Flower Friday

     This is a wild rose of some sort at the Lakeview Campground east of Tok.  This is where we started our summer road trip and our first night camping, both of the trip and ever camping together.  A small campground of only 12 spots and that night only three spots were used.  We heard a crane sounding and several loons calling most of the night.  The campsite we chose was right next to the lake.  Was a great start to our 11,300 mile, 56 day road trip.  We travelled the Alaska Highway to the Cassier Highway, through Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Mount Rushmore, Badlands, Duluth, across the Mackinac Straits to Alden, MI and family for a couple of weeks.  Then continued on to through Michigan and crossing at Port Huron to Canada to Buffalo, NY to Montrose, PA and more family for a bit.  Left and travelled up through Toronto and around Lakes Huron and Superior, through Winnipeg, Manitoba and then headed towards Edmonton, Alberta.  Caught the Alaska Highway where it officially begins in Dawson City and back through Yukon and into Canada.  It was a fantastic adventure.

Lupine

Canola Fields in Manitoba

Dryas

Throw Back Thursday

John Sowle

     This is my Great Grandpa John Sowle.  I can't trace my family history any further back with him as he came to Ithaca, Michigan on an Orphan Train from New York City.  That is all that he knew and when he reached St. Johns, Michigan, a farm family plucked him off the train.  In his early teens he ran away from the Sowle farm as he was basically an unpaid laborer more than an adopted son.  For a while he worked in a livery stable and slept in one of the horse stalls, but that ended abruptly.  The undertaking had a shop above and one night a body fell down the oat shoot into the stable below.  He left.

Sowle Farmstead

     He eventually made it to Ithaca and set up in farming and married Viola and they had my Great Aunt Mable.  Viola  died young and he then married Pearl and my Grandpa Leland Sowle was born.

Working Wednesday - Drapes and Insurance

 

 

     Today has been more of a work day than usual in such that there is a work day in retirement.  Started out by answering emails related to my small business of conference planning, which dealt mostly with informing prospective guest speakers that we don't have the money this year and filling out insurance forms, for the second time, for the underwriter even though what the insurance agent had me fill out was almost a duplicate.

     And then we finally got started on the new drapes.  We've had the fabric, seen above, for about two years after taking advantage of a 60% off on the fabric with a 50% off coupon even on sales items.  Was quite the deal.  Then we had to special order the traverse rod since here in Alaska, we're apparently the only people that ever want that kind of rod form Home Depot.  We've had that for about a year.  So, it's time to start and today we got the rod up.  I wanted to be able to do some actual measurements before cutting any of the fabric.  Will do some serious math tomorrow and then probably get started on the sewing.  Wish me luck.

Textile Tuesday - Wedding Quilts

 Quilt for former student and his husband for their wedding.

 Quilt for formers students new step-son.

Quilt for Nephew and his bride.

 

     I seem to have made more quilts in the past two months than I have in the past two years.  What with everything that needed to be done towards retirement and the last year working, getting settled into the new routine at home in retirement, and then the busy summer with our long road trip, I seemed to have left behind my crafting joy of quilting for a bit.

          I started in April and May for the quilt for my Nephew and his fiancé for their wedding.  It was a simple pattern, the snowball block, but the tediousness was in cutting 154 squares and then making sure I had 616 smaller squares for the corner triangles.  I used a jelly roll for that part which made quick work.  I got the top done but didn't quilt it until September after we got back from our trip in July.  In August I started on the wedding quilt for my student and had that mostly done and quilted that in September before we left for my Nephew's wedding. 

     When we got back, if fiddled around and then decided that  fat-quarter pack I had would make a nice colorful quilt using the Yellow Brick Road pattern for my former students fiancés son.  Little kids don't always understand all the attention directed at others and hey, when Justin and Phillip are cuddled up under their quilt, Koebryn can cuddle up under his.

     And now I am busy working on a quilt for our new grandson for Christmas.  Following a design that my Grandma made for all of her grandkids at the time in the later 1960's.  I've decided to carry on the tradition.

Memory Monday - Education

     Our family has experienced this building in three different time frames.  This is Grawn Hall on the campus of Central Michigan University.  In the 1930's it was the main campus building for classes when it was known as Central State Teachers College.  My Great Aunt Mabel was a student here and went on to teach Mathematics at her high school alma mater for about 40 years, often teaching small classes of Calculus and other upper level math in a small farming community.
     In the late 1960's, Mom was a student here.  It was now known as Central Michigan University.  She majored in Home Economics and minored in Physical Education.  A major/minor combination that her advisor would not sign off on.  Her reasoning was that housewives did not do sports.  The Dean had to sign off.  The funny thing is, that her and two of her classmates had this major/minor and all three got teaching jobs in smaller school districts because of this combination.  Remember, at one time boys and girls PE classes were not mixed and PE teachers did not teach the opposite sex.
     After a degree in business and a brief career in business and hospitality, I returned to school at CMU to obtain my teaching certification in business ed with a concentration in something new called data processing.
     Grawn Hall is still there.  A good solid building that borders one side of the Mall.  Updates of course have been made but the outside still looks the same.  There is an additional wing on one end which has been endowed as a business center.  A current remodel is currently underway that is adding an atrium and gathering/reception area on the back side.  Education classes have now moved on to a new building of their own across campus, but this will always be the education and business building to me.
     Our family has 96 years of work history rooted in this building. 

Flower Friday

     Growing up, Mrs. Wolschied next door had a big planter area around some trees with hundreds of bright orange poppies.  They just grew on their own, quite shaded actually, without much help from her as she had 13 children. 
     I thought that they were the most beautiful flowers.  At the time I didn't know that there were many colors and varieties.  Now of course I know different and in our yard we have these beautiful pink ones, a few orange, a whole variety of Alaskan Poppies in red, orange and yellow, and even a small variety of small double pink.  We even have three varieties of Himalayan Blue Poppies that grow about three feet tall on very thick, hard stalks. 
     My world has expanded through age and a husband that loves flowers and yard work.

 

     Thanksgiving has always been the holiday that has meant the most to me.  There seems to be less hub bub about everything unlike Christmas and Birthdays.  Our family still had a basic routine and some minor traditions, but it was still rather low key and basically ended up being four days when we were at Grandma and Grandpa Sowle's.
      We usually arrived on Wednesday evening after dad got out of work at the barbershop.  By the time we had crested the small rise just before their house, we were always looking for the spruce tree that Grandpa had decorated with lights.  Back in the 60's, having outside lights was something special and Grandpa always made sure they were up by Thanksgiving.  In the picture above you can see the tree right in the middle towards the back of the picture.  It was about halfway down the driveway on the side by Aunt Mabel's cottage.  It just always meant that the year had begun, to me at least, to see those lights.  After that was Christmas and then winter weekends skating and then summer. 
     Wednesday supper was always homemade noodles for the beef noodle soup that Grandma made.  I don't remember much else that went with it, just that the house always smelled so good from the pies made that day and the soup simmering when we arrived. 
     Later that evening Julie and I would help Grandma as she made the cinnamon twist rolls.  A sweet dough rolled out big and slathered with butter and brown sugar and cinnamon.  Folded over in thirds, cut, we'd grab each end and twist it a couple of times before laying it in a pan of a mixture of walnuts and corn syrup and more brown sugar and cinnamon.  They'd raise for a while until baking just before we'd open up the click-clack couch for bed while Mom and Dad and Grandma and Grandpa played cards.
     In such a small house everyone was up early and Julie would help Grandma "pinch" the turkey of any remaining quills and then we'd have the rolls made the night before and wait for the turkey to cook.  Dad always liked a pumpkin pie with walnuts and cranberry sauce with ground orange rind and nuts.  Towards the end of dinner Grandpa would always stir together whatever was on his plate to appall us kids. 
     I'm all grown now and I've been through a memorable Thanksgiving while a Cadet on the ship Sparrows Point while slowly sailing through the Straits of Mackinaw, shared a potluck meal in a remote Eskimo village where I had my first teaching job, started new memories with a new husband and family while we packed up leftovers for our children to take home, and this year we have our first grandchild, a beautiful baby boy, joining us for new and wonderful memories. 
  Lots to be thankful for, from memories to future gatherings.