Guess who showed up in the yard and stayed for a visit?

Yup.  Mr. Dove Eater himself!  And, yes, he caught a dove a couple of days ago.  Yesterday, however, he came for a drink and then settled and stayed with his feet in the bird bath.  Our daughter had stopped by to show me the clothes she bought for her 16 month old daughter when he landed next to the bird bath.  We both just sat and watched him.  He wasn't after a dove yesterday...he was more interested in the water.  Of course, it was 117 degrees outdoors...ugh!  Finally when our daughter opened the front door, he took off and I snapped the last photo.  I always know when he is around the yard because ALL the birds scatter, although the mockingbirds DO heckle him!  I am glad I got to observe him for a while.  POOF!  Gone!

Bird pics

Just some bird photos from the mountains.  The grosbeaks which are in the desert in late spring were spotted up in Idyllwild!  They'll be back in the desert later.  For now, they are enjoying their time in the mountains.  I saw some nuthatches and other birds I haven't identified yet.  The jays woke me up every morning...ravens, too!  I could hear, off in the distance, the calls of a red-tailed hawk.  There seems to be a pair of them up near the town.  It was so relaxing to just sit outdoors on the patio and listen to the calls of the birds, the swoosh of the trees in the wind, and to experience a mountain thunderstorm.

A big THANK YOU to you all!

I wish to extend a big "Thank you" to all who read my blog post about teachers and PTSD.  I know I have at least one more year to go...who knows after that.  And, honestly, with 5 horses to support, I really NEED to keep going.  My district has NOT offered an early retirement bonus now for about 6 years, so they are due to do that this year....cross your fingers for me!  They usually give you credit for a couple of years, which would really help.

I'm going to eat better this year and make smoothies with my Vitamix and drink fresh juices.  There is a FRESH juice bar now here in Palm Desert and a Whole Foods is going to open September 24th.  School starts August 21, so it will only be a month until it opens and I can start buying fresh salads there.  I really like Whole Foods.

Hubby and I and our daughter and her family just spent a weekend up in Idyllwild. She rented a 2 bedroom cabin and they brought their infant daughter with them (of course!).  We had one day of 98 degree weather, but Friday there was RAIN and a thunderstorm!  Saturday was cloudy and yesterday was absolutely delightful, but we had to clean the cabin and come home.  There were clouds and a nice breeze.  Later that afternoon, there was RAIN, a thunderstorm, and HAIL in Anza!  Not sure about Idyllwild...I'm sure they got rain.

It is VERY dry up there.  The squirrels are skinny.  Each night, we would hear them up in the pine trees getting pine cones, munching on them, and then dropping them on the roof!  Poor little skinny things!  Such is the state with our drought.

A few of my new friends

Our daughter booked a cabin in Idyllwild for her 36th birthday, so we got to tag along and split the bill.  It was warm here Thursday (98 degrees), but yesterday morning I could smell rain. Clouds were moving quickly overhead and by 10:00, it was POURING up here.  What a delight.  The rain cooled everything down.  We made a dash to the local bakery and bought 4 slices of red velvet cake, a brownie, a lemon bar, and a peanut butter/chocolate coated bar.  Then, off to the library to check out the used books.  After a stop at the grocery store, it was back to the cabin for the afternoon.  It might rain again here today and it is chilly this morning.  What a nice break from the desert, although they did get a downpour, too, yesterday.  These are some of my friends up here at the cabin.  There are chipmunks who dash around, gray squirrels, ground squirrels, blue jays, crows, nuthatches, and loads of other birds I have yet to identify!

Dragon clouds~SkyWatch Friday~072514

Dragon cloud?  I thought so...
SkyWatch Friday for July 25, 2014.   To visit SWF, please go to:   http://skyley.blogspot.com/

PTSD?

Thank you, Al, and others, for your kind words from my post about teaching.

One reader over at Al's blog:  http://thebayfieldbunch.com/2014/07/wednesday.html
mentioned that teachers suffer from PTSD.  You know, I'd never considered that, but I think what he said is true.  By the way, two teachers left my school last year due to stress.  One of my colleagues got to the point where she was taking one day off...A WEEK!  She could handle her class of miscreants 4 days, but not 5!

Last year was my hardest year, in the 28 years I've taught.  I had 30 students.  10 of them were REAL behavior problems.  That's 1/3 of the class.  Not just a couple.  TEN!!!  This was the most unmotivated, unconcerned, uncaring group of kids EVER.  They couldn't sit still.  Read a book?  FORGETABOUTIT!  They couldn't pay attention.  "Huh?  What page are we on?  What?  Our math book?"  They couldn't retain information.  I looked into the effects of pesticides and pretty much decided that their brains were fried from pesticide exposure.  Many have parents who work in the fields, harvesting our watermelons, grapes, and other crops that are grown in our valley during the year.  Let's face it...the parents get exposed to the stuff in the fields, it gets on their clothing and hair and shoes, they track it into their homes, the babies and kids are exposed to it, and yes, it is IN their bodies and nervous system.  Maybe that's why they couldn't sit still or focus or pay attention?

Maybe...but the previous year's class COULD sit still, COULD focus, and COULD pay attention, so maybe that theory doesn't work?

A couple of coworkers said, "Bad drugs".  That could be.  I have no idea.  Whatever it was, they nearly did me in.

I used all 10 of my sick leave days, plus about 6 more.  I got docked for the 6 days and didn't even care.  I got excused for 2 days of jury duty and I went skipping outta there.  :-)  Oh, and I was out 6 days due to being tripped by one of my students while they were  out at PE playing soccer.  I ended up on the ground with a concussion.

So, the last day of school, one girl announced that her mother was bringing pizza.  Well, it was a minimum day (1/2 day).  I was anxiously waiting for her to show up as we were cleaning up the room after our chips, cookies, and drinks.  Chairs were stacked.  Desks were cleaned.  The bell rang.  The mother shows up at the door with the pizzas as the kids are RUNNING out of the room!  Most ran back, grabbed a slice, and ran out again.  I never did get to say goodbye to them!  Oh, well...

Back to PTSD...I think that is what I had last year.  I had constant stomach aches.  I was constantly dizzy.  Some mornings I would DREAD getting out of bed.  I would hide under the covers.  I developed an eyebrow that twitched.  I would come home at 4 p.m. and sleep for 2 hours, eat dinner, and go to bed at 7 p.m.  Really, I think the ONLY thing that kept me from going INSANE was the support of my colleagues.  I didn't finally relax until we took one trip to Lake Tahoe and the Sierras and another trip to San Diego.  After the Fourth of July, the eye twitch went away, but now the nightmares have begun.

Yes, teaching today is VERY different than the era that we all went through.  Since my mother was a teacher, she knew most of my principals.  (She, however, taught in downtown Los Angeles.  I went to school in the suburbs.)  If I had misbehaved (and I did once...I was caught swinging from the bars on one of the bathroom stalls in 5th grade...) I was severely dealt with.  That usually involved either a slap on the face or a slap on the butt.  And, those weren't lukewarm slaps.  I misbehaved...a total of ONE TIME.  That was it.  Kids today?  They get away with nearly everything.  And, if a parent calls and complains about a teacher, admin USUALLY backs the parents...don't want "upset" parents, right?  So, we ARE fairly limited as to what we can do to the young upstarts.  And, they know it.  They talk back to us  (a "non-suspendable" behavior).  Defiance?  FORGETABOUTIT....not suspendable.  I DID have one young upstart suspended two years ago when he screamed, "Let's KILL Mrs. Dean!"  (a threat to my life...)  He was suspended for a day.  And, no, he wasn't kidding.  He HATED me because I made him do his work (or tried to...)  This year one of my boys was suspended for a day (again) because he scratched two girls on their arms and then said, "If you tell, I'm going to lie about it!"  They told me, I sent them to the office with the evidence on their arms and also wrote down what he'd said.  He was gone for a day, back the next day.


Let's face it...I'm 62 years old now.  My mom retired when she was 62.  I really need to endure this until I turn 65, then I'm DONE.  Three more LONG years...sigh...until they either beat me or I outlast them.

Hottest day of summer and a new record!

Today was the hottest day of summer so far and it was also a new record...It was 118 degrees here today.  Ugh.  That's ALL I can say.

I had to go out front and use the weed eater along our side ("dry tuffs of grass") lawn.  I now also HAVE to water it for 3 minutes 2x daily in order to green it up, according to the city code enforcement supervisor.  What a crock!  Doesn't he know that we are in a record-breaking drought?  If I don't water it, I'll get a citation and $$$.  I did trim trees yesterday and this morning I was able to get all the "debris" into a large trash container.  I swept the driveway (didn't use the hose!) and cleaned all that up, too.  Finally, I reinforced a couple of boards that were loose in our fence.  Everything should be just spiffy now!  :-)

Ripley

This is Ripley, our female black lab mix.  I say mix because we have NO idea what the mix is.  I got her at the Anza swap meet nearly 8 years ago!    She LOVES water and I currently have a wading pool for her out in the back yard, in the shade.  She follows me everywhere and is constantly underfoot!  I only have a few photos of her because she NEVER stands still!  Little bugger!  She's my morning "helper" when I go out to feed the cats, feed the birds, feed the feral cat next door who is now hanging around, chase off the hawk who is bothering the mockingbird, and water my lawn for 3 minutes.  I got a warning notice from the city, informing me that I had "dry, dead tuffs of grass".  HUH?  Aren't we in the middle of a water shortage?  So, I called the city, spoke to the head of the code enforcement division, and actually had a nice conversation with him.  Like our son, he is unflappable.  He calmly suggested I go out and water the dry grass twice a day for 3 minutes each.  I can do that.  Two neighbors already put in rock, but we have such a narrow stretch of lawn next to the driveway, I just don't think it is worth the money to put rock there.  Besides, we have a palo verde growing right in the middle of it....sigh...I also have to go trim the mesquite tree so that its branches don't touch the street sweeper when it comes by every other Thursday morning.  So, I better GIT TO WORK!  Ripley will keep an eye on things for me.

4 weeks of vacation left and school memories

I just realized today that I have 4 weeks of summer vacation left.  WHERE did the summer go?  And, those 4 weeks will be busy ones.  A couple of trips up to the horses, a couple of nights in Idyllwild, a few days in Arizona, and BOTTA BING!  It's back to school.  Ugh.

The nightmares will begin shortly.  One year I dreamed my principal walked into my room and all the kids jumped up and gave him "the finger"!  I took a peek at my class list and I only have 23 kiddos, but 4 of them were... SUSPENDED last year.  One boy told a yard supervisor to "kiss my butt"!  Oh,joy.  I get THIS ONE?  Another one had 3 suspensions last year for shooting a rubber band in class, and throwing crayons.  Another incident involved him rolling around on the floor despite his teacher reminding him to behave...sigh...What is WRONG with kids today?  School isn't just babysitting...

I did read an article which stated that kids need MORE recess, not less.  We only have a 10 minute recess and a VERY LONG morning.  Last year, we went from 8:05 - 11:30, with only a 10 minute recess at 10:20.  The kids had to SIT from 8:05 - 10:20.  That is a VERY long time for 8 year olds.  I have already decided to break up that long spell this year...maybe get them out for a walk around the field or something to get them moving.  The article also stated that after a break, they can concentrate better.  I certainly hope so!  Afternoon session was 12:30 - 2:30, but they had PE at 2:00, so it wasn't as long.  HOWEVER, after lunch, last year's group just could not sit and focus!  They were all over the place..out of their seats, talking,  goofing off (I had 30 kidlets)...It's hard these days to get kids to sit and focus when there is NO science, social studies, art, or music.  It's "embedded" in the stories they read.  Yeah, right!  I always tried to find a video or website where I could show them more information.  It seems you have to "entertain" kids nowadays.

I remember when I was in school.  We sat and listened and did what the teacher told us to do.  And, I LEARNED!  How about you?  What are your school memories?  I was in school from 1958 - 1970, when I graduated from high school and these are a couple of the desks we used:

I LOVED these desks because I could open mine up and HIDE behind it!  He, he!  I actually found a supplier of these up in Lancaster one time.  I forget how much they wanted for each desk, but they weren't cheap.  I want to think about $40 each... The top one is listed on Ebay for $49.99!!!  $50???  Wow...
And, in college, I used to sit in this:

I remember these also: (in the lecture halls)

Nowadays students have desks like this, but with a small cubby inside for their books:  I HATE THEM.

So, you always have two students at one desk and you have to TRY to separate kids who shouldn't be together  (... pulling out hair...)  Aaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh!  And, of course, with 30 students packed into a classroom like sardines, with NO place to sit on the floor, it gets a little cramped.  Remember OUR classrooms, with a whole side of windows?  NO MORE!  My school looks like a prison.  One door in, 1 tiny window...sigh...Remember how we used to decorate the windows with our holiday drawings?  NO MORE.  NO holiday coloring.  Period.

At some point, people need to ask:  "Is this REALLY working for our kids?"  Denying them science, social studies, art, and music?  Is it turning out smarter kids?  (I THINK NOT)  Is it better for them?  (I THINK NOT)...but that's a rant for another day!   :-)

A bunch of hoodlums! (i.e. ravens)

I now look forward to seeing (and hearing) the raven family of 5 that lives up at the horse ranch.  There are 3 young ravens and 2 VERY attentive parents.  Their nest is a mess of sticks up in one of the oak trees up there right next to the driveway.  Now the youngsters are taking longer and longer flights, often to their parents' dismay!  I always count noses and make sure they are all around (they were yesterday!) because hawks also frequent the ranch.

Three of the hoodlums on one of their telephone poles.

 Coming in for a landing!

 Keeping an eye out for pesky hawks.

 In flight.

4 of the 5 ravens.  One was off in another tree.

Yucca and dark skies~SkyWatch Friday~071814

A lone yucca and dark skies last week up by Pinyon.  SkyWatch Friday for July 18, 2014.   To visit SWF, please go to this link:   http://skyley.blogspot.com/

The antics of ravens and Scout

There is a family of ravens up at the horse ranch and now I just like to sit and listen and watch their antics.  Two parents and 3 juveniles.  I was worried that I wouldn't see them after a hawk showed up near the ranch, but one of the parents harried it until it flew away last week.  I wanted to count noses, which I did yesterday, and all are accounted for.  I sat and listened to them call to one another yesterday, when I drove up to give the horses psyllium because they are ALL (except Scout) full of sand again...sigh...It was a peaceful day up there, not hot at all, with a slight breeze.  I let Scout out into the arena, but she didn't run~she just stood in one spot for 30 minutes.  That is VERY unlike her!  I'm going up again tomorrow morning for my trainer's lesson with the herd, so we'll check on them all again at that time.

This is normal Scout behavior:

Anza got RAIN!

Of course, it rained AFTER I left the horse ranch last Friday.  Up to 1/2 inch of rain!  Lake Anza is back (next to the community center).  I noticed the spotches on the ground this morning when I returned to the ranch right away.  And, you can see the tractor tracks in the arena.

I had to return today because I had to give the horses psyllium and I bought 3 large bags of the powdered kind.  Plus, Lucille, who was running a fever, needed to be checked.  She was back to normal today, but Scout was unusually quiet.  In fact, when I took her down to the arena, she just STOOD there (VERY unusual for her!)...I'm not sure if some kind of virus is going around or maybe she's having a reaction to her shots?  Any ideas?  I'm more concerned now about Scout than Lucille...sigh...

FINALLY! Monsoon moisture!

I was hit by a wave of humidity when I walked out the front door about 5 a.m. today.  Man, was it THICK!  Monsoon moisture moved into the valley and I could see clouds lingering around Santa Rosa mountain.  I had to drive up to the horse ranch this morning as a new vet was coming to give the horses their annual West Nile/rabies shots at 9 a.m., so I left the house about 7:30.  I wanted to get up there, get them all haltered, and sweep off their rubber mats.  Of course, I had to stop and take photos along the way and it was a good morning to do so.  The clouds were hugging the mountain tops.  I've waited all summer for a day like this and we even got some sprinkles up at the horse ranch in Anza.  One of the horses, Lucille, was running a slight temperature, so she didn't get her shots.  Quad even got his teeth filed down, as he had several sharp ones and he was having trouble eating his alfalfa.  Now he's all better!   :-)

Sorry the photos are so dark, but it was a really DARK day!  No rain in the desert, however.

Man, it was HOT here yesterday!

Apparently it was 113 here yesterday.  The thermometer on our front porch said 109 degrees, but that's on the south side of the house, under the front porch roof.  And, that whole area gets constant shade from our trees.  All I know is that it was HOT!

My task for the day was to clean out the dryer vents, both from the inside and outside.  The inside part was easy (fairly...).  I was able to drag out the dryer, unattach the hose, look inside (it wasn't plugged).  I swept behind it, found an old bra, and 3 dish towels!  Oh, and LOTS of lint.  But, it wasn't overly impacted.  Outside, however, was another story.  I've been wondering why it has been taking our dryer 2 1/2 HOURS to dry a load of clothes.  That isn't normal.  I removed the screen from the vent (the screen is to keep critters OUT), got a pair of BBQ tongs, and started removing chunks of nearly-solid lint.  I kept going further and further in and my waste pile kept getting bigger and bigger!  I finally got in, up to my elbow, AND as far back as I could reach with the tongs.  MY GOODNESS!  Now I see why it was taking so long for a load of clothes to dry!  I've been using an outdoor clothesline for a week now, just because it took so long.  I'm going to ask hubby (who has longer arms than me) to reach in one last time before I attempt to use it again.  No, we don't have a garage vac.  We gave it to our son and he REFUSES to let us borrow it because of all the dog hair.  Isn't that what a garage vac is for?  Oh, well...at some point (after I see how much my vet bill is today for the horses), we'll buy a new one.

The vet is coming today to float Quad's teeth.  The ranch owner noticed a while ago that he was having trouble chewing.  So, the vet will come and take a look.  AND, all the horses will get their shots today also.  So, depending on how much that bill is, I may or may not be able to afford a new garage vacuum.

I took this pic with my cell phone.  My photos are always BLUE and I've adjusted my settings...sigh...oh, well, you get the idea.

Isn't that DISGUSTING?  Ugh...ALL of that was inside the dryer vent out back.

A tribute to my dad...

My dad was the last of his direct male line, a line which he traced back to 1637, to Richard Osborn, who fought in the Pequot War.  I also have a Pequot ancestor, but that's another story.  Dad served in WWII, in New Guinea.  I haven't been able to locate his military records because I don't know the dates he served and he never talked about his service, although at one point, he did mention that the troop carrier which left before his was torpedoed and sank.  He brought back some of his Army equipment like his ammo box, some belts, and other small items (I used to play with them), but he didn't talk extensively about his service.  I know he enlisted after Pearl Harbor.

I am an only child, but being female, I have NO male relatives to check his DNA.  I do, however, have a couple of distant male relatives from the same common ancestor and their DNA haplogroup has come back I1a, which is Norse.  And, as far as I can research, we have many FEMALE families that go back to the Plantagenets, especially the Nevilles.  Nobody can confirm our ancestor's whereabouts or family before 1618, however, as our ancestor's family hasn't been proven.  I keep researching this every summer and I have a pretty good idea of which Osborn line ours came from, but I can't prove it.  It has been an interesting journey.  I spend my summers research various female lines that married into the Osborn male line and frankly, the female ones are MUCH more interesting!

A bit of sunshine from the ranch...

Some of the beautiful roses up at the horse ranch.  It's going to be 113 down here in the desert tomorrow, so I might take a ride up to the mountains.

Had a busy day yesterday at the pool!

So, our daughter asked me to bring my camera yesterday to our granddaughter's swim lessons.  She didn't go Tuesday or Wednesday because she had a slight fever, but yesterday it was normal, so off we all went.  She's taking lessons at the Palm Desert aquatic center, a brand new facility.  There are many different pools there, each for a different age group and specialty.  I got to tag along and take photos.

Ellie is 15 months old now and her parents (THANK GOODNESS) want her to be water safe.  That's important for a child who lives here in the desert, with so many homes having a pool.  We never have had one, but I took both kids to swim lessons as soon as they could walk, EVERY summer!  That was my summer goal.  They are both very confident swimmers and it's good to see that they are ensuring their children are, too.

So, here are some pics from yesterday!

 I like how both parents are in the pool with her.

 Yup...she has to learn how to get OUT of the pool!

Daddy and daughter.  This pool has a very shallow area for little kids to play and explore.  Great idea!

There's even classes for old folks like me.  There's an arthritis exercise class Tuesday and Thursday mornings and I might go to that one for a couple of weeks!   :-)

A thunderstorm or just a tease?

We've had afternoon thunderheads appear nearly every afternoon this week, but no storms here in our valley.  Big Bear and Joshua Tree national park have been getting some rain, and 29 Palms, but no rain yet here in the Coachella valley.  The horse ranch up in Anza got huge drops of rain over July 4th.  So, this morning I awoke to lots of clouds to the southeast, but very little humidity.  One of these afternoons, then, we WILL get some raindrops!  But, maybe not today...