Sunday, June 30, 2013

New Coffee Table


I found this coffee table on Craig's List for $22. I love it!
Originally uploaded by BarbaraLN


Summer is the time that I try to catch up and work on things in my house. I tend to be a clutter queen. My chair is usually surrounded by books I'm reading, my knitting, and my laptop. For a couple years, I have been using a white plastic folding table to hold some of this junk. I decided to get classy and purchase a real piece of furniture. I found this coffee table on Craig's List for $22. I love it! Karen Doyle suggested that I check out Craig's List and that was a great idea. Thanks, Karen!

I'm going to try to keep it cleaned off like this, but it probably won't last. I can raise the drop leaf and reach the computer from my chair. This was a fabulous find.

Good Bye to Edmunds




My very first teaching assignment was Fourth Grade basic skills at Edmunds Academy of Fine Arts.  I also taught first grade there.  This fall the students are moving into a new school building.  When I drove past on Friday, they were tearing down the old, which is really not very old, building.  It makes me so sad.



The heavy equipment was working inside gutting the building.



From the driveway, you could see that the ramp, which led to the classrooms was still there.  It won't be for long though.

By the time I go by again on Tuesday, the building may be completely gone.

Wind Art



This is the weekend of the Des Moines Arts Festival.  Michael and I went down and walked around on Friday.  I loved the wind sculptures that were on display.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Mouse House



This summer I have been spending lots of time working in my yard.  A friend has been cutting down trees at the back of my lot, and then my job is to trim the branches, bundle them, and drag them to the driveway, where they can be picked up and hauled away.  I have been using lots of twine and rope to do this.  I pulled this ball of twine out of a cabinet in the garage where it had been stored for a long time.  I could see right away that mice had been chewing on it.  I assumed they were biting pieces off to take to their nest somewhere.  It wasn't until I had unwound a lot of it that I realize some little mouse had actually built it's nest inside the hollowed out ball of twine.

Sorry little mouse, but you have been evicted.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits




During the past year I have barely used my stand mixer, now that I don't eat wheat.  Today I used it to make a treat for Winnie.  I found this recipe for Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits on Pinterest.  They are from Pink Pistacio.com.



It was really easy to do.  They have now been dog tested and Winnie approved.  

Updated Bookcase



My plan yesterday was to work in the yard, but it was much too wet.  Instead, I repainted this bookcase to use in my living room.  This little bookcase has quite a history.  For the past few years it has been sitting in the reading corner of my classroom.  I found this bookcase in the basement of our house on Cambridge Street.  That was in 1982, in other words, thirty-one years ago.  It was painted a pale green then.  We repainted it bright red to use in my daughter's bedroom.  Years later it was painted royal blue to match my son's desk.  Now it is bright turquoise.  This is to hold all the books that tend to get piled around my favorite chair.  It's not going to make it back into my classroom.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Summer Reading



During the school year at least two hours of everyday is spent on reading instruction. I read lots of kid's books, both fiction and non-fiction.  I spend a lot of time reading, but most of it is on-line.  I follow lots of blogs and carry on many discussions through social networking.  When it comes to reading for pleasure, it is difficult to find the time to read books during the school year.  That's one of the great things about summer.  There is time to hang out at the library and just read what ever I want to.  Here are just some of the books I'm reading this summer.

Yarn Bombing at the Library



Yesterday I made an afternoon visit to the Eastside Library.  I was surprised to see that there had been a yarn bombing there.  I don't fully understand the concept behind Yarn Bombing, but I had read about them, so I knew what they were.  According to Wikipedia a Yarn Bombing is a non-permanent work of art.  I'm sure this one looked better before all the rain.  I thinks it makes a colorful addition to the front of the library.



Butterflies and Flowers




One of the best things about summer vacation is having some time to work on creative projects.  Most of my mornings have been taken up with yard work, but since it was raining yesterday, I had some time to do some sewing.  I made these colorful pillowcases for my bed.  I used Nancy's idea to not make the pair identical.  I have reversed the patterns on the second pillow case.



I love color!  Can you tell?  I think it will be impossible to wake up grumpy, when I am sleeping on these cheerful butterflies and flowers.

You Rule!


This great wreath was an end of school year gift from one of my students.  The card says, "You Rule, Ms. Day!"  What a great gift for a teacher!

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Grandma's Recipe Book


This weekend was Family Camp Out.  My aunt brought this recipe book that my grandmother had put together over the years.  We figured that she had started it early in her marriage, which would have been 1930, and added to it over the years.  We found one recipe dated 1948 and another 1955.


My grandparents were so poor, that Grandma used her old math book and glued in recipes she had clipped from magazines and the newspaper.  The book was a combination of algebra and recipes.  She created a cover from a piece of oilcloth tablecloth.  

What a treasure!

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Overgrown Flower Bed



We have one and a half more days of school.  I have lots of work to do at home, once I am finished at school.  This poor Iris is lost among the Columbine that takes over everything.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling!




There's nothing like a roll in freshly mowed grass. It must bring out all the stinky smells.