Bedtimes are awesome now. I get read to instead of having to do all the reading. They are both in an accelerated reading program at school and they're doing everything they can to earn extra points.
In the catastrophic schedule that lives in our home some mornings, I couldn't find one of Brent's library books to return for that week's trip to the school library. He thought he had already taken it in earlier in the week, so it got overlooked. When I found it while clearing the table later that morning I knew I was in for an earful. Without turning in last week's book, the teacher won't let them check out any new ones. So I took my tongue lashing like a champ and promised to take them to the public library on Saturday and get new cards and books.
I cannot even describe the smile they had when they saw the children's room there. With the tiny tables and chairs, the beautiful displays of colorful hardbacks, the cushions and bookstands...they couldn't wrap their heads around the wonderfulness of it.
Anyways - it's been a busy transition into spring around here. The weather has been fickle and there are seeds I'd like to have had in the ground already, but we're making so much progress in a lot of areas. I started a composting trashcan that I can keep on the deck and lock the raccoons out of (that's the plan!). We found someone that fixed our lawnmower and tiller affordably, and have since mowed most of the fields - raking wheelbarrow loads of mulched up straw for composting. Plus I put a good thick layer in the chicken coop to prepare for that adventure.
Tilling the garden was an experience. The quality of the dirt was better than I expected, so good news there. But the rocks out there are brutal! I can only do small sections at a time because of the death grip I have on the tiller with it bucking and protesting all the small boulders. The upside is that there's not a lot of small rocks. They are mostly the size of your fist and larger. So I do a shallow pass to loosen them up and find them, then go around and dig them out by hand.
The peas go in tomorrow, and potatoes next week. And I'm working on some creative solutions to the invasion of tomato and pepper plants I've created.
The ones on the windowsill are doing good, but those left with just my cheap Walmart grow lights are a little spindly. But since I can bury a lot of the stem, they should be fine outside. Little do they know they are about to become part of my experimentation of planting them in ground and building wrapped plastic greenhouse-type structures around them. If it works, I could have weeks of extra growing season. If it doesn't - well, I have 20 more plants sitting in the windowsill waiting for May, and I learned a lesson about tomatoes. I have a few in a coldframe on the porch though that have now survived three nights of mid-20 degree temps, and are still thriving, so I'm hopeful!
One of only two tobacco seeds that thrived:
I love watching these Valerian seedlings. They have beautiful lilypad leaves on stems that stay short, then burst out in growth within a day:
Despite the many creatures uprooting my bulbs, most of the garlic I planted last fall is coming up strong this spring.
Speaking of early spring risers, we're enjoying watching all the flowers come up that had been planted by my stepmom.
The daffodils were so pretty I had to play with the photo.
I hadn't gotten Dills seeds yet, so I couldn't pass on this 4 pack from a local nursery. It feels like cheating but it's nice to have a few strong plants mixed in.
