On My Table – III – Court of Justice

Posted on August 17, 2021 by vanbraman

Tonight in my On My Table series I will  show what has been slowly built during the last few months.

Ankerstein, court of justice, building blocks, stacking blocksThis is one of the largest buildings I have built with Ankerstein. The plan is titled Gerichtsgebäude or Court of Justice and is built with set 24.

Ankerstein, court of justice, building blocks, stacking blocksThe tower reaches to almost three feet. There is a lot of detail in the building and it was a challenge to build in some spots.

Ankerstein, court of justice, building blocks, stacking blocksOne of the most challenging parts was building the little lamp stand at the left in this picture.

Ankerstein, court of justice, building blocks, stacking blocksThe roof of the building was quite complex and used almost all of the larger roof stones.

It is relaxing to build with Ankerstein, but can also be frustrating. The stones that the building is made of are simply stacked on top of each other. No snapping or gluing the layers together. Just good old fashioned gravity. Despite this the structure if pretty stable, although it did shake a little bit when I was typing on the other end of the table.

The structure has now been taken down and I am starting to build another one.

Steven

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Back to School?

Posted on August 16, 2021 by vanbraman

It is August and time for many students to go back to school.

This year many students are heading back to in person classes, but some schools are closing back down again as COVID continues to spread.

Irving Grade School, Ottumwa Iowa, Five Corners, McDonalds, Old Brick SchoolI am starting to see a few first day of school pictures on social media and this is making me think of some of the schools I went to through the years.

The first one was Irving Grade School in Ottumwa, Iowa. I only went there two years before we moved to a brand new school that had been built to consolidate several neighborhood  schools.

Ottumwa McDonalds, Five Corners, Memories, Irving Grade SchoolToday a McDonald’s is where Irving once stood.

Ashland High School, Ashland, Kansas, Virtual Hike I went to Junior and Senior High school in Ashland, Kansas. Since it was a small town we were all together in one campus.

I mentioned first day of school pictures, so must share a couple of them.

Back to School Picture, Sister and Brother, First Day of SchoolHere my older sister and I are ready to head off to school. We were so cute back then.

I am thinking of how we dressed then compared to how students dress for school now. It is definitely different, but then again these pictures are from back in the 70’s.

First Day of School, Ottumwa Iowa, Douma Grade School, Traffic Guard, Niagra Falls WindowThen there were three of us heading off to school. At least us boys were excited to head off to school 🙂

This picture brings back so many memories. However the one that is really flooding my mind is the item in the frame on the wall. It is the Braman coat of arms and was embroidered by my Grandma. As I write this I can turn my head and see it hanging on my wall.

Lots of memories tonight.

Steven

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