Teens...back in the day...

When you you think of a bunch of teen girls getting together for a slumber party... do you think of  Teenage Ninja Knitters???  (Thanks for that term, Cheryl)  No, I didn't think so.

Nancy S. gave me a short stack of photos from "back in the day," and I must say I did NOT remember getting the gang together to chat, eat snacks, laugh, and KNIT!!  What the heck?  Did we really do that? 

The 60's party was at my house.  Here we are in what we referred to as the "back room," and in the photo you see two of the 6 invited. What else was there to do?  We had no local theaters or bowling alleys ... no soda shops ... and no video tapes or DVR's.  We may have listened to some 45's on my little record player...but for sure, we knitted for fun... the proof is in the picture! 

We girls were all in Pep Club together and spent many weekends at basketball games, chanting cheers and singing the school song and the fight song... in harmony, by the way! These girls have continued to be friends, long past our parting at graduation.  They were the best... and if they were all willing to knit at a slumber party...they've got to be extra special!!

Preoccupied...

It seems I've been a bit preoccupied with all kinds of things on my to-get-done-now list, and my blogging has been on the back burner. 

Last Friday I hosted a recital for my piano, ukulele, and voice students.  Unfortunately, four of them were not able to attend; they are busy folks, all out of town.  However, it was very nice to provide the opportunity for the others to perform for their families and friends.  It turned out to be such a nice crowd of folks.  Sorry, no pictures...preoccupied.

Then, there was preparing for graduation and rehearsing a song we'll sing again at a retirement party at the end of this week.

Despite all the busy-ness, I have been knitting.  I picked up the needles on the lacy scarf again...and of course, it's slow going -- slow but steady.  I still have such a long way to go!!

Since I have been spending time on the scarf, that took me away from knitting rows on the purple top. However, I did get the decreases on the armholes completed; after about 2 more inches, I will be shaping the neck. 

I guess I'm rarely too preoccupied to continue knitting...

Another class walks to Pomp and Circumstance...

Senator Enzi speaking; Representative Lummis (the blond) to the right.

It was graduation for the seniors at "my school," and it was a very nice ceremony... perhaps one of the best in years.  First of all, the military science class presented the colors.  Then, a brass quartet (all adult male teachers from around the county) played some prelude pieces and then launched into Pomp and Circumstance.  The Salutatorian and Valedictorian speeches were well done.  Our special guest speakers (and we haven't had guest speakers in years!) were Senator Enzi and Representative Lummis.  Wow.  Two state dignitaries at our graduation of 25 seniors??? Senator Enzi thought this may be the only school in the nation with both a Senator and a Representative giving speeches.  Their messages were excellent, brief, and well suited to the seniors.  I have to add that one of the seniors (last week) heard two other teachers and me rehearsing a song we are planning to sing at a private party for a retiring teacher.  This senior loved the song we were doing...and begged us to be added to the graduation program; by the next day, we had an invitation from the class to perform, and we agreed to do it.  So, quite unexpectedly, we sang "Somewhere Along the Road." It was nice to be part of a memorable ceremony.

Fred, the lizard

I have two lizards that I have seen living here for several years.  I have named them Fred and Ethel.  Both of them were running back and forth across my porch, and I decided it was time for a photo op.  This is one of them. 

Looking at this close-up, I think Fred was already over it.

A good day for a road trip...

Another teacher-friend and I took the history-music-art teacher (who is new to our area) on a 2nd Annual Road Trip.  We don't tell her where we're going, but just give her advice on the proper attire.  Then, we tease her relentlessly that it's going to be a Spa Day, which is an event she would avoid at all costs.  It's good for a lot of laughs.

Anyway, the end destination (sorry, no pictures) was the Interpretive Center at Heart Mountain, where thousands of Japanese families from the west coast were interred for 3 years.  This Interpretive Center only opened two years ago, and I must say it's very well done.  This occurrence is a black mark on our history, and it's sad to hear the stories; I'm also disappointed that knowledge of this was kept pretty hushed and not shared in history classrooms when I was in school.  But this museum, located just a few miles northeast of Cody is well worth the visit.  While we were there, a man and woman and their granddaughter came in to take the tour.  We discovered that the man had been interred there when he was 4 and 5 years old.  We had a chance to briefly chat with him, which was a treat. 

On the way to Heart Mountain, we stopped in Thermopolis, where it was easy to tease that we would be staying for a soak in the hot springs and get a massage.  Actually, we took a short scenic drive in the hills above the hot springs and oohed and ahhed over the spring green grass complimenting the red rocks.

We looked for the buffalo, and finally spotted a few.  Do you see the baby buffalo, the dark one in the middle?

The narrow road took us past a ravine where cars had been dumped many, many years ago.  Do some of these look like jalopies from the 1930's? 

What a sight! 

It was a great day... another No Spa Day...

Leaves emerge

Finally, the leaves of spring have emerged and have survived the cold temps. Some tree are really smart and don't leaf out until late in spring, as you can see in this picture.  Perhaps the tree in the background will sense that it's safe to leaf out by the end of the week.

I wasn't looking at the ground when I was walking out to check the trees.  Suddenly I was stopped in my tracks with the sight of my little rabbit frozen in front of me.  He didn't run; he just froze, hoping I wouldn't notice him at all.  I think he was enjoying eating the green grass and didn't want to "step away from the lunch table."  I slowly backed away, got back in the house for the camera, and returned for a close-up shot.  He hadn't moved a hair. 

Progress on the Corn Silk Shell

I'm nearly at the armhole decreases on the Corn Silk Shell.  I'm on size 6 needles, and I thought this would be a fast knit.  It's not moving along as quickly as I imagined it would, and it's probably because of the stitch pattern and because I haven't been knitting a garment this wide for a while.  Anyway, it's coming along. 

Spring snow on the foothills

Sigh...

Spring indoors

OK, ... so there's snow... again... on the grass this morning.  Fortunately, we were on the edge of this storm, so it could be worse.  It's only one degree above freezing outside, so I'm enjoying spring indoors today.

The spring bouquet makes it all better. 

And the African Violets are blooming. 

On Saturday our fiber arts guild held a retreat, and I took the crochet lessons.  Taking what I learned, I finished the edge on one of my cotton placemats.  Thanks, Cheryl, for the private lesson.  :-)

Pottery bowls

CWC art students sponsored a fun event.  Students in a pottery class had made a wide array (colors and sizes) of  bowls and displayed them on several tables: they sold for $8 each.  This is the bowl I picked out. Once you made a purchase, you could fill the bowl with homemade chili, chips, cheese, and sour cream -- a great little lunch on a cold, snowy/rainy day in May.  Who would have thought a hot chili lunch would be a good idea in May?  But the timing couldn't have been better.  In fact, they ran out of chili...

A Wednesday in May?

REALLY?  In May?  With new leaves budding out?  I loved the rain yesterday...but freezing temps, wind, and snow... not so much.

Knitting with soft cotton

I've dipped into my stash and decided it was finally time to knit up the Corn Silk Shell.  It would be nice to get it finished in time to wear it this summer... yes, that would be nice.  I'll be interested to see how long it takes me to get this project knit up!  I've got about 4 inches completed, and I've got the pattern memorized so that I can move right along, but I still have to count rows for the center cable.

I like the heathered purple color of the yarn...and it is very soft.  It's Tahki Yarns Soft Cotton, knit on size 6 needles.

On the soccer field

Soccer has been gaining in popularity in the state, but only the big schools have a program in the spring for the kids, as an alternative to track.  Having worked in a small school for my whole career, I've watched a LOT of track, but never a soccer game.  Enter: my cousin's daughter.  Her team from Casper came to play Riverton, and so to visit with my cousin and also watch his daughter play, I met them in the stands. 

Fortunately, my cousin was nice enough to explain the rules and important points of the game as the action on the field commenced.  It was a good game, although I thought the Riverton team was excessively rough.  My cousin's daughter was purposely pushed to the ground just as she was attempting a goal.  Her arms and hip received nasty scrapes; we were relieved to see her return to the field. In the end, the Casper team won the game 3-1, so that felt good.

A soccer game -- It was a good introduction into another competitive sport.  One more note:  Hitting the ball with one's head....   how can that be a good thing???

My cousin, his lovely wife, and his very athletic daughter had time for a quick photo before the team got back on the bus and the parents headed out on their 2 hr. drive home.