It's time to catch up. I've been away at Beta Convention. My last one, so it was a little bittersweet. I celebrated my 20th year on Friday morning at the sponsors' meeting.
Maybe it was bittersweet, but there was definitely lots of frosting! Bunkie High (my old school) brought home all sorts of honors. Since I didn't get to Pin It Weekly, I thought I'd pull some BHS photos from Facebook (there are lots!) and show you how awesome this group is. There are, I believe, around 70 students from tenth through twelfth grades.
They competed in academic, artistic, STEM, and just-for-fun competitions. These are the winners. All of them can now go on to Nationals in Fort Worth, Texas, in June to complete with students from other states.
Grace won La. State Secretary
Mia placed third in Special Talent for her song.
Isabelle placed fifth in Jewelry Design
The school received an award for increasing membership by 10% or better. And finally, they placed first in Group Talent with their modern adaptation of The Wizard of Oz / The Wiz.
(This link will take you to the video on Facebook.)
That, my friends, is pretty awesome! Imagine the preparation it takes to build backdrops (yes, plural), props, record lines and music, and costumes. (Remember the monkey costumes?)Add about 70 teenagers to the mix, teach them your vision of the adaptation, teach them to dance--together and in sync--with the mix recording that, yes! they put together.
I'm proud of Bunkie High, not because I played my part (however small) but because it will always be in my heart. I have strong ties to BHS and will always love the school, the people, the students and wish them well.
This post first appeared in February of 2015, and it's still a favorite--over 12,000 views. How is that even possible? Well anyway, I thought I'd make it easy to find, again. Try spelling elephants with spaces between the letters....it's strange. This morning I was reading a few blogs, as I tend to do pretty often now that I've cut back on the number of quilt magazines I purchase. I ran across Sew Fresh Quilts and had to take a closer look at her darling "Elephant Parade" quilt.
See that cute little pink guy near the bottom? That one just gets me. I like elephants. But baby elephants, well, they are too adorable. They look hugable and loveable and cuddly. I know, it's a crazy fantasy to want to hug a baby elephant that probably weighs as much as I do (and I'm not skinny!) but I can't help myself.
Recently it seems, Facebook is wrought with baby elephant videos. One in which a baby is stuck in a hole and can't get out is just heartbreaking. Of course, the folks with the video camera help and save the day, but the struggle is real...because the little guy is not so little. But he's cute and mom is right there in a panic unable to help. Heart-wrenching, I tell you.
This video shows a newborn baby being protected and helped by the entire group of elephants as he struggles to get up. The video is a bit long (9 mins.) but let it stream and advance it so that you get to the end if you just have to see that he makes it.
Since they're so darling, I thought I'd look for a few quilts with elephants on them. Turns out that there are more than just a few. Plus, there are elephant fabrics, softies, pincushions, and other items. These are some of my favorites.
And this brings us back to the Sew Fresh Quilts "Elephant Parade" quilt along. This is the quilt you'd be making if you quilt along with Lorna, but she suggests that you can make other items just by using the pattern to make the elephants, then modify the project to suit your needs. I'm thinking pillow since I have too many other projects going right now.
Lorna is already in week two, so maybe you should scoot on over and get started!
Yesterday or maybe the day before, a young quilter by the name of Zafira Vaxevanidou left a comment on a post. You know, those are rare, so I sit up and take notice. Then I stalk the commenter. I mean, it's cyber stalking so it's okay, right? No one really knows that it's happening. No one gets hurt. No one seems to care. All the kids do it and all that.
all pictures and links from The Quilt Codex
Ahem, so back to the story about stalking Zafira, which was difficult because there's not much on the chick. Unless you go to youtube. Or her blog, Zarkadia. Well, she also has a Google+ account. Oh, and I saw that she's on Flickr. Basically she's everywhere I'm not, so it took a little while. Apparently I'm a good stalker and I know how to use Google. Ha, I am a librarian for pete's sake.
https://www.youtube.com/user/thequiltcodex
There's a reason I mention Zafira. She started something called "The Quilt Codex" on youtube. Now there's a title I can get behind, being a librarian and all, I knew the word codex, originally a book or listing (usually hand-written) presenting a standard (ie code) for legal, religious, or other information. Oh, was I intrigued. Of course, I dropped everything and hauled my full attention to THE PLACE for quilt block videos. If Zafira knew me at all, she probably knew not to concern herself about my stalking her. It lasts only as long as my attention. Once something comes between the two, I'm out of the game. So while I did lurk around for a little while, it didn't last terribly long. Instead I watched videos of how to put together quilt blocks. Some of the one that I find most to figure out are not so intimidating after all. Here are two that I thought might interest you:
I can not tell you how many times a day I say those words! "That crazy redbird" is making a mess on every window he attacks. We'll have to pressure wash the house. (Yes, it needs pressure washing already. That's not the point!) Jenny has been parking just anywhere in the middle of the parking area, which is pretty big. When I asked her why, she said it's because the birds are leaving droppings on her dark paint. It's nasty. This video is mostly for her benefit, but I thought it funny enough to share. Keep in mind that I had to stay inside the studio so as not to scare him and it was showering. Just keep your eye on the side mirror.
My family is such a fun-loving crew. Traditionally we wait to have our get-together/gift exchange on Christmas night. This allows the kids to wake up to Santa surprises, go to mass, and visit their in-laws, or whatever they choose to do.
This year we decided to exchange gifts, have supper and then play games so the little ones could join in the fun. They had been running around screaming for most of the evening and the adults decided this would help to settle them down a little. Of course, not one made much of an effort to pick up or straighten the house, so excuse the messes in the pictures.
Ha! It's crazy to think that we'd play a game and be quiet. It started relatively calmly, but that did not last long. We started out with some form of charade that didn't work very well but eventually got off the ground. I looked up a couple of family games and in no time we were rolling with laughter as everyone took turns acting out their animal for "White Elephant." Here's a minute of some of our fun and laughter.
When we got tired of animals, we turned to "Giants, Wizards, Elves." That's basically "Paper, Rock, Scissors" but using sound effects and your whole body. Even the shy ones got into that game.
What happened here, I can't say exactly. But we laughed way too much for such silliness. I'll only say retaliation is never good.
What are some fun family games your family plays? I can always add to our list...
My husband played on his tractor Saturday. His parents planted a few Irish potatoes in our garden, and Richard used the tractor and the old digger to get them out of the ground--most of the potatoes had been dug earlier, one hill at a time. Richard rarely gets on the tractor anymore because it's very rough and hurts his back, but to help his parents.... I found it all rather funny because, well, watch the video. It's only 50 seconds long but it will give you an idea of how farming was done 40 or so years ago. That noise! It's not Richard. The tractor is older than he is and squeaks just a bit more. This is the way we do things around here still. Sometimes.
Yes, really 40 years. I know because the tractor and digger have been in the family for the 37 years that Richard and I have been married. They were used extensively when Richard's dad farmed 60 or so acres of sweet potatoes annually. This means they have put some hours in the fields around our home. The picture on the right shows the rows after the potatoes were dug.
All of this tractor work for two baskets of new potatoes. Oh, and let's not forget the joy of riding your tractor for five minutes!
Having taken Marley to take her dance photos today, I've got ballet on my mind. I am thrilled that two of the granddaughters have the opportunity to learn dance. Both are interested and have had a couple of years' training at local dance companies.
It's something I'd have loved to do as a child, but we simply could not afford such a luxury. So I tried to teach myself ballet by reading a library book and practicing on the front porch, a window sill for a barre.
I was pretty good for a seven-year with no formal training. I eventually became light enough on my feet that my parents quit fussing about the jumping around while they napped.
Eventually, my interests and reading turned to learning other skills: a girl can learn only so much from reading the one library book available, and a two week check-out time limits that.
Nevertheless, I still love ballet, my lost opportunity. And the few times that I've had the chance to go to the ballet (whether local recital or world-renown production), I've watched enraptured by the beauty and grace of the dancers, the costumes, the stories they tell.
While eating lunch and taking a break from my current project of making some scrap baskets for the studio, I can hear the regular tapping of this crazy redbird. He's actually very pretty, just not very smart. When I've mentioned his tapping on the windows, people have said that he's attacking his reflection, but I don't think that's the issue since I can't see my own reflection in all of the windows.
He rotates from window to window. So far I've seen him doing this in two windows in the house and in three windows in the studio. It doesn't matter whether the curtains are open or closed. Plus, I can get fairly close to the window while the tapping is happening. Note that there's a Christmas tree on the window seat. Yes, the crazy bird has been doing this for at least two months. Honestly, when I took the video it had been going on for some time already.
I think he's just insane. Really there's no sense in this activity. It happens every day, early morning, around noon and later in the afternoon. This "tapping" is actually quite loud: we hear it in any area of the house. Yet, the puppies do not fuss about the noise--though they yap at every opportunity. They ignore him as though he's part of the family. In fact, they yap at me much more than at the bird! Where's the sense in that? So far nothing is working to discourage him. I'm open to suggestions with one exception. Years ago, I hung a cheap aluminum pie plate near a window to discourage a bird and it worked. Imagine a pie plate fluttering in the wind at every window! No, the tapping is not that annoying. Yet!
