Finish it February: Stained Glass

This February I've been trying to get projects finished. Sometimes they get put off to the side and they sit for a while. Sometimes life gets in the way, other times you get bored. This project got shut down by the Covid 19 lockdown. I was part way through a class when the mandate came down so it sat. And without the class and the instructor, I didn't get back to it. I tried to finish it last winter, but clearly I didn't quite make that deadline. This year I tried again.

My only issue was, I had left it out in the shop so long, one of the kids at school cracked a piece of the glass. Luckily a windshield repair kit did a really nice job and I didn't have to take it apart to replace the piece. (I still notice the crack, but the textured glass makes it hard to see if you're not looking for it.) In the last week I've managed to get it finished, cemented, polished, and hung.

I don't know if I will ever become a serious stained glass artist, but I'm really happy with how it looks in my sewing room window.

One project down, 2,437 more to go...

Well $hit

Lovely. I've felt poor all day and now I know why. Guess I'm not going to school this week; time to get started on some sub plans...

Busy

I am often asked what people on Mackinac do to keep busy during the winter. If you went around town and asked 20 different people you might get 20 different answers, but most people would agree on one thing. On Mackinac you have to entertain yourself - or better yet, organize something you'd like to do and invite people to join you.

We are lucky enough to have a very active Recreation Department, who are always organizing activities for both adults and kids. Pre-Covid I signed up for a stained glass making class. Unfortunately, the class was shut down when Covid hit, and my project has been languishing on a shelf for the past three years. Last week I decided enough was enough - I dug out the glass making supplies and set out to finish my piece. I'm shooting to have it done by March first. Wish me luck!

On the Road

Due to Covid, my son was unable to take Driver's Training last summer, so this year both kids have taken the class together. Recently, they both passed their written test and after their last drive with the instructor they are now able to obtain a Level One Michigan Driver's License. 

Michigan is serious when it comes to teen driving. There are three levels of teen driver's licenses:

• Level 1: Learner’s License - essentially what use to called a Learner's Permit - driving with parents (or designated licensed adult) only
• Level 2 Intermediate License – No driving after 10 PM (unless with a parent) except for a few allowable exceptions, only one passenger who is under 21, again with a few allowable exceptions, and no cell phone use except for safety issues
• Level 3: Full License – Unrestricted

To move from one level to the next there are time limits and driving requirements. For the kids to move from their Level 1 to their Level 2 takes a minimum of three months and 50 hours of logged driving time - 10 of which have to be at night.

At this point, we're not sure just how we are going to get those night hours. It's not like we are on the mainland, after dark, all that often. We've been joking with the kids that when we're visiting Grandma at Christmas we're going to have to go out driving every evening.

Jackpot

My youngest child and I were in St. Ignace the other day to get their Covid-19 vaccination. We happened to have a few minutes to kill before catching the ferry home, so we popped into the local thrift shop for a quick peek. Nestled in with the rubber stamps I found these beautiful made-in-West-Germany cookie molds. Happy happy joy joy! 

The cookie molds are typically used to make traditional German springerle cookies, like the ones pictured above (from 2018.) To buy the molds new is quite expensive, so you can imagine my joy at finding the whole lot for $5.00!

Downward Facing Pig?

Not much is cuter than a little piggy doing downward facing dog. Every time I see that tail, I giggle...

Animal Crossing Birthday

My youngest child turned 15 this spring and asked for an Animal Crossing themed birthday party. For those of you without kids, Animal Crossing is a video game. Players take on the role of a human who lives on an island inhabited by different anthropomorphic animals. Players create and build a village, interact with villagers, collect fossils, fish, and generally live out their happy lives in the village. Interestingly, Animal Crossing simulates the passage of time and players move through the different seasons in real time, or so my kids tell me.

For me the best part of this birthday was copying the cake from the game. (If you play AC on your birthday, the villagers throw a party for you - complete with a cake.) The only issue was - my kiddo is not a strawberry fan, so using real fruit on the top was not going to make them happy. Once again, my 3D printer came to the rescue.

I found a strawberry on Thingiverse, edited it in Tinkercad (changing it from solid shape into a cavity within a solid shape which I then cut in half) and printed out a strawberry mold. From there I just dyed some marzipan red and and made my own non-fruit strawberries. It sounds like a whole lot more work than it actually was.

At first glance, they look amazingly real. In the end all that mattered was the newly-turned 15 year-old was happy with it. Sadly, Grandma and Grandpa didn't get to have any because Grandma tested positive for Covid a few days before and had to quarantine! Thankfully, she'd been vaccinated and her only symptom was a runny nose.

Happy birthday K.

I hope you know how much we love you

and how proud we are of you.

Yoga at School

The teachers at the Mackinac Island Public School are incredibly lucky. Not only do we live and work in an amazing community, and have fabulous students, but we also have incredible support. The Mackinac Island Community Foundation is one of the organizations that provides that support.

This fall I made a grant request to MICF to start a yoga program with the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students at the school. In December we were  given the funds to purchase a mat, blocks, a strap, a blanket and a carrying case for each student. Since the start of the second semester, the students, the 3rd-4th grade teacher and I have practiced yoga two to three times each week. We're hopeful that by starting this program with elementary students we can help them gain some of the benefits of yoga, especially an increase in their abilities to manage stress as they get older and move up to high school. One third grader told me last week, "I always feel good after yoga." Comments like that make it all worth while...

Even More

Every day I am seeing more signs of spring. Believe it or not, on this day it wasn't the tourists I noticed first- it was the trash can. Those trash cans are only out during the season, so their reappearance around town means spring is here. Of course the big group of tourists walking around was a big clue, too.

The Wheels on the Bus

We bought a new bus! We use to own half of a bus - one we shared with another district, but it had their name on the side. This is our first ever bus with our name on it! If you ever see us driving down the road, be sure to wave hello!

First Attempt

I have always liked the look of cookies iced with flow icing, but I've never tried it. Until now. My youngest child decided they wanted an Animal Crossing themed birthday party this year, so it seemed a perfect time to try. 

I 3D printed an Animal Crossing cookie cutter and got to work. I will never again complain about how much these cookies cost! Not only are mine marginal at best, but decorating them took forever - and I only flooded one color! I shudder to think about how long it took to make cookies like these. 

K loved them, but due to Covid-19, we had to enjoy them at home and pre-packaged doughnut holes went into to school to celebrate. Despite the gigantic mess in the kitchen (and trust me, there was green icing everywhere) it was fun to give this new technique a try.

Monday Morning

Foggy mornings on Mackinac are a sure sign of spring. Luckily the boats are running, because if we had to fly this morning, we would have missed our appointment.

I Heart Kid Art

As I'm sure you know, the Mackinac Island Public School is small. Our entire K-12 school is about 60 kids, half of which are in the "upper end" (7th - 12th grades.) Amusingly, my two kids are the only two taking high school art this semester. I love walking by the teacher's hallway displays and trying to decide which one of my children created each piece. 

This week is was block prints; my youngest made the character in black while my son carved and printed the rose in blue. The art teacher knows me well enough that she had each of them print a second one for me to hang on my art wall at home.

It's Happening Again

Back in the beginning of the Covid lockdown, I started seeing seeing faces and it's happening again. Every time I walk past the windowsill in my classroom, I swear this cactus wants me to stop for a quick chat. And then I start to wonder - just what is she smiling about? And then I remember - today is the last day of school before spring break! No wonder she's smiling.

In Transit

Last week a letter arrived for me. A letter that left New York on January 14th. As you can see, it arrived at the Mackinac Island Post Office on March 17th.  It took this lovely little thank you note 62 days to travel 612 miles. Really, 62 days? According to the USPS website, first class mail should arrived within five days. Our car insurance company has actually instructed customers not to send payments through the USPS due to issues like this. 

Dress Like "A Million Bucks"

For March is Reading Month, this year the Mackinac Island Public School is celebrating March is Math Month by reading a different math book every day.  Earlier this week we read David M Schwartz's If You Made a Million.

The kids had a great time interpreting "Dress Like a Million Bucks" day. I thought about my Grandma, who I remembered always looked like a million bucks. I paid homage to her by wearing one of her beaded jackets and her charm necklace*. Oh yes, and I gave all the kids $100 bills with my face on them. Too fun.

My grandma had a huge charm bracelet, full of charms my grandfather had given her over their years together. At some point her collection became too big for a bracelet and was redone as a necklace. (She had so many charms, some of them still wouldn't fit.) Each charm has a story behind it; where it came from or what was commemorated by it. Before she died, I asked my grandma to write down the "story" of each charm - and I'm so glad I did. 

Labor of Love

I packed this beauty up a few weeks ago and sent it back to its rightful owner. Years ago I my friend's husband snuck this unfinished quilt out of storage and secretly sent it to me. My plan was to finish the quilting for my friend, who as a busy Anglican pastor, just didn't have time to hand quilt it. Apparently, neither did I...

So it sat. And sat. And sat. For ten years every time I looked on the shelf in my swing room and saw the box,  I felt pangs of guilt.  Well, during lockdown I realized I did, in fact, have the time to quilt it, so I got to work. I worked all through the spring, summer and fall of 2020 - finally finishing the binding right after New Year's.

Saying good-bye as I packed it into a box bound for Tuxedo, New York, was harder than I thought it would be. I hope Rick enjoys having it finished as much as I  enjoyed quilting it.  

Gone

We had an ice bridge for about a week this year. (This is not a photo from this year, as I wasn't willing to venture out on it - I just didn't feel it was safe enough. This picture back is from 2008. Another way you can tell it's an old photo - the driver isn't wearing a helmet.)

The temps in the high 30s (about 3-4 degrees C) caused the ice to quickly deteriorate. On Thursday morning (the 25th) a commuter actually went through the ice on his morning trip to the Island. Luckily he was able to get out of the water, but he did lose his snowmobile. By Thursday afternoon the United States Coast Guard had given 72 hours notice that they intended to break up the ice. It is nice and windy tonight, so hopefully that will help get the ice blown out of the harbors and the boats can start running again.

Tourists

 

When you see a lineup of fancy snowmobiles like these at the Mustang, it can only mean one thing - tourists are crossing the ice. We've had a couple of weeks of below-zero temperatures, so the Straits have frozen over.  We'll see what happens as Mother Nature is supposed to bring us temps in the mid 30s next week.

Teenager

Hey there. A few days ago my little blog became a teenager. Yup, The Quilted Turtle turned 13 on February 10th. 13 years, 1,026 posts, and more pictures than I can count. Not to mention all the wonderful comments I've received and friends I've made...

This  tiny turtle my son caught back in 2017 seemed like a perfect picture to celebrate today.