But I didn’t mean to.  I would never do that to you on purpose.  I said we’d have daffodils in February, but here we are two days from March and the little daffodil blooms are still scrunched up, showing only a hint of the yellow to come, and it’s very, very cold out today.  Maybe hubby was serious about this being a long winter after all.

This, my favorite mosaic birdbath, has suffered a lot of wear this winter.  She’ll need repairs once the weather warms, but even the wearing itself is a beautiful process in the garden: a little bird sits on the tiled shore of an icy pond.

I’m okay, though.  Really.  I’m fine.  Really.  I’ll be okay.  (Spring?  Spring, where are you?)  Yes, I have a menagerie of warm little birds in my office, nestled in and around my plants.  They can sing to me while I work today.  (Really, I’ll be okay.)

I worked on pins last night, at the end of a long, productive day.  We had another amazing FIAR co-op at the EPA in Research Triangle Park.   Then home again, home again, jiggety jog, to work on budgeting, grocery lists, filling up Michaela’s cereal boxes, and bill-paying, all before settling into my desk this Friday morning.

I love the pins I’m working on now.  It’s my “women of the world series.”  As soon as they’re ready, I’ll put them in the shop. 

Michaela and a sweet friend discuss what they’re looking at on a worksheet, where they have to try and label pictures taken from electron microscopy.

We also learned about pH, environmentally friendly architecture, and a few other amazing tidbits.

Have a lovely Friday!

Friday.  Work day.  That’s all I have to say about that.  Now, let’s catch up.  Yesterday was a wonderful fieldtrip day at The Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh with our co-op.   The weather was a bit windy and chilly, but not really cold, and so we went to Umstead State Park afterwards for a picnic.  There was a nice shelter that all the families could gather under.  The children explored the woods surrounding while the moms talked.  Of course. 

The museum is pretty.  It really is.  I love the combination of natural light and electrical lighting going on.  I always feel like I’m on a stage set or something.  The displays look so real, but the large, high windows remind me that I am, in fact, in downtown Raleigh.

We mostly explored without any set schedule, though we did make time to attend a live animals class where we got to see and learn about and touch different reptiles.

You might know that my favorite part was the butterfly room, with its pretty creatures.  Ohhh, it reminded me of my garden in the springtime.  I could have stayed in there the whole day getting pictures.  I’ll add that to my list of things I want to do when the children have grown and moved out.

On another front, I know at least one of you wanted to see who was holding the basket of mushrooms on Wednesday.  Well.  Here they are, all three of them, the garden and forest people I’ve been working on.  The one in the middle is surely a sweet fairy.  The outer two are from much deeper in the forest, or farther back in time, which ever you prefer to think about.

I wish I had time this morning to take them outside and get proper pictures for you, but maybe you can get an idea of what they would look like in a more organic setting.  My Joseph said they reminded him of Cinderella and her two mean step-sisters.  When I look at them as a group, I can certainly see that, but looking at each one alone, I see all sorts of stories!  That’s a basket of sweet potatoes on the left, in case you couldn’t tell. 

I must get busy this morning working.  I’ve had a fine week, so I certainly cannot complain.  Before I leave I’ll show you my buckwheat blueberry pancake with chocolate syrup.  Gluten-free never was so much fun!  My lab work showed that I’m certainly not allergic to gluten right now, but could develop an allergy, so I’m still staying away. 

As far as the Hashimoto’s disease goes, I’ve been a bit nervous the last few days, on a higher dosage (75 mcg) of brand name Synthroid Levoxyl (I truly meant Levoxyl here).  My doctor just called this morning because my TSH came back at 1.050 (down from 4.06 a few weeks ago).  I could feel this happening, so I actually cut back down to 50 mcg for the last two days.  She is going to think about it and call me back and tell me what to take.  I had talked about maybe going on something more natural, such as Armour thyroid or Nature Thyroid, but my doctor said my ability to convert T4 to T3 is “beautiful,” so Levoxyl is working well for me.  She just wants me to avoid generic because the dosage you get can be variable with each new prescription.

Okay, now that I’ve rambled on about my thyroid, I’ll say good-bye for today.

Enjoy this day.

We had another awesome fieldtrip yesterday with our Five In A Row homeschool group.  Love that group!  We went to Falls Lake.

Even though the skies were gray and there were raindrops blowing down from the trees and an occasional fine sprinkle of raindrops from the sky, quite a few moms were able to make it out and bring their children for a day of learning about compasses and how to use one.

One of the park rangers at Falls Lake did a class for the children.  I thought I knew about compasses, and maybe I did a little, but having to actually use one in guided activities showed me how much I did not know.

Michaela and her friend were a pair for the day’s activities.  Can Michaela make a normal face for a picture?  I don’t know.

The ranger told us about topographical maps and how to look for changes in elevations. 

Each one of us measured the size of our pace by pacing a marked-off distance and then dividing that distance by the number of paces it took us to walk it.   

One of the moms shows Michaela how to mark the degrees given during an assignment and then how to sight something in that direction for a landmark to walk towards.

At the end of the class we had an added bonus because of the rain.  Once again, thank you rain.  It brought to some minds this question:  What if you were lost, had no compass, AND there was no sun visible in the sky to help you?  We talked about the partly true/partly folklore (depending on where you live) idea of mosses growing one only one side of the trees and we talked about how we still have a faint shadow, even on overcast days, and we talked about hopefully being able to locate the north star after nightfall. 

Falls Lake is a lovely place for learning about compasses.

Happy Friday to YOU.
Lynn

I don’t have many words for today as it’s a work day for me and I think the pictures speak many words. If you visit the Occaneechi Tribe website you’ll find a lot of interesting information.

Our fieldtrip yesterday…

Michaela gets her picture made after learning a circle dance.

I just can’t emphasize enough how extremely nice these people at Occaneechi are.  This was a very information-packed and interesting fieldtrip.  I found that the more I heard the more I wanted to hear.  We’ll definitely be doing some follow-up reading about the indians who lived (and live) right here around us

The dress above weighs 45 pounds!

Simple Math: 
a bunch of boys + a table full of homemade weapons = overwhelmed table attendant

Is this a ferocious weapon or what?

We love seeing our homeschooling friends.

We learned about many contributions to society made by our Indian friends.

If you get a chance, go.

Also, an organization that has done a lot to find and mark old trading paths and historic villages  in the Piedmont:  Trading Path

And the blog:  Trading Path Blog

Happy Friday,
Lynn

Thursday was a fieldtrip day and it was just what we needed.  I needed to visit with the other moms in our homeschool group and get my homeschooling (and “mommy” and “housekeeper” and “chef”…) battery recharged. 

Michaela really enjoyed the class on birds and being with her friends. 

We were able to hold an emu egg…

and an ostrich egg.

We also had the opportunity to examine a hummingbird’s nest.  I’ve seen many hummingbirds in my garden, but I’ve never yet found a nest.

Durant Nature Park in Raleigh has some gorgeous nature trails that take you through the woods. You’ll love the sight and sounds of the water.

Lynn

Yesterday we spent a few hours at Pullen Park in Raleigh on a fieldtrip.  What fun we had kicking off the new school year with our wonderful homeschool group.

You didn’t know I was best friends with Andy Griffth did you?

And he’s crazy about Michaela.

In fact, you’d think she was Opie’s big sister the way they act together.

We all like to hang out in Pullen Park.  If you haven’t been there, you should go! I’m sure Andy would like to see you!

There’s a beautiful pond where you can get on a pedal boat and pedal around with the ducks.  Well, they paddle.  You’ll be pedaling.

It was HOT yesterday.  The high was predicted to be about 100.  That’s a lot in this North Carolina humidity. I never looked at a gauge, but I think it probably got to 100.

The little ducks were some on the water and some up on the banks. They looked pretty unbothered by the heat out on the water.  Me?  Well, it was a bit toasty.

It was quite picturesque, coming toward the bridge and wondering about what was around the bend.

There was an immediate sense of cool under the bridge. I loved the way the sunlight sent reflections like dancing diamonds off the water and onto the bridge-ceiling as we pedaled under.

Around the bend, I do believe the temperature dropped.  We quit pedaling and just floated easily around, enjoying the cool shade and our company of ducks.

It gave us just enough energy to come out on the other side and make our way back to the dock.

The life jackets were, shall we say, less than cool.

But I still got a smile from my girl.  She did a lot of the work and told me just to relax. 

Later we rode the little train.  You’ll know you’re on the right train if everyone screams when you go into the dark tunnel.  I remember when I rode it years ago with baby John (yes that was quite a few years ago) and when we came out on the other side of the tunnel, his eyes were like saucers!  But no crying and no scared face.  Just amazement.  He always loved trains after that and we had to buy every engine on the Thomas the Tank Engine crew.

Pullen Park is really nice.  There are other areas that I did not photograph.  I should have. They have lots of sand to play in, swings, little tiny boats that go around in a circle for the toddlers, a place to get snacks and sno cones, and a very nice, very old carousel. It’s free to go in and then tickets are 1 dollar apiece.  Most rides are one ticket and the boats are 6 tickets per boat.

Happy Friday!
Lynn

This morning I want to share a few more pictures from our Yorktown trip.  This part of our trip is from walking through Historic Yorktown where there are quite a few homes and buildings dating from the 1700s.  They survived the Battle at Yorktown and now many of them are private residences.  Can you imagine living in waterfront Historic Yorktown?

I noticed this wonderful backyard garden.  Oh, I wanted to just go back there and sit down and take it all in.

The brick, the shutters, the flowers!  Isn’t this just a 10 on the adorable scale?

If you ever wanted a pretty neighborhood in which to walk, this is it.  I don’t think I would ever tire of walking and remembering things I’ve learned about our country’s history.  There would be NO excuse for not getting my exercise if I lived here.

We noticed these purple flowerheads all over the place.  My sister and I wondered about them.  We recognized them as being in the onion family, but we weren’t sure what kind.   A local told us that they were the Yorktown onions, as in THE Yorktown onions.  You know I want to find out more about them and buy some seeds or a plant or two to have some here in my own yard!

These onions are exceptionally pretty growing in this large expanse of yard with the old white building and fence as a backdrop.

I’m looking forward to putting our pictures into our school notebook and doing some sketching from one of these pictures.   Soon…  Today is a work day so it’ll have to wait until at least tomorrow.

As an aside, that’s one of the hardest things about working.  I loved my trip last week so much, and I would not trade the time with my sister for anything, but I got in Thursday evening, had to get straight to my desk for Friday and again Saturday.  Friday is an extra long day because we have karate on Friday nights.  Sunday of course was our day for our church meeting and basically just a family day, so the house had become void of groceries, I’m still not totally unpacked, and it will be tomorrow before I can breathe a sigh of relief and get my life in order again!  We’ll be jumping on some spelling lessons this week as well, so I know my days off will FLY!

This makes me want a picket fence somewhere in my yard.  I know the perfect place!   Around my vegetable garden in the backyard.  I wonder if big furry man is up to it?  Maybe if I start building it by myself he’ll feel sorry for me and pitch in.  Let’s think about that for a bit, shall we?

Beautiful!  I wish I had had more time, but I am planning to go back.  It really takes a couple of days or so to go through Yorktown and gather up all the details, like the owners’ names of the original homes in historic Yorktown and who they were and how they contributed to the war efforts.  (For example, The Moore House.)

Here is the beautiful view from Historic Yorktown.

The girls ran and ran and ran.  I finally got Michaela to run back my way for a picture, but she was poised to run off again and catch up with her cousin.

The day was a bit gray so the pictures aren’t as bright as they could be, but I actually think we had perfect walking weather — not too hot and a nice breeze to keep us cool as we explored and walked and talked.

More later.

Happy Monday!
Lynn

Today’s Quote:

“Every path hath a puddle.”  ~George Herbert

Ah, it’s good to be back home, and yet where did those two amazing days with my sister and niece go?

Michaela and Best Cousin in the Universe

The days went by as all days do, but they were magical-fun and so full of learning about history, I did not want them to stop.  Everyone should see Yorktown.  And laugh as much as my sister and I do when we’re together.

Bladder campion growing wild around Yorktown Battlefield

I loved walking around the Yorktown Battlefield and looking at wild herbs.   There were some herbs that would qualify as kitchen-garden herbs and I enjoyed pondering over how they came to be there in such quantity. 

I also enjoyed strolling along the waterfront streets around the Victory Center  and taking in the scenery.  It was a little bit like going back in time.  The houses were old and oh so beautiful!  The gardens were lovely.

Last, but certainly not least, is the Yorktown Victory Monument.   It took my breath away.  We went over Tuesday evening and looked at Lady Victory standing atop her pedestal beneath a dark, cloudy sky.  We went again the next day and enjoyed her in the daylight.

There’s so much more to share, but I must get to bed.  Tomorrow is a work day and it will take us days of journaling and pasting things into our school notebook to get our thoughts and memories together. 

Lynn

Miss Priss and I are leaving for Yorktown.  We’ll be back Thursday p.m.  Maybe I’ll post between now and then. 

Lynn

Today was a field trip day.  Yes, I’m exhausted, but glad that I went.  And we have one more field trip yet to round out the school year. 

This is a tulip poplar bloom I picked up as we headed into the woods around Camp Chestnut Ridge.  The forest floor was covered in these in spots. 

The group participated in the short ropes course.  It was awesome.  Aside from all the physical activity involved, the children had to think their way through assignments.  One involved a rope,  an imaginary boulder and Indiana Jones.  The children had to figure out a way to transfer their team from point A to point B with just a rope and a set of obstactles they had to overcome.  I loved the way this made everyone really think and work as a team.

She made it.  That’s my girl!

Right now we are enjoying some popcorn from the hot air popper with real butter and some ranch seasoning.  Yum. 

Happy Thursday Evening,

Lynn