Mystery quilt with Bonnie Hunter 2022---Chilhowie quilt mystery

 Another great start with Bonnie, once again, offering and designing a new quilt mystery for this year 2022.  I have collected my fabric in her colorways and finished with part 1 and 2.  The colors are beautiful!

I didn't have quite enough purple and orange, or so I thought.  I found a stack of orange, of course, after purchasing more from my local quilt shop.  Ehh, it's okay.  I will have more variety!  Actually, I haven't made any quilt purchases for about 6 months, so this is my time to handle and caress the new fabric selections.

I'll post my progress once I run down stairs to get my I-pad.  I am in the middle of cutting the pieces for last week's clue.  Me behind?  Nah...I'm taking my time this year.  I have not been as vigilant with completing my Christmas gifts for this year.  

I have been taking up needlework, both crocheting and knitting, and loving it.  Progress is a little slow, but I enjoy sitting and doing the needlework for the day.  I usually don't finish large items such as afghans, but this year, I found Mikey.  I have been participating in his crochet-along and have finished 3 afghans this year!  That is an accomplishment for me!  I've been so wrapped up with my needlework!  I feel so accomplished!  I purchased a circular knitting machine, a 48 needle Sentro.  I've made a couple of beanies.  Learning curve, well?  I am finding out that not all yarns love the Sentro.  I have put this down for the time being as I need to concentrate more on getting my Christmas finished....that is, cut out and sewn!  

What has been happening since last year?

Major changes for me and my husband.  I've accepted a teaching job at G Central High School teaching culinary.  Our district has stated a new thing (most schools across have a similar form) of pathways.  I and another pathway teacher have started teaching what we know best and boy, it has been a rough ride.  I am waiting for the dream kitchens....I was promised we would have our commercial kitchens by November.  Well, November has come and gone...we have one stove/oven, which we share amongst 12 students in one class period.  I can't complain about the students, they want to learn about the culinary field.  They are doing such a great job even with the lack of pots and pans, cook tops and ovens.  We take turns sharing the oven and we use the stove with gas cylinders (Prostart requirement).  I've had to improvise may times to create the cooking experiences needed for competition.  I am still learning the ropes when it comes to requesting for equipment and food items....our purchase order system is rather slow.

I love teaching and it makes it worth all the effort and trials when my students are shining during special events.  We have made and served pancakes to our veterans back in November; we served during our Open House extravaganza this month.  Parents were beaming as they watched their child serve and perform as a culinary team. 

My colleague has had to do the same...he has brought in his personal tools to teach students the world of wood construction and they had been pretty successful.  They have built and constructed 3 very well built dog houses with a shingled roof!  At the of the semester, his crew was working outside constructing the storage shed needed to store their lumber.  

My husband switched from teaching math to taking over as a school dean.  He loves it!  I knew he would; he does great with decision making and also working with the students.  He makes his rounds to observe teachers working at their craft.  He has to evaluate and provide suggestions when needed.  He has more duties and has had to stay a bit longer on several evenings, but he loves it. Besides working as a dean, he is working on his administration license and master's degree.  I am so proud of him!