ABC Wednesday--D

The quilt block I have chosen to represent the letter D in this round of ABC Wednesday is the Dogtooth     Violet.          The irregular shapes and many bias edges of the pieces make it a challenge to match all the points and get everything to square up, so my sample is a bit off. I think the tans  should be a bit more intense color and the outer pink lighter for a better impact.

If you were following my blocks back at the letter B, you may remember that I did not get the block sample made. the block was Block Island Puzzle, and I couldn't figure out what or where Block Island was. A commenter from the team--Cheryl--told me it was off the coast  of Rhode Island, and that sparked the memory of why it sounded so familiar. In 1635, my ancestor (not sure if a great great great great great great great grandfather or uncle) John Oldham was murdered on his boat off Block Island. He had had a rather checkered history, as he had been kicked out of Plymouth Colony on two occasions--one of them having to do with pulling a knife on Miles Standish. So, I guess you could say that Block Island Puzzle is a family block. So I had to make one:

ABC Wednesday Round Eight is here.

My middle name...

My mother's name was Jane.

My great grandmother's middle name was Jane.

There are other great greats on back through history whose names or middle names were Jane. Keziah Jane. Sarah Jane.

My daughter's middle name is Jane. Her daughter's middle name is Jane.

But apparently I have been Jan for forty of my years.

Social Security asked for documentation of name change so I dug up marriage certificate.

"I don't know why they asked for this, we already have you in here with your married name."

Further investigation.

Forty years ago when I changed my social security number from my maiden name to my married name, someone dropped the "e" in my middle name. Since the card just had my middle initial on it, I never knew.

Till today.

I did not abandon you Jane Christina, Lodusca Jane, Keziah Jane and all you other Janes.

I am Jane again.

ABC Wednesday--G is for...

G is for GUIDEBOOKS

These are the guidebooks we have purchased or checked out from the library in anticipation of travel this summer. (Plus one coffee table photologue.)

The Frommer's that we had for our Alaska trip last fall served us extremely well. We hope our new collection will give us the same quality of guidance.

Our trip will center on a guided hiking tour of the Scottish Highlands, and that is all we have booked so far. We are on the trail of the area where my father-in-law grew up, was raised by his Aunt Maggie. This picture of him as a youth was taken over 100 years ago.

He immigrated to the US sometime after 1906 and before 1920. (We have a postcard sent to him in Ross and Cromarty after the San Francisco earthquake and the incorporation papers for his business in San Francisco dated in 1920.)

We're ready and willing to entertain any guidance from UK residents or other travelers as to what we absolutely must do or see while we are there. There's no way that we will have enough time for everything.

This ABC entry is part of the sixth round of the meme, and my fifth. After all, the alphabet we always have with us. Visit the ABC link site here. and Denise Nesbitt, the founder of ABC Wednesday here.

This Way Thursday--This Way to an Education

When I first entered these portals some years ago, Gonzaga was not so well known as it is today. We did have a great basketball team in the Big Sky League, playing other schools of similar size from Oregon, Montana, Utah. Basketball has brought my alma mater into the national spotlight, but the solid education provided is still the main feature of the university.

In our time, the new statue of St. Ignatius and its fountain pool would have been in the traffic of Boone Avenue. The whole stretch of Boone through campus was closed to traffic and made into a bricked pedestrian area a number of years ago as the University grew.

I remember checking into a hotel on the ridge west of Spokane with my parents and looking down over the city for my first glimpse of the spires of St. Aloysius (fondly called St. Al's) the parish church which is an enduring symbol of Gonzaga University. As a terrified seventeen year old about to embark on the great adventure of college, I was not sure I didn't want to crawl back into the car and go home.

High school seniors are pondering college entrance forms and scholarship applications at this time of year--waiting and hoping for the thick envelope full of additional forms to fill out instead of the thin one with the single "I am sorry...." sheet. Hopes, studies, struggles, friends, independence...what an adventure looms ahead for them!

This Way Thursday--look here for other paths.

Mirror Mirror on the Lake

From my Dad's Album:

I kept the label from the scrapbook to make sure I put i in right side up--that is, if Dad had it right side up.

Weekend Reflections is hosted by James at Newtown Area Photo.