Oh Hail !

Hand full o' hail

Hail stone

Words similar to that came out of my mouth last night around around 7:45 pm when we heard something that sounded like someone was dropping marbles from a jet onto the roof of our house. Mainly I was concerned about not having a whole bunch of little dents in my car and the roof of the rabbitry caving in. The hail was mostly a bit larger than pea size with some marbles thrown in for good measure. The fun did not stop there and at 4: 30 am we awoke to a huge thunderstorm and torrents of rain. We were lucky in that we did not experience the flooding that they got in areas north of here. My cousin got a flooded basement, in the town of Marion, filled to her first floor and her car mostly underwater for her 49th birthday today. Nice present huh? A confirmed tornado touched down near Millersport and there are flood warnings tonight for areas along the Scioto River in central Ohio. For those of you who are interested, hail is caused when continued deposits of super cooled water cause ice crystals to grown into hail stones. A hail stone must be 1/5 of an inch in diameter or bigger otherwise it is referred to a graupel. All I can say is we have had some crazy weather this year.

Here Comes the Sun

Everyone was out enjoying the sunshine and mild temps today. This little guy was searching under a log for earthworms and happily cooperated in having his photo taken. His coloring is beautiful!

Where's Waldo?

Can you spot Waldo in our woodpile? After you find him look for his breakfast (a hickory nut).

Not Again!

It poured down rain in buckets all night and then this morning right before the kids were suppose to load up on the school buses the snow began in earnst. That caused a total panic and almost every school in Central Ohio is now closed. The roads were horrible and of course my gas tank was below empty because I was lazy on my way home last night and decided to save the fill up for this morning. Anyway I'm the only one in the office this morning and everyone is straggling in hours late because the highways are clogged. Oh the glories of living 2 miles from work. In the top ten on my list of things to be grateful for. Make it a good day!

Renoir

My friend Carrie received a lovely Renoir bracelet from her boyfriend for Valentines Day. Being the costume jewelry aficionado that I am; I had to look up the brand name on Ebay. I mentioned to Carrie's mom, who is my friend and co-worker, that I thought I might have a piece of Renoir at home, given to me by my mother, but that I didn't know it's significance up until now. Today I finally got around to looking for the bracelet and discovered that indeed it was an Renoir. After some brief research on the internet I learned that the Renoir company was founded in 1946 and "the company was famous for its jewelry made from copper metal but also used sterling silver metal. Copper was a popular choice metal for metalworkers active in the Arts & Crafts designs in the 1930s - 1950s period. The company made jewelry of contemporary abstract designs that leaned towards modern art." Interesting piece of history if you ask me. Mom can't remember where she got it. Just out of curiosity I am checking with a couple of her sisters to see if they recall.

Striking piece

close up

Aquarium Art

Andrew and I went to the art building this evening to look at some of Elisha's artwork that is on display. She's doing some really good work. This particular project took her most of the quarter. Hers is the closeup that I have included of the mandarin fish. Each student in the class was to use either a stipple, shade or crosshatch technique (these are not line drawings) to create a fish of their choice.

Larger Than Life

My nephew was here on Sunday. He wanted to play with one of the rabbits. I chose Norman. Norman wasn't too keen on coming out of his cage to begin with. Once I got him in the house he decided it wasn't so bad after all. He had plenty of attention and lots of things to see and do. He got hugged and petted; had his photo taken; played with Daisy and hid behind the couch. He was quite entertaining-just a lovable galumph. People ask me if he is real, where we keep him and what he eats??!!

Hugsplaying with Daisy

getting his picture taken

hey I wanna look...

checking out his peeps

hidingchillin

hooray uncle Andy caught him!! an excuse to jump on the couch...

Happy Valentines Day

How Full Is Your Bucket?

"Each of us has an invisible bucket. It is constantly being emptied or filled, depending on what others say or do to us. When our bucket is full, we feel great. When it's empty we feel awful. Each of us also has an invisible dipper. When we use that dipper to fill other people's buckets-by saying or doing things to increase positive emotions-we also fill our own bucket. But when we use that dipper to dip from other's buckets-by saying or doing things that decrease their positive emotions-we diminish ourselves. Like the cup that runneth over, a full bucket gives us positive outlook and renewed energy. Every drop in that bucket makes us stronger and more optimistic. But an empty bucket poisons our outlook, saps our energy, and undermines our will. That's why every time someone dips from our bucket, it hurts us. So we face a choice every moment of every day: We can fill one another's buckets, or we can dip from them. It's an important choice-one that profoundly influences our relationships, productivity, health, and happiness. " Rath and Clifton-How Full is Your Bucket?

Last night we had our 8th annual student recognition night. The first year of this event (2003) we recognized 23 students; this year 137-for contributions to the college, community and their profession. I believe this demonstrates the great bond and camaradarie that we share within our department in that we are so able to motivate students to strive to be their best and prepare them as young professionals and it is certainly one of the many benefits of attending this college.

It was also Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night. I was both surprised and honored to announced as having been chosen by one of the men's basketball players for this recognition. It's always nice to know that you have made a difference to someone!

Chalk up both of these events as bucket fillers! Ways that people show that they care about each other that mean more than words. Add to that our teams victory over "Crapital" and you have the perfect night.

Students, faculty and staff pose for a group photo

Healthy eats for the parent reception

My goodies for being recognized

Onward to victory!

Yes-he's one of ours too. He's got the word "Crapital" (Capital U -our arch rival) on his butt. "

Bright Colored Hats

I don't know about you but I could use some cheerful color around me. Other than yesterday I haven't seen the sun for two weeks. I had a request from a family member for kids hats. I had some bright colored yarn leftover from other projects so I used it. This is Stonehedge's over run yarns that they sell in mixed skeins.

Home Made Nutter Butters

Have another nutterbutter peanut butter sandwich cookie. Who remembers that commercial? I made homemade nutterbutters today with chocolate ganache filling. They were yummy. The recipe can be found here.

And the Winner Is...

The winner of my roving giveaway is # 6. Maureen if you will email me your address I will get the roving out to you as soon as it stops sleeting. LOL Thanks to everyone who participated!
In the meantime I hope you enjoy this photo of these two little warm fuzzies.

GC LH Sienna & Lori (owned by Irene)

A "Wintery Mix"

A "wintery mix" aka ice is on its way for Central Ohio again starting this evening. Not going to PA for the convention. A wintery mix is also predicted for the state of PA. Quite frankly gettin' a little tired of winter here. I did manage to get a few images of the sun glinting through ice today. About the only good I can find in it.

PA Hopefuls

I have a beautiful mother daughter duo ready to compete in Satin Angoras at the PA Convention this weekend. Here's hoping the weather cooperates. (Crossing fingers). If not they are still beautiful and I will enjoy them anyway.

Grand Champion Lilac Haven's Sienna (daughter)

Somerhill Phazana (mom)

Ice Storm

Everyone in the midwest is getting hit with ice. Here's a few pics. We had a half day off work.

This morning around 9 am

Note that Daisy is standing on the top of the snow and not sinking in!

Scene from the front door