The Lot Next Door...revisited

I'll sum up our story so far:  town owned garage on property, we wanted to buy small strip to preserve trees, town ignored us, sold land for a pittance, spent taxpayers money digging up a brand new road to put in new sewer connections for 4 duplexes.  Found contaminated soil (no surprise, they KNEW it was there) after they dug a pit, so no housing.  Pit sat for a year...finally the town filled it in and THEN accepted our offer to buy that tiny strip of land.  After of course, most of the trees were removed.
Now, there is street construction going on, for about a month now...with a couple streets north of us, and at least one south of us being worked on, and guess where headquarters is for all the old crap dug out of the street and the new crap going in?
So, instead of a view like this:

We have this one from our bedroom window:

The 500 feet I'm guessing means while it's out on the road and moving, since there's no way it's 500 feet from us.  In fact, it was only 4 feet from our property line:

 Those small trees, btw, were what we could afford to plant to 'replace' the large emerald cedars that were ripped down.  Some day, they will grow large, I'm not sure I hope I'm still in this house to see that though, the way things are going with that lot. 
Instead of being home to some nice birds and squirrels, maybe a thieving raccoon or two, we have this pile in the back corner, again, not too far from our property line:  (yes, there's an old hydrant in that pile!)

And some other views of the property, which apparently is for sale zoned commercial:

What's not shown is the now huge pile of dirt close by where that water truck 'was' parked (it was removed this morning, maybe just temporarily).  Even hearing the dump trucks approach, and KNOWING what's coming next does not stop me from jumping out of my skin at the cannon-loud sound of the back flap slamming shut after the dirt is dumped. 
The piece-de-resistance?  This lovely view from the road--

Yes, right to the curb!  Now, couldn't they have put it farther back?  I mean, the poor neighbours across the road have a somewhat uglier view than even we have.  And really, would YOU use it, knowing anyone driving by knows what you're about to do???  I probably shouldn't complain, they might move it back in the corner by that old fire hydrant and my dogs will bark every time some worker has to go-potty.

The kicker:  That nice view of trees above?  We could have had that, if the town hadn't waited till they discovered the land could not be used the way they wanted it to be used--and after the pit within 12" of our fence and property line, caving in, btw, they STILL charged us full price, along with ALL fees involved.  Yes, we were willing to pay this, but geez, I wonder if they would have gotten that much from the intended purchasers for the whole d***ed lot!

My creative muse is back!

Thankfully!  My creative muse had left me sometime last year, and it was hard to come up with new ideas, I just felt stale.  I did stop trying to force myself to design, and instead worked on some items from 'older' patterns of mine.
Finally, I believe my muse is back, whether for a short visit or a long-term stay I'm not sure.  Hopefully the latter.
Two of my first designs since his/her return are bookmarks--Page Peekers I think I will call them.  Their faces peek at you from above the book page they're marking, and their puffy toes (or shoes on upcoming ones) poke out the bottom.  Of most books.  There are some very large books that will keep the toes well-covered.
Here I have Red Devil and the Hairy Goblin, the patterns are currently being tested and will be available shortly! 

The finished bookmarks are available now in my Etsy shop, clicking on the picture will take you to the item's listing.  If they've sold, just send me a message and I can make them to order!

Summer's Almost Here...a new school year ahead

Two girls are looking forward to the end of the school year:  as usual, I kind of am, but part of me will miss having some alone time at home for those months.  Round about the beginning of August, I will be looking forward to the beginning of the school year!
I have to say, for the first time ever, I am REALLY hoping my daughter doesn't get a particular teacher.  Besides my daughter coming home so many times through the school year complaining, I myself am sure this teacher tells the kids one thing, and acts completely different around adults.  I did meet the teacher face to face, and although she was saccharine sweet to us and expressed concern that maybe my daughter was misinterpreting the teacher's actions (my daughter got the impression Mrs. X thought she was stupid), I just got this feeling that that wasn't real.  *Usually* my feelings aren't too far off.
Back in soccer season, I helped drive the girls to their games at nearby schools.  While waiting one day, a few girls came into the front entry exclaiming "Wow, Mrs. X REALLY does not like the kids leaving early for soccer!"  Not just a "Oooh, she doesn't like" but a "Wow, she REALLY does not like".  When talking to the vice principal later on, she admitted she'd talked to the teacher, but about a different matter surrounding the kids leaving early for soccer.  (A whopping 10-15 minutes usually!)  The teacher told the VP that she did not want people to think she was against extra-curricular activities.
Apparently, students don't count as teachers.
This teacher also 'calls out' students who have asked for help or are in need of it.  Can you imagine most of your classmates seem to have a grasp on a certain topic you're learning, and you have gone to the teacher and gotten the help you need, but maybe you still need more help cause you're not quite there yet...one day in class, the teacher comments that if anyone needs help, to please see her.  Just ask Sally, she asked for help!  Uh, I think I would be mortified.  Would the other kids think I was stupid?  I might even be hesitant to ask for help later when I need it.  Or maybe Tommy, who is struggling along..."If you don't understand this, please come back and see me.  No one???  Well, Tommy, you should be back here."  Poor Tommy.
Yes, the kids are in grade 7, and I certainly don't expect the teacher to hold their hands and walk them tenderly through the year, but a little bit of respect and common decency (and maybe some teacher/student confidentiality?) might not be amiss.

Hopefully, you can understand my desire for my daughter to NOT have that teacher for her final year of grade school.