Wednesday, August 31, 2016

An Apple for the Teacher

Here's a little page I created. It is nothing very complicated, but I had fun cutting out images and  doodling.  And using up a couple of stickers from my stash. 
Here in the US we have a saying about giving the teacher an apple. Is it just an American notion or do people in other countries share this thought?
I was curious about the origins, and I found out it goes back to life on the American frontier back in the 1800's. Teachers hired for some of the rural one room school houses were often housed and supplied with food by families with children in the school.  The apple was given to symbolize appreciation of that teacher. I always thought it just had to do with school starting at the time apples are ripe, but maybe that is also true because these rural families would really appreciate a teacher moving into a  less than desirable area to work. 
Apples were originally grown though to make hard cider for drinking, and people rarely ate apples. Of course Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) worked to change that image and he went through places like Ohio and Pennsylvania planting lots of apple trees.  This was good since apple trees are easy to grow and they do provide a lot of food.
Apples still continue to be associated with teachers, but maybe now they are more for those brown- nosing  students who are trying  get an edge up? I've only gotten apples of couple times in my teaching career. The most memorable was when I was out sick for a couple of days once, and my whole honors class each brought me an apple on the day I returned. It was pretty cool to see all those apples lined up on my desk.
Were they brown-nosing? Maybe!
Anyhow, I am linking up to Try It on Tuesday as the theme right now is children. Nothing says children more than school, and going back to school after the summer breaks. I am also linking up to Art Journal Journey on this last day of Gill's great theme of Nature's Wonders since apples are one of nature's yummy wonders.
Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, August 29, 2016

Nothing But Blue Skies and a Watermelon

Last Tuesday was an absolutely gorgeous summer day. I bet you can see that from the photo. To me it was the perfect summer day.
Made even more perfect since the hubby took the day off from work so we could go do something fun before school started up for me. So we went boating on the lake.
There is so much less boat traffic during the week over the weekend. On the lake, the boat traffic creates so much chop, making it wavy as though it was stormy. But during the week, it is fairly smooth sailing.
Someone lost this big ball, and I think it looks so cool floating on the water. I know the background is slightly crooked, but I love the light on this ball.

So the hubby took me out to lunch at a place called the Town Docks. You have to sit outside at the Town Docks, and all the tables are on some sand. It is  a beach restaurant on the lake. They have pretty good sandwiches.
They also have all these wild drinks. The hubby and I decided to split a watermelon bowl.
Ha-ha- Love the whipped cream smiley face . 
So did the hubby.
I even made a page in my summer journal about this crazy drink.

So I am linking up to T for Tuesday at Bleubeard's and Elizabeth's blog. Its Tuesday-T for Tuesday! Stop by to see what the T gang is up to, and better yet, link up a drink/food related post.
Hope its a great day.

Sunday, August 28, 2016

A New Week

 Another week is here, and even more so, September will be here before the week is out. Hard to believe, isn't it? Back to 4 days of school this week. Today is only freshman and tomorrow everyone is back. A new school year begins-wow!
So before I go further I want to thank everyone for your well wishes with my husband's kidney transplant. I had a good visit this past Friday at the hospital in Boston. It was a long day-6 hours of doctor's visits and then some testing, but as long as all my tests come back good (which they should), I am ready to move forward as my husband's donor. And we have a tentative date! Hurrah. Right now we're looking at early November for surgery- keep your fingers crossed all continues to go well.
So I have a few more photos from my summer journal. A couple of new pages for you.
 And here's the view when I take out the brochure from the sangria festival.


So  this past Saturday we were out boating when we noticed all this thick smoke. We knew something was burning, and as we got closer we knew it was someone's house.

We had motored south out of New Hampshire and were off the coast of Plum Island in Massachusetts.
Plum Island is 8 miles long. On the upper end is lots of homes and some wonderful beaches. On the other end, although the beaches are as wonderful, is a wildlife sanctuary. It is often closed to the public because of nesting birds.
The house and 2 cars were a total loss. Luckily no one was injured. One of the owners was over on the beach when he realized the fire was his house.  I can't image what that was like. I've never seen a house burn before, and it was scary but kind of mesmerizing too. Not in a weird way, but I guess I am no different than all those people watching on the beach. We were only passing by, so I didn't gawk for too long.
We were off for a fun time at the beach but this poor family was probably in shock.

That's all for me today. Hope the start of everyone's week is great. And that nothing as terrible as this happens to you.

Friday, August 26, 2016

What Vacation?

So its been one day back at work and summer vacation feels like it was a long time ago. Although it was a good day, I fell right back into the work routine. Its like I picked up up right where I left off in June. 
And I came home a flopped on my hammock, read a little bit and took a nap. Then I moved to the couch and watched some of the Roosevelts- a long film series by Ken Burns. Not a very exciting night for me. :) But well needed after my busy day.
I thought I would show you this journal page as this was me after work yesterday- enjoying the late afternoon on a warm late summer day. Its not a very complicated piece, some magazine cut outs, a little paint, some stamps and some tape.
So its been one day back at work and I am taking a day off today. Not for fun though. I am off to Boston and Mass General Hospital for my visit to the kidney transplant doctors. Keep your fingers crossed that I can set a date for this surgery. I need to get past all this and move forward.
So since my page is full of some summery nature images-flowers and bugs and green grass, I am linking up to Art Journal Journey. Thanks to this month's hostess Gill for a great theme. 
Happy Friday everyone.  Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
And thanks for stopping by my blog too. 

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Back to School-AUGGGGGGGGGH

A journal page today to celebrate my first day back to work after a long summer break.  I have no students today as it is a teacher workday. The darlings don't come back until next week. But I am breaking myself in and getting to work early- I have my classroom to set up and a zillion meetings, so it will be a long and busy day even without the kids.
I used all kinds of assorted pieces to make my journal page. The background is layered, stamped and painted.
I did manage to have a great last day of vacation. I stayed home, took a walk, read a book in my hammock,  baked another batch of zucchini bread  and made some art.  And I loved every minute of it. :)
Even though I've spent half my summer doing this, it doesn't get old.
 What a face! She's going to miss those morning strolls but maybe we can start taking some afternoon walks once the weather cools a bit. And  we still have the weekends.
She'll like spending more time at doggie daycare though.
The sun sets on another summer break.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

The Wonders of Nature in Cloth

OK, this is the last day of my summer break, which is always a little sad. The idea of getting back into a work routine is always a little tough to stomach, but I am a tough cookie and can do it. Ha-ha. I actually don't mind going back to work, but I will miss my morning walks, the sleeping in a little later than 4:45 and having more me time each day. Have I gotten a little spoiled this summer or what? :)
So today I have my usual end of summer dilemma. Do I go off and do something fun? Do I try to get one of those projects on my summer to do list done, seeing hardly any of them got done this summer? Do I just relax around the house and enjoy a low key day since once back to work, those days are fewer and farther between? I always feel like the last day of break should be something special and not just a wasted day. But the question that always rolls around in my head is what is special to me this year?
OK, enough philosophizing. Today I have as sewn piece for you. I made it from some hand cut designs and also some dies that I used to cut out fabric shapes. Then I sewed them and painted Mr. Fox's eyes and nose.
This piece reminds me of a summer night camping. It is a wonder of nature, so I am linking up to Art Journal Journey. Thanks Gill (this month's hostess) for such a great theme.
I'm also linking up to Moo Mania with a new theme of Nature's Beauty.
That's all for me today. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Monday, August 22, 2016

Sangria Fest

Howdy T Gang and everyone else. It Tuesday once again. Time for T Is for Tuesday.
As some of you might know,  a couple of weekends ago my husband and I went to the Hudson River Valley in New York. My sister-in-law asked us to go along with her and her husband. I think she was worried her hubby wouldn't take his vacation (he's rather a work-aholic) if it was just the two of them going. Plus its always fun to travel with another couple.
My husband and I let them pick the destination. They really wanted to go to this Sangria Festival in Marlborough. Since it is T Day, I thought I would share a few photos from the Winery where the festival was.

It was really pretty there.  The little blue water that looks like a lake is what you can see of  the Hudson River.

They had all these various sangrias to  taste. My favorite was called Bee Tea. After tasting them, I bought  a glass to have with my lunch.  I think this winery had the marketing down. Give out 8 small tastes and then charge for either a glass or a pitcher of your favorites.
Unfortunately it was an uncomfortably hot day. I think it was about 97 degrees Fahrenheit (about 27 degrees Celsius) with very high humidity,  It really didn't make you want to drink, even cold sangria. This one glass was more than enough. 
We did take a tour of the cellars though.

Wine making is much more complicated than stomping on grapes and letting the juice age in oak barrels. (That was new to me) Now I don't claim to be any type of wine connoisseur, so I can't tell you what these shiny  containers were used for. I was actually so warm that I was basking in the coolness of the cellars. 

I did think this old barrel was pretty interesting.
 I think this would have been a lot more fun if it wasn't so hot. But it still is a good story.  And something I had never done before. I'm glad we went.

We left fairly early and headed to our hotel which had a pretty nice pool. And air conditioned rooms. :) 
Stop by Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to see what the tea gang is up to, and maybe you even want to join in too.
We are having some cool fall like weather. :)  In fact, I had to shut down some windows last night it dropped into the 40's. Crisp and chilly. But what a difference from the weather while at the Sangria Fest. Guess it is preparing me for the start of school. :(
Happy T Day everyone.




Lousy Photo, but a Journal Page

Happy Monday everyone. I'm on my last 3 days of vacation. Where did  the long lazy days of summer go?  Even though Thursday I go back to work I hope to squeeze in a little more summer fun before then. And there's still a few more weeks of nice weather ahead of us too, so I tell myself summer isn't really over yet. :)
So today I have a journal page that isn't from my summer journal and isn't from my Iceland journal. :)
I was just playing with a couple new stencils and a few stamps I had. And it is a LOUSY photo, but my journal is so full it won't stay open. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
And I haven't shown you lots of summer boating photos, but today I have a few to show you.




 Bridge construction is coming along.
 Can you make out the submarine just behind the netting? Its at the naval shipyard being worked on.

 Drawbridge up. As one side of this catamaran/











Happy new week. Hope yours starts in a good way!