Remembering...

I ran across this draft from about a year and a half ago that I forgot to finish.

I enjoyed reading it again so I decided it needed to be included here.

Whitney High School,

our Monarch Butterfly Station, Gym, Student Parking Lot

and Yellow Umbrellas.

It's been almost exactly a year and a half now that I retired from my 39 years of teaching

 the Visual Arts at Whitney High School.

I have so many wonderful memories,

but this has been an especially hard year for me personally.

Not just because of Covid and all the crazy politics going on,

that was an added challenge,

but because Whitney was my home from the age of 24 to 63.

I feel like I grew up there with my students in so many ways.

Leaving/retiring is finally getting easier to talk about without feeling overwhelming sadness and loss.

What do I miss the most?

It's not just one thing,

it's so many things.

My classroom was my safe space,

where I was in control... most of the time.

ha ha

Not only safe for me but for many of my students during their day.

Lunchtime was a haven for many.

The kids.

To be around them everyday kept me young,

 so vibrant and alive,

thinner (I averaged about 11000 to 15000 steps a day),

excited to teach and share my knowledge,

and to pass on the arts to so many generations.

Being inspired by the tremendous effort and creativity the kids put into their 

projects,

so much so that I would create future art assignments based on THEIR pieces.

I loved that creative thinking process figuring out those new projects,

then to prep them and make samples for the kids to become excited about.

Damn it was GOOD!!!

And I can't believe I'm saying this but I even miss the drive to and from Whitney.

Never in a million years did I think I would miss that!

The adrenaline in the morning racing to get there on time

 so I wouldn't be tardy and a bad example.

I don't think the kids ever knew how very difficult that was for me,

I lived so very far away.  

Or maybe they did

 as I would occasionally come racing in to open my classroom door

 from the parking lot just in the nick of time.

 And my trusty pullcart rolling noisely behind me,

and the jingle jangle of my school keys.

It was a solid 40-50 minute drive every morning.

A good hour if there was a sig-a-lert (sorry spelling?).

And the drive home in bumper to bumper traffic, 

that actually became too relaxing.

  I'd go so deeply into Right Brain 

that in my older years I'd occasionally fall asleep in my car,

but only for a second!

That was scary.

But as I'm thinking and writing about it now I think what I really miss the most

is making a difference in these young people's lives.

Contributing and sharing,

bringing joy into other's life,

making the kids laugh and smile.

That was the best!!!!!

I took a lot of pix before I left,

many that I haven't shared yet.

I hope you will be patient with me as I share them every so often here on my blog.

The pictures above are from our Monarch Butterfly Station

that was first planted back in the day (early 1980's I believe),

as a memorial garden for our beloved Science teacher (Bio & Chem),

Dave Reller whom the kids adored.

Check out Dave's 1980's Fro.

He was the first friend I knew who succumbed to AIDS.

He loved teaching so very much that he taught till the biitter end.

The kids and staff were devasted 

especailly because back then nobody really knew what AIDS was all about.

Dave truely made science fun to learn,

and he had the most wonderful dry sense of humor.

He was my next door neighbor and was super encouraging to me as a first year teacher.

He showd me great kindness.

 8th grade Science teacher Virgina Pooler took it upon herself with her students 

to put in that garden after Dave passed.

But sadly and not long afterwards,

 Virginia "Gin" passed from cancer and the garden fell into chaos

for many years.

Another devasting loss for Whitney.

Gin was another of Whitney High's favorite Science teachers (8th grade Science).

The kids worshiped her wisdom in all things,

and she was the most honest adult they had ever been taught by.

You can read more about Gin here.

In this past decade, 

 another favorite Science teacher (A.P. Biology) and Whitney High Alum,

Aileen Palmiter Perry,

who I featured recently (scroll down)

 took the garden under her wing and brought it back to it's current glory

(the pix you saw above)

She actually formed an Ecology and Wildlife Club for the students and they all pitched in.

Aileen's favorite teacher when she attended Whitney was Gin Pooler,

who we still talk about to this day. 

Thank you Aileen and your students

 for all the hard work you've put into making it beautiful again, 

and for keeping the memories of Dave and Gin alive!

Aileen is here with the love of her life and husband of 19 years,

Andy,

who also teaches at Whitney.

His specialty is History 

and currently he's teahing AP Psychology and Economics.

The two of them and their 2 boys have traveled the world together.

 Aileen is wearing her Xmas present from me,

and she has become an avid, obsessed knutty knitter like me.

YES!!!!

This is when I started the shawl a year ago December and gave you this tease.

It's so nice to be able to finally show off the finished product on beautiful Aileen.

A LOVELY RESPONSE

Super excited that several of you responded to the Temperature Blanket project 

and to the use of Peace Fleece.

This grouping above was on the Ravelry site which is such a pleasing selection.

Sadly there is no finished blanket to go with this picture.  

Guessing it's still in production.

A quick note if any of you out there are interested in starting this blanket.

I had to go to at least 6 different yarn stores across the nation 

to find all the colors I wanted to use.

I'm guessing there are a lot of people out there doing this project

or something else with Peace Fleece. 

So many of my colors were sold out. 

I actually spent all nite rounding up my choices,

which turned out to be a fun challenge.

I looked up on the Peace Fleece site all the stores that carried their yarns.

They usually sell for $12.60 a skein,

but at one location I had to pay over $15

 for a couple of the colors that weren't found anywhere else. 

So this is the first time I'm  averaging out the cost,

cuz that's how I roll,

ha ha!

Let's say with shipping, tax and handling each skein comes out to about $16 a skein.

The original pattern calls for a full bed size bed blanket (6.5 by 7.5).

But I only wanted a lap blanket so I cut the pattern in half.

I also had to consider that some of our temps for Southern Ca. are more common,

like the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's,

so figuring I'd need 2 skeins for those

(but knowing me I probably ordered way too much)

It looked like at least 19 skeins were needed for half the size blanket. 

Of course it's all a guessing game.

So now,

with all of you,

 for the first time,

I'm figuring out how much I probably spent after spending it.

(of couse I could just look at Pay Pal but it's so much for fun doing it with you guys)

19 times $16.00 is

cough, cough,

$304 big ones.

Yuck!!!!

Oops.

Now remember I'm not a data nerd,

so I'm really hoping my calculations are correct.

This is going to be one hell of an expensive project,

but I rationalize that the money is going to a wonderful cause

(I'm already thinking about what I can make out of the left over yarn,

if indeed I ordered too much)

Tax right off??

Probably not.

Oh well,

I'll keep you posted.

A TEMPERATURE BLANKET

Recently I was turned on to a new Fiber Store in Portland Maine 

called Port Fiber.

As I was purusing their shop I ran across a yarn that I was introduced to

 maybe a good 20 years ago called Peace Fleece.

Back then it was a combination of American Wool mixed with Russian Wool.

Because I thought the idea a great one I purchased a bit of the yarn

 and made a child's sweater but didn't really like the feel of the wool.

It had a rough hand and was a bit stiff,

not a pleasure to knit with.

So,

 I never bought more.

but always loved the idea of it and wanting to support them.

After reading their current mission statement it looks like they are now combining Navajo Herders sheep (usually Churro but in this case Rambuillet) 

and Texas Mohair goats in combo with wool from Farms back East.

But after seeing these pictures of finished blankets in the Port Fiber shop

created with Peace Fleece,

 I was hooked,

and had to find out more about them.

So off went $10 for a color card

There are about 30 colors and 9 neutrals.

They are called Temperature Blankets and this originated as a 

Crochet-(or Knit)-Along 2 years ago.

You can see more of them on Ravelry if you are interested.

Each blanket represents a daily years worth of temps.,

and they advertise it as a perfect project for data nerds.

Well,

I know I'm not that,

ha ha,

 but the surprise and random outcomes of each blanket had me fascinated.

The outcome is not something I could completely control which I love.

The blanket is worked in stripes with one row of single crochet (or knit)

for each day in a color that represents that day's temperature.

They suggest breaking up the temps. into 5 or 10 degree increments.

I went for 5 so I could use a few more colors.

They recommended10 colors,

 but I only mangaed to narrow it down to 12 colors so I'm working with 5 degree ranges.

Below are my final choices.

Honestly I was tempted to go with the 10 saturated colors 

on the 2nd page of the color card,

but my husband said it looked too blah,

that I needed to add a few other colors to make the blanket pop a bit.

Did I listen to him?

Of course, 

he was probably right.

We'll see.

My degree breakdown looks like this from left to right:

1.  106-111 degrees  Wooly Bear

    2.  100-105 degrees Glasnost Gold

             3.  94-99 degrees  Mourning Dove         

4.  88-93 degrees      Palomino  

      5.  82-87 degrees      Chickie Masla

 6.  76-81 degrees Desert Tundra

           7.  70-75 degrees  Anna's Grasshopper

 8.  64-69 degrees     Baltic Blue

       9.  58-63 degrees  Kalinka Malinka

10. 52-57 degrees  Bonnie Blue

11. 46-51 degrees      Amaranth

 12. 40-45 degrees  Mesa Marble

Don't you just adore the names of the colors?

My favorite is Chickie Masla.

WOOL WITH PURPOSE

A small New England fiber company with a mission.

We work to support pastoral communities that have been historically in conflict with the US. Currently we are working with the Navajo to offer fair market prices for the Rambouillet sheep wool raised by families in the Navajo Nation. Our yarn is made of this wool blended with a domestic fine wool and mohair for strength. We love what we do, and we hope you will too.

 

SUNSET AROUND THE RESERVOIR

When the gym doesn't happen,

there is the rez.

A mile and 3/4 and 3800 steps.

HAPPIEST BIRTHDAY DEAR FRIEND

Back in the day,

student and cheerleader Aileen Palmiter,

Whitney High School (I'm guessing 1992ish) maybe Freshman or Sophomore year?

I never had Aileen in an art class when I was teaching there

 but I knew who this cutie was.

Fast forward to 2022,

Aileen Palmiter Perry,

Whitney High Alumni 1994 and current A.P. Biology Teacher there.

Aileen has become a dear buddy of mine

 when she started my retirement Fiber Arts class every Tues. nite at my little Home/Studio.

She is such a fast learner and her favorite fiber and technique is yarn and knitting.

So we are coming up on almost 2 years together now 

with her sister Suzi dropping in every now and then,

along with the occassional neighbor and ex-art students.

Aileen is addicted to knitting and carries her bag everywhere she goes including inside her classroom.

One of her A.P. students, 

Madison Plotkin,

tattled to me the other day that while the kids are taking a test,

Aileen sometimes brings out her current project to knit while she waits for them to finish up.

I love that! 

And the kids enjoy seeing a whole other side of Aileen besides all things science,

as well as what her latest knits are.

She is currently working on two new projects,

a colorwork yoke cardigan and her first pair of socks.

Note the scarf Aileen wears so beautifully around her neck.

That was her Xmas present this year from me.

The pattern is by Andrea Mowry called Free Your Fade, 

and I used 3 different colorways of Malabrigo Arroyo.

It's a yummy superwash DK, Sport Merino yarn that has a lovely drape 

and feels so good against the skin.

Thank goodness for Aileen and her sis,

they have helped ease me into my retirement.

Happy Birthday Aileen!!

And may we celebrate many more together.

Love you xoxox

JUST CUZ THEY ARE SO DANG CUTE!

My grands,

Granger and Tatter Tot

FROM THIS TO THAT

FELTED BALLS INTO PINCUSHIONS

dyed wool roving or yarns, old nylons, hot soapy water, felting needles, 

felting pads

INTRODUCING PIPER..

My newest grand.

She's a rescue my daughter found from our local pet place

and was mistreated at her first home.

She's very shy and scared,

 mostly living under my daughter's bed.

Recently she has started venturing out and about

being mothered by sweet Tatum and bossed around by meany Granger.

She's let me hold her only a couple of times,

 very briefly,

quickly scampering under the bed when she's had enough.

And after several months they've all become a family.

She is such a gentle creature and I've fallen in love,

again.

It's truly amazing how much love the heart can hold.

COVID UPDATE

So yeah,

my son and his wife as we suspected tested positive

but are on the mend.

Felt just like a regular cold/cough/sore throat, chills. 

My daughter is sick again with something new,

super mild this time and different then a couple weeks ago.

but no test for her yet.

My husband and I think we may have had the new varient when it first got here,

but were never tested and never left the house till we were better.

And because tests are so scarce here we don't want to use any up.

But boy, oh boy,

a lot of people are sick right now in our home town.

Wishing all of you a speedy recovery if it gets you.

RECENTLY ASKED...

MOSAIC FRAMES

wood base (Michaels), broken up glass and dish shards, tacky or white glue,

grout elf or old retired piece of credit card, acrylic paint and grout

by a middle school teacher aross the country,

 if grouting the mosaic frames is too messy for 7th and 8th graders.

Well,

 I'm going to direct her to these pictures of my seniors (12th graders),

from 2018-19.

Chris Campos and Gabby grouting theirs.

I definitely wouldn't do this with an entire class of 7th graders.

I have found them to not remember multipule instructions 

for a task this tedious and messy.

And I hate to say this but I've found it to be true too many times,

but especailly for the little boys.

I have had 8th graders in my classes,

a handful mixed with the older kids.

 If I'm not paying attention,

the elder ones will catch something right away and help out the youngsters.

The biggest problem with this assignment 

is that none of the powdered or wet grout can go down the sink.

Ever!!!

It all has to be brushed or thrown into the trash can.

You can't even clean your mixing cup or grout elf in the sink. 

 All has to be cleaned with a wet paper towel.

Cuz if you don't it turns into hard cement in the drain pipe

and requires a major pipe refitting.

Has that ever happened in my classes you wonder?

You betcha,

but only one time!

Never more.

Ha ha

I love this picture of Gabby above.

At the time we had to tell her she had black grout smeared all over her face.  

She didn't even realize it.

We were cracking up.

SHE'S BACK!!!

So it's only taken me 2 1/2 years to get here,

but I think I might be back

 to finishing up the hundreds of pictures 

that I still have left to post from my last 2 years of teaching,

2017-2018 & 2018-2019.

I know I've snuck in a few here and there (not many though),

but mostly I had some kind of mental block about doing it.

Maybe I couldn't admit it was finally over,

the job of a lifetime.

Or maybe I was just too bitter and disappointed 

 about how it all ended and went down to pick my new replacement.

Crushed actually.

My program of 39 years that I built up,

the supplies I accumulated with virtually no District support,

 only pennies a year for each student.

Damn,

 I could go on forever here (still not over it yet I guess, LOL).

That all went down the tubes because of inner school politics;

neopotism, favoritism and fear of the Administration.

The result is that I never existed there,

nothing left behind of me.

Plus I'm not welcome back by Admin which is the hardest pill to swallow.

The hurt is so very deep. 

 But this past week I feel a new energy,

some healing has taken place I believe,

and I have been posting nearly every night for the next day.

And it feels GREAT!

I'll be skipping around a lot between those last 2 years

 because I'm not as organized as I once was,

and also I might be forgetting a few names.

 But I'll try my best.

7th Grade Soap Scrubs

2nd Quarter 2018-2019

bar soap, dyed wool roving in multiple colors, wool yarns,

old nylons and plenty of hot water.

The last names cannot be found 

but I haven't given up yet!

Asmita and Jayden B.

I picked these 2 because I felt they really stood out visually in color and design from the others. 

And this one above by Cristine because I felt it was breathtaking.

I saw a mountainous area with clouds gathering 

and a waterfall sweeping over the landscape.

What is also remarkable about this one is that during the felting process 

a big chunk of the wool started falling away 

and Christine had to sew it back in place after it was dry.

I love how she was able to save it!

These next 4 were very pleasing crowd favorites 

with all the lovely combos. of  blues and greens.

From top to bottom were Sharanya, Hanna, Ayana and Alexander.

And of course the absolute favorite of the group 

was this one by Ellie Ta.

In her before and after,

 you can see how much the felt shrinks and moves from the oringinal design.

It's super hard to control once you hit it with hot warm and happy hands.

HA!

These were all done in a technique called wet felting.

XMAS ADVENTURES WITH MY SON

I'd mentioned in a post from a couple days ago 

that my son usually takes a week off work after Xmas.

He stays in town with us,

 and he and I go find cool stuff to do.

We both adore plants and the beach so it usually involves the two.

 I came across these pictures from Xmas 2019,

right before Covid hit and am finally sharing them.

Hope you are a succulent fan like we are.

This is the Succulent Cafe where my daughter first turned me onto in 2018.

It's a ways down south from us towards San Diego along the coast

in a quaint little beach town called Carlsbad.

I adore their clever displays, 

especially the one above with the cuppe ens.

(guessing on the spelling of my mother's Italian word for a soup ladle)

But I couldn't decide which display I liked better,

like the one below with the oil funnels.

 A close-up.

Don't you love how the tail of the funnels cross over each other

 as well as the rusty areas?

Great design!

Zach's two favorites involved driftwood pieces above ,

and this hallowed out piece that I think was made from concrete below.

On the way home we took the sceneic coast road up thru all the beach cities

and stopped in Solana Beach at Zach's favorite nursery,

Solana Succulents.

We are always able to find great deals here.

I just had to put in this picture of Zach from 2009,

the first time Zach and I found Solana Succulents.

He was such a youngster then.

So glad he doesn't keep up with my blog,

he's be so mad at me for posting this old pix.

Ha ha ha

AN EXHILARATING NEW YEARS DAY

With several days of rain in the past couple of weeks, 

our Anaheim Hills Reservoir is full again 

after being at record lows for several years.

WooHoo!!

Even though you can't see them, 

there were hundreds of people strolling it's mile and a half paved trail,

with our majestic snowcapped San Gabriel Mountains in the backdrop. 

It was cold and blustery,

in the high  50's which is cool for us in the Southland,

and a perfect day for for getting out of the house for some exercise.

Note most of the treeline is under water.

I haven't seen that in years if ever!

Oh the lucky homeowners who live round the top of the reservoir 

for the sunset they must have seen tonight.

COVID...

has finally reached us.

My husband and I maybe (we weren't tested) 4 weeks ago, 

my daughter 2 weeks ago (not tested),

 and now my son and his wife this week (testing today).

We are pretty sure it's the newest variant,

which seems to be super contagious mask/vaccine or not.

Luckily it feels just like the common cold/flu.

Tests are sold out in our neck of the woods,

but somehow my daughter-in-law was able to find one.

So we will know soon.

My son (33) and daughter (27),

a picture of health this Thanksgiving before Covid/flu? struck.

Zach always takes or gets the week off after Xmas 

and spends a couple of those days hanging out with us.

It's a time I treasure every year.

Sadly this year,

we had to cancel because of sickness.