Summer Wrap-Up Continued

Yesterday I summarized the household projects we tackled this summer along with my quilting highlights. Today, I plan to sum up the adventures we had and the books that I read.

This summer has been the summer of garden touring for us. In June we visited Schnormeier Garden near Gambier, OH. In July, we drove to Ball Ground, GA, to visit Gibbs Gardens. And earlier this month, we toured Kingwood Garden in Mansfield, OH. All were fantastic in their own ways, and inspired us so with regard to plans for our own gardening efforts. (We have a long way to go.)

Schnormeier - 50 acres of trees and green space with an Asian influence.

Gibbs - 220 acres of year-round color - annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs.

Kingwood - 47 acres of showy color, manicured lawns with paths, seating, shelter.

We loved all three experiences, but the one I most want to revisit is Kingwood; it most closely matched features that I think would look great here at our place. I have no inclination to put in the work required to have a showplace garden, but we could easily incorporate a few basics.

Besides garden trips, we traveled to Cleveland to catch a doubleheader, seeing the Indians take both games against the Rangers. Totally fun day. We then went to Put-In-Bay where we revisited old favorite spots. Closer to home, we managed to attend seven of the summer movies at Columbus' Ohio Theatre. Each summer for the last 50 years, old movies are shown at discount prices; we have gone for years. Also in Columbus, we took in one evening of Picnic with the Pops. Very entertaining. A day trip to Hocking Hills led us to discovering a small glass-blowing artisan with amazing creations.

Granville Inn

One of the best summer memories came on the weekend of our 40th anniversary. Our sweet daughters gifted us with a fantastic trip to the beautiful Granville Inn, dinner and overnight accommodations. The big surprise - they were in the restaurant to have dinner with us! It was truly the greatest surprise, and I was quite overcome.

Now, for the books. First, I will offer this disclaimer: I don't read books any more. I LISTEN to books. I have come to love it, too, as it gives me a chance to multitask.

I have listened to the entire 7-book series by Jeffrey Archer called The Clifton Chronicles, the first of which is pictured above. By way of a short series review, I liked the earlier books best, with the final book being the least satisfying. This doesn't diminish how good the series is, though, as the whole multi-generational saga is precisely the kind of reading I love over the course of a lazy summer.

I also read (listened to) Path of the Assassin by Brad Thor; And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer by Fredrik Backman; The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny; Us Against You by Backman; and My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Backman. I have been very satisfied with the Backman titles, and have a couple more to finish all his titles. I read Brad Thor for some stereotypical thriller suspense; always fast-paced; good guy always wins. Easy and fun. Every member of my book group has raved about Louise Penny, so I am trying to get on the Inspector Gamache bandwagon; he's the protagonist featured in each of Penny's mysteries.

These highlights represent my summer adventures and summer reading, but surely I haven't covered everything. That's okay. (You are probably bored to death - it's like I've showed home movies! Acckk!)

Today, I will meet my third class. Yesterday's classes went well, so I expect nothing less today. In the afternoon, I am going to have another adventure - long-arm practicing at Terry's. I continue to be be-deviled by my own longarm, so I am taking up this opportunity to receive some coaching. Wish me luck!

Happy Quilting Friends!

Back To School

It's been a 'heckuva' summer, and today I must head back to the classroom. This marks the beginning of my 10th year at my part time gig at Ohio University - Chillicothe. I began at OUC the fall after retiring from Chillicothe HS, and had no idea how long this side-hustle would last. I'm still going strong, and will try to continue for a couple more years.

Blogging may end up taking a bit of a backseat, even more so than it recently has. Why? Well, I have taken on an extra class, which will result in more reading and grading. Normally, I teach only two sections each semester. Starting today, I go to Chillicothe four days each week, rather than two. My courses are Developmental Composition, an entry-type class that prepares students who need it for the required Freshman Comp.

I normally reserve my wrap-ups for the final day of the month, but since returning to school seems to be a wrapping up of summer, I will reminisce a bit about all the fun summery things we did. There was a satisfying mix of chores around the house and vacation-type trips.

For home-related happenings I think I am most thrilled with my bedspread for the antique bed in Emma's old room. I had no idea how I would make it; I knew how I wanted it to look though, so I figured it out.

A day spent with my niece and sister, gave me a newly-covered chair for the same bedroom.

I made curtains for the screened porch out of drop cloth fabric.

We painted our kitchen table and chairs.

I purged several closets and kitchen drawers.

I painted faux windows on our garage door.

We power-washed the house. Gah! It was gross!

We cleaned up an old porch swing and will soon be hanging it on the front porch.

And those just are some highlights. We are always motivated to do jobs like this when we have a reason - this summer's reasons were numerous - we had guests coming on three different occasions. That's what motivates us!!

As far as quilting goes, I have mostly made t-shirt quilts! Four of them to be exact. I also dug out a UFO and finished it up, and made a mini-quilt with the Frankfort girls. I continue to work on Lake Effect, as well. Here are some repeat shots of the afore-mentioned projects.

Six Degrees - the UFO

Mini-Quilt - Simple Friendships 2

T-shirt quilt #1

T-shirt quilt #2

T-shirt quilt #3

T-shirt quilt #4

Whew! Is it any wonder my blogging has fallen behind? I have not even begun to take stock of the little trips we took and the books I read. But now I need to get myself on the road - can't be late for class on the first day! I will finish this 'trip down memory lane' post tomorrow.

Happy Quilting, Friends!