A Little Flag Waving Continued

Boy, do my fun things slow down once school starts back up. But my project is finished! Remember this........

I finally got a chance to paint my little project, which I put on the shelf in my office at home.

$7.95 for lumber

$3.25 for paints

$2.57 paint brushes

$13.77 total

Better than Pottery Barn's $129.00 plus shipping.............


Ok, my political science/lawyer daughter just called me and said I have 61 stars!!! I am NOT repainting it.This is so typical of me!!!!

What I'm reading in August......

     I love reading fiction that lets me pick up bits of historical information, and travel to places I have not been. Lethal Legacy by Linda Fairstein does just that. Fairstein is a former prosecutor that now writes crime novels.  It takes place in New York, and much better, in the New York Public library, where the subject is theft of rare books and maps. This is a suspense novel that is the 11th in the series of Alexandra Cooper. This is the first one I have read, and it does NOT detract from the story. I may be late to the party, but I am going to read all of them!

Here is a short video of author Linda Fairstein in the New York Public Library:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7tf5y_lethal-legacy-linda-fairstein_shortfilms

                                                                                                                                                
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is one book that has the most honest characters I have met in a long time. CeeCee is a 12 year old girl, who moves to Savannah, Georgia in 1967 to live with a great aunt. I have taught 12 year old girls for 13 years, and I must say  author Beth Hoffman has a clear picture of the internal thoughts of a 12 year old girl. This book made me cry and laugh out loud, and I wanted to have all those characters as friends, too. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt would  make a fabulous movie and I am already casting it in my mind!

Here is a link to an interview with author Beth Hoffman:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FFX7u_Dw_s

Back to School

Even though my girls are grown, I still cringe at the "Back to School" print ads and TV

 commercials, because I have to go back to school.  I have a mug that says:

I will not throw things in class.

I will not yell in class.

I will not get mad and hit the person sitting next to me.

I will not throw a temper tantrum.

I will be good because

I AM THE TEACHER!

I AM THE TEACHER!

I AM THE TEACHER!

So, I thought you might like to see some pictures of my classroom and students.

This is the classroom area of my room. I am on the right, and my helpful paraprofessional is on the left.

Above is the science lab in the back of the classroom.

Here are a few of my students carrying out a lab experiment. Notice how focused they are. No cell phones, no texting.  That's my principal on the right, stopping by to observe.

Sometimes in order to work out a formula, we must go back and review our math facts. Little Jimmy on the right  may be staying after school today........

This guy looks a little odd, but he is our new head of the Science department, and although his answers to my questions are quite detailed and complicated, I think he is going to work out all right.

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL!

A Little Flag-waving

There was an item I saw in a catalog, too expensive for me, so I decided I could make it.  The temperature heat index has been 102-110 degrees, so working outside or in the garage was not an option. I brought my things into the den, and worked  tried to work there. I had some help.

Look out Pottery Barn!

To be continued....

Churches of Santa Fe

One of my favorite things to do on trips, is to see the historical churches of the area. Two churches in Santa Fe, New Mexico are featured here.

                                                                                     

                                                                  
               
                                      

Below: Loretto Chapel  has been the subject of many articles, TV specials, and movies including "Unsolved Mysteries" and the television movie titled "The Staircase." The story is that when the chapel was built in 1873, there was no means to get the choir up to  the loft in the back of the church. The sisters prayed for an answer and a man appeared at the chapel with a donkey and a toolbox looking for work. Months later, the elegant circular staircase was completed, and the carpenter disappeared without pay or thanks. The rest of the mystery is about the contrucution of the  staircase. It has two 360 degree turns and no visible means of support. Also, it is said that the staircase was built without nails—only wooden pegs. Questions also surround the number of stair risers relative to the height of the choir loft and about the types of wood and other materials used in the stairway's construction.

                                                                            

                              The stair rails were put in many years later, for safety, not support.

I am joining Chari for

Weston 10 Mile Trail Antique and Garden Show

The first weekend of August, Weston, Missouri hosts a 10 mile trail around historic Weston, with 4 stops to shop, eat and drink. What a deal! You drive your own car to each location and stay as long as you want. Weston is a beautiful area of rolling hills, lush farmland, orchards, and tobacco fields. It is the world's leading producer of twist tobacco. William Buffalo Bill Cody was at one time a resident of Weston, and the town was a major "jumping off" point for the Santa Fe Trail, the Oregon Trail and the California Gold Rush.

Gourds for painting and bird houses.

And here is the gourd "house" made with cattle panels bent into arches. It was shady and cool inside.

Inside the Red Barn:

Oh Yum! Black Walnut syrup on ice cream and pancakes!

Lots of old insulators

American feed sacks, NOT French!

The antique dealers set up in the back of the barn.Then we walked around the rest of the farm.

LaMancha goats are  a medium sized breed of milking goat, known for their apparent lack of floppy ears.


The next stop was an interior design shop.

Cigar pics in tobacco country.

And lastly, the statuary store housed in the old grain elevators.

No colors anymore I want them to turn black.....

I am sooo excited. I just got these two urns at a garage sale  for $2.00 each! And they are big-- 31 inches tall. I will probably spend more on spray paint than I spent on them........... plants awaiting......

wanna see it tainted, tainted black.......

Lyrics from Rolling Stones 'Paint It Black"

And later the same day.....

One more to paint and fill!

I have some better ideas for the porch urn, but I will wait until next spring.