The Accidental Blogger: Summer Stuff

We dropped Travis off in Maggie Valley on Tuesday, for the NC Junior Classical League officer's retreat. They rented a gorgeous "cabin" (actually, a good sized house, plus guest house) with fabulous views. I was more than a little nervous about this event, since we are new to the group and don't really know the teachers/chaperons, but we got there early and Ed and I got to chat with the head of the group for an hour before any of the others got there, and he seems like a nice, responsible fellow. When the other teachers and students arrived, they all seemed pleasant and friendly too. And judging by the e-mails/updates/Very brief phone conversations since we left him, Travis is having a great time. I'm so glad!

Here are pictures from Monday, the day before he left. The kids got new pool floats!

And so this week, Katie and I are having some good mother-daughter time.

I'm working on The Essential Plotinus, which is a bit more of a slog than you might imagine. Sometimes, I think, the Teaching Company lecturers present philosophers in a way that makes you imagine that their writings are more interesting than they actually are. I expected Plotinus to be like Plato, only more mystical. So far, though, he is like Plato only mystical, but also vague bordering on incoherent. It might be the translation, of course, or it might just be me. I'm giving him one more day.

Big cat in a little box.

At the church coffee hour last Sunday there was a chocolate mousse cake which was quite nice. (cake layers with mousse in the middle and ganache on top) Katie and I decided that one of our projects this week would be to make mousse. I had thought we'd do the one from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts, but then I saw one by Alton Brown which was much less complicated, so we made that instead. Very tasty!