A Vet Quilts?

Well, I am not a vet yet but I am starting the application process.  I have one application fits most and every school has their own supplemental so it is a lot to fill out.  I have until October though.  While I gradually fill the applications out I have my usual summer job at Hannaford keeping me busy as well as spending time at Plymouth Animal Hospital.  Not only do I see what goes on in surgeries and office visits but I also go out in the truck on the farm calls.  It is a lot of fun and I look forward to veterinary school and learning even more about the workings of a veterinarian.  Today I saw a spay (I feel like I could do one I see so many), a bandage change on a large dog that had had surgery to correct its patella, an ultrasound on a large dog, vaccinations for four horses and a mule, trying to help a goat give birth (but having to put her down because it just wasn't going to happen), ultrasound on two horses, and taking a look at a filly that was just a few days old.  As you can see I get a lot out of a day and am enjoying every bit of it just like I did last summer and the summer before.

In my spare time between work and the animal hospital I do other things like keep up with quilting.  Recently I did this small piece (5" x 7") for Ashley and Stephen (I worked with them during Mayterm) who are getting married this Saturday.  Both of them had gone to Ecuador so I took a picture that they had taken and imagined it during a sunrise.  This is the final product that I stuck in a picture frame for them to decorate their living space with.

The Original Photo

The Re-imagined Ecuador Sunrise

I have another project in the works.  I have had the idea for this newer project for at least the past two years and am just now getting around to starting (and hopefully finishing) this summer.  I think it has helped that every time I go to the orthodontist I stop by a quilt shop and get some sale fabrics specifically for this project.  If you want to know what this project is you'll just have to wait until I have some progress to show. I will say this the Ecuador Sunrise piece gave me a little practice for part of this project I have in mind. Until then TTFN.

Research and Summer

Well it's been a while.  I just got home from Houghton on Friday and have already been back to work.

Mayterm Research
I spent an extra month in Houghton doing research with Dr. Pelletier and some other students during Mayterm.  Jon and I started out doing research on adult stem cells.  Adult stem cells are not the stem cells that have controversial debates surrounding them but are the stem cells most people wish scientists would use.  Dr. Pelletier had worked with Corning during the spring semester while on sabbatical to try and get these stem cells to differentiate on a specialty surface.  Normally to get stem cells to differentiate you have to grow them in the growth media for the type of cell you want.  What we were trying to do was use a stem cell growth media while the surface that the cells adhered to decided what kind of cell they would become.  However, Corning did not send the supplies we needed until the very last week of Mayterm so during the third week of Mayterm I ended up switching research projects.  Jon however, stayed on the stem cell project as he is continuing the research with the summer research institute.

The last two weeks of Mayterm I spent with Ashley and Stephen doing a genetic study with the Amish in the area.  This was an interesting project and I was able to get to know some of the Amish in the area and learn about their ways.  Propionic acidemia (PA) is a inherited recessive metabolic disorder.  It is caused by an enzyme (propionyl-CoA carboxylase) not working properly and can lead to a build up of propionic acid in the brain and heart.  This can cause seizures and serious heart problems.  In the state of NY newborn screening for PA did happen until 10 years ago.  This means that there can be people with PA who don't know they have it.  It was our hope that we would be able to identify some individuals who did not know they had PA.  We spent lots of hours in the lab after we had DNA samples donated but it was still a good time.

Summer
I am now home working at Hannaford like I have every summer.  I will also end up going to the animal hospital whenever I can.  I have many little projects that I want to do this summer.  Some even include quilting so keep an eye out for what is going on here this summer.

Caramel Corn and Quilts

Every year around Christmas my family makes caramel corn to eat and give away to family and friends.  Starting last year my dad made some batches with me right next to him and then he told me I knew how to make it so I could make all the caramel corn from now on.  Well I have done just that this year.  Except for the few batches he made for Zan's DECA club (which the club requested for their bake sale) I have made seven batches and counting.

I continued caramel corn making even here at college.  I had originally made a couple batches to bring back with me from Thanksgiving break.  I ended up studying at Gillette's (largest girl's dorm) front desk with a container of caramel corn out and people kept trying it.  A couple of the RA's tried it and looked at each other saying that this would be something they could give their girls and could they have the recipe.  I said yes and even volunteered to help them make it.  I had a great time showing four ladies how to make caramel corn.  Overall we made 3 batches.

This Saturday I was particularly busy not only with making two more batches of caramel corn by having a caramel corn making party with my friends but also with making three quilted ornaments.  The idea first came because my floor was doing secret santa and I didn't know what to get my person.  The next logical idea was of course, well I will just have to make one of those quilted ornaments I did with my mom.  The beginning of  the week we were back from break realized if I made one I could just as easily make two because I thought my organic chemistry friend should get one too.  Then near the end of the week as I started being one of many secret santas for my RA I thought two is easily three, I can make another one for my RA.  So Saturday morning I spent creating the following ornaments and the afternoon I spent finishing them up as I made caramel corn.

This one I made for my organic chemistry friend who I have spent many hours doing all sorts of organic work with and have gotten to know really well.  I call this one Mountain Snow.  I usually sew around the edges with a sewing machine but as I did not have one I had to make do with hand sewing all along the edges.  For the stars I relearned how to do a French knot which I had done in my African quilt.

This is the one I made as my secret santa gift.  It is just simply Snowman.  Unfortunately I did not have many shades of white to work with so the snowman blends in a little to the snow drifts.

For above ornaments they were presented to the recipients in a different way then just plain wrapping them.  This is the image of one side of the paper container I created and then placed the ornaments in.  I then placed the Cracker Jacks prize wrapped inside a container of the caramel corn I had just made that day.  Of course I had to include a note to them to let them know that this caramel corn was similar to Cracker Jacks because there was a prize inside.  Needless to say the caramel corn doesn't usually last long and it wasn't long before I was informed that they loved their gifts.

This last one I made for my RA.  It is Christmas Tree.  Although she didn't officially have a secret santa, (because she matched us all up) she managed to have three or four within the course of the week.  For my part I waited until she left her room and then with the help of a someone on my floor plastered her door with about nine Calvin and Hobbes winter/Christmas comics (her room is right across from mine).  I then got asked by her whether I knew who had done it (my door is almost always open) and all I said was a friend and I had spent a while reading them.  The next day I sent her a typed note with another comic on the back.  At the gift giving party I wrapped this up for her.  She had given everyone two guesses for their secret santa so after she guessed twice I let her know that I had been behind the comics and this ornament.  It is currently hanging up with the comics on her door.

I have enjoyed sharing the knowledge of making caramel corn with people on campus as well as the actual caramel corn.  I have also enjoyed being crafty in more ways than one this week as I snuck around putting up things for my secret santa person and making the ornaments.  This week I have finals but I go home for Christmas Tuesday and take my last final from home.  Maybe I will get more crafty while home. TTFN.

Quilted Creations

Well it has been a long time since I have posted.  As the school year wraps up and only a few days of finals are left I find myself sitting in a triple that is almost empty.  This past semester one of my roommates spent the semester in Tanzania with the Houghton in Tanzania program.  My other roommate left this morning.  So with neither of them here I find I have a triple to myself which is both a nice thing but also an odd thing.

Since the end of last semester I have been busy creating quilted things.  I find that mainly I have been working on small pieces that do not take too long to make.  I have also been turning photos into quilt pieces.  The following pieces are all 4 inches by 6 inches.  All except the first one are based on photos.  Overall these take anywhere from 2 - 6 hours or more to make depending on how detailed I feel like being as well as how creative.  The hardest part is deciding what colors to use and how to design the photo from fabric.  Once that is done and I have the idea in mind it is only a matter of getting the fabrics in the right place.  All of them have been gifts.

This is a piece I based of an abstract work of my mom's that she has only partially finished.  It was a gift to my best friend who is getting married this summer.

Castle on a Cliff

This is based off a picture from one of my friends who went to London.  I ended up working with a limited amount of grays so it didn't end up quite as I intended.  I find that both my mom and I very rarely use browns or grays so we tend not to have many of either.

The actual picture I based it off of.

Mountain View

This was for a friend who loves the mountains and lives in them.

The actual mountain view.

The Boathouse

This was made for a friend who loves Maine summers and lakes.

The actual boathouse.

The Way out of the Killing Fields

This was for a friend who loves Cambodia and went there.  Since then he has a soft spot for Cambodia and would love to go back on a missions trip.

The actual picture.

The Wintry Woods

This was made for a friend who loves peaceful settings and the woods in winter are that.

Wintry woods in reality.

The View from Stari Most

This is a 16th century Ottoman bridge in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.  I along with my EMW friends visited this last May.  I made this for a friends who appreciated the outdoors and enjoys spending lots of time outside.

The actual picture of the place I have been.

As you can see I have been very busy and my summer will be quite busy although maybe not in a quilting sense.  I have two weddings to go to this summer, I am working at Hannaford, and I will be at the Plymouth Animal Hospital to observe and gain experience.  I am also going to try and get a trip into Maine to visit my roommate who was in Tanzania.  I hope to do a better job of keeping things up-to-date on here this summer.

TTFN

October Break

Today begins my October Break. I am one of a few or, as some of us are saying, one of the cool people who has stayed on campus for the break. It is a few day of quiet relaxation. I know of only one person on my floor who is here for the break and may have heard sounds of another person but I do not know. Last night I was the only one in my triple. I turned out the lights and was climbing into bed when I heard the crinkle of paper behind my back. I reached behind me and used my iPod as a light source. I had thought that maybe Bethany or I had somehow lost a piece of homework in my bed and I was just now finding out but it wasn't. Instead it was a lovely note from my wonderful roommates :)

When I awoke this morning there was considerably more sun than there is now and there is expected to be for the rest of the break. In fact I woke up thinking the tree out the window was on fire. The light had hit the tree just right to make the orange and red colors of the leaves appear like fire. It was really neat to see.

Being alone in the triple doesn't have the same empty feeling to it that it did when I came a week before school started and there wasn't much in it but there is still a sense of something missing. Must be due to all the time I spend with my roommates. Not much planned for break but I will think of something to do. I know at some point Stephen, Ben, and I will play Carcassonne but that is all I know for certain that I will do this break.

Time to get back to thinking of things to do. TTFN.

Transition to Campus Life

Well, I am now back at Houghton College.

Saturday my mom and I drove from Plymouth to Houghton so I could move in the next day. Even though my room was probably unlocked and we could have moved in when we got to Houghton I think the drive took too much out of us. Because I knew this would happen and my uncle's house is in chaos with the move to the unfinished house (as far as I know there is one working toilet, maybe a shower and that is all their running water) we stayed at a friend of mine's that lives in town. After bringing all my stuff back up to the fourth floor of Gillette (without the use of an elevator) my mom headed back home. She encountered heavy rain and so stayed in Johnstown and then made it back the next day.

We also helped move in Alice to the fourth floor but to a different section. Then I helped Laura move in to Alice's room. We are all here for orientation team training which is where we get to move the freshmen in and help them out. Laura and I are also here for FYI training where we will be part of small groups made of freshmen.

So far it has been fun. I have been able to catch up with the friends who are here and I wait for those who aren't here. It is also fun to see the different waves of people move in for the various programs they will be a part of. For O-Team training we have done much chatting and game playing and seems like little actual work. We have breakfast in Java before we start, lunch in the dining hall, and dinner family style where ever we are told. Training only takes the mornings so the afternoons are free.

It should be a fun and exciting year with Bethany back from London, getting to know all the freshmen, and taking genetics, physics, early & modern philosophy, and modern & contemporary art history.

I know I have had a lot of fun seeing my friends as they arrive on campus. Just this evening we had story time on second new. A couple RA's worked on their floor decorations while we chatted and then some of us helped them with the decorations so they can be done by tomorrow. It is really nice to see my college friends again and I look forward to seeing even more as they return to campus.

TTFN.

Gone for a While, Home for a Little

Well I've been back home for a couple of weeks now.

The last week that I spent in Lowville I saw a few new things. The first thing was an ear crop. Then we did exploratory surgery on the dog that wouldn't eat. The results were we found a tumor on the stomach walls and surgery would be too invasive to remove it. The dog was released to her owners and allowed to eat whatever she would. She probably only has a few months to live. I also held 11 squirming newborn puppies while they had their tails docked and their dewclaws removed. Then another anal gland surgery. After that we had a splenectomy where the spleen was removed because of cancer. There were some massive clots in the abdomen that I believe were caused by the cancer on the spleen. Although the spleen was removed I was told that the dog probably only had a couple months as the type of cancer it had is very aggressive. I also saw a vulvoplasty. This is where excess skin is removed so the the vulva is no longer recessed. Recessed vulva are many times the cause of recurrent urinary tract infections and vulvoplasty help correct this. After seeing all this I had a few days of relaxation at the lake before Uncle Chuck and I went to my home and a family reunion.

This is a view of Chase Lake from the Allen dock.

This is the lake house as you look from the lake.

This is one of Uncle Chuck's goldens that I spent some time with. She is a sweet dog. This one is Piper and the one who was always wanting to be around people.

When I came home I came home in time to start the painting of the house. Quite the amount of painting to be done but we are almost there.

This is my room and the first coat is now done. This was taken before I finished the first coat.

Cutting in the ceiling was hard so I let Daddy do most of it. When he wasn't painting at the same time as me I did a fairly good job at it. My room is green grapes, the living room/hall is butter, the kitchen/dining room is a green similar to green grapes, the bathroom is pale sea foam, Alex's room is aquamarine, and the master bedroom is Jamaican aqua. The house is becoming quite colorful and will be quite colorful by next Friday.

I leave for school Saturday the 21st and will start classes on the 30th.