Spring Break Day 6

It's General Conference weekend! The best weekends of the year are the two that have General Conference happening during them.

This morning there was a Solemn Assembly and we sustained our new prophet, President Nelson, and two new apostles, Elder Gong and Elder Soares. As the church grows, the Quorum of the Twelve is reflecting the worldwide membership of the church more and more. I love that so much.

 Jessica sent me this touching picture of Titan raising his hand to sustain President Nelson.

 Reaching high in a gesture of full support!

In between sessions and during the last, I worked some more on Kate's quiet book.

There is just a little more stitching and coloring to do, and then I will be able to assemble all the pages together.

Tomorrow is not only General Conference again, it is also Easter and I am hosting my family like always. 

And look at that forecast - there's a snow icon up for the day!

Guess we'll hunt for eggs indoors this year!

Spring Break Day 5

There are three things I love to do when I have a bit of free time: sew, read, and putter with horses, which can mean the real deal (Abby) or my collection. This Spring Break has afforded me time to do all three. (And, to take a nap or two, something else I enjoy!)

The weather has not been the best and we have had snow and rain.

 Getting out into the pasture to visit with my girl means a real slog through mud right now.

 She doesn't want to walk through it any more than I do!

Friday there was a break in the rain and we had some sunshine - Trouble took advantage of it and laid down on the soft, springy turf.

The rest of the herd stayed over by the hay bales where the ground is higher and drier.

Spring Break has also given me time to walk with Molly and enjoy being with her.

 When I am sewing upstairs, I periodically go to the landing to check on her. Clearly, this time she was snoozing and a happy girl!

She LOVES to walk, and at times is quite sniffy, tracking things on the ground. Often I wonder what she smells.

Other times I find out - ew!! The jaw of a fish down by the lake!

 A crayfish hole - one has emerged from underground and into the spring air.

A mallard pair that spent the day in a rain puddle by the shelter house in our park.

Being able to spend time with her has been good for her - the dog behaviorist says Molly has something called "global fear" which comes from not having been well-socialized as a puppy. (Which makes sense when you know her background and where she came from.)

Once I retire at the end of May, I will have time daily to work with her and am hopeful that she will be less fearful. (Nice photobomb, Millie!)

The weekdays of my break are over, but I still have the weekend. And what a weekend - General Conference (with a Solemn Assembly, a prophet and two apostles being called and sustained!) and Easter!

What a way to wrap up Spring Break!

Spring Break Day 4

Thursday was a rainy and cold day - a good one to go out and poke through some more antique shops. (Why does it always rain or snow during my spring break??)

I have decided that, since I am retiring, I will begin keeping track of the numerous antique and thrift shops that are close enough for me to visit. (Close being a day's drive there and back.) I set up a spreadsheet with the names of towns and shops that I already knew well, then aded their contact information and addresses. I listed the stores I had visited on Monday, and then set out to visit three small towns, each about twenty miles away, and all of whom have places where I have discovered HSOs.

Like I had on Monday, I saw many horsey things.

I loved this wind-up horse - my father was an aficionado of wind up toys and were he still living, I might've bought it for him.

... and a black and white rendition of "The Horse Fair" by Rosa Bonheur. (I already have a framed colored edition.)

There was a vintage Marguerite Henry book that also connects to a Breyer horse.

Only the book came home with me, along with a bunch of business cards I picked up so that I could add these shops to my spreadsheet.

So, not a very fruitful trip, but I still enjoyed myself. Half the fun is the search!

Spring Break Day 3

How can it be the middle of the week already? Probably because it is Spring Break and the time is flying.

Today I spent most of the day in my horse room working on Kate's quiet book.

This panel is the furthest along, but there is still some final coloring and sewing to do (as you can tell by the missing apple on the apple tree.)

The panel in this photo is the one I worked on for the longest yesterday. If I could just use one color of thread for everything, that would speed things up tremendously. The tiny apple took four colors, brown, green, red, and white, and some of those colors only had a few stitches. (For example, the apple's stem had a total of five!)

But I am more interested in making something that will last and hopefully be a hand me down to my great grandchildren and so I put in a lot of work that is essentially unnoticed. I back everything with felt or cotton and that takes forever to do. I also use high quality stitching which means lots of thread changes and stitch-type variations (zigzag, straight, buttonhole, decorative, etc.) But I do think it's worth it in the end!

All the pieces are cut and prepped for the third panel of four pictures. I learned a long time ago (Kate's book is my seventeenth!) to have everything cut out and prepared so that they are ready to go as it makes the assembly of the pages go so much faster.

The grandchildren seem to enjoy the fruits of my labor whether it is a quiet book or their holiday pillowcase set. Kate and Julie just received their Easter package from me, and inside was Kate's Easter pillowcase.

You can see it tucked under the book on her lap.

I enjoy it, too!

Spring Break - Day 2

Today I worked on an upcoming project to celebrate my retirement - I am going to host a model horse show again!

It's been over twenty years since I held Lincoln Land Live I, II, and III in Urbana, Illinois. They were fun, but after the third show, I had gone back to school to get my teaching credentials and simply did not have the time to plan, prepare, and host a live model horse show.

But, I'm back!

A working draft of the show bill.

I did not want anything too stressful, so I am holding a free, fun show in my home with some of my collector friends who live within a day's drive. It's by invitation only, too, since it's being held in my home instead of at a commercial venue.

And, it's the kind of show I would most enjoy myself - an all collectibility show for vintage Breyers.

 I ordered rosettes for the champions and reserve of the two division, medallions for the grand champion and reserve of show, and commercial ribbons for first and second placings.

I am using recycled ribbons from my own showing for third through sixth place. (Some of those ribbons go way back to the 1980s - they represent a real history of model horse showing!)

I have plans for gift bags to give to all attendees, a cake from my favorite baker (Deanna Loeschen in Ogden, Illinois) to share, and maybe some fun games if we have time.

And, if the show is a success, I hope to expand Happy Trails to a full show next year, with a commercial venue and open entrant policy.

After all, I will be retired and have the time to get those plans done.

Sring Break - Day One

It's spring break, so that means I have time to scope out my favorite antique and thrift shops for  pieces to add to my collection. Although I found many, many horsey items today as I visited four of my favorite "search spots," only one thing came home with me (and it wasn't a horse.)

At my very first stop, it seemed that everywhere I looked, there were horses.

I saw this lovely pair as I stepped through the door (a portend of good things to come, I thought!) and they were in lovely condition and reasonably priced. However, I already have them so I left them behind for some other collector to buy.

A partial antique saddle. Intriguing, but no. I gave my antique McClellan saddle to Tim for Christmas and do not want any more vintage saddles.

Barbie-style horses. Nope! (I do have a twinge of regret for leaving behind the Black Beauty book you can see on the far left and may go back and get that.)

And the horsey finds kept coming. There were ceramic lamps, paintings, cowboy boots...

and this gorgeous bronze sculpture priced at $1,000. Too much money and I do not collect bronzes!

There was a Thunderbolt! An old childhood favorite, but I have him already. As for the smaller horse, I prefer my models without hair.

These backscratchers with horse-head handles were fun to look at, but nope!

At this point, I had visited three shops, seen a lot of horses, and had bought nothing. There was one more shop I planned to visit, and Lisa wanted to come with me to that one as she collects Moon and Stars glassware and this shop has shelves and shelves of it in a variety of colors. It's out of town, and she always goes with me when I decide to head down there. Sadly, Lisa discovered that someone had purchased much of the Moon and Stars glassware - was she disappointed!

So, she and I kept looking, and I finally, finally found something. Only it wasn't a horse, it was...

... a Hagen Renaker cat, Sparkle! The perfect match to the Glitter already in my collection! I pulled it off the shelf to examine, and at $5 decided I would take it home, carefully placing it into the cart and keeping an eye on it as we continued to wander around.

A sweet surprise from Lisa was awaiting me. She managed to pay for Sparkle along with her purchases and gave it to me as a gift. It may not be a horse, but it is a Hagen Renaker and now has mama-sentiment tied into it. You can bet that piece isn't going to be sold! (Thanks, Lisa!)

This is Strange

I use the weather app on my phone several times throughout the day, especially during this crazy winter and early spring we've had. Since I have to take Molly out for walks several times a day, I check to see how I should dress for the weather.

This morning it was definitely off.

Look at the comparison of West Lafayette (where I live) to Lafayette, just across the river! There is no way there would be a ten degree difference!

So, I scrolled down to see what the wind chill was - if it's fourteen, then I know the temperature is not thirty-seven as posted.

I put on my down coat instead of my wool one and took Molly to the park. I was very glad that I had the warmer jacket.

And, in about thirty minutes, the temperature glitch was fixed by whoever maintains the app.

Resigning

I did it.

I handed in my resignation letter to Linda on Wednesday.

It was hard.

And seeing this cryptic note on the teachers' announcement board, knowing that the meeting was to announce my retirement, was even harder.

Linda was in tears, and there were audible gasps of surprise from the other teachers when she told them.

I really don't feel like writing more at this time, but I did want to record what happened since it is a pivotal point in my career and life.

That is all for today.

State Winners!

Four former students are on the Harrison Quiz Bowl team, and they are the state champions!

My students are the four on the right and are (from left to right) Nick Nolte, Jon Hillery, Noah Wert, and Jacob Schwartz.

They go to New Orleans over Memorial Day weekend to participate in the National Quiz Bowl. Way to go, guys!!

More Pi Day Fun

Here are some more photos from our Pi Day celebration.

 Isabella H. won our Pi recitation contest at 126 digits!

Tyler M. came in second at 112. 

 I read aloud the story, "Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi" to the class.

 Mr. Schnepp joined us for the story (and the food!)

Justin H. brought in an O'Rear's cake with a Pi symbol on top.

 As you can tell from the smiling faces...

 ... we had a great day!

Pi Day Fun

I love Pi Day! Started in 1988 in Sacramento, California,  I began celebrating it with students seven or eight years ago. We spend an entire day doing Pi-centered activities and eating round snacks.

 My student teacher, Caitlin Schley, and I wore matching tee shirts.

 The students had temporary tattoos. (Tyler D., Isabella H., and Hannah H.)

 The Pi Day glasses were a big hit with Shayne J.

 Trading Pi pencils to get the color you want.

 Round snacks (before the locusts descended...)

 Contest prizes.

Even better, two former students dropped by for a visit!

 Garrett G. made me a card and also took the opportunity to invite me to his upcoming Bar Mitzvah!

 The card.

And Hayden Slate came by after school. It is always a treat to see former students.

Pi Day was book ended by before- and after-school conferences, so it was a very, very full day.