Pets on Quilts

SewCalGal is having a Pets on Quilts show/contest and even though I don't have any expectations of winning I just have to enter this picture of my Nicky being cute.

Nicky.  If there's quilt, or even a quilt block, laying around she'll be on it.

Go to SewCalGal's blog, read the rules and enter your quilt loving pet.

CPD23 - Week 8, Thing 12

Finally, catching up on the blogs for Weeks 6, 7 and 8. Shouldn't let myself get so far behind...it's too much to do all at once to get caught up again.

Ah, social media. Just a few years ago the term didn't even exist and now almost everyone thinks they can't live without it.  I didn't realize how pervasive it actually was until last fall when I finally joined Facebook.  It seemed like everyone I knew or had ever known was on it. For better or for worse, it's a part of our lives now. 

Anyone who knows me personally has heard me admit to being somewhat of a hermit. I don't even own a cell phone. When I see all these people driving down the road with a phone to their ear or standing around texting I always ask myself, "Who the hell are they always talking/texting to anyway?" 

I must say that I haven't seen much professional social media activity going on in my neck of the woods. Yes, most of the libraries have web sites, some have Facebook pages and/or a twitter account. I always wonder how many people actually read those pages/posts/tweets.  Plus, we've all read how personal Facebook posts have actually damaged careers.  I guess the thing to keep in mind is that once it's out there on the Internet it's out there forever, and even if we're posting to our personal page it can either help or hurt us professionally.

Done rambling now.

CPD23 - Week 7, Things 10 & 11

#11 - Becoming a Librarian:   To all you librarians out there with the Master's degree or beyond I'm not a "real" librarian at all, though I've been doing the exact same work for more years than some of you have existed.  I started out in my small rural library as an assistant and learned as I went from my boss. When she resigned the Board realized, after interviewing a bunch of totally unacceptable applicants, that perhaps they should hire me. At least I had worked in the library for six years and knew a little about how things should be done.  From then on I learned by the seat of my pants and taking various training workshops and reading.  Since then I've worked hard at collection development, weeding out the horribly outdated junk that had collected, worked on a library enlargement project, introduced computers/Internet and networked the library. Next came the automated circulation/catalog system. It's been a ride, that's for sure. Anyway, what exactly is a "real" librarian?

# 11 - Mentoring:   I have definitely had much needed mentors -- the school librarian in my high school where I was a library volunteer, my first boss in the public library, fellow librarians in my county.  I have been going to the County Library Assoc. meetings since I first started out in the public library and at each meeting there is some educational program, mostly about librarianship.  Now that I am the most senior librarian in our county I am more mentor than mentee, as informal as it may be, and I try to be as helpful as I can.  Whether mentor or mentee, there is always more we can learn.

CPD23 - Week 6, Things 8 & 9

#8 - Google Calendar:  If I led a more complicated life, worked in a library/business with lots of different events, opening/closing times, etc. and had a phone that accessed the Internet this could be very useful. As it is I don't really need it, though it's good to know about it.

#9 - Evernote:  At first glance my thought was, "I'll never need this."  However, on further thought it might be hand during my genealogy research.  Sometimes I bounce around from site to site and later am not sure what was where.  This might be a solution to that problem.  Will require further investigation.

Look what I did

For better or for worse, here's the Library's poster for the County Fair display by the Antelope County Library Association.  Considering the hot & steamy weather we've been having, I'm ever so grateful the group decided to have an unmanned display this year. Regardless, I wouldn't have been there. It's also our local celebration this weekend.

Not the greatest picture with half of it shadowed and looking more crooked than it actually is, but you get the idea. Orange, lime green and purple....I like bright colors, and these are my favorites of the moment.  Turned out Neligh's poster was in the same colors. :)

Sunday....Hot and Muggy

We've been babysitting since Wed. morning for our daughter's dog while they were on vacation. Did you know that babysitting dogs is much easier than little kids??

The grand-dog.

 And here are 600 HSTs all sewed together into rows and pressed, ready to be put into blocks.

And here they are sewed into the blocks. Fifteen finished and fifteen to go.

I don't know about anybody else, but I'm ready for Fall. This heat and humidity is getting old. Sunny Fall days with bright blue skies and NO humidity...YEAH!!!

Later.  Oopsie...do you see what I see?  The row of HSTs along the right side is sewed on backward...gonna need a do-over there.

CPD23 Week 5

Thing 6:   I found it interesting to read about the various online networking opportunities though quite a few of the examples given seemed to be more British than American. I joined Facebook last fall and have found it to be a good way to keep up with the far flung members of my and my husband's families. I especially enjoy the pictures some post of their family activites.  LinkedIn was one that I had heard of before and it looks like it would be a good one to join if your aim is to make many contacts in your profession and might be useful for job hunting and relocating. Since I'm not looking to do either I won't join. Somehow I just keep thinking about something I saw once that said, "On the Internet you can be anything you want to be."  While online contacts may be a starting point, I really think good old fashioned face-to-face networking is still the best. 

I've been reading quite a bit about Google+ and the favorite thing about it for most people seems to be the circles so you can post certain things to certain groups and not to others. I think the way Facebook does it gets people into trouble because everything posted goes to everybody on the friends list, or friends of friends depending upon how your privacy settings are set up. Google+ might be something to keep an eye on.

Thing 7:  I had never heard of the majority of these face-to-face networking opportunities. I think ALA was the only familiar one...one I have never joined because I don't work in a library that would pay for going to meetings and events or pick up the tab for dues.  Most of my personal networking is kept pretty local...the county library association and the library system events. Living where I do there would just be too much travel involved to participate at the state or national level and I'm not eager to pay for these things out of my meager small town library salary. I do see where it could be useful for MLS professionals who want to become better known and move up the ladder. I know I'm staying here and just want to keep on top of things enough to do the best job I can for my library and it's patrons.

Pressing Matters......

Working on pressing 600 HSTs. Not as much fun as you would think.

Updated later:

All done!! With one pressed the wrong way, I see. Oh well, at least it doesn't involve ripping.

We wished for warmer temps.......

....and now they're here. My thermometer is sitting on 98* and I just saw on AccuWeather that the forecast high for today is 103*. Whoever invented AC wasn't paid nearly enough!!!

Been doing some slicing & dicing of fabric lately:

Doesn't look like much yet.

Yesterday we went to my BIL's wedding....why do people get married in July when it's almost a sure thing the weather will be at it's hottest and most humid? Weather wise it was a repeat of our niece's wedding last year, only her's was outdoors and this was in a church with comfortable AC in the sanctuary.  Then we moved to the church basement for the meal and it was freezing cold down there, after which we moved on to the auditorium downtown where it started off fairly cool but got hotter as the evening progressed. I heard the happy couple is going to Arizona for their honeymoon. Who in their right mind goes to Arizona in July?? Oh well, it's a dry heat! :-) :-)  

Car Show

DH's car won 1st in it's class and Best Interior at O'Neill's Summerfest Car Show last weekend.

CPD23 Week 4.....Reflective Practice

Reflective Practice....writing about it isn't the easiest thing in the world. I'm looking back at the "Things" we've learned about so far. Some have been new, others were refreshers of what we learned in Nebr. 2.0.  I continue to blog, and enjoy it for the most part. I'm considering moving our library website to the blog format.

Twitter held no value for me. Maybe if I worked at a bigger library with lots and lots of activities going on and had a patron base that were heavy Twitter users, it might be different.  I still can't see that I would use Pushnote.

"Branding"  is the new buzzword for libraries and fodder for workshop presenters. I still don't think I have a "BRAND."  I'm wife, mother, grandmother, friend, quilter, genealogy researcher, computer fixer and on and on. At this point in my life I'm not really interested in establishing a "brand." I'm thinking more about retirement. For someone just starting out in a career, maybe establishing some sort of professional "brand." is important, but then again maybe it's just the latest fad and in a couple of years we'll leave the branding to the cowboys and the big corporations who are trying to sell us something.

Upon further reflection, the thing I need to concentrate on is keeping up with this project week by week so I keep it all straight. :-)

CPD Week 2--Update

OK, so I was a little confused when I did my previous post for Week 2. I had it in my head that BRANDING was Week 3. Oh well, I think I've got it straight now.

Being a country girl what branding means to me is marking cattle so we can identify which ones belong to us if they wander off into a neighbor's pasture.  More and more I see lots of chatter about "branding" as a marketing ploy, both for business and libraries.

It seems to me that public libraries have a perfectly good brand...."FREE."  As in free information, free books, magazines, movies, etc., free computer/Internet access, along with a multitude of other things depending on the library.

As for me, what should I "brand." The Wife/Mom/Grandma me?  The librarian me? The quilter me? The genealogy researcher me? The computer fixer me?  Do I even need or want a "brand"?  When I did my blog I knew I only wanted to maintain one blog so I rolled it all up into one ball of wax......all the parts of me.

This 'n That

It's getting late so I'll just post a few pictures and try to keep the commentary to a minimum. Grandson pics first:

With the bass he caught all by himself at Willow Lake last weekend. He was so proud.

Don't know what got into him here. It was plenty warm when he stayed with us.

Just quilted. Pieced by my 90 yr. old friend who has lost most of her vision to macular degeneration.  It will be a raffle quilt for the American Legion Auxiliary.

Gotta have a kitty picture once in a while. Isn't he sweet all curled up on the sofa pillow for a nap?

That's it.  Nighty-night, all.

Week 3....CPD23

This was originally posted as Week 2....sorry, I was a tad confused. Just goes to show that one should not do these things too late in the day.

Anyhow......I read through the material and found I'd already done some of it during the first Nebraska Learns 2.0.  I had signed up for a Twitter account and tweeted for a while but it didn't hold my interest or serve any purpose for me that I could see so I quit and can't remember my login or password anymore. I didn't get a new account because I just don't see it being any more relevant to me now......not all my life is spent on the computer.

I had also set up a Google Reader account during the previous session and still make use of it. I have quite a few blogs on it and keep up with reading  them.  I read some of the "favorite" blogs listed in the material and intend to get back to them though I haven't subscribed in Google Reader as yet.

Pushnote........what can I say?  I read the FAQs to find out what it's about but didn't sign up for an account or download the browser add-on.

So, what have I learned from this?  Well, I'm beginning to think I'm not really inclined to a lot of online sociability.   Strange for someone who spends a lot of time on the computer.  Just my hermit qualities I guess.

Reminded & 23 Things: Week 1

It's a good thing I was looking back through the blog. It reminded me that I made all those RWB string blocks.  Really must get them packaged up and sent off.

I'm going to be starting another series of Nebraska 2.0 online classes called 23 Things For Professional Development that will last for five months. Technology changes so fast that it's important to participate in opportunities like this to keep up. I'm hoping to learn at least a couple things I can put to work in my own life. After reading and learning about each thing we are required to write a blog post and then post the URL to the Library Commission's Nebraska 2.0 blog.  Since I already established this blog the last time around I will be using it.  Anyone who reads this for the quilting and general chit-chat can skip those posts......or you can read about what I'm learning and learn along with me.  Actually, I think I can count this as the post for Things 1 and 2.

For the blog browsing requirement for Thing 2 I found an overwhelming number of blogs from all over the world on the 23 Things site. I'm wondering if the Nebraska librarians will have a separate Nebraska list so we can read blogs of fellow participants from right here in our state.  I intend to read more of the ones on the "mother site" but won't always have time for many of those, interesting as they may be.

I did do a little bit of sewing this week on one of the steps to Roll Roll Cotton Boll. Mostly I've just been doing the cutting of the various strips used. That's the nice thing about doing the mystery long after it isn't a mystery any more....all the strips of each color can be cut at the same time even if they get used in another step.  Some of my pieces of fabric aren't all that big so while I cut for this quilt I'm also cutting other sizes of strips for the strip drawers.  Makes less fabric to go back into the yardage cabinets. I'm beginning to see a difference.

Sorry, no pictures this time. Everyone's seen strips of fabric before.

New Internet Provider

Today I got my TeleBeep Wireless Internet installed. Now I have a lovely satellite dish installed on the NE corner of my house to balance the Dish satellite on the SW corner.

The changeover was quick and painless, but I did learn that "wireless" means wireless for them but not for the customer. There is a wire that runs into the house to my wireless router. Speed tests before & after show the speed is almost three times faster than the DSL I had.  And $15-$20 a month cheaper. Yippee.  Monday I will give Frontier the bad news.

Gifted.....

.......the two buckets of strawberries from the previous post. That's one way to get out of cleaning them. Now I'm making a strawberry dessert out of those in the the small container. Yum.  Guess what?  DH is out picking more......really hope he doesn't find too many.

What I've Been Doing

How's that for a boring blog title?  It's another gray day that doesn't really inspire any creativity.  Not too hot but humid. The humidity lately has made the basement kind of damp and clammy so the air conditioner is running and so is the furnace fan, trying to get the air down there circulating and drying out. The biggest problem is the noise from the window AC. That steady loud drone about puts me to sleep. zzzzzzzzzzzz

After a Town Board meeting last night and a County Supervisor's meeting this morning, I've secured the funding for the library for another year  so I feel like I can goof off a little. At least after I get these cleaned and in the freezer....maybe make a strawberry dessert too :) :)

I like strawberries as much as the next person, but I'm really glad these are June bearers so I have to do this for a week or two and then I'm done. Ever bearing ones just go on and on and on.

Even though I still have quilt tops waiting to be quilted I just had to start playing with a new project so I've been sorting out strips and cutting more.

Can you look at this assortment and guess what it will be?  There was another part of this project completed and posted previously.  I may even have said what it was in that post......who remembers stuff like that??? :) :)

Missouri River flooding

Here are a couple videos I borrowed off Facebook and YouTube showing water being released at Gavins Point dam (video by Dave Rodekohr) and  flooding from around Niobrara and upstream (video by Wilcox Flying Service).                             

                   

     

The Mighty Mo is showing it still has the power for massive devastation, even with all the dams along its length. When there is this much water it has to go somewhere and there is no stopping it. We've kind of forgotten that over the past 60 years.

Magic number

The magic number in this case is 60. As in 60 light string blocks finished for Bonnie Hunter's Roll Roll Cotton Boll. (Well, finished except for taking the paper off the backs.)

There are lots of parts to this quilt so I'll probably be showing periodic progress as it happens.

Last night we had our club family picnic out at Eileen's house. Such a nice evening of good food and good conversation with friends.  Just a nice evening overall...the weather cooperated with warm, not hot, weather, no crazy wind, birds singing, pheasants crowing.....very pleasant. We even had a little calf come try to join the party. It's what we used to call a "bucket calf" and I think when he heard Eileen's voice he came looking for her.