Thanksgiving in Texas

We spent Thanksgiving in Grapevine, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, with my daughter and her family. We arrived on the Tuesday before and left their house on Sat. morning to drive to Austin for four days.  We had a wonderful time!

 This is the cheese, crackers, etc,  and dessert table.

 This is a view of Thanksgiving dinner from one side of the island.

The menu was: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrot souffle,

biscuits, creamed corn, tossed salad, deviled eggs, Brussels sprouts,  

stuffing, and a cranberry dish.  My daughter will tell me if I left 

anything out.  It was absolutely delicious!

This is a view from the other side. 

 This was the sweet potato and pecan cake---one of my

favorites! The other dessert was apple pie.

Sara and Abigail

We were goofing around -- this is my son-in-law's step-father, John.

He and wife Kim were there also.

Abigail, Sara, Jory, and Aaron

Mike and me with Abigail and Aaron.

All of us.

More of the Biltmore pus a report on my first week of school.

The first two pictures are inside the arboretum.  The others are of the bushes and  trees on the side of t;he driveway that is on three sides of the rose garden.

  I love the limbs of this tree!

 Another view of the  rose garden.  See more here.

Mike was fascinated with how they trained this tree to grow in that shape.

 A fountain that was in a little outdoor 'hallway' that we used to sit and rest out of the beating sun.

 Isn't this cool?!

They hold concerts with big name entertainers.  The patio to the right overlooks the grounds and you can see Mount Pisgah in the distance when you stand on the far side of the patio.

   We  had our first week of school and it went really well for me.  The inclusion teacher and I had to come to an understanding on how a particular boy would stay in my classroom and not run to her(she has a class the period I have him.)  He needs an aide and we won't establish that if he can hide out in her room.  She's not the best at saying no.  Plus  I  can't help him if he's not in my classroom.  He and I came to an understanding also and he apologized to me for directly disobeying me and running to her.  Two other boys with special needs tried to run to her, but we nipped that and I was able to help them write three-paragraph essays of which they were quite proud.   Then we had a fun day and they all earned suckers.  Those junior boys will do a lot to get a tootsie pop!
    My friend the librarian's aide did quit.  She gave a week's notice. Two aides within the school district bid on it which means they are not necessarily right for the job but one of them will get it due to seniority and the union. I am praying that God has moved on someone who will do a great job for the kids and the staff.
    We have a teachers' day tomorrow and then are off the rest of the week for our county fair.  It will help us get all  our pre-testing recorded and evaluated.
    Thank you for all your prayers.  Please continue to lift up my last school year.
    Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Biltmore Estate in Ashville, North Carolina and changes at school

 These first few photos are of Biltomore's water garden.  The lily pads were incredible!

The  fish followed us as we walked beside the ponds,  obviously thinking that we had food for them.  We didn't, unfortunately.

 Here are views of the building from a cement bridge/balcony/road set up on the front hill where the first lone pine stood and inspired two men to save it and its land.

 

 These  photos are of the rose garden.  Betsy, a follow blogger, features these often.  I, however, do not know the names.  They had them marked but I didn't take pics of the markers.

 I especially liked this 'May Pole' set up.

 http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/asheville/bil.htm for more information.

 We had our first teachers' day Friday.  There have been changes in personnel that have some of us reeling in shock---I'm one of them.  I have a new intervention specialist who came up from the elementary.  She had gone there from the high school and quite a few were glad to see her go.  Now she is back and the usual drama swirls around her.  Her feelings are easily hurt and her method for dealing with kids often undermines her fellow teachers.  Sigh.
The librarian was dealt a blow with a change of duties that require her to be at the elementary teaching key board.  However, since she is not certified, they insist on paying her the usual aide pay for 'noninstructional' work.  Yet that same work was considered 'instructional' when a certified teacher taught it.   The pay difference is considerable as is the teaching.  She told them last year that she didn't want to do it, but they informed her last Thursday that she had to go where they wanted her to and her feelings and preferences were not important.   Meanwhile, they are sending the new librarian up to the high school for three periods of non-librarian work.  None of it makes sense except monetary.   Well, they are most likely going to get her response in the form of a resignation tomorrow.   They overlooked the well-known fact that she doesn't have to work, but likes to.  I dare say some administrators will be stunned.  And that of course will leave the high school without a librarian.  Not a good way to begin a new school year!  Please lift us up in prayer.

Hope you have a wonderful week!

Nature Spotlight

 These two photos are from the water garden at Biltmore Estate in Ashville, NC.  I was fascinated by the lily pads.  The second photo shows a close-up of the lily pad  that has a plant growing through it.  I think these are cool!
Our school district begins school this Monday.  Yikes!

Looking Glass Falls and our Vacation

 We took six days and went down south.  I will feature the Biltmore Estate another time; today I'm featuring the water falls we saw and more mountain pictures.
The falls are called Looking Glass Falls and they are about 35 - 45 minutes from Asheville.    They're a popular spot for 'getting wet'.  There were lots of folks in bathing suits dousing themselves in the falls and the accompanying pool of water.
It had rained the previous day all day and was still raining off and on during the day we headed from Ashville, NC to Gatlinburg, TN, so the falls were rushing.  So was the near-by river.  Beautiful.

When we had continued driving, I saw this spot in the river where folks were wading.  The next picture shows a group walking down to the spot.  We backtracked to the overlook and visitor center with restrooms that had paths leading down. I chose not to walk the 2 miles as my hip was bothering me and I was limping some. This was called The Graveyards.  There was a fire that consumed 200,000 acres and left smoldering trunks that looked like gravestone markers, thus the name.  I couldn't get a sense of that from where we stood.  Also it was a long time ago, so there is now foliage.

This photo shows the deforestation of the forests by disease and pollution.  Lots of folks are working on solutions.

 George Vanderbilt was the first person to appreciate the forests to the point of preserving them.  He brought an expert in from Europe.  This man ended up working under Teddy Roosevelt and established the first national forestry service.  George brought another man from Europe who, with Vanderbilt's resources, established the first forestry school on the estate.  George and his advisers were working with land that had been sterilized by over-cutting, over-planting, and fires.  The first hill they began with was called Lone Pine Tree Hill because there was only one tree - a pine- on it.  Hard to imagine as the estate is now covered with trees as well as a working farm and a winery.
{We took the grounds bus tour at Biltmore where a guide told us about the restoration and reclamation of the forests.  It was quite interesting and I would  recommend that it be taken on a separate day from the home tour.  However, it was pouring at times, so our visibility was limited; still we are glad we took it. That's where I learned the above information.}

Here are more photos taken from overlooks we stopped at on our drive.  It had stopped raining, but was still overcast.

 There were beautiful flowers at this overlook.

 I had a photo taken.  I'm the family photographer, so my pic is rarely taken.  I'm trying to change that.

More on the vacation next time.