First 8th Grade Chalk Drawing

I've never had my beginning of school chalkboard drawing done this early. I usually put it off until the last couple of days before school. Maybe the last days of vacation won't feel as hectic as they usually do?

School's Out!

My first calendula opened, maybe it's celebrating the last day of school too!

We worked with a bookbinder and all of the students bound all of their work from the entire year into a single volume.

I didn't know enough about the process to properly plan ahead so all of their 8 1/2"x11" sheets were bound using a Japanese method known as stab binding. I'm keeping them until I finish writing end of year reports and returning them to their owners then. I figured I'd use the opportunity for a little photo shoot.

Here is one open to the first page, an art assignment based on the Hundred Years War.
We ended up with between 70-100 pages each (handwriting size differs), covering the Renaissance, Age of Discovery, Writing, Math, African and South American Geography, Physiology, Physics, and Chemistry.
Next year I'm going to look into doing our work on 11"x17" pages that are already sewn together into signatures so we can make books using Coptic binding. That style opens more easily.

And a few garden pictures, since it seemed like a shame to waste a sunny moment.
Our first grapes...

First pea pod...

Bird's eye view of the strawberries...

Copernicus Play Photos

The play performances for my 7th grade were on April 21. I just haven't had time to post lately, so here comes the stream of posts for the last two weeks. The play was a massive undertaking by the students and everybody I've talked to was deeply impressed by how well it was done. They are still a little irritated that it was so serious and wasn't "fun" but I can't help it, I get so tired of the clowning flippancy that marks what we do to be "accessible" to the masses. I promised them that for our 8th grade Shakespeare play we can do a comedy and they can help pick it. Knowing them, by then, just to be contrary, they'll pick Othello or something...:)

I was really proud of this set design. Since I can't ever do anything simple, the play I wrote (based on a fiction book of Copernicus' life) ended up having about 20 scenes. This meant that we needed a set that required very little moving of scenery but still allowed for several locations. The pictures below have all of the screens and curtains open or removed to allow all of the sets to be seen at once. Many shorter scenes took place in front of the curtain with only a few props. All the lights are also up; different lights also helped differentiate the space. Our art teacher (and parent in the class) was amazing in leading them through the preliminary painting and chalk drawing of the sets and then finished them with her own masterful touch.

The bed was used for his boyhood bedroom (which he snuck out of) and his final deathbed scenes. The "office" on stage right was several different offices at different time periods. The picnic table at the far right was a tavern scene. There were screens that got moved to cover the office or the tavern, depending on which set was needed.

The Rome backdrop had a black sheet that flipped down over it when it wasn't in use and the "tower" above was used for several scenes.

Cooking for Groups

Okay, to start out with, I must admit that my husband calls me the "Queen of Quantity Cooking". Anyone who knows me or reads this space regularly is not surprised. Usually I make a huge batch, divide it up, and then freeze meal sized portions. Today's cooking made me feel more like a caterer than a housewife though.
I know scale's hard here but that is my large crockpot and the blue tea kettle in the background holds 40 oz. Anyone else ever wondered what 4 lbs. of cooked spaghetti looks like? Now we know. I hated the idea of giving up so much of my remaining marinara, so the pasta sauce is actually 2 qts. diced tomatoes, 1 1/2 qts. marinara, lots of basil, oregano, and finely minced garlic, and 3 packages of soy "ground beef" crumbles.

My class is having their play performances tomorrow, at 11a and 7p and I wanted to give them a hot, protein packed lunch celebration after the first show. I figure if I get the crockpot going in my classroom in the morning, it will be hot by lunch and the diced tomatoes will have had a couple more hours to integrate into the marinara. The plan for the pasta is just to soak it in some hot water for a few minutes (okay, in a lot of hot water) and serve. I admit, I'm making them grate their own parmesan on an as needed basis though. I hope I didn't go overboard but my experience is that 7th graders eat a lot. I also have a habit of inviting people to eat when I cook so our lights person, her little daughter, and the kids previous teacher are all potential guests besides the 8 students and me.

Hopefully, I'll put together a play post in the near future so I can capture all the work we've done in the last couple of weeks. We all worked to create 2 backgrounds (one painted, one chalk). There was also a lot of sewing. This was in addition to the most important work - they memorized all their lines and cues for this one hour production. Having this under our belts makes me much more confident about tackling Shakespeare next year, an 8th grade tradition at our school. It will be abridged to about 1 1/2 hours, but still, that's a tall order. People often don't give fourteen year olds enough credit for how capable they are though. Wish us good fortune!

Chalkboard Drawings for January and February

September Chalkboard Drawings

So I have records of my chalkboard art, they will begin appearing here.

Totally Awesome Weekend

Robin Hood was performed spectacularly by the 6th grade on Wednesday and their grateful teacher breathed a huge sigh of relief. Above is a picture of the styrofoam stocks (they look even better up close where the "wood grain" is more noticeable) with the chalk backdrop. Can you believe that 6th graders did the drawing? They only had planning help and minimal input by a generous parent volunteer.
The cherry tree in full bloom last week. We've been having petal showers for the last few days - one of my favorite things in the world.
So, you know any weekend that starts off buying a bike on Friday afternoon is going to be great. Paul's Bicycle Way of Life had this in stock on Wednesday when we went to look but it wasn't built up. I'd test-ridden a men's gray one before and loved it and finally decided that this was the bike for me. So I went in on Friday and discovered that it was green! *swoon*
Grocery Bike, as she was affectionately known, is a Schwinn Mirada from the late 1980's and was quite heavy, although she did the job. The new one has already been christened Girly Bike (due to my propensity to bounce up and down on the seat as I ride, chanting "girly bike, girly bike"). At least she'll still be "G.B." for short. We rode down to Saturday Market to test her out and she's so great.
From a sort of all-terrainy hybrid bike to this is so fun. It's a totally around town commuter and I get to sit upright on a big cushy seat. The bar is so low that, as the bike sales guy pointed out, I could ride it in a skirt. (In my head I added, "and still preserve my lady-like decorum" - sales guys don't talk like that though.) I know she'll be heavier once Q transfers over the baskets and that some of her charm will be offset by the toe clips (but I've gotten to used to them to not have them), but she's pretty great. Raleigh Venture 2009, a.k.a. Girly Bike, I love you.

So, today (Sunday) we made a spontaneous trip to Portland to check out this shop to purchase this bag for Q. He's been looking for a bag smaller than the usual messenger, larger than the usual "man purse" and pocket-y enough for all of his stuff for a long time and we think this will finally fit the bill. And it's an Oregon company, what could be better?!

Above is the weekend swag...
(bottom right)The Backyard Homestead- a purchase that has a little bit of everything from how to grow grapes to raising vegetables to keeping chickens, ducks, and even swine. As we go all "permaculture-y", I see myself using this as a great starting resource for lots of projects. (It even has a little box on how to make your own pectin!)
The other 4 books were purchased at Powell's, three of them on really good sale.
I've wanted Zakka Sewing since it came out just because I love the squirrel tea cosy from the cover, recognizing that I will never make it as I would never use such a thing. It has got a couple of other great looking projects though, including some delightful double-layered, leather bottomed house slippers.
Knitting Lingerie Style has a lot of info on shaping and a pattern for some cute knit leggings so I'm planning on using ideas and not actual projects extensively. Q just also empirically liked the book, so, of course, we had to get it. :)
Alterknits Felt just has a lot of great design ideas and Q thought we should get it as design inspiration because it was just that pretty and just that good a sale.
Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts was not on sale, but it was what we originally went in there for. I needed this quilt pattern. I'm planning on spending the next 2 or 3 years with a stack of fabrics in rainbow order stashed somewhere, occassionally getting changed and "improved" until I finally get around to making it. I'm wounded by the idea that you can just buy collections of the fabric to do it. It seems like it's taking half of the fun out of it. I'm already monkeying with ideas on how to incorporate the colors into other blocks, strips on the outside to extend the pattern into something that's more bed-sized. Me and my inability to actually follow a pattern exactly as written.
The green knit fabric was super cheap at JoAnn's (3 yards was only $6) and it's going to help me learn to sew knits. I'm pondering a shorts pajama set or a knit dress patterned on one I already have and like.
The pink red fabric was discovered on clearance at The Fabric Depot in Portland where we went hoping to find some more of the Amy Butler Bright Buds Aqua to finish the guest room motif. (Failed there, guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and get it online.) I got the last 1 3/8 yards. Hopefully enough for some flirty (but knee-length) sort of gusseted skirt. Right now I've got a little back up of sewing projects, which I'll hopefully get to soon. I'm quite in love with all of them though, so I'm not lacking motivation at least. Thankfully, the argyle cardigan order is quite close to completion without any orders behind it, so... (Of course, I have the Pac-Man beanie design, Space Baby sweater design, and Steampunk Cogs fingerless mitt designs that I've created that all need to be test-knit but... :D)

Q always lets me stop at Pudding on the Rice on the way home from Portland for rice pudding (mine had maraschino cherries and chocolate chips today) and while we were at the complex we stopped at Anthropologie, where we found this great hardware. It's going to go on the pantry door. Currently there is a hole that has a piece of string threaded through it to serve as a door handle. Perhaps such an adorable little knob will make me actually close the pantry, instead of leaving it open all the time. (I can't help that I like looking at all the pretty, full jars.)
Me in my thrift store find of the weekend - a very cool $3 skirt. You can really see it but it's got lavendar, green, black, and brown pointed ovals all over it and is structured with a couple of diagonal bias strips at the top and some extra triangular panels at the bottom to create flare. I will probably have to copy it as a pattern.
And I included this just because Q's an awesome photographer and I like the composition.
Guess we'll have to start admitting that Monday's on the way!

A Sewing Weekend and a Field Trip!

My class' play is coming up in 10 days, which means I'm busy sewing and crafting for it (pictures of the completed stocks made of styrofoam coming soon). Thank heavens for my serger, muslin, and RIT dye. I have been able to whip out 5 tunics for Merry Men and 3 monk's robes in very little time for very little money. I'm rather proud of the monk robes since it was a total case of "cut a little, serge a little, what should I do next?". BTW- that's Sasha in the corner, always wanting more attention. Enough with work, on to the fun stuff.

We went up to Portland yesterday to look at the Da Vinci Exhibit at OMSI (very cool) and get some fabric for curtains/cushions for the guest room. After going to three other Portland Fabric Stores, I finally remembered the delightful "Mill End Store", keeper of more great fabric than I can comprehend at one time. We'd forgotten their huge decorator section and finally found THE fabric we'd been seeking there - Amy Butler August Fields Bright Buds in aqua. Buying designer fabric, especially Amy Butler, sort of bothers me since I do hate doing things that everybody else does, but I can't help it, Amy Butler fabric just delights me. They only had 2 1/2 yards of it left, which was enough to make these curtains and have about 20" left over. (The little picture doesn't really do the fabric justice, click it to see a more accurate representation of the fabric.)



The tabs are made out of a dark green, slightly coarse weave decorator fabric that matches the green in the Amy Butler so well you'd think they were made to go together. Thank you to Q's keen eye for spotting that bolt. I got a lot of the green so I'm going to make a cushion for the reading nook out of it as well. It's going to be a rectangular boxy cushion and the Bright Buds is going to be the sides. We're going to get the blue paint matched and paint the wall behind the bookshelves, at the back of the reading nook, to provide a little interest.
I need to dig up a bit more of the Bright Buds online to make a throw pillow and create some sort of covers for the nightstand (since it's ugly) and the top of the chest of drawers (to protect it from scratches) and then that room will be done.

When we went to JoAnn's last night to get the black out liner for the curtains, I was right behind a lady buying the sweetest green/brown/blue/white striped nursery fabric and there was a 1 1/2 yard piece that she didn't want that the sales lady was going to have to put back. Since the fabric was already 50% off and the last 1/2 yard was an additional 50% off for being a remnant, I got the whole piece for about $4. I cut my favorite sundress pattern out of it today with a bit of creative piece placement. Hopefully, that will get sewn up soon and I can post pictures here.