Thursday, August 27, 2009
Fourth day of school
Day two, he said, "well, socially I think this will be fine, but I'm not so sure about academically." He was anxious about already being behind because of computer issues. (No wireless access in the temporary building makes it tough to do online school.) That evening we talked to his US History teacher, who suggested that he start history and math after Labor Day, and the academic pressure relaxed.
Day three, yesterday, massive confusion about pick-up location amidst a torrential downpour, but when he finally made it home, he said, "I had a really fun day today." YAY!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Plants and other living things
I guess it's still a good home, though. When I looked through the viewfinder, I realized that the plant had an inhabitant that seemed quite happy to be there, although less happy to have a giant looming human peering at it.
Even more than the dead rosemary, though, I can't believe that the flowers are thriving. Plants are weird.
I had another picture of the plants, a close-up. But I couldn't resist this one with Zelda smiling at me from the door. Happy flowers, a happy dog, a happy lizard--three out of four isn't so bad.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Dinner
Friday, August 14, 2009
Going gray
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Family visit
Monday, August 10, 2009
The game has changed
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Leaving the house
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Tenterhooks
Tenterhooks were used as far back as the fourteenth century in the process of making woollen cloth. After the cloth was woven it still contained oil from the fleece and some dirt. A fuller (also called a tucker or walker) cleaned the woolen cloth in a fulling mill, and then had to dry it carefully or the wool would shrink. To prevent this shrinkage, the fuller would place the wet cloth on a large wooden frame, a "tenter", and leave it to dry outside. The lengths of wet cloth were stretched on the tenter (from the Latin "tendere", to stretch) using hooks (nails driven through the wood) all around the perimeter of the frame to which the cloth's edges (selvages) were fixed so that as it dried the cloth would retain its shape and size.[1] At one time it would have been common in manufacturing areas to see tenter-fields full of these frames.
By the mid-eighteenth century the phrase "on tenterhooks" came into use to mean being in a state of uneasiness, anxiety, or suspense, stretched like the cloth on the tenter.
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Surprise and earnest observations
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Braces
The two Floridas
Monday, August 3, 2009
What is not perfect?
In other news, the bird is chewing up my credit card bill, making little pieces with which she will pretend to build a nest. I like this use for a credit card bill better than any other I could have imagined.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Pool ball
The new water game uses the basketball. People get points every time we successfully throw the ball out of the pool and manage to get it to roll under the patio table. The dog tries to block it, of course. We lose points every time Zelda jumps into the water to retrieve the ball because we haven't passed it back out to her quickly enough.