Saying goodbye

The last three years have been really good, career-wise. I have had the opportunity to work with the most wonderful, supportive staff I could imagine.  They have been and still are like an extension of my family.  My personal connections to the job I've had run deep.  My dad and his siblings went to the school where I've been teaching.  One family of my cousins went there, and the youngest of them was in 8th grade when I started.  The building, with all its history, has become like home to me. 

The jobs I had down east were good jobs.  I learned and grew and made friends.  There are many teachers in Eastern NC about whom I care very much.  But I've never had the privilege of working with a group of people who take care of each other, who laugh, cry, celebrate, grieve, worry, pray, and wait together like the men and women I've worked with the last three years. 

Many things can be said about my school.  It has changed, it has problems, it is old, it is not what it used to be.  But a school is really only as good as the teachers in it, and I've been so lucky.

It was really hard to say goodbye.  I might not have seen everyone, and I kept my emotions very much in check, because if I had started, I might not have been able to stop.  My GMS family, you will always be just that: a family.  Thank you so much for your love, support, kind words, prayers, laughs, and general good times.  It's been an honor to work with you.  I love you all so much!

My Venus fly trap caught something!!

Yesterday when I came home, I checked out the garden, as usual.  When I got to the carnivorous section, I discovered this!  My little Venus fly trap caught a huge granddaddy long-legs!  After I endured a momentary shiver, I was enthralled.  All those legs sticking out everywhere!  :)  It's amazing that a *plant* can catch and eat something so much bigger than it.

Square Foot Gardening

We've got lots of pretty plants growing, both uncultivated and in our square foot gardens!  Hopefully later in the summer, we'll have some delicious fruits and veggies to enjoy!

Decades ago my grandparents grew grapes.  They were supported by wires strung between three huge pylons in the back yard.  Today, they grow in a wild tangle with blackberries (below) and brambles and other fun stuff.  I've spent a considerable amount of time out there, working to clear out things that aren't grapes or blackberries and generally make that area more accessible.  Maybe by next year, I'll have it so under control that we can restring the wires, retrain the grapes, and mow around them!

 I planted beans!  They are called Lazy Housewife beans, which made me smile.  They can be eaten young, as snaps, which are not my favorite, or they can be left to dry on the vines and eaten as shelled beans.  They've really taken over, which makes me think they'll live up to their name, as I have done absolutely nothing except plant them and give them a trellis to climb.

 The sweet peas are still small, but they are blooming!

 One of the tomato plants has blooms too!

 And our garden has a tiny guardian!

 I bought a pitcher plant and a Venus fly trap at the Farmer's Market yesterday!  The vendor said to leave them in their peat moss/sandy soil and leave them outside.  In other words, leave it alone!  :)

The Venus fly trap bloomed as soon as I got it home.  Can't wait to share these with my students next year.

The soybeans, which I will harvest while they're young and green and eat shelled as edamame, have tiny purple blooms!