Summer Break: Day 72

Pazely will most certainly testify that this was NOT a fun thing today.

We are about 3 weeks behind in getting her thank-you notes written & sent from her birthday party--which happened over a month ago!

She wrote one card by hand, & after I realized how long & tedious that was gonna be, we decided

to make postcards. She typed them out on the computer.

And then I decorated each with a purple circle punch & ink squiggled scallops.

Pazely stuck on a sticker---& done!

While Pazely worked on thank-you notes, Zoey was happily sketching out her own correspondence & putting together a package of handmade paper items for one of her cousins.

And lookie what I worked on this afternoon:

I'm so excited about the new "flavors" arriving in the shop next week!

(40+ different badges in stock too!)

♥

Shout Out

Need to give a great big shout-out to Bonnie Blue Quilts today.

I've seen their stand at a couple of shows and have bought some fabric from them and drooled over quite a bit more.  Recently I needed a particular fabric to finish a project and I ordered from Bonnie Blue on line.  There was a bit of a snag, and at the time, but it got resolved quickly and easily.  I found what I needed at another on-line shop and put the whole thing out of my mind.

Today the postal person brought me a small package from Richmond, Texas.  "Who the heck do I know there?" I wondered, as the postal sticky thingy was over the top line of the return address label.  Turned out to be Bonnie Blue herself, with a giftie and a note:

We apologize that your refund was not prompt.  Bonnie Blue Quilts strives to give great Customer service.  We want to let you know that your PayPal has been refunded $32.80.  We will be more careful of this matter in the future.  We have enclosed one of Paula's newest quilt designs as a small token of our customer appreciation.  We know you have other options to fill your shopping needs and we hope you will give us the opportunity to serve you in the future.

Now, I ask you (rhetorically), is that not fantastic?  Way to go, Bonnie Blue, and you BET I'll be back.  If not on line, at the next show.

Addresses Needed!

I can't believe the trouble I'm having giving away my Giveaway!

Sharon's William Morris FQs are ready to go in the mail.

And Karin sent her address, too, for the left over French General charms.

Nary a word, however, from Quiltmom Anna.  So I'm going to give that charm pack away to Kathy B who also commented that she would like it, and I happen to have her address!

Judi in the UK gets the cupcake pattern and Pati in Florida prefers chocolate rabbits, so she will get that pattern.  Judi and Pati, please email me your addresses so I can get them in the mail. 

I really only want to make one trip to the mailboxes place.

It is a gorgeous day here Near Philadelphia.  Himself and I had breakfast out on the deck and then I sat in the adirondack chair with a cup of blackberry sage tea, just to make the moment last longer.  Now it is off to buy groceries and then to come home and sew a bit.

Summer Break: Day 71

Today was the last day of Summer School.

Pazely's really excited. Can't you tell?

I got to hang out at the girls school & photograph some science experiments the 2nd- 6th grade kids had been working on: handmade spinning tops. The kids had a race to see whose could spin the longest. And then the young-un's (my girls included) in K-1st did an experiment with pop rocks & soda pop: In their mouths! I was "on assignment" for the newspaper. Cool, huh?

A pizza party ended their 3 week fun of summer learnin'.

We also hopped over to the Morrill County Fair tonight. It's just animals. No carnival or rides---(That's NEXT weekend in a different county. I'm excited to take the girls out for some carnival fun & I'm even hoping to get my own night out at the carnival for some cool night photography!)
The girls also had some artwork featured, along with their classmates from school.
Here's Pazely's:

And Zoey's was hung up a little high, so she jumped to get a portrait with her artwork:

Look at the feathers on this birdie! It's like artwork.

I also photographed the Wiener Dog races at the Fair tonight.

Those little long bellied furry munchkins are so cute!!

♥

Summer Break: Day 70

Yesterday the girls & I had the whole day to relax together.

They played, watched Christmas movies (weird), we read together (James & the Giant Peach) & we even had some time for crafty fun!!

I found THIS PROJECT at the blog *explanation required via one pretty thing.

You need a canvas, alphabet stickers, acrylic paints, your fingers & the desire to get messy!!!

I only had 8x10 canvases on hand, so instead of a phrase or sentences, the girls & I just chose one or two words. But I'd love to try this in a giant version as in *explanation required's tutorial.

♥

Dog Days No More

Don't get me wrong.  Do not believe for a minute that the "dog days" of July have come to an end, though July itself is just about to do just that.

I don't even want to think about what August is going to be like.

I've been working on the quilt I'd been thinking of as "dog days" because it seemed to be reflective of the heat, the sun, the torrid air.

But now that the blocks are all assembled and the setting triangles are in place (except for the four corners) and I've begun working on the narrow pieced border, I've come to realize that this is not Dog Days.  No, no.  It is not.

It is Cinnamon Latte.

Flashback Friday-VBS Style

Did your family attend church when you were growing up? What are your earliest memories of church? Did you attend VBS (Vacation Bible School) when you were young? Sunday School? Other church activities? Was faith a Sunday-only thing or did it impact your life and the things you did? If faith and church were not a part of your growing-up years, when and how did you begin and what drew you to God?

Besides coming home from the hospital, the first place my parents took me was to church. My very earliest memories include the church grounds, classrooms, and the family of people I grew up amongst there.

I have a couple of photos to share, but they are of "Old Fashioned Days," so I'll have to wait to share those until they fit the topic. And boy-howdy, they are doozies.

VBS was an annual event for me, and I can still recall songs and Bible verses I learned at VBS. One song included a stop sign held up by the worship leader at just the moment we were supposed to sing "STOP! and let me tell you, what the Lord has done for meeeee." True to kid form, most of us yelled it out. You can see that any unsuspecting average Joe would definitely STOP in his tracks and turn from his wicked ways when a group of 100 kids yelled this song at him. Very effective evangelization.

Another vivid memory is of color-coded items like pencils which prompted you to remember the essence of Christian theology: black for sin, red for blood redemption, white for purity, etc.

I didn't always want to come in from playing and get cleaned up to go VBS every night, but once I got there, I was fine. I usually excelled at memorization if not singing, and so I won some awards, I'm sure.

But the best time of all was when we went outside for a break, where we would see a couple of long tables set up with various kinds of homemade cookies, paper napkins and cups of Koolaid, for some reason, usually grape flavored. My mom was not a baker, so these cookies were other-worldly treats. If I got really lucky, she would bring no-bakes, and I would get an extra.

Then we would play games outside. One impromptu game included rolling down a small hill on our church's property, log-roll style. The only problem was that I attended a church where all females wore skirts, so you can see that it became problematic to keep your skirt down at your sides and log roll, because with your hands glued to your sides, you just might log roll your face into a rock or brier weed.

So I remember the year my mom allowed me to wear shorts under my skirt.

Big doin's, that was.

I still have a fondness for the simplicity of my VBS experiences: no fancy puppets, videos or curricula. Just simple flannel graph lessons, crafts, including macaroni spray-painted gold glued to orange juice cans and bars of soap turned into sailboats, some foil stars to mark achievement, and a feeling of safety and security in the realm of my little church world, which was my second home.

Thanks for the memories, Lid! Maybe my grandchild will enjoy reading this someday!

Philadelphia? Far From It!

A few weeks before Joe received his Master's degree, we had a big surprise.  We were expecting another baby!  This little one would be born when Tom was sixteen months old.  This news put a crimp in our plans to move to Philadelphia and have me be the breadwinner.  With the recession going on, we wondered what was going to happen next.

Most of the professors in the school of architecture had their own practices in addition to teaching, and for several summers Joe had been fortunate to find employment with one of them.  Jim's office was two towns over from Kent.  Jim had a business associate who was a recreation specialist, and that man's firm was looking for a young architect.  Joe met Carl and liked him immediately and when a job was offered, he was delighted.  The firm wasn't in Philadelphia, however, or even in the greater Kent and Akron region. 

It was in Chicago.

So West we went.

During the first year of being a mom, I'd joined the La Leche League of Kent.  My own mother had not been a good role model for parenting and, frankly, I was more than a little bit nervous.  From these women, I learned so much, not just about breastfeeding, but about how to turn a couple with a baby into a family, how to nurse, how to cope with fussiness, the foundations of good nutrition, and so much more.  When we moved to a suburb of Chicago, practically the first thing I did after the boxes were unpacked was to locate a League group.  Shortly before Sherry was born, I had begun the process of becoming a group leader.  All of the active listening training that I had taken with Help Line served me well, as I helped mothers get started and helped them solve problems in the early months of parenting.  At one point I spent a week as the national "on-call" leader for the League's headquarters in Chicago.

I've heard many times that Chicago is a terrific city, but we didn't have enough money to take advantage of it.  We bought our first home, a little three-bedroom ranch house in a suburb that may well have been the inspiration for  the song "Little Boxes":

Little boxes on the hillside,

Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
Little boxes, little boxes,

Little boxes, all the same.

There's a green one and a pink one

And a blue one and a yellow one

And they're all made out of ticky-tacky

And they all look just the same.

My neighbors were nice enough women.  But they were remarkably similar.  All Caucasians.  Mostly with two children, a boy and a girl. Winters in Chicago were brutally cold.  Summers were horribly hot.  Counseling pregnant ladies and leading group meetings wasn't quite enough for me.  I went over to the nearby community college and put up signs advertising my typing service and landed a little work.  We weren't close enough to a university for the dissertation market. 

Ultimately an English professor utilized my services and when he came to pick up his paper, he asked me, "How is your spelling?"  "Better than yours," I told him boldly.  "And your punctuation?"  "I've been a secretary for over twelve years."  He went on to tell me that he taught freshman composition and at his stage of life had read every possible freshman theme far too many times.  He was in search of a "reader" who would read and grade compositions and research papers for him.  He was a great big man with an ample beard and very soon we were calling him "Tevye."  This helped, as did the little bit of typing work.  I took a "Stretch and Sew" course and soon was producing T-shirts in all kinds of sizes.

By the end of our first year in Chicago, Carl was ready to leave the firm.  He and Jim were going to start their own practice of recreational planning, design, and architecture.  He invited Joe to join them, with the promise that after another year or two, he could return to Ohio and work out of Jim's office.

It was a potential step in the right direction, that is, East, and Joe joined Carl in the new firm. 

We were back in to counting the days until we could move back to Ohio!

Ogulewicz Retires

And Relocates



One of the most controversial figures of Pioneer Valley politics in the last quarter of the 20th century was former Springfield City Councilor and radio personality Mitch Ogulewicz. He's kept a low profile in recent years and I know many people are interested in what he's up to these days. This is an email I received from Mitch recently:


Brian Santaniello, Francis Keough and Mitch Ogulewicz in 1986

Tom:

Just had a chance to read your blog. I like the new color scheme. I enjoyed the article on the fundraiser and Scott Brown. Also the analysis of the Congressional races.

Other than doing a lot of unpacking, I haven't done much since moving down here to South Carolina. After 113 days being "homeless" while our house was being built, my wife Cyndi and I are now happilly settling into our new home.

The last several weeks have been spent unpacking boxes and figuring out where things are going to be placed. I am sure that we will continue to do this throughout the summer, but it is nice to have a place to call ours.

We have been down here since May 23rd. I retired after 36 years in banking on May 21 and we left for South Carolina the next day. We rented a furnished corporate apartment for a month. Spent our time checking on the final stages, as the house was being built, laying out by the pool at the apartment, going to various stores to check things out.

The house has what they call a bonus room above the garage. That is my room. It looks like the second Kennedy Library with all the pictures etc on the walls. I am attaching a picture I took a couple of weeks ago. But I can assure you that there is even more on the walls now.



The South Carolina Democratic Party (what's left of it down here) has found me and has invited me to a breakfast on Saturday morning. Probably will attend, just to see how things are done down here. South Carolina just concluded its primary and I can tell you that it is rough and tough politics.

The politics down here is very Republican. Although the word is that the Democratic candidate for Governor could pull it off. The Republican nominee is a woman named Haley. Many think she is too close to Mark "I am In love with an Argentinean" Stanford. He can't get along with even the Republicans and they can't wait for him to leave office.

Down here they have a Primary (it was in June). A candidate must get 50% plus 1 vote to get the nomination. If not they have a runoff of the top two 2 weeks later.

Don't believe that Reagan philosophy of the 11th commandment, "speak no ill of fellow Republicans". They eat their own. In Massachusetts they stab you in the back and leave no finger prints. Down here they are 10 times worse and do it to your face.

Cyndi and I did join a wine tasting club. Meets every Thursday. I have actually found that most members are Democrats. They are constantly asking me about the Kennedy's and Massachusetts politics. Of course I just refer to your blog and when I can find something I email it to them.

There is also an organization called "Liberally Drinking", which also meets once a week at a local bar. It Is all Democrats (the 100 or so that are In South Carolina) and they sit around talking about politics. Right now they are trying to figure out what to do about a guy named Greene who won the Democratic primary. He beat an established politician who spent a few hundred thousand dollars. Green spent zero, no one knows who he is, and he didn't campaign.

He is running against Jim De Mint the incumbent, who by the way lives not too far from me in the same town. I live in Travelers Rest, population 4500.

Well just thought I would drop you a line. Hope all is well.

Mitch

Speaking of the Kennedy's, I came upon these bumperstickers in a Northampton antique shop.



In the window of the same shop is this 41 year old Westfield Tricentennial banner.



Speaking of the tea parties, here's a cartoon that's been circulating the internet about north-Valley Congressman John Olver and his challenger Bill Gunn. (click to enlarge)



In Northampton I came upon this offer for free stuff, but the only things that were offered was rocks! Useless to most people perhaps, but treasures to children.



Mennonites from Russell singing on the steps of Northampton City Hall last night.



School for the Dead playing downtown Hamp last weekend. Photo by R.M. Quinn.



Experimental film and music out of Hampshire College in Amherst.

Church Potluck Recipe: Broccoli Casserole

Our church usually has one potluck dinner a month. Coming up with something to take can be nerve racking at times. A couple of months ago it was our new priest’s birthday and we had a potluck lunch given in his honor. I brought Broccoli Casserole and several people asked me for the recipe so I guess it was a hit.



Broccoli Casserole

2 pkg. (10 oz. each) frozen broccoli (thawed and drained very well)
1 stick margarine or butter (divided)
½ lb. Velveeta Cheese (cubed)
1 can of mushroom stems and pieces (drained well)
1/2 tube of Ritz Crackers

Put frozen broccoli in a colander and run warm water over it. Drain thoroughly by smashing it down with a piece of wax paper and patting dry with a paper towel. Meanwhile, in a large sauce pan add ½ stick of margarine and Velveeta Cheese. Melt and fold mushrooms and thoroughly drained broccoli into it. Put mixture in a buttered casserole dish. Melt ½ stick of margarine in a sauce pan. Crumble ½ tube of Ritz Crackers into melted butter. Sprinkle cracker mixture on top. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes at 350 degrees or 35 minutes at 325 degrees.


* I usually double this recipe and it fits in a 2 quart or a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.

A colorful...but tasty accessory.

The Cap'n and I were having a little snack...pondering our next move for this JunkFest project...when I suddenly realized what a colorful situation I had gotten myself in to. Isn't it fun when little things make you smile?


Perhaps this project (which I will show you more of soon) will find a new home and the Cap'n can visit there too!

Panic at the Village

Last night we watched the very funny and imaginative stop-motion feature Panique au village

(A village called panic is the english title). The movie was written and directed by Belgian creative duo 

Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar, who also provided voiceovers for two of the main characters,

Cowboy and Horse (the other is Indian). Aubier and Patar met in art school, and have been working together

since the late 1980s. Panique au village is the spinoff of their successful tv series by same name, 

whose 20 episodes aired in Belgium between 2001 and 2003.

I loved the low-tech, low-budget, DIY feel of the animation and mad plot, which kept reminding me

of the endless adventures I had as a child with the aid of Barbies and plastic presepe figurines,

and more recent incredible stories staged by my daughters and friends using their toys. 

At the same time, the scenes are rich with amusing, lovingly crafted details: above you can admire

the entrance to the music school and the car of music teacher and Horse's paramour Madame Longrée.

The fast-paced story is full of crazy twists and hilarious gags, including trips to the center of the earth, 

brick stealing underwater creatures and a huge mechanical penguin guided by mad scientists.

If you enjoy out of bounds creativity, absurdist humour and childlike aesthetics, it's an exciting ride! 

Summer Break: Day 69

I got nuthin'...

I worked at the newspaper an extra day today.

I love my job oodles & oodles, but it's hard bein' a working mom.

(And I only do it a couple times a week!!!!)

I don't know how you workin' mommies do it. I'm a weenie.

And then I came home with a headache & the need for a nap.

And then there was bible study.

And then ice cream treats at Karette. Well, I ate bacon cheddar fries & snuck some fried green beans from my friend Sarah & took a few licks of Pazely's chocolate cone.

No Summer School tomorrow.

No agenda. (*)

It's been a busy week.

(*)Although, we'll probably be spending most of our afternoon making the 80 mile round trip to Walmart for groceries & other necessities.

School starts in exactly 3 weeks.

I love fried green beans.

♥

If I Put It Under My Pillow ...

Well, this riveting story will teach those unfollowers I spoke of earlier not to unfollow ME:

Remember the dental cap story from the other day?

My temporary cap popped off tonight following a trip to Sbux.

I was driving down the THE busiest street in out town when out plopped a "tooth," just like when you're 10 and the last string of flesh snaps and you've suddenly got a tooth on your tongue or in your hand, only I'm 47 and so it's not cute and no one said "good job," and I doubt that if I put it under my pillow anything good will follow, like cold hard cash or a cute pair of sandals under my pillow in the morning.

So now I definitely cannot throw back my head and unlatch my jaw in a Julia Roberts laugh until I see my dentist again. I will be at his doorstep bright and early tomorrow morning.

That is all.

Sorry to be so brief, but I had to put a cap on this story.

Summer Break: Day 68

Yesterday the girls had some friends over & after they entertained themselves for a bit, I thought I'd pull out the supplies to make some Bug Catcher/ Treasure Keeper necklaces.

The kids had a blast. And it was extra fun watching them run & squeal when I told them I had a project for them to do!

The girls & I make these necklaces & sell 'em in the shop too. So, if you wanna take a peek, hop on over HERE.

Last night I also had a little creative fun of my own. Some friends & I were stuffing our faces with burgers & fries when 2 fire trucks sped by, lights flashing. We hightailed it in the car & tried to follow. But we lost 'em. Darn. While driving around trying to think of what to do next, I thought it'd be fun to go on a scavenger hunt. But it seemed silly to make our own scavenger hunting list. So we made a call & got a list of 10 items to find from another friend. And then we had the idea to do some mobile facebooking---asking for ideas of stuff to find while we were driving around. Some of you came up with some oddball items! We had fun though & plan on doing it again.

We found 7/10 items on our list---even driving to a golf course in pitch black darkness to scour the driving range for a golf tee.
That picture is of my friend Sarah by the railroad tracks looking for item #6: a metal pop bottle top.
We know we're wacky. But in a small town, sometimes you gotta be your own entertainment.

♥

Life in Kent

The four years that we spent living in Kent were happy ones.  One good thing that came from having spent that time in the Navy was the GI Bill, which provided a monthly check to Joe as a full-time college student.  We became eligible for the in-state tuition rate and that helped, too.  During the time that Joe had been away, the School of Architecture underwent some changes, and he returned just in time to participate in a new program.  The professional architecture degree normally took five years to complete; it would take Joe longer than that because of having transferred from a lesser school.  However, the year that we returned we learned of an option:  The 5-year professional degree was still available.  So was a 4-year bachelor's degree followed by a 2-year master's.  Furthermore, the master's students would be eligible to teach in a brand new associate's program.  Joe enrolled in this new option right away.  It would take no longer than the original plan, and he would come out with an advanced degree.

He spent many, many hours at his studies and his projects, leaving me with many hours to fill.  The typing business was great; I was learning all kinds of unusual things and meeting interesting people.  I learned of a crisis intervention center, applied, and was accepted into the forty-hour volunteer training program, which was one of the most important things I've ever done.  HELP Line was a university-sponsored telephone crisis line, and we did suicide prevention, drug identification, and all kinds of other crisis work.  Our training was built on the active listening model and I loved every minute of it.  After a couple of years, HELP line merged with Townhall II, a walk-in crisis center supported, I believe, by the county.  It included a free medical clinic where I took additional training to be a volunteer intake person.  I learned to issue slides for possible veneral disease specimens, to help women who thought they may be pregnant, to run pregnancy tests (this was long before the do-it-yourself type of test) and to take blood pressures, among other things.  How I loved wearing that stethoscope!

Joe and I had wanted to start a family and there were some problems on my end.  The doctors I saw in the Navy weren't any help at all.  Our personal theory was that they were trained as podiatrists and assigned to gynecology service.  But in Kent I met a physician who took my case to heart, and three-quarters of the way through our time in that town, I ran a pregnancy test with a most marvelous result!

It was around that time that I had begun to feel uneasy in the law office.  Hank and Brad were nice enough guys ("If you ever want a divorce, we won't charge you for it!") but their unconventionality was beginning to worry me.  I didn't know for sure whether they kept drugs in the office, and I began looking for a change.  Soon after I became pregnant, a half-time position opened up in the president's office at the University and I worked there until just a week before Tom was born.

As a new mom, I didn't plan to return to work outside of the home.  The typing business was earning enough, and at this point we had the teaching stipend to rely on.  However, when my wonderful doctor asked me if I would like to come in to his office one evening per week and transcribe his dictated chart notes, I was happy to accept the offer.  I did that for nearly a year.

Soon it was time for Joe to graduate with his master's degree and we began making more frequent trips home to Philadelphia in search of a job for him.  But there was a recession at that time, and architecture firms weren't hiring.  Since I'd always had a fairly easy time finding a job and since Tom was weaned, we came up with the plan that we'd move to Philadelphia, I'd get a job, and Joe would stay home with Tom for a few months until things got better and he could find a job, at which time I'd return to staying at home.

It was a terrific plan and it nearly worked.