July 21, 2010

Whether the Weather be: Fog (53 F/12C)
In the News: Britain to release secret Lockerbie bombing file (Source: Sydney Morning Herald).
Events of Note: Unit 3 begins

* I was rudely awoken early this morning, not by the cruelty of my alarm clock, but by the loud sounds of "Aaaagoogah" and "Harrow!". Ah, yes, my daughter's much sought after Zhu-Zhu Pet, "Jilly". "Jilly" is pink, white, and a mostly harmless looking toy hamster. But, her shrill, loving, vocal mode is a little much, especially for a defintive non-morning person such as myself.

* I'm angling for a few hours off from school, writing and family commitments, today. Or, perhaps more accurately, I'm aiming for that. My husband, who, in one of his most recent former working lives, was a chef, threw together a perfectly fabulous impromptu late dinner for us, last night. Stuffed, savory, baked potatoes-filled with fresh green pepper, green onions, vine-ripened tomatoes, smoked ham, Swiss cheese and light sour cream-topped with freshly ground black pepper and a delicate pinch of garlic and sea salt flakes. It was simply delicious for a chilly Summer's evening. Dessert was Summer Peach ice-cream. I'm contemplating baking a Nectarine Toffee Cobbler for tonight's dessert-featuring fresh white nectarines lightly poached in Vanilla. Periodically, I've baked cakes for catering events, and one of my most popular cakes is a Summer version, which has a sweet strawberry glaze. Maybe I'll share it on here, at some point?.

* You would think that between school, maintaining four different weblogs (in varying states of currency) and writing posts for OS (Open Salon) that I have quite enough writing projects happening in my life. Well, not quite!. Recently, my mother-in-law, a retired senior high school English and Drama teacher, started writing her memoirs. She just got a proof copy of one of her 'volumes' back from the publisher, and I was really pleased for her. Seeing and editing her dedicated efforts has motivated me to write a book, myself. Mostly for my daughter's sake-about my earlier life in New Zealand. But, that's a much longer-term writing ambition that will most likely stretch out to a couple years worth of sweat, frustration and procrastination. At least!.

* I've been tinkering with the design and format of this blog, but haven't yet found a design that I particularly like, so this basic black and white one will have to be sufficient for the meantime.

* On today's school agenda, is navigating my way around Unit 3 for both of my courses, and scheduling this week's worth of work. In addition, I want to write up some summary sheets for my Anat&Phys. This week's unit for that, on Cells and Tissues, looks to be a little more complex than previous units have been so far.

* Well, that's it for today, I think. I'm wishing that this fickle, Coastal weather would settle, one way or the other. My Perennial garden is in desperate need of rain at the moment. Even my marigolds-traditionally hardy and indifferent to the coastal climate, are suffering. By contrast, in my mother's garden in New Zealand, has been frustratingly frozen solid for a considerable time. Winter arrived much earlier and harsher in the Southern Hemisphere, this year.