Life Along Lake Michigan

Checking in first :-)

Your lack of rain and snow is causing a similar situation we were in back in January 2012. We wanted rain desperately...prayed for it, and look what we got! The wettest summer and autumn on record! So be careful what you wish for! lol

Hope the first couple of days went well. Do you have more of your course to do, or is it complete? I can't remember?

How about a recipe for Dauphinoise potatoes.

The simplest way of doing it is to par boil your potatoes for a short while so they are beginning to soften but not completely through.

Slice the onions, (if you want to include them) thinly, and slice the par boiled, cooled, potatoes. Layer the potatoes and onions, several times, in an oven proof dish, sprinkle grated cheese between each layer, seasoning a little with salt and pepper as you go. Finally layer with potatoes then pour half a pint of milk (or cream/milk mix) with one egg beaten into it, over the potatoes, so it sinks through. Top with final grated cheese and bake for 3o minutes or until tender through, and golden on top.... :-)

Hi Jane,

Thank you for your kind message. It surely has been a rough stretch of time and it is so hard to lose a mother. So much to do ahead too. I sure miss her. Thank you for thinking of us. I'm glad you are more free with school now - should be able to enjoy the season more!

For you :-)

If you don't par boil your potatoes, the extra starch will thicken your dish without the egg.
Just cook it for a longer period until the potatoes are cooked. :-)

Your mild weather is making you warmer than we are!
Your temps at the moment are 36, whereas we are hovering around 30F ... Brrr.

We, like you, had been spoilt since the middle of December, as we have had temps in the high 30's or above... but now winter returns!

Have a good week at work:)

Our temperatures have remained below freezing since Monday, with snow due to arrive tomorrow or Saturday.

It has a week to come and go...as I begin my jury service on the 28th, and need to drive 27 miles to get to the County Courts! I don't want to be driving across country in fog, snow or ice:(

Hi Jane, Thanks for checking in on me, already several days ago! It has been a hard month, as you can imagine. My mom's memorial is coming on Saturday. We have been busy moving her and planning the service. Lots of emotions. Moving is not completed, but should be by the end of the coming weekend. However, lots of her things are now at my house. So the job is not even close to finished. We will have to make more "final decisions" again before long. Still very hard to believe my mom is really not here with us any longer. She pulled through everything (and some tough things) until this one last time.

We have had a little bit of snow on the ground for over a week now. It has stayed cold and frosty for us, and today the fog never lifted. Our temps have been in the 20's and 30's for the past week plus. But at times the sun has been bright. No wind or air movement - just crisp. But I have to say I haven't really been thinking much about the weather. Nice you have had a mild winter, by Michigan's standards, so far. I hope it continues with few interruptions.

Well, we got our snow, about six inches Friday and more is falling as I type this. All I hope is that the temperatures rise a little this coming week and give the roads chance to clear before I begin my cross country journey, back and forth, next Monday!

Did you get your expected snow?

The snow on our mountain tops is melting. It's been quite nice out and is to remain so through next week.

School has finally settled into it's routine and I'm not as anxious about all the projects that my kiddos are doing. The projects are not necessarily in winding down mode, but more like in the middle.

Now SPLASH, our after school dance program, is winding up. We started a couple of weeks ago and have already introduced the kids to a few of the dances. A few more weeks and then they'll audition, then before you know it, our 31st Pageant of the Arts will come to life!

Did you get further school closure days?

It certainly sounds as though the temperatures have taken a nose-dive after your "so-far" mild winter!

Morning to you .... hope hubby made it home safely.
Doe she have to head back Sunday night? Looks like the weather might even be worse by then:( Not good!

We are actually coming out of the deep freeze. The sun shone for a short while this morning!

Glad hubby made it back home safely last weekend, through all the ice and snow.
I hope this weekends visit is a little easier, and you get more time to plan your new bathroom. Any ideas yet on colour?

Looks like winter has settled over you now. How's it going over your way? This seems like kind of the "depth of school", well settled and too soon yet for spring fever - the days that students and teachers just get through on their way to the end.

I have been busy now since the year began and it has been a hard several weeks. I surely miss my mom, but life still moves forward. We have her apartment emptied, a lot of her things are gone, but now the harder things remain in boxes at my house for me to sort and make some final decisions on. My sister will return sometime closer to spring but before then I need to better organize it all. My daily schedule is so different now and I need to figure out how to re-orient it and be meaningful. I spent so much time with my mom that now there are large holes that I need to think about. For now I need to keep sorting and organizing.

Our weather has moved into a pretty dull stage. It is warmer than it was in January, but not much is happening. Light rain now and then, mostly dull overcast, but really nothing going on other than quiet gray. I hope your snow isn't too difficult!

I love the picture of the bird in the snow! Goregous! :D

How are things in your part of the world...your weather gizmo says you are having light snow at the moment. I do hope you didn't get too much yesterday, as I saw the blob move over your area when I went to Juslivn's blog. She had over 8 inches just during the afternoon, yesterday.

Is hubby going to be able to get home?

I learn more about the iPads from the students than I do from the manual. But unfortunately, some of that is undoing what they have done! Like inverting the colors. It's under general settings, accessibility. Figured it out eventually, and takes about 5 seconds to fix, which means it takes them 5 seconds to change!


I've also figured out how to get back on the wireless when someone is having trouble. Not just choosing the wireless account, but when it just won't hold it. I'm learning lots! Not all real valuable unless you are undoing a wrong! LOL

How is the snow doing now? Our local mountains got a pretty good dusting last Thursday/Friday. It's chilly here (for us) but I hear another warm up is on the way!

No cute picture from me, but instead an old-fashioned wish for a Happy Valentine's Day!

Jane - we saw quite the documentary on Lake Michigan the other night. They were talking about how low the level of the lake is. I'm sure you must notice it where you are. They talked of having to dredge out the bottom, and pretty soon, it would be hard to get ships to carry very heavy loads in to the docks.

Have you lived there long enough to see a difference? I'm sorry, I don't remember how long you have lived so close to the lake.

Hello, Happy Saturday to you ... at least, I hope you are having a happy Saturday:)

Hi Jane... hope the week is going OK for you. We got up to 50f yesterday, with blue sky, but by 9pm last night it was back to 28.. and bitterly cold due to the winds!
I do wish the weather would make up its mind! I see you have rain and mist - I hate that, it gets into your bones and make you feel OLD!

Golly Gosh... teaching has come a long way in the last ten years! I loved your web page, and what you have developed to help the children. Seeing Common Core mentioned reminded me of our National Curriculum, which must be very similar. When it was first incorporated into teaching in 1980, each subject had criteria to meet. In Design and Technology we had 64 targets the children had to meet! At the re-write in 1995 they dropped it to 16! Come 2005 it dropped again to just 8 common criteria.... much easier to achieve and to monitor!

Wow Jane - I can't even begin to tell you how impressed I am with your website! Just amazing! That must have taken a good bit of time!

I will definitely add the new Newbery book to my next purchase. I just made a purchase, but I'll have to get more. I always try to have the most current Newbery and Caldecott on hand.

Enjoy your snow days....we'll never see them!

Hi Jane! Working in your bathroom! It is always so nice to do a project and even better to finish with something new and sparkly! I am still waiting for my birthday gift from last spring for a new sink and faucet in one bathroom!! lol! I think this was just too optimistic of an idea for all that was going on last year.. The next birthday will be here in a month.

Winter finally hit for you, while we were rather mild over the last several weeks. But, it is changing now with a stormy spell on the way, and a regression back into a true wintery feel for us. Rain and wind and lower snow levels will be here by the end of the week. Do you have to make up all your missed snow days at school? We always do and since our public schools tend to get out pretty late in June, sometimes the kids are not finishing till July is quite clearly in sight. That alone makes me prefer to not have snow days! But now all of that is behind us anyway.

The band concert was very nice, three different university bands played. Since it was Valentines Day, and the theme of the concert was to feature various suites, the title of the program was Sweet Suites. All four of my kids were in band from middle elementary school until the end of high school. We have gone to countless band concerts over very many years. Now my youngest daughter is the only one to continue in college. She plays alto sax in band, but on the side she is currently learning bagpipe and has made wonderful progress in less than a year of lessons. I really enjoy hearing her play at home and have missed it when she is gone. It isn't easy to practice "just anywhere" with that, so she almost "has" to come home now and then just to be able to practice! It would be so nice if your daughter could keep her music up somehow. Music is very soothing to the soul. ~ Stay warm!

White rabbits and a happy month to you, Jane:)

Not long util spring will be here - properly and not just tempting us with a little sun, and a little warmth!