Leafy Greens

I spent time organizing today, and to keep myself motivated I gave myself frequent tatting breaks. As a result, I was able to finish my Leafy Greens Spinning Wheel.

Early this morning, Joanne sent me a picture of Sophia with her new kitten, Horatio. Sophia loves her new kitty!

After dinner my friend Pam stopped by with a retirement gift for me. Pam retired two years ago. She taught 4th grade to three of my four daughters, so her gift is extra special!

Oops! I skipped a day!

I guess I've been having too much fun with Joanne and the kids. I didn't even think about blogging last night.

Today the elementary teachers got together for lunch to celebrate Robyn's and my retirement. Our talented friend Edna made another cake for us. How clever of her to incorporate mermaid theme!

Joanne dressed Karolina in this onesie that was a present from my friend Denise. Isn't the teddy bear adorable? The baby's pretty cute too! ;-)

We had quite a bit of broccoli in our garden, so I spent some time freezing it after supper. Yes, we had fresh broccoli for supper. After all that work (it really wasn't much work), I treated myself to some tatting time. I'd better step it up if I'm going to finish this Spinning Wheel by Friday!

Again, I spent the early morning hours working on the Mermaid Tail Afghan. Much more concentration will be need if this is to be finished in two weeks, leaving me with less tatting time. Oh, well! I guess sacrifices must be made for the Drama Club!

The end

It's hard to believe that I have finally arrived at the end of my teaching career! Yes, it's the end of that phase of my life, but that means it's the beginning of the next, and I'm pretty excited about the possibilities!

My friend Edna made our retirement cake. The top left is for Phyllis (high school secretary), bottom left for Robyn (2nd grade teacher), bottom right for Ken (high school guidance counselor), and top right for me.

Obviously, Edna pictures me traveling and tatting!

Robyn and I received crystal bowls as our retirement gifts.

I started my newest Spinning Wheel glass mat (Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior) is in luscious hand-dyed thread from my friend Marilee Rockley aka Yarnplayer. The color is Lilac Sea. Isn't it beautiful?

I love working with hand-dyed thread. There's something about the dyeing process that makes the thread extra smooth, and I love the colors!

For some strange reason, I haven't been able to add pictures to Blogger the past two days. There didn't seem to be much point to blogging without pictures. This morning I went through my settings and found a couple of draft posts, so I deleted them and now Blogger seems to be working fine.

One of the third grade girls wanted to make a necklace out of the neckband of her t-shirt for the play. So, Sunday afternoon, I made the necklace she wanted. After looking at the picture, I can see that it needs a little cleaning up, which can be done fairly easily. Maybe I'll surprise her and crochet a little edging around it to clean it up!

My latest Spinning Wheel glass mat in Fiore from Slovakia is coming along nicely.

I love the way the newest mermaid tail afghan is working up. It really looks like it belongs under the sea!

Last night the four retirees (two teachers, one guidance counselor, and one secretary) were invited to the school board meeting.

We were recognized for our years of service... 91 years of combined service!

...and we were given a gift certificate to a very nice restaurant. I will miss the daily routine, but since I plan to sign up as a substitute teacher, I know I will be able to keep in touch with the students and staff for as long as I like. Will I sleep in? Probably not. I'm an early morning person, and I think I'll be much happier if I stick to my morning routine!