Thursday, December 10, 2020

Really Random Thursday, 12/10/20

 It's been an interesting week. 

Saturday night we had "back to school night" at Wienskler Academy. The purpose was to get to know our students' parents better, and familiarize them with the classrooms where their kids spend two days a week.


Charlotte designed the invitation and wrote the introductory letter (you will see that the date was originally scheduled for November 28, but both Charlotte and Christa came down with a cold right around that time, got the COVID test and we were waiting for the results--they both tested negative; therefore, the delay...)

We had a really good evening. After touring the campus (four classrooms and outdoors where Mark and Ella have P.E.), we had a delicious dinner. Have I mentioned that our cafeteria manager (Mark) makes the most delicious lunches twice weekly, so I think this gave the parents a good idea of the quality food their children are eating. Note: we do not normally serve wine in our school cafeteria. Just in case you were wondering...
We ate our dinner on the cafeteria trays that we use during the week. Also, those are new Christmas-themed masks. We want our students and staff, as well as their parents, to be safe.

We also celebrated the first grade teacher's (me) birthday. Charlotte made a fantastic pineapple upside down cake.


All joking aside, during these often stressful and seemingly nonending days of COVID shutdowns, we feel blessed to have all this extra time with these special grandchildren. We hope they will look back on this time with fond memories. 

I opened up my Payhip shop and listed my calendars and notecards. I've been pleasantly surprised with some good sales. I also received some excellent advertising on from friends, as well as Christa. Thanks to you all!




If you are on Instagram, do you access the yearly summary of colors used in your photos via yearofcolour.com? If not, you should try it. It's free, and it's fascinating. It was so interesting to see pictures from my feed pop up and see the colors that were pulled from those photos.








This is my summary, the largest dots representing the colors that appeared most often.

Don't you just love some of the color names?

The next thing that was a total surprise was when this post from Kajta Marek popped up in my feed. I made my most epic quilt ever, Kaleidoskop, from Katja's first book, The New Hexagon. She has written a second version, which I have been meaning to get as soon as I finish another major English paper piecing project. I remembered that she named all the blocks in the first book, but I had no idea that there was a block named after me in the second book!!



Haha.

We drove down the iconic Christmas Tree Lane on Tuesday night. It opens at 6 and cars start lining up early. We grabbed takeout, ate in the car and were in line at 5:30. 
This is the house that started it all. The sign says: "In 1920, to honor a child who had died in this home, this FIRST TREE was decorated. Each year more trees were decorated and Christmas Tree Lane was born." 
There are a lot of really large and beautiful homes. This is one of my favorites. I'm a sucker for a white house with a red door and black shutters.
In 2014, this house won the contest on TV, The Great Christmas Tree Light Fight, winning $50,000. I can't even begin to capture all the gazillion lights and moving displays. So much animation and so many lights!



This morning, Mark decided to start wearing a Santa hat. I told him he looks just like the Santa emoji.




We are back to lockdown in most of California. Until this week, we were able to have outdoor dining, which is still possible here in California because of the relatively mild weather. Restaurants have rented huge tents and added heaters. We briefly had limited indoor dining. We are now restricted to takeout and delivery only. Business that were opened briefly are shuttered again. Our city council delayed a vote to fine households $1000 that are known to have gatherings of 15 of more people, although the county sheriff says she will not be enforcing that--they are stretched thin enough with other crime. This will be in effect for at least 21 days. I pray that during this time, the numbers of positive cases go down and that ICU beds open up. It's a very scary time right now. 

Stay home. Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Stay safe.

5 comments:

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Rochelle aka Bella Quilts said... #

Hi Cindy: A wonderful post. Love the back to school night and the way you worked in a theme. Because these are your grandkids, I know their parents already know how special this school is. But it sure gives continuity to a school year that is already way out there. The Santa Lane tour looks wonderful So nice that you are finding ways to celebrate and then making yourself do it. Thanks for the memes which make me smile all the time. Finally, I know nothing about Payhip and can't figure out how to shop. I really want one of your calendars. Can we work out mail order somehow? Thanks. Rochelle

Robby said... #

Back to school night was a brilliant idea! From what I hear, there might be a few "schools" where wine is served with lunch. Clearly, those are families without creative family members willing to share the load of education during this time. The Covid numbers have been rather alarming here, too. We do seem to be edging our way towards getting this turned around, but I'm not sure that's sustainable with people missing holiday gatherings. How fun to have a block named for you in Katja's book! You'll obviously have to make at least something with that block. Wishing you and Mark a bit of festivity to carry you through to 2021.

Anne / Springleaf Studios said... #

You and Mark are so clever with your schooling ideas. I'm impressed and also so grateful that I don't have to deal with that kind of thing. Teaching is NOT in my genes. Love the pizza sign . . . so true. Didn't know you were selling your calendars. Hope it goes well. I gave up on calendars a few years ago since I never ever used them.

FlourishingPalms said... #

How nice for you and your family to be working around and enjoying these pandemic days. Many of us are feeling flat-out lonely. It's such a difficult time, with numbers climbing here in Florida too, though no lock-downs whatsoever, which accounts for rising numbers. Still, I don't know how anyone can force or control people into using common sense. I say this as the couples living on either sides of us have had parties this weekend. It's fun to see your fame - with creating and selling your products, and receiving acclaim from other quiltmakers. You're on fire! Keep having fun!

www.hudsonvalleyquilts.com said... #

Great post. Love the ornament.