November 30, 2009
Hello dear ones,
It's hard to believe it will be December 1st tomorrow. Tom leaves tonight and I will surely miss him. I guess it's back to the nunnery for me. I have two single beds in my room, which is sparsely furnished, and really does resemble a convent. He's on his way to California to be with his Mom and brother Roy. His Dad is in a rehab facility so there's so much for him to deal with there. Now we have word that his Mom who is 96 has pneumonia and is in the hospital as well. This was a great respite for him and he had a wonderful time. His brother Bill's memorial service is yet to be planned so hopefully he'll be able to assist with that.
We had a wonderful first Russian Thanksgiving with our new friends here. We climbed our Rapunzali-like staircase of 120 steps to our friend Kat's apartment carrying all our Thanksgiving offerings: turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, cranberry sauce, apple crisp, gravy, wine and ice. We are thankful we lived to the top!! It was a fun evening with 8 other Americans and Lexi who is a 6 year old Russian orphan girl who was adopted recently by Kate, the teacher I'm subbing for. Kat (whose apartment it was at) had the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on and broadcast it on the brick wall of her living room. Of course this was Lexi's first Thanksgivng so she was thrilled with the balloon characters in the parade, but mostly with watching her giant shadow. That was a highlight for us! She's a beautiful child! We corrupted her by showing her how Americans put olives on their fingers to eat on Thanksgiving. You DO do that don't you??? It's a tradition in our family.
On our last weekend together here we spent Saturday touring the Peter and Paul Fortress and bought a couple of prints for our home in Juneau that remind me of where I live here. We toured the prison where they housed all the dissidents. They made it sound like a hotel but lit sure didn't look like any I've stayed in except for one in Sardinia. So many young people were hung because of their political beliefs. Hopefully, we will continue to respect people with opposing views in our democracy. On Sunday we went to the Smolny Cathedral which looks like a huge blue and white wedding cake and then took a long walk home by the Neva River. It was in the low 40's out so Tom took his coat off and was wearing a short-sleeved shirt. He received many stares from the Russian people out walking and a few smiles. At least now we know how to get them to smile! In the afternoon we went back to the Hermitage to gaze once again at the art work of Picasso, Van Gogh, Matisse, Monet, Cezanne, Leonardo da Vinci and all those important folks. The evening was spent seeing the opera "Aida" and then off to bed since Monday is a work day for me and Tom has to pack to leave for California. He was so happy to have come and experience St. Petersburg for ten days.
Tom and I experienced our first Russian traffic accident together. Ron was driving us and my two teaching friends Kat and Lindsey to our school play that the high schoolers were putting on. We were stalled in traffic and literally not moving when we were hit by a SUV. Nobody was injured and all we knew to do was pretend we couldn't speak Russian when the police showed up, which wasn't a stretch for us. Lindsey did speak the language but was told never to in these situations. An electric tram bus was coming into the intersection when the SUV guy decided he could race it. It hooked on his back bumper and pulled him into us. Fortunately, we are all fine but the car will need a little makeover. The funny thing is that on Friday we had school colors day so Ron sprayed his hair blue and white for the festivities. Can you imagine him at a Russian police station with blue and white hair trying to explain in English what happened? Talk about
credibility! Fortunately the American Consulate intervenes in these situations so they were there as well. Ron is not at fault and all is good. It truly is a wonderful world.
There are so many interesting characters in my daily life here. As I enter my apartment building I have to punch in a code and am greeted (in Russian of course) by the concierge on duty that day. We always have a conversation in our native languages but still are able to communicate a little. Elsa always wears a beige beret and loves Russian mystery novels, Elsa knits and watches Russian soap operas, and Tatiana sorts through old black and white family photos. I would love to know more about their lives but the language is a barrier for sure. They love Marlo, Ron's dog, who I walk everyday after school and always have milkbones to give her. Sweet ladies!
Not to be forgotten is my Russian alarm clock that goes off at unpredictable times from midnight to 6 a.m. Here's how it works. The men here (well some of them anyway) seem to go out to the clubs and pubs and other sudsy establishments to socialize every night of the week and stumble their way back to wherever they go laughing, yelling, sometimes fighting and setting off firecrackers. I wake up wondering where I am. Don't these people have jobs? Probably not, unfortunately! Somehow they enter the courtyard below my apartment to serenade each other (or maybe it's me!). Rude awakening! I'm tempted to get a dozen eggs and pelt them out the window! One night I awoke to someone singing "Ave Maria" in a beautiful tenor voice. At first I thought I had expired in the night. It was just my drunken angel. He hasn't returned since then. Meanwhile my battery alarm clock continues to wake me at 5:30 a.m. For variety sake firecrackers are lit off as well though I prefer to call them fire devils!
Then there's the Music teacher who is Iranian and is quite an accomplished composer and pianist here but teaches elementary music to make ends meet. If the children misbehave they have to sing the musical scale in front of the class. I have to leave the room to save my sanity and my ears! He teaches with an Iranian accent which is very difficult to understand. They kids are now learning Holiday songs to sing at a Winter Concert....mostly American tunes like Frosty the Snowman, All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth, Deck The Halls, and Auld Lang Syne. The children's accents are so adorable as they sing. And they do LOVE to sing inspite of the scale torture!
Tom and I took nightly walks around the city after dinner while he was here. Every building is lit up with lights which accent the architecture which is amazing and on a very grand scale. New Year's is the big winter holiday here so the decorations and lights are starting to go up. We navigate ourselves around the city by the canals and church steeples. They act as lighthouses for us guiding our walks.
A few funnies from the week:
Heidi, a red-haired, freckled faced American girl was trying to comfort a boy who was crying because he didn't want to go to gym because he had a runny nose. She said in her matter of fact American accent, " Oh, just suck it up and deal with it. You'll survive!" He did!!!
We've been making lots of paper quilts and reading wonderful quilt books. Most of the kids didn't know what a quilt was so I showed them some of my quilts I've made on my Facebook page. Bringing in REAL things is a bit difficult here so we make do. The math involved and visual problem solving has been a fun way to integrate the curriculum with the wonderful quilt books I brought along. I wish I had a sewing machine here so we could make a real classroom quilt, but OH WELL! As everyone reminds me, "You're not in Kansas anymore!" Or Alaska!!
Love to all!
Kathy
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Ramblings from Russia
November 23, 2009
Hello once again,
I imagine you are all getting ready for Thanksgiving. I wish you all a warm, blessing filled day with family and friends. I have to teach on Thanksgiving but Tom and I are gathering together to celebrate with other American teachers at the school after work. I'm in charge of mashed potatoes, gravy and apple crisp. Tom is in charge of hauling four chairs up 120 steps to the teacher's apartment who's hosting the gathering. Ron is in charge of the turkey and dressing. Should be fun!!! I can smell the turkey already. Ron had to travel quite a distance to pick up a turkey that had to be special ordered. All the stores have are turkey drumsticks, which would do in a pinch for sure. There would be no fighting over who got the drumsticks.
Yes! Tom arrived and we've been busy exploring the sights. I am so lucky to be living in the center of the city so navigating to the main attractions is pretty easy. We went on a drizzly rain walk with umbrellas on Saturday, his first day here, with a pit stop at the French Bakery for a cappuccino and treat, and then out to dinner at a wonderful Georgian Russian Restaurant close by and then on to the ballet. We saw a performance of La Sylphide which has a Scottish theme, a witch and a spirit. Evil winning over good is basically the theme. It was wonderful and the best part was that it was only 2 hours long instead of the usual 3-4 hours long. I only had to jab Tom once with my elbow when he started to nod off. I would have thought looking at those ballerinas with the binoculars would have kept his focus. Today we did our weekly grocery shopping. Tom and Ron had to drive to another store to find soy milk since Tom is off of dairy products. They
were successful. I think he enjoyed looking around a Russian store. He was impressed with the freshness and quality of the produce. We spent the rest of the day exploring a couple of churches with Tom talking many photos along the way. He's now down for a bit of a snooze to prepare him for coming to school with me tomorrow. The kids are very excited to meet him. One little boy refers to him as "your man Thomas!" Cute!!! I am so glad he's here to share this experience with me. He'll leave on Nov. 30 and fly to
It's already Monday afternoon so I'd better finish this missive and send it on soon before the kids get back from recess. Tom came into school this morning and talked to the kids about rocks and let them each choose 3 specimens to keep. One little boy said he wanted to be like Tom when he grows up and look for rocks. Tom brought me some Heritage coffee which I'm relishing. The Russian coffee tastes like hot brown water. Tom is at the Mineral and
I got to experience the metro here which was a real adventure. I felt like a sheep being herded through narrow gates and fast moving escalators descending way under ground. I had visions of Dante's Inferno. The doors on the metro shut so fast that people push to get in and then I was sandwiched between two men with raised armpits in my face. No need to go any further! I'd rather walk next time! Laurie got to experience this with me so we had some chuckles over it. Laurie and I also did a bit of Christmas shopping at a man named Ivar's apartment. It was interesting to see how small a Russian apartment really is. The housing for the teachers here is luxurious compared to a typical Russian dwelling. I sometimes feel like I'm really living in a bubble.
It's time to sign off. Happy Thanksgiving one and all!
Love,
Kathy
Thursday, November 19, 2009
November 2009 Meeting
Hi! Well it appears we have a few changes to make after our meeting last night. It was sure good to be back. I have to say I sure miss all of you.
Linda made the fare for the night and, as it was a very cool fall evening, the dinner was perfect, Baked Potato Soup with all the trimmings of a baked potato to put into it. It was fabulous. Randi complimented the meal with her carrot cake cupcakes which were frosted with the helping hands of Helen and topped with mini chocolate chips, also very delicious and to top it all off we had lemonade for drinks just to remind us summer has left. Many thanks to the chefs.
I was on line the other day and went to our blog. I was blown away by the notes from
Well for starters our meeting for December will be on the 14th. No mistake, December 14th at Helen's. In JANUARY it will change. Our meetings will now be on the 4th (FOURTH) Tuesday, that's TUESDAY of each month from then on.
Also December’s meeting means our challenge quilts no matter how big, small or how far done, must be in ok? Also we have a list of who is bringing what and if you weren't there for some reason just bring what you like. Here goes:
Helen - bread, entrée
Linda - dessert
Peggy & Trish - entrée & dessert
Margie – jello salad
Carol - something from "Julia's" book entrée
Randi - (I missed it :( )
Rita - drinks
Dawn – green salad
Don't forget our gift exchange $10.00 gift. Rules for the exchange: gifts can only exchange 3x - no steal backs immediately after it is taken away and you can't take your own.
We received a letter from Donna and she said she will be coming back, but after she has had sometime to get life on track again. She and Corky are doing better. Glad to hear, we look forward to your return.
Quilt Show at the DeYoung museum in
Show n Tell - I (Carol) finally got a few things done and
brought them in for show n 
tell.
Dawn brought in a quilt she was doing for a little girl, then changed her mind and kept it but... she made another one for the little girl. I really liked her dancer one, I guess it was the colors. The other is perfect for a child the colors were bright and happy.
Helen showed a beautiful vest she made, child's sundress and a table quilt for a very long table, beautiful though.
Linda did a beautiful vintage apron for her daughter from a
vintage tablecloth her mom had used. It turned out adorable, with a chicken on the front of the bib and a cow on the reverse side of the bib all quilted.
Rita brought homework for us, something to do with color charts. I think I'm supposed to know what I'm doing but I don't think I do. I guess I need to read it all. We can fill in the color circles with fabric if you like. Not due till January meeting. Remember when? That's the 4th Tuesday, January 26th 2010. Can't believe another year is almost gone. Wow! a lot has happened this year.
Dawn did a great demonstration for us, showing how to make rag rugs from quilt scraps. She cuts a generous amount when squaring up her fabric and tosses the strip into a bag. When she squares up her quilt top she does the same, saving the excess backing fabric to crochet into her rug. We were dazzled by her colorful rugs and want more!!! Maybe we can even have a rag rug meeting, with everyone working on a project with Dawn right there, on hand to help us out is we get stuck. Thank you Dawn!
Don't forget next meeting December 14th at Helen's. Bring your QUILT challenge, your GIFT, and your FOOD.
Meeting adjourned 7:50PM.
See you next meeting - keep B-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-,
Carol
PS Linda is to put a link here so we can have that Baked Potato Soup Recipe. Please? Enjoy this recipe, adjust as you wish for as Rachael told me, it's just a blueprint. http://theslowcookedsentence.blogspot.com/search?q=potato+soup
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Ramblings from Russia
November 16, 2009
Hello one and all,
A month from now and I'll be home putting up the Christmas tree and back in tune with my real life and routine. It will be good to be home and I 'll certainly return with a fresh appreciation for all I have taken for granted in our country.
The theme for the week has been " I heard it through the grapevine". That song has followed me around this week as I shopped at the grocery store, ate at a restaurant, and browsed in a bookstore. It must mean something. Maybe I'll figure it out later. I hope I won't be losing my mind. ( got to know the lyrics to appreciate this!) It seems so strange to hear western music blaring out from passing cars, on street corners and in cafes. I wonder if it sounds as foreign to Russian ears as their language does to mine.
School continues to be a blast for me. This week we experimented with flying objects and invented things that could fly from found objects: helicopters, airplanes, gliders, parachutes etc. We had trial runs of our inventions out on the playground to the count of 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 BLAST OFF! I wonder what the military academy was thinking as we launched out gliders towards their building. No relatiation as yet. Hands on learning bridges the language gap for sure as children construct their ideas and try them out.
We have had a few snowy days which softens the already muted pastel colors of the buildings here. The Church of Spilled Blood has snow on its five onion domes and snowmen and snowbears decorate the parks around town. Some people are actually smiling as they watch people throwing snowballs at each other in the park I walk through each day on my way home from school. Those rigid Russian faces are softening too.
On the cultural scence this week I went to see the ballet of "Romeo and Juliet" which is my favorite thus far. There were school children there and it was perfect for them with all the action of sword fights, blood and gore with a little passion and romance thrown in for us older folks. The dancing was spirited and intense and the music of Procofiev was spellbinding. Last night I went to see "The Kings of Dance" which is a troop of international male ballet dancers performing more bizarre, modern choreography and it was dazzling. There were eight dancers and some could leap as high as their height. Talk about eight lords a leaping...there they were. Tonight we're going to see the Irish dance troop "River Dance" which I'm really looking forward to seeing. It'll be a nice change from my menu of ballet and opera.
Some funnies from the kids this week:
Darren who makes me laugh all day long was playing a game of Sorry with three other kids and he was in charge of deciding who would go first. Here's the chant I overheard him say:
Soldier, soldier in the grass,
Stuck a finger up his ass,
In, out, in, out
You are not it!
I guess it's time to teach other turn taking chants. In their innocence they didn't have a clue what it meant and the game began. Eeenie, Meanie, Miney , Moe is on my lesson plans for next week!
Ron Gleason, our principal, had hernia surgery this week so the kids wrote him Get Well notes. One of the kids said he was a great tropical (meaning principal!) I love the language funnies here.
We've been doing so much writing in here. Writer's Workshop is our favorite time of the day. I'm writing along with them and I read my story to them and ask for feed back. They parrot back all I say to them in their writing conferences, "More details! More details!" The room is a buzz with writers sharing their work. It's amazing what they can do when you allow them the time to get involved with their writing.
Laurie Schoenberger made it here and we've spent the weekend seeing a few sights, going to the ballet and River Dance, out for dinner and taking long walks. She'll be here for four more days working in our school with the 3-6th grade teachers. It's so nice to have her here! Tom will arrive on Nov. 20 so I am getting very excited to see him!
I hope you all have a healthy, safe week. Stay warm and know that I think of you all often with gladness in my heart.
Love,
Kathy
Hello one and all,
A month from now and I'll be home putting up the Christmas tree and back in tune with my real life and routine. It will be good to be home and I 'll certainly return with a fresh appreciation for all I have taken for granted in our country.
The theme for the week has been " I heard it through the grapevine". That song has followed me around this week as I shopped at the grocery store, ate at a restaurant, and browsed in a bookstore. It must mean something. Maybe I'll figure it out later. I hope I won't be losing my mind. ( got to know the lyrics to appreciate this!) It seems so strange to hear western music blaring out from passing cars, on street corners and in cafes. I wonder if it sounds as foreign to Russian ears as their language does to mine.
School continues to be a blast for me. This week we experimented with flying objects and invented things that could fly from found objects: helicopters, airplanes, gliders, parachutes etc. We had trial runs of our inventions out on the playground to the count of 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 BLAST OFF! I wonder what the military academy was thinking as we launched out gliders towards their building. No relatiation as yet. Hands on learning bridges the language gap for sure as children construct their ideas and try them out.
We have had a few snowy days which softens the already muted pastel colors of the buildings here. The Church of Spilled Blood has snow on its five onion domes and snowmen and snowbears decorate the parks around town. Some people are actually smiling as they watch people throwing snowballs at each other in the park I walk through each day on my way home from school. Those rigid Russian faces are softening too.
On the cultural scence this week I went to see the ballet of "Romeo and Juliet" which is my favorite thus far. There were school children there and it was perfect for them with all the action of sword fights, blood and gore with a little passion and romance thrown in for us older folks. The dancing was spirited and intense and the music of Procofiev was spellbinding. Last night I went to see "The Kings of Dance" which is a troop of international male ballet dancers performing more bizarre, modern choreography and it was dazzling. There were eight dancers and some could leap as high as their height. Talk about eight lords a leaping...there they were. Tonight we're going to see the Irish dance troop "River Dance" which I'm really looking forward to seeing. It'll be a nice change from my menu of ballet and opera.
Some funnies from the kids this week:
Darren who makes me laugh all day long was playing a game of Sorry with three other kids and he was in charge of deciding who would go first. Here's the chant I overheard him say:
Soldier, soldier in the grass,
Stuck a finger up his ass,
In, out, in, out
You are not it!
I guess it's time to teach other turn taking chants. In their innocence they didn't have a clue what it meant and the game began. Eeenie, Meanie, Miney , Moe is on my lesson plans for next week!
Ron Gleason, our principal, had hernia surgery this week so the kids wrote him Get Well notes. One of the kids said he was a great tropical (meaning principal!) I love the language funnies here.
We've been doing so much writing in here. Writer's Workshop is our favorite time of the day. I'm writing along with them and I read my story to them and ask for feed back. They parrot back all I say to them in their writing conferences, "More details! More details!" The room is a buzz with writers sharing their work. It's amazing what they can do when you allow them the time to get involved with their writing.
Laurie Schoenberger made it here and we've spent the weekend seeing a few sights, going to the ballet and River Dance, out for dinner and taking long walks. She'll be here for four more days working in our school with the 3-6th grade teachers. It's so nice to have her here! Tom will arrive on Nov. 20 so I am getting very excited to see him!
I hope you all have a healthy, safe week. Stay warm and know that I think of you all often with gladness in my heart.
Love,
Kathy
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Ramblings from Russia
November 8, 2009
Greetings one and all,
My walking shoes are taking on a scuffed, well used look as I spent hours each day walking around on my week off checking out the sights of St. Petersburg. I certainly hit all the highlights and mapped out each day's adventure by neighborhoods. There's so much to see and do here but I only scratched the surface. I attempted to visit one museum, one palace and one church each day. Some of my favorite walks are following the canals that thread their way through the city. The architecture here is amazing and each building has its own charm. The colors are soft pastels yet warm and muted. I appreciate the fact that older buildings are not razed but renovated. There are very few modern looking structures at least in the heart of the city.
Some of the museums I visited this week are:
The Russian Museum which is housed in four separate buildings (ex-palaces).
The Ethnographic Museum where costumes, crafts, tools, weapons, art work , photos from the different people that make up Russia are exhibited. It was very interesting to see how similar native Alaskan people's clothing, boats, tools etc. are to their Russian neighbors.
Kunsthammer Museum where Peter the Great housed all this anthropoligical expedition finds from different countries. There was a whole section on Alaska native people which I found quite interesting. We did belong to Russia at one time in history.
The Pushkin Museum where the famous poet lived and wrote. It's only two doors down from where I live. He died in a duel defending his wife's honor.
Today I tried in vain to find the Dostoevsky apartment Museum. I walked at least an hour trying to find it but since the signs are written in Russian it eluded me. I am determined to find it on a less rainy day. By the time I returned home from my search I settled down with a cup of hot tea . I'll save Crime and Punishment for another day.
My favorite church is The Church of Spilled Blood which is the most colorful, onion domed Disneyland looking church here. The inside is so amazing with hundreds of mosaics which seem to glow from within. I was so glad I had rented an audio guide. It took 24 years to build the church and 27 years to restore it after the war where it was used as a food storage facility and later a morgue. I learned that the reason for the onion dome architecture is that the snow falls off easily and also that the domes resemble candles pointing towards heaven. I visited several other churches as well but this one takes the cake.
I saw an exhibit of the Canadian artist, Robert Bateman, at The Mikhailovsky Castle. Most of the palaces and castles are now used as museums or art galleries.
Fortunately most of the week I had lovely cold, and crisp weather with snow flurries off and on. On a full moon evening I went to the top floor of my apartment building and up on the roof to take some night time photos of the moon and the skyline.
I attended a performance of the opera "Carmen" which was 41/2 hours long. The music, drama, costumes, scenery etc. made the time go by so fast. The champagne at intermission helped too. I though of you Michele when the torreador sang his song. I remember you at our college apartment listening to Carmen.
I am so tickled that Tom is coming to see me in my Russian exile. He'll arrive on Nov. 19 for 10 days. My friend Laurie Schoenberger is also coming on Nov. 13 for a week. It will be such fun to show both of them the sights.
I feel I am museumed, churched and palaced out for now and ready to get back to The Cathedral of the Classroom with my 15 living icons tomorrow.
Wishing you well. Until next week....
Love,
Kathy
Greetings one and all,
My walking shoes are taking on a scuffed, well used look as I spent hours each day walking around on my week off checking out the sights of St. Petersburg. I certainly hit all the highlights and mapped out each day's adventure by neighborhoods. There's so much to see and do here but I only scratched the surface. I attempted to visit one museum, one palace and one church each day. Some of my favorite walks are following the canals that thread their way through the city. The architecture here is amazing and each building has its own charm. The colors are soft pastels yet warm and muted. I appreciate the fact that older buildings are not razed but renovated. There are very few modern looking structures at least in the heart of the city.
Some of the museums I visited this week are:
The Russian Museum which is housed in four separate buildings (ex-palaces).
The Ethnographic Museum where costumes, crafts, tools, weapons, art work , photos from the different people that make up Russia are exhibited. It was very interesting to see how similar native Alaskan people's clothing, boats, tools etc. are to their Russian neighbors.
Kunsthammer Museum where Peter the Great housed all this anthropoligical expedition finds from different countries. There was a whole section on Alaska native people which I found quite interesting. We did belong to Russia at one time in history.
The Pushkin Museum where the famous poet lived and wrote. It's only two doors down from where I live. He died in a duel defending his wife's honor.
Today I tried in vain to find the Dostoevsky apartment Museum. I walked at least an hour trying to find it but since the signs are written in Russian it eluded me. I am determined to find it on a less rainy day. By the time I returned home from my search I settled down with a cup of hot tea . I'll save Crime and Punishment for another day.
My favorite church is The Church of Spilled Blood which is the most colorful, onion domed Disneyland looking church here. The inside is so amazing with hundreds of mosaics which seem to glow from within. I was so glad I had rented an audio guide. It took 24 years to build the church and 27 years to restore it after the war where it was used as a food storage facility and later a morgue. I learned that the reason for the onion dome architecture is that the snow falls off easily and also that the domes resemble candles pointing towards heaven. I visited several other churches as well but this one takes the cake.
I saw an exhibit of the Canadian artist, Robert Bateman, at The Mikhailovsky Castle. Most of the palaces and castles are now used as museums or art galleries.
Fortunately most of the week I had lovely cold, and crisp weather with snow flurries off and on. On a full moon evening I went to the top floor of my apartment building and up on the roof to take some night time photos of the moon and the skyline.
I attended a performance of the opera "Carmen" which was 41/2 hours long. The music, drama, costumes, scenery etc. made the time go by so fast. The champagne at intermission helped too. I though of you Michele when the torreador sang his song. I remember you at our college apartment listening to Carmen.
I am so tickled that Tom is coming to see me in my Russian exile. He'll arrive on Nov. 19 for 10 days. My friend Laurie Schoenberger is also coming on Nov. 13 for a week. It will be such fun to show both of them the sights.
I feel I am museumed, churched and palaced out for now and ready to get back to The Cathedral of the Classroom with my 15 living icons tomorrow.
Wishing you well. Until next week....
Love,
Kathy
Monday, November 2, 2009
October Meeting 2009
It was a blustery, cloudy night, and the wind whistled through the chimneys of the house on the moor. Woops, wait a minute. It was a blustery night, but Helen’s warm and cheery soups weren’t scary at all! Linda, Dawn, Rita, Margie, Katherine, and Randy with an eye (actually make that an I and two eyes) all gathered around the dining table, enjoying potato leek soup, hamburger vegetable chowder, apple spice muffins, pear pecan salad, and a chocolate cream cheese torte. And that was just the socializing segment.
Randy called us all together to settle down and get to business. Yes, Mistress Chairwoman (we never use the word Madam in
Several members attended the Shop Hop the end of September and reported that money was spent, fun was had, and tires were worn out! Helen and Katherine did all of the shops together. Dawn, Randy and Linda each did the Fallon stores on their own, but got together to do the rest of the Hop. The miles logged far exceeded a trip to the moon, but the rewards were much better than a load of rocks. However, the trekkers reported that We R Sew N Sew is going out of business.
We discussed some different methods of sandwiching quilts. Actually the methods are quite nearly the same, just the order is different. You may want to do the guts of the sandwich, then put on the front, then the back, or you may want to start with the back, then the guts, then the front. Or, you may want to try deviled ham in which case the order doesn’t matter.
Dawn brought a Show and Tell. She made a lovely and sophisticated table runner and placemats from fabric she purchased at the 2008 Shop Hop. A close look at the fabric, and you will see that the subject is quite Halloweeny.
Dawn and Randy will be attending a quilters reception in Yerington for
And as for our absent members, we very much missed Carol, Trish, Lacey, Ellie, Tricia, and Peggy. Happy Autumn to all of you and if we’re VERY lucky maybe we can all be together in November.
Now for upcoming events: The Christmas party will be on the 21st. Bring a wrapped gift, $10 limit. Also, bring a bit of canned food for the holiday food drives. And, in case you haven’t heard, our Two of a Kind quilts are due at the December meeting. In January, Linda will teach us paper piecing.
That just about does it for the October meeting of the QBees. If anyone thinks of something I missed, that’s what the Comments button is for. Quite happily and sincerely, Margie!
Ramblings from Russia
November 2, 2009
Hello everyone,
Greetings on this cold November morning from St. Pete's. It's a crisp, clear ,sparkling frosty day. The temp is in the low 30's and as I gaze out my apartment window I see people are decked out in warm coats, hats, gloves and scarves. Yesterday I really did try to dress like a Russian with my overcoat etc. but I still get looks like I'm either a CIA agent or someone from faraway ...a walking imposter for sure. Maybe it's the camera around my neck. Hmmm!
A few observations from school last week:
I had the kids bring in materials to build boats and do float and sink experiments adding plastic bears and cubes for weights. Now this is very tricky since there are no sinks in the room and I had to haul water and borrow tubs etc. They were quite thrilled to do something messy and fun which I don't think they're used to. One boy had counted up to 200 bears on his boat when it sank! He yelled, "Rescue, rescue! The Titantic sank." We revived the bears and proceeded. The kids make me smile everyday with their accents and use of the language.
The custodian who cleans my room is about my age and her name is Svetla and for some reason we have become soul mates though each of us can't speak the other's language. She loves looking at my photo of album of Juneau scenes and my family. I use a lot of sign language and we hug. She borrowed the album to show her family. On my birthday she brought me a small Matrushka doll and gave me a tearful speech in Russian. I grabbed another teacher to translate and this is what this simple woman who cleans for a living said, " I wish all people of the world could be like you and me . Forget the politicians and governments and remember the smiles, and hugs and laughter as we try to communicate what is important. I wish you and your family peace and good health on your journey through life." I started to cry as the teacher translated Svetla's powerful words. Such wisdom! These are the moments here that mean the most to me.
Then there's wisdom from the children...Gabriella brought in a leaf that had frozen in a puddle and declared that she had rescued the leaf. We had been exploring leaves for a bit so the kids know a lot about the life expectancy of a leaf. We observed the ice melting and at last the leaf was free from its icy grave and Gabriella tenderly wrapped it up in a paper towel to take it home and keep it warm and safe as she said.
Ms. Alexandra is our art teacher. Now picture a woman in her late 60's with a long white pony tale, sparkling blue eyes who dresses like a Russian hippie from the Salvation Army and wears sneakers and speaks limited English. She came bustling into the classroom this week for her lesson and started throwing garlic, onions, tomatoes, shells, flowers, pottery vases on the children's desks. She gives little direction other than "Just draw like Cezanne!" And the trick is they do. You should see their shadowing and concentration . Then they proceed to water color their sketches producing amazing results. Meanwhile she flits around the room from student to student heaping praise and constructive suggestions. She's amazing! She's not a trained teacher but is so skilled in having the children believe they are artists. And they are!
On the cultural front I attended another ballet, The Scotch Symphony, that was choreographed by George Ballenchine. I loved it because it was more modern and interpretive.
Our 9 day Fall Break started this weekend so I have planned some excursions everyday. I am learning to do things alone since my two companion teachers have taken off to Croatia for the week. I visited the Yusupov Palace where Rasputin was murdered. They do have English audio guides which are quite useful. It's so nice to hear someone speak English to me. I almost started to carry on a conversation with the audio man. No wonder people look at me!
I am learning to read maps quite well and am constantly scouting the sky for church steeples which guide me when I'm lost. I'm constantly calling on help from my guardian angels. Ron Gleason took me to a Russian Orthodox Monastary where we happened to enter during a service. It was so beautiful with Gregorian chanting from the all male choir, and the priest circling the church with insense. People were lighting candles and writing intentions out to leave on the tables under the icons The bell was ringing constantly in the steeple. I looked up and a priest was physically pulling on the heavy ropes and using a treadmill like wheel with his leg to ring the bell. Quite a work out. I wonder if he was doing penance. We visited the graves of Dostoyevsky, Tschaikovsky and Rimsy Korsocov who are all buried along with other famous artists, musicians and writers. They really do play tribute to their famous people. There were even fresh flowers on their
monuments to honor them. I visited the Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral where all the Romanov dynasty are enshrined.
On my way home I saw a man skinny dipping in the Neva River which I'm told they do for health reasons. He proceeded to exit the very cold and polluted river and did a series of jumping jacks to warm up. Time to move on home across the bridge with a smile on my face!
So much for my week. On a sad note...Tom's dear older brother Bill passed away yesterday from liver cancer. Tom had just spent 3 weeks with him and had just returned home to Juneau when he got the call. He'll probably head back down soon once arrangements are made. Obviously his trip here is on hold for now.
Love to all of you!
Kathy
Hello everyone,
Greetings on this cold November morning from St. Pete's. It's a crisp, clear ,sparkling frosty day. The temp is in the low 30's and as I gaze out my apartment window I see people are decked out in warm coats, hats, gloves and scarves. Yesterday I really did try to dress like a Russian with my overcoat etc. but I still get looks like I'm either a CIA agent or someone from faraway ...a walking imposter for sure. Maybe it's the camera around my neck. Hmmm!
A few observations from school last week:
I had the kids bring in materials to build boats and do float and sink experiments adding plastic bears and cubes for weights. Now this is very tricky since there are no sinks in the room and I had to haul water and borrow tubs etc. They were quite thrilled to do something messy and fun which I don't think they're used to. One boy had counted up to 200 bears on his boat when it sank! He yelled, "Rescue, rescue! The Titantic sank." We revived the bears and proceeded. The kids make me smile everyday with their accents and use of the language.
The custodian who cleans my room is about my age and her name is Svetla and for some reason we have become soul mates though each of us can't speak the other's language. She loves looking at my photo of album of Juneau scenes and my family. I use a lot of sign language and we hug. She borrowed the album to show her family. On my birthday she brought me a small Matrushka doll and gave me a tearful speech in Russian. I grabbed another teacher to translate and this is what this simple woman who cleans for a living said, " I wish all people of the world could be like you and me . Forget the politicians and governments and remember the smiles, and hugs and laughter as we try to communicate what is important. I wish you and your family peace and good health on your journey through life." I started to cry as the teacher translated Svetla's powerful words. Such wisdom! These are the moments here that mean the most to me.
Then there's wisdom from the children...Gabriella brought in a leaf that had frozen in a puddle and declared that she had rescued the leaf. We had been exploring leaves for a bit so the kids know a lot about the life expectancy of a leaf. We observed the ice melting and at last the leaf was free from its icy grave and Gabriella tenderly wrapped it up in a paper towel to take it home and keep it warm and safe as she said.
Ms. Alexandra is our art teacher. Now picture a woman in her late 60's with a long white pony tale, sparkling blue eyes who dresses like a Russian hippie from the Salvation Army and wears sneakers and speaks limited English. She came bustling into the classroom this week for her lesson and started throwing garlic, onions, tomatoes, shells, flowers, pottery vases on the children's desks. She gives little direction other than "Just draw like Cezanne!" And the trick is they do. You should see their shadowing and concentration . Then they proceed to water color their sketches producing amazing results. Meanwhile she flits around the room from student to student heaping praise and constructive suggestions. She's amazing! She's not a trained teacher but is so skilled in having the children believe they are artists. And they are!
On the cultural front I attended another ballet, The Scotch Symphony, that was choreographed by George Ballenchine. I loved it because it was more modern and interpretive.
Our 9 day Fall Break started this weekend so I have planned some excursions everyday. I am learning to do things alone since my two companion teachers have taken off to Croatia for the week. I visited the Yusupov Palace where Rasputin was murdered. They do have English audio guides which are quite useful. It's so nice to hear someone speak English to me. I almost started to carry on a conversation with the audio man. No wonder people look at me!
I am learning to read maps quite well and am constantly scouting the sky for church steeples which guide me when I'm lost. I'm constantly calling on help from my guardian angels. Ron Gleason took me to a Russian Orthodox Monastary where we happened to enter during a service. It was so beautiful with Gregorian chanting from the all male choir, and the priest circling the church with insense. People were lighting candles and writing intentions out to leave on the tables under the icons The bell was ringing constantly in the steeple. I looked up and a priest was physically pulling on the heavy ropes and using a treadmill like wheel with his leg to ring the bell. Quite a work out. I wonder if he was doing penance. We visited the graves of Dostoyevsky, Tschaikovsky and Rimsy Korsocov who are all buried along with other famous artists, musicians and writers. They really do play tribute to their famous people. There were even fresh flowers on their
monuments to honor them. I visited the Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral where all the Romanov dynasty are enshrined.
On my way home I saw a man skinny dipping in the Neva River which I'm told they do for health reasons. He proceeded to exit the very cold and polluted river and did a series of jumping jacks to warm up. Time to move on home across the bridge with a smile on my face!
So much for my week. On a sad note...Tom's dear older brother Bill passed away yesterday from liver cancer. Tom had just spent 3 weeks with him and had just returned home to Juneau when he got the call. He'll probably head back down soon once arrangements are made. Obviously his trip here is on hold for now.
Love to all of you!
Kathy
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