Felt yucky all day yesterday, by evening I was definitely "flu-ish" and slept as late as I could this morning. Actually managed to stay in bed until almost noon, the rest felt good. But no sleeping late! Just being quiet in bed, reading and being read to, and helping the boys with their math. It is good they are old enough to (usually) do their academic work without constant supervision.
They are going to work on a short story, and then we will see if we can do a stop-action rendition of it (3 to 5 minutes) using some of their toys and the digital camera. I can tell Matthew is really interested in running the whole show, but Grant has his own ideas, too. We will work on it for a while, and then see what happens. If things go as I expect, the boys will have a new medium for expression, and learn about their abilities to collaborate on projects.
Hoping I can get to our book club tonight, will have to see how I am feeling. I read "The Da Vinci Code" over the last couple evenings, wasn't sure I was going to even find a copy of the book, but Mother lent me hers...
Interesting premise. Has a lot of conservative Christians all up in arms and raging, now I see why. I suspect a few Pagans aren't too happy, either, the last thing we need in some parts of the country is folks who have been alerted to some of the practices and symbols that have been used as "secret signs" of recognition. Even less, the inevitable voyeurs who will pick up on the hieros gamos to the exclusion of other things. And the people who will, of course, conflate the truly pagan aspects of it all with the Christian bits and be thoroughly confused.
The daffodil bed next to the front door has been a lovely source of sunshine even on the rainy days. I am so glad I put them there! As one variety decides it is done, another is beginning to bloom. The plum tree has been covered in white, now showing more and more green. I am eager to see how many flowers were pollinated, to watch the other fruit trees as they continue to develop. This will be the third year for the plum, the second for the Asian pears (dare I hope?), and the first for the quinces and peaches.
The children are dealing well with the damp. Need to try to keep them active and alert on days they are mostly inside, that's tougher than it sounds.
March is almost over, Tom's birthday is so close! Carol's baby will be born next month. The boys will have their first SpiralScouts award ceremony in two weeks.
We are so busy! And it's raining on our parade... (but not very hard).
Took Grant to archery practice this evening. Wow, is he good! At least to my inexperienced eye... He even got a bull's eye -- center of the bull's eye that is, he got several arrows in the eye through the hour or so we were there.
Matthew has another month of SOGO rehearsals and then the final concert on Mother's Day. We are looking forward to having our Sunday afternoons back, but I know he will miss the other kids. We'll see if he's interested in auditioning again so he can continue with that group. I think it would be a good idea, but I don't want to push him too much. It's time for him to take the responsibility for this part of his education.
The goldfish is gone. I found her on the ground outside the pond yesterday afternoon -- not a mark on her, just lying there dead. Must have jumped out sometime during the late morning or early afternoon. We will get another school of fish to keep the skeeter population down, but might wait until payday...
The hyacinths in the garden smell so good! They are just lovely to look at and sit near. I set up the sun umbrella yesterday and sat outside for an hour or so. Also put together a table using an old TV-tray stand and the children's old wagon. It works better for outside than a flat table because the edges keep papers and things in even when there's a light breeze.
Some of the daffodils are just uninterested in blooming this year -- they weren't buried too deep, so not sure why they are languishing. Perhaps we have a few that are just very late bloomers? We'll see. There are plenty of weeks left for the garden to reveal her secrets.
The native lilies -- Trillium -- are blooming profusely in our small groves this year. I think they liked the really cold weather mid-winter. They are holding on to their color better than in years past, and standing up nice and tall. Some of them have really big flowers, they are grandmothers in the forest. We will have a lot of lovely red currents this year, too. The bushes by the house are doing really well, and a few newer volunteers have been found scattered around the yard.
Non-natives like raspberries are doing well, irises are up and going strong though they won't bloom for several months yet. The peas we planted were several inches tall last I looked, probably about time to slug-proof them again. Saw some deer about a mile away this afternoon, suspect it's time to deer-proof the fruit trees, as well.
Okay, so this isn't exactly a daily log. At least I am getting more frequent...
Today I put out the surviving squash starts, not sure which ones they are, will start new ones next week. The lettuce starts did not make it, I think the slugs got 'em.
We now have a few grape hyacinths blooming in addition to the mini daffodils. The quince trees are leafing out. The plum has lots of buds, just waiting for enough warmth to burst.
On the kid front, SpiralScouts is going well. Matthew is well on his way to earning some badges and pins, Grant has several accumulated. Both are excited about their projects and progress.
Matthew has advanced to the state-level geography bee. That is pretty exciting, so he is buckling down and studying again. A month away...
His second concert went well, our friend Billie came along and seemed to enjoy herself, too. Matthew got to stay in town a little with Tom to have dinner and then attended the Conservatory Orchestra's evening concert.
Grant went yesterday with his grandmother to try archery. According to the man who teaches, he's a "natural" -- of course! He was very pleased with his experience, and is looking forward to continuing this new activity.