Bon Voyage Walker / final post?

Big Bird has flown East...

This morning was a combination of excitement and confusion.  Looking forward and looking back.  Finally mostly packed, three suitcases, two teetering around 46 pounds (50 pound limit! Mostly clothes). 9 boxes packed and ready to be shipped. (mostly books!).

Walker's new apartment is all ready for him.  He heard yesterday that they were painting, possibly removing carpet and replacing with area rugs (old wood floors).  He has a bed, three dressers, a couch and loveseat, dishes and a bicycle waiting for him there, thanks to the generous community he is moving into. He'll be living in the whole upstairs floor of a cute older home on a tree-lined street of other cute older homes.

I didn't go to the airport as Phil was dropping Walker off on his way to work.  That's ok. We said goodbye at home.  I think I'm ok without the stress and tension of the traffic and drop off! 

We had a great summer.  Lots of good family time and nice memories.  The best weather ever.  We find the weather in Pennsylvania is very similar to our weather.  The main difference is the humidity levels.  Walker is going into a week of rain and thunderstorms in his new town.  Fortunately, that is the kind of weather Walker especially enjoys.  He is seriously looking forward to teaching Latin to youngsters at Coventry Christian School in Pottstown Pennsylvania.

I started this blog as a "project" when I sent my youngest child off to college.  I've been posting for 4+ years. I think its time to retire and move on to something else.  Maybe another blog...with crafts and tutorials?  I'll let you know.  I also have a somewhat private blog with recipes.  Easy, few ingredients, cast iron cooking, one pot meals, you get the idea.  I may publish that one too. Its mainly for Walker.  He can access the recipes and ingredient list via his smartphone while he's grocery shopping.

Thank you for following along on my various events, interests and distractions. (nine hundred and twenty two posts, counting this one) My blog has served its purpose, which was to remind me there are plenty of fun and interesting things going on around me all the time.  I will probably post more on facebook now.  See you there!

Graduation Day May 11, 2013

Finally our computer is fixed! 

 I am back to trying to memorialize our trip to Hillsdale.

 

Above is the new Sports Arena at Hillsdale.

The ceremony was supposed to be outdoors but they moved it indoors

because of threatening weather reports. 

Hillsdale always does things "right" and this was no exception.

 

I took a quick photo of the proud parents as we waiting for the ceremony to begin.  I admit I chose the photo that looked best of me (sorry Phil!) but after all it is my blog!

 

The speakers were great (President Aarn, Senator Ted Cruz, and the class president.

There were nearly 300 graduating seniors.  Most had double majors or major/minors.

 

I tried to catch them throwing their caps into the air at the end of the ceremony. 

Not especially orchestrated so I was lucky to catch the half dozen or so I got here!

 

The recessional - guess who was standing on her tiptoes in the aisle to take a photo of her graduate.

I even caught his roommate right in front of him (smiling at me - or laughing?)

 

The guy in red is one of the faculty. camera shy?

 

 

Walker and his friend Isaac.

They are both heading off to teaching jobs in the fall.

Notice their white "honors" stoles.

Walker to Pennsylvania and Isaac to Arkansas.

 

That is the sports arena in the background.

 

 

 

Phil and Walker and I went to one of Walker's favorite spots for dinner afterwards.

The Hunt Club.

Kind of a pub with burgers and beer.

brick walls and tin ceilings.

A toast to the graduate!

 

 

Thursday

 

 

Fond memories

Out for a walk ... and an announcement.

 

Thursday is one of my days babysitting Wyatt. The last couple of weeks we've been taking the stroller out and walking around my mom and dad's neighborhood.

 

He's always a cheery fellow and he brought along his camera this time too.

 

We saw a cute pair of pugs;

Another kind of bigger doggie;

a helicopter...

 

 

And I saw lots of flowers. 

 

Lilac season is my favorite.

 

I was amazed to see these Trilliums as part of a neighbor's landscape!

 

Trilliums bring back fond memories of my childhood.

 

Oh, the announcement:

 

Walker was offered and has accepted the teaching job in Pennsylvania!

They contacted him the last day of classes.

He's very happy.

Me too.

 

Archaeological dig.

Walker will be home in a couple of weeks.

His room needed a thorough dusting.

 

I took every book out of his room and stacked them in the hallway.

 

It's almost like a archaeological "dig".

 

Hardy Boys

Harry Potter

lots of grammar and English books

Science Fiction

Adventure novels

Spanish, Japanese, German dictionaries

Science Textbooks

Classics

ancient Greek and Roman books

 

His mission will be to look at every book and put the ones he wants back his the shelves.

I know he has a big pile of books to bring home too.

 

This photo doesn't even show the 7 boxes of stored books from his closet.

 

Old Friends.

Full tilt boogie travel journal

I've been working on this journal to take with me on our:

Road Trip to Michigan

Our Stay In Hillsdale/Graduation

The Return trip/visit to St. Paul

 

The hardest part was choosing the paper to go inside.

and the outside "tapes".

 

I've been wanting to use this book.

Maybe it doesn't really fit the theme,

but it felt like it fit my mood.

 

I made seven signatures.

map pages

music paper

hand painted paper (gelli)

watercolor paper

 

I gesso-d over some areas so I can write or sketch there.

 

I made a lobster stencil.

I love how it looks like the shadow of a giant lobster looming over a city...

 

And the back of the book.

It is tied shut with a grey velvet ribbon.

 

I'll show you more once its filled with memories.

Adventures in Pottstown PA...

Some of my readers know that Walker has recently been to a job fair at school.  One of the schools that interviewed him invited him to their school for an additional interview...in

Pottstown, Pennsylvania

 

It doesn't take too much internet searching to find images of just about anywhere!

 

He really liked the sound of the school before he went,

and now he likes it even more.

 

six people - three jobs

 

It looks like a very interesting, friendly little town.

About two hours from Philadelphia.

Not so far from Washington, D.C.,

New York City,

Boston

 

He really enjoyed his stay, and the people he met.

 

He liked the rolling "mountains" that we would call foothills here.

 

These nuclear towers are visible from everywhere in town.

 

2-3 weeks before he knows if this will be his next stop.

 

 

 

 

Hillsdale College wins first game in playoffs!!!

Today was our all day crop at Rubbermaids. Claudia and I had plans to sit together and she got there first. She had this darling item waiting at my "spot"... in this photo filled with some things I made later.
This is what the basket looks like - it is SO CUTE! It was a thank you for taking the photos at Tony's wedding for her. I told her it was so much fun I didn't need a gift - but THANK YOU! Very nice.

And a close up with the handle and clasp. I love it.

Here are some of the cards I made for the Orting Soldier's Home. They have 180 guests there and we made an individual card for each of them.

I had quite a few ideas and I wanted to try them all. These vintage images I took out of a book from my library. Cute paper from Sharin Memories and I have three snowflake punches that made very adorable accents.

These are the ones Claudia made, using an idea from the card-making class we attended last week.

My shortbread cookies and jalapeno cheese pie were enjoyed. We had so many goodies and so much food! With 15 ladies all meeting in one place and everyone bringing food, you know it was a banquet! One of the ladies made a crockpot of Italian Beef that we ate served on rolls with sauteed garlic and green peppers for dinner. Very good! The time flew by.

In the meantime, Phil and Walker talked on the phone several times. Hillsdale College Chargers were in Mankuta Minnesota in the first game of the playoffs. Walker didn't go to the game, but learned he could go on the internet and watch the game from his computer! He tried to get Phil set up to watch too, but Phil couldn't access it. Anyway, the Chargers won their first game! There will be another next weekend.

September 4, 2009

Gifts from Aunt Claudia!

Today I wore my "Hillsdale College" T-shirt out on errands. At my first stop, a nice lady stopped me and asked if I went to Hillsdale. I explained that we had just dropped our son off at Hillsdale College and she was very excited and said "Well, BLESS you!" She knew all about Hillsdale and had read imprimus for years. She has a grandson who was just starting up at PLU this year. We had a very nice visit and promised to pray for each other's student.

Dilly Beans for Alan - also notice the darling teddy bear cup and saucer, and the adorable china salt and pepper shakers - gifts from the Blanchard girls!

September 5, 2009

We have just returned from an 8-day road trip to drop Walker off at Hillsdale College in Michigan. Talk about souvenirs! We covered about eight states, saw Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, The Badlands (South Dakota and North Dakota), the historic cowboy town of Deadwood, South Dakota, and many many cows. I see I have found a photo of Abraham Lincoln, not Walker and I, standing in front of Mt. Rushmore. Hmmm, its a start.

I have started a vacation journal, and started organizing my photos to make a slide show cd and a hard-cover photo album.

While we were on the road, Alan called and said his green beans were ripe and was I ready to make dilly beans when I get home? Sure! I haven't made dilly beans for quite a while and now I am remembering why. It is easy but time consuming. Right now I have three jars of Alan's home-grown beans, and three jars for us, from the grocery store produce aisle. I can't make dillies for Alan and not for Phil!

Here's my recipe:

2 lb trimmed green beans / 4 heads dill

4 cloves garlic / 1 tsp cayenne pepper

2 1/2 cups water / 2 1/2 cups vinegar

1/4 cup pickling salt

1. Sterilize jars and lids;

2.. In each jar place one head dill, one peeled garlic, 1/4 tsp cayenne

and I added a sprinkle of red pepper flakes as well.
3. Then, pack beans, lengthwise into hot jars.

4. Meanwhile, boil the water, vinegar and pickling salt.

5. Pour boiling hot over packed beans, leaving 1/3 inch head space.

6. Remove air bubbles.

7. Adjust caps

8. Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath.

Yield: about 4 pints. Let them sit several weeks for the best flavor. *

*As soon as I finished processing these, Phil came in from the garage and said the radio was going to talk about a recipe for pickled beans - I turned it on and it was my recipe exactly!

This year I am going to label the lids with a marker: "Thanksgiving" "Christmas" "New Year's Eve"

Phil and I connected with Cindy and Eldon and went out to dinner (more food?!) tonight. We tried out a Thai restaurant, which I have been to once, but it was a new experience for the others. It was very good food (especially the sweet and sour soup, which I would have been happy to eat just that! - but of course I didn't).