Hot days, Tiny Knitting, and Weeding

It’s been a very hot week. The temperatures have been higher than normal, and the humidity has been awful.

We finished week 3 of my graduate class. Everyone seems to be doing well. It’s really gone by fast, and hard to believe that next week is the last week.

We also had our knitting guild picnic this week, and I brought my watergate salad. There was also a yarn sale where members sell their own yarn, so I picked up 3 skeins of Miss Babs yarn from my friend Cathi for $5.

We also met the Old Hikers group for lunch at Sweet Catherine's. Jean brought a couple of old photos to share, and I showed everyone how I took a picture of them and could enlarge it on my phone to see the people's faces better. We had a huge crowd. I think it was the largest we've ever had. I saw some people I haven't seen in years. It was good to see Doris B. and Scott W. again! 

There was a cancellation at the physical therapist’s office, so Don got to go for physical therapy. I think he is finally starting to feel better. He felt well enough to mow the lawn on Friday.

On Saturday and Sunday morning, before it got hot, I was able to get out in the yard and do some weeding. Once my class ends, I will be able to get out every morning after walking at the center and hopefully get ahead of the weeds.

I’ve been making some tiny knit toys. I made a tiny cherry pie and a tiny chicken. This helped me try to decide what I wanted to make next for my big project. I’ve decided to make the Bonfire Tee with the yarn I just bought. 

Original photos by Pat Hensley

First Week of July

It was a busy week and very hot too.

On Monday (June 30), my grad class, EDEX 962/963, began. We met on Zoom, and we prepared for our first day with students on July 1.

Summer Learning Place 2025 started on July 1. We have the children Monday through Thursday for the next four weeks. This week, the children started on Tuesday. The teachers (my students) assessed them in reading, math, writing, and behavior.

Meanwhile, hubby is still having severe back pain. We walked for an hour on Monday and Tuesday, but by Wednesday, he was in excruciating pain. On Wednesday afternoon, he had physical therapy, but I’m not sure if it helped because on Thursday and Friday, he was really hurting. On Thursday, he spent most of the day in bed

Every day, I worked a little in the kitchen. I’m slowly emptying bags and boxes. Everything has to be washed before it can be put away.

Thursday evening was our town’s fireworks festival. My friend Sheila came over at 8:30 pm and then at 9:30 pm, we sat in the front yard and watched the fireworks. Don stayed in bed. They lasted about 15 minutes. The location was moved this year, and instead of shooting them from Woodside Park, they moved it to PD Terry Park. So, we sat in the front yard and faced towards the park and we had a clear view of all the fireworks.

On the 4th of July, we got up early and did our grocery shopping. We went at 8 am and there were no crowds or traffic. When we got home, I finished knitting my shawl and washed and blocked it. For lunch, we walked to Bucky’s BBQ and binge-watched Mission: Impossible Movies.

O Beautiful Forever Stamps: Celebrating America's Beauty

Have you ever looked at a stamp and wondered about the picture on it? The O Beautiful Forever Stamps (U.S. #5298, 2018 50¢ O Beautiful) are special stamps that show some of the most beautiful places in America. How did these stamps come to be and why they are important?

The idea for the O Beautiful Forever Stamps came from a famous song called "America the Beautiful." This song, written by Katharine Lee Bates in 1893, and the lyrics talk about the amazing natural beauty of the United States. The United States Postal Service wanted to make stamps that celebrated these beautiful places mentioned in the song.

Making these stamps was a big project. The USPS worked with photographers and artists to find the best pictures of American landscapes. They wanted to show different types of scenery from all over the country. Here are the ten places they chose for the stamps:

1. Baldwin Peninsula in Kotzebue, Alaska
2. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Arizona and Utah
3. Yosemite National Park in California
4. Wheat fields in Palouse, Washington
5. Fire Island National Seashore in New York
6. Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii
7. Grand Tetons in Wyoming
8. Shenandoah National Park in Virginia
9. Mount Rainier in Washington
10. The Grand Canyon in Arizona

Each of these places is very special and shows the beauty of America in a different way.

The O Beautiful Forever Stamps were introduced to the public on July 4, 2018, on America's Independence Day. The ceremony to show the stamps was held in Colorado Springs, a place with its own beautiful scenery that inspired the song "America the Beautiful."

Katharine Lee Bates was a 33-year-old English professor from Wellesley College. In 1893, she was inspired by the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the wheat fields of the Great Plains, and, most of all, Pikes Peak and decided to write a poem about the unrivaled beauty of her country. The poem was published two years later and eventually, it was set to music.

People loved the stamps! They thought the pictures were beautiful and enjoyed seeing America's landscapes in this special way. The stamps became very popular with people who collect stamps and those who love nature.

The O Beautiful Forever Stamps do more than just help send letters. They show the world how beautiful America is. Every time someone uses one of these stamps, it shares a little piece of America’s beauty. These stamps also remind us to take care of these natural places. They help us appreciate and protect our environment so that future generations can enjoy it too. Also, the stamps inspire people to learn more about these beautiful places. Someone may see a stamp with Yosemite National Park and decide they want to visit it one day. The stamps help us feel proud of our country and its natural wonders.

The O Beautiful Forever Stamps are not just pieces of paper. They are little works of art that celebrate the incredible beauty of America. From mountains to beaches, and from parks to canyons, these stamps show us the wonderful places that make our country special. Next time you see one of these stamps, remember the amazing landscapes they represent and the pride they bring to our nation.

References:
https://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2018/pr18_050.htm
https://www.mysticstamp.com/5298-2018-first-class-forever-stamp-o-beautiful/