| Home Page | About Us | Travelogues |
Fulltime Decision | Articles | Favorite Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From Darrell's Chair |
States Visited | Travel Maps | Judy's Corner | ||
| Judy's Corner - 2009 Archives | Judy's Corner |
| Judy's Corner - 2007 Archives | Judy's Corner - 2008 Archives |
| This corner will be about many things including crafts, recipes, great places to visit, fun things I have done, and many more subjects. |
| Wednesday, March 23, 2010 Several people have been asking me "what is your new toy?" Most people have assumed it is a sewing machine and they are correct. However, it isn't just any sewing machine it is my first computerized sewing machine. Better known as the Janome Jem Platinum 760. It only weighs twelve pounds and is a 3/4 size machine. That is, it is 3/4 the size of a regular sewing machine. Because it is so light and fairly small, it is great for traveling, taking to a quilting class and for full time RVer's. Most sewing machines weigh at least twenty pounds. The machine has sixty different stitches plus five buttonhole stitches. It also has a built in needle threader. It sure helps not having to get the thread through the tiny hole in the needle each time you need to thread the machine. Another feature that I am learning to like is the start - stop button. It is used in place of the foot peddle that most sewing machines use. The machine does come with the electronic foot control, however, I have been learning to sew using the start - stop button. The more I use this feature, the more I like it. I have many projects that I would like to complete. Grandma thinks that each grandchild should have a twin size quilt made by her. Our sixth grandchild will be born this summer so it looks like I have lots of sewing to do. Then there are place mats, fabric stemware coasters, pillowcases, rags bags, rag quilts and other items to make. So, the question is: what do I make first? Monday, January 25, 2010 We have just completed a two week Habitat for Humanity build in Bunnell, Florida. This was our second Habitat for Humanity build. The first home we worked on was nearing completion and was ready for the flooring to be put down. This home was to have hardwood flooring in the bedrooms, living and dinning areas and hallway. The bathroom, laundry room and kitchen were to have ceramic tile. Those of us that were working on the hardwood flooring divided up into groups of three or four and each worked on one room. On our third day most of the group went on to work on home number two but a few of us stayed and finished the hardwood flooring. Then we too, moved onto the next home. At the second home I learned how to put ceramic tile down. This was a messy and back laboring job. First you have to measure and be sure that you begin in a straight line to lay the tile. Then if you are working with a pattern you need to be sure that you lay the tile in the correct direction or your pattern will look funny. However, before you put the tile down you have to spread a layer of "thin set" on the floor and then put the tile down. Next you have to insert the spacers. For those of you that don't know what spacers are, they are little rubber things that look like an X that maintain even spacing between the tiles. After putting the spacers in you need to be sure that the tiles have not moved before you move onto the next tile block. After all the tile is down, it needs to dry before you begin the grouting. Now grouting is one messy job and you have to be on your hands and knees to do all of this. Grouting definitely was not my "cup of tea" and I gladly let others do that. Once all the baseboard was in there was the caulking to do on both the top and bottom of the baseboard. I did lots of caulking around the baseboards. On another day our entire group put the sod down. Now that is a dirty and hard job. Three or four of us did the raking to clean the yard--rather clean the dirt up before the sod was put down. I did manage to put two or three blocks of sod down but that stuff was heavy, dirty and another back aching job. The third home that we worked on just had the concrete slab poured. With this home we were able to frame up the exterior walls, raise them and put the hurricane strapping on. Then we put the sheathing up, put the windows in and built the interior walls and put those in place. There were nineteen of us working on this two week building project. One couple was from Canada and the other seventeen of us were from nine different states. The group completed more than what the site supervisor for Habitat for Humanity had expected to accomplish. Everyone had building experience and worked well together. This was a great group of people to work with and to socialize with. When we left most everyone was talking about having a reunion and doing another build together next year. Monday, June 29, 2009 We just completed our first full week of working and it sure seems like it was longer than a week! We had been working prior to this but only two or three days a week except for our very first week in which we worked about seven days or so without a day off. Three days a week I work in the Honey Bear Store which is the children's retail store here at the campground. Honey Bear's Store is also where the guest rent all the boats, pedal carts and sign up for the tubing trips. Those three days are actually night shifts and for those of you that know me you know that I am not a night person at all. I could go to work better at 7am than I could work till 10pm. The other two days I work in GCE (games, crafts and events). Saturday at one of the crafts we had almost fifty children for that one craft. This coming week we will have close to 1,000 children in the campground so needless to say I will be very busy. A typical day in the games, crafts and events area begins with either build a buddy (children make their own stuffed animal) or we have color time which is where the guest buys a t-shirt, pillow case or backpack from Honey Bear's Store and then they come up to the rec hall to color it with fabric markers. Next there is a frog hunt. The children have nets and "hunt" for frogs in the frog pond. The frogs are measured and prizes are awarded. No, I won't handle those sweet little frogs! The kids catch the frogs and they have to hold them to get them measured. Meanwhile back in the rec hall there is preparation for the next craft. Some of the crafts for this week will be a patriotic necklace, patriotic bunny, and a patriotic pennant. During the week some of the other things that I do with the children are as follows: scavenger hunts, play volleyball ( I only play if there aren't enough kids and the children are little, sidewalk art, (drawing with chalk) marshmallow fling, (this is sort of playing catch with a marshmallow, plastic spoon and a paper bag). The list goes on and on of the different games and crafts that we do with the children. Every Saturday for the remainder of the season there will be a big event. This coming Saturday we will be having a family style picnic and family field games with relays, sack races, tug-of-war, water balloon toss and more. Oh, did I mention that there will be close to 2,200 people in the campground on that day? Just thinking of all that I will be doing this week is making me tired so I best sign off and go get some rest. Sunday, March 1, 2009 In just over six weeks we will begin traveling again. It will once again be our usual trek north to Tennessee, Michigan, New Hampshire and then to Lake George Escape in the Adirondacks of New York to work for the summer. This time however, we are going to take a little longer traveling time and stop along the way to "smell the roses". Our first stop after leaving Alabama will be Oak Mountain State Park just south of Birmingham, Alabama. We plan to spend two or three days there where we may do some hiking and kayaking or just take a leisurely walk about the campground to see the sights. Our next stop will be in Tennessee where we will stay at Cedars of Lebanon State Park. This park has a couple of hiking trails but is mostly just a quiet park that is close to our son and his family. This will be our time to see our children and two of our granddaughters. After Tennessee we will be going to Michigan where we will stay at my sister's place. They have a nice spot for us to park our rig. Our tentative plan is to be there about two weeks, however, we will be taking day trips to see our son in Grand Rapids and my bother who lives in Northern Michigan. As our Journey continues we will be stopping in Pennsylvania for a couple of nights and will possibly do some sight seeing or not. Then we will be stopping at a KOA in New York for a couple of nights. I know KOA's generally want a arm, leg, and the shirt off your back for a one night stay but we will be there when you pay for the first night and get the second night free. That means that it will still be on the high end of reasonable but it sounds like a nice park. The park is located near the Catskills and West Point where there are things to do and places we would like to see. Now at the next stop we will get to see our new grandson which will be our first grandson after four granddaughters! He is due to be born while we are in New Hampshire so we will get to see him when he is just a few hours old. That sure will make Grandma happy to hold her newborn grandson. Since our kids live all over the country we have never been close by at the time of the birth of our grandchildren. Our last stop for the summer will be Lake George Escape where we will be workamping. This will be our third year there. We will begin working on May 18th. We will both be working in the Fun and Games Department. I will be working in games, crafts and events and the Honey Bear store (children's store). Some of the things Darrell will be doing are guiding tubing trips, driving the shuttle, and renting canoes, kayaks and rowboats. I am including a recipe for Taco Casserole. This recipe is for those of you that want something quick and easy to make. Taco Casserole 1 pound hamburger 1 can diced tomatoes 1 can kidney beans (rinse and drain) 1 can black olives (drain) 1 package taco seasoning Cornmeal mix Cook hamburger (add onions if you like). Then add diced tomatoes, kidney beans, black olives and taco seasoning (do not add any water to mix). Mix and let simmer a few minutes. While the mixture is simmering mix up one recipe of cornmeal bread mix. Then put hamburger mix in casserole dish and cover it with the cornmeal bread mix. Bake at 350 for approximately 40 minutes. Saturday, February 7, 2009 If you remember, back in September I purchased some digital scrapbooking software while we were at the Gypsy Journal Rally in Celina, Ohio. Since then I have been learning the software which has added a whole new dimension to my scrapbooking hobby and I am really enjoying it. I still have and do some traditional scrap booking, however, with digital cameras and computers there is so much more you can do with your scrap booking by using digital software. Plus, for those of us that live in an RV both space and weight can become an issue so digital scrap booking is great as it doesn't take up much space or weight. I have a Storybook Creator Plus program and a Memory Manager program from Creative Memories that I use. My first project was to make a storybook about our four grand daughters. This is now a "coffee table" book for us. With these programs you can use both digital photos and you can also scan old photos that you had printed before digital cameras came into existence. When using the digital software you have many options of what to do with the finished project. One option is to make a soft or hardcover storybook. Other options are to put your completed pages on a DVD, email them to a friend or family member, make them into a slide show, or make a picture greeting card. In addition to the software there are many digital theme papers and embellishments that you can purchase along with some papers that you can download for free. The good thing about the digital paper is that you can adjust it to the size you want for your project. For my first project I used 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper, however I could have made it 5 by 7, 12 by 12, 8 by 8, or even customized it. There are lots of possibilities for page sizes, designs and covers. Cheryl Green is my Creative Memories consultant and has been great at answering all of my questions no matter how simple they may be. With my first story book I was emailing her on a regular basis with lots of questions. If you are interested in digital scrap booking be sure to check out Cheryl's website at www.mycmsite.com/cmcherylgreen. If you should decide to contact Cheryl be sure to let her know you found her website through this journal entry. Digital scrap booking really isn't much different than the traditional scrap booking except you do everything on the computer and you do not have to print your pictures before you begin scrap booking. |