Poinsettias

Poinsettias are among my favorite plants. Yesterday I bought two of them-a yellow and a red. I have always liked poinsettias but got really enamored with them after picking up a book at the half price book store called, Poinsettias-the December flower-Myth & Legend ~ History & Botanical Fact by Christine Anderson & Terry Tischer. It is a colorful 8 x 8 book and I thought it would look nice on my coffee table during the holidays. I never really expected to read it but I did and it was full of interesting information about the favored holiday adornment. A couple of items worth mentioning from the book are that Joel Pointsett, the first US Ambassador to Mexico and an amateur botanist is credited with popularizing poinsettias; poinsettias are not poison; and poinsettia motif's are popular collectibles (I myself have picked up a few vintage postcards depicting the plant). The Franklin Park Conservatory currently has a spectacular display of almost 100 different varieties of poinsettias and it is worth a trip to see them if you have some free time during the holidays.

Janice West

For a number of years I have been searching for a reasonably priced Marx Janice West doll with all 13 of her accessories including the "elusive" compact. This past week I finally found one on eBay and she arrived yesterday looking just as I remembered her. Mom bought Janice for me in 1967 and my brother got a Johnny West, patriarch of the West clan, and his horse. We played with Janice and Johnny for hours. Alas they got sold in a garage sale. When I mentioned mom that I had found Janice again after all these years; she didn't even remember who Janice was, however when I told my brother he said, "cool".

Elisha's Swim Meet

We just got back from Elisha's swim meet. There were 23 teams and it lasted 8 hours. Elisha swam the 200 meter, the 500 meter and a 200 meter relay. Her times were a personal best for her today. She did a great job. I entertained myself by photographing her team in their various events. I had Andrew shoot me with a tranquilizer dart (just kidding although it would have been nice) for the trip home (2 hours) in a blinding snowstorm. He drove and I prayed. There were cars spun out all over the roads and 270 was closed in several sections due to multi-car accidents. How I ever got myself into traveling in that mess I don't know but Elisha was pleased that we came and that I did the photography -and we got home safe so it all worked out.

OAHPERD Convention

I served as the event photographer for the Ohio Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance's annual convention today. My feet are killing me from all the running around I did trying to make sure all aspects of the gathering were given adequate photo coverage. I shot 500 photos. There were over 1000 in attendance and it was, as usual, well organized and worthwhile. Some of our students volunteered to help out at the convention, in order to attend for a reduced rate, and they also participated in "Super Games". Teams from various colleges compete against each other in different sport related activities. I'm pictured above with one of my colleagues and the students who represented Otterbein.

Satin Babies!

A second mating of SH Phazana and SH Cameroon has produced 4 apparently healthy kits born between 9:30 and 11:30 pm last night. Mother and babies are in the garage where it is substantially warmer than in the rabbitry. Phazana seems calm and is taking good care of them so far. I am cautiously optimistic.

A White Puffy Cloud...

...is what this pile of Samoyed down looks like. A friend of a friend sent me a bag of combings. It is so soft you wouldn't believe. My friend says the dog, owned by a retired Physical Education teacher, and aptly named Sporta, is always impeccably groomed. Anyway I am going to try my hand at spinning the fuzz but I have no doubt it will make a wonderful yarn; and as a bonus it doesn't have the doggy odor that clings to many other types of dog hair. There is an article in the latest issue of Spin Off magazine for those of you who may be interested in trying your hand spinning this unusual fiber.

The Christmas Tree Train

Andrew just finished putting the final touches on what I'm calling The Christmas Tree Train. He's been working on setting it up for a couple days. I have always wanted a train under the tree. This year we rearranged the living room slightly to make room for a layout underneath and he dug out his HO scale train from the mid 70's which hasn't seen the light of day for 20 years. There are many broken parts which will necessitate in a trip to the hobby store. Darn! While we are there I would like to add a couple cars. Maybe something with a holiday theme or something from the Soo line. Most of the rail cars in the current setup are Athearn and they are still made.