I had leave to use and spent Friday working with Kathryn to install the Roman shades and valences in the living room. I took a short break as I joined Eric for lunch at HPE.
Living Room Curtains
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Eric’s Beethoven Pizza Box Biography
Eric had to do a biography of a famous person and he chose Ludwig Von Beethoven. The biography had to be presented as a pizza with each slice of the pizza describing a different aspect of Beethoven’s life.
Ludwig Von Beethoven born December 16, 1770 in Bonn Germany; died March 26, 1827 5:45pm
- Childhood – His father was mean to him. His father was very strict about making him play music. His father had brutal teaching methods. At the age of 7 he appeared in public to play music. Before he was 12 he played as an organist in the King’s Court.
- Education – He had limited schooling, he only learned about music. His first teachers were his father and Christian Gottlob. He later studied with Haydn for one year, another famous composer.
- Adult Life – He was 17 when his mother died. After his mother died he had to take care of his two brothers and sister because his father was an alcoholic. His job was a music composer. When he was 31 he started to become deaf.
- Accomplishments #1 – Before he became famous as a composer he was famous as a pianist. He was the first composer to work for whoever he wanted to, not just one person. He did nine symphonies. Symphonies are complicated stories in music played by a full orchestra.
- Accomplishments #2 – He was a hard worker. Beethoven rose at day break, no matter what the season, and went to his work-table. Some of his most important works were composed during the last 10 years of his life.
- Influence – He composed musical combinations in a new way. People got to enjoy his music. Many babies grew up listing to Baby Beethoven.
- Fun Facts – No one knows the exact birth date but they do know when he was baptized in the church. He moved from home to home 52 times. He was 5’11”. He was moody, grumpy and didn’t mind how he looked. He died at age 57 alone in bed during a big thunderstorm.
His 3D clues included a stein (representing his birth in Germany), a composer’s wand, an old pencil for recording his compositions, a megaphone to assist his hearing, a song, a lego’s house indicating how often he moved, and a CD cover from Baby Beethoven.
Valentine’s Day – Because Love Isn’t Quite Complicated Enough As It Is
Open Winter
We have had an extremely open winter. Rain rather than snow. As of early February we have only had two snowfalls requiring our driveway to be plowed. We have shoveled / scraped snow off our deck maybe 6 times in total. The streams and ponds are full and covered with some ice – but not enough that I would walk on them.
It has not stayed cold enough that HP has been able to keep an ice skating rink in the park. Kathryn has gone XC skiing twice with the snow fall being washed away by rain immediately afterwards. Eric’s Wolverine Ski Club has only met once.
Schoharie Indians Basketball 1970 -71
SCS Junior Varsity Team picture from 1968, my freshman year in high school. #21 before his growth spurt.
I found some articles online that documented basketball games from my junior and senior years at Schoharie Central School (SCS).
Schoharie ‘5’ Outscores Rich’ville
SCHOHARIE _ Schoharie defeated Richmondville 60-49 in a Schoharie County League basketball opener Wednesday night. Steve Foland scored 23 points to lead Schoharie to its victory while Jim Muller added 12.
Andy Markely was the high scorer for Richmondville, with 23.
Schoharie jumped off to a 21-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter and held leads of 30-24 at halftime and 43-36 at the end of three quarters. Foland scored 12 of his 23 points in the first quarter. Schoharie now has a 1-1 overall record. Richmondville is 0-2 overall. Schoharie won the junior varsity game 81-22.
From page 105 of the December 1 1970 Schenectady Gazette report.
Schoharie vs Greenville game
Ken Kelly scored 27 points and pulled down 15 rebounds as he led Schoharie to its triumph over visiting Greenville. Schoharie held a narrow 17-15 lead after the first period but gradually built its advantage to 32-17 at halftime and 51-41 after three periods. Bill Baker, with 16 points, Jim Muller, with 15 points and 15 rebounds, and Steve Foland with 13 points also contributed to the Schoharie effort.
Len DiGlovani scored 19 points and Bob Organ added 14 for Greenville. The junior varsity score was Greenville 54, Schoharie 43.
From a February 6, 1971 The Schenectady Gazette (page 11) report.
Berne-Knox Racks Up Ninth Schoharie Win
Unbeaten Berne-Knox moved one game closer to a possible Schoharie County League basketball title last Thursday night as it notched its ninth victory in a close 56-51 decision over visiting Schoharie. Other league action saw second- place Sharon Springs post an easy 58-41 win over Greenville and Middleburgh even its league record at 5-5 with a 77-64 triumph over Duanesburgh.
Schoharie trailed at halftime, 31-28, but took a brief one-point lead in the third period on a Steve Foland field goal before Berne wrested the advantage back, 44-39, entering the final stanza. Schoharie tied the game at 46-all, but Dennis Gage led a balanced fourth-quarter scoring effort to clinch the win. Foland of Schoharie led the game with 20 points. In JV action, Berne-Knox won, 55-38, and Middleburgh gained a 73-59 win over Duanesburgh.
From The Altamont Enterprise (February 19, 1971) as they reported on a Thursday 11, 1971 game between Berne-Knox and Schoharie.
Odyssey Soccer
Eric has been attending soccer practices at the Odyssey Sports Club in Sherrill. While they field a team to compete in the U10 indoor league at Rising Stars he is just attending the 2x week practices to learn new ball handling skills. Below Eric, #16, is the 1st to practice a new skill demonstrated by coach Paul.
DIY Tyvek Bivy
I had a couple of pieces of 9′ Tyvek left over from the home remodeling that I wanted to experiment with for camping applications. I took a piece to use as a ground cloth in my megamid tipi when we winter camped on Peaked Mountain.
The piece had been left over when the patio doors were installed in the living room and it was just about the right size for making a bivy sack. I had washed it so it wasn’t super crinkly sounding. I roughly followed the directions given in the 2nd half of this video.
DIY $5 Tyvek Sleeping Bag Bivy
I set my largest sleeping pad down with my overstuffed Western Mountaineering Puma winter sleeping bag. I folded the Tyvek over everything and trimmed it to provide a generous fit. The two concerns I have of bivy sacks are:
- They can be confining and restrict moving around during the night. If someone is claustrophobic they may not enjoy sleeping in a bivy.
- Condensation from the occupant gets captured inside the bivy and can moisten the sleeping bag.
Hopefully, the generous cut will enable ventilation. My main goal for the bivy is to keep my sleeping bag out of the snow if I am winter camping with a floorless tipi or tarp.
In my research I heard of DIY Tyvek projects that sewed seams and glued them but the use of double-sided carpet tape seemed to make the most sense to me. It is was quick and relatively easy to apply once I figured out how to remove the film.
I taped the bottom of the bivy and half-way up the side to approximately waist height. I turned the bivy inside out so the Tyvek advertising was on the inside.
I applied two tabs of sticky backed velcro such that I could secure the top half, if desired. Two views of the he finished product.
Septic Tank
We only have a little bit of snow covering the grass on our lawn. The wet areas of the lawn (and our septic tank) are showing green grass.
I’m Open!
Sawyer, Trevor and Eric all call for the ball.
Ice Skating On The Driveway
With all the warm weather we have experienced a number of freeze and thaw actions that left a sizeable area of ice in our driveway. Thursday morning Kathryn and Eric were waiting for the school bus and sliding around. Thursday evening they cleared off a small patch and did a little ice skating.
