Sunday, March 13, 2011

A Beautiful Spring Campus

Today we took our son back to college to finish out his spring semester.  He was out a week for Spring Break, but most of that time, he was gone.  He went to Tennessee and then to the beach.  Then he was home for two and a half days and back to school.  I think he had a great week, and even though he was home only briefly, it was really good to spend some time with him.

I was hoping for good weather today (which we did get, by the way) so that we could take some pictures around his campus, because it really is pretty this time of the year.  I am learning to use our "older" digital camera, so I had been out last week taking some pictures of some local gardens.  But my hubby brought along his new camera today, so these are pictures he took of the campus.  He basically just took pictures of one section of campus, because that was all we had time for today.  I'll have to get some more another day.

When our son was just a baby, we lived within walking distance of this school.  My husband worked all day in a nearby town, commuted home, and then went to class in the evenings for almost four years to earn his MBA.  So even though we are no longer living nearby, it seems like we have come full circle since our son is now an undergraduate here.  The school has grown quite a bit these past years, but it still retains its original charm and character.  Hope you enjoy these pictures.  You can click on any of the pics to enlarge and see a lot more detail.

The first two pictures are the back side of their formal auditorium, where musical concerts are performed and may be attended by the public.  It is one of the older buildings on campus, and was beautifully renovated a few years ago.  I'll show some pictures of the inside of this auditorium in a future post.


I  love the raised medallion and garland shown here!  Many of the older buildings on the campus have these.



A bed of daffodils in front of Foust Hall.



Our four-legged family member.  Any guesses as to the breed?  Believe it or not, MacDuff is a "wee" Scottish Terrier, or Scottish Terrorist, as my husband likes to say.  At the moment, he doesn't have his usual Scottie hair cut.  His coat got extremely matted, and  the groomer had no choice but to cut all his hair short and then let it grow back.  We have gotten used to it now, and we think it's kinda cute.  Of course, we're not very objective you know.  Our previous Scottie was black, but MacDuff's color is known as wheaten, one of the three acceptable colors for Scottish Terriers, although black is the color we see most often.  MacDuff enjoyed  taking his brother back to school and exploring the campus afterwards.


Two side views of Aycock Auditorium.



A pretty daffodil bed and bird bath.


"Himself" does not like having his picture made; there are too many things to see and smell to be bothered with" photo ops".


I like the contrast of the dark pink buds against the blue sky.



This is the Julius I. Foust Building, designed 1891-1892.  It's probably the most unique and most recognized building on the campus with its beautiful, old red brick and its Victorian architecture.



Foust Hall again with the state and national flags flying proudly in the sky.


This is one of the new clock towers.  Its bells ring the Westminster chimes every quarter hour, and they make a wonderful sound floating through the air on a clear day.



This appears to be an early blooming azalea.


A beautiful tulip magnolia beside Foust Hall.



Here we are facing down College Avenue.  Cars are not allowed to drive down this avenue, and it contains some of the older classroom buildings on campus.  It's lined with tulip magnolias and Japanese cherry trees.


So stately and graceful.


The verdigris-tone statue is of Minerva, the Roman Goddess of Wisdom.  The university was originally known as Women's College of Greensboro, and Minerva was their mascot.  Later, when the school became co-ed and started competing in athletics, they adopted the Spartans as their mascot.  As our student guide pointed out, the guys weren't too keen on being the "Fighting Minervas".



These two pictures are the back of the Faculty Building.  I love the fan pediment over the door, and the brick arches in the breezeway below.



This is Forney Hall.  My attention was caught by the wrought iron banisters at the front entrance of this building.  They curve gracefully upwards on either side, and there is a linked circle pattern in the wrought iron across the front of the porch.  These old buildings truly fascinate me!  When I look at them, I can imagine the many footsteps that have walked these halls over the last 120 years.  

Chartered in 1891, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro is the second oldest university in the UNC system.  The oldest, of course, is the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which also has a very beautiful campus.


Japanese Cherry trees in front of Forney.


The Alumni House facing onto College Avenue. It has a beautiful glass fanlight over the front door and long elegant windows on either side of the porch.


 Is there a college or university in your town or a town near you?  Do you enjoy seeing it as you drive by, or maybe walking through the campus on a pretty day?  There's something relaxing about watching the students throwing a frisbee, or studying on a bench or a blanket in the grass.  People walking their dogs and students on skateboards and bicycles.  All in all, a nice way to spend a Spring afternoon.  Hope you all did something fun and relaxing this weekend.  Mondays always come around too soon.

Denise

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Napkin Folding Tutorial

Hello Everyone,

Hope you all had a great weekend!  Tonight I'm linking to Metamorphosis Monday with Susan at Between Naps On The Porch.  A few weeks ago I posted a Valentine table on Tablescape Thursdays, using pictures from a table I did last Valentine's Day, 2010.


  A couple of people were interested in seeing how to fold the napkins in a heart shape, so here it is.  This is so amazingly easy and fun to do for a Valentine's dinner or any special dinner where you might want to add a romantic touch (like maybe an anniversary celebration).  I came across this napkin fold purely by accident on the internet last February and thought it would be fun to try.  Then about a month ago, we were in the book store and I spotted this book of classic napkin folds in the bargain book section for, well, a real bargain.  I'll show the book on another post and maybe demonstrate some other folds.  But tonight, I'm doing the heart fold.

My book says "This is an easy shape to make but needs to be folded with precision and requires napkins that will hold creases well, so choose crisp linen -- in pink or red."  Last year I kind of decided to do this table on impulse, so I had to get my napkins at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  It's not always easy to find pink in the shade you want, so I went with these because they were the color I needed.  They are a damask pattern, but the content is 52% cotton and 48% polyester, so they are not as crisp as linen or 100% cotton would be.  However, I made them work fairly easily.  So they'd look good for the pictures, I did put two small pins in the back of each napkin, being careful not to tear the fabric.  They've been folded in my dining room chest since last February, so they were a bit creased, and I did not have time to iron them tonight (son home on Spring Break); but if you iron each fold thoroughly, it should hold its shape nicely.  Also, if your napkins are linen or a crisp cotton, you shouldn't have to pin them at all.

The napkin is 17" x 17" square.  First turn it over so that proper pattern side is facing down.





  Next, fold the napkin in half, bringing the top edge down to meet the bottom edge.



  Fold almost in half again, bringing the bottom edge up just short of the top.



  Then, holding the centre point of the bottom edge with the tip of your finger, fold the right-hand side up vertically.



  Next, repeat with the left side, creating a sharp point at the base of the heart.



  At this point I turned the napkin over in order to shape the top of the heart by folding the four top corners underneath. 








 I inserted a pin on each side to hold the top shapes of the heart, and then turned it right side up again and voila -- you have a heart-shaped napkin for a pretty Valentine's table.











Well that's it for my first Met Monday post.  I hope you can use this for your table next Valentine's, or if you have a special occasion sooner.  Also, my Blog has a new look now.  I did a little re-arranging this weekend and added a new header and new background with a more Springy look and feel to it.  Also, I realized people were having to scroll waaaay down to the bottom of my posts to read my profile and find my blog archives, so I moved those to the top.  I'm still new at this and learning as I go.  I hope those of you who spot my blog will now find it more user friendly and easier to navigate through.  Thanks again Susan for hosting Metamorphosis Monday!

Denise


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