More Butterfly Photo's and the real type!

This morning my butterfly friend was back and it opened it's wings. This allowed me to get a better idea of what type of butterfly it is. It is actually a Red Admiral Vanessa Atalanta butterfly. Not a California Tortoise Shell. I had a very frustrating morning with my camera's. I was clicking away at this awesome little bug and then the camera said " Internal memory full." I thought I had my SD memory chip in. So I quick ran in the house and grabbed my daughters camera thinking, now I'll have no photo's put her memory card into the camera and went back out and took more photo's. The last time I took photo's with out the memory chip I lost them all. Then once done I had to find all the USB cords for the camera's because my computer is not reading the memory chips like it should. AHH! So I keep thinking where did my memory chip go?? I've lost my memory.....Chip! The funny thing is I still can't seem to figure out where it is.
I hope you enjoy these photo's. I need to research Cone Flowers some more, do they re -bloom when you cut the dead flowers off?

Isn't it just beautiful? I actually got it to sit on my finger this afternoon when I was doing the afternoon gardening.

Cool butter fly.

Last night while watering I noticed this very cool looking butterfly. I quickly ran into the house and got my camera. I'm glad that the photo's came out so clear. I wish that I had known then what I was photographing as I would have tried to get a photo of the butterfly with it's wings open.
This is a California Tortoise Shell butterfly. The outer wings look like dead leaves, but if I got a photo of the inside it would have been beautiful, all red and blue. I tried again this morning, but it would not stay still. Hopefully I'll have a few more chances this summer. Poor thing it is very lost!

Early Morning Garden Work.

This is a photo of my Chrysanthemums. They are a fall plant, but begin growing in early spring. Usually I only have to cut them back about 3 times before fall, but this year has been a good growing year for them and I've already cut them back 3 times. That is what I did this morning, cut all the tops off. I had a bag of tops by the time I was done. Some things I've learned about Chrysanthemums, they need to have a lot of fertilizer. Perhaps that is why they are doing so well, I put some nice new fertilized soil around them this spring. You need to make sure they get enough water. After they bloom in the fall, just leave the dead plants in your garden. I made the disastrous mistake of cutting some down one year and they did not grow back. But if you leave the dead bushes in, the new leaves will begin to grow from the bottom of the plant. Also the seeds will fall from the plants and you will get new plants. Next year I'll take some photo's of what the baby plants look like to share. I started with three small plants a few years ago and now my front yard garden is almost filled with them.

Here is a photo of the Cone Flowers from my front yard garden. These plants are very interesting in that the new flowers start with very thin petals and as they get older the petals get wider. A huge bumble bee was gathering pollen from them today. They are a very tall plant, I actually took this photo from above on my porch.

This is a young Cone Flower.

Here is a mature flower with a bee having some breakfast.

Hello Summer, Hello Garden

For my going away gift the Librarian gave me this big basket of gardening supplies! I'm so excited for summer and time to work in my garden. My plan is to get up early every morning and do my 3 mile walk and then go out and work in my garden. My garden is mostly flowers, I have sunflowers, roses, zinnias, Lillie's, Daisy's, Blanket Flowers, Black Eyed Susan's, Cone Flowers, and more. I like to go out and weed in the early morning and then again in the evening. Lately I've been going out at night and hunting down the bugs that have been eating some of my plants. This evening I got some Japanese beetles.

Here is one of my Lillies. I think the bee's have been busy see all the yellow pollen. Lillies are one of those plants that if you are teaching children the parts of the flower make it easy to point out all the parts. One thing that I like to do is take photo's all during the summer and then make cards with the photo's. This year I'm going to make packs of cards and then give them as Christmas presents.

Goodbye Part 1

Goodbye Library Girl! Goodbye silly glasses.

Goodbye!














Goodbye desk calendar. Goodbye Librarian, Goodbye Library. Thank you for all that I learned, for all the good times I had, for all the good memories. Thank you that I was able to have this job, and that I got to learn what it was like to work in a library, and I got to help children. I loved every moment I had here.






Goodbye desk, shelf markers and germ thing.

This was my desk for the last two years. It's missing it's computer. I liked having my own desk. My own little place in the world.

Goodbye library bear. I bought this bear last summer. We change his clothes for the seasons and holidays. All the kids love him.

Goodbye books! This is a photo of the non-fiction and Fiction section of the Library. I had so many favorite books I could not even list them all.

Goodbye Part 2.

Goodbye computer. This was the computer I used for the last two years. I donated the little cow on top too. I did lots of computer work while at the library. From scanning books in and out, to putting books and magazines in the system to learning how to do the inventory. I love working with computers.








Goodbye books to fix. This is the last pile of books that had problems to fix. Most came from the inventory and needed a code changed in the computer. Some needed to be taped up because they had torn pages. See the pile of sticky notes, that was how I knew what needed to be done. Sticky notes are something every library assistant needs to have lots of.






Goodbye books to shelve. Yes up until that last moment, children and teachers returned books. This was the last pile of books that I put away.















Goodbye red book return cart. Each morning this cart gets filled with books. Most of the time I saw it empty because I didn't arrive at work until 11:30. I made the sign on it. I thought the little girl with all the books looked cute.






I have to say I'm sorry for all the space in this section of the blog. I'm not to good at the adding photo's and words by them. It seems as I add photo's and rearrange things this space grows and I don't know how to get rid of it. I guess blogs are supposed to be small, and with the goodbyes, I wanted to have so much more. Thus the many goodbyes, because I couldn't get everything into one blog. But the day after school ended this quote was sent to me. I have felt all through this trial of losing my job that Heavenly Father has been there for me, and talking to me through friends, articles in magazines, songs and talks given at church and now even e-mails.

So to fill up the space before more goodbyes here is the e-mail message I recieved:

Change Can Be a Blessing We live in a time of rapid change--precipitated by technological advances, planetary disruptions, socio-cultural transitions, economic troubles, and virtually instantaneous global communication networks. And even though no one escapes the challenge of change, there's something hardwired into most human beings that makes us resist and resent it. In fact, the first reaction to a big change (actual or possible) is sometimes fear. But the Bible says, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV). If an infant never changed, we would know something was wrong. Likewise, if our life never changed we would have no opportunities to grow. So, next time you face an unexpected change, especially an unwelcome one, look for the blessings hiding inside. Change is part of God's loving plan for us!

Goodbye Part 3

Goodbye Name tag, Goodbye key card, Goodbye Car tag, Goodbye Library key. I had to give all but my name tag back before I could get my paycheck.


















Goodbye school!

































Goodbye parking spot!

1 Day left, the inventory is done!

I have one day left of work. Today I put all the magazines that I had put into the system away.

I shelved books, and then I finished the inventory. I also got to eat some yummy pizza.

The highlight of my day was going down to one of the first grade classrooms. While there one of the students noticed that I had the same shoes as he had. I asked are they a size "3" and he said "Yes"
Another little boy commented that he had a friend in 3rd grade that had bigger feet than me. I replied " Well you do know that I'm the original Cinderella. That's why my feet are so small. Their eyes grew big and they said " Really, your Cinderella!." And I said " Yes." They thought that was so cool. Then another student asked " Are you really not coming back next year?" and I said " Yes, I'm not coming back next year." And she looked so sad, that I said " But you know I'll probably have to come back and visit." And she said " I'm so happy!" I have loved working with the children at this school. Some of them came down and had me sign their year books. It was so nice. I learned something new "HAGS" means " have a great summer." I kept seeing this in their books, and I asked why are you writing "HAGS" And they rolled their eye's and said "It means Have a great summer" I guess I'm out of the loop.

As I was leaving today the librarian said he was amazed that I got all the inventory done, and then he said " I'm really going to miss you next year."

I'm going to miss working there next year. I'm going to miss the students, the staff (who also have been coming by and saying thank you and goodbye), I'm going to miss the books, the magazines, and the whole magical quietness of the library. I'll miss the Librarian too. (don't want him to feel left out.)

I've never been let go from a job before. I've left jobs because I've moved, gone to college, or was having a family. But I've never had this experience of being let go. I know I'm not losing my job due to poor work, I know it's the economy, and just a way to keep the school budgets lower, but you know it still hurts. It has been very interesting to see how different people in the same situation have reacted. I think I've done pretty good. I've worked just as hard even though I've known for months that I would be let go, I've stayed positive, I've smiled, and I've enjoyed everyday. I hope that I will find another place to give my time to, to learn and grow in a new job, where I can feel liked and appreciated. Tomorrow is Goodbye.

2 days left, time to fix some books.

With 2 days left I started my day by fixing the books that I had piled up over the last few months. The first task was to go through and see what was wrong with the books. Some just needed their pages taped up, other need to have some serious work done.

What do you need to fix a book? Rubber bands, book tape, tacky glue, a paper clip, and scissors.

In this photo the book's pages are coming apart. This book's pages are held together by string, and when that starts to break, the pages start falling out. What I did, was to take a paper clip and open it up, I put glue on the paper clip and dragged it along the inside of the book. Then I fit the page back into the book, shut it and wrapped it in rubber bands. Then the book was put in a book shelf to dry. Monday I will take the book out and put some tape on the pages for extra protection.

This book needed more work, It's spine was falling apart. My first step in fixing this book is to cut it open.

Once it is cut open I will then put glue all along the spine of the book.

Here you can see all the glue. Next I will close the book up and put rubber bands around it.

Now the book is ready to go to the bookshelf and dry. The book is "The Case of the Left handed lady. An Enola Holmes book." By Nancy Springer. If you have a 4th grader or above that likes mystery books, this is a good series. The main character is Sherlock Holmes' little sister, who has been left on her own. I wouldn't have anyone under 4th grade read this book though. There are some descriptions that are most likely inappropriate for young students.

One of the things I have always liked to do in the library is to process the new magazines. I found out that next year there will most likely not be any new magazines coming in due to budget cuts. Ugh!

I helped with inventory again. We are almost finished. Just a little more of the Non-Fiction books left to do.

The week went by so fast. I can't believe I only have two days left to work. I hope that I can find another job that I will like as much as this one. I look forward to learning new things.

I also look forward to just doing a lot of reading this summer. The kids and I went to the library yesterday, and took out a bunch of books. Next week we will go to the bookstore and pick out some paper back books to take when we head up to Vermont for our camping trip. I look forward to getting away!

3 days left.

With three days left, I have finished labeling the books. I actually had about an hours worth of shelving to do when I got in. Thankfully the Librarian had put everything in alphabetical order, so it was easy to put away. I know that there are still quite a few books still out there.
I got to listen to the book "Last Day Blues" I know I'm feeling that. One student was leaving and said "Bye Mrs. Bowlby, see you next year." That hurt, knowing that most likely I won't see them next year.
I also got to listen to the book "No more pencils, No more books, No more teachers dirty looks." By Diane Degroat. I like Dianne Degroats books. ( I just noticed on her site that I've linked you to that she also writes the "Annie Pitts" books. My daughter and I read some of these they are great books for young girls.) Her main character Gilbert is always getting into some type of trouble, but always learns a good lesson. These are great books to read to your young children. She has a book for the beginning of the school year "Brand new pencils, brand new books" and then she has books for different holidays. I didn't do inventory today, which was good as my legs and arms have been sore from all the work I've been doing. I have to say that working in a small library allowed me to learn many tasks that if I had been working in a larger library I would not have learned. I'm glad that I got to learn so much. I guess now I will soon be learning something new. I'm actually taking my last on line course to be a Veterinary assistant. I'm going to apply at two different 24 hour animal hospitals for a receptionist position this fall. My degree is in Animal Science, perhaps I should go back into that field. I've really enjoyed these courses. Well here are a few photo's of what I did today.



This is a pile of magazines that I put into the computer system. Once in the computer I have to print out their material bar code, print them out and put them on the magazine, then put them in their special magazine covers. One of my favorite things about processing magazines is I have to go through them and pull out all the subscription cards. This allows me to read through the magazines. I love reading magazines. There are always such fun articles to read. I have loved being able to read the horse and cat magazines each month. I'll miss reading all the magazines.






This is the pile of books that I have to go through and figure out what their problem is. The bottom books with the rubber bands around them are books that have been in the "Book Hospital". I have in the past cut them open from the inside to expose their spine, then I put glue in the spine and then close them and put rubber bands around them. Then they are put in a bookshelf to dry. Next are magazines that I need to make material bar codes for, and on the top are books that have the wrong spine and bar codes, I need to change their information in the computer and then reprint their labels. I enjoy fixing books. It makes me think of this very cool book trilogy. The "InkHeart" Trilogy by Cornilia Funke. The story is about a girl and her father who is a book binder. Her father has the power to read people into and out of books. I think it would be cool to actually go in your favorite book and live there for awhile. In the book there are many references to how books are made and how they are fixed. If you are looking for a good fantasy book to read I'd recommend this set of books. Don't watch the movie though, it is not as good as the books. I think most authors must get frustrated by how their books get changed when made into movies. I look forward to reading some of her other books this summer.


Tomorrow I get to play nurse and fix a bunch of books. I hope to take photo's of the whole process. I did this once before only to find out I didn't have my memory card in my camera, and when I got home all the photo's I'd taken were gone.





Every day when I head out to work I stick a bunch of these peppermint candies in my work bag. They are the perfect mixture of mint and chocolate and they just melt in your mouth. I'm totally addicted. Unfortunately I was unable to find them at the store yesterday. Speaking of grocery stores and shopping I've learned an important lesson. Do not shop on Thursday mornings. I did my grocery shopping this morning because tomorrow is a 1/2 day and I have to be to work at 9am. Everything that I needed to buy was out of stock. I was getting a Pizza for me and my daughter and the whole frozen pizza section was gone! AHHH!
I have to start cleaning my stuff out of the library. That is going to be hard! Hmm.... got to check out "You've Got Mail" I know there is a scene with her leaving her store for the last time, wonder if she said anything that goes with what I'm feeling.

4 days no more labeling on to inventory

So there are 4 days left and we are in the process of doing an inventory of the books. Here are some photo's and explanations. Another thing to add to my resume. I now know how to inventory books.

These are photo's of all the books I scanned this afternoon! Lots and Lots of books. I feel bad for the librarian, usually we get a substitute so that we can spend all the last days closing down the library, this year no substitute, no money for that! So when I go home he stays and works to get more stuff done. It is not going to be fun next year in the schools. Most of the support staff have lost their jobs, the work they did to help the teachers have more time to prepare lessons, and really focus on the children is now going to have to be done by the teachers. It is going to be a lot of work for them.

This is the computer that is usually on my desk. It is on the cart that we keep the net books in. I have to use this set up to inventory the books. This cart is very heavy to pull about. I started at the Fiction "A" books for inventory. I have to scan each book in order, watching for any errors. I got all the way to the Fiction "T" boy my left shoulder hurt from pulling one book forward at a time and scanning it. I fear that tomorrow I will really be feeling it.

These books are the last books that need to be labeled. Although as I was leaving I noticed a pile of books in the return cart. And I also saw students carrying books down to the library as I was waiting for my daughter. Ugh! I saw a few that did not have the right labels. It never ends!

Here it is the last book shelf finished! I can not even begin to think about how many books I have re-labeled. But it has to have been a huge amount. This was a project we were going to do over a course of a few years, but in January when I heard my job was over in June, I decided to get as much done as possible. Now the Librarian may do the non-fiction and biography over the summer.

The Librarian read the book "Last day blues" to the students today. He told the students about how important it is to read over the summer. I have to say at least with my children that is one thing I am doing correctly. I make sure they read pretty much every day of school break. Maybe that is why they are doing so well in school. This summer we are doing reading and math work books. I hope to go different places outside and set up a blanket and say lets relax and read.

I had to read Scardey squirrel again today. I think I'm going to buy that book. I am just like that squirrel. I'm scared, I'm not to sure of myself, I have lots of purell, and emergency kits. I just wish I could see down the road to the part where I'm flying, and free and alive. But right now I want to stay in my safe library, I want life to stay the same. And you know it's not going to. I just hope when I land, I know better than to lay their and play dead for a couple of hours! That's what scardey squirrel does he lands in a bush and plays dead.

So I haven't connected to Kathleen Kelly of "You've Got Mail" in awhile, but here is a quote that kind of hits the spot. She is writing to her e-mail friend telling them about the fact that her shop is closing (did you know that you can get quotes from movies off the Internet. It's kind of cool.)

"Kathleen Kelly: [writing to "NY152"] People are always saying that change is a good thing. But all they're really saying is that something you didn't want to happen at all... has happened. My store is closing this week. I own a store, did I ever tell you that? It's a lovely store, and in a week it'll be something really depressing, like a Baby Gap. Soon, it'll be just a memory. In fact, someone, some foolish person, will probably think it's a tribute to this city, the way it keeps changing on you, the way you can never count on it, or something. I know because that's the sort of thing I'm always saying. But the truth is... I'm heartbroken. I feel as if a part of me has died, and my mother has died all over again, and no one can ever make it right."

I've been trying really hard to be happy about the fact that I'm losing my job, I've been smiling, and cheery, and living each day to the fullest enjoying each moment sucking it all in. But deep down I'm Heartbroken. Deep down I don't want this change. I'll have this memory though. I'll have this blog, these photo's. Hopefully a few months from now I'll look back and say it was all for the best. I hope I get to that point.

I meant to say yesterday that yesterday was the last "Day 1" there will be no more day ones this year or during the next school year. Today was the last "Day 2" No more day 2's. I'm going through a lot of lasts!

5 days left, and there is scanning seen in my future!

This is what I'm doing in 5 days! I'm going to sleep in the sun, just like my cat! My daughter and I started reading a book "Strange Happenings" By Avi. It is a collection of short stories and the first story is about a boy who wishes to be his cat, and what happens when the wish came true. I do think I would get bored after awhile of sleeping and playing all the time. But for a week or two this summer it might be nice!

This is the end of relabeling the books! A little over 100 books left. The labels are made and they are just waiting for me to put them on.

These are the books that I have taken off the shelves over the past few weeks, that need some fixing. I would like to fix, them and told the Librarian this, he said that he see scanning in my future. Which means that I will be doing the inventory. Each book in the library needs to be scanned into the system. I think I've touched all the books just a little too much this year. But I'm up to the work.

So one very frustrating thing about the relabeling process that I really noticed today, is that I can not for the life of me figure out how the computer organizes the labels as it prints them out. I would think that the labels would print out the way I scan the books into the computer. So each set of 30 books would be a page of labels. I doubled the amount of books I pulled from the shelves today, and printed four sheets of labels at a time, with 30 labels per sheet. I have all the books organized on my desk, so that I always start with the first book scanned. But with my 4 sheets of paper I am constantly hunting down the books, it makes no sense. At some points all the labels for a group of books will be on the same sheet, and then bam, the next 5 will all be on different sheets of paper. Each time I think, ah I've figured it out, I am thrown for a loop. It is very very frustrating for me that this happens. I am a person who likes order, and I like things to make sense and this makes no sense! AHH! The Librarian had to listen to me continue to complain about this today, and he said " You need to blog about that!" I said that I would.

A book I saw as I was labeling that I liked was " The Library" by Sarah Stewart. It is about a young girl who loves to read and collect books, who grows up and spends her time reading and collecting books, and then when her house can not fit another book, she donates the house to the town, and it becomes the town library. It is a nice book to read. Especially if you have a child who loves to read.

This summer I'm going to read all of Chris Van Allsburg's books. I think his books are very interesting. He is the author of Jumanji, and Zathura. One of the books the Librarian reads every year at TV turn off week is his book The Wretched Stone. He tries to see how many children realize that the stone is a TV. Any time I see one of his books the illustrations just pull me in and I want to read and find out what the story is about.

I've also decided that this summer the kids and I are going to spend a lot of time outside, and that I'm going to try to do less busy work, and find as much time as possible to just relax and enjoy the moment. I have felt like I've been running at full speed in the rat race of life lately and I just want to slow down and stop feeling like I'm on a roller coaster or race horse.