Sleepy Saturday

Day 147

I am thankful for yet another Saturday to relax.  I did a lot of knitting and a lot of napping.  I think the evening's migraine had been coming on for much of the day and I didn't recognize it.  Ah, well, seems to be over and gone now.

The capelet scarf I'm working on is nearly done.  No new pictures, it just doesn't look any different than it did before.

The amaryllis are being their big ole showy selves.  Here are a couple of the white with red

This big!  My hand is about 7 inches wrist to fingertip:

It's not magic

Day 146

I am thankful for the students we work with everyday.  They challenge and inspire all three of us.  We do good work but there are times I wish for a magic wand.   Some of my students want to do better and go farther and, so far, can't.   We'll keep plugging away hoping that knowledge, intuition, and inspiration lead to a direction before hope fades for any of them.

The Amaryllis Show:

The Apricots...this is the time of spring when I need to pretend I don't have a fruit tree.  Keep it watered but pretend it isn't there.  It feels like the growing has stalled.  It has not.  Sweet apricots take 4 months.  It has only been 2 months.   There, I can stop wondering if all is well in apricot land. 

Sweet William or dianthus.  Pretty with either name.

A Creative Spark

Day 145

I am thankful for old calendars.  I had saved a stack a few years ago.  This week I cleaned out the bottom of a drawer and there they were.  We were going to let the kids do writing projects with them after state testing but the students have been so stressed out we decided to relax a bit today.  Just being able to choose a picture seemed to set off a spark in a lot of the kids.  They wrote or dictated little stories and then set about mounting them on construction paper and adding their own touches.  I enjoyed the change in energy and I know the children did, too.

I don't remember if I bought a potted chrysanthemum or if it was a gift but it budded out this spring and bloomed.   I remember taking my 3rd grade teacher chrysanthemums and she knew I knew how to spell it.  I didn't know how she knew that.  I did know I could.

It's a little hard to see but the mountains south and east of town are snow capped.  For the last two days we've had a cold storm blow through.  For the first time ever I turned my heater on in April.   Temperatures are usually high 70s to low 80s by now with some spikes into the 90s.  It was 60*F today.  My house was even chillier. 

(click on it to see the photo large.)

Every day Blessings

Day 144

I am thankful for the people I work with.  I probably wouldn't have said that a year ago.  I do recognize how many of them care deeply about doing right by the kids.  It is a pleasant surprise to be learning that some wish to do right by their colleagues as well and to be finding friends.

 The newest of the red amaryllis:

 Tiny Santolinas, not yet opened:

Learning Old Things and New Things

Day 143

I am thankful for reruns of old favorite programs.  I ran across Star Trek, TNG one night last week and again tonight.  Tonight's episode is one of my favorites when Data is shocked by an unknown device and begins to dream. 

I learned today that amaryllis do not like a good soaking of rain while santolina do.  The amaryllis are fine but a little curlier than they were before.  Maybe they'll look better once they dry out.   My little favorite santolinas are showing color now.   Right now the flowers are about a quarter inch across.  

 We're having a late season storm.  The temperature dropped quite a bit around 11 a.m.  Wind howled, old leaves swirled off the school roof, and rain came in at a slant.  We had a gentle rain on and off for the rest of the afternoon after the first burst of bluster.  A bit of winter and a bit of spring all in one.   The local mountains are again snow capped.   Tomorrow is to be colder and wet again.

Because of the weather we had indoor recess.  8 RSP kids came in with me.  I had two playing math games on the smart board, three on the computers, two building with lego, and one making a pot-holder for his Grandma. 

 This was the view on the way to work today:

I also learned what a Googlewhack is.  I'm going to be participating in a knit/crochet blog week through a Ravelry group.   The woman organizing decided to create our own unique group tags to include in our posts or tags.  Anyone with the tags can enter them into a Google search and find all the posts for the group participating in the blog week.  I'm looking forward to adding to my thankfulness posts for a week.  The topics are lined up and we begin Monday, I think.  Might be Sunday but I'll check in before then. 

Busy time of year.

Day 142

I am thankful for extra time in my day.  We're in full "test prep" mode at school in anticipation of state testing.  Many of my children are staying with their classes to work on test taking skills so I have gaps in my day.  I've been packing two to three boxes a day.  Today I went through another file cabinet.  I think I can reduce the number of file cabinets I'm taking with me by one.  It's mainly due to not teaching academics next year.  I'm letting go of all things math except the masters or blacklines.  Language arts I'll keep until I figure out how much I'm able to incorporate reading, speaking, and writing into speech therapy.

These are from yesterday morning before my jaunt to the wildflowers.   The amaryllis show:

 White and red, as predicted:

 Roses just past their prime remind me of Ballet Folklorica constumes:

Wildflowers!

Day 141

I am thankful that God made flowers in an endless variety of size, shape, and color.  Sis and I met up to see the poppies near where we grew up.  It's a very good poppy year!

Near but not in the Poppy preserve:

In and among the poppies:

Sisters being silly:

Poppies, goldfields, blue dick:  

Blue dick, lupine:

So many more.  Maybe I'll put a slide show on the flower show page.  Tuesday.  :oD