Last Batch and A Surprise or Two

I had enough pears to make one more batch of preserves, so I went back to my post about making them, but found I hadn't linked the recipe for some reason, so here it is. I also found an easier to read (no ads) version on this blog. I ended up with two good batches, since the first batch was so overcooked, you couldn't dig it out of the jar. I ended up having to boil the jars in order to loosen the jam out. Not bad, from one spindly pear tree.

I substituted for a 9th grade English class today; pretty easy, and nothing like actually teaching, but it's decent money, so I took it. It went well enough and slightly allayed my worries about the difference in grade levels. I spent an hour or two in my new school yesterday, transferring my twenty boxes of books and files from the first floor to the second. Thank goodness there is an elevator, and the secretary loaned me a cart, so it only took four trips. I managed to unpack about two thirds of the boxes, using two drawers of the file cabinet for book storage. I won't be able to have as many baskets and plants as I'm used to, but it'll work out. I'm planning to spend some time in there again on Thursday, and hopefully be able to finish unpacking.

Steve and I had a breakfast date Sunday morning and had this wonderful view while we ate.

It's the Lynnhaven River, which acts like a channel to the Chesapeake Bay, so it has lots of boat traffic.

Not sure if you can tell, but that's a Great Blue Heron standing there.

 

Melissa and I met for coffee on Sunday afternoon, and we took a walk in a different neighborhood from the one I walked through on Saturday. I love being a tourist in my own city, don't you?

Love the glass blocks around the pretty teal door.

 

Isn't this arched door lovely?

A gargoyle! Quite a surprise here.

We even found this small wildlife sanctuary tucked away in the middle of this neighborhood. I've lived in this city my whole life and didn't know this was here.

 

 

It was tiny and full of mosquitoes, but still fun to walk through, like a secret garden.

A beautiful surprise, for our troubles. Some people believe that feathers are gifts, and I think they may be right.

What surprises have you found so far this week?

 

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