"Tryp" tophan

This is your brain on turkey!

*click on the title for more info on trypto

Soggy Bottoms

Too late I get the information about how to prevent soggy pie crust bottoms. . . . I slept in a little bit this morning and then got up to start my Thanksgiving Day baking. I cooked up some cranberry sauce since I've had cranberries in my freezer for quite a while and frankly, I can eat the whole pot myself between now and the first of Dec., then I cooked up a pumkin pie and since the oven was already hot, I threw in a chocolate pecan pie. I had been planning to take a little break and bake the other pie this afternoon, since I had to run to the bank. (N0ne of that fancy direct deposit for me, thank you very much.) Anyway, the pies are done, I'm on my way back from the bank, listening to NPR. (It's kinda odd that I can listen to NPR in my car but not in my house???) They're talking football on NPR and I'm not really listening when I hear the subject change to pies. I perk up my ears to listen and the guest chef says, ". . . for example pumpkin and pecan pies, since they're both custard pies, you have to precook the crust before you add the filling. Just add a cooked filling to a cooked crust and you won't get that soggy bottom. GREAT! Now he tells me. So if y'all leave your crust on the plate, my feeling won't be hurt. Just remind me next year.

New Look, New Links

Hi, I finally figured out how to add links to my blog. I guess I went overboard, but in case I missed one let me know about it, the missing link I mean. I'm sure the missing link is in our family somewhere

Veteran's Day

Flags, wave 'em if you got 'em.

127 - 50 = 77

127
You scored 127 on Tickle's IQ test.
Your mind's strengths allow you to think ahead of the game — to imagine or anticipate what should come next in just about any situation. Because you're equally skilled in the numerical and verbal universes of the brain, you can draw from multiple sources of information to come up with great ideas. The timelessness of your vision and the balance between your various skills are what make you a Visionary Philosopher. In addition to your strengths in math and linguistics, you have a knack for matching and anticipating patterns. These skills and your uncanny ability to detect the underlying blueprint of most of life's situations add to your Visionary Philosopher mind.

Of course I loose 50 points for spending the better part of an hour in front of the computer taking the test in the first place when I could have been 1. reading a book 2. playing my video game and looking for the 2 missing canine warriors 3. having a bowl of ice cream or 4. getting to bed on time.

PS Did I mention that our school is being visited by OPI as part of an evaluation since our school has failed to meet AYP (No Schools Left Standing) criteria for success? It's showtime!

Do You Want Fries With That?

This is what my cirulation desk looks like in my newly reorganized library. The windows behind the desk open onto the hallway. If you look closely you can see an opening in the side of the counter where the books are returned and a scanner on the top where the books are scanned for check out or check in. Under the black hood is a computer monitor that is recessed into the counter so it is not taking up space on the countertop. Unfortunalty I haven't been checking out too many books yet. I'm working on getting some new books now that the shelves are cleaned up and there is room for them. Hopfully there will be something there to tempt the high school readers.

Storm in a Bucket

Honestly! We give him fresh water every day!

PS The bucket is one we keep on the porch during the day to collect the frost, snow or dew that runs off the roof onto the porch. We don't use the water for anything, we just don't want it to freeze on the porch.

Tempest in a Teacup

. . . or Storm in a glass. Remember this cat? In an earlier post we saw him drinking from a birdbath. Now here he is trying to drink out of my glass. The irony is that I used this glass because my preferred glass, a squat, wide-mouthed glass is also his favorite. So I chose this glass with its narrow stem to discourage him from drinking from my glass. I missed the picture of him with his face stuck all the way in the glass and got this one where his is trying to fish some water out.

Sourdough Cure All

Friday, 20 October 2006
The day started out perfectly. I was in Billings for the teacher conference in Billings. I drove into Billings Wednesday night after supper so I wouldn't have to get up before dawn on Thursday to drive in. So I was rested and was able to enjoy the sessions I attended. I got a lot of great ideas for books to purchase for our students. Friday, I didn't have a session I wanted to attend until 10:00, so dad made some sourdough pancakes. Pete must have known, or smelled them cooking so he got up early and we enjoyed a terrific breakfast, sourdough pancakes, orange juice and good company. I left for Skyview High School at 9:00, because I hate being late or feeling rushed. I got to Skyview around 9:20 and spent 20-25 minutes looking for parking. I almost decided to "ditch" classes and go back when I spotted a reasonable space on the street and I got to the classroom 10 minutes early, not rushed at all. It was worth it too, because I won a free book and got a great new publisher. By then the sky was looking very threatening and rain was in the forecast. The wind had picked up and the bite of cold air had memories of snow in it. When I ran into some colleagues from Colstrip, they said they were heading out because the weather was looking bad. Well, I decided that since I didn't have another session until 1:00, I might as well head out too. I went back to the house and told dad and Pete that I'd decided to head out after lunch instead of waiting until 4:00 or so. We saw the weather report on the noon news and it said snow was coming, then we went to ARBYS for some lunch, came back to the house, not forgeting to load up on lettuce and green tomatoes. So far, so good????

I had one more errand to run before heading out of town. Get the oil in my car changed. I headed out on 24th to the MasterLube on King Ave. On the way down 24th I spotted a store I'd never noticed before, Coldwater Creek. I've purchased some things from their catalog and they had 70% off signs on the windows, so I stopped. I swear it was only for 20 min. Then I drove to Master Lube and got in line. After waiting for 10 min. One of the service men came out and asked me to move to the other line. I obliged. I waited for another 10 minutes and another serviceman came out and asked me to backup and let the car in the other line move ahead of me since she had been waiting longer than I was. The reasoning was the the car in the bay at that line was getting a service that took 30 min. instead of the 10 it takes to get an oil change. I backed up and left altogether. I go to Master Lube for the convience; this was not so convient. I spotted WalMart across the street and decided to go over there for the oil change. At least I could pick up a few things on my list while I waited. It took 30 min to find the things on my list and 2 hours to get the oil changed. I was not a happy person at all.

So what lesson did I learn?
1. Don't ditch your classes?
2. Be patient and stay in line if you've already invested 20 minutes in waiting?
3. Don't be distracted by 70% off?
4. None of it matters because at the end of the day is the memory of having sourdough pancakes with my dad and little bro?

Beta Blues

Hi everyone. I switched to the BETA version of blogger and so far I wish I hadn't. I haven't been able to make too many customized changes and when I tried to leave a comment on someone else's blog, I got an error message that said the beta version logon couldn't leave comments on non-beta accounts. So, don't go getting any wild ideas about switching to the BETA version of Blogger. Just be happy with what you got.


PS. I'll keep trying to leave comments, The error message said it was "in the works."

Productive Week

I had a very productive week at work. We got all the shelves, old and new into postion, shelved all the ficiton , magazines , reference and half the Dewey section. All that's left is to finish the Dewey section and take a few weeks off to rest before the next project "Genrefication!" Did I mention that we've been doing an inventory as we moved the books? Anyway, I better start thinking about what to do when all the reorganizing is done; I need some way of getting the students into the library to use all that's availible. Since I've declared that the comptuters can't be used for music and games, I haven't had too many students coming to the library. I'm afraid that if I can't make the staff and students see how a library can be used, all our work will have been to turn a perfectly good library into a "set" complete with books for props.

New Shelves - Day 2

Miracles really do happen. The new shelves are assembled and ready for books. They were shipped without assembly instructions, but since they are exactly like the shelves we already have it wasn't too hard to figure out how to assemble them. It would have been nice to know the order in which they went together easiest and which hardware went where. I started calling the company to ask them for instructions, but no one answered the phone until 9:30 by which time we had already put together the first section. Our head maintenence man stayed with it until it was all finished and he even hung the pictures that had come down in the reorganization. We just have one more major move before we're finished and we'll have a brand new library, for all intents and purposes. I hope to be finished before the end of the week, a few weeks before my goal of Nov. 2, the night of our parent/teacher conference.

New Shelves - Day 1

Shelfless . . . in Lame Deer

So a week ago the salesman from Montana School Equipment called and told me that my new library shelves were going to be shipped from Missoula on Thursday. He reckoned that they would arrive in Lame Deer late on Friday afternoon, how long does it take after all? So we start moving things around to be ready for their arrival. We've already been putting things in order, cataloging the backlog of new books and weeding like a Martha Stewart gardener in preparation for our new shelves. The assistant librarians have been reading the shelves and we've been able to use the books even though they aren't in apple pie order. Well the shelves didn't arrive on Friday or Monday. Tuesday I get a message from the Voc/Ag teacher that the trucker had called to tell her that he was in Miles City and would be arriving the next day. He thought that with a load as heavy as a 1/2 ton of library shelves must be heavy equipment for the shop. The salesman called on Tuesday to see if the shelves arrived OK and not damaged at all. He called and said, "Hi this is D.... from Montana School Equipment." I said, " Hi, this is shelfless in Lame Deer." He chuckled and said he would try to track them down. Finally, just before leaving work today,Thursday, a week later, the custodian told me that my shelves were on the loading dock, so we are shelfless no more. The answer to the question, "How long does it take to get from Missoula to Lame Deer?" is 1 week.

Now the question is how long will it take to assemble the shelves and get the books moved to their new homes? Then how long to get the pictures hung and the "assesories" in place? Let's hope it doesn't take too long, we have Open House on the 24th.

Autumn Commute

Two times of the year I don't mind commuting the 26 miles to my school in Lame Deer, the early spring when the new leaves are a soft green and make green haloes on the trees and autum when they turn new colors before dropping off the trees altogether. I suppose it's because there are so few "non-evergreen" trees that it's quite a novelty for me to see the leafy
trees foretelling the change of seasons. BTW, FYI, I hate commuting in the winter. 2 iffy.

I've just gotten back from a visit to Billings to see my dad and youngest brother. Dad got home from the hospital on Wednesday after a visit that ended up with the placement of two stents. I guess it's not as major a deal as I thought. All I could remember was the by-pass surgeries and the long recovery. He was ready to go home the day after the procedure, but they made him wait another day . . . just because. It was good to visit with him and ascertain for myself that he really seems no worse for the ordeal.

I'm looking forward to getting to work tomorrow to see if my new library shelves were delivered as promised. It will be a miracle if they ended up at the high school as Friday was an early out due to a town parade. If they are anywhere in the district it will be good news. If they are actually at the high school, it will be a miracle.

I'm also looking forward to having some of my brother's tomatoes and my dad's bread for dinner. So I'll write more later. Hopefully, I'll be busy this week rearranging the books on the new shelves.

Native American Week

It's been a very eventful week, partly because of Native American Week and partly because things are still unsettled at school. I took this picture this morning after it had been raining. They set the tipi up yesterday and explained a few things about how it used to be done by the women. The opening is facing east as is customary for the most part.

The corn on the hillside is was planted by the FFA club and is quite good eating.

Indian Summer

It seems that the warm afternoons of Indian Summer are over and the cool days of autumn are here. It has been cold and drizzling all day. I think a few snowflakes sneaked in among the raindrops. It got so cold that I had to bake some cookies to warm up the kitchen;)

Things at work have settled down to a routine. Not very many patrons dropping into the library, but then the computers have been down with a virus, and most of the patrons are digitally oriented, makes me wonder why I'm spending so much time trying to get the books in order. My new bookshelves are supposed to be shipped this week. Since it's also Native American Week, if they do come on schedule, they probably won't get set up for another week or two. There's talk in the lounge that we're going to switch from a 7 period day to an 8 period day. Seems to me that decision should have been made before school even started, not 5 weeks into the 1st quarter. The longer I work here, the more amazed I am at our students. They have learned everything we've shown them about school. Teachers dropping out, no long term plans, talking back to supervisors, they've seen it all, and copied it.

As I said, Native American Week is coming up and I intend to enjoy it. It used to make me stress a lot to think of the interuptions and kids all wound up. But now that I know it will all settled down again, I enjoy learning what I can about the heritage of my students. Some of them get a little hostile towards school and "white" teachers when they spend a week hearing about the way their ancestors were treated. I can't say as I blame them.

Bird Soup

A few moments before this picture was taken, there was a small flock of birds waiting to take their turns at the birdbath. Guess who took cuts? He seems to want to drink out of anything but his water dish. I'm guessing it had the delicate flavor of feathers and bird droppings.

Project Organize

Here's what the top of my dresser looks like. I know it looks messy, but if I hide (store) my jewelry in a box I never wear it. I've got to have it out so I can see it every morning when I get dressed. Also, a lot of it was given to me by either mom or Bill, or by Dad after mom died. So when I see it, I have to smile. Sometimes I pretend it's my armor, like in a video game I play. I have a bracelet of good health +25 or a ring of invicibility +47, somedays, I wish it really worked that way.

Anyway, I saw this cool earring holder that Natalie had and I finally found one like hers, just where she said, Claire's. It makes it a lot easier to pick out a pair of earrings for the day. The rings fit nicely on the red, glass hand that Andrew gave me a long time ago, but I've got nothing for all the bangly bracelets. Any one got any ideas? The just sort of sit in a heap on the dresser.

This & That

This
In spite of the fact that our school's computer network broke down this week due to a massive virus infection, I had a pretty good week at work. We got all of the books on the shelves sorted and weeded, the noxious weeds at least. Weeding is what librarians call pulling outdated, tattered or unneeded books from the collection. I've had the books placed on tables so that people can take them if they want. After all, one man's weed is another's flower, right? After two weeks, I still have quite a few books on the tables. A staff member asked me what I was going to do with the books that no one wanted. I said that I would start taking them to the dumpster on Tuesday, after the long weekend. She got a pained look on her face. I mean, in my eyes it proves I made a good choice to pull the books. No one even wanted to take them for free. Chances are really good that no one would check them out of the library, right? I keep explaining that we can't get new books if there is no place to put them. I do believe that our students deserve to have at least a few books in their library that were written in this century, and now we'll have some place to put them.

That
After a few weeks of brutal heat, the weather has turned mild, downright chilly at times. What a relief. It's starting to feel like fall weather, cool mornings and warm afternoons. I've even seen a few trees that are starting to turn yellow and birds that are starting to gather in large groups. Fall is probably my favorite time of the year.

...and 38 to Go!

Well as I figure it, that's one week down and 38 to go. We just finished our first week of school and it wasn't all that bad. I had a few classes come in for the first time and a few of the students even checked out a book or two. I'm reorganizing the library: consolidating the old jr. high collection with the high school collection and moving the whole thing to another wall while at the same time weeding out library books that are old enough to have been on the shelves of my school library when I was in grade school. It doesn't make any sense that a library that's less than 10 years old should have so many old books, but someone (probably a penny penching principal) collected old books from other libraries that threw them out. Don't know why anyone would want to start a brand new library of the 21st Century with a lot of old books, but it happened.

Anyway, all that moving of books has really inflamed my bursitic shoulder. It's a good thing I have some student assitant librarians. Now that I've got a pattern going I can get them to help me move the books and spare my shoulder and wrist. Did I mention that my wrist is starting to fall apart? Did I mention that my library assistants are amazing? I watched one of them check out books while entering new patron names at the same time. She was as smooth as I am and I've had 5 years of practice and she's had 5 minutes. Just proves to me that kids are as comfortable if not more comfortable with computer stored iformation than old-fasioned print materials. Gives me a lot to think about when planning the future of our library.

Busy Week

I just finished my first week back to work and I'm really tired, but righteously tired. I worked hard! I was attempting to learn where things are and get what the teacher's needed to start teaching next week when the students arrive. Also we had numerous meetings with staff and administrators, but I barely remember those, thinking too much about other things. Jimmy was never far from my mind and as long as I kept my hands busy I could keep my memories of him from becoming overwhelmingly sad. I can't say that the library is ready for the students yet, far from it, but I'm hoping to enlist their help to get it ready.

I suspect our cat has fleas. He's never had them before that I know of, but we're getting some mysterious looking bug bites. So today, I go to town to get some flea stuff for the cat and then spend the rest of the day vacuuming and washing bedding. Better get busy.

Playmate, come out and play

I've lost my childhood playmate. He never forgot how to play like a child. I need to remember.

God Bless

We just got some sad news about our brother. He has returned to the hospital to fight another round with the cancer. He has been fighting the cancer with valor and with love for his family. We are all in his corner for this fight and are here when he needs us. Just let us know what to do.

Library MEss

This is the state of my libary as of today. I just found out that the new shelves won't be coming until the end of Septmeber. So probably, this will be the state of the library until Halloween. I'll post some new pix then.

Family Ties

I've had a very good week. Andrew came to Ashland for an over night visit and brought his girlfriend. She must have good luck because the sky was clear and she got her first taste of the night sky through a telescope. She said she would never look at the sky in quite the same way again.

It was good to see Andrew as we'd lost touch for a few weeks, which tends to make me worry, especially when I've not got much else to think about, summer being a slow time for me. Then on MOnday, I went into Billings to visit family. Brother Ken was down from Helena and brother Pete is off on Monday nights so Monday dad took us out for a nice family dinner. Then Pete and I sat up too late watching a movie that Andrew had recommended to me when he was here. There's a six degree separation going on here somewhere if I could figure it out.

Tuesday I just hung out, ran a few errands and made a salad for dad and me for dinner and then came home. Very relaxing and enjoyable company.

Today, Wednesday, I got a letter from my school district with the agenda for our first days of school which start on 16 August!
There are 3 laws I would lobby to get passed. 1. No Daylight Savings Time 2. Elect the President by popular vote instead of the Electoral College 3. No School starting before Labor Day. (and maybe a 4th - No politician may mention their opponent by name or inference in any campaigning)

Look! No Cavities

I went to Colstrip to see the dentist today and had lunch with one my friends from Lame Deer Jr. High. Those were some of the best years of my teaching career, good friends and the feeling that we were personally making a difference in the education of the students. It's not that I don't like the people I work with now, but its just not the same. Anyway, NO Cavities! and I won't say I liked it, but it was air conditioned and even the canned Muzak wasn't too bad.

PS...the hygenist had to spend 30 minutes just cleaning my teeth and she wouldn't lecture me, but I need to FLOSS!

Kitchen Design

I'm slowly putting my kitchen design together. I started with the curtains which are a pale golden color with a red/green trim. Since a rooster is featured in the curtains, I got some other rooster stuff to try to make it look designed instead of thrown together. I've tried to find a small plant to put in the rooster planter, but so far nothing. I'm afraid I'll have to leave it empty or go with fake plants and so far I don't have any fake plants in my house. (A few very unhealthy live plants though) I found some rub on decals to trim the cupboard doors a little, but not much; I have a tendancy to go overboard, so I'm trying to be "understated." I also bought silver trimed salt/pepper and also a dish drainer that is silver. Anyway, it's not finished, but it is not quite so bland. 

Blow winds, crack your trees!

ON the right is a picture of a tree that got topped in last night's wind storm. On the left is a picture of another tree that was uprooted in the wind storm. We didn't spot it until later this afternoon. It had very shallow roots just sittng on a square foot of soil in a rock outcropping. I suppose you could call it an ill wind that brought no good. It didn't bring any rain, which we really need, and it fanned the flames of fires that were burning in the Billings area. Our house still has that smoky smell that you always take away with you after sitting around the campfire. Only this smell brings with it the knowledge that the campfire could have been someone's home. The sky is clear this morning though and promises to be a very hot day again. (see yesterday's post)

PS. I'm adding to this post the next day and we are now surrounded by smoke from local fires. When I drove back from Lame Deer this afternoon, I saw a house in flames and dozens of people in their cars watching the flames. They had no where else to go, they'd been evacuated. Hope there are enough firefighters to go around; this side of the state seems to be on fire.

To Quote Cole Porter

It's too darn hot!

PS. Happy Birthday little BRO!

Finished for Now

Well, I decided to call it finished for now. There's still paint in the seams on the glue, but I don't want to try to get all the paint for fear of losening the glue and making it fall apart. Can anyone tell me what kind of wood it is? I'm guessing walnut or maple, the lids are veneer and the sides are solid. The brass on the feet polished up real well, maybe too well. I'll keep my eyes open for a finishg that will make it a little darker.

I think that if you click on the picture, you get a larger view. 

Happy 4th

We woke up to blue skies and a light, cool breeze, perfect flag flying weather. Hope you all have a good day with your family and friends. 

Sewing Box

Ken was gathering some things from the garage to take home with him when I saw this "workbox." I immediatly recognized it as a sewing box that mom had when I was little, or as my students would say, "Don't you mean littler, Ms. Taylor?" Anyway, I remember playing with it a lot. When I brought it home, it was painted with a faux finish of brown streaks over a coat of dark yellow. I stripped the paint off and am now down to the bare wood in places. It's in pretty fragile condition, some cracks, some repaired , some not. Any way I have had some good memories and sad memories of mom as I've worked on it and am anxious to finish taking off the old "finish" to put on a new finish. I'm thinking of hand rubbed tung oil.

I had noticed right away the brand on the bottom and thought that there should be a way to trace the patent and find out more about it. It is a tribute to summer vacation laziness, that I, a librarian took 2 weeks to realize that I just had to look on the US Patent Office website to find it. http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html If you use this link and the number 1707806, you can find a picture of the patent papers. It was given a patent on April 4, 1927. (on the search page, change the date box to 1790 to present) It was patented because of the unique nature of the now missing hinge feature that automatically closed one lid when you opened the other lid. I remember playing with the lids quite a bit, that's probably why. And come to think of it, that's probably why the hinge is missing now.

I haven't been able to decipher the chalk marks on the bottom though. I'll post a picture of the finished product. Don't wait up for it though, I'm working on the legs right now and it could take a while longer than I think. Lots of turns with lots of paint stuck in them. 

There's a Tomato Tale in Here Somewhere

OK, first of all this is one of those trick pictures that Picassa let's you do called a multiple exposure. There are two pictures blended into one. There's a close up picture of a tomato plant and a wide angle picture of a curved, arc structure.

Here's the story. A lot of years ago, I thought it would be neat to have a hammock in the back yard. I could lie in the hammock in the evening and read my book and enjoy the balmy breezes..or I could lie in the hammock at night and watch the stars come out. Good idea, right? Not really as it turns out. The sun is still to bright when it's light enough to read and the skeeters get you when the stars come out. If I sit in my recliner chair by the widows with the door open to create a cross draft, I get the same effect. And I just lie on the porch to watch the stars come out. Well, after years of putting the hammock up each year after school lets out and putting it back in Andrew's room under the bed or in the closet or somewhere before the first snow flies, I mentioned to Bill that we might as well take the hammock to the dump. It was in the car before the next sun set. All that remains in the yard is a metal arc that is very well made and has sturdy construction and will outlast our house, I think.

Now to the tomato part.

At either end of the hammock frame are round rings on which to hook the hammock. (Please notice that the preceding sentences does not end with a prepostion) I had a notion that a hanging pot of flowers might brighten up the yard and could be hung from one of the hooks. As luck would have it, the grocery store in town frequently gets plants and cut flowers delivered and they had a nice big pot of flowers with petunias, alyseum, pansies and a few other unidentified flowers. I brought it home and hung it from the hammock frame, but then it looked unbalanced. You can kinda see the pink petunias in the picture. So on Mother's Day weekend when we went to Miles City, I was looking for a pot to balance out the arc. I saw a nice, bushy looking pot with these puny, yellow flowers. I read the little stick they put in the pots to tell you what the name of the plant is and it was a . . . . have you guessed by now? A Tomato plant! And today, I picked my first tomatoes!!!!!!

PS. Does anyone know how to format these pictures in the blog so you can have the text surrounding the pictures?

PPS. I just added a second picture to the blog without using PIcass!

Aunties and Uncles at the Battlefield

Another beautiful summer's afternoon was spent at the Little Bighorn Battlefield. We'll have to make Uncle Lee and Aunt Irene stay the summer to make sure we don't get the hot weather that's coming. I drove out to the Battlefield to meet up with my aunties and uncles and spent the afternoon taking the tour. I've been several times already but one can always learn a little more each time. Our museum lecture was presented by a Ranger from the Crow tribe, which was a first for me. It gave the story a slightly different slant than the one I've heard in my Cheyenne history classes. We went to the Trading Post shop across the highway and I was in for another suprise. I've only been to the shop in the off season and it was quite crowed on a June afternoon so close to the anniversary of the Battle. I stopped by the Kentucky Fried Chicken at the gas station stop to bring home supper and got home just in time to put it on the table. 

Family Fotos

If you look closely you'll see that the people in this picture are looking at pictures of people in pictures. They are my family looking at pictures of their family. On Father's Day we spent a wonderful evening at my cousin's house visiting with family that we don't get to see very often. My aunt and uncle came in from "back East" and dad brought along a few family albums to share. We ate good food, way too much dessert and talked 'til the skeeters came out. Hope everyone had as good a day as we had. 

Workshops and Laptops

I've been attending a workshop at Lame Deer this week and I brought my laptop to take notes. I bought it last year and I haven't used it enough to get really comfortable with it. Now I'm at my desktop computer and I'm having trouble with this keyboard.....yesh who woudda thought it would happen like that?


Anyway, this workshop is about developing a curriculum to teach the history and culture of the Northern Cheyenne to our students and students around the state. In 1972 the Montana Constitution was revised and contained a provision to have all students educated about the native people of the state, Indian Education for All, and now in 2006, the money has been budgeted and the schools are actually expected to implement the law. Of course it took a few years of litigation to make it happen but it is necessary if people are going to stop being ignorant of special nature of the tribes in Montana. I have been working on or near the Northern Cheyenne Reservation for 26 years now and I have learned a few things about the history and culture, but sadly, no language. I do encounter racist attitudes from people when I mention that I work at Lame Deer. When I read comments in the Billings Gazette, I realize that most people really don't understand the special nature of treaty rights and sovereignty; I barely understand them myself and I've been trying for a few years now. Anyway, I think that if the study of Montana tribes will help educate the general populace and help the bad feelings between the tribes and the "white" population.

I'm not sure why I was invited to participate since all the other members are Northern Cheyenne. I guess I'm the "token." Kind of a new feeling for me, but not a bad feeling, I don't think anyone resents my presence, at least I hope not.

Kitchen Makeovered

Well, it's officially painted. I'll get to deocorating it after I can get to one of the "MART" stores and find something colorful to add. It's quite bland compared to what it has been for the last several years, but I'll think of it as a blank canvass just waiting for some color. Right now I gotta think of some way to celebrate it's completion, definitly not cooking in it though. Then I'd have to clean it again! 

Waterworks

Every summer I move the fridge out and dust behind it and since I was painting, I had to move it anyway. So this summer when I move it and dusted I must have jostled something I shouldn't have or the fridge is just plain old, but we had a minor leak for a few hours. There is a hose leading into the fridge to the ice cube maker. We've never used it since we don't even drink the water without filtering it. Anyway that was the hose that leaked. Bill just turned the water off under the house and cut the ice maker hose and capped it. No more leak! Not a very dramatic story, but I just had to tell it in light of the other leaky pipe stories.

Kitchen Makeover

Last summer I debated and debated whether or not to paint my kitchen. By the time I'd made up my mind to do it, it was August already and too hot to paint. I painted once in August and the paint steamed on the walls, not the best way for paint to dry. So this summer, once I'd returned from Dickenson, I told myself that if I didn't paint right away, I would let it go another summer. I wish I hadn't listened to myself. Once you start painting, you can't stop until it's all done, at least I can't. I'd forgotten how tedious cabinet doors are to paint, and I'm only doing the outside, the inside can wait! This is a picture of what the cupboards looked like "before." Next week, or when ever I get it finished, I'll post the "after" picture.

I'm painting everything the same neutral "golden biscuit" color. I figure that I can get colorful curtains and dodads for the walls and when I get tired of that color, I just have to get new curtains instead of painting the whole shebang, 'cause I doubt seriously that I will feel like painting again any time in the near or distant future. 

Grad's Weekend

This is the 3rd time I've tried this posting. The first time I published it on the Lame Deer Morning Stars Blog. Then I fell asleep for a few hours and tried again when I awoke. After messing up yet again I accidentally pushed the wrong buttons. If this doesn't work, I'll just send the picture via email and write the posting without pix.

Anyway, the graduation weekend started when dad came over to Ashland on Friday night. We left Saturday morning to attend Jon's graduation on Sunday. Saturday we had supper at a Mexican restaurant with hats all over the walls. I think it was called the sombrero. Sunday afternoon we attended Jon's graduation ceremony. It started with a Rose Mass and at the end of the service the graduates presented roses to their parents. (notice that Jon is wearing a red grad gown? Geoff was wearing a red grad gown too. Coincidence??? or not????) I didn't get very many good pictures of the ceremony as I didn't move from my seat and the stage was too far away. I know I've taken pictures of cows in fields farther away than that stage was, must be the difference between stagelight and sunligh. I'll have to figure out how to set my camera better. I got a few good pictures of the family at the house afterwards. I'll post those on the Yahoo site or just email them if my luck doesn't get any better.

We had a good time at the open house meeting and getting reaquainted with Jon's Hellman relatives. Cec and Natalie had set up a buffet of food to snack and chat with and it was good. In fact I had such a good time, I think I'll ask Natalie to reserve me a seat at her graduation. We headed back early Monday morning and the traffic was still light for the first "vacation" day of the year so we made good time getting home.

PS. For those who haven't heard yet, Jon is going to Rome next week for his "senior trip." I tease him that since he didn't speak much Italian, his job would be to translate for the German tourists.

Old Pictures

I was cleaning out my closet; it seemed like a good idea at the time. I basically transferred stuff from old cardboard boxed into nice, clean plastic boxes with lids. Anyway I found this old picture. I think it was taken at Templed Hills, maybe the year I was the assistant cook. I'm in the first row near the top and David and Janet are in the second row near the bottom. I think that's Win Seitz behind David, but I don't recognize any one else. Maybe I need a magnifying glass or something, eh?

Marcell Moo So

For 25 years I've been meaning to take this picture so I could call it Marcell Moo So and today I finally remembered to take my camera with me. So here it finally is. We took a drive up to Miles City today. Yesterday I spent the day trying to get the yard mowed. I managed to get the area around the house mowed and the rest can wait till next weekend, maybe. I knew it was time to mow finally when the dandelions all turned to puf f balls and the cat disapeared in the lawn and could only be spotted by his tail moving in and out of the tall grass. So anyway, I was ready to get out of the yard for a while and decided to take the scenic route up to Miles City and maybe take a few pictures along the way. It is so green this spring! I wanted to enjoy it before it all turns brown. Anyway, we started off up the dirt road behind our house and didn't get very far before the ruts threatened to swallow up my little car. I took a few picutures and turned around and took the almost scenic route on the highway to Broadus and then north to Miles City. It was a beautiful day for a drive, sunny and not too hot. I had second thoughts about it, considering the price of gas, but I will say it was cheaper to come home than to get there. Gas was $.20 cheaper in Miles City. Now that's not right. . . I don't pay $.20 more for a loaf of bread or a can of soda. Why should the price of gas be so different from place to place????? 

Mother's Day

It has been a melancholy and teary week for me. All the adds for Mother's Day gifts reminding me that I have no one to send gifts to this year. I always enjoyed looking around and trying to find a gift that mom would enjoy.

Dancing with Meth = Death

I was part of the Lame Deer Rally Against Meth yesterday. All in all it was a good experience for me, and for the students as well, but probably not for the same reasons. We marched (walked) from the Indian Health Clinic to the Tribal Building all wearing T shirts that said "Don't Meth With ME." The shirts had been handed out at the clinic, as were some banners and placards. I was walking behind a student carrying a poster that was reinforced with a strip of card board that had writing on the backside. It said "Tauscher, Jr. HI." For those of you who don't know, Tauscher retired a few years ago, but her name lives on. It was a pleasant day, with sun and a nice breeze every now and then, but it was too many hours in the sun for me. I sort of zoned out after lunch. I had worn my hat and was carrying a large umbrella for shade, so I didn't get sunburned much at all. The kids either took off for town or stuck around, but most didn't listen to the speeches. I really think that the kids will learn their lessons about drugs from the examples set before them, not from speeches. We adults could get inspired to set good examples, but for the kids it was a "free day."

Two weeks and counting down!!!!!

To Mow or Not?

  

This is the 3rd time I've tried to post this, so you're getting the abbrieviated version. The reason my yard looks like a pasture instead of a lawn is because I don't want to kill the little flowers that are part of the greenery. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. When the flowers are past full bloom, then I'll start thinking about mowing.