fat n' sassy farm animals, etc.

It's been a good long while...again...since I've updated the blog. And I've decided I need to be okay with that, because I'm rediscovering that doing perfectly all the things I want/need to get done at any given time is just not possible. The good news is that a lot of imperfect, gorgeous things have been going on since I last checked in. Things like the kids starting back to a school year that's going very well. I'm proud of our little rural school for being one of the top performers in the state - and that includes private and charter schools! We have a pretty amazing blend of teachers and administration, and I always feel that my kids' education is right at the top of the priority list where it belongs despite the budget crunches and other woes the American educational system has been facing for way too long now.

The all-school field trip to the County Fair happened last week, and even though Zzari got out of the pasture and decimated a good chunk of my corn crop while we were gone, it was still a great day: The 4-H kids from our school and other districts showed their animals while we were there, which is always fun. I'd had some big fun judging the 4-H County Fair horse show the previous weekend, and it's always neat to see horses and young competitors from all of the county showing off the skills they've been honing all year. So, life has pretty much been all about fat and sassy farm animals more than usual for the past month or so.

What else? Oh! Laurie Halse Anderson had a writing challenge going on her blog for the month of August, but I didn't realize it until it ended! No matter. I'm going back to day one and starting from there, making part of September and October my own personal writing challenge month. This will be fun especially since I'm still undecided about NaNoWriMo this year: it's going to be a super busy soap season for me in November and December, and I've learned the hard way that trying to soap, write and teach at 100% capacity all at once is not conducive to also maintaining my sanity. And I need my sanity, thankyouverymuch.

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pulling through

Looking for something to do with the kids during these waning dog days of summer? How about an old-fashioned taffy pull!!

I got the recipe from one of my newest and favoritest books - Sugar Baby, by this woman, Gesine Bullock-Prado, who, OMG, it turns out is Sandra Bullock's sister!!!

Anyway, the book is amazing, the recipe is ridiculously simple, and taffy pulling - it turns out - is quite an addictive and meditative pasttime. Apparently, it used to be a fairly common dating/courting activity back in the day (and talk about clean! We were washing our hands non-stop throughout. Plus, that taffy is super hot at first, which was probably a great way to guard against wandering hands, if you know what I mean. Wink wink, nudge nudge).

Basically, you boil a simple sugar mixture, work it over a cool surface a bit, add some color and extracts, and try not to drool on the rapidly hardening puddles of sheer sugar ecstasy. Just ask the three kids who joined me in all the fun.

Finally, after pulling that candy until you just can't pull it anymore, get out your squeaky clean scissors, your waxed paper and your dentist's phone number, and before you know it, you'll have this:

And then this!!:

And then, sadly, inevitably.....this:

It's a nice (sniff) farewell to these golden summer days, though. This much I know for sure.

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