledonne painted it on the homeowners fence. Check out this article about it

Wordy Wednesday Anniversary Edition

 

Our journey isn't perfect but it's ours and I'll stick with you to the end. I still choose you. 25 years

Weekly Roll

Random Thoughts

These thoughts are my own opinions. 

I had the above cowch advertised to me on Facebook. I think I am the wrong demographic for the item. Though I indeed did look it up after it was advertised to me. This makes me laugh. My children didn't think this would be a good addition to the office. It is like $1,699. A lot more than I would be willing to spend.

Well it must be fall because my baking mojo is back. It never fails once it cools and the days get darker. Tried a new to me zucchini bread recipe - Sesame Seed Zucchini Bread. It made 3 mini loaves. I have become a mini loaf fan.

Sourdough Update

Made Sourdough Country White loaves last week. I thought this bread was delicious. I haven't decided if this is my go to sandwich loaf yet. I did like the crust on this one. They each had a bit of a tumor on top. I kind of felt like I should of scored these. My children preferred these loaves.

Remote Learning Update

My youngest is making quite the gallery wall of post its. I think it is going better than last spring. I appreciate how hard the school district is working. It is a vast improvement over last spring. It is hard don't get me wrong and why it works for the majority they are many who can't access because of technology/internet issues.

Trek for the Treasure 2020

It was a heck of a summer with Covid and quarantine. I did Trek for the Treasure run by United General Hospital a couple years back with my best friend. I was mentioning how much I would like to do again and my oldest son said he would like to do it.

So, we formed the team Yo Ho Pirates with our younger son as alternate crew member. Trek for the Treasure - Legends Never Die was a abbreviated version this year. You took a picture at a designated spot and the puzzle clue was sent to the teams. There were a total of 4 hikes. These were all hikes I have never been on. Interesting enough my best friend and her oldest daughter also formed a team. We both hiked these hikes with our oldest kids.

Somethings that surprised me were how much my older son enjoyed this. He wanted to do this and a bit of this was outside his comfort zone aka long drives and long hikes. It also reinforced to me it isn't how fast you hiked but did you complete it. I also rediscovered I am stronger than I think.

Geocaching Art

My husband while in New Mexico completed a geocache art series called Alien Tracks. There was a total of 46 caches that form this alien face in the desert. This series is located on BLM land. He saw antelope and encountered rattlesnakes!

GeoCompass has a list of geocaching art list for every state

Booking It September Edition

I am linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy's Quick Lit. Check out what everyone else is reading.

Well, it has been an interesting reading month. I read two books at the opposite end of the spectrum. One was fiction and one was non fiction.

My not so secret guilty pleasure is the Twilight Series. I usually read this series once a year. So if you were a Twilight fan, Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer did not disappoint. It was interesting to hear Edward's side of the story.

I found Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker really interesting. The Galvin family lives on Hidden Valley Road. Hidden Valley Road is in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I grew up in Colorado so many of the references were to places I have been. The Galvin's are a large family with 12 kids. Of the 12 kids, six of the kids end up having schizophrenia. Because such a large amount of siblings have schizophrenia, their DNA is studied and assists in the research of schizophrenia. It is there story of their family but it also the story of how mental illness effects the whole family. There is a lot of discussion and examples of nature vs nurture. I love how the Galvin's story is interspersed with the research . There is such a long way to go in research of mental illness especially in the regards to schizophrenia.

Wordy Wednesday

Ah the joys of remote learning summed up in one letterboard sign. Hang in there remote learners.

Weekly Roll Labor Day Edition

Starting to feel like fall here. Mornings are cool and sometimes foggy. I hope your labor day weekend was restful and Covid free.

Remote Learning Update

Can you tell my son is attending a virtual assembly? He is totally living his best remote learning life.

Love this story - Desks by Dads providing desks to students who need them

Had an interesting experience Wednesday night. We live next to a elementary school and their intercom got turned on at 10 pm and was playing classical hold music for a half hour. It is really hard to fall asleep to that. My guess is they don't want anyone falling asleep on hold

Sourdough Update

I got a new sourdough book-Artisan Sourdough Made Simple . I had requested it from the library back in March. I finally just ordered it.  Of course, then my hold came through. This book is so highly recommended by so many that I am glad I purchased it.

I made sourdough discard crackers. They were delicious and lasted about 2 seconds. I also made Golden Semolina Bread from Artisan Sourdough Made Simple. I had some technical difficulties. The bottom crust stuck to the parchment and was really tough.

Distance Learning Setup

 I have 2 distance learners. My oldest is doing online college which starts at the end of September. He will be taking a core class this quarter. He has been doing hybrid and online learning since the beginning of his college experience. His desk is in our family room which is okay because during the day our house was quiet.  It worked okay when everyone is home. We just tended to clear the area. He is a loud talker so some of those zoom meetings were loud. Don't know how we are going to deal with this fall. I believe my high school student and college student are going to be working at different times.

High Schooler's Remote Set-up

We have long have had our formal dining room as an office. Our youngest will be a Senior this year. At the beginning of online schooling he did his school work from his bedroom which has a desk. However, we decided to move him down to the office. He is closer to the printer.  Also, he needed some more accountability and a separate space to work from which wasn't his bedroom. Unfortunately a giant TV was on the main desk as the boys had been using that as a gaming station. So with some muscle we relocated that. The desk is older than him circa 1997. The thing is built like a tank. The only thing purchased was a chair mat, wire basket(goodwill), and desk lamp. The laptop is a school issued device. We are lucky that our district issues these to all middle schoolers and high schoolers.  Hopefully this will be a good learning space for him.

Class of 2021- Welcome to Your Senior Year

My youngest is a Senior this year in High School. What a highly unusual way to start to the year with remote learning. There hasn't been much hype for the Class of 2021. 

My son's school has a tradition that the Senior's personalize their parking spots. I thought we could recreate that experience at home. Well actually my best friend came up with the idea. So with a help of friends, we created a senior parking space. It is something that the seniors really look forward to. I think he was really surprised. 

In a school year unlike any other, I wanted him to have some of the tradition. Hmm maybe I should charge a parking fee like the school. The picture below is from Kindergarten Orientation aka the first day of Kindergarten.