Ruth Ayres invites us the celebrate each week. Click over to her site Discover. Play. Build. to read more celebrations.
Another week of summer and I am celebrating…
1. A daily walk with Charlie. One of my outside cats, Buzz, likes to come along, but not for my company, for Charlie’s. Here he’s holding onto Charlie’s leash as if to take him for a walk.
Charlie and Buzz
2. Visits with friends. Jen lives at Bonne Terre Cottage which includes a pond, a farm, and a yard full of chickens. I sat on her back porch and wrote this little ditty about the chickens.
Can you count the chickens in the yard?
Like a kid on the playground,
Black-n-White pecks under the tree,
trots to the birdbath to join his friends.
A treasure of seeds in this dirt?Here comes Petite Princess
prancing like the queen of the yard,
Spreading the gossip of the group.These chickens in the yard
make me happy until…
Big Orange decides my toe looks yummy!
3. Judging LA Writes. I coordinate our state writing contest and every year other teachers from our state join me to judge the entries. This year we read 825 poems, stories, and essays to cull each grade level division to 8-10 to send to author judges. I was disappointed in the quality. (Food for another blog post thought.) But spending time with other teachers talking about the craft of teaching and writing is always inspiring and fun.
4. Taking care of myself. I had a sinful facial this week. I say sinful because it feels way too good to be guilt-free. I’m not sure it does anything for my aging face, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Happy Summer, y’all!
Reflections on the Teche 
Thank you for stopping by at my blog and showing up here. I like how you almost hide the heavy work of judging between a chicken poem and a sinful facial. Wishing you an inspirational summer.
Funny. I didn’t even think about the order. Heavy yet worthy work.
What a cute picture of Charlie and Buzz! I think it is hilarious that your cat wants to go for walks too. Awesome! It sounds like you had a busy week full of many celebrations. I have never had a facial, but it sounds heavenly!
Time for you to treat yourself to a facial.
I love the picture of your cat ready to take your dog for a walk. I am sure it is such fun to be able to take those daily walks. It sounds like you enjoyed your facial. What a nice way to pamper yourself. Have a great week!
Your summer is really rounding out. I still have 7 more days of school! I think watching animals is so interesting. Our animal/insect observations in my classroom were some of the most focused my kids were all year.
Love that pic of Charlie and Buzz (who reminds me of Hadley). Here’s to many more slow moments this summer – watching chickens, being pampered, doing nothing!
Oh I can’t celebrate summer…yet. I love your celebrations!! You have inspired me to spend some time today making some “sinful” summer plans, like a facial and definitely a massage! Enjoy your slow days of summer. Can’t wait to see you in a couple of weeks!!! WOO HOO!!!
That cat-dog picture makes me yearn for a dog. My summer has just started. Sort of. Still have lots of cleaning up of the year but looking forward to next Monday. Can’t believe I’m going to NOLA!
Chickens! So much fun. I just started reading Love, Ruby Lavender by Deborah Wiles and so far, it’s all about chickens. So when I got here and saw this poem, I smiled!
Margaret, the first photo is so funny. Animal friends for sure. I have never been on a chicken farm so I enjoyed your video and poem, especially stanza two. Have a great weekend.
Wonderful celebrations!
[…] « Celebrating Summer […]
That picture is hilarious! Sounds like your summer is off to a great start!
Great list! I love writing poems at my friend’s house too.
Happy summer, Margaret – you are off to a great start.